Cruise days 1 - 3

Input by Alan

Boarded the cruise Thursday but because we still had gastric we contacted the medical centre to get some medication and were placed into isolation in our cabin. We couldn’t leave until we had a full 24 hours without problems. We had to have everything delivered to our cabin and it had to be thoroughly cleaned twice a day by staff wearing protective clothing. Very boring!!! I was due to be cleared at 7:00am this morning (Saturday) as we arrived in Livorno, but Di wouldn’t be released until 2:30pm, which meant that she would certainly miss our pre-booked excursion to Florence and Pisa. I wanted to go and spent an hour chasing medical staff on the phone to get cleared to leave the ship. When I finally got the OK about 4 minutes before the bus was due to board I raced down and tried to leave the ship, but the computer system hadn’t been updated with my medical clearance. Two other couples also had the same problem and after 20 minutes of racing around to get someone to update the system all 5 had missed our bus. We have been told that we will get a refund because it was a medical issue that caused the missed tour, but we really wanted to see both these popular cities and attractions.

I finally got to the gym while Di was still confined and then I watched the Collingwood/Adelaide Crows AFL match live on the satellite TV to pass the time while Di dozed.  When Di was cleared, a real relief after being cooped up in a cabin for nearly 2 days, we went into Livorno on the shuttle bus for a quick look around and to get some fresh air. Not much going on in town as it was Saturday and most of the shops were closed until late afternoon. Back to the ship for a couple of cocktails at happy hour and a very light dinner as our tummies are still quite tender. We have just left port on our way to Rome.

Arrive in Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) in the morning and will be out touring for over 10 hours before the ship leaves Sunday night. Will report on Rome next blog update.