OUR WINTER CRUISE: DAY 1

 Venice and off to sea

Thursday 1 November

. I was having a shower and found the route down to the canal flooded, calf deep. We decided to get away sharpish after breakfast as the tide would be still rising. The plan was to get to the Tri Archi station and catch a water bus to the Ferrovia. We wore only sandals on our feet and rolled up our trousers to the knee and waded through the floods to the station. Unfortunately the water buses weren't operating in our direction because of the height of the water causing problems of clearance and difficulties in getting under the bridges. There was no alternative but to walk along the canal bank, now knee deep in places, luckily it wasn't too cold. The main fear we had was falling and getting rucksacks and bags soaked, but we managed and eventually reached 'dry land' at the train station.

People Mover, mono-rail

When we reached  the bus terminus and 'people mover' we had a break and stopped at a snack bar. Well, snack bar was what the sign outside said, but the prices they were charging they must have thought it was the Ritz. It cost E10 for two little cups of coffee. Later we met a South African couple who had also been caught, their bill was E16 for two ice creams. At least we were able to have a seat and rest, also to dry our feet and put on fresh socks and shoes.

The 'people mover' only took a couple of minutes to reached the stop where we alighted, then it was a five minute walk to the cruise terminal. The ship was the MSC Opera and it towered above the dock just outside the check-in building. We had about two hours to wait until it was our time to go through passport checks and be issued with our cabin keys. There was then security and x-ray machines to pass through before boarding the vessel.

Moira and the MSC Opera

Moira's rucksack was at the cabin door when we arrived but mine wasn't. We went for a stroll about the ship, found the pool area, the gym, and finally the buffet. Lots of people were already there having lunch and we joined them and prepared a big salad for ourselves from the well stock salad bar. My rucksack still hadn't turned up when we went back to the cabin and I was beginning to panic, something I now seem to be doing a lot, when things go wrong and not according to plan. Eventually Moira tracked down the missing luggage so I was able to calm down and relax.

Life boat drill

We had the life jacket drill before the ship sailed at 6pm, two hours late but they assured us that the captain would easily make up the time and we wouldn't be late arriving at our first port of call, Valletta, the capital of Malta. It was a beautiful start to the cruise as the ship pulled out of the harbour and made its way along the coast passing the opening into the Grand Canal then in front of the San Marco Piazzo with the Basilica and tower floodlit. Once clear of the city we headed for the buffet and had dinner.

Before retiring for the night we wandered through the bars stopping to listen to the entertainers. The first had a very good piano player but was soon replaced by a woman who was also a good pianist but couldn't sing. In the next bar there was a couple singing mainly country music. They were good but when they finished the next guy on was a poor singer, we headed for our cabin.

San Marco : the view from the ship leaving Venice

We were able to tune into BBC World News on the TV, so can keep in touch with what's happening in the outside world. After our update of current affairs we read for a while before getting to sleep. The conditions at sea were perfectly calm, no rocking and rolling, there was just the hum of the engines to lull us into a good night's sleep.