CRUISING ITALY, 2009

Life aboard the “Insignia”

We have now been sailing for 4 days, currently we are having a day at sea as we travel around the “boot” of Italy. We will anchor in Naples/Sorrento tomorrow. Today, we spent time at the pool, games and other activities had been arranged for those who wanted to do something other than read in the shade. An eight piece band played our kind of music and several guests were doing line dancing o the deck.

In the meantime we enjoy being aboard this ship with its great crew. Our ship is smaller than all of the cruise lines we have come across in the last few days. It’s crew of 400+ and less than 700 passengers means excellent service. They are extremely attentive and we could not ask for better service. The food is great, and we have 4 options for dining.
That’s the good news, the bad news is that we are eating everything they offer! Chef Jacques Pepin has created several great menu choices.

So far have visited Dobrovnik, Croatia and Corfu, Greece. Both were interesting, our tours took us into Dubrovnik old town. We walked the streets and enjoyed the day, but it was very crowded and hot and we were pleased to get back to the ship for a shower and dinner.

The following day we were in Corfu, we toured the old city, some of which survived the bombings in WWII. We were a part of group with a bus and tour guide. We also visited an old Benedictine Monastery and enjoyed some wonderful views.

Now we are through the Straits of Messina heading for Naples, we should anchor at 8 am tomorrow morning. It was fascinating to see the pilot boat come along side of our ship and balance on the side of his boat until he was grabbed by some of our crew and taken on board. He exited the same by about 10 minutes ago, while all of us up on the decks cheered.

We are scheduled on a tour to Pompeii tomorrow at 9 AM that will last about 4 hours and then we hope to have some time to look around in Sorrento.

More later…..