Since it is almost February I am getting more excited about my upcoming trip to Italy this spring and have been making travel plans and arranging itineraries and hotel accommodations. My friend Sue will be going with me and she has taken an active part in the planning which is great since two heads are always better than one.
Part of the trip includes a Mediterranean cruise which leaves from the Italian port of Civitavecchia, the same port from which the Costa Concordia embarked. It looks like we will be following the same course up the Tuscan coast as the cruise itinerary includes the port of Livorno, and passing by the island of Giglio on the way.
Since the latest news indicates that the wreckage will likely be there for up to a year, I imagine we will see it as we pass by the area. This will I am sure be an eerie and solemn experience and the first time I will have ever seen anything like this. I am sure that everyone on my ship will be paying attention during the mandatory lifeboat drill in ways they never have before now.
I have been online in the message boards on Cruise Critic talking with other passengers who will be on my ship. Cruise Critic has Roll Calls for each sailing of all the cruises ships, where the passengers can contact each other and arrange for tours and excursions and transfers to and from the port or to the airport. It is a great way to lower the cost of some of these activities as well as meet fellow cruisers.
In the past I have arranged a tour to the Amalfi Coast and doing another one this time with a family-run tour operator based in Sorrento. It is so much better than going on some of the excursions from the ship as I can customize things and go in a small group of six or eight rather than 50 or 60.
George Miklas
Margie, I’m looking forward to your trip journal. Be safe! George
Bonnie D.
Back in about 1969 there was a fire aboard a cruise ship out of Miami. The fire was not much but had the potential to be disastrous. They had not had their safety course yet and had been at sea for half of the voyage! In spite of the confusion things were much less lethal than the Concordia.
We were scheduled for the next cruise ship out of the Port of Miami. You can believe we had a safety course. Because so many of us were older and easy to confuse when yelled at by nervous crews, it took twice as long as expected. But when we were done we knew where our life jackets were and how to lower ourselves into a life boat with assistance or jump in the sea and climb into the darn thing. We were very appreciative of their efforts to belay our fears of another sea going scare. Unlike the Captain of the Concordia (I hope that is the right name of the sunken ship), we had one who was on top of things.