Day 2
I had a bit of a restless night, which was not helped either by the fact that we had somewhat noisy neighbours. Thankfully, Graham slept through it all. Shortly before 5:00 I got up to check if our ship had arrived. Unfortunately, there is no webcam, but the marine tracker showed that she was docked in Civitavecchia. I posted the next instalment of the trip report. This was a new experience for me that I am posting trip reports from a previous trip while I am already on the next trip. Once this was done, my eyes started to feel heavy again and I went back to sleep.
At 07:30, I was done. Graham was still asleep. I decided to work on the trip report for this trip. When Graham woke up briefly, we watched the safety video and listened to the emergency signal on the Royal Caribbean app. This meant that once we got to the ship, we just had to check in at the muster station and be done. I also played the Wash Your Hands video for good measure.
About 15 minutes before the alarm was due to go off, I had a shower. I started to get myself organised. Once Graham was ready, too, we headed out to the breakfast room. That was when we had a surprise. Maison de Revel is listed as a bed and breakfast and in 2022, this was precisely what it was. The breakfast was a little basic, but we most certainly did not go hungry. However, when we got to what used to be the breakfast room, there was no sign of breakfast. I have since found out that due to a change in Italian law, they can no longer offer breakfast. Neither of us was too upset. We had lunch booked at one of the specialty restaurants and agreed his was probably a blessing in disguise. I made us both a cup of coffee using the Nespresso machine, and we headed back to the room. Graham got himself organised as well and I put the luggage tags on our suitcases. Then we headed out. Our host had messaged us the previous day that she would be around at 10:30. As the published check out is no later than 10:00, I had selected a check in time for the cruise that considered that we would leave by then. This meant that waiting for her to get there at 10:30 would make us late for the cruise check in. We needed to pay the local taxes. We agreed that I would leave cash for the taxes and our keys on the bedside table. She also needed a copy of the photo pages of our passports. I have those saved on my phone so there was no problem sending them to her by email.
We were ready to go around 09:30 and figured we may as well leave. I had read that recently the shuttles from the railways station to the ships had been very busy and I thought there may be a chance that we would need to wait for a bit. Graham found another route to the station that did not involve cobblestones. However, it was through quite a narrow car park and there was an element of playing chicken with cars. Having said that, the drivers were ever so polite and patient. When we got to the station, Graham did not feel like going the long way round. He carried his suitcase up the stairs and then came back for mine. As we arrived at the station, a bus for the port just left, but there was one not far behind. The bus we saw leaving was pretty full, but apart from us, there was only one more couple that got on the next bus. I figured that we would sit there for a while until more people arrived, but we left a couple of minutes later with just the four of us.
On the way, I noticed something that I had never seen before. Just inside the port boundaries, there was a statue of a kissing couple. When we were in Civitavecchia in 2022, our tour guide was rather scathing about a very large and gaudy statue called Unconditional Surrender on the sea front just before you get to the port. The statue is based on a photo that was taken by American photographer Alfred Eisenstadt in Times Square, New York on 14th August 1945 where a sailor was so overcome by emotion at the prospect that the war was about to be over that supposedly kissed a random woman who was standing next to him. There are versions of this statue in various locations around the world and in most locations, it is controversial. People are referring to it as a statue celebrating sexual assault. I am rather more forgiving based on the circumstances. I still do not like it. It is very big and to me, it is just a monstrosity. The one we drove past is a smaller bronze statue that is more tasteful. It also has a different meaning. The statue “Kissing in Memory of a Port” depicts a young woman kissing a sailor of the Royal Port Authority. The monument was created to remember people who left the port of Civitavecchia for war, often without returning. It was created also to rebuild a “memory” lost on 14th May 1943, when a heavy bombardment devasted not only the historical Port Authority Office, but also a large part of the port area and the city centre, erasing centuries of history. This statue was installed 2020 whereas the other statue has been in Civitavecchia since 2012.
When we got to the terminal things were very busy even though it was still quite early. We were dropped off in front of where we needed to drop off our luggage. I like the set up they have in Civitavecchia. Rather than the free for all outside the terminal that you get at most ports, baggage drop off is in a building adjacent to where check in takes place. There are separate lines for people who have the luggage tags already attached and those that need the luggage to be tagged. Although the line for the tagged luggage was much longer, it also moved very quickly. A couple of minutes later we were on our way to check in. Back in 2022, we walked straight through this area to security by just waiving our Set Sail Passes at the person at the end of this line. This time round, as our final destination was the USA, they checked our passports, ESTAs and the Set Sail Passes. Still, they had a lot of staff at the ready and the line was moving swiftly. I suppose it also helped to spread out people at security and we were through this very quickly. We were then sent upstairs to check in.
There were huge murals on the wall in the area where to escalators up to check in are. One was of St. Peter’s Basilica and the other of the Coliseum. Graham suggested that he takes a photo of me against the backdrops. I took him up on the offer to take a photo with the backdrop of St. Peter’s Basilica. I look like an ant in this photo. Then we went upstairs.
There were lots of people milling around in the area where check in was taking place and there was a long line. I thought we had a bit of a wait ahead of us. When we entered the check in area, Graham was handed cards with our boarding group. We got group 26, which did not make me happy. We were then intercepted and asked if we had done online check in. We confirmed that we had. We were sent to somebody with an iPad straightaway. There were a number of check in agents with iPads just waiting for customers. Apparently, the line was for people who had not done online check in. I know there are always some people who prefer to do check in at the port, but it surprised me that there were so many. Our check in agent quickly checked our Set Sail Passes, passports and ESTAs and took a security photo. Then we were on our way. The process had taken approximately 90 seconds.
There were plenty of people around to do crowd control and to make sure everybody knew where they were going. On the walkway running parallel to the ship, photographers were taking embarkation photos. I had taken one photo with me facing the ship as I wanted to show off the back of the embarkation shirt. This cruise was to celebrate my 50th birthday, but there were touches on what I have packed for the cruise that are celebrating travel. The back of the shirt was displaying my cruise stats.
With the photos taken care off, we headed back inside the building to clear immigration. Just inside the building, they had set up some backdrops for some more embarkation photos. Then we proceeded to immigration. This amused me no end. As the cruise was ending in New York, we had to get our exit stamps. However, for the following week we were still cruising around Europe and calling at multiple European ports. I had wondered before the cruise how this would be handled. The process was very smooth. When we got to immigration, the line was very short. When we got to the front of the line, the immigration officer just checked our entry stamp and then added the exit stamp. Then we were on our way.
When we got to the waiting area to get on the ship, they were just calling the first boarding group. The interval in between the first 5 boarding groups being called was quite long, but then they called 10 groups together. After this, they went back to calling one group at the time, but the interval was much shorter. About 20 minutes after we got to the waiting area, they called our boarding group. There was a bit of a line near the gangway, but that moved quickly enough. We stepped on the ship at 11:00, which was supposed to be our check in time.
We headed towards our muster station. I was not sure if this was already open as sometimes, they open a little later. However, we were in luck. We checked in and then we headed to Café Two70 for our traditional first cup of Royal Caribbean blend. Just as we were walking up to the Two70, I heard a very familiar sound. They were playing the Wash Your Hands video that I love so much. We got our coffees and found some seats. They were playing a welcome video on the big screen. I knew before the cruise that the regular cruise director for Odyssey finished her contract that morning. I knew that a cruise director that we had before was due to join he ship on arrival in New York. The outgoing cruise director had shared with back-to-back cruisers that somebody who was freshly promoted would take over from her. However, I had read the day before the cruise director who was supposed to take over the day we got off the ship would start his contract early. Sure enough, it was cruise director Steve from Canada that was on the screen. Now, he is not the worst cruise director we ever had. He does not even make the top three in this rating. However, he is rather fond of the sound of his own voice, and I have to admit, he does irritate me.
While we had our coffee, I signed in to the intranet. I wanted to check if I could tweak some dining times. Unfortunately, it only gave me the option to cancel. I did not want to risk that. I also checked for reservations for the North Star. The North Star consists of a capsule similar to the ones attached to the London Eye that is attached to a robotic arm. During port days, this is free, but reservations are required. They are limited to once a cruise. They do charge on sea days. There were reservations available for that day. They used to release reservations all at once, but they now only release them a day at the time. I was torn between doing it that day or waiting until Palma. Graham suggested that the views would be better in Civitavecchia. I made a reservation for mid-afternoon. Graham was not interested.
Just before 12:00, we decided to head over to Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen. I had got a really good deal for lunch there in one of the cruise planner sales. Royal Caribbean has three different Italian speciality dining concepts. Giovanni’s Table is the original concept, but this does not have a very good reputation. We have no first-hand experience of this. The menu does not really appeal to us and a lot of people we know that have tried it found it to be mediocre at best. A lot of the newer ships have Jamie’s Italian. We ate there a couple of times over the years, but this is something we can take or leave. Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen however is a different story. This can be found on ships that entered service in the last couple of years. They actually serve authentic Italian cuisine. We had a few meals there when we were on Odyssey in 2022 and had the unlimited speciality dining plan. This became our favourite speciality restaurant.
When we walked past the midship lifts, they were crazy busy. We headed forward hoping that the lifts there would be quieter, but that was not the case. We decided to head to the Schooner Bar for a drink instead and wait for the crowds to disperse. When we were on Navigator of the Seas in November 2023, I fell in love with the Desert Pear Margarita, which had been introduced as a signature cocktail for the Schooner Bar at some stage between June and November 2023. This was love at first taste and I had a few of those on our cruise on Navigator of the Seas and also on our back-to-back Alaska cruises on Radiance of the Seas in May. I was delighted to have another Desert Pear Margarita so early in the cruise. That delight however did not last very long. This was not the cocktail of my dreams. It tasted almost watered down. Graham had the same, and he was not impressed either.
Soon it was time for me to check in for my ride on North Star. I asked Graham if he would stay in the Schooner Bar, and he told me that he would. I left my backpack with him and only took my handbag with me. There were quite a few people waiting to check in. We approached the member of staff at the bottom at the North Star. He checked our reservations and told us to sit down on the chairs nearby. I was not surprised about this as this was precisely what had happened when I did the North Star on this ship previously. I chatted away with one of the other people waiting. Suddenly there was a bit of a commotion. It turned out that there were two separate groups waiting for their turn and both groups had been told to sit down. It appears that there was a shift change between the time we checked in and the time the first group was supposed to have their turn. Nobody called them. One of the people affected noticed that the North Star was going up and she was still waiting to be called for her turn. The person who I was chatting with was affected by this as well. The person at the check in at the time offered to cancel the reservation for everybody affected and rebook them for later in the day. The original person who had noticed that problem was not happy with this and left. Fortunately, our group was not full once everybody had checked in. The people from the previous group who had opted to stick around to be rebooked were actually able to ride with us.
Once everybody who had missed their turn had been seen, I thought I better go and check in again. I was sent to wait at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the North Star. While I was waiting, Graham appeared wanting to check our cabin number. Apparently, the lifts were no longer too busy, and he had decided to go up to our cabin. Unfortunately, when he got to our deck, he realised that he did not actually know our cabin number. He left our hand luggage in the hallway and came to find me. It turned out that he was not far wrong.
Graham had been right about doing the North Star in Civitavecchia rather than in Palma. The views were really good. It was also a nice way to start the cruise. I took some photos, but other than that I just enjoyed. Once we were back on firm ground, I headed down to our cabin. Graham let me in. I unpacked my hand luggage and put our magnets up. Even we were on the ship for 14 days, I never got around to take photos of our door. Still, has I have essentially had the same magnets every cruise since 2021 and only add a new magnet for the latest cruise, this does not really matter. Creating the magnet for this cruise had been a bit of a challenge. I ended up making three versions. I had originally done a magnet featuring the Alhambra. However, we were waiting for the tour to meet the minimum number of participants, and this never happened. As back up, I did a magnet featuring Montserrat, but this was weather dependent. The final version was the cathedral in Valencia, which I thought would be a safe option. However, in the end we did not go to Valencia at all. I did put up the Montserrat magnet and we did end up going.
When I went outside to put our magnets up, I spotted Graham’s suitcase a little way down the hall. I went to get this. Graham unpacked and then had a nap. I read for a while and then checked if my suitcase had arrived. There was no sign of it. I alternated reading and checking for my suitcase. On one of the trips, I noticed that somebody came out of the passageway that links the port and the starboard side with a suitcase. I decided to go exploring. I found my suitcase not only on the wrong side of the ship, but almost completely at the back while we were midship. I was just coming out of the passageway when a stateroom host intercepted me offering help. As the suitcase did not roll very easily along the carpet, I happily accepted. It turned out that this was actually our stateroom host, Allan. It was nice to meet him straightaway.
I unpacked my stuff. At some stage, the emergency signal was sounded in preparation for us leaving and Graham managed to sleep through this. How he managed to sleep through this racket will remain one of life’s mysteries. In the process, he missed out on some amusement. Our cruise director made a rather longwinded announcement. Suddenly he disappeared midsentence and instead the captain came on the public address system. It looked like the captain just cut him off.
Once I had unpacked, I read a bit more. Eventually I managed to wake up my sleeping beauty. There was a special sail away event for top tier Crown and Anchor Society members in the solarium. I had attended a couple of similar events in the past and they always were a lot of fun. Graham agreed to come with me, but if it was too busy, he would not stay. That sounded like a deal. He took one look at the line and turned around. I got as far as stepping into the solarium, but when I saw that they had removed all the furniture from the solarium and people were almost standing shoulder to shoulder, I left, too.
I joined Graham on the pool deck where he had found a comfortable seat. I suggested that we could have a sail away drink at the Lime and Coconut bar near one of the pools. Graham agreed to this and a new tradition for this cruise was born. We both had the signature drink for this bar, which is called Lime and Coconut and served in little plastic buckets. This was as good as ever. The two main bartenders at this version of Lime and Coconut were both called Roy. One was from Jamaica and one from Goa. As there are three Lime and Coconut bars on this ship, we came to refer to this as the Roy Bar.
When we noticed that the ship was moving, we left and found some seats near some windows. Once we were out in the open sea, we headed downstairs. We got some casual photos. I then went upstairs to get changed into one of my gowns while Graham found a seat near Starbucks. When I came back down, he took a quick photo of me in my gown. We had done that daily on Radiance of the Seas, but this was actually the only evening when we did this.
When I came down, the shops were already open. As we still had a little bit of time before dinner, we decided to check out the logo shop. There are two things I like to get on every ship. One is a resin ship model and the other is a spirit jersey. I was lucky enough to get a resin ship model of Odyssey of the Seas in 2022, but they did not have spirit jerseys on that sailing. This time, they did not have either of those items. I was very disappointed.
Neither of us was particularly hungry after our big lunch. However, as tempting as it was to just skip dinner, we knew that then there was a distinct possibility that we would wake up in middle of the night feeling hungry. We decided to go to dinner and just have a starter and dessert. The line for the dining room was impressive that evening and snaked into the casino. It did move quite quickly though. When we could see the entrance of the dining room, it became obvious what the issue was. There were a large number of people who had been on early dining just leaving. Things must have overrun. There was a lot of grumbling in that line and one person got quite abusive. It was a complete overreaction. From when we joined the line in the casino to when we were escorted to our table, maybe 10 minutes had passed. This is hardly an issue.
We were allocated a table for four, but it was just for the two of us. Our dining team Andrian from Romania and Rehan from India came to introduce themselves. They were fabulous. Graham had a change of heart when he saw the menu, which was the Welcome Onboard menu. He went with a main course and dessert instead of starter and dessert. He had the chicken and leak pie, which came with carrots and broccoli. He had the key lime pie for his dessert. I stuck with the original plan and had the vegan roasted tomato soup with pesto drizzle and ciabatta croutons. I also had the Boston cream pie for dessert. We both had a couple of glasses of the Chateau St. Michelle Riesling that we like so much. Dinner was very nice. At some point, our head server Borana from Albania also came to introduce herself. She was very nice.
After dinner, Graham headed back to the cabin while I got some more photos. Then I went back to the cabin, too. I got ready for bed and read for a bit. I had wisely set the alarm for 23:00 to take my medication as I had fallen asleep by then. When the alarm went off, I quickly got up to take my medication and then I went back to sleep.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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