Day 4 – Valletta

Our slightly delayed arrival in to Valletta was very interesting. From our balcony we watched the pilot trying to cut through the swell in his small boat. I filmed it and will add the video when home. How on Earth these guys manage what they do is incredible – I know I’d be too frightened to jump on to a rope ladder!

We watched the arrival in to the historic Grand Harbour from a forward facing public balcony on deck 9. Valletta is just stunning, there’s no other word for it. We stayed there to watch the 12 noon gun salute before heading out in to the city. We’ve visited a number of times on our cruises (three times within the last five months) so know the city quite well and as such were able to give Stuart and Trevor a guided tour.

After a couple of hours in town we headed back to the ship and grabbed some food from the buffet. We don’t normally ‘do’ the buffet as we favour the MDR, however we’d missed lunch service. The buffet was calm with lots of free tables. The food selection was varied with a carvery serving roast chicken. Other options included canneloni pasta, cold meats with salad, chicken skewers, beef stew, battered fish, roast vegetables, soup, sandwiches and a stir fry, the list goes on. I’m confident there’s something for even the most fussy eater.

We sat in the glorious sunshine on deck for a while and enjoyed a couple of cocktails before heading back in to Valletta to meet up with our Facebook friend Susan who lives nearby. It was the first time we’d met in person and we chatted for nearly two hours – it felt like we’d known each other for years!

We made it back just in time for dinner – the evening’s menu included starters of Timbale of smoked salmon, breaded mushrooms, salad and cauliflower soup. Main courses were pasta with ricotta, basil and tomato, seafood risotto, swordfish, duck breast with red cabbage and apples. The alternative selection included pasta bolognese, grilled cod, chicken breast and veal paillard. The extensive dessert collection included peach Bavarian cream, pavlova, baked apple, ice cream, cheese and fruit.

Our choices were salmon, pasta, duck and Bavarian cream. Some excellent flavours washed down with house white wine.

The MSC Voyagers Club Black Card party was held in one of the bars and we were a little surprised how few of us there were – just 6 of us. This gave us the opportunity for another catch up with Alistair.

In the theatre there was a Neopolitan classics show, we poked our heads round the corner for a while – the theatre was packed and the singing excellent.

Somehow we made it up to the disco again and crawled back to our cabin at about 2am.

We’re at sea again today, heading towards Dubrovnik. The wind is currently blowing at 49 knots – you could say it’s blowing a gale – although we’ve still not met the famous Gail!