CRUISING, DAY ONE: GETTING FROM KOREA TO QUEEN VICTORIA CIVITAVECCHIA

After a year we are returning to one of our favorite places in the world, Queen Victoria. Today is the most exciting and potentially frustrating time of any voyage: Embarkation day! Our journey to the port commences in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome where we have spent the past three days adjusting to European time and enjoying The Eternal City at eternally strange hours of the day. When embarking on a cruise, I always recommend arriving near the port at least a day in advance; several days in advance if it involves a long-haul flight. Not only does this give you a chance to adjust to the local time before commencing your voyage, this gives you some breathing room in case of flight cancellations and delays. Numerous trains run frequently from all of the major Rome train stations to Civitavecchia; Just make sure you get a direct one instead of taking a route that involves a connection. Not only can it be frustrating to manage luggage up and down stairs and platforms (the elevators are unnaturally small!), if your first train is late, you might not make the second. Arriving in Civitavecchia, we decide to just head to the ship on foot. There is a shuttle that runs from the train station to the Cruise pier for six Euros each, but we decide to commit early to our cruise fitness program and walk to the beautiful Queen Victoria because she isn't really that far, maybe a mile. And there she is! Getting giddier by the minute.... #traveling #cruisevlog #Cunard #train #flight #cruiseadventure #cruising Once we reach the terminal, we encounter the group of passengers who were on the train with us. Apparently they took the shuttle and arrived at exactly the same time that we did walking because the shuttle bus only goes every half hour or so. This is Italy. You can never really know. First thing to do is drop off our bags with the porters, which requires us to attach our baggage tags so that our luggage is delivered to our cabin. Thankfully the porters have staplers and are happy to help. After going through security, we present our boarding passes and are directed to the Diamond Status line - which allows us to jump to the head of the checkin queue! After a smooth checkin, we make our way to our ship - Feeling like a child at Christmas! We proceed straight to our cabin and save several hours by taking the stairs. Seriously, the elevator on Embarkation day is an exercise in patience. Here are the keys, awaiting us in an unassuming envelop! We have cabin 1073, Which is a deluxe inside State room. We booked this baby Only six weeks ago Snagging an amazing deal: USD 1489 per person For 14 nights. #cruise