Sovereign 25th June 2011 Part 6

Wednesday 29th June 2011
Not a good date in my annual calendar, but life has to go on. We arrived early in Naples and I saw several fast ferries through my cabin window as I hurried to dress and get on deck. After breakfast we went our separate ways – it was extremely hot and I decided to ignore the usual lure of the city of Naples, and enjoy seeing the terminal and the nearby ships. Outside in the hot sun I went to look at the ferries and timetables for the local ports and islands. SNAV LAZIO was berthed adjacent to SOVEREIGN, with RUBY PRINCESS towering over us all. NOORDAM was further alongside our berth.

SNAV Lazio in Naples

Ala

Part of Naples port

Sovereign's stern

Ruby Princess next to the Maritime terminal

The Maritime Terminal has more shops in it now, with big ship pictures on the walls. I went to look at them more closely and discovered that some had been printed back-to-front, so the names had to be guessed at. In the same building were the offices of Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) so I asked for and was given copies of one of their current leaflets. I just loved the illustrations of the travelling family, including a very supercilious-looking pedigree dog, but he has a sweet face.

Lovely leaflet for GNV

Just look at that dog

In the harbour there was constant activity, with local fast ferries jetting out and back frequently, and bigger ferries on their daily call, as well as huge cruise ships dominating the scene.

Driade

It was fun to watch until it was time for us to leave the port, and we moved away from the berth. Moments later we were told that NOORDAM had priority to leave before us, so we had to wait until she had manoeuvred herself out and left the harbour.

Noordam

Ah well, eventually it was our turn and we could then see many other ships in distant parts of the harbour, some of them recognisable but others not because of the distance.

Capri

Trinacria

MSC Jasmine and others

Lora D'Abundo

It was interesting to see VILLE DE BORDEAUX with a sign on the hull saying ‘Airbus A380 on Board’.

Ville de Bordeaux

Logudoro

These looked interesting

This is the day I noticed that the daily Programme had the correct port and day on it, but the incorrect date. Wonder what tomorrow will bring…

Ships seen: Ville de Bordeaux, Celestina, Isla de S. Pietro, Pescara Jet, Caraclione, SNAV Auriga, Ponza Jet, SNAV Altair, Trinacria (of TTT), Achenar, Napoli Jet, Agostino Lauro, SNAV Orion, Superjet, SNAV Lazio, Ruby Princess, Noordam, Ala, Raffaele Rubattino, Amalfi Jet, Logudoro (Bluvia) laid up over on the far side of Naples harbour, Lora D’Abundo (Medmar), Capricorn (Tirrenia), SNAV Campania, Capri (Italian-built in 1962, which now does short charters in the Bay of Naples for Blu Cruises), Naiade, MSC Jasmine and others nearby


Thursday 30th June 2011

Plan of the ship

Today we arrived in Palermo, Sicily, in great heat, berthing at the Passenger Terminal which is at the lower end of the main street of the city.

Crossed paws in the Terminal

We walked up the main street enjoying the sights and then took to the back streets to look at the architecture in the cool shade of the old buildings.

The Opera House

Dead to the world, nearby

Contrasts

Jools



One of the sights

Hunger drove us into a local restaurant for a seafood risotto, before strolling back to the ship. I left the others whilst I went to see the Stella Maris building at the harbour side. I’m on my local committee of the Mission to Seafarers so I always try to call in to the Stella Maris or Mission building in a port. Unfortunately the staff were not there, but I enjoyed seeing a big model of the ITALIA in a glass case near the entrance.

Stella Maris

Blue cranes and mountains

Zeus Palace

Back on the ship, orange juice and tea were very welcome as I sent a ‘happy birthday’ text to one of my ferry friends for tomorrow (when we will be at sea), before taking to my bed for a reviving siesta.

Ievoli Spirit

The light as we left Palermo harbour was just delightful and the mountains were dark against the last of the sun, and we enjoyed trying to identify some of the ships that could just be seen in the distant part of the harbour. One of them was VINCENZO FLORIO, still there awaiting repair or whatever after the fire.

SNAV Lazio in Palermo

Last view of the docks

Goodbye Palermo

Dinner was again excellent at our table for 3, although we couldn’t help noticing a new passenger at a nearby large table sitting there wearing his hat and talking on his mobile phone all through the meal. He seemed to know some of his dining companions, but seemingly didn’t like them enough to talk to them. This was the evening when our two lovely female dining room stewards (Blanca and Juny) and I had a little chat about life and travelling with friends.

As usual after dinner, we went up to the Viking Crown Lounge for coffee and discussions about the day.

Ships seen: Bithia, Raffaele Rubattino, Zeus Palace, SNAV Campania, Ulisse, SNAV Lazio, Vincenzo Florio, San Sovino, La superba, Isola di Vulcano, Castoro 7 in dry dock, Ievoli Sprint (Marnavi), Vincenzo Florio

To be concluded...