Live and Happy from Eurodam October 6 to 30

[JazzyV]

6 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Well I had a bit of a disaster last night and have either pulled a muscle in my back or damaged a nerve.  It is almost impossible to move from sitting or lying down.  I am kinda ok when walking as long as I don't stop.  

This morning after breakfast we took a taxi into Mestre centre to go to a Farmacia to purchase Voltarol gel for my back.  Ellen suggested that embalming fluid may be a better choice 😭

As the pain eases as I walk, we walked around the town centre for a while and then had a light lunch of pizza slice, macron and latte macchiatos. 

 

I hope you are feeling better. It's no fun traveling with back pain!

[VMax1700]

2 hours ago, JazzyV said:

 

I hope you are feeling better. It's no fun traveling with back pain!

Thanks. the pain ebbs and returns.  i am now more worried about a two hour coach trip to Trieste.  

 

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Thanks. the pain ebbs and returns.  i am now more worried about a two hour coach trip to Trieste.  

 

 

I don’t blame you.  

 

Maybe the bus won’t be full and you can take the back seat and lay out a bit (if that helps).

 

Apparently according to the weather map there is a big wind disruption due for Venice tomorrow.  Good luck.

[Vict0riann]

I started a post on my iPhone this morning, but CC wouldn’t let me submit it.  I’m going to try here, and hope for the best,

 

grand reunion yesterday at the hotel with Tony and Martha.  We wandered for a while, checking out a couple of restaurants Tony had researched.  Unfortunately one was closed on Tuesdays and the other didn’t open until late.  So we came back to the hotel and went to their restaurant for wine and a nice dinner.  We shared a delicious appetizer of raw seafood, tuna tartare, carpaccio of sea bass, and different marinated shrimps.  Three of us had pasta dishes but Tony ordered an anchovy pizza and it was amazing on a thick sort of focaccia loaf, beautiful tomatoes and bucatini cheese.  Martha and I had panna cotta for desert.

 

This morning at breakfast we found others going on the cruise, and were able to advise them about our change of port.  Looking on their Navigators, they were able to confirm that.  Strangely, it says All Aboard is 4:30, but with check-in at 3, it’s not going to work.  The hotel shuttle goes at 12, so that is when we will be going.  I’ll let you know if it works!

 

Tony’s pizza

 

 

Panna cotta

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Vict0riann

[VMax1700]

Our checkin time was 1.20pm but we arrived at the terminal at 12.30 to find a long queue moving slowly into the building.  Baggage was checked in at ground level and then we proceeded upstairs to passport/vax cert check.  We then proceeded to another queue where we were given a form and then proceeded to the covid test.  Then were parked in our group area.

Thete was no water, coffee or snacks available and a cash only vending machine was available. Eventually bottles of water (plastic bottles!) Were offered around.

Our group was eventually called and at 2.30pm our bus departed on our journey to Trieste.

There was little or no social distancing in the terminal. 

More later.....

[kazu]

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Our checkin time was 1.20pm but we arrived at the terminal at 12.30 to find a long queue moving slowly into the building.  Baggage was checked in at ground level and then we proceeded upstairs to passport/vax cert check.  We then proceeded to another queue where we were given a form and then proceeded to the covid test.  Then were parked in our group area.

Thete was no water, coffee or snacks available and a cash only vending machine was available. Eventually bottles of water (plastic bottles!) Were offered around.

Our group was eventually called and at 2.30pm our bus departed on our journey to Trieste.

There was little or no social distancing in the terminal. 

More later.....

 

Disappointing to hear about the lack of social distancing 😔 

Your ship is waiting for you at Trieste (courtesy of Rich on board):

 

 

 

[Gypsy025]

Today's When and Where publication indicates the All Aboard time as 6:30 PM, but at 6:25 PM, there are still guests coming aboard. By the way, it has been raining very heavy most of the day in Trieste - miserable!

[lilybay]

Did you find with most people that the boarding pass time was not a solid time. We are now supposed to board at 4:30 but the people we were going to share a water taxi with board at two pm. Do you think they will turn us away?

[dobiemom]

Bon Voyage everyone! 🙂

[kazu]

Looks like the tugboats were there  with Eurodam so she must be getting ready to set sail 👍. Have a wonderful cruise all of you and Bon Voyage 🥂 🚢 

[goghd]

Still at dock.  Captain said winds are too strong to leave so will remain until they die down.  Sea day tomorrow so I would think it has little impact on overall schedule.

[Lido deck main]

Will be following along, Bon Voyage everyone. 

[rafinmd]

10 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Our checkin time was 1.20pm but we arrived at the terminal at 12.30 to find a long queue moving slowly into the building.  Baggage was checked in at ground level and then we proceeded upstairs to passport/vax cert check.  We then proceeded to another queue where we were given a form and then proceeded to the covid test.  Then were parked in our group area.

Thete was no water, coffee or snacks available and a cash only vending machine was available. Eventually bottles of water (plastic bottles!) Were offered around.

Our group was eventually called and at 2.30pm our bus departed on our journey to Trieste.

There was little or no social distancing in the terminal. 

More later.....

How's your back today?

 

Roy

[Vict0riann]

All in all I did not enjoy yesterday.  As soon as we heard about the change to Trieste, we got nervous and checked with the hotel desk about our transfer.  They recommended noon, and in the end the van left about a quarter to.  That was the beginning of the end of peace and quiet.  When we got to the cruise port only one building of the six or more was in use, so easy to find, but the line extended down the block, and there were many busses parked.  Before we could even enter the building, temperatures were checked, and then we were given bits of paper with a number - we were 7 - told not to lose them.  Our bags were also tagged with our number.  We made our way upstairs to another queue to do the health screening check ( we had already filled it in on line,) while we were waiting there we were handed the letter telling us about the change to Trieste.  After the health and vaccination check we waited in another queue for our tests.  Not as pleasant in Italy as the antigen test in Victoria, I think they wanted a bit of brain matter, but it was over quickly.  Then we sat with our fellow 7ers (I think about 30 of us) in the designated area until all the tests were finished and everyone was negative.  There were cheers all around and we were marched off, via the toilets, to our bus.  We waited while our bags were all loaded with us and then we had a 2-hour drive to Trieste.  The countryside was pretty, lots of vineyards and farms, harvesting being done, but as we neared Triest, we could see the effects of the pandemic, so many places shuttered and closed down.  The port itself was pretty dreary and dilapidated, the heavy rain didn’t help!  We had a wait for a couple of other busses to unload, and then were allowed off,  more queues, and we were taken to stands with machines with facial recognition, first our pictures were taken , then passports held up so the machine could compare and decide if we were the same people as our passport picture.  When we passed that last test, we were told we could board our ship.  What a relief!  

 

The four of of us first went  to our room, a port verandah on deck 7.  Tony had told Martha they were on deck one, I don’t think she was too happy about that, but after dumping our carry-ons on our bed, we said, let’s check what there is around the corner, and Tony took the key cards for their aft verandah, and opened the door.  It’s a very nice room, much bigger than ours, wider as well as longer, and the verandah is larger as well. What a surprise for Martha! So we had been “travelling “ from 11:45 to after 4 with no food or drink...

 

Pat and Tony went off for a recce and to book the NamiSushi for dinner.  I think they managed to find a kir royale as well.  I went to our room and unpacked and drank three glasses of water.  I was parched, we got no water at all for the day.  I’ll see if I can post a few pictures of the day, and the When &Wheres, etc., and a few bits of our dinner, but we were very hungry by then and couldn’t wait for picture taking!  

 

The hall in Venice

 

 

Masks and and paper bags to store them in.

 

 

Some dinner pictures(the lobster roll was the best!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vict0riann]

The lobster roll upload failed, I’ll try again.

[Vict0riann]

Some of the papers - I was surprised to see yesterday’s When & Where was already headed Trieste, the must have re-done all the printing when the decision was made to change ports, or else they knew ahead of time...

 

[Vict0riann]

Just a few more odds and ends.

 

[Vict0riann]

And today’s When & Where

 

[Vict0riann]

Captain Smit just gave our noon report - as we left Trieste so late due to the bad weather, our stop in Katakolon has been cancelled and we will have another sea day.  Seas are 3 1/2 meters.  
 

I was in a long line this morning at the front desk, and a young officer came up to me, I guess he saw me holding a booking confirmation and my navigator app open to my account.  Robert, the Finance Manager, said that he would take care of my little problem that my shareholder OBC had not been credited.  I said I guessed the Night Auditor would fix it. (My little joke…)  As a very serious Dutchman, he assured me in no uncertain terms that there is no more Night Auditor - the are now called Finance Specialists and they work in the daytime.  
 

So now we know!

[VMax1700]

Good morning from Eurodam.   I would agree with @Vict0riann that yesterday was overly stressful.

Ellen found the lack of food particularly difficult as she suffers from sudden drops in energy and needs to feed almost like a newborn baby.

It was almost 5pm before we arrived at Trieste terminal and a further 45 minutes to get onboard in the thunderstorm that was happening.  Our luggage got very wet and we spent last night putting clothes on hangers and hanging them from the aircon vents to dry.

Edited October 7, 2021 by VMax1700

[VMax1700]

This banner was in the terminal yesterday.  No one was checking, probably because it was such a chaotic day.  We did not bring any wine onboard but had two 500 ml plastic bottles of water, which are still beside our beds.  

[VMax1700]

As Ann has reported, Katakolon is cancelled and we have another sea day.

It was around 1 am before we departed Trieste and the wind did get up during the night.  The captain reported gusts of 56 kn  and 10.5meter swells.  Currently we are making 17kn and have averaged 15kn since departure.

We are now heading to Piraeus to arrive on Saturday. Friday is another sea day.

Tonight is the first Gala night

[VMax1700]

@rafinmd my back is a lot better today, thanks for asking.

It does lock up occasionally and I don't think I will be storming the floor in BB Kings tonight, but it is making progress.

[VMax1700]

We  just grabbed some asian food in Lido last night.  

No wait for wine!

[VMax1700]

Dropped by BBK last night.  Top Class......Kanard Thomas, Tempest B as vocalists and long time cruiser Dedrick Davis on Trumpet.