After the muster yesterday we found ourselves a great spot at the back of the ship for the sail out of Genoa. I was surprised about how many locals had turned out to see us off.
When we eventually got back to the cabin our cases were outside waiting for us. Nicole made short work of unpacking which she seems to have perfected over the years. We have made the decision to take things nice and easy this cruise and eat our evening meal in the buffet. Two things have contributed to this, one is Nicole’s Veganism and also because she is currently a third of the way through a 90 day fitness challenge which means she can only eat specific items. So being able to pick your food without having a limited selection will work much better for her. On day one it was a great success so hopefully it will continue to work for her throughout the cruise. It won’t make a great deal of different to me as we have never been big fans of the MSC dining room experience and we have a drink package to sort of compensate so I’m not grumbling.
Talking of food, the buffet on this ship has a little buzzer mechanism on each table where you can call a bar steward when you need serving. A great idea if it actually works!!!! Despite pressing several times during our 1½ hour visit nobody materialised to take our order. It was quicker to go to the bar and get it yourself. I will try again tomorrow.
Earlier in the evening we also met our steward who goes by the name of Gilbert. He seems friendly enough and had turned down the room on our return later in the evening but there was no sign of a daily program when we retired for the night.
Today we arrived at Naples at 12:00 which was actually the third different arrival time we have seen. When we booked it was due to be 1:00pm then yesterday we read it had changed to 11:00am and this morning it became midday.
At 6:30 Nicole went off to the gym while I slept in for a bit, when she came back we made our way down to deck 8 and the Seaside Lounge for coffee and for me a few pastries. In the evening it is the piano bar but in the morning it’s nice and quiet and an ideal venue to grab a early morning Americano using the drink package. From there we went just along the deck to the buffet so Nicole could get a vegetable based breakfast. We found seats outside on side of the ship and enjoyed the sunshine. What MSC have designed here is a fantastic addition to what we are already finding is a amazing ship. No speciality restaurants like NCL and available for everyone to use. This ship is fantastic for those who embrace being outdoors.
With a couple of hours to spare before we arrived at Naples we found a couple of beds and relaxed in the sun. Bliss!!!!
After a very brief snack we set off to explore Naples, on our fourth visit we decided it was time to see what we could find on foot. First stop was up past the Castel Nuovo enroute to the see the exterior of Palazzo Reale.
Next stop was the very impressive Galleria Umberto to see this spectacular shopping arcade from the 1880’s.
Then we followed the Via Toledo as far as Piazza Dante before heading right to Duomo which is Naples Cathedral.
With legs feeling it and also the heat we then retraced our tracks back to the ship. Total time spent walking was 3½ hours and a cool beer back onboard was most welcome. We have had another great day today and it’s reminded us how much we enjoy Italy.
