Friday – April 4, 2025
Today’s featured photo is a shot of the main swimming pool taken from the restaurant adjoining it. It is almost the same as the photo used on the Villa Nautica website.
Paradise Island is an appropriate name for the location of Villa Nautica. This is a place where you can be pampered. There is plenty to do (if you want to) and the ability to do nothing but relax. We found the restaurant had a great selection for both meals we had (breakfast and lunch). For breakfast they had an omelette chef and for lunch they had a pasta chef.
As you can see from the photos of the grounds, they are set up to make it easy for you to relax in the sun or the water. Kelsey was especially taken by the zero-entry pool. So much so that the next day she bore bright red markings of someone who had spent the day in the sun. In addition to the bungalows like ours, they have 54 that are set directly above shallow water with stairways leading down to that beautiful blue water and sand. Jan said if we came back, that is where she would like to stay.
Last Summer – before we knew anything about the off-ship excursion in Australia – we booked an excursion on the Maldives to take a seaplane ride to view and photograph the islands. If we had wanted to fulfill that excursion, we would have to be back at MSC Magnifica by 9:15 am. Or we could spend the day at Villa Nautica until 3:00 pm and take a jet boat back to the tenders. We chose to skip the seaplane and were given a full refund for that excursion. It really was relaxing to just “veg” for most of the day.
Just before we were to board the jet boat mid-afternoon, we were presented with a cake from one of the travel groups who had coordinated our travels in Australia since March 27th. Following that we took the gold cart to the dock, boarded the jet boat and made our way to Male. Along with us was a couple from the US who were heading home and facing 19 hours of flying with a stop in Dubai.
When we arrived at the tender dock in Male the street activity looked like we were in India (or at least what I envision India as being like). Lots of motor scooters and small cars. People packed together. Congestion like we hadn’t seen for many days. Our bags were transferred from the jet boat to the tender and as we boarded the tender I slipped and fell flat on my chest (not my face). Within seconds I felt hands grabbing me to help me up. I think my shoe hit a wet spot on the threshold and my foot didn’t get traction. Whatever caused it, I’ve got some scratches and scrapes on my right leg that will take a while to heal. Once were were seated I had MSC personnel bringing me water – 1.5 liter bottles of water. Guess that is the cure for anything. Later in the day one of the men on the tender called the room to say that if I needed anything just to let him know – his name was Santana.
So now we are back on the boat and the first thing I could think of was getting to see the doctor. I hadn’t slept for over a week and my coughing wasn’t getting better. I was tested for influenza and COVID and was negative for both. But I did have a fever and some kind of virus. The doctor said that the cold and flu season was in full swing so they had a new protocol on board. I had to be isolated in our cabin until I was fever free without Tylenol. She said Jan could come and go from our cabin but she would have to wear a mask when outside the room. Kelsey could not come to see us as long as I was in isolation. Food would be brought to me and the medical staff would call periodically to check on my progress. Both Jan and I were given 5 days worth of antibiotics and I was also given an anti-viral and cough syrup. The cough syrup, by the way, was very tasty – raspberry – like Robitussin.
Dinner was brought to me that evening, Jan wore her mask to the dining room and I don’t remember if she went to the theatre show – probably not because she didn’t like wearing the mask. There are a couple photos from the meal in the dining room. I was able to sleep horizontal for the first time in a couple weeks and it felt great!
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