Today's the day we boarded our Eastern Mediterranean cruise! It was a little sad leaving our tiny Venetian home. But, we are rich and famous, so we called a private water taxi to pick us up and drive us the 30 minutes to the port.
Just kidding. Here's how the we-just-got-fined-a-hundred-euros peasants roll.
Since we had a less than great experience yesterday on the waterbus, we decided to save some money and walk the "fifteen" (read thirty) minutes to Piazzale Roma, where we caught the People Mover that takes you to the port. I am so thankful it wasn't raining so that we weren't dragging luggage on cobblestone and through puddles. And Sam is so thankful I only packed a carry on. I felt so bad for some of the guys trying to juggle an entire family's luggage over all those bridges and stairs. Note to girls:: Your daddy is super strong, but you can come with us when you can pull your own luggage. ;)
Our check in and embarkation were simple and hassle free, so within an hour, we were unpacking in our hotel room. We laughed out loud that it was almost exactly the same size as our hotel room, except with a lovely king size bed.
This makes my tenth cruise, and our third cruise with Norwegian. (Fun fact: all three of those cruises have been aboard this very ship, including our Hawaiian honeymoon when the ship was called the Pride of Hawaii. It was moved to the Mediterranean in 2007, where it was renamed the Jade. In 2008, we sailed the NCL Jade on her western Mediterranean itinerary.). We have really appreciated NCL's freestyle dining concept, because you can choose where you eat each night, how dressed up you choose to be, whether you want to eat early or late, etc. This idea makes cruising so much more relaxing. No need to leave the pool early to make it to your 6:00 p.m. dinner assignment. And that ends my Norwegian commercial. :)
We aren't usually ones for the "Bon voyage" sail away parties, but it was worth listening to the cheesy Latin music to see the views of the Venetian coast line.
The most amazing thing to me about some of these stunning, historical locations is how interesting it must be to have your every day life weaved into their midst. Seeing the soccer field on the tip of the island, with blue water on either side. I just can't fathom being a soccer mom at a game and that being the back drop. Or grocery shopping. Or taking your kids to school. It just seems so foreign to me. I was sort of daydreaming about that when Sam reached around me and said, "We live a great life, Squeak." Yes, we do. I feel so fortunate.
Well, the bad thing about being still being off time zones is that we've still just been following our own body rhythms. After the sail away party, I went to the gym (running with the ocean in front of you is incredible), and then went down to shower and get ready for dinner. Sam showered, and we put on some snappy clothes to head out for the evening.
Except it wasn't evening. It was 10:00 at night, and all the main dining rooms and restaurants were closed. All dressed up with nowhere to go. We ended up having to eat in the 24 hour American style restaurant that serves mostly snack and comfort food. Buffalo wings and paninis, anyone?
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