Today was Day 17 of this season of cruising. In some ways, it feels like it's been 71 days. In others, it felt like today was Day 1. But Day 17 it is, and it was a very, very good day.
First, a sidebar. You might recall that I mentioned that Papal Audience are held in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday mornings when the Pope is in town. That's the reason we chose to add a guided tour of the Vatican Museum to the tickets we had purchased online, because it allowed us to skip the hours long line waiting outside the Square and instead enter the Basilica directly from the Sistine Chapel. Well, we met passengers in Rome for the day from an NCL cruise ship who had just come from their audience. They had reserved their (free) tickets online months ahead of their visit. We didn't have the luxury of time to do that, but asked them to email us this photo when they returned home. They did, and here it is. If we are ever in Rome with more than a few days notice on a Wednesday morning, I am definitely going to do this. Look how close they were!
Pope Francis in his Popemobile in St. Peter's Square
Back to our day:
We were awake and showered and in the Hotel Vespasiano cafe when it opened at 7:30am. Have I mentioned the amazing cappuccinos we've been enjoying at breakfast? Fantastic, and we've been having at least two each morning. I was still full from my tagliatelle and seafood last night and had just fruit for breakfast; I knew what riches were in store for us when we reboarded the Pacific Princess. We returned to our room just to pack away the last of our toiletries and had help getting our suitcases down to the front desk.
A final few words about the Hotel Vespasiano...we recommend it for people very able to handle the many marble and tile steps, sometimes partial steps where the several stairways turn and twist. G joked that the architect who fit this boutique hotel with its twelve rooms into this tiny space might have expired from a heart attack when it was all over. Really, it is a work of art, and the service is wonderful and the beds very comfortable (and the showers large and the bathroom sinks useless). And the location is unbeatable. But there are lots of stairs and no elevators and that why we had help getting our large suitcases down to the front desk.
The last one was being brought down when our driver from Rome Airporter popped his head in the front door and asked if we were the couple he was looking for. He was 5 minutes early and we were totally happy with the service we had from that company. While G worked with him to load up his Mercedes, I paid the Rome City tax for our stay (it's a per person per day charge) and checked us out. By 9:31am, we were on our way through the horrible Rome morning traffic. It's craziness!
Eventually, we made it to the beltline that surrounds Rome and then to the north-south toll road that was fast and comfortable and the city turned to rolling hills and countryside and we looked at each other and said, "This is more our style!" Traffic was a bit heavy in the port city of Civitavecchia (say Che-VEET-a-VECK-ee-a), and the port itself was huge and our driver was directed first to the long breakwater where there were three cruise ships but we could tell none of them were the Pacific Princess but we couldn't see the Pacific Princess until finally it appeared on the main dock, hidden behind its larger counterparts. By 10:45am we were paying our driver (104€) and handing over our big luggage and waiting in the terminal for just 30-40 minutes until we could check in and board just before 11:30am.
Wucy, we're home, exactly 14 days after we left.
The welcomes and hugs started before we were even on the ship. We love these people. We love this little ship, boo boos and all. We are only sad that the production show cast left before we arrived as the new cast came on board in Genoa. Company Performance Manager Rachel is the only one who remains, and only for this cruise. The new cast has no familiar faces but we will meet them and we will like them, I'm certain (and on this ship where they function as the entertainment staff, there will be many opportunities to get to know them).
We dropped our roll aboards in the cabin (Deck 3 with a porthole, the same cabin we had last year) and headed to the Club Restaurant for lunch. Our waiter was Marco (also our waiter for dinner), and it was a feast. G's beef was actually filet mignon. I suppose they have some things to move out of the freezer.
We also just missed saying goodbye to headwaiters Nelson and Josko, but Antonio and Ilio are taking their places, and we've known both of them for years. We were told they were working the Panorama Buffet and so headed up there next to see them. Gosh, it's good to be home. It was sunny and dry today, about 70-ish, and we sat outside on the Panorama Terrace enjoying the weather and watching the very large ferries that go from Civitavecchia to several ports in this part of the Mediterranean.
At 3:15pm, there was a cultural show in the Cabaret Lounge called the Corrado Duo and they were a pianist and a tenor who sang Italian songs in the style of Andrea Bocelli and they were incredible. What fantastic entertainment. They received a well deserved standing ovation and, honestly, if they are on board on December 3, our next turnaround in Civitavecchia, I would skip any sightseeing to listen to them again.
It was muster drill time by then, something we thought we were done with for this season, but life had other plans. Afterward, we had just enough time to quickly unpack before first seating dining. We are at the same table with the same waiters (Marco from Mexico and Taufik from Indonesia) and it was like we never went home and did laundry and stressed. But when dessert time came, I freely ordered flourless chocolate cake and didn't delay the gratification until 'next cruise'. I have learned that life is uncertain, and 'next cruise' is never guaranteed; I need to eat flourless chocolate cake while I can.
Mediterranean spinach dip
Dinner with a sunset view from our table
We went directly to the Cabaret Lounge for the Welcome Aboard show, which featured opening and closing numbers by the new singers and dancers, and then a short show by British comedian Paul Adams. Funny guy, and it's a tough job, to keep travel-weary passengers awake and make them laugh and he easily did both.
Tomorrow is Naples, and we have no plans for the day. We did have a full day tour planned, booked independently, but when we were home, I cancelled it. A one week cancellation notice was required to not be charged and we really didn't know what was going to happen. We lost our independently arranged tour in Athens during the cancelled cruise, too. In fact, we have no solid plans for any ports from here on out. But it doesn't bother me in the least. We will find things to do...or we won't. Either way we'll enjoy ourselves. In fact, we might enjoy ourselves more by taking a more free-spirited approach to these cruises. And in the end, that is the real goal.
We are home. Life is good. :-)