All at sea

Our 4th day on the ship and one that would be spent at sea sailing Northwest to Livorno, the port closest to Florence. Sea days are usually spent relaxing in the sun and are looked forward to.

I was up in time for the sunrise

The yellow cone says it all-it's drizzling rain and no one is likely to be sunbathing today

All the loungers are wet

Breakfast today is in Sabatini's which is exclusively for passengers staying in suites.

Fresh fruit

No crowds as there would be in one of the main dining rooms or the buffet

We always choose a window table for breakfast. 

The breads and pastries selection

Large dinner parties can be catered for

Every Italian restaurant needs a meat slicer

French toast with cinnamon apples and bacon. Fuel for a day of being lazy.

Carol's Belgian waffles

The rain has eased after breakfast

A Princess cruise video plays on the MUTS screen but there are few people watching

A dark rain cloud follows the ship

One of the few places set aside for smokers on the ship

There was a Meet and Greet taking place in the Adagio Bar next to Sabatini's. An M and G is where members of Cruisecritic.com arrange through a Forum to meet on the ship at a given time. I stopped in for a short time and took some photographs of people I didn't know. Most of them were wearing name tags with their screen name showing. I didn't recognize any of the names. Cruise critic has one million members.

You pay for your own drinks and after one weak rum and coke I left to wander the wet decks again

The air remained cool and damp for the rest of the day.

In the evening, before dinner we attended a show featuring Peter Howarth who has been the lead singer for the Hollies since 2006 so we were assured some good songs. He was in fine voice. Great show! It lasted an hour so we didn't get to dinner until 9.30pm.

Sadly I didn't have my zoom lens with me

On to dinner and I was ready for some pasta with oxtail in a rich gravy

For Carol, a starter of Caesar salad with anchovies

My Moroccan chicken, cooked in a tagine. Delicious slow cooking.

Carol's braised pork

After dinner and a brief walk on deck it was time for another show-the International Crew show where members of the crew display their singing and musical talents. Before the show balloons are passed out to amuse the audience...

And finally the long walk back to our cabin on the stern to sleep as, in the morning, we would be waking up in Livorno and taking a long excursion to Florence!

Sailing away from Salerno

Just back from a memorable walk through the ruins of Herculaneum we decided to relax on the ship and not visit the town of Salerno just outside the port gates. It required a shuttle bus trip as you can't just walk out of the docks as they are so large-and dangerous for pedestrians as there are cranes and trucks working.

So we are back on board the Emerald Princess. Afternoon tea has again been ordered for 4 pm.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast at 6.30 so we were ready for the feast that is Afternoon tea when served on the balcony. When eating this in one of the restaurants waiters come around and offer you treats but on th balcony they bring more food than two people really need-all at once. Luckily we were hungry but after eating most of this food we needed naps as walking around wasn't on the menu.

Cakes and cookies

Scones, warm from the oven and served with cream and raspberry jam

Dainty sweet cakes for that "sugar rush"

Savory sandwiches with ham, turkey, cheese and shrimp -all the bread is baked on the ship

It was getting dark in Salerno when we woke from our naps and time for the ship to sail away to our next Italian port of call

The Costa ship remained

Once Salerno disappeared from view we settled in for another nice evening on board and enjoyed another fine dinner, even though it wasn't well photographed! It looks like it was Italian night in the dining room. I see minestrone and some crusty bread with pesto.

Prosciutto with melon which is trying (and succeeding)  to hide from the camera

If there is veal on a menu then that's what I order

  After another great meal

Our next day would be a sea day as we ate up the miles between Salerno and our next port , Livorno which is the gateway for Tuscany and, in our case, Florence where we had a tour planned....