We left home at just after 2am and the roads were empty,
such that we reached the off-airport parking by about 3.30am.
To our surprise there was a Royal Caribbean rep to meet us
at the check-in queue and she told us some of the basic things about travelling
by air which we already knew – like pick up bags at the luggage carousel in
Venice and leave via the exit!
We were checking in by 4am and soon through security. Breakfast was at Wetherspoon’s. It was a popular place and the menu was
extensive and reasonable value for an airport lounge. The time passed well enough. You’re only allowed 30 minutes of free
airport wifi so we didn’t bother and used our normal data allowance from
outside.
Boarding was painless – coach and steps not an air bridge,
but this was Monarch! – and we sat and waited.
Nothing was said for ages until the captain finally told us that we were
waiting for 48 people. The check-in
desks had all gone down for a while, he told us. They were now back up again but there was a
clog up at security. Eventually the missing passengers all
appeared and we left just over 50 minutes late.
I still marvel at how it’s possible to get to Venice from such
as Birmingham in one hour and 50 minutes, but we did indeed do that and landed in warm,
bright sunshine. Being non-Schengen we
were dropped off at a sort of hole int he wall, we flashed our passports
briefly at the border official who was waving us all through at speed and we
were there.
When we merged into the public areas, we were looking for a Royal
Caribbean rep to show us where the coach was.
To our surprise, the RC staff advised us that we had a private minibus
transfer and to look for a man holding up a board with our names on! How did that come about, we wondered?! Indeed there was such a man who took our bags
and led us to a rather swish minibus and, with only the two of us, we set
off. After a while we were going round
the roundabout at Mestre and a rather familiar looking hotel came into view – remember
the Novotel from the 2010 trip, folks?
He took us to the quayside and we joined a very multi-national
queue. We moved steadily onwards until
we were checked in there. When we booked
we decided to have a Junior Suite as it was so little more than a balcony cabin
so we got priority boarding and were able to officially jump the queue for the
desks – the family at the front of the main queue were clearly not pleased when
we rolled up!
Our only surprise after that was to have our hand luggage
scanned twice – once as we left the terminal and again immediately on
board. When I asked RC staff on board
why that was they said well this is Europe and that’s the policy and that if I
had further questions I would need to see the head of some department on
board! Welcome on board!! I was too slow to say that the terminal was
Europe and so was the ship on this occasion.
We think the truth was that they were looking for illicit alcohol.
We then had to run the gauntlet of the hard sell – a guard
of honour – would we like a shore excursion, to dine at Chops Grille, would we
like to buy a drinks package or would we like to book a future cruise?!
We escaped unscathed and were on board soon after 12 noon. Cabins were close off till 1pm so we enjoyed
the warmth of the pool area with a welcome drink – water at this time to
rehydrate!
We found our cabin but our main cases were yet to appear, so
I thought I ought to have had a change of clothes ready in my cabin bag. Next time, perhaps.
And here’s our room –
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