Holiday – Day 5: Port of Civitavecchia, Italy

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The Atrium – Queen Victoria

10.40: The first part of our holiday is over and we’ve left Rome behind. For the final part, we taken the train from Rome to Civitavecchia station. The journey took just over an hour and on arrival, we shared a cab with another couple who were also bound for the Queen Victoria. Checking-in was hassle-free and we were soon on-board – and heading for a free lunch!

13.30: After lunch, we took a quick tour round the ship. It’s our first cruise with the CUNARD brand (on the big liners, we’ve tended to go with P & O) and first impressions are very impressive. Plenty of wood and brass – in fact, the ship looks brand new, although it was launched back in 2007. Our cabin (or ‘stateroom’ as cruisers like to call it) is quite spacious and has a balcony too. There’s also plenty of room for all our clothes (which is NOT normally a feature on cruises!). Words can’t really do the vessel justice, and I plan to take more photos tomorrow and post them on tomorrow night’s blog – data connection permitting!

The ship feels massive. So far we’ve found the Pub, the Library, the Internet room, two restaurants, the Theatre and the Casino….oh, and also the Gym and the Beauty Spa! (moving swiftly on then!). But most important of all, we’ve discovered they also do ‘Mr Whippy’ type ice-cream (for free) in the Lido Restaurant!

We also saw the sign that said the average cruise passenger puts on 7lbs of weight during a cruise – yes, thanks for the reminder!!!!

17.00: Time for the statutory evacuation drill, so everyone is dressed up in their finest orange life-vests! Muster muster!!! Back to the room fifteen minutes later and there’s a free bottle of bubbly just begging to be opened – I guess we should oblige!!!

18.00: We’re ‘early-sitting’ for the evening meal, and we’ve even managed to book a table just-for-two which means no socialising…just us two…just perfect!!!! Well that’s the theory as they can’t always guarantee this. Knowing our luck, we’ll be on a table of 20 who’ve spent the afternoon in the pub! Actually, we DID get a table to ourselves and the food was excellent!

19.30: The ship sales for Monte Carlo! 

20.00: Retiring to our state-room for a bit of TV before turning in for the night.

Monte Carlo tomorrow for 9am.

Holiday – Part 1