Arrivederci, Venezia!

So what can we expect on our first night aboard the ship?

After the Muster we sail away from Venice. Sigh.


This is not something the ship does quietly and with passengers tucked inside their cabins quietly counting the minutes until we arrive in our first port.

No. This is "Let's get this party started!" time.

There are many options for the sailaway, and unless it's pouring rain, outside deck space will be at a premium. If you want to meet someone topside for sailaway it's best to pre-arrange your meeting point. We can either go up on one of the upper decks, or wave goodbye to Venice from the balcony. I've done both, and they each have their merits.

Hopefully, our luggage will have been delivered to our rooms before the life boat drill, and we've had a chance to unpack it. If not, after the sailaway, it may be a good idea to check up on your luggage and/or unpacking. One great thing about a cruise is that you unpack and pack once but wake up in a different city every day. For me it will be easy peasy since the airline allows me ONE bag with a 20 k limit - that's 44 lbs. to you non-metric types. So friends, I will be wearing the same dress every day to be sure I have enough room for my shoes in the suitcase. ONE bag allowed should be a crime, really. Well, I will just have to do some clever accessorizing.


Dinner the first night onboard is casual. This is great because some of the early seating diners may not have their luggage by 5 in time for them to dress for dinner, and the casual attire seems to make folks a bit more outgoing that first night. We have requested late dinner seating which will be sometime around 8 or 8:30. This is a good idea on the Med cruise as port days are long and we don't even get back on the ship until early evening. For all of you who are used to eating early dinner, you can either opt out of the dining room and eat at the Windjammer or Seaview Cafe, order room service dinner, make an earlier reservation and eat at Chops or Portofino, or have a snack to tide you over until 8:30.

So we find our assigned dinner table, meet any fellow diners, our servers, and then enjoy a pleasant dinner. After dinner, the rest of the evening is up to you.

Disco...bar...casino...show lounge...hot tub...billiards...the possibilities are endless.

But don't forget to make your room service order before you go to bed! We arrive in Dubrovnik, Croatia at 9AM.