The cruise had left Genoa stopping first at Livorno and then Naples. The next day was a sea day followed by Dubrovnik. The round Italy cruise went from Genoa to Venice and then back to Genoa on P&O Oceana.
Day 5 Sunday 9th October Transit to Dubrovnik
At about 5.30 Oceana started her transit of the Straights of Messina. After chatting to fellow passengers I was pleased to have given this event a miss as it was rather dark.
Straits of Messina
I waited until just before sunrise to venture outside to see Sicily and the Southern tip of Italy …
… with Mount Etna away astern …
… and then we had the sunrise
Around the ‘foot’ of Italy
After a late breakfast we tried to walk the Promenade Deck. One side had the middle section closed to test lowering lifeboats and the bow passageway was closed for maintenance. Instead I sat on the balcony to watch Italy get left behind as the ship sailed towards Croatia.
Lunch was once again in the restaurant and was a good lamb jalfrezzi. The promenade deck was now clear of the crew working but was now littered with so many deckchairs that after 1.5 miles we gave up walking through the obstacle course.
Oceana’s has a good selection of books and this afternoon I read an excellent detective book set in Iceland and missed the main event of the sunset but this images from my iPhone captured what I did see from the stern.
Before dinner we went to the Yacht and Compass bar to hear the guest band, Next Step, play. I tried another new (to me) beer while there called TangleFoot.
At dinner I had steak (again) but this time with black pudding as a starter with New York cheesecake to follow. We apparently missed the dolphins that played around the ship in the afternoon, which was sad.
I did try another beer after dinner, this time it was a pale ale, Admiral Lord Collingwood.
Azura has a variety of beers from around the British Isles and I am working my way through the list on each cruise.
