The ocean is wide and my ship is huge!

First day aboard ship was a bit hectic, because of the confusion of our arrival. Kathy was so frustrated last night worrying about not making the tours she had wanted that she did not go to sleep until about 1:00 a.m. Then we were up at 6:00 to be in line at the excursion desk to book the day's tours. Clearly we should have booked these on-line -- but since this cruise was a last minute choice that was not possible for us. BUT should you ever book a cruise do this on line before hand.

We were fortunate to be able to book the tour that Kathy wanted and the ones that Matt and I were going to go on. Then it was a rush to get Kathy on the tour bus -- We took the elevator down to 1st floor. Even though I was turning around and coming right back --- I had to swipe my card indicating I was leaving the ship...and go through the process on returning -- going through security and all --- but that seemed like very little to pay for the opportunity of a lifetime

I came back up to the stateroom which is very small, but efficient. The Stateroom we had was on the 6th deck -- but it was a long walk down the hall from the exit and Kathy always prefers to be near an exit where she can climb down the stairs if an emergency arrives so we switched with Matt --- and our current stateroom was designed for a single resident -- since the bed is up against the wall --- which means I must crawl over the end to get out--- And it is smaller -- but we are able to organize our stuff sufficiently to make the space comfortable. --- We are spending most of our time on board outside the room anyway.

In the early afternoon Matt and I took the tour to Herculaneum. We passed the infirmary and saw that they were dispensing seasickness pills for free --- The dispensary smells like any Doctor's office -- there is a small waiting room -- no one is there -- so hopefully that is a good sign. We learned that there are nearly
2000 people on board this cruise! We head out to the tour bus where we scan our cards in to indicate that we are leaving --and find Jose our tour guide. He is very Italian -- always calling us ladies and gentlemen --- and madame.....The rain is pouring from the sky and it is somewhat disappointing to realize that it will not be so pleasant wandering around the ruins. The fog hangs over Vesuvius as we traveled toward our destination.

On the way we stop at a tourist shop where a cameo carver works at a bench. He demonstrated the method by which he created the beautiful work that was sold in the shop next door. He is 78 and a genuine charmer --- when Jose calls him the master -- the old man points skyward shaking his head to indicate that it is God who is the master. I would love to have one of his pieces - but I restrain myself and do not spend the money --- I remind myself that it is the experience and the memory === not the stuff that will make this trip so valuable to me. I am reminded of the last trip when the Australians bought one of everything that the tour guide placed in our paths --- and I think that it would be easy to do that in this setting as well.

When we arrive at Herculaneum the rain seems to have slowed and we begin our descent into the ancient city --- It is a couple of hundred feet down -- because the pyroclastic flow buried the town. Then the skies opened up and water poured down. During our tour the rains continued to dump water everywhere then abruptly stop for a few moments lulling us into thinking that maybe the clouds would clear. On the bright side, it made it is easy to she how the ancient cisterns worked, and it also made it easy to see how the old city sewers drained into the sea! Home after home demonstrated that those who were wealthy lived very well indeed and those who served them, worked very hard indeed! The frescoes were beautiful in their detail and finesse. I hope the photos do them justice. But it is so hard to put yourself in a space using photographs-- even video does not give you a sense of it.

We saw the public baths, bathrooms, eateries, and other details. At one point water was streaming down my face from my hair --- my clothes were saturated--- I had clay on my pale green pants --- I looked a mess --- the tour guide looked at me and said, "Ah, Lady, it pains me to see you like this." Did I mention one of the other people gave me a plastic bag that I could tear and use to divert some of the water from my head.

The tour was actually one we could have taken Kathy on -- since there were not too many steps --- there was a long incline down which we could have got the wheelchair without too much difficulty -- When we got back I asked the purser why it says it is not wheel chair accessible-- She said it is because some people in wheel chairs cannot take steps at all --- and that they always err on the side of caution ... This is good information to have since -- It means that those outings that are marked as mildly strenuous are probably not strenuous at all.

We had our first sit-down dinner in the dinning room last night --- we had interesting seat mates. A young man and his wife --- who have just finished college -- a couple our age from Scotland, and a couple from Wales. The meal was outstanding and the conversation was directed by the young man who was very gregarious.

We were late to the 8:30 dinner time --- because our clock was off by nearly 45 minutes....so we were not even fashionably late--we were LATE -- but it was nice to have a beautifully appointed meal instead of buffet style. We retired and I crashed immediately -- the train problems from the day before and the uncertainty about our tickets took a toll!