# 31  
  .  .  .   and beyond  

Cruising

Our room was great, but our balcony was WOW!  Being in the corner cabin at the stern, we had unobstructed views in three directions.  One drawback though, was the vibration and noise from the azipods as they maneuvered the ship out of the harbour and into the Mediterranean. Once we were in open sea and cruising, you didn't feel or hear anything, it was just as we came into and left port.

There were 16 decks on this vessel and it was only three decks directly above us to the buffet restaurant, and one more to the pool and outdoor bar then one more to the private hot tub area.  Being at the back of the ship had some really nice positives to it.  One down side was that it was a long walk to the dining area, the theater or the enclosed solarium.  As it turned out, that long walk was really good for me and it wasn't as if I was on crutches or in a wheel chair.  It was just walking.



The first night we had a gorgeous moonlit view from our balcony.  I wish this picture could do it justice, but it just can't.


There had been no sleeping since 6 a.m. the day before and with almost 30 hours of travel and excitement, we decided to get to bed early the first night.  Tomorrow was our first stop at La Spezia and Cinque Terre in northern Italy.  We were cruising the Mediterranean and life was good!