Valetta, Malta - July 22

36 degrees and not a cloud in the sky

Valletta is a very pretty city – the capital of the small island nation of Malta.  It is just off the coast of Italy, 90 K south of Sicily.  We take it easy in the morning and head out after lunch.

The morning gives me a chance to explore the ship a bit more – you notice I say ‘me’ and not ‘us’, the casino last night took a lot out of Chris (it actually left me ahead by 100.)  This ship is the biggest we have been on.  It has a maximum for 1200 passengers.  Our last year’s ship held 650 and before that we were on one that would hold just 450.  Of course the ship is bigger to accommodate more passengers.  It never feels crowded other than at the pool yesterday as it was a sea day and at lunch – oh and at the Captain’s cocktail reception where the bar was open.  On this cruise line (Oceania) alcohol is not included as it was on our last few cruises with Regent.  We purchased their offered alcohol package, so we aren’t worried about an open bar.  Compared to previous evenings the bar was full. 

This is a brand new ship – sailing since May of this year.  It is very sparkly and the décor is very much to our taste.  Definitely the nicest ship we have been on.
We tour the island in the afternoon, do a bit of souvenir shopping and are back on board by 5:30.  The sail-away around 8 PM is delightful with a band send-off.  The weather is lovely – warm, but not too warm.  We eventually head to dinner although we could have easily have lingered on our deck all evening.

One thing of note was my straight flush at the casino tonight…very exciting – I’m still ‘UP’.