Today was predominantly a travel day. Our landlady in Lucca was kind enough to make taxi arrangements for us. We were traveling by train from Lucca to Venice where we would board our ship for a 7-day Adriatic/Mediterranean cruise.
We were a little nervous because the final train was to arrive in Venice at 1:30 pm and our window to board the ship was from 1:30-3:00. We’ve had some tardiness issues on the regional trains, but we’re hoping for more punctuality on the major trains.
We left Lucca at 9:30 am routing through Florence. We had a 40 minute layover there before the final train from Florence to Venice. Only 5 minutes late we were confident of making our ship. We did lose a little time along the way but, on good recommendations, we got off the train at the Mestre station, one stop before the Santa Lucia in Venice, and took a cab to the cruise port.
Embarkation was a breeze. We kept laughing at ourselves for being on yet another cruise! But this one, sandwiched as it was between 10 days on land prior and 7 days after felt good. Plus, the itinerary begged being on a ship.
Once on board we found our stateroom, and while waiting the arrival of our bags, went to one of the dining venues for a bite to eat. A mandatory safety drill, activating our on board account and unpacking for the week rounded out the day.
We had a nice FaceTime chat with Ali and it was so good to see her face and hear her voice. Paige should arrive there tonight or tomorrow morning, I forget which.
We did more self-guided ship orientation, stopped for a glass of wine and then headed off to bed.
Another day in the books 📚
¡Ciao America! 