Other than the benefit of seeing Venice for a day, the other reason we got to Italy early was to ensure we had a buffer in case anything went wrong with our flight. Turns out getting to the country of departure a day early isn't quite good enough. Our day started like any travel transition day. We woke up early and clickety clacked our suit cases to the train station. It wasn't obvious based on everything we saw the day before but there is a full train station in Venice and we saw just how many people who work there commute to work. We saw hundreds of people walking the opposite direction of us and realized it was likely workers coming for the day.
The plan for the day was to take a local train to the main train station and then it was two trains to our departure city of Ravenna. The first step went very smoothly. Only $1.50 Euro per person and it looked like a brand new train. We had booked tickets and seats for the next leg and got on with no issues. Things started to go a bit haywire when we were delayed by 20 minutes, which was just enough to miss our next train. We were literally about 30 seconds from getting on with several other travelers. Italy trains might not get there on time but they certainly did insist on leaving on time. Luckily the tickets were good still since it wasn't reserved seats.
Our original check in time for the ship was 1:00p and we weren't supposed to show up early but we could show up late. Not too late of course but we figure we had until about 4:00p based on the options for our check in. We arrived in Ravenna around 1:00p and we had another 13km to get to the dock. Our first incorrect assumption was that we could take a local bus. Seemed like a good idea but it was only every 30 minutes and when it finally showed up, it was full. This is when the panic started to creep in. We waited for a few more minutes and spoke with some fellow travelers about a 6 person Uber but we ultimately decided going back to the station for a taxi would work best.
There was no time for pictures at this point so here is a picture of the quaint town we were in while we waited for the bus. We got back to the taxi line and it was about the same length as when we last saw it which I initially thought was good but it turns out there are only 20 taxis in town and we were only getting about 1 every 5 minutes. Carter attempted our own Uber but it never got a driver. We negotiated a shared cab with another traveler, more for her benefit since she was on her own but we needed the karma. The family checked out a hotel shuttle and we even independently considered strapping our suitcases to our backs and biking.
By this time we had about 90 minutes to get to the ship. Fortunately it was at this time that the taxi frequency picked up. We only had a 4 person option so we had to abandon our travel friend. Probably for her own good from a safety perspective. Our driver got us there quick but Kerry says we almost died about a half dozen times. I noticed the bus that almost hit us and the curb we jumped. The check in process was not very enjoyable. There was a bit of air conditioning but it was a very long line up and I'm not sure it was because of the timing but we had to bring our bags through the process though they did take our big suitcase for us.
Our ship is the Norwegian Cruise Lines Viva and our room is built for two but still okay for four. We have a balcony and a king sized bed but the second bed is just a pull out. The bathroom is bigger than I expected. My first complaint about NCL was the lack of warning about getting to the port. My second is the safety check in. We went on a Disney Cruise 14 years ago and the safety check was with a group by the lifeboats and we had to listen. Here we literally just had to tap our cards on a guys phone. We do have access to a safety video on the TV and when we first checked in online.
We were fully onboard by about 4:00p and after we did our 'safety check in' we went for dinner at the buffet. It's a hectic space but I like that I can just quickly pick what I want, though I think the family wants us to do a sit down dinner each evening. We explored the ship a bit more including the other dining options, the gym, the pool and made our way to the back of the ship where the sun set behind us. Looking forward to our first destination in Croatia.
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