Looking out the window of our cabin, I can truly appreciate Columbus sailing the ocean blue for so many days as he traveled to America. “Water, water everywhere…” One BIG difference is that the Mediterranean is nearly as smooth as glass, and it is sunny and about 75 degrees (F) this afternoon.
I am writing this offline while we are traveling on a Grimaldi Lines “ferry” traveling from Barcelona to Rome. Internet is available but costs ten Euro for one hour. Experience tells me it is probably not a very fast connection, so I thought I would use the spare time to compose a report to post when we arrive in our hotel in Rome. The ship is large and is mostly carrying freight. Although there is a capacity for 1000 passengers to be aboard, I do not think there are more than 100 on this trip, which include the truck drivers for the trucks that are aboard.
We have a cabin called a “Junior Suite” that has a king sized bed as well as fold out bunks, so a family of four could fit comfortably (costs $290 for the ~24-hour trip). There is even a small play area for young children equipped with a slide and other equipment. We have our own ¾ bathroom, a closet, small refrigerator, dressing table and a tiny TV with only one English speaking station, BBC News. The food is very expensive and is served cafeteria style. The reviews advised to bring food on board, but we had so much luggage, we did not want to bring groceries in addition. I was surprised that they offer a pool, gym, beauty spa, casino and nightclub. Overall you could say they provide a budget cruise experience that is clean, safe and gets you from point A to point B. Maybe you will have occasion to travel this way when you tour Europe.
Our Celebrity cruise was a little disappointing. The ship was lovely, and our room was about 30% larger than the Princess and Carnival ships on which we have traveled. The food was too good (too tempting). On the down side: there were mostly elderly people aboard, and as the days passed I found myself feeling like I was in an assisted living facility. Exceptions were occasionally running into an elevator full of young adults and going dancing. Spotting a child on board was truly a rare occurrence. I suppose the most disconcerting part of seeing so many old people was looking into the mirror and facing the fact that I fit right in. Equally troubling was realizing that, while I might look a little younger than some, many of them could outpace me at hiking, walking, dancing and other tour activities.
Contributing to our disappointment was the fact that Alan woke up the first morning with nausea, chills, fever and a severe headache and lower back pain. The worst of the symptoms dissipated after 48 hours, but, due to his illness, we missed a full three days of shore excursions: southern France, Livorno and Civitavecchia (Rome’s port). I got a mini-version of the bug and missed Venice too. The ship’s doctor did some lab tests and determined he “just” had Norovirus, which is commonly known as “stomach flu,” and occurs almost as frequently as the common cold.
Speaking of the “common cold,” within two days of his recovery, Alan fell sick with a full-blown version of that virus. Fortunately we came prepared with all the drugs we needed for symptomatic treatment. Finally (at least I hope this is the last report of illness for this trip) as we waited between cruises yesterday, I became very sick after lunch and had to “pray to the porcelain god” in the ladies’ room at the W Hotel in Barcelona yesterday. That seems to be a one-time occurrence, so far.
(goldenbear70 writing now) We are looking forward to seeing Rome with time to spare, as when cruising you only have a half-day to see everything. When the ship pulled into Civitavecchia, guests were still an hour’s train ride from Rome, so sightseeing would have been limited and rushed even if had I felt well enough to get off the ship.
Since the advent of the Internet (for me, since 1994), this is the longest time we have been offline. We feel cutoff and out of touch, and though we did try an Internet café in Kotor, Montenegro, the keyboard was in Serbian and there was a “z” where the “y” should have been, so we had little to no chance to check in with family and friends, let alone find out what was happening in the news and with our favorite teams. It seemed like the international versions of CNN, Sky News, BBC, Fox News, etc., replayed the same stories for three days. We got so tired of hearing about the missing baby in Kansas City and MSNBC advertising for itself and the Democrat Party that we eventually just turned off the TV and read.
By the time we reach our hotel tonight, it will be late, so we may not have an opportunity to post this right away, but we’ll be thinking of you all anyway.
Go Bears—beat the Trojans!
Rome, Italy
Thursday, October 13, 2011
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