Day 17 - In The Middle Of Nowhere...somewhere near 39deg35'14"N 11deg 10'14"E

Today is an "at sea" day. Nothing around except for an endless and incredibly coloured ocean.

The day started a little later, after celebrating our win at Bingo last night. $200 for 7 numbers in any order. The grannies were not impressed that the two young'ins won a game - seriously they wanted blood. After a bit of hoof stomping and a few rattling their teeth a slight level of applause echoed around the room. The cash was put on to the room account with some of it resurfacing at the roulette table and at Ryan's pokie machine later on.

Back to today.... Breaky on the balcony....didn't want to face the buffet grannies.

A bit of souvenir shopping (there was a sale on, and one LOVES a good Gift Shop experience). Princess fridge magnet, check!  The ship's compass doesn't know which way to go now... Magnetic north, or cabin C234? No wonder I keep wiping my onboard ship access / charge card...been through two already.

Time to do nothing (except write this). After doing the first round of nothing it was lunch time- pizza, burgers, fries and soda from the deck vendors. Don't worry no need to call Sea World to have us rolled back into the ocean, we can do that ourselves...

Now doing more nothing with additional nothing scheduled after that. 

Tonight is the first of two formal nights. Ryan will be an impressive and handsome looking penguin. I will channel the late kitty-cat Elton :)  Got my "Going Out Thongs" ready to go!!

Special photographs will be taken tonight...looking forward to getting poshed up.

Well, must dash...we are very, very, VERY busy....Busy, Busy!

Here is Ryan being extremely busy..

Day 16 - Good Morning Malta! (Updated)

We had a little sleep in so missed all the tricky maritime manoeuvres in the port. But we were woken by the 14 piece band welcoming the Ruby to Malta for the first time.

We have been informed that there will be a cannon salute at 1800 as we sail past the gun battery to commemorate the occasion. 

There is a big queen in port today too, so there are lots of people around. 

Here is a picture of THREE QUEENS AND A PRINCESS...you can hopefully work that out - hint: the princess is on far left.

Valletta is a lovely spot. Some great history and wartime stories. It was heavily bombed during the 1943 campaign. 70 years ago this year.

Ma'ams Dad awarded the entire country the George Cross for their courage in standing up to the baddies!

We were also inspired to commence planning our next vacation! Not sure if they actually book return tickets though!!!

Considering that this was an unscheduled stop (not included in the original itinerary) as it was too unsafe to dock in Tunisia it has been a lovely and refreshing few hours ashore.

Back on board now for some playlunch, no doubt a deck chair nap will shortly follow! We have found a nice quiet spot for the afternoon.

(No vodka, before you ask!!...low cal lime and club soda)!!

Will update when the cannons happen!

UPDATE - The 7 cannon salute and return acknowdgement of the ship's whistle was a goosebump moment. 

The video of the cannons is on the camera so will have to upload when home. Valletta was stunning upon departure. May actually return here.

The harbour Pilot conducted a very impressive chicane manoeuvre around the harbour entrance lighthouse. 

Day 15 - First Port Of Call, Palermo. (Updated)

With as much avoiding as possible it had to happen...the big four-uh-oh!

We awoke to this view:

No choppy seas, just almost absolute silence as the Ruby cut her way into Palermo.

Seeing yesterday that other cabin doors had been pimped for special occasions I took a peek out the peep hole...BINGO! Plus a card from the big man steering the beast too.

Once we had sufficiently resurrected ourselves from a semi-hungover state we skyped home and spoke to the folks and got a quick glimpse of Dagwood.

The ship's Taylor paid us a visit as our tuxedos were a little incorrectly sized. Again, nothing was a problem with new suits arriving shortly.

Time to find the gangway ( took a bit to find it) and go for a trott around Palermo. 

Clyde needed a sit down!

We decided to cut it short as we saw what we wanted to and returned to the ship for birthday lunch alas we needed. A change from Italian food. So... Hotdogs and hamburgers on the Lido deck by the pool. Perfect! It has just started to bucket down.. Pleased we are back on board.

So far it had been a wonderful day, one to cherish! Tonight in the "Princess Theater" is a new act...a magic show. Bit excited about that. Seems like tonight might be a big evening aboard, no movies under the stars..because they are showing the damn NRL Grand Final..no thanks!

At an estimate there would be half the passengers being Australian, probably more. That twang is just awful, and how some treat the crew or locals...downright embarrassing.

Anyhow, thank you everyone for your birthday wishes - very much appreciated. Feeling the love!

Uh oh thunder and lightening... Hopefully the boofheads will enjoy the game in the heavy rain!

UPDATE: There was a special treat presented in the Dining Room after dinner. Really impressed how special the crew make you feel. Even their singing and double spoon and knife percussion was impressive.

Main course.... Before

....after

Then the little song'n'dance...

Clyde had had enough already!

Day 14 - Off To Meet A Princess....THE RUBY PRINCESS!

One of the highlights of #DBC40 is the cruise.  We have done is cruise before together, and one with the family on the grand old lady Oriana.

Being a fussy old bugger at times, OK most of the time , OK all of the time...it was hard not to have expectations. So far it has been flawless. From arriving at the pier to being in our stateroom took all of 15 minutes. Our cabin on deck 10 is forward ship port side. Our cabin attendant Leo gave us a hint, there is a red stripe in the carpet on the port side....handy!

We got familiarised with our new friend Ruby and managed to do a load of washing. Well done to us, but it is funny who you meet in the laundry. Kinda makes you feel normal. 

Well as normal as you can be when doing the evac drills... Yes I know, I'm quite familiar with pointing out exists and donning a life jacket... But what they hell!

We were late "striking" the gangway due to congestion in the port of Civitaveccia (think I spelt that right). Five vessels to leave, we were number three. None of that airline passenger bollocks with being late, no hoof stomping or raised eyebrows....it was what it was...a little delay!

The head honcho with the big white hat and lots of shoulder stripes turning this puppy (approx 117,000 tonnes of metal) on a 20 cent coin in the "turning area".

The skies opened as we sailed out of the break water, and the sea was choppy to say the least. 45kt winds hitting sideways made it fun getting ready for our first dinner. Speaking of which we scored a table for 2 in the restaurant for the cruise, so no idle chit chat, chest thumping, pissing contests over dinner for us. YAY! Head Waiter quickly availed himself to discuss how the food allergies would be handled. No drama for anyone, nothing is a problem!  Ryan the snotmoster would have enjoyed his meal if he could taste it.  It was demolished anyway!

We managed to skype lil Keira for her birthday in NZ. We got the impression that she loved our present!

Hygiene is huge here with explicit instructions in bathrooms and hand sanitiser at every restaurant being mandatory. 

Since it was the lead up to one's celebration we thought it best to try a vodka...ok so we tried a vodka at EVERY bar on board and saw the 6th in.

We returned the the carbon to find that Clyde had been put to bed by the cabin attendant. 

Note to self - the increasing movement of the ship is directly proportional to the intake of vodka.

Ryan surprised me with some cool gifts...direct from the gift shop on board. I love that stuff. He left me stranded in the karaoke bar while he organised things. arrrrrrrh!

Day 13 - Off to See Papa Francis...

The second day of Rome is brought to you by a plethora of flag wavers...again!!

Today was intense. Personally, and in my own opinion, I found parts of today difficult to digest and comprehend... So I didn't bother.

Vatican City in its own right is quite remarkable. The apparent wealth and extravagance smacks you right in the face.... So do the beggars leaning, lying or kneeling against the outside of the exterior walls. Quite conflicted with that.

We had booked the museum tour which included the Sistine Chapel. We managed to locate the "quick exit" route on the tour and expedited our way to the chapel. Now that was something worth seeing. An incredible piece of art, some interesting papal history. We both agreed that it was a "tick in the box" being there and decided to move on. Been there, done that, got the fridge magnet! 

We were very naughty and managed a happy snap in the chapel... A big no, no. Talking in the chapel was a big no, no too - but that didn't stop most people. No stray bolts of lightening came our way, so we must have been OK! (The big fella is playing "pull my finger" at bottom left of picture). We didn't plan this picture just happened to be like this.

After that we moved next door to the square (it's actually round... I guess calling it Pope John Paul Roundabout doesn't have the same ring to it)  and had a look at the outside of St Peter's. Quite a large and impressive building. Still no bolts of lightening.

Another "selfie".  We have managed to take a large amount of selfies (for the oldies, that is the art of taking a photo of one's self). When we get back I will put them into a video.

After a big pasta lunch, Ryan had a nap while I increased the stash of souvenirs, included my second most fave.. A bobbing head statuette of Pope Frank....only second to my solar powered Queen Elizabeth.

Once Ryan woke up we went for a stroll around the "back alleys". It seems flag wavers refrain from these parts of town... So this was refreshing and finally some relaxing time in Rome.

I have almost convinced myself to buy a Vespa for my birthday present...almost. Bought an extra bag today instead... Have to put all the magnets somwhere. 

Before we finish is one up, Ryan surprised me with this hotel that we are staying in - a loft room hard to explain so I will make sure I get some photos before we check out tomorrow. The spiral staircase up to the bath is cool!

Here is the outside anyway...Ryan is practising his papal wave from the window!

Clyde wanted to say hi too! You may have to look closely!

This is Clyde's view...

Tomorrow is RUBY PRINCESS day. Time to relax and let someone else do the organising for 7 days. Since we are ahead in budget we have splashed out for a limo to the port, an hour away. Don't want to get our sailor suits creased on the train.

Might be faster internet on the ship than in is hotel....hopefully :)

Day 12 - The Roman Marathon

When In Rome.... Now I know what that statement means..... "Do everything you possibly can whilst tolerating the extreme number of walking tour groups who can be identified by some worldly person strutting around with a headset whilst holding some inanimate object aloft on a stick...such groups are more often than not the cause of slow moving pedestrian traffic or completely blocked footpaths as they travel 10 abreast across the walkway while viewing the world through a lense." This coupled with limited or no situational awareness or tolerance for others wishing pop a photograph or two leads to a wonderful experience to be cherished. Apart from that... all the "old stuff" we saw was rather impressive!

The Collesseo was something to marvel, as was the queue to get in. We opted to quickly trott back to our nearby hotel, ring the call centre to preorder our tickets, and trott back to the entrance with the small prebooked reservations queue. 

What an incredible piece of history. The audio tour was very informative - breathtaking to know that it is estimated that this arena could hold up to 70,000 revellers!!

Clyde was a little frightened to hear about the gore - the lion, tiger and hippo fights ( don't worry about the poor gladiators or slaves Clyde!) 

Fascinating it learn of the intricacies of what went on below the main floor... Getting Gladiators to the main area, the fighting animals into there too, and what happened with all the "left overs" afterwards.

After that tummy churning tale we went exploring the ruins next door and looking for a fountain...The Trevi Fountain....not before some authentic Itialian fare for lunch...first Big Mac of the trip. On our World Maccas Challenge this one would score 2 out of 5 stars.

Again, a lot of flag waving, footpath blocking antics and we made it. A good thing about the flag wavers... you know that you are on the right track. An increase of flag wavers indicates that you are near something of interest. Perfect navigation aid in Rome.

We made a quick stop by Ryan's favourite building / monument... Vittorio Emanuele. As the rule books state - when someone important dies you have to build something for them.... This guy must have been important!

Fountain, found...

Next stop the Spanish Steps. we thought it might be a long way to go to Spain, but lucky for us there were some Spanish ones here! We will be sure to check out the steps in Spain when we are there in just over a week, and get back to you with a compete step comparison.

It was a good place for a quick sit down... And play where's Wally... Not hard to miss them.

We finally made it back to the hotel, for a rest and then it was dinner....and then it was GELLATO!

Last night was chocolate, tonight was banana. 5 stars!!!