October 24 - Sunday - Summary and Captain's Log

This is a summary of information about our cruise. This first tidbit came from one of our daily newsletters. People on this cruise came from:

Australia - 34
Austria - 3
Belgium - 11
Canada - 161
Denmark - 3
Finland - 1
Germany - 13
Republic of Ireland - 5
Israel - 5
Italy - 4
Luxembourg - 2
Mexico - 4
The Netherlands - 45
New Zealand - 10
Norway - 2
Panama - 2
Peru - 1
Romania - 6
South Africa - 7
Spain - 4
Sweden - 2
United Kingdom - 32
United States - 427

If I entered those numbers correctly, they should add to 787 people, although the captain's log says we had 785 guests. Perhaps the two from Sweden or Panama or Luxemborg didn't show, or maybe two got off the ship at a port after the initial count and before we reached rome - or perhaps the Captain's log rounded down to the nearest 5.

According to the Captain's Log, there were 452 crew personnel supporting the ship, including the captain and the sailing crew, administrative personnel, culinary staff, entertainment staff, cabin stewards, and whoever it takes to make sailing this ship a pleasant experience for the passengers.

From the Captain's Log, we learn that we sailed 3,048 nautical miles. Our top speed was 17.1 when we sailed from Monemvasia to Rome, and our lowest speed was 8.1 when we sailed from Batumi to Trabzon (a short distance). One nautical mile equals 1.15 statute miles or 1.85 kilometers.

We consumed an average of 16,000 gallons of fuel per day.

October 23 - Saturday - At Sea

Today is the third (and last) day on this voyage that we'll be at sea with no port of call. I haven't created a blog for the other two days, but this one is interesting because we'll be going through the Strait of Messina and then seeing Stromboli, an active volcano.

We started the day with a beautiful sunrise ...


Sunrise at sea

As we neared the Strait, a ferry was kind enough to cross in front of us, giving us a first-hand look at the way people currently cross from one side of the Strait to the other, from Sicilia to Calabria and back again. 

Ferry crossing Strait of Messina

A bridge has been in the planning for a long time (since Roman times, perhaps? See this Wikipedia article for some good reading), but it hasn't happened yet. The cost grows even more prohibitive as time goes on. Frank, our official shipboard historian and travel commentator, and he gave us a very good blow by blow as we passed through.

As we passed through the Strait, we were treated, as promised, with our first view of Stromboli.

Strombloli - With villages on either side of it

The amazing thing about this actively volcanic mountain is that there are villages on either side of it and a few isolated dwellings (I counted 5) scattered in between. If the picture were a closeup of the base facing us, we would see those 5 dwellings. There is no transportation but by boat. The last eruption was in 2009 (see the Wikipedia article above), and people still come and live here. Frank said this is a resort for the very wealthy.

Village at base of Stromboli

What a fascinating hour or so that was. The captain took us slowly past the west side of it, close, and held us steady at the eruption side (northwest) for quite a while.


First view of the collapsed (active) area of Stromboli

As though on cue, the mountain spewed out a nice burp as we reached the north side ,,,


Stromboli spewing smoke and lava

And we were able to see lava flow down and spash into the sea.


Lava steaming in the sea

Frank said that the lava glows red (as it would) at night. What a sight that must be.

The tiny, by comparison, stub of the original volcano lies northeast of the currently active mountain.

Stub of original volcano (there's a lighthouse on it)

It was an interesting day at sea!

Our flickr photos for this page: Strait of Messina