Rome-ing to our ship!

Rome-ing to Our Ship!

Our new time to put our bags outside the hotel room was seven a.m. Instead of leaving the hotel at ten because of traffic! Well, whatever the plan was we were in a traffic trap anyway.

The port for Rome is, first of all, on the coast while Rome is inland. And it is about an hour or hour and a half away. Today about an hour and forty-five-minute drive. A beautiful countryside and a pleasant drive. Until the cops stopped us. The driver did not seem to be speeding and our escort never told us anything about the stop. However, when I got off the bus to get my suitcase from the hold, I did ask her. It was a routine stop to check the paperwork, the fire extinguisher placement, and the first aid kit. I believed her because I had noticed her get back on the bus while the driver spoke to the police and take a small red box from the overhead.

Claiming our bags was easy, the rolling of them into the cruise terminal was easy, and it was maybe the fastest security line I had ever been in! I think it was only about 20 minutes from bus to ship! I think arriving earlier than originally scheduled worked out great. It was only our 30 people and a few that arrived by car boarding before eleven o’clock. The official first check in was noon! All the during the approaching weeks about getting our covid tests etc. were wasted. No one, not anyone, during the whole process asked to see the photo of our negative tests. We had even brought the actual plastic gadgets with us just in case!

The Apex is a beautiful new ship. One year old. Everything about it is a little different except that it floats in the water with all of us on it! The center of the ship is very open with a club and performance space. Turned out that is where Trivia and other audience participation thing happen. Because it is open to upper decks it allows for a wider audience to view it if not wanting to play along Th Café Bacio fronts this area so there is comfortable seating, drinks, and sweets at hand.

The Club is next to that which is more enclosed and often has a DJ. Games, especially late night adult games are played here. Guest services opens onto Shorex so there is not a long desk at either but a more informal space. Friendlier.

We tried to make a reservation in any of the dining rooms, four are included. But the only time we could get was 8:45. We had our dinner in the buffet. Very good but does not follow the dining room food plan. Usually they do.

The main theater has a cruise modern feel, but smaller, and a wraparound screen like on Holland, but smaller, to enhance performances. The first night was an Aretha tribute. Carol loves Aretha and so we went. Captain Nikolaos was introduced by the Cruise Director Shawna. The singer was Charity Lockhart. She was very good. When she told the story of her life and about being homeless a few years back, it sounded very familiar.

Next stop was back in the buffet for me to pick up a cup of tea. Then good night! A long day was had by all.