Day 31 – April 29 - Rome to Chicago to Dallas

Our wake up call was at 6:30.  It was partly cloudy and 52 degrees with 72% humidity and 7 mph winds.  We had coffee in the cabin while dressing.  Our disembarkation number was called at 8:10 and after leaving the ship and collecting our luggage, we were directed to three different buses before getting one with room for luggage and after one false start where someone came running for the bus after we had pulled out and we had to stop for about 5 minutes, we left the port at 8:55.  The bus that they had put us on was for a different terminal first.  We finally got to terminal T5 at 10.  By the time Glenda got us a luggage cart we had just over an hour before our flight.  We checked our bags, cleared 2 security checks and were bused to the departure terminal.  Then as we were boarding, Glenda was pulled over for another search of her carry on and purse and a pat down.  We finally got on board and took off on time at 11:15.  We had very good meals in business class and watch several movies on our personal Samsung Galaxy tablets that they provided.  We landed in Chicago at 3:10 and cleared immigrations and customs and got to our gate for our flight to DFW at 4:10 only to find that the 5:15 flight was delayed due to weather to 6pm then 6:10.  We finally started to board at 5:40 but were stopped after only a few had boarded due to a mechanical problem.  They estimated an additional 30 delay and had all the people already boarded get off.  We finally boarded at 6:20 and took off at 6:45.  We landed in Dallas at 9 and got the luggage at 9:30.  The driver got us home at 10:15.  We were pretty well shot.

Day 30 – April 28 – Naples, Italy

Our wake up call was at 6:50.  It was partly cloudy and 57 degrees with 74% humidity and 8 mph winds.  We had breakfast in the cabin while dressing for our tour at 9 to Herculaneum which was covered in lava by the eruption of Vesuvius while Pompeii was covered in ash.  Our disembarkation package came and showed expedited which meant we would have to carry our own luggage off the ship.  That wouldn’t be possible with 4 large bags and our 2 carry on bags.  I went to the front desk and they changed us to yellow #1 which means that our luggage will be claimed on the dock.  We went to get our stickers for our tour and boarded the bus at 8:55.  First,  we drove to a cameo factory for a demonstration and at 9:55, we drove to Herculaneum.  The maximum crowd was already in the ruins, so we had to wait about 20 minutes until another group left.  After about three fourths of our tour, it started to rain lightly and we managed to keep relatively dry.  Afterwards, we re-boarded the bus at 12 and were back at the terminal at 12:30.  We looked through the shops in the terminal and stopped for pizza and a coke before we re-boarded the ship at 1.  We packed our other 2 bags except for the last minute items by 2:15 and then read until time to clean up for the evening.  We added the last minute items and set the luggage out before going to the casino for about 45 minutes after the last bingo game at 7 which we did not win anything.  At the casino, I broke even while Glenda did not,  After dinner, we returned to the casino for an hour where I won $41 and Glenda did not.  I cashed out my account at the casino and we returned to the cabin at 11.

Day 29 – April 27 – Palermo, Sicily

We had another 6:50 wake up call.  It was sunny and 59 degrees with 74% humidity and 5 mph winds.  We had breakfast in the cabin while dressing for our tour at 9 of the Mysteries of Palermo.  We drove through part of Palermo to the Capuchin Catacombs where we viewed hundreds of the 8,000 mummified bodies there.  The clothing and features of some were very well preserved due to properties of the soil in the catacombs.  We then drove to a church where we had 30 minutes of free time.  We ate gelato and went to the top of a department store to take photos.  We then visited 2 beautiful oratories and heard their histories from our guide.  We re-boarded the bus and drove back to the ship at 12:30.  We each packed one bag with clothing that we would not be needing and then went to the aft deck for cookies and coffee and coke at 2:10.  We stayed there until it started to rain and get a bit cool and then returned to the cabin at 2:55.   We worked on the Sunday Times crossword puzzle until giving that up at 4:15.  We read before getting dressed for the evening.  We had a cocktail reception at 7:30 before going to dinner.  Before the reception, we stopped by the casino for 45 minutes and got to play for a small loss.  After dinner, we went to the casino and played for an hour for a somewhat larger loss.  We returned to the cabin at 10:45.

Day 28–April 26–La Goulette, Tunisia (Not)

We had a 6:50 wake up call for what turned out to be a rather surprising day.  It was 57 degrees with 81% humidity and 34 mph winds under cloudy skies.  After having breakfast in the cabin and dressing for the drizzly weather, the Captain announced at 8, when we should have been docked, that it would be unsafe  to try to enter the harbor due to the high winds up to 50 knots.  We would have to turn our broadside to the full force of the wind and could end up being pushed into shallow water or rocks.  Therefore, we had to cancel this stop.  The first picture is all we saw of Tunisia.  We went to the aft deck deck at 9 and while we were there, the fire alarm sounded.  It seems that the scheduled fire drill for the crew had been being prepared for and the smoke machine set off the smoke detectors.  We stayed on the aft deck for a while but the wind finally got to us.  We went to the cabin and selected our meals for our flight home online while we waited for an updated schedule of activities for the day.  At 11, we went to the casino and played the penny slots for about 45 minutes before going to the final bingo game.  Glenda got within 1 number on 3 of the games, but we did not again win.  We went back to the casino for another 45 minutes before returning to the cabin to read.  We were invited to an open house at one of the Penthouse Suites by the Captain' wife Alexis, the future cruise consultant at 2.  It is huge with lots of amenities and storage space, but very expensive.  We returned to the cabin at 2:30 to read and at 4:45, the Captain announced that we had a passenger that needed more medical care than could be given on-board.  We were to rendezvous with an Italian Coast Guard helicopter for a medical evacuation around 5:30.  We watched  while the copter circled us for the removal in high winds and eventually the patient and a nurse were hoisted up and headed for a hospital in Sicily.  At 7, we went to the show to see Siobhan Phillips again and after the show, we entered the slot tournament, but did not make the finals.  After dinner, we went to the casino for 1 and a half hours and returned to the cabin at 10:45 much poorer.  We had to turn our watches forward one hour.

Day 27 – April 25 – At Sea

We woke up at 8:15 and it was partly sunny and 61 degrees with 84% humidity and 16 mph winds.  We had another Mariner’s Reception and Lunch at 11:30, so we dressed a little better while having our coffee.  We went up to the Lido at 9:30 and had a little continental breakfast.  At 10:30, we went to the casino and played for a while while waiting for the slot tournament qualifying to begin at 11.  We entered and I made the board in 3rd place initially, but Glenda did not make the board.  At the reception, we were again recognized as the people with the most ship’s credits and then we had lunch with one of the nurses on-board.  After lunch, it had clouded up and begun to rain and get colder, so we changed clothes and read in the cabin until time for bingo.  We didn’t win and the prizes today were from $230 to $560.  This was our last formal night and while we were getting ready, room service brought a tray of a dozen bitteballen.  Glenda had told the Captain last night that the only thing wrong with this cruise was that we had not had any bitteballen.  They were some of the best we had tasted and we ate them all.  Before dinner, we went to the show and saw Mark Haslam, a very accomplished playing card magician.  After the show, we played in the casino until dinner time and after dinner, we returned to the casino for an hour and a half and had a reasonable night.  We went to the cabin at 11 and got to set our watches back one hour.

Day 26 – April 24 – Monte Carlo, Monaco

We  woke up at 8 and it was sunny and 63 degrees with 71% humidity and 2 mph winds.  We had coffee in the cabin while dressing and went to breakfast at 9:20.  We left the ship at 10 and walked up the hill to the city center while getting detoured around all of the preparations being made for next month's Monte Carlo Gran Prix.  We window shopped a lot and marveling at the outrageous prices here.  We finally made our way back to the ship and re-boarded at 1:30.  Glenda changed and sat on the verandah in the sun while I updated the blog and downloaded the pictures.  We read until time to dress for the evening.  All aboard time was 10:30 pm and they had another BBQ on deck for the evening meal.  We went up before dinner to take pictures of the decorations and costumes.  Our table steward had made us reservations downstairs in the open dining area since our level was closed and after dinner we went back to the aft deck to take some night photos of Monte Carlo.  Because of our late departure, nothing on board was open.  We returned to the cabin at 9:50.