Chris has been dying to take a cruise--like for the past 5 years dying. Anyway, that desire was finally fulfilled. Thankfully, being in Europe, we are close to many ports, allowing us to travel at a decent price. MSC cruiseline is based out of South America, but they are based out of Italy in the spring/summer/fall. The best thing is that on MSC, children 18 and under cruise for free. Yippee! So, for the price of 2 adults, our family of four went on an adventure. My Mom is always up for our travel escapades, so she graciously agreed to join us. We are so glad she came along. It was a memorable trip filled with breathtaking views, the most beautiful blue/green water and rich, rich history.
Day 1: We departed from Venice, so I booked Ryanair flights and a hotel. Packing for 4 for a one week period and meeting Ryanair's crazy bag policies was a small feat, but we did it. It was actually snowing when we boarded the plane in Frankfurt. Needless to say, we were all thrilled to be leaving it behind. I have become pretty accustomed to travel research. It truly is like a part time job, but worth every minute. Based on online reviews and our previous experiences wandering the streets in Venice, I chose a hotel close to the port. While convenient in the sense that it reduced the amount of aimlessness and walking, it was less than a desirable accommodation. We won't be visiting Hotel Canal again. The kicker is that tourist season is already in full swing, which means hiked prices. We paid 220 Euro per night for this less than Motel 6 hotel. I was not a happy person.
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| Be jealous, very jealous. This was our classy hotel room. |
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| Claire people watching from our hotel window. |
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| Mya. Courtesy of Claire. |
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| Claire. Courtesy of Mya--don't mind her crooked glasses :) |
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| Me. Courtesy of Claire. |
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| My Mom and I. |
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| My Mom and the girls outside of St. Mark's Basilica. |
Day 2: After hours of walking around Venice, taking in the quaint shops and cozy streets, we made our way to the ship via Taxi. We were at San Marco and decided that a taxi would be well worth the wear and tear on our feet and energy level. The driver brought us to our hotel where we retrieved our bags, then embarked on the adventure to our ship. In hindsight it was a fabulous decision. The ship crew met our taxi at the dock, they collected our luggage and sent us on our way to check in. This means we avoided one, very long luggage drop off line. We arrived at the check in line where the crew noticed we were travelling with small children. They kindly moved us to the priority line, which again, meant we avoid an insanely long wait. We were checked in and waiting to board our ship within 10 minutes of arriving. It was awesome.
We had two rooms. I opted to pay a bit extra to have rooms with an outside balcony. It was a great choice. My Mom's room was located about 15 rooms away from ours. She was on the rear of the ship while Chris and I were on the side. It worked out well as both offered different views and at times, different amounts of sunshine. Yes, glorious sunshine.
We departed at 6 pm. Our first day on board was spent getting to know the ship, finding the restaurants, the initation to the drink menu and relaxing.
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