Silver anniversary on the Mein Schiff 2 in the Mediterranean - Foreword

From 22.09.2019 to 01.10.2019, we traveled on the Mein Schiff 2 through the Mediterranean to celebrate our silver anniversary. Our daughters Vanessa (22) and Jessica (20), our mothers Jutta and Renate (70), and Gerald (72) were also with us. The journey took us from Palma de Mallorca to Ajaccio, Civitavecchia, Salerno, Catania, Valletta and Ibiza, back to Palma de Mallorca. It was a journey with exciting and historic cities, culture, landscapes, and experiences. The highlight on the last day of the trip was the renewal of our wedding vows on board the Mein Schiff 2. In my posts, I want to take you on the journey and let you participate in our experiences.

For a silver anniversary, it can always be something special. So, of course, we had our thoughts on how we wanted to celebrate this day. Since we love to travel and have already had many beautiful trips on a Mein Schiff, we decided to celebrate our silver anniversary on the ship and renew our wedding vows there. I will provide more details about the exact schedule, costs, etc. in a later post. Once the decision was made to celebrate our silver anniversary on board, we only had to find a trip that fit into the timeframe and where it was possible to renew our wedding vows. We chose the Mediterranean tour with Ibiza. The good thing was that on the day of our silver anniversary, we would be in the port of Ibiza, the island where our honeymoon took us 25 years ago.

Our ship for the journey was the youngest member of the Tui fleet, the new Mein Schiff 2. As a sister ship of the Mein Schiff 1, the new Mein Schiff 2 is also 20 meters longer than the previous new builds of TUI Cruises. The cruise ship can accommodate up to 2,894 guests in double occupancy. The familiar very generous passenger-space ratio of TUI Cruises remains. On board, we had 12 restaurants and bistros as well as 15 bars and lounges. There was also plenty of space to relax and feel comfortable on the 20,500 square meter outdoor decks. The christening of the Mein Schiff 2 took place in spring 2019. The ship is approximately 315.7 meters long, 35.8 meters wide, and has a draught of 8 meters. The 1447 cabins are spread over 16 decks. Approximately 1,000 crew members take care of the passengers on board. Our cabin 10115 was located on deck 10. My mother-in-law and the children were in cabin 10117 right next to us. The good thing was that we could remove the balcony separation and visit each other. Our balcony cabin was 17 sqm and had a 7 sqm balcony. It was equipped with a bathrobe, espresso machine, slippers, air conditioning, TV, safe, telephone, and hairdryer. We felt very comfortable in our home for 10 days. Our great housekeeping team put a smile on our faces every day with towel animals.

The journey to the Mein Schiff 2 in the port of Mallorca turned out to be more challenging than expected, and we had to overcome some obstacles. On Saturday morning, my mother called us and reported that they were still not on their way to the hotel in Munich because their car broke down. In all the hustle and bustle, they had to get a rental car. We spent Saturday packing, dancing for an hour, and taking a short nap. We took the last possible train at 12:45 am to Munich to catch our booked Eurowings flight at 5:50 am. Just as the train was leaving the station, I received an SMS from Eurowings informing us that our flight had been canceled. After the initial shock, we had to make calls to Eurowings and Tui. At this early stage, we were one of the first to call and try to get a replacement flight. We were lucky and were rebooked for a flight at 12:10 pm. 6 hours later than planned. Chaos reigned at the airport, in front of the information desk of Eurowings. All of the passengers of the canceled flight were trying to get a replacement flight, and the Eurowings information desk was manned by only 3 people. By the way, despite the Tui Cruises travel package, none of Tui Cruises felt responsible for intervening and arranging replacement flights. In my opinion, this is unacceptable given the price of the travel package. At this point, I can only advise any traveler in a similar situation to take matters into their own hands and take the initiative to arrange a replacement flight. Otherwise, you might be left behind watching the ship. Since we still had to check-in for the new flight, we were informed by the Eurowings airport staff that Mutti, Renate, and Gerald had to be present in person. So we had to wake them up from their sleep. Then the wait began at the airport, and we tried to pass the time, which dragged on like chewing gum, as best as possible. Luckily, the boarding started at 11:30 am as scheduled. We were given XXL seats as compensation and were able to close our eyes for a while.

2 hours later, we landed in Mallorca. The way through the airport was once again so long that our suitcases were already spinning on the conveyor belt when we arrived there. Tui's bus to the ship was already waiting for us. Around 4:00 pm, we were finally able to board our Mein Schiff 2. Our cabins 10115, 10117 & 8133 were already ready. We unpacked our suitcases, had ice cream together with Renate in the ice bar, and then it was time for dinner at the Atlantic Restaurant. After dinner, the big departure party took place at 10:00 pm on the pool deck. What a great feeling when the sound of "La grande liberté" played and we set sail for the first time on the trip. This was followed by the introduction of the hotel team and the surprise guest, world champion boxer Regina Halmich. She was on the ship as a sports expert, but we didn't really see her on the journey. After the presentation, the show team gave a first glimpse of their skills during the pirate show. While the others fell into bed tired, Ronald and I took another stroll around the ship and had a nightcap at the Hohen Luft Bar.