Our day in Genoa started rainy, chilly and dreary. Ugh. We seem to have nasty weather every time we are in this part of the Med. After breakfast in the Club Restaurant, we actually returned to our cabin and fell back asleep. Throughout the morning, as the rain fell outside our window, we dozed, watched TV, and used cellular internet on our iPhones to pay bills and check on things at home. When it was lunchtime, we ate lightly in the Panorama Buffet (which is looking quite nice after its update last year), put on our rain jackets and walked off the ship.
The colorful Moby ferry docked next to the Pacific Princess in Genoa
The rain had nearly stopped by then, and it was warmer than I would have guessed when I was looking out the ship’s windows (about 60 soggy degrees), but it was as grey as early evening, even though it was only 1pm. We had done some research and started to walk to the Genoa Maritime Museum, which we had heard good things about. First though, we had to study the impressive architecture of the Genoa Passenger Port Terminal. It was a gorgeous old building, and, although it was nearly empty today, all of the luggage carts lined up proved that it’s quite busy when the ferries arrive and depart.
The port terminal is a beautiful building
We talked with some fellow cruisers returning to the ship, and they told us that, disappointingly, the Maritime Museum was closed today. They ended up at the Genoa Aquarium instead, and we might have, too, but right in front of the terminal was a pedicab. The driver, Gianni, told us he had a tour starting in the Plaza Ferrare, a main square in the middle of town in about 30 minutes, but he would take us there and give us a tour along the way for €15. Such a deal!
Being taken to Ferrari Square in a pedicab by Gianni (a really nice guy!)
Gianni spoke excellent English, and drove us along the waterfront, pointing out the various sites along the way and telling us a little about the history of Genoa. At one time, in the Middle Ages, Genoa was home to the first banks in the world, which held the riches the early explorers had brought home from their sailing trips to the New World. Christopher Columbus was born there, and as a city-state in the Middle Ages, Genoa had colonies all around the world. At one time it was a satellite of Spain, and It wasn’t until the unification of Italy that it became part of that country.
It is the largest port in Italy, one of the largest in the European Union and home to several shipbuilders, such as Fincantieri, which built most of the ships in the Princess fleet.
St. George Palace
Gianni dropped us in the center of the old part of the city, and we wandered the streets and alleyways for awhile, trying to dodge the large puddles everywhere. Eventually we needed to return to the ship; although the Pacific Princess was staying in port until 9pm, we wanted to be back in time for our 5:30pm dinner seating. Instead of walking the two miles or so back to the ship, we took the Metro (subway) to the Principe Station less than a 10 minute walk from the ship.
We stopped in a little grocery store around the corner to pick up a couple of things we needed. We ran out of laundry detergent on the Norwegian Spirit and had been using their liquid hand soap as a substitute, and I was down to my last makeup remover cloth. We were able to get more laundry detergent than we’ll ever use for €2.80 and 30 makeup remover cloths for €1.30. We must really overpay for things in the US!
We had just enough time for a clean up before we went to the Pacific Lounge for the P/E/S Lounge at 5pm, and then to dinner at 5:30pm. One venue is on the top deck at the front of the ship and the other on a low deck at the back; but this is the Pacific Princess, and it takes just a couple of minutes to walk between them.
I had smoked salmon, hot and sour soup and a large garden salad topped with roasted peppers for dinner tonight. Headwaiter Sorin from Romania is seeing to my dietary needs, and tonight I enjoyed a special lactose free passionfruit dessert. I don’t know when Princess started having a lactose free dessert every night, but I had them on the Sapphire, too, and they’re wonderful.
The entertainment tonight was vocalist Danielle Grace Williams from Yorkshire in the UK, and she was excellent. What a voice! She sang songs from across the decades including a couple by Whitney Houston.
As far as cruise days go, this wasn’t our most exciting but it was our most relaxing one to date. And at this point, that’s fine by me.