Just How Special am I?

Seriously, I feel as if I am the only American on board the Ventura! Although I entered all my relevant information on the cruise website, any time I had to show my passport - at Manchester airport, going through immigration at Genoa airport, when checking in at the departure hall, and again by the police just before taking that first step on board, there was a flurry of activity, and quite often shouts across the room in Italian!

To celebrate the fact that I am American, and seemingly unique in this talent, I bought myself my first Pandora charm. What else but an American flag!

We have spent the past 3 hours exploring a ship we already feel at home in. This is the sister ship to the Azura so the hugeness of it is more comforting than confusing. They are not identical twins however, and it has been fun comparing the differences. Travelling transatlantic through stormy seas allowed Alan and I to become intimately familiar with the Azura. Lets see how we feel at the end of this journey!

We have only seen Genoa on our transfer from the airport and from the deck... It looks congested with the beautiful old style buildings crowded out by modern buildings and highways. But it reads well and I am sure we would have seen a different side of this city if we'd had the time.

Neither here nor there

After spending a lovely day with fellow PASS workers in Edinburgh, I am now sitting in the Premier Inn, Manchester planning on getting less than 4 hours' sleep before boarding the plane for Genoa and our cruise!

It was a gathering of workers from all over Scotland, then I took the train to Glasgow, Alan picked me up and, whoosh here we are in England!

Here are some photos from Edinburgh.  Next stop, Italy!

Large Ship, Small Allowances

Here I sit on the train to Edinburgh for 2 days of training.  Nothing unusual about that except for the 2 flowered bags I am carrying.   One would be normal for an overnight stay, but the other is actually my carry on bag for the flight to Genoa on Wednesday!   Today, Edinburgh, tomorrow, Manchester, Wednesday, The first day of our Meditteranean cruise on the Ventura!

We have cruised her sister ship, the Azura, so are looking forward to being on another big ship!   My only complaint (already?) is the very meagre luggage allowance. Which explains why I am sitting here struggling on my iPad and not my laptop!  How can a person pack for a 14 night cruise, visiting 5 countries, with only 20 kg luggage and 5 kg carry on?  I have had worse challenges before so I am certain this will all work out well, but please wish me luck anyway!

Another challenge will be doing my blog on the iPad, I keep trying to convince myself it can't be as bad as the last time. But it always is. There seems to be no flexibility with the iPad, so this will really be a basic journal and I apologise in advance.  But it will still be better than nothing, for me anyway! I also can't preview what I have written....

After a training session with colleagues, we went to The Basement for dinner and drinks!  Not a bad way to end the day!






Then it was off to find my hotel room.  Here are two views from my window- overlooking Waverley Station -