# 30
  .  .  .   and beyond  

Rome

Going from London to Fiumicino airport near Rome was short and sweet. That place was absolutely hopping with activity and there must have been about 1500 people waiting to get through to their luggage.  The four of us did the wait-in-line shuffle down the stairs and along the huge corridor until finally it was our turn at the kiosk that was our entry into the luggage turnstiles hall.  Once we had collected our suitcases we took our turn at the customs booth, then headed off to find the driver of the shuttle that would take us to Civitavecchia port, and our ship.

There he was, holding the name card up in the air.  Standing with him were the three others that were joining us on the cruise.  They had landed about an hour earlier and when they found our driver they decided to waited with him so we'd all be ready to go. The third couple had their 8 year old grand daughter with them.  What a lucky girl to get a chance to travel the world at such a young age.  I'm sure she'll be writing down a ton of info and taking pictures of everywhere that we visit.

Our driver loaded our suitcases into the van and off we headed to the MSC Divina.  It took about an hour to get to the port.  Weather was beautiful and the drive was uneventful.  We were driven directly to the ship and it was HUGE.   It was even bigger than the one we were on in April.  

MSC Divina holds 4,350 passengers with a crew and staff of 1,325.  The staff to guest ratio was considerably lower than on Royal Caribbean. Our cabin was on the 11th floor, right at the back of the ship.  That gave us a balcony that was 10 ft by 10 ft, whereas regular balconies were about 10 ft by 4 ft, Bring on the lounge chair and sun glasses.