Norwegian Jade Cruise, Day 8: Disembarkation

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The night before arrival, we fetch colored tags from the atrium to indicate our disembarkation time: light blue for 9:20 AM. These go on our bags left out in the hallway after 10PM, for claiming in the terminal after getting off the ship at port the next day. (NCL cruises out of Venice don’t offer freestyle walk-off disembarkation, for some reason.)

Return to Venice at end of cruise

It’s a gray, hazy morning as the ship crawls back into Venice, carefully easing westward through the Canale di San Marco. We watch San Giorgio and Giudecca slide past our balcony, then walk over to the opposite promenade to see the Doge’s Palace and San Marco.

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Norwegian Jade Cruise, Day 7: Split

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Last port of call on our cruise is Split, Croatia, another popular summer destination on the Dalmatian coast. NCL Jade is a bit too big for the cruise port so the ship anchors a mile offshore and tenders ferry passengers to and from the Riva, Split’s scenic waterfront promenade.

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Norwegian Jade Cruise, Day 5: Ephesus

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After a night crossing the Aegean Sea, we arrive at Izmir, a sprawling port city on the Turkish coast — but our real destination is a bit farther south: the archaeological site of Ancient Ephesus. Uncertain of our transit options I’ve booked a full day with No-Frills Ephesus Tours, a tour agency that promises excursions without the shopping stops so common to these trips. We’re here for history, not high pressure rug sales.

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Norwegian Jade Cruise, Day 4: Athens

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The port suburb of Piraeus is a chaotic, bustling mess. It takes a while to figure out which pier we’ve docked at, and how to get to the Athens Metro on foot (about a 20 minute walk). At the Metro I lack coins for the machines and stop by a small cafe to buy an over-sweet frappe for change. I have trouble operating the first Metro ticket machine before belatedly realizing that it is out of service.

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Norwegian Jade Cruise, Day 1: Welcome Aboard

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I have no wry or cynical David Foster Wallace-ish observations on this cruise other than what I mentioned about pre-boarding unpleasantness before departing Venice. Once aboard the ship we had a lovely week, with epic destinations, flawless weather, friendly service, and delightful food. In a week we passed through Dubrovnik, Athens, Ephesus, and Split.

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Venice, Day 4: Departure

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We have a few hours to kill between hotel check-out and cruise boarding, and our hotel is nice enough to keep our bags in storage for the day. It’s enough time to go to the Chiesa di San Pantalon and see Fumiani’s famous ceiling painting of the life of Saint Pantaleon: a masterpiece of trompe-l’oeil which makes the church appear taller than it is, open to a sky spilling over with baroque figures in every direction. It is a wonder to just sit there, looking up, for an hour. No photography allowed.

Also, in my mind, I have rechristened “San Pantalon” as “Saint Pants.”

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Venice, Day 3: Touristy Stuff

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Today is reserved for the touristy stuff around San Marco: the Piazza, the Basilica, the Campanile, the Doge’s Palace, the Rialto Bridge. After another breakfast of rolls and croissants and Nutella and ham at Ristorante Ribot we hop aboard the No. 1 Vaporetto at Piazzale Roma for a ride down the Grand Canal to San Marco. (Walking in Venice is nice but we’re trying to beat the day-tripper crowd to the piazza this morning.) It’s cloudier today, the color not as great for photos, but this is Venice, and everything looks lovely regardless of light.

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