Friday 30 June 2023
I'm writing this as the huge ship moves in a swaying motion on the English channel. The Carnival Pride has finally set sail. We were about 3 hours late to set off due to weather conditions affecting the cranes that were loading the luggage, the captain explained. It's a completely different world for me. It’s like a little town on steroids. It reminds me of Sun City in South Africa, a bit fake and kitschy but it serves a purpose and I enjoy the man-made oasis.
Our room is more spacious than I expected plus there's plenty of packing space for both of us. My travelling companion, Angie, brought along the biggest ever suitcase while I have a airplane cabin-luggage size suitcase. One of the fellow passengers remarked on my tiny bag, I felt quite proud of my light travelling skill, lol. I might not be so proud at the end of my 9 days on this ship.
There's many different cultures and accents on board. After hearing mainly the Scots brogue for the past month, I have to get my ear in. I am surprised by how many Americans are on the trip. The cruise line does seem to be American so that makes sense to have their local people. Plus the currency on board is dollars. Not that I intend to spend many, lol.
Cruising has never really appealed to me before because in South Africa the choices of destinations are limited with a particularly rough sea round the largest part of the coast. To cruise from South Africa is also expensive so I never bothered with looking. The beauty of being on this smallish island surrounded by Europe and the Atlantic Ocean is that there's much to see and visit. Our agenda looks magnificent on the Norwegian coast and I'm really looking forward to see all the places that I have seen on the Netflix Nordic drama series.
I'm even getting used to no internet, now I bet that surprises you!
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