To Split Or Not to Split!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

                        

I think we knew way before the Captain made his decision.  Anything that hadn’t been secured prior to bedtime last evening was in full swing by early morning.  I checked the sea before sunrise and it looked like one big poorly lit marshmallow.

By 8 am, the Captain had announced the decision to skip Split.  The winds were Gale Force 7 with gusts of Gale Force 10.  These winds were blowing perpendicular to, and toward our scheduled dock in Split.  The Prinsendam has 13 decks above the water line and it could be a disaster to dock it in such a strong wind.  Although we are very disappointed to miss this port we are also very thankful that our safety holds the highest priority as the Captain considers his options. Maybe some other day we can return to Split and experience the history, charm and beauty of this port.  The extra sea day gives us a chance to catch up on our reading, blogging, eating and sleeping.  What more could you ask for?

By mid-day visibility cleared, but it was still cold and windy.  The sea and weather changed continually throughout the day.  The seas calmed, the rain clouds came.  The color of the sea went from frothy white to dark blue frosted with white tips.  Every once in awhile we get a glimpse of the land on the Dalmatian coastline.  Later in the day we watched as the snow capped Apennines of Italy came into view.  The outside areas were off limits most of the day and having stepped out on our verandah convinced us of why the safety measure was in place.

   

Since most of the passengers want to be busy every minute, the cruise director and staff were quickly put into action arranging activities to entertain the guests.  Our entertainment is in listening to the choices and then imagining anyone participating – there was to be a camel race at 2 pm with all guests bringing their camel to deck 8.  Wonder who cleans up that mess.  A 2 for 1 Bingo was added and that received lots of hoots and hollers. 

Of course we could also choose from yoga, bridge, tai chi, mini-putting, computer lessons, stretching, lectures, scavenger hunt, trivia, dance class,.. and these events all happened before noon…………….

We were just too tired thinking about all of them to actually select and attend one.  Besides I had already been asked to leave a yoga class on a previous cruise as I didn’t get the part about “keeping quiet and meditating”.  Oh well!

Lunch at the Lido today was an event in itself.  All 893 passengers must have decided to eat lunch at noon.  (had to fit it into that tight schedule)  Since the outside areas for seating were off limits, the lido deck was packed with people standing around, hands loaded down with food and no where to go.   People were standing over you just waiting for you to put your fork down.  For goodness sake you didn’t dare think about getting up to get dessert.  If you didn’t have it with you – you didn’t consume it for lunch. 

On that note – HAL has decided to eliminate trays from the Lido Buffet.  The grumbling has persisted since day one as we try to figure out the reason behind the decision.  Most thought it to be a health reason as trays might have been harder to sanitize between use.  Some thought the trays were dangerous as people carried them around loaded to the hilt and then didn’t watch where they were going.  Others speculated that it was a planned move to cut down food waste – and that seems to be the answer.  The statistics show that food consumption and food waste have dropped since the practice to eliminate trays was introduced. When Barney was sick, I took the tray from under the ice bucket in the cabin up to the Lido as I knew I couldn’t carry food back with me.  Boy did I get a lot of dirty looks and then a few – “great idea” comments.  We all joke about finding a supply of trays at port and “selling” them once we get back on board.  Lest you pity us too much, there is always “cabin service”.

One other issue causing a great deal of contention is the fact that one of the aft elevators is out of service.  There are a lot of passengers who have walking difficulties (to put it mildly)  and it makes perfect sense that they would wish to use the elevator.  But…there are numerous just plain lazy, rude passengers on board who insist that they must cram into the elevator at everyone else’s expense.  As we walked by one today you could here the elevator groaning.  New game idea for tomorrow – How many passengers can you pack into an elevator?

Most of you know from past cruise blogs that getting on and off the ship for shore excursions can be a challenge.  The shore excursion crew on this ship seems to have a very good control of the procedure, but don’t let that fool anyone…this experienced group of travelers can always find a way around anything.  You hear people coming into the meeting place to get the designated number for the bus that they will be on and calling out “Plan B” or something else to signify to everyone in their party what method has been chosen to be the first one on the bus, save all the good seats, and stand in the aisles chatting to further complicate the procedure.  

Now you must be wondering why we “put up with” all these hassles…

The answer is easy.  We love cruising on an especially small ship that can take us to many out of the way ports, that is staffed with a crew whose primary function is to make our life easier, to share good times with old and new friends and to have our every need catered to at any given time.  Yes, we are spoiled and yes we are thankful that we are counted in this group of 893 passengers.  

          

Sea days are usually Formal evenings, but tonight we just observe the “smart casual” dress code…that could be another whole blog.  Tonight’s dinner will be a farewell of sorts as we say goodbye to Ken and Dee Birkey when they fly home from Venice on Friday.  We will all miss them. 

   

Hope you all got a laugh about the goings on around and about the ship. 

                          

This man used a wheelchair to board the ship, yet he took the level three (intense walking, many stairs and cobble streets) tour to Cinque Terre wearing these flip flops – and he didn’t fall up the stairs.

The Captain explained that we would be on the “sea highway” tonight as we approach Venice.  We have explicit shipping lanes going in both directions separated by a water median in hopes of preventing collisions.  So far, so good.

                          

Venice is an overnight port for us.  We are spending our first day driving to the Republic of San Marino with two of our tablemates.  It is about a 150 mile drive each way and Ken arranged for a driver and English speaking guide.  We will love seeing the countryside and experiencing a bit of Italy, first hand. 

Ciao!