Many destinations are close to ports, but not actually on the sea. Virtually every cruise line that stops in "Rome" actually goes to Civitavecchia, which is rather fun to say, and about an hour and two trains away from the airport in Fiumicino (also NOT in Rome, and fun to say). Or, you can make finer arrangements like a car, but frankly there is more local flavor on a train. No available seats in this case, but more "flavor".MONDAY 15-NOV
We walked to the dock (about 10-15 minutes of "strolling" and mostly downhill). There are lots of little places to part with your money, from McDonald's to souveneir shops. Given my bizarre penchant to eat at McD's in every country I visit, we stopped for something quick!
Once on board, (which the registration and everything was amazingly fast and easy!!) we spoke to the Guest Relations person about an upgrade. We (of course) bought the cheapest room possible (an interior), but knew there were a lot of unsold staterooms. Anyway, she told us if we upgraded to a balcony (veranda), she would give us the highest class they had (of that level). So, we first looked at the forwardmost cabin on the 6th floor (the lowest floor with cabins on the front (or back) of the ship). What a mechical view!! Nothing but the bow of the ship. So, we looked at one on the aft side of the ship. Awesome!! The rooms were all about the same, but the balcony in the very back was larger, had some cover (great for rainy days) and well generally it was sweet!! So, we took it, dropped out bags, and proceeded to check out the ship.
The library (or "Drawing Room")
The top walkway.
More than one way to get there! (You'd think she was avoiding me!)
So, after a nice dinner, and some entertainment (they introduce most of the entertainment on the first night), we settled in for our first night's sleep. Or so we thought! The weather was a little rough (windy and a little choppy). The ship was also going full speed ahead to get to our stop in Spain the day after next. The combination meant a lot of vibration and racket. Ever sat in the back of an MD80 between the engines? Well imagine the rumble is a little slower, a lot larger, and beneath you! The whole room, bed, hallway, everything was rumbling. I (Bill) slept wonderfully right up until Theresa woke me up about 4AM to tell me she was totally miserable! (and up since 1AM) She couldn't sleep, couldn't even stand to be in the room. We had to move. Well, we were disappointed in the view of nothing but the bow on level 6, but they had the same room on the 7th floor, so we moved from the back to the front of the ship in the middle of the night. Fortunately, since we really just unpacked and hadn't used anything, it all went back into the suitcases in like 5-10 minutes, and unpacking was precisely the reverse, things going back into the same nooks and crannies they left 20 minutes earlier.
We were in bed quickly, and settled down. Remember the wind? Well, the sliding glass doors do not seal as tightly as we would have liked. So, the wind, strong and head-on, howled and whistled on the door. Appropriately, there is a drain by the door on the outside, so water that ends up on our deck, has somewhere to go. Also sensibly, there is a drain on the inside of the door, so if water gets inside, it has somewhere to go. A good design practice is to use common drain lines as much as possible. (See where this is going?) So, the wet deck drained into the line, which was connected to the inside. It wasn't running, but rather gurgling with intermittant wind instrument features. :-\ At length, I sacraficed the little sofa pillow and wedged it into the corner so it dampened the symphony of whistling and gurgling.
TUESDAY 16-NOV
We woke up (sort of) at about 7AM, but decided since we had not much sleep, we'd blow off breakfast and everything else, and just sleep awhile longer. Bit of a mistake! By 10AM, we were crossing waves, so the bow would rise and fall with the waves, and roll with the waves. Which meant we were moving in big chaotic circles up and down, side to side. Did you know Theresa gets seasick? Yeah. By 12:30 or so, it quite enough. We HAD to get out of that room! I went out to get something to eat (because after 18 hours of not eating, I was getting a little nauseated), and brought back crackers and ginger for Theresa. We found a bag to take with us (in case) and I made her go outside, and to the middle of the ship. After a while, she was a little better, but on the whole, it was NOT a good day! We were looking forward to the port of call the next day, and frankly it could have been stoney rock with nothing to do, and it would have been delightful!
But, to end on a good note, we did have a nice view out the front (on a later day with calmer seas). On to Spain!
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