DaBoss

The Genoa entry is easy. It rained – a large amount. That’s it.

We knew the weather would be unsettled due to predictions and what happened yesterday in Castel Gandolfo and Rome. We’re in Genoa because the predictions for Portofino would not have allowed us to tender into the port. The excursions from Portofino were canceled and monies refunded and a few new ones (or modified old ones coming to Genoa anyhow) put out. None sounded particularly interesting and given yesterday’s rain and weather I decided this was a “me” day.

[Read more…] about Genoa and Villefranche

The day started out looking like it would become nasty and it did. So nasty, in fact, that I left the Sony camera I’ve had with me from day one in the cabin and took the Olympus TG-5 waterproof camera along instead. A good move as it turned out from the safety of the camera point of view; not such a good move from the good photo point of view. The Olympus simply does not have the same resolution, the same ISO abilities, and, among other things, it does not have the ability to shoot as well through windows, since it has a macro mode and the camera keeps wanting to focus on whatever it sees on the windows instead of what’s behind the window. But, it is rugged and waterproof so the weather dictated the choice and I made due with what I could get with the TG-5 instead of the good Sony.

[Read more…] about Castel Gandolfo and Rome

Positano is a tender port as there is no dock able to handle a cruise ship; indeed, it barely handles the tender. The town is built on the side of a mountain jutting a couple of thousand feet out of the sea about half way between Sicily and Rome in Italy. The town is so steep and compact that the lower part bans all motorized vehicles as they just won’t fit.

[Read more…] about Positano and Pompeii

Just before leaving Positano the Captain notified us that the weather along the coast near Portofino is deteriorating and that it would be unsafe for tender operations at that port. To that end, on the 10th our stop in Portofino has been canceled. Instead, on the same day, we will be stopping in Genoa as weather won’t matter as much there as Genoa has a port where we can tie up to a dock.

[Read more…] about Itinerary Change

Porto Empedocle is in the Province of Agrigento on the southern coast of Sicily. It has only recently become a cruise ship draw and still only gets a few. That’s good in that we did not have competition for tour resources on the day we were there (Friday, 6 April).

[Read more…] about Porto Empedocle, Sicily

We landed in Valletta, Malta on Thursday, 5 April. The sail-in was just before sunrise so we did not get the benefit of the red tint of the sun rising against the orange walls of the city. But, as the sun rose I could see how it could have been quite beautiful from a different angle.

[Read more…] about Malta