Thursday 3 October

 We met all are travelling guests last night at the welcome dinner. The Scenic opal accommodates 163 but we only have 136. Dinner was a help yourself buffet. It was a bit of a shambles with only two food areas, the food was good.

After a great nights sleep we head to breakfast. It is a beautiful sunny morning. Bit disappointing as the food was barely warm. Bit ordinary for for a 5 star hotel.  There are 4 buses taking us to Constanta to meet our boat. First off we have a city tour! We depart just after 9 and are driven around the city with a couple of photo stops and then head to the old town for a short walk near where we stayed. We did see a few areas that we had missed. Lunch is at 11.30, which was ordinary but in a large beer house type tavern. 

After lunch we head off at 1 pm for Constanta and the scenic opal. It is a three hour drive but we will have a stop along the way. We pass through rolling hills and flat fields where there is plenty of agriculture. There are solar farms, wind farms and a nuclear reactor where they have two operating and two in reserve. They are able to export power to Europe. We eventually arrive at the ship at 4.30 pm. The Opal is berthed at the Port of Constanta which is the largest Eastern European port. We are in the Black Sea. 

The Opal is very long and luxurious. It feels good to be back with scenic, we forgot how good it is. After introductory talks and a couple of drinks it is off to dinner. John gets a six seater table and we are settled in. Our drink waitress is called twinkle and she is very happy. By the end of the night we are her favourite table. We have a beautiful meal, pictures may have to come later as internet is not strong. A couple of nightcaps after dinner and then off to bed. 

Having trouble accessing photos to upload. May have to come later.