After the day long drive back from Sicily, we sleep near the Rome airport, and then take a long taxi ride at 140 kilometers per hour from the hotel near the Rome airport to Civitaveccio. The check in process is fairly painless and we have lunch on the “Lido deck” while our rooms are being prepared.
In the afternoon we watch a new Robin Williams movie called “Man of the Year” in one of the ship theatres. We have sailed around the toe and heel of Italy and are sailing north now toward Dubrovnik, Croatia.
The boat has a well stocked lending library. I’m disappointed that the wireless costs $.75 per minute, but at least it’s not .75 euros. They deduct $10 a day per passenger to cover all tips. Wine is extra. The prices run $30 a bottle and up. The less expensive wines run out quickly. I buy a “drink card” for $50 that covers ten drinks. I have to work hard the last day to use it up. The margaritas aren’t bad, but I know a bar in Las Cruces that tends to spoil it for others.
Our dinner companions are Ray and Marianne from Bedford, England. Ray has a tremendous sense of humor and Marianne has an easy laugh. They seem well paired. We’re lucky. Dinner tonight was formal.
The distance from Civitaveccio, near Rome, to Dubrovnik, Croatia, is about 700 nautical miles. We steam for 36 hours and arrive the morning of the 12th after passing the volcanoes of Vesuvius, Stromboli and Etna. We pass though the straights near Messina to enter the Ionian Sea again and round the boot heel of Italy to head north in the Adriatic Sea to Dubrovnik.
This is our first cruise. The food is good. Here are a few boat shots.
May 10 – Civitaveccio, Italy
May 11 – At Sea
May 12 – Dubrovnik, Croatia
May 13 – Corfu, Greece
May 14 – Katakolon, Greece
May 15 – Santorini, Greece
May 16 – Kusadasi, Turkey
May 17 – Piraeus, Greece
May 18 – At Sea
May 19 – Messina, Sicily
May 20 - Civitaveccio, Italy
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