Checked out of apartment at Via Cardinal Mistrangelo at 11 am, with my €200 deposit safely back in my wallet. Last ride on the Metro into Termini. I did get excellent value out of the 7 day Rome transport pass. Regional train at noon to Rome's deep water port at Civitavecchia. A bit of a panic when the signalling system failed about 15 minutes from the station, but delay was only 20 minutes. Then came the frustrating part. Walked to the port entrance as per instructions and awaited at the shuttle bus stop to be taken out to the ship. 30 minutes in hot sun, and every bus just went past non-stop. Eventually told we had to walk nearly 1 km down to the new shuttle bus terminal, to which I could have got a free ride from the station. So much for keeping travel advice up to date!
Before I could check in I had to get a clearance from the ship' nurse. She took my temp and checked my medications. I feared she was going to put me in isolation. This ship is fanatical about health. For first 24 hours all buffets are served by staff to prevent passengers passing any disease on to others through handling the same serving utensils. Hand wash stations everywhere. Crew may not shake hands with passengers under any circumstances. The captain gave us a long lecture on all of this. I feel very self-conscious about blowing my nose or coughing!
We left port at 1730 after an emergency drill etc. I fronted for dinner at 6:30; tonight's buffet was Itlian style. Good variety. Most of the passengers seem to be from USA. English is the language of the ship. Quite a few seem to be seasoned cruise addicts: they tend to dress up and be a bit snooty. A few families with kids too. I am sure impressions will change as the days go on.
Only pics today are of cabin and leaving port. See them here.
1 comment:
Love your room and balcony. All those pillows......bliss!!! love Pat
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