Cruise - Part One

The first day of our cruise started with an uneventful ride to the cruise port terminal in Citevecchia. We hired a shuttle service to take us on the approximately 90 minute drive. For some reason, the company sent a large van for just the two of us. Even the Roman driver was uncomfortable navigating the extremely narrow streets of Trastevere, the area of Rome which we stayed in. On the ride we got to see some more of the Italian country side. Upon arriving at the cruise port terminal we checked in without any problems and soon we were in our cabin. Both our cabin and the ship are very nice. The Royal Caribbean ship, the Navigator of the Seas, is probably nicer than any of the Carnival ships we have been on.

After exploring the ship and having a few drinks it soon was dinner time. Our table consists of a Mexican American couple, Fernando and Adrianna, who are nice but we have little in common with, and a Russian couple, Vlad and his wife – I don’t know here name. They are most notable for the things they do not do, namely speak English or drink vodka. Having a couple at the table who speaks very little English can be a bit awkward at times. Particularly cringe worthy is when Adrianna tries to explain things to the Russians using extremely slow baby talk and hand gestures. You can tell they hate her.

After dinner we found the ship’s piano bar, which is run by a talented guy named Kory. Kory is the kind of kid who has never missed a drama class or a drink in his life. One of his catch phrases after applause is “Thank you! I love yoouuuu for loving meeeeee!” Em and I spent the first night (and many others) at this bar enjoying the music, his antics, and some drinks.

On the next day of our cruise we were docked in Naples, Italy. The city of Naples is, in a word, disgusting. The city is dirty, completely over congested with traffic, and full of people trying to sell you non-operational iPhones. We got approached three times walking a block. After a harrowing trip to the train station on foot and via smelly bus, we caught a train to Pompeii. Pompeii is an ancient Roman town that was buried in ash when Mt. Vesuvius erupted nearly 2000 years ago. The ash had the effect of preserving the town very well. Even the mummified remains of some people remain, trapped in the same position they were in when the ash cloud hit. The picture shows me praying in front of an alter at the temple of Apollo. The picture of Judge Emmy is at Pompeii’s court room. A panel of judges would sit on the platform behind her. Overall we both enjoyed Pompeii but we realized that we had probably seen enough sites of ancient ruins for one vacation. Unfortunately, we had already booked a tour in Turkey to see a similar site. The last picture is a shot of the island of Capri taken from our balcony. In hindsight, we wished we had taken the ferry to Capri instead of the train to Pompeii.

Day three of our cruise was a sea day. Unfortunately, while it was not rainy, it was much too cold to sunbathe. We read our books, had some drinks, and ate at the buffet. Em worked out – I drank more. That’s pretty much it.