Well it is about 3:00p and we have returned from an enjoyable day of exploring Venice. We set our alarm for 7:30 this morning to try and get adjusted to the time change and get back on track. After a quick shower, I headed for the Explorations Café for a cup of coffee and to register for internet service; a quick and easy process. After returning to the room, I tested out the wireless connection and found it to be somewhat slow but working nonetheless. Certainly well enough to post the Day 1 blog from last night, which I hope you enjoyed! Melauna and I made our way to the Lido deck for breakfast and found the lines to move quickly, the food excellent and the service very personable and pleasurable. We both agreed that the buffet breakfast was some of the best we had ever had. I had an omelet that could not have been any better. The orange juice is freshly squeezed and delicious!
After breakfast we decided to walk off some of those calories by exploring the ship. It’s always kind of fun getting “the lay of the land” on a ship that you have never been on. The appointments and decorations are very understated and tasteful. No Las Vegas glitz and glam here which is nice. We found several small tucked away lounges that we promised we would have to try out during the cruise. We finally found our way back to our stateroom and got ready to venture out into Venice. The weather this morning was overcast with the remnants of the storm that had moved through last night still lingering around. Throughout the day however; the clouds cleared up and all in all it was a beautiful day. We spent the afternoon just wandering aimlessly alongside the innumerable canals and crossing the equally numerous bridges stopping occasionally in little shops or to watch one of the many local artists painting portraits of the surroundings. We wandered around St. Marks Square along with several thousand other visitors and an equal number of pigeons. We wound our way along the Grand Canal to our furthest point at the Santa Maria Della Salute cathedral then began our trek back. We got a call from Lyn shortly after making the turn to retrace our steps to check in on us and to let us know that she and mom were now both up and rearing to go. Mom had slept until 11:30, not even woken up by the room service breakfast delivery that Lyn had ordered. We decided to meet along the Grand Canal closer to the ship and said that we would give them a call back once we got there. As we made our way back through St. Mark’s Square, the water had risen to the point that much of the square was ankle deep or more in water; forcing all of the many tourists to traverse narrow platforms to keep up out of the water. It was wall-to-wall people crowded onto these narrow footbridges making this far less enjoyable then our pass through earlier in the day, but we made it though unscathed but hungry! We found a nice restaurant alongside the Grand Canal, so gave Lyn and mom a call with our coordinates and waited for them after finding a table for four tucked away in a quite corner. Mom and Lyn had just recently had breakfast so it was just Melauna and I that got to enjoy our first authentic Venetian meal. I had grilled angler, Melauna had spaghetti and both were fantastic! We had a local Pinot Grigio that was equally as good. After lunch, Melauna was ready for a nap while Lyn and mom were ready to take on the day. We said our goodbyes at that point and made our way back to the ship, hopeful that our luggage had been delivered. Unfortunately, our hopes were dashed upon entering the room.
Next up on the order of the day was the standard muster drill and I was glad to learn that Holland America had followed suit with other cruiselines in eliminating the need to don the actual lifevest prior to walking to your designated lifeboat station and be given proper instruction in what to do if our lovely ship suddenly began sinking to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. After that little pep talk, Melauna and Lyn headed to the Guest Relations desk to inquire as to the status of the lost luggage while mom and I headed to the Lido Restaurant for a little snack. Upon arrival back to our staterooms, wonder of wonders, our long lost luggage had finally arrived! As we are rejoicing in the homecoming of our worldly possessions, our captain chimes in for an announcement in his polished Holland America captainspeak…”Uhh…ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking…blah, blah, blah…we have had a minor setback with out scheduled departure time of 5:00 due to a malfunction in some navigation electronics on the bridge…” Ok…now I know what you are thinking… “This guy is just making shit up now for some cheap laughs.” Not so! You can’t make this stuff up. I think I know what happened though…they swapped out the inoperative American Airlines navigation equipment with this ship’s navigation equipment, because really what are the odds that the two primary modes of transportation involved in this eastern Mediterranean adventure should suffer the same fate…the inability to navigate? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? REALLY??? So, off we went to dinner.
Mom and Lyn opted for room service so Melauna and I had dinner for two in the main dining room. We met our waiter that will be taking care of us for the duration of the cruise, Ulysses. What a great guy! Very personable, funny and attentive all without being intrusive. Dinner itself could not have been better. We both thoroughly enjoyed every course as well as the chenin blanc that it had been paired with. We both agreed that the food, although we had only sampled a day and a half’s worth of it, was the best of any of the now eleven cruises that we have been on. After dinner, we met back up with mom and Lyn to head off to the evening’s entertainment: Cantare. I am not sure what musical category you would place this four-man singing tour d’force, but they were fantastic. I am not typically big on the ship’s after dinner shows, not that I don’t recognize talent and appreciate the effort, it is just not really my thing unless it is a comedian, a juggler, a dwarf contortionist or some other low-brow form of entertainment, but these guys were good!
Oh yeah…it was during the introduction of Cantare that the cruise director snuck in the little factoid that the decision had been made that we will stay in port overnight in Venice, skip tomorrow’s port in Croatia, and spend the next two days at sea sailing for Athens. “Now…who’s ready for Cantare?”
Oh well, at least we didn’t have to wear the stupid lifevests during the muster drill.
After breakfast we decided to walk off some of those calories by exploring the ship. It’s always kind of fun getting “the lay of the land” on a ship that you have never been on. The appointments and decorations are very understated and tasteful. No Las Vegas glitz and glam here which is nice. We found several small tucked away lounges that we promised we would have to try out during the cruise. We finally found our way back to our stateroom and got ready to venture out into Venice. The weather this morning was overcast with the remnants of the storm that had moved through last night still lingering around. Throughout the day however; the clouds cleared up and all in all it was a beautiful day. We spent the afternoon just wandering aimlessly alongside the innumerable canals and crossing the equally numerous bridges stopping occasionally in little shops or to watch one of the many local artists painting portraits of the surroundings. We wandered around St. Marks Square along with several thousand other visitors and an equal number of pigeons. We wound our way along the Grand Canal to our furthest point at the Santa Maria Della Salute cathedral then began our trek back. We got a call from Lyn shortly after making the turn to retrace our steps to check in on us and to let us know that she and mom were now both up and rearing to go. Mom had slept until 11:30, not even woken up by the room service breakfast delivery that Lyn had ordered. We decided to meet along the Grand Canal closer to the ship and said that we would give them a call back once we got there. As we made our way back through St. Mark’s Square, the water had risen to the point that much of the square was ankle deep or more in water; forcing all of the many tourists to traverse narrow platforms to keep up out of the water. It was wall-to-wall people crowded onto these narrow footbridges making this far less enjoyable then our pass through earlier in the day, but we made it though unscathed but hungry! We found a nice restaurant alongside the Grand Canal, so gave Lyn and mom a call with our coordinates and waited for them after finding a table for four tucked away in a quite corner. Mom and Lyn had just recently had breakfast so it was just Melauna and I that got to enjoy our first authentic Venetian meal. I had grilled angler, Melauna had spaghetti and both were fantastic! We had a local Pinot Grigio that was equally as good. After lunch, Melauna was ready for a nap while Lyn and mom were ready to take on the day. We said our goodbyes at that point and made our way back to the ship, hopeful that our luggage had been delivered. Unfortunately, our hopes were dashed upon entering the room.
Next up on the order of the day was the standard muster drill and I was glad to learn that Holland America had followed suit with other cruiselines in eliminating the need to don the actual lifevest prior to walking to your designated lifeboat station and be given proper instruction in what to do if our lovely ship suddenly began sinking to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. After that little pep talk, Melauna and Lyn headed to the Guest Relations desk to inquire as to the status of the lost luggage while mom and I headed to the Lido Restaurant for a little snack. Upon arrival back to our staterooms, wonder of wonders, our long lost luggage had finally arrived! As we are rejoicing in the homecoming of our worldly possessions, our captain chimes in for an announcement in his polished Holland America captainspeak…”Uhh…ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking…blah, blah, blah…we have had a minor setback with out scheduled departure time of 5:00 due to a malfunction in some navigation electronics on the bridge…” Ok…now I know what you are thinking… “This guy is just making shit up now for some cheap laughs.” Not so! You can’t make this stuff up. I think I know what happened though…they swapped out the inoperative American Airlines navigation equipment with this ship’s navigation equipment, because really what are the odds that the two primary modes of transportation involved in this eastern Mediterranean adventure should suffer the same fate…the inability to navigate? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? REALLY??? So, off we went to dinner.
Mom and Lyn opted for room service so Melauna and I had dinner for two in the main dining room. We met our waiter that will be taking care of us for the duration of the cruise, Ulysses. What a great guy! Very personable, funny and attentive all without being intrusive. Dinner itself could not have been better. We both thoroughly enjoyed every course as well as the chenin blanc that it had been paired with. We both agreed that the food, although we had only sampled a day and a half’s worth of it, was the best of any of the now eleven cruises that we have been on. After dinner, we met back up with mom and Lyn to head off to the evening’s entertainment: Cantare. I am not sure what musical category you would place this four-man singing tour d’force, but they were fantastic. I am not typically big on the ship’s after dinner shows, not that I don’t recognize talent and appreciate the effort, it is just not really my thing unless it is a comedian, a juggler, a dwarf contortionist or some other low-brow form of entertainment, but these guys were good!
Oh yeah…it was during the introduction of Cantare that the cruise director snuck in the little factoid that the decision had been made that we will stay in port overnight in Venice, skip tomorrow’s port in Croatia, and spend the next two days at sea sailing for Athens. “Now…who’s ready for Cantare?”
Oh well, at least we didn’t have to wear the stupid lifevests during the muster drill.
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