Dates: 11-18.11.2023

Oh my God! What an experience this was 😀 My friend Ioana has told me about a cruise she wants to go to and wanted some company so she asked that I joined her. Well.. I wasn’t particularly excited about the event itself, but i decided to join her for the sake of spending time with her. She wanted to go because some guru Zumba instructors, including Claudiu Gutu, whose classes she visits for many years now, would have jam sessions all mornings and all evenings and she’s a huge fan of Zumba thanks to him. I, on the other hand, am not a huge fan of Zumba. So I had NO idea what would I do there and also did not have any days off anymore. Or, in other words, I have already abused the “unlimited PTO” policy at work a bit too much and did not want to do it anymore. So I opted for getting like only 1-2 days off which my manager approved and got approval to work from aboard a cruise ship that would travel from Italy through Montenegro, Croatia, Greece and back to Italy. And previously when we talked about it, a month or so before that, we decided against going because Claudiu wasn’t going, but when the news broke that he actually IS booked there, Ioana kind of begged me to join her and she’s my friend so.. what choice did I have? 😀 and it looked like that because we booked in the last moment, they still had some spare rooms available so we got upgraded to two rooms instead of one which we would have normally booked. Also, Ioana had some sort of a discount voucher that she wanted to use for the event. So we made use of it as well and the only thing left was for me to book an internet package onboard because obviously I cannot buy a SIM card with unlimited internet or some amount of internet that would be enough since we would be going in and out of countries all the time so the only internet option really was the option from the cruise ship which costed €20 a day so in total I paid 120 euro for the internet. The ship was called Costa Deliziosa and it was insanely big. I had never been on a cruise ship before that, so when I saw it for the first time, it was pretty impressive.

So first, we had a transfer from Venezia to the departure point of the cruise ship booked by the Zumba Cruise organizers. The event was something like a workshop, or, more like a series of workshops for which they booked some really high-end very good zumba instructors to lead those workshops and the workshops were happening every morning and every evening while the ship was moving in between the cities and the countries and that way you wouldn’t miss the classes. Ioana traveled with Claudiu from Bucharest in the morning and I traveled around lunchtime or something so she was on the ship earlier than me. When I arrived in Venezia, I got picked up by a little van and on the way we stopped by another airport and also by a bus station to pick up more people. They all immediately jumped into conversations showing that they definitely knew each other. I think I was the only outsider hahaha 😀 it was very funny – I was just looking out the window and it was a whole 1.5 hour drive or something and I didn’t exchange one single word besides hello to the first girl. Eventually someone felt pity for me and asked me where I’m from, which instructor I want to see and some other questions related to Zumba and I really had no idea, I just explained that I was there with a friend who is a friend of one of the instructors so at least they knew that I’m basically a complete noob on the topic 😀 Later on, I realized that the van was full of Zumba instructors hired for the event. Even later on I realized somewhere around the end of the event that most of the people in general, who are there to the Zumba event, were actually instructors, so overall there were more teachers than learners like me. At the beginning when we arrived with the van and were headed to board the ship one of the guys asked if I needed help with my luggage and I said I don’t really because I only had one little suitcase and his question was “Is that all your luggage?!” 😀 he really was super surprised and I was surprised why he was so surprised but then I saw that all of them had at least two suitcases and I was confused because come on, you go for seven days, how much luggage would you need especially if you are a man? 😀 But the zumba community apparently is really obsessed with their culture and they buy only Zumba clothes which are really beautiful, super colorful, very bright, beautiful colors, and also styles, including shoes, and not only do they buy a bunch of those, but also match them between each other so when later on they would have a class with some other instructor they would both wear the exact same outfit. This was really interesting and cool to see!!

But my story’s getting a bit ahead of itself so let’s rewind a bit. So we arrive, we go through security check for our luggage just like at the airport then we receive some instructions and a card is basically your boarding pass and also the key to your cabin. So when we entered the ship.. oh my GOD it was so ugly 😀 it looks like you travel back in time back to the 60s or something I don’t know, there are carpets on all the floors, there are colorful very old-style tiles everywhere, random neon decorations on the wall, random smaller tiles right next to the bigger tiles with some odd mix of colors. The whole vibe was so weird and so funny and the ship was a hell of a confusing place. So it took a little bit of time to figure out which side of the ship our cabins were. They were next to each other but somehow the numbering was very very weird and you would think this is the right place based on the number of your cabin but when my number arrived on the doors let’s say my room number was 460 (even number), there was a cabin numbered 458 and another one next to it 462. So you’d think 460 would be in between them, but no.. there was no 460. Eventually we figured out that we had to go on the other side which is for the odd numbers and had to go one corridor further down or so.. I really have no idea how or who decided to order numbers like that but they should be fired

So finally we are at the cabin and they told us that the 4 o’clock we must be present at the mandatory safety instruction on board and for that we must be on the second floor and we must bring our life belts. However we figured that on the application that we must use onboard there is an option to do that there so basically we were listening on our phone all the instructions and safety precautions and stuff instead of having to go at four o’clock on the second floor however there was an issue with signing that these instructions have been passed so we still had to go to the fourth floor to ask about it and it was five minutes before the end of the demonstrations or five minutes after the end I’m not sure but we explained that we followed the instructions on the app and asked them to sign it for us so they did that and finally we were cleared off for that.

So next thing we know we go to the cabins and prepare for our first dinner. Dinner was always at the same time and place – we were assigned to a certain table in a restaurant in the middle of the ship on the second floor or so and our whole Zumba cruise people were more or less in the same area. When you go to dinner, you get a menu to choose from for all the 3 courses – 3 choices for each course and you have to wait for them to take one out in order to bring the next so it’s not like we could go to dinner for like 30 min, rather we had to be stuck there for at least 2h, even though the staff tried not to be too slow. The ship staff were people mostly from developing countries in Asia or South America. And they were very kind but the whole process of ordering and waiting was just too annoying. They also had some sort of an agenda with shows on certain days of the week, sometimes they would randomly stard dancing and singing in the middle of the dinner and everyone would join them, there was also a White night organized by the cruise ship when, e.g. on Mondays, you have to go to the pool deck for a party and be dressed all in white, they also had other cruise ship parties. The ship was huge so there was plenty to do for everyone, especially elderly people – there was a gambling and bingo hall, theatre, music halls, and unlimited food all day long during the cruise. The food looked awesome from the outside but tasted quite horrible. Some of the things were ok, but for the most part, it wasn’t anything special and some of the things were quite bad. So at our first dinner, we met a girl, who ended up being an instructor with the zumba guys and she had classes. What happened though, was that Ioana wasn’t very excited to socialize, which to a certain extent was understandable for me because she has a nice social circle. I, on the other hand, didn’t, especially in the Netherlands and was soo “thirsty” for social interactions and partying that I didn’t care and went to some parties alone, because after the first night I realized that Ioana was so bored and tired that she really didn’t want to come with me outside (I mean at a ship party), so I didn’t want to torture her and let he go to the cabin and relax, even though she did come with me 2 nights so she wouldn’t leave me on my own, but it really was fine, I was having beers and dancing and I had unlimited drinks package which I bought and we decided to share the cost between each other and same with the internet package. I did have to work on some of the days and she couldn’t use the internet during that time, but the rest of the time if she needed, it was no problem. So the days started going with some zumba classes in the mornings or evenings, during the day the ship stopped at some cities, for some of them that I wanted to see, like Kotor, Dubrovnik and Split, I got off the ship and had taken a day off, for the other days (e.g. Bari) I worked on the ship. A few of the days I even went to the zumba classes where only Ioana would dance, I sat there with the laptop and worked and watched them. It was really a great experience. What we came to realize, is that I was INSANELY terrible at Zumba or anything like that that has steps and I have to follow them, especially zumba kind of thing which required you to.. you know.. move your body more, I just couldn’t do it, also the steps the instructors were showing were not really distinct – it was more like a smooth dance than following steps. So I was really bad. Ioana, on the other hand, was great but she did not enjoy at all just improvising in the evening when we went to one of the zumba organized parties – she didn’t want to just go and dance whatever, which was what I wanted. So unless there was an instructor in front of people, she didn’t dance and just watched. The zumba parties were quite funny, there was a Christmas-themed party, a Barbie-themed party and a Mexican party. This was when I realized why people have 2 huge suitcases with them at the cruise and why I got asked if “this is all my luggage” about my small hand-luggage-sized suitcase – they had costumes for each of these themed parties and also a few sets of zumba clothes AND shoes to dance together with other instructors they had classes with. 😀 Awesome vibe!

So even though I was quite an external person to that group and community, I did bring a similar vibe, because I quickly made friends with the Greek-German instructor Helena, a beautiful and super positive girl, also with another girl, instructor, Karolina Shedyte, super nice girls, on purpose not giving names here and from then on, also with some of the guy, also instructors – Seluco Fernandez, Tony Mosquera and Nuno Antas and I had already met with Ioana’s guru instructor, for whom we actually went there, because he IS indeed THAT good and has the best vibe ever – Claudiu Gutu from Romania. I really enjoyed some conversations with Nuno and all the dancing and conversations with Helena and Karolina and I certainly hope to meet them again one day. Such positive and beautiful people, and down to Earth!

So over the next few days it was full of all sorts of positive emotions and experiences – from catching-up PROPERLY with Ioana and getting to spend some quality time with one of my best friends which she is, through seeing some great new places, to meeting these new people, dancing together and enjoying ourselves to the max. But this was not all. On the first evening, when we went to the White Party with Ioana, there was a DJ and a guy who played SAXOPHONE. This is my absolutely favourite instrument and I couldn’t stop listening. OK, I lied, I did stop and decided to look around what’s there on the ship and be back in like 10-15 min because (I thought) the saxophone player will be there all night.. I then come back and.. he WASN’T any longer!! I hated myself for leaving.. totally.. But then, the night before last, me and Ioana were walking after dinner and entered one of the bars and THERE were they again – the DJ and the saxophone guy. This time I did not move. Ioana had to go and get me the camera so I can take pictures of them and then she left for the night. I had some baileys and then just danced there, right in front of them, totally enjoying myself. I looked like a lunatic, all on my own, dancing like an idiot 😀 But that’s nothing new for me and I couldn’t care less 😀 So when they finished playing, or was it in a small pause, I went to them and thanked them and told them how much I love their music and that it was the best music on the ship and they asked where I was from.. And guess what?! They were also from Bulgaria!! OMG! Such a great surprise. Both the DJ and the saxophonist are Bulgarians and worked on the ship for 9 months as The Infinity Grooves duo, consisting of Zdravko (saxophone) and Mihail (Dr.Artik – DJ) then go home, then go back to a ship of the same company. So last year they were at Costa Deliziosa cruising around the Adriatic sea, where I was too, this year they are at Costa Smeralda. I totally loved their music!! So all in all, this was, despite my zero expectations and to be honest, even a bit of worry that I wouldn’t enjoy at all, besides the time with Ioana, this turned out to be one of the best experiences I’ve ever had!

BUT.. to be honest, cruise ships are not for me, this particular one, looked like I was back in the 60s, super colourful and carpets with patterns and shiny things where not even one of them fitted with the other, not-so-great food, very short time to visit a city, so if it weren’t for the people I was there with, I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed as much. But if you want to check out a city as a “trailer” so you know if you want to visit again or not, it works.

Below I will post some of the photos from the cities where we stopped and from the vibe of the people I enjoyed my time with. <3