Pia1913 Posted October 15, 2011 #1 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Welcome aboard the Ocean Princess; live from Civitavecchia, Italy. I hope you will join me for the next 28 days as we cruise along from here to Singapore. Just a short blurb before we get started, which by itself is fortunate because we almost didn’t get here. Our first flight left an hour and 20 minutes late for no apparent reason except we were told “air traffic control had a problem.” That problem got us into Philadelphia with less than ½ hour to make our Rome flight. That is one monster airport and without hijacking two guys with those handicap transport vehicles, we would still be there. Plane was already loaded and ready to close when we reached our gate. They left exactly on time fully knowing that there were many passengers who had yet to make their connections. This is why you never fly internationally the same day you board a ship. We had bought an all inclusive package from Hotel SanGiorgio and they were there to meet us upon arrival. Transfers, hotel room, dinner, breakfast and transport to ship. Easy peasy. I am creating this masterpiece off line since there is no internet available. In fact, there is no system running at all, since we checked at the purser’s desk for our first printout and were told it was all out and probably would be until after sail away. We got on board about 1:00 PM, which at that time was a 5 minute operation. We grabbed some lunch and by 2:30 our bags had been delivered. We are in a BC balcony on deck 7 and on this small ship you get from here to there in 2 seconds. It is now 5:40; muster just completed and we have 6:00 PM dinner seating. Will check in later and hopefully be fully live at that time. Hello…… and really LIVE now. It’s almost 9:30, we walked out of the welcome aboard show and shipboard life has begun. Our captain is Roger Bilton whom we’ve had the pleasure of sailing with previously and our maitre d’ is one of my very favorites - Guiseppe Franchina. We have a great table; table for six set for four and this is the way it will remain. Our friends with us are Donna and Dennis from Hawaii. The CD is Peter Roberts; don’t know a thing about him since I’ve never seen him before. Since we are still a little “off” because of our travels and travails, this opener will be a bit brief. I’d really like to try and get a good night’s sleep and our first port is tomorrow morning; Sorrento. We are due to arrive at 7:00 and it’s a tender port. Our friends are planning to take the ferry to Capri and since we’ve been there twice before we will probably walk the town and reminisce. We spent a wonderful week in Sorrento about 15 years ago and hope it hasn’t changed too much. Since tomorrow is Sunday, I wonder whether anything will be open. I am going to bid you buono notte for now and see you again tomorrow. Oh, by the way, I did manage to blow $10 in a slot machine in a m atter of 4 minutes. Who said the machines are loose on the first night? :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonahCBrown Posted October 15, 2011 #2 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Donna here - Pia managed to lose - DH managed to win a bit, I am about even on the slots. We've had Peter as a our CD before on Royal Princess. Nice young man. The CC get together is on our first sea day. Will chime in as we go along. Still trying to adjust to the time zone as my body clock is around 12 hours off, so not much more to add at this point but goodnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james j feller Posted October 15, 2011 #3 Share Posted October 15, 2011 PIA and DONNA, Have a great cruise. JIM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Kruzer Posted October 15, 2011 #4 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Hi Pia and Donna, Have a great cruise and many thanks for the Live From. Its a real epic journey this time. Looking forward to hearing of your adventures For others following on Cruise Critic , here is a map and the itinerary for Ocean Princess as she heads to Singapore... Itinerary Date Port Arrive Depart Sat 15/10/11 Civitavecchia (Rome) / Italy 18:00 Sun 16/10/11 Sorrento / Italy 07:00 16:00 Mon 17/10/11 At Sea Tue 18/10/11 Piraeus (Athens) / Greece 08:00 17:45 Wed 19/10/11 Kusadasi / Turkey 07:00 16:00 Thu 20/10/11 At Sea Fri 21/10/11 Passage Suez Canal / Egypt 01:00 17:00 Sat 22/10/11 Sharm El-Sheikh / Egypt 06:00 18:00 Sun 23/10/11 Aqaba / Jordan 07:00 19:00 Mon 24/10/11 Safaga / Egypt 07:00 23:00 Tue 25/10/11 At Sea Wed 26/10/11 At Sea Thu 27/10/11 At Sea Fri 28/10/11 At Sea Sat 29/10/11 At Sea Sun 30/10/11 At Sea Mon 31/10/11 Dubai / United Arab Emirates 07:00 17:00 Tue 01/11/11 Muscat / Oman 13:00 19:00 Wed 02/11/11 At Sea Thu 03/11/11 At Sea Fri 04/11/11 Mumbai / India 07:00 18:00 Sat 05/11/11 At Sea Sun 06/11/11 Kochi / India 08:00 17:00 Mon 07/11/11 At Sea Tue 08/11/11 At Sea Wed 09/11/11 At Sea Thu 10/11/11 At Sea Fri 11/11/11 Port Kelang / Malaysia 07:00 18:00 Sat 12/11/11 Singapore / Singapore 07:00 Traveled Distance: 15,716.21 km/8,486.07 nm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandmaa Posted October 15, 2011 #5 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Buon Giorno from California..Grazie for taking us along on your journey. I look forward to your "live from" to places I would love to see and visit. Arrivederci P.S. That is the extent of my italian!! Good Day, Thank you, and Good Bye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avalong Posted October 15, 2011 #6 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Pia & Donna- Have a wonderful time! I'll be hanging on your every word....:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
san diego sue Posted October 15, 2011 #7 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Pia, Glad you are taking us all on your journey. Love Sorrento. First time there 46 years ago. Last time on the Ruby, in 2010, side trip there. It has grown but still so charming. First time bought a music box that played Come back to Sorrento. Still have it. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happytalk44 Posted October 15, 2011 #8 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Did ya'll have any effects from the "riots"/protests in Rome today that we are seeing on TV here. Seems there is tear gas and water cannons in use so I was curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoghornLeghorn Posted October 15, 2011 #9 Share Posted October 15, 2011 WOW thanks to Pia and Donna and also to David for the information on the cruise itself. will be traveling along and wishing you a wonderful trip!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucedodge Posted October 15, 2011 #10 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Hi Pia (and Mike), You know I don't post much, but I'll keep in touch with the thread. We did almost the identical sailing on Azamara a couple of years ago. See you on the Pacific Princess in a couple of weeks. Bon voyage, Bruce and Gail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueridge20 Posted October 15, 2011 #11 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thanks so much for your "live" report, I have enjoyed some of your other ones and look forward to this one. Thanks also to David for the itinerary map, now I know where all your stops are, looks like a wonderful trip. Hope you guys have great weather.:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
California Native Posted October 15, 2011 #12 Share Posted October 15, 2011 What a perfect thread for me to come back to the Princess boards with after being away for a year cruising on other lines!!! A live from ...from Pia...Yippee!!!! Have a wonderful adventure! K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Working 2 Cruise Posted October 15, 2011 #13 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thank you Pia. Have a fantastic cruise. We will be following along! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmwc Posted October 15, 2011 #14 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Donna here - Pia managed to lose - DH managed to win a bit, I am about even on the slots. We've had Peter as a our CD before on Royal Princess. Nice young man. The CC get together is on our first sea day. Will chime in as we go along. Still trying to adjust to the time zone as my body clock is around 12 hours off, so not much more to add at this point but goodnight. Hello Donna, We read that you arrived in Civatevecchia early and were looking for some good wine shops. Did you have any luck and if so would you be willing to share the names? We are boarding the Pacific at the end of November for the Transatlantic crossing and would love to take some bottles with us. We also hope to finally meet Pia on this cruise. Hope the cruise is wonderful and the weather is good. Thank you Midge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangefan Posted October 15, 2011 #15 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Pia and Donna, Have a wonderful safe cruise ! I look forward to your posts. I will be on the Emerald 11/8/11 and hope them internet won't be too slow ! Sali Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highheel girl Posted October 15, 2011 #16 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Bon Voyage!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Gal Posted October 15, 2011 #17 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Have a great cruise. We had Peter on our last cruise on the Royal. I wasn't so taken with him but his friend and Assistant C.D. was terrific and really knew how to run things. I hope the Ocean is still in tip top condition. We are looking forward to being back on her in March - Sydney to Singapore. Jennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseAdict218 Posted October 15, 2011 #18 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Have a Great Cruise!:) Thanks for taking the time to do this "Live from" :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Badgers Posted October 15, 2011 #19 Share Posted October 15, 2011 We're really looking forward to your "Live from...", Pia! Thanks for sharing! Great map, David, it really helps put us in the mood for some exciting travels ahead. Wishing you red skies at night and a wonderful time. -Ann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLauben Posted October 15, 2011 #20 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Looking forward to your report. The spring (reverse) cruise was wonderful, although I thought that 120+ degrees in Luxor was a bit much. Also hope that Sorrento is a bit better for you ... there were 6 ships in the vicinity, and it was a total zoo. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruisey Posted October 15, 2011 #21 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Look forward very much to the posts. Oh and better luck next time at play Pia.......Heather.;):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsetbeachgal Posted October 15, 2011 #22 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thanks in advance for your efforts...we loved our two weeks on the Ocean last September, and will look forward to hearing about this great-sounding itinerary! Is Captain Ravera on a break? He was such a great captain...and so charming!!;);) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mississauga Posted October 15, 2011 #23 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Pia and Donna, what a great tandem. This is going to be a fabulous Live! Will be able to follow along with you for 10 days before going on our own TA. Then home just in time to cruise along with Pia on her adventure across the pond. David, thanks for always adding to make Pia's Lives extra spwcial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepWaterMariner Posted October 16, 2011 #24 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Looking forward to following along, at least until our next cruise in two weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovevacadays Posted October 16, 2011 #25 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Have a wonderful cruise! I'm very excited to read your "live from" as your itinerary looks so interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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