This is the day we leave on our 12 day cruise on the Pacific Princess cruise ship. We have mixed feelings. It will be nice to see some new places but we love Venice so much it's bittersweet to be leaving. After the best nights sleep yet we decided to do one last walk about Venice. It really is a fantastic city! It never gets old. You can see something new no matter how many times you visit.

We took the "people mover" to the port. Yes it's called the "people mover"! It's like an el that took us over the Canal to the port area. At the automated ticket machine we met a couple on our cruise that were having trouble getting their tickets. Vic rode up on his white horse and helped them out. In fact, he ended up buying one of their tickets as they didn't have enough money,and the credit card option didn't seem to be working. They told us they were worried that the cruise was going to be cancelled because our ship hit a breakwater near Barcelona about a month ago. The passengers had to be taken off and bussed into Barcelona. They got a 50% discount on their trip (that had 2 more stops to go) and a credit for a free cruise. Not bad! The Oct 28 cruise was cancelled and there was a possibility ours would be too but they used some heavy duty Double Bubble bubble gum to patch the holes and we're now good to go. I'm glad it wasn't cancelled and I hope we don't have the same captain!!! Anyhow, we went one stop on the people mover and then had to walk probably farther than if we had just walked from our hotel without taking the people mover. Very weird setup.

We boarded the ship at about 2:00. The embarkation process was fast and painless. We went to our cabin to check it out thinking out will be nice to be able to unpack and get out of suitcase mode. Our cabin (in fact, probably our bed) is roomier than our hotel room was. We don't have to turn sideways to pass each other. And the shower has a curtain! Yay! It was a challenge showering at the hotel without one! The bathroom was soaked after every shower. The balcony is a good size too. I'm sure it will get lots of use.

We explored the ship while we waited for our luggage to be delivered. It's a small ship (about 600 people) so it didn't take long to see where everything is. We decided to check out the buffet as we hadn't eaten since breakfast and our seating time for dinner is 7:45. There was a good selection of food and it was tasty so that was a relief after having such great meals in Venice. We T 3:30 we had to attend the compulsory ship General Emergency Alarm drill and learn the safety procedures and, most importantly, how to put on the life jackets!

The ship departed Venice at 4:30 pm (1/2 hour late - the captain came on the public speaker and said we're in Italy - it's to be expected as they're always late). Got a chuckle out of that. Then we went up to the sun deck and watched one of our favourite cities pass by as we transited the Giudecca Canal from the port region. It was a spectacular sail away. We saw many of the sites but from the water side.

There seems to be a wide range of age groups on the ship but the majority seem to be older - like around our age! Vic says that we've got to find a cruise with some young people. He says he wants to show them how to have a good time.

I have to admit it did get chilly on the deck after a while so we decided to return to the room and relax before dinner.

We are at a table of 6 people. We dine with these people every night. Thank God they seem to be nice and maybe we'll even have some fun. One couple, Bobby & Larry, are from Oregon. They moved there from San Diego 21 years ago because the mother, Bobby, and daughter hated each other. They are now best friends. They voted for Trump and are "beside themselves" that he won. Larry looks like a young Gene Wilder. They are big cruisers, specifically on Princess Cruises, and had LOTS of advice for us about how to cruise well. From what they said, we have a lot to learn! The other couple, Steve & Robin, are from North Carolina. They have a real southern twang, live in an RV (and own an RV dealership) and also voted for Trump! What are the odds??? They also filled out all the paperwork to bring their dog onboard as a service dog but backed out at the last minute. The dog is a 5 lb Maltese. Robin is quite a character. She kept asking the waiter to bring more dishes of food when she saw what other people were having. She had at least 7 courses for dinner. You, apparently, can order everything you want from the menu - even duplicates. So you could order 5 shrimp cocktails if you wanted. Robin had a spinach dip with pita, a shrimp cocktail, a Caesar salad, fettuccine alfredo, a pork chop dinner, 2 desserts, and a cappuccino with liquor. She says she joined a gym stand list 5 lbs and when she gets home she'll have gained 20 lbs and will get her money's worth from her gym membership. They also bought the all you can drink package for about US $57 per person a day and want to make sure they get their money's worth. I think she will gain more than 20 lbs in the 12 days we are cruising!!! Both couples are serious gamblers and spent a good deal of time talking about people who don't gamble and screw up their games (people like Vic & I). I reckon that we are going to have some interesting dinner conversations and probably a lot of laughs.

Tomorrow we get to explore Split, Croatia. One of the reasons we chose this cruise was that we wanted to see Croatia so we're excited to explore at the 3 stops in Croatia. Another reason is that this cruise has only 2 sea days (where we don't have any stops). We don't have any organized excursions planned in Split. We'll do our own thing with our trusty Rick Steves travel book. Can't wait!