Today was a lazy day at sea, so it will get a lazy entry. I woke up at 10, ate eggs, then went back to the room to take pictures of the Sardinian coast from my balcony. I then attempted to do laundry, which came to a total of $7.50 a load. That almost makes the $15 laundry service worth it. That took about two and a half hours total, since I had to wait a long time for machines.

At some point during the day, we went through the strait between Corsica and Sardinia, which was narrow, exciting and full of sailboats. I began to get ready for the “formal night” around 5:30, wearing just a shirt and tie because all of my blazers are in Bethlehem. Dinner for me was duck and lobster tail, an odd combination, but a delicious one nonetheless. After dinner, I was a good sport so Emily and I got pictures taken. My dad at this point was buying some pictures that were taken earlier on the cruise in more candid locations.

We learned the plan for the rest of the cruise today, too. Tomorrow, we are going to be in Marseille, France (which we learned earlier in the day). We are going to Barcelona a day early now, since no other ports were available for a boat the size of ours. I’m not sure how I feel about this. We are able to treat the ship as a hotel for the night, and they will run shuttles and excursions as if it were a destination port. But, hearing the amount of people that booked hotels in Barcelona for the days after the cruise, I have the feeling that it will seem as though the vacation is ending early. I would have much preferred to visit anywhere else, honestly. Nothing against Barcelona, I’ve stayed there for 2 weeks before and loved it, but I came on board expecting to go to seven ports and am getting six. It is not Carnival’s fault, but given the stereotypes I have of Spanish labor, contingencies should be in place for this situation. I did not get even the slightest hint that that was the case throughout the day.

Either way, I’m looking forward to Marseille tomorrow.

I’ve got one more souvenir to purchase.

I’ve already iced my shins tonight, so its bedtime.

Have a good night,

Matt