The Phones are on the Port Side, room numbers on Port are Even, Starboard Odd (we knew THAT much).

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Saturday & Sunday April 2 and 3, 2022

Saturday at Sea

Sunday in Marseille

Alright. We’ve sailed on Oceania ships Many, MANY times and JUST learned that the phones located in the elevator wells are located exclusively on the Port side of the ship with even stateroom numbers. Just made life easier for you all who sail Oceania!! Of course, you probably knew!

So, Friday night the ship was rocking and rolling like I’ve NEVER FELT BEFORE. We had at least 15-foot waves knocking against the ship. The captain did his best by deploying the lateral stabilizers, reducing the speed SIGNIFICANTLY and sailing as close to the shore as he could. We sailed AROUND the storm, which is why we didn’t get to Monaco…I can’t imagine how bad it was within the Bay of Lion. There were multiple times we both woke up thinking we’d experienced an earthquake. It was one of those…wait, where am I experiences. The ship must have been bouncing all over the place. My vertigo got the best of me when I was writing Friday evening. The storm came on fast.

All day Saturday we spend at sea and the seas were MUCH calmer. It was rather cold – around 52 for the high – the winds just ripped right through you. Other than a few hearty souls (fools?) the pool deck was empty of people. Deck 14 was closed, as was the Spa deck. When we were sipping our espresso, we noticed the canopy on 14 was really catching the wind and BAM….wouldn’t you know it…it came loose. They were able to brave the winds and lash it down before it did any damage to the canopy. They replaced the connection on to the support on Sunday morning. This crew is always Johnny on the spot!

We spent Saturday indoors. We read. We played Rummykub, we read some more. The winds managed to die down my noon and soon the seas were not as rough and we were able to walk without having to hold on for dear life. I posted a video of the seas from Saturday morning to my Instagram…that was when it was calmer…but NOT the calm which came with our lunch.

We had a tasty “composed” salad of lentils, cauliflower, olives, red rice and fresh green peas with an almond orange vinaigrette, I highly recommend it. We chose to eat light because we are dining at Polo Saturday night.

Dinner was wonderful. We shared a Pork Chop (7 ounces) and had steak fries and green beans for our sides which was washed down with a Duckhorn Merlot. TASTY. I had the chocolate multilayer fudge cake – I managed to eat 4 bites without bursting. Christopher had the apple crumble tart. We both love the jellies served here…we each had one and that was it.

It was a rather quiet day at sea after all the rocking and rolling of the night and morning. We were happy to see the seas calm down…until dinner when they picked up again. Saturday night we slept well but must get up early on Sunday.

If this is Sunday, it must be Marseille. Sunday in France means most everything is CLOSED! Oh well. No big deal. We had to get up and out early for our third Covid test in as many weeks; get this…the test is scheduled from 6am to 9am ONLY…AND…you MUST have the test to return to the USA or continue on board the ship (we are continuing on to Rome). Since we’re up early…we can dine in the GDR.

So, we breakfasted in the GDR and had our Avocado Toast with Perfectly Poached Eggs. YUM. After breakfast, up to Baristas for our espresso. We can’t think without espresso in our veins. Still early, not time to go ashore as of yet…nothing opens this early, and it IS a Sunday – so – we wait.

When we do get off the shuttle from the Ship into town – which was QUITE a journey – neither one of us remembers being this far out on our last trip to Marseille. Ain’t no big deal. So, since nothing, and I mean NOTHING is open – we wander the old town and meander in and out of squares, plazas and main streets. It’s what we do. We decided to take the “train” (more on that later) up to Notre Dame de la Gare.

OK….there are a LOT of cruise ships in port. A. LOT. We even saw the Seabourne Silver Shadow (which appears to be in a dry-dock situation) – we had seen her prior in Nassau. A few Costa ships as well as two MSC ships. Like I said. It was busy…for a Sunday.

We purchased our tickets and got on the “train”. We sat in front…HUGE MISTAKE. The noise from the engine along with the SCREAMING CHILDREN behind us “facetiming” with Nonna back in Italy made hearing ANY and ALL commentary impossible. WHY DO PEOPLE FACETIME IN PUBLIC??? It is SO annoying to have people shouting into their phones and to hear tinny shouting in return. Whatever happened to ear buds? Or headphones? Our Samsung noise canceling earbuds work GREAT. No shouting. No one “gets” to listen in on a conversation…URGH. So annoying. Of course, I hate cell phones anyway. It seems people lose their sense of space and volume when on their mobiles. I’ll get off the high horse now.

So, the kids behind us – three in total 2 young one a teen – spent the ENTIRE JOURNEY on their phones. I was screaming inside. I wanted to hear the commentary. I DID hear where “The Count of Monte Christo” spent time in prison – thankful for that.

As the “train” chugged its way up the hill avoiding pedestrians and drivers who think all lights are merely suggestions (stop signs included) we arrived at the HUGE church/cathedral(?). IT> IS> HUGE. The views are spectacular. Unparalleled. We chose not to enter the sanctuary (didn’t want it to collapse with two heathens entering) – so we wandered outside, took a lot of pictures and just took in the city. Neither of us had ANY idea as to the actual size of Marseille. It’s HUGE!

Going down the hill from Notre Dame took half the time as going up. For the return trip, we didn’t have the phone kids anywhere near us, nor did we sit up front. SO…we were actually able to hear the commentary.

We got back to the Vieux Port and decided it’s time to return to the ship. Nothing is open. We’re cold, and my feet are practically bleeding (actually just blistered, but they DO hurt.) So back to the shuttle, where we’re of the last few to make it on the bus. YAY.

We had lunch in the Terrace actually ON THE TERRACE. With a beautiful view of the hills surrounding the port. We each had a hamburger (overcooked – I like mine medium rare) – these were death by inferno. Dry as the Sahara. We were wrapped in our coats but out of the wind so it was actually quite comfortable.

We spent most of the remainder of the day relaxing and mentally preparing for our move (down the hall). We chose to “dine in” tonight. We’ve never had “room service” so this is a first for us. We arranged with our butler, Rony, to order food from Red Ginger. We had the skewer special sampler for two, Crispy Potato rolls, BBQ Pork and Marinated Beef as well as a sushi sampler for our dinner which was accompanied by Champagne…our second bottle provided by the ship. It was delightful and quite convenient. Must do this more often….but no so as to annoy the Butler or other staff and crew.

Our butler just cleared everything away and informed us that there are approximately 5 Covid positive guests on board who have been required to quarantine. BOUND TO HAPPEN. Both Christopher and I tested negative today. We shall be wearing masks for the remainder of the cruise in public spaces. Oh well. Stuff happens. I’m not going to hide out in the room – this next portion of the cruise takes us to ports we’ve never been.

Time to start packing so we can move down the Hall to 11047. They’ll take care of the hanging things, we’ll take care of the other stuff. I’m thinking throw (and I do mean throw) everything into a suitcase and call it a day. Tomorrow Barcelona. LOVE BARCELONA!!!

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