Cruising

We were so excited to get cruising that, at least the adults at our Airbnb all woke up before our 6am alarms. We finished packing up our Venice Dream House and made the 30 minute walk with all our luggage to papa’s Airbnb. 

We met up with them and schlepped all our gear to the dock where our water taxi would pick us up to take us too our private van transfer down to Ravenna. 

We got fresh donuts that they cut open and add the filling of your choice to - I got Nutella - and they were *so* good!

We waited a few minutes passed the pickup time and then decided to call, which was a good thing because our boat people were waiting for us at papa’s Airbnb. We grabbed them and they led us to our water taxi and after a 19 minute ride, to our lovely vans. We split up into 2 groups and after a few minutes of visiting, everyone napped. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive because we hit traffic several time. I guess people like going to the beach on the weekends? 🤣

When we got to the port we went through a dozen confusing lines and showed our passports and cruise passes a dozen times. Add 18 people to that and it felt a little bit like a fiasco. But we made it and headed straight to our special lunch. We were worried we’d missed it, so yay!

We were all starving and the food was really good! Matt and I shared everything- shrimp cocktails and Caesar salad, then white fish and a burger, then chocolate cake and cheesecake. 

Everyone donated their leftover desserts to Matt and he had a little assembly line, but did not actually finish everything. 

By that time we had early access to our rooms and just look at this! Whyyyy have I never cruised before? It’s so beautiful and we can step right into our balcony and see the ocean - ahhhhh!

We wanted to go straight to the pool but we had a million visitors and helped people get the WiFi set up and finally decided to unpack as we waited for our girls. We finally made it to the pool, after half the group, and caught these 3 making use of their drinks package. They enjoyed daiquiris and pins coladas and I didn’t actually see any sodas but I’m assuming there were a few consumed. 

We swam with everyone and the water was extremely cold! I swam until Matt couldn’t take it anymore, and he’d already been to the jacuzzis a few times, and then we went to the jacuzzi. Finally at 5:00 we left the dock so we went upstairs to celebrate leaving. 

It was a little anticlimactic, but I was able to get a shot of this cute lighthouse and a seagull flying by was a delightful surprise because I couldn’t see *anything* it was so bright. 

We explored a little, but didn’t get far. 

We hit the buffet for a light snack with these 2, and found Lu, Damian, and Adi there too. We’re trying to give the kids as much freedom as possible, so they’ve been roaming in their groups. 

But it’s kind of fun because we’ve come upon their groups a few times unawares to them. We also found Delaney and Max later with a new Danish friend, Bertie. 

Post buffet exploring. 

Turns out cruises are v v windy. Who knew? My hair and skirt were all over the place. 

Our dining reservations are at 8:30 for our main dinner, though we can buffet dinner at anytime. Little miss thang ordered escargot for her appetizer and actually ate the whole plate. Frankie and Matt also tried one, and I declined. I’m not an adventurous eater and I’m ok with that. 

Our dinner tables are 604 and 605, so papa sent this one and said 605 rocks and rules. 
So we retaliated with this one. Dinner was delish again, I got a crispy crab cake, and Maryland knows crab cakes and these were good, prime rib, and a delicious key lime pie. 

After dinner at 10, we let max and Delaney head out in search of Bertie (no luck) and instructions to be back tbh 10:30, then gave the girls instructions about not giving their drink package drinks to others and staying together and sent them off to teen club with instructions to be back by 11, which they also did. 

They tidied their room and put everything away and we all crashed into bed exhausted by an amazing day. Matt and I slept with our sliding glass door open and enjoyed the sounds of cruising all night. ❤️