The Carnival, Dinner and Coffee

For many years now I have confined my travels to land-based adventures, with the occasional air flights to transit places both near and far. And to the surprise of many, for the second-time this year, I found myself on another sea voyage, this time aboard an Italian luxury cruise liner, the Costa Victoria. If you are wondering how my first cruise experience went, you can read all about it here.

Hwajing Travel & Tours

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Jalan 3/93A, Batu 2 1/2, Jalan Cheras
Kuala Lumpur.

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 Call 03-9200 2929 (HQ Kuala Lumpur), 04-2296566 (Penang Branch)
 info@hwajing.com.my
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I will be writing another blog entry detailing the cruise ship itself in detail. This blog post features the highlights of my trip, which besides the offshore excursion to Patong, is the Carnival of Venice, the Gala Dinner and Hwajing's Suspended Coffee in collaboration with Costa Victoria.

On my bucket list of things to do in life, attending the Carnival of Venice and obtaining an authentic Venetian Mask seemed a very remote possibility until it appeared as an opportunity by joining this cruise. I immediately tendered my participation with nary a second thought! This festival is celebrated annually in Venice, Italy on Shrove Tuesday, which in the christian calendar is the day before Ash Wednesday. I think everybody had a great time as they came dressed in their finest garments as opposed to beach bum wear from my last trip aboard the Superstar Libra. There was a lot of laughing and dancing, and as the event was held after dinner, this was a welcome change for everybody on-board the ship who had been doing nothing but feasting and chillaxing for the past few days.

Part of the ship's tradition is the hosting of the Costa Victoria Gala Dinner. For those of you who do not know, a gala is sort of like the biggest fanciest ball gown party for adults. Everybody comes dressed to kill.

For the Gala Dinner, we were treated to some great Italian cuisine. I delighted in the presentation, taste and texture of each serving, and there was an abundance of cheeses and olive oil. Our Gala dinner was hosted at the Fantasia Restaurant on Boheme Deck, also alternatively known as deck 5.

With the world the way it is today, it needs its heroes more than ever. There are a lot of grassroot movements taking place globally, and none seems to enjoy the revival more than Caffè sospeso.

The idea of it is very simple. When you go and buy yourself a coffee, you pay for two and ask for the other to be suspended, meaning it is given to the next needy person who comes in asking for it. It's a noble idea, demonstrating the great spirit of generosity. Hwajing Travel and Tours made a good step in promoting this on-board the Costa Victoria, where there is bound to be some people who could use a decent cuppa but are short of funds. If you wish to take part in this heartwarming gesture (Christmas is coming, remember the spirit of giving!) you can do so at the Grand Bar Orpheus on Deck 6.

There was an opportunity to do a beach excursion, my second one, at Patong, Phuket. So as soon as the boat had docked in Phuket harbour, me and my friends boarded the next available ferry boat and made our way to land.

There was a lot to do in Patong, but technically everyone made their way to Bangla Road, a famous street where one can find numerous things to amuse the heart and fulfill heartfelt desires. For me, I decided to get another tattoo to commemorate my 3rd visit to Thailand.

And after getting the tattoo done, I had a Singha beer to cool down, a foot massage and then some really good food before calling it quits for the day and making our way back to the ship.

I had a really good vacation cruising with the Costa Victoria, I reckon I could do this every month except that I would be missed by work and the blogging world. Fear not good readers, I will be here to amuse and bring you news of the next good thing, but in the meantime, why not check out Hwajing's promotion and try the cruise for yourself?

If you would like to see more as in hundreds pictures of my cruise trip, head over and have a gander at my FB album here. Thank you for following and reading this post, if you like it please share it with your friends and help spread the good word. Until the next time, it's addio! ~ Marv.7

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