I was up and awake and on deck early on Monday morning as we would be docking in Dubrovnik.
We had booked an excursion to Tristeno Arboretum followed by a boat trip in Ston where we would sail out and eat oysters pulled fresh from the water.
I hadn't eaten an oyster prior to this trip and was unsure about booking the excursion but we felt it would be an inhospitable act to refuse the oysters and just enjoy the boat ride so when we were in San Francisco in July I ordered one oyster at a restaurant known for their oysters and enjoyed the taste enough to eat some on the Croatian boat.
On a calm sea we approached the coast of Croatia....
Now we could see houses on shore and soon we would be in a new land we had never been before, which is always exciting. A place ravaged by civil war within the past 15 years but now safe to visit.
I thought this might be a Somali pirate boat on first glance and was prepared to lob deck furniture at them until I realized this was just a cute excursion boat getting ready for a day of thrilling tourists. Alas we were not booked on it. Our excursion would happen many miles away, further down the coast.
There's a cliff-side road we would later be taking to Tristeno...
Up ahead lay a mighty modern bridge. We enjoyed a Sabatini's breakfast during our approach. The Captain's morning weather forecast said there was a chance of rain today so we packed an umbrella just incase. We were very much looking forward to going ashore even though it meant we would be immediately driven away from Dubrovnik with little chance to explore the city and it's famous walls before our excursion.
Other ships were already in port.
We have docked just before the bridge
An older cruise ship, without balcony cabins, tied up at the dock.
Here's the video of our approach to Dubrovnik.....
Here's the second video of our sail away from Venice. At the end of it I heard an airplane overhead and caught a couple of seconds of a pilot doing aerobatics as part of a display. The next day in Dubrovnik I heard that that was the stunt pilot's last flight-the plane fell from the sky soon after I shot the clip and the pilot was killed.
Blissfully unaware, we had Afternoon tea delivered to our balcony and enjoyed the sun and calm seas of the Adriatic. We had nothing else to do but relax until it was time for dinner in the MDR-main Dining Room-which on this ship was called the Club Restaurant. We had a table for two at 8.15 pm.
When we boarded the ship on Saturday night I noticed that they had planned to seat us at a table for 8 in the middle of the room so I made a request for a two-top and the Maitre 'd found us a better table.
We like to eat alone rather than with a group of strangers so that we don't have to make small talk.
This way we eat our food while it's hot and can relax. We chat to the waiters instead between courses.
The restaurant has a bar as you go in, so that people can enjoy cocktails before or after dinner- the Club Bar...
The waiters form a line against this mirrored wall to greet guests and show them to their table.
Club Restaurant
On bigger ships there are multiple MDRs and one of them is dedicated to Anytime Dining which means you don't have to eat at a fixed time and can eat anytime between 5.30 and 9.30 p.m.
You have to choose between Anytime and Traditional Fixed dining when you book your ticket.
The majority of people choose Traditional. There are 2 seatings- 5.30 and 8.15 approximately.
When you choose Anytime you will have a different table and a different waitstaff each night.
As tonight, Sunday, was deemed a Formal Night where people are requested to dress well, there would be a photographer working the room. You'll see on in the video later. If you don't want photos taken at the table just let him know and he'll pass you by. No pressure. You don't have to buy the photos taken on the ship but we usually do. They cost $20 for an 8 x 10 inch.
Here are some photos of dishes we ate. You'll find a need to add salt and pepper as when cooking for 680 different people you apparently have to dumb the seasoning down so as not to offend the palette.
Seasoning is of course best applied during the cooking process and not after.
French Onion soup, heavy on the cheese which is the American way as we like cheese. Soon someone will invent a cheese-flavored toothpaste...
Veal Farfalle- a favorite Princess dish of mine
Beef tenderloin. I am very happy with the Princess food. I have yet to have a meal that didn't satisfy and send my taste buds singing!
The beautiful thing about a cruise-one of the many beautiful things- is that when you are done eating and drinking you don't have far to go to your room. No waiting for the valet to pull the car around. No worries about having had too much to drink and drive. None of that. You get in an elevator or in our case walk up one flight of stairs and at the end of the hallway is your room which someone has cleaned for you while you were at dinner.
As it was the Adriatic sea in September it was warm enough to sit outside and enjoy a free beer from our minibar and admire the stars.
On a cruise your room moves while you stay still. No packing and unpacking and driving or flying to your next destination. Our next destination was new to us-Dubrovnik and Croatia....
Here's a short video from our dinner that night....
P.S...on a cruise you don't have to shop for food, prepare it, cook it and then wash the dishes!
At 1p.m, as advertised, the ship cast off from the dock at San Basilio, and, with a tug following, set a course for our first port of call-Dubrovnik, Croatia.
As the Venice sail away is considered one of the most memorable in cruising I had brought with me a tripod so I could set my camcorder to record the experience while I was free to move around our balcony and take still photos. The tripod was small and therefore portable which is what you need when traveling to far-off places. I left the camcorder running...
The following photos were taken from the ship as it moved down the Guideca canal, eventually to the open Adriatic sea.
This little bridge is the last one we sailed under on the Water Taxi to the ship
Passengers on the decks above
St Mark's Square, teeming with people
Looking back where the Grand Canal on the right meets the Guideca Canal
The Doge's Palace which we will visit next time when we are in Venice
This is the Vaparetto station which has a person working the ticket booth and where we got our 24 hour passes late on our first night in Venice.
Some cruises beginning in Venice start with an overnight spent on the ship. This is your hotel room for the night. Boarding hours for the ship were 1 pm to 9 pm on Saturday September 20 so if you were an early arrival you could board and then spend the rest of the day exploring Venice, returning to the ship at meal times if you wanted to save money. That's an option but not one that would have appealed to us as we wanted to enjoy the Venice experience while we could. We had almost a full week ahead to enjoy the ship.
The ship was due to sail at 1 pm on the second day of the cruise so we still had Sunday morning to see more of Venice. As suite passengers we took our breakfast in Sabatini's Italian Restaurant. Breakfast here is a perk for Suite passengers only so there are never more than 3 or 4 tables occupied and there are at least 3 servers. It has it's own menu and kitchen and is a wonderful calm way to start your day with a filling breakfast.
Our goal after breakfast was to avoid St Mark's Square and crowds wherever they might gather so we took a nearby Vaparetto (S Basilio station) across the Guideca canal to the San Giorgio station where there was a fine looking church and some views of St Mark's at a safe distance. We could see across the water that the Square was a mass of people taking advantage of the sunshine.
We had to attend a Safety Muster make-up session in the Tahitian Lounge at 10.45 a.m as we had missed the full Muster Drill the day before due to joining the ship late. This is where you are shown how to put your lifejackets on and is a worthwhile possible life-saving exercise required by law...something they hadn't done when the Costa Concordia sank in January 2012. Princess is very safety-concious which is fine by me!
This is the Costa Magica coming into port as we were sitting on our balcony before going to breakfast. All the big ships usually have the help of a tug, attached at the stern, to act as a brake if there was an engine failure which would allow the ship to drift in such narrow waters. Magica carries 3500 passengers vs the 680 on the Ocean Princess. She has however only 3 times the interior volume (which is expressed in Gross Tonnes)
Once breakfast at Sabatini's and the make-up Muster Drill was over we were free to go ashore for a quick trip across the Guideca Canal via Vaparetto.
St. Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace seen from San Giorgio
There was a golden art exhibit at S. Giorgio.
Nearby a newly-married couple were posing for friends taking photographs.
People strolling by the marina
We only had 30 minutes or so at S. Giorgio but it was nice to get off the ship and see another part of Venice. Our Vaparetto pass had expired late last night so I bought our tickets on the boat. The person who operates the gates and ties the boat up when docked is the one you see if you need to buy tickets which you pay in cash so have some Euros ready when you board.
We were soon back on the water and heading back towards San Basilio...
This giant structure is the Hilton Stucky Molina hotel
The ship will sail within the hour and our cruise will begin!
Here's the video from our brief visit to San Giorgio.....
