Writing, fatshion, me: Aegean Cruise

In mid September we went on another cruise! We went on a Meditterannean one in September 2018 and liked it so much that we knew we wanted to do another. As I was forty in January I said it would be nice to do it for that, so we have been saving up for a while to go. We booked it in November 2023 and I felt like it would never come around, but finally, it was Monday the 9th of September and we were setting off with my mum and stepdad!

They picked us up around 9.30am and we went to East Midlands airport which I actually really like as airports go. We got through security and everything and my mum and I went duty free shopping where I picked up some Hugo Boss Deep Red perfume which I used to wear years ago and really like, and it was a bargain at forty quid! We decided to eat in Frankie and Benny's and I had the vegetarian breakfast, which was fine. My mum and I had a mimosa each, too.

We sat around for a bit and finally boarded our plane to Dalaman. I don't like flying and I have to say that four hours on a plane was kind of at the top end of what I can tolerate. I sat next to my mum and listened to music and did some reading and drank some wine with her. Lee was asleep on the other side of the aisle so he was fine.

We landed at what was about 9pm, local time. Dalaman airport is not great and the toilets were a long ass way away, but I really needed to go so I did. Then we waited for the bags and finally we got on a coach to Marmaris where we would meet the boat. The coach ride was quite terrifying, to be honest, but we finally got there. There were wild rabbits outside the cruise port! We got our identity cards and I managed to get on a golf cart to take me to the ship which was good because it was quite a long way round!

Finally, the boat! By this point it was about 11.30pm and we were absolutely knackered. We briefly went to our cabins, which were lovely and which were just around the corner from the lifts, on a quiet corridor, and then we went to the buffet restaurant. We were hungry and fortunately the buffet was still open. We were eating curry around midnight, which was one of the more surreal moments of my llife for sure! The boat set sail and we were off!

It was around 2.30am by the time I finally went to sleep. If I could choose again I would have chosen an earlier flight from the UK which would have given us more time on the boat on that first day, and less time on the boat the following Monday on our last day. But that's really one of the only things I can complain about, and in the scheme of things it doesn't really matter. We were there!

We had inside cabins again because they are so much cheaper. The ship was a Marella one this time, it was the Marella Discovery and the inside cabins were lovely. Well appointed, with good lighting, and lots of space. I would definitely get one of these again. Last time we went with Norwegian and they were very expensive compared to this one, but we've heard good things about Marella so gave them a go. In all I think they are a really good line!

Here's my Monday photos:

Veggie breakfast in the airport - the green stuff at the top was guacamole but it wasn't really too nice

Mimosa!

Our aeroplane. It's a long time since I've been on a plane that wasn't a Ryanair flight, and the Tui plane definitely had more room than Ryanair! I wasn't uncomfortable at all