Sorrento Ahoy!

We had signed up for an 8 hour shore excursion for our day "in" Sorrento. I say "in" because we were anchored off shore as it can't accommodate a cruise ship and we were really just going to pass through it on our way to Pompeii. As we would have to leave the ship soon after docking to meet our tour on the harbor we had Room Service deliver a breakfast to our cabin.

Stepping out on to the balcony we saw a ship that had been there at anchor overnight. If it looks familiar that's because it is a sister-ship to the Ocean Princess (there were 8 identical ships built for Renaissance Cruise Line which went into bankruptcy around 1999 and all their ships were auctioned off) Two of the eight now belong to Azamara Club Cruises which is a division of  Royal Caribbean. They have a different colored hull as you can see in the photo. Their specialty is overnight stays in some ports so that passengers get to spend more time on shore. That holds great appeal for me and I hope to sail with Azamara someday. The ship is the Azamara Journey. Their other ship is called the Quest.

She pulled up her anchor and prepared to leave Sorrento Bay

Looking from our balcony I could see Mt. Vesuvius in the distance with Naples laying at it's feet. We would be going close to the mountain this morning to visit the ancient city of Pompeii which was buried in ash when the volcano erupted in AD79

The weather looked promising for a full day off the ship. Certainly no storm clouds as in Palermo.

First we had to get to Sorrento and we would be sailing there in one of the ship's lifeboats-called a tender as it would be going back and forth from the ship to the land all day. Another tender would be used to share the load,reducing waiting times.

Sorrento lay bathing in the morning sun- there would be no time for sunbathing for us. We had to assemble with the other passengers going ashore for excursions (they get priority over passengers who just want to spend time walking around Sorrento itself). We assembled in the Cabaret Lounge at the front of the ship. Staff were there to check our excursion tickets and issue colored wristbands appropriate to our particular excursion as there were many different ones meeting on the dock. We had pink wristbands for our Pompeii and Amalfi Coast tour.

Each time a tender would return from shore empty another color would be called. We waited 30 minutes for our call but there were drinks and snacks provided to help pass the time. Princess tour movies featuring Alaska were also playing quietly on the movie screen in the lounge.

When our turn came we boarded the tender, which was bobbing up and down in the choppy sea, and made our way to the shore and the adventure that awaited us.

Here's the video of that trip to the harbor....