Scottishnellies UK Cruise - Day 4, A very rough day at sea!

[scottishnellie]

I was awake on and off from 5am. The sea was very choppy and as a result I could really feel the swaying and did not like it at all. Having nothing to compare it to I didn’t know if it’s a normal level or not, but it seems bad to me. I also had to look for my earplugs as all these things in the cabin were creaking with the movement. It was driving me nuts. I was hoping once we got further south it might improve

It was a brighter morning though so maybe there would be some outside time today.

kevin and kieran went for breakfast at 9. Hannah had already message saying she had ordered room service breakfast last night, but had she known she would’ve been awake since 7 with the swaying she would’ve gone to normal breakfast instead. Problem is you need to order breakfast before 2am so you can’t just wait n see what you feel like that morning.

10am Back from breakfast the boys decided they were going to do the water slides. It was a beautiful sunny day but just very windy. The boys had a brilliant laugh on the slides and I managed to get photos of a couple of them.

but I was seriously swaying all over the place now. It was kinda funny, particularly as I was all wrapped up against the wind with my scarf round my ears despite it being glorious. The boys were ok as long as they stayed in the water as it’s heated to 28 degrees like the pools.

But I did actually feel quite dizzy now so I went downstairs to the Horizon bar for a strong cup of tea to see if that would help.

It didn’t 🥴

The boys came back and kieran ducked into the loo with his wee rucksack to get changed as he had arranged to play football at 11. But he was soon back saying it was now cancelled as they hadn’t been able to keep it non contact in line with regulations. So now that huge sports complex lies empty and all the teens are just forced to gather in tighter spaces like the arcade. Complete madness. I fired off an email to MSC direct who have been more responsive than guest services downstairs.

Kevin had queued to try to book ten pin bowling but you can only book a day in advance and it was already fully booked so they told him to come back at 6pm tomorrow to try to book for Sunday. Instead he decided he wanted to try the F1 racing car so he headed back to change from flip flops to trainers first.

He wasn’t that impressed but I think that’s just because it was much more difficult than he expected. And he crashed. A lot. Kieran said it had been fine when he did it!

Next they went on the VR together. Kieran has an Occuolus Quest at home and loves it so this was right up his street.

the ship was still really swaying side to side so it must’ve been weird doing the VR at the same time! They both enjoyed it anyway.

Then all 3 of us went to the 4D cinema and shot up some zombies! That was way more fun than I thought it would be.

The only thing was, when I came out of there and the ship was still swaying I was staggering all over the place. We headed for a lower floor, centre of ship, and just took a seat for 10 minutes until my head stopped spinning. Poor kieran had to clique my arm and pull me in to stop me staggering. Thank goodness he’s a big strong boy. After a wee while I felt better and thought maybe we should eat. So we headed to the buffet. I texted Hannah who said she wouldn’t be joining us.

When I looked at the Facebook page I wasn’t the only one. There were loads of folk really sick, hadn't made it out of the cabin, queuing for sickness tablets from reception - you name it. So I suppose I was lucky that it didn’t make me sick, just dizzy and disoriented.

the good thing was - the buffet was really quiet! But the wooden table legs on the shiny wooden floor couldn’t cope with the swaying at all. Kieran and I were sitting on a fixed banquet but kevin was in the wooden seat opposite us and with each sway would slide 6 inches away from the table, then 6 inches back into it again! Not enough to be dangerous, so it was just funny. Next thing though, the ship took a big pitch to port side and every set of plates in every station right along the length of the buffet all came crashing out into the floor at the same time. I was a helluva racket and I felt so sorry for the staff having to scramble to get them all up. Thankfully being heavy plastic most survived although some did still shatter.

In between all the hoo-ha we staggered back n forth to collect a range of nice food. I’m finding the food is really nice despite some folk saying it isn’t great on MSC when I did my research.

I just had some broccoli soup with croutons - delicious

Kieran’s burger n pizza

And kevin had sticky ribs n quesadillas. He said the sticky ribs were amazing and they did smell lovely

Kieran has some tiny fruit tarts for dessert

After lunch and me feeling slightly better we staggered our way past the empty outdoor pool. It was such a shame it was so windy as the sunshine was glorious

and into the indoor tropical pool where the water was all slooshing back n forth with the ships sway. The hot tubs were open and full of folk.



Kieran decided he was heading back to his room for a rest so kevin and I went to the adult sky lounge which was nice and bright and peaceful.

We got a seat by the window and watched the waves outside. I don’t think it helped, but I don’t think it made it any worse either.

By this time the talk of the ship was about how we were about to turn the corner into the English Channel and how this should significantly calm things down. I really hoped so!

When we got back to the cabin our cabin steward Subaidi had left us a wee towel rabbit.

RABBIT

I got changed to go for my massage and kevin had a wee nap til it was gym time.

I staggered my way to the spa, which was right at the opposite end of the ship, by more less clinging along the walls with my hands like a drunk Spiderman.

I arrived at the spa and filled in the consultation form before being collected by my masseuse.

Once laid face down on the bed I could still feel the ship rolling, but not from side to side. I was now tipping back n forth so one minute my head was above my toes, next minute I’d tip forward head down. But she started the massage and I decided it didn’t feel too bad, other than the bizarre sound of the sink in the room gurgling every time I tipped forward.

That was until the girl suddenly said ‘sorry!’ And bolted from the room. She ran so fast she didn’t even close the door and I’m now lying there covered in a thin towel while the door flaps open and closed with the sway, and I can hear this poor girl retching her guts up somewhere nearby.

It was a good 5-10 minutes or so before she appeared back, white as a sheet and apologising profusely saying she had been ‘having the sea sick all day’. Bless her. I told her just to finish now but she insisted on carrying on. To be honest I couldn’t wait for the last part of the massage to be over then as I just felt so bad for her.

Finished up and I staggered back to my cabin like Billy Connolly in the drunk man sketch from the big banana feet days. I could’ve done with Kieran’s strong arm! I did notice that the bars were almost empty compared to yesterday when they were all packed, so I hoped that was a good sign folk might be a bit more civilised tonight.

Kevin was still at the gym so I just lay down and chilled. The swaying definitely started to ease and the sun was shining on my balcony so I decided to give it a go. Sure enough - it was lovely!

So I sat there a while then headed up to the main pool to see what was going on. Found a wee spot and lay on a lounger in the sun listening to the poolside karaoke. Well what a difference sailing round a corner makes. Swaying stopped, sun out, wee wummin killing it on the karaoke!

Kevin joined me after his shower and we had a drink

He was telling me that he had only let the kids use the treadmill on really slow walking speeds as a warm up, explaining it was too dangerous to run when the ship was pitching to the side. Cue lots of eye rolling etc but he was proved right towards the end of their workouts when a young lad about 16 shot off the back of a treadmill right across the floor on his back and shoulder, ending up with grazes all down his arm and being carted off for first aid. The boys dad was with him but was off doing weights to the side and not supervising.

Once it clouded over we went up to the adult sky lounge for another one.

and kevin had a coffee and a wee cake

Back to the cabin and ready and out for the evening. Messaged the kids at 7:45 to say we were in the champagne bar and to get us there.

I decided I needed to start ticking off more on this champagne cocktail menu to try different ones tonight so ordered a Blooming Champagne and a Violette Royale.

And Kevin tried a French75

the kids arrived after I had just received a message from Hannah that just said ‘I hate my outfit’

deep joy. That set the tone for the next couple of hours and meant no chance of a photographer photo again tonight. Even though her dad and I thought she looked amazing.

Down to our restaurant for dinner with the usual temperature checks etc

Hannah relaxed a bit during dinner but not enough to get photographer photos done before she headed back to the room to change.

We waited for her in the champagne bar with a drink as that’s near the lifts, but it has no music so very little atmosphere.

And we waited. And we waited. I’m not sure how long it should take to change into jeans but I sure as hell know it’s not that long. Eventually, Despite umpteen texts that she was ‘just coming’ we gave up and kevin went to see if he could bag a table at the Virtuosa bar with music. So I sat myself and then eventually Hannah appeared and we went to join them

The lounge was a far more civilised affair tonight, and the band were good with lots of dancy songs.

Hannah and I were noseying at a drama unfolding along from us. There were two groups at adjacent tables and a single woman from one group was blatantly flirting with a married man from the other group. His wife was absolutely raging but he was clearly loving the attention and getting her up to dance!

Kieran started to flag again. So much so that a wee head rub from his dad had him nodding off!

Back at the room you could tell we were nearing Southampton as we could see lots of other cruise ships in the distance. This one is a rubbish picture as it was so far away but it was very pretty all lit up.

The boys had just missed the late night buffet which closes at 00:30 so kieran will be starving by breakfast!

[loola30]

Oh such a shame that the day wasn't calmer. I'm terrible with sea sickness (even in calm seas in the Caribbean) so I will start taking my tablets before even boarding - I just hope the kids are ok with it but I have got tablets to take for them too if they need it.

The food looks lovely and a really nice variety actually - how has the service been in the main restaurants?

Your outfits are to die for! You all look so classy - love it.

Also - did you upgrade your drinks package and get the Fun Pass in advance? Sorry for all the questions! x

[scottishnellie]

Originally Posted by loola30

Oh such a shame that the day wasn't calmer. I'm terrible with sea sickness (even in calm seas in the Caribbean) so I will start taking my tablets before even boarding - I just hope the kids are ok with it but I have got tablets to take for them too if they need it.

The food looks lovely and a really nice variety actually - how has the service been in the main restaurants?

Your outfits are to die for! You all look so classy - love it.

Also - did you upgrade your drinks package and get the Fun Pass in advance? Sorry for all the questions! x

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No problem at all 😁

The service in the main restaurant is fairly slow but we like a leisurely dinner with gaps between courses and you can order extra of whatever you want. For example, kieran has requested a second portion when he has curry as the portion is really quite small. And a couple of times we’ve ordered another starter or pudding if someone liked something someone else had. They’re very attentive topping up wine etc so I think the slower pace is more to with the timing of the dishes coming from kitchen than the waiters.

Thank you 😊 I’ve really enjoyed getting to wear nice dresses and get glammed up for a change. Funny story - we were walking through the corridors last night and a woman coming out of her room said what a lovely dress I was wearing. Her wee boy peeked out and shouted back into the room ‘dad - a lady just walked by really pretty. She looks like a sunset!’ 🤣😁 I’m actually a bit gutted I forgot to get a full length photo of it as it graduates into purple at the bottom and you can’t see it in the pics.

And yes. We upgraded to premium plus drinks before we went as we really fancied the champagne cocktails. It’s £13 per person per night before you go, but £16pppn if you wait til onboard. Upgrading also means you get the contents of your mini bar included.

And yes we bought 2 fun passes on the MSC for you app before we came. One on Hannah’s card and one on Kieran’s. If you buy in advance you pay £72 but get £140 of credit for that so much better value than on board. And the arcade things are expensive so you spend it quick!

[JoJo88]

Oh my goodness, I feel queasy just reading about the sway! That poor girl doing your massage! Drunk Spider-Man made me laugh 😂 I couldn’t have done the VR with the ship like it was - we have an Occulus too and there are only a few things I can play on there!

So glad you metaphorically and literally turned the corner and things calmed down!

[Disney_time]

Gracious, what a day with all that rolling about. The poor girl in the spa, I don't expect she gets to look at the horizon much, being trapped all day in the spa.

[loola30]

Originally Posted by scottishnellie

No problem at all 😁

The service in the main restaurant is fairly slow but we like a leisurely dinner with gaps between courses and you can order extra of whatever you want. For example, kieran has requested a second portion when he has curry as the portion is really quite small. And a couple of times we’ve ordered another starter or pudding if someone liked something someone else had. They’re very attentive topping up wine etc so I think the slower pace is more to with the timing of the dishes coming from kitchen than the waiters.

Thank you 😊 I’ve really enjoyed getting to wear nice dresses and get glammed up for a change. Funny story - we were walking through the corridors last night and a woman coming out of her room said what a lovely dress I was wearing. Her wee boy peeked out and shouted back into the room ‘dad - a lady just walked by really pretty. She looks like a sunset!’ 🤣😁 I’m actually a bit gutted I forgot to get a full length photo of it as it graduates into purple at the bottom and you can’t see it in the pics.

And yes. We upgraded to premium plus drinks before we went as we really fancied the champagne cocktails. It’s £13 per person per night before you go, but £16pppn if you wait til onboard. Upgrading also means you get the contents of your mini bar included.

And yes we bought 2 fun passes on the MSC for you app before we came. One on Hannah’s card and one on Kieran’s. If you buy in advance you pay £72 but get £140 of credit for that so much better value than on board. And the arcade things are expensive so you spend it quick!

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Thank you!

That dress is stunning. I'm looking forward to getting to wear my posh frocks - it's been a while We don't mind a leisurely dinner either so as long as DH can have double portions and my wine gets topped up on the regular, I'm happy

Are you getting 4G internet when you're in port? I'm not sure whether to bother with the wifi package.

I've enquired about upgrading to Yacht Club on our cruise but it's fully booked and the prices were eye-watering! Considering putting in a cheeky upgrade bid on the off-chance that someone cancels...

In the meantime I'm off to sort our upgrading our drinks package and getting the kids a fun pass.

[BevS97]

Wow what a day. I hope the weather is better for you now.

[scottishnellie]

Originally Posted by loola30

Are you getting 4G internet when you're in port? I'm not sure whether to bother with the package.

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Yes. And I each time we dock I actually turn the package off as the 4G is somuch quicker. So we’ve actually paid £200 for our 4 phones to have wifi on the 2 sea days and on evenings once we’ve sailed away. In hindsight that’s not worth it and it’s one thing I wish we hadn’t bothered with.

Have you got magnetic hooks for your cabin? They’re brilliant for creating more space and hanging things up out of the way. That’s what my long dresses are hanging on as the wardrobe is too short.

And you definitely need clips or bands to hold the towels down. Windy-ho!

[BevS97]

What sort of clips / bands have you got for that towels?

[Fortytwo]

That video of the pool is something else! Glad it settled and the sun came out for you.