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The five of us - Angela, Keith, Necia, Mother and I - all enjoyed our day and night at Le Boulevard hotel on the Lido. Totally unexpectedly, Chung and Michael appeared in the lobby mid-afternoon and the party continued. Apparently, I gave a speech that night before retiring, not one word of which I recollect.

Clearly we need to get Molly, Necia and Angela blogging to get the full story!

Tim’s photos are excellent but scary in the sense that I visibly put on a stone and age 10 years in the space of a few day... the side effect of allegrissimo. In future I will have to schedule in a haircut and spa detox!

It was great to meet so many fun people, although would have been nice to meet people on day 1... I was under the impression the White Lion (AKA white pig) gathering on day 1 had been cancelled and we (Me, Andi, James and Jeffrey) ended up on a separate table for lunch on day 2 (we did have the company of an interesting Norwegian lady and a blind german lady) and the first new person we met was moomoocow (Jane)... albeit by accident in the white pig several days into the cruise.

Las Palmas was rather uneventful, despite arriving a day early, I was too tired after a very busy week at work and early start. The weather didn’t help. It was good to recover in familiar surroundings and we had a pleasant Saturday morning and lunch in a Spanish Bistro and then proceeded to relax on the balcony (reassured by the fact that we could see the ship, Andi had alarmed me the night before by pointing to an MSC container vessel and suggesting that might be our abode for the coming days).

We made our way to check in at 4pm and it was quite surprisingly a painless process, the queue moved quickly and everything seemed to be in order except we were on separate tables for dinner. We were directed to the Maitre d’ who had set up shop in the Duomo bar, so we had to stop off and have a drink to before engaging him.

We then went to check the cabin, mine was a balcony cabin but Andi’s had an inside cabin which I found small and a tad claustrophobic, so that cabin was used abandoned in favour of mine. After settling in we went to explore the ship and see how far start the perilous allegrissimo journey. It was great to have a sea a whole day at sea to get used to our surroundings (particularly the bars!).

Casablanca was my first trek into Africa but had been warned by many not to expect much, my low expectations were exceeded. We walked to the mosque, only to realise we were using a map of Kuwait! We explored the more rustic parts of town and enjoyed a beverage in a traditional coffee house before exploring the souk and purchasing sandals and local lunch – only £5 for 4 and an experience to boot! We had a frantic last minute purchase of a man bag and retired back to ship.

Cadiz is a bit of a haze as I overindulged in allegrissimo... We have been to Malaga a few times but thought it would be nice to go for a walk and some tapas, we went to a little place in a secluded square sandwiched between the Thyssen Museum and a homeless charity. We then popped into el Corte Ingles, to find that it was the first day of the 80% sale... bargains for all... although I do regret not buying another man bag.

Another sea day and then La Goullette. This was probably my favourite stop despite the taxi drivers who just would not give up. We walked to the train station and were directed to a bank to obtain local currency and paid less than 70p return for both of us to Tunis. The train was old but the service was frequent. Tunis is not particularly Touristy so you see more of the local culture. Unfortunately, we did not have much time there so after a 2 hours of wandering, buying (much cheaper than Casablanca but harder to find decent stuff in the immense Souk in the old town) and sightseeing we hurried back to the station to get back to the cruise terminal. We stopped for refreshment to use up our remaining Dinars only to be confronted with a mediocre coffee and a cold cup of tea. Managed to get a good deal on some souvenirs as the traders in the terminal knew that everyone was returning to the ship.

Valetta was interesting but very tiring walking up and down the steep streets, especially after another late night.

Agrostoli , Kefalonia, is a small town and the best feature are the views of the mountains. We walked around town for a while and enjoyed some local beverages on the riverside, purchased some local herbs (all legal!) and retired.

Dubrovnik was a short trip but adequate time look around the compact old town. We took a taxi which worked out cheaper (and more convenient) even for two of us than the MSC bus (€20 return as opposed to €25.80 for two bus tickets). A lot to see in a very small place

Split was pleasant but after yet another heavy night, we walked around town, had a local lunch and retired.

As a novice cruiser, I had expected time on ship to be boring particularly as few (if any) of the organised activities appealed.. far from it. Despite the Spanish youngsters (surprised nobody else has mentioned them so far... or have I missed something) being given free run of the ship, particularly by the Cruise Director and the DJ, it was relatively easy to find refuge from them although, every so often, some of them would turn up. The disco started closing at 2 am instead of the usual 4 am as the youngsters thought it was acceptable to help themselves to drinks. The food in the buffet was always cold and the baked beans were unlike any I have seen but the restaurant food was generally good (although it rarely reflected the description). Most of the staff were fantastic (and those that weren’t, were at least amusing), particularly the Casino duo Vlad and Iulia, our designated dinner waiter Gabriel to mention just a few.

The thing that really made the cruise was the people, it was great to have dinner with Mairi, Chung and Mike (as well as the Js) followed by random drinks (trying my best to avoid flaming lamorghinis and B52s!) with the early diners. It was fab... it can only go downhill from here lol

I am tempted to sign up to another cruise already... any suggestions? Perhaps new year.... although the only one that would work from MSCs offering is the 7 day Canaries.

When do they do repos? I know there has been talk of prices going up but still might be worth considering if there is enough of a discount.