Med Cruise Part 2

The next day was a day at sea which are usually pretty rough for me. I get up, hit the gym, a little breakfast, and then it’s time for the lounge chair Olympics on the pool deck. Yep, I was a total slug, just sitting there reading my book and watching all of the hot men go by. Oh, and did I mention the cool, frosty drinks to quench my thirst after all of my hard work? Yeah, it’s rough. I will say the crowd on this cruise was a bit older than my other cruises, which makes sense it was more expensive. I’d say the majority of the guys were between 35-55. So I was on the left hand side of the bell curve. And speaking of older men, this was the first day that I met one of my Object D’Lust (aka ODL #1) on the cruise. Heading back from the gym to the room I got on a really packed elevator and the next thing I know I’m about 2 inches from a very nice muscular chest with light silver hair that’s been clipped very nicely. We’re talking a seriously hot daddy type, very muscular, great smile, etc. Love him.

Anyways, later that afternoon was the Dog Tag T-Dance which is always a lot of fun. They hand out dog tags and then you put a different color sticker on them if you’re available (green), might be available (yellow), or not available (red). And of course there are always the multiple stickers: green & yellow, or yellow & red. One guy had founds some stickers that had prices on them ($5, $1, Best Offer) and so that added to the fun. After the dance, I went to see one of the comedy shows called “Pam Ann’s Security Alert.” It this British comedienne who is a sarcastic, bitchy, rude flight attendant who is just hilarious! And with all of the new travel restrictions, her show was especially funny. After that I got suckered into volunteering to be on the Atlantis version of the Dating Game. It was awful. I like to think of myself as being funny and witty and quick on my feet, but I froze. Some of my answers were just weird. Not that I was going to win anyways. We had to describe the other contestants and contestant number three described contestant number one as hot. So that was the end of that. Why even ask the questions at this point! There was another dance that night, but with no disco nap, I couldn’t stay out too late.

Up early the next morning as we arrived in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Wow, just amazing. After a quick cardio burn in the gym and some breakfast, I went out for my tour. I decided to do the walking tour of Dubrovnik where you basically walk the fortress walls that surround the city. After a quick photo stop for a panoramic view of the city, we headed down into the city. After filing off our bus, we walked through the ancient gates of the city and then climbed up the city walls. The walls and fortifications were amazing, as was the weather. It was sunny and hot and just great. We started walking as we listened to the tour guide explain the history of the city. I still don’t get why the early name of the people were “Ragusans” but I just let that go. As we made our way around the city walls, we had a bird’s eye view of the ancient harbor, of the cool, clear water surrounding the city, and the maze of small streets within the old city. It was just too cool. We, however, were not cool. It was getting pretty hot and we kept looking down at the people in the water and I was just dieing to jump in to cool off, but no such luck. After the tour, I wandered the main street a bit, had a drink, and then did some shopping. I definitely want to go back to Croatia, it was just so pretty.

After all of the walking around town all afternoon in the hot sun, I went back to the ship, had a late afternoon snack and then promptly crashed for a needed disco nap. The entertainment this evening was a singer named Shayna Steele who’s been in Rent, Hairspray, and some other Broadway shows and she was awesome. After her show, I stayed for Dixie Longate’s Tupperware Party. Think of it as a bitchy, sarcastic, trailor trash saleswoman pushing Tupperware. It was just hilarious! And then for the triple crown I stayed for the late night comedy show which was good also. And then since I was rested from my dicso nap, I headed up to the Starquest Disco for a little dancing. Just a little as Venice was the next day!

Venice. I love Venice. I’ve been there before, several times, but this was the first time I’ve seen Venice coming in from the 13^th deck of a cruise ship. As we made our approach to the city, we had just an amazing view of the city and the various islands that make up Venice. Pulling into Venice is a bit of a haze. The ship’s pilot comes onboard almost 90 minutes before we dock to guide us through the channel to take us to the pier where we docked. Needless to say the pier wasn’t anywhere close to St. Mark’s Square in the center of Venice, so we took a bus boat into the city center. I spent the day with my roommate and his friends and after arriving at St. Mark’s Square, we immediately got on another boat to got o Murano, another island that is famous for its glass work. Because of the fear of fire, all of the glass factories were sent over to Murano and now that’s what is famous for. We got a “free” ride over, but had to sit through a glass blowing exhibition and then got “offered” the opportunity to look at the factory’s gift shop. It was nice and the glass is amazing, but I don’t need a $3000 piece of glass artwork or a $5000 chandelier. After we escaped, we wandered Murano a bit poking into other stores looking for more reasonably priced gifts and souvenirs. After stocking up on multi-colored glass pendants, we caught a bus boat back to Venice. After searching unsuccessfully for a costume store, we ate lunch at a little pizzeria where I had a nice calzone. Yum! After lunch we wandered around St. Mark’s Square and took some pics. It was very crowded, but lots of fun just bumming around. We then split up and I continued my quest for a costume for the Venetian Masquerade dance. I did find some stores, but I wasn’t ready to drop $1500 dollars on a silk and wool costume. Maybe what I brought isn’t so bad after all. So I went back to the ship, did my nap, gym, dinner thing and then went up to the 90s Diva Dance party. It was a blast and some of the ship’s crew was there so I drug a couple of the female crew members onto the dance floor where they had a blast. The DJ was Wayne G and he rocked. So definitely a good night and I was up late as we were at sea the next day.