‘Twas our last travel day before the Big Travel back to the U.S. today. We grabbed breakfast in Bologna and then returned to our flat to get our bags and head to the train station for a 9:45 AM train to Ancona, which arrived around 11:30.
That gave us 8 hours until our 11-hour “ferry cruise” from Ancona to Split. We realized overnight that both of us had no idea what to expect from the ferry. We knew when we booked it that we could book just a seat (we assumed that was like getting a seat on a train) or we could book a cabin (which is what we did—an “outside” cabin so we would have a window). We had also seen…but not really thought about…the other, much cheaper, option (not that the cabin was unreasonable—given that it was both travel and a night’s lodging, it was pretty cheap auto ~$300 for both of us): just booking passage with no reserved area.
For 11 hours.
We had no idea how large the boat would be. We thought there might be cars on it, too, but weren’t sure. We assumed our 2-bed birth would be like that on a train: just two beds, but no washroom or anything. We weren’t sure what the food situation would be—would we be able to buy food on board?
We did some Googling on the train to Ancona, which removed just a little bit of the haze from our expectations. It did seem, at least, like there would be food available on board.
We had seen in the ticket confirmation that it was not a ticket itself—that we’d need to check in to actually get our tickets. And, we’d seen that the checking had to occur at least 2 hours before the scheduled departure. This seemed…odd.
We had sufficient uncertainty that we decided we would just head straight from the train to the ship and talk to someone. It was a bit of a hike, which we took slowly and in the shade (trying to not get drenched in sweat as we were carrying all of our things). We stopped in a grocery story to get some granola bars and some fruit—enough to hold us over until our arrival in Split should we not be able to get food on board..
Let’s just cut to where things netted out:
The “checkin” was 1.5km from where the ship departed from…and the ship’s departure point was the address that the confirmation provided!
Luckily, since we arrived hours before our departure, we were able to take the free shuttle to the checkin, get checked in (and get a couple of questions answered: we knew where we would board, what time we could board, and that there was a luggage storage we could use) and then take a shuttle back to the dock and check our bags at the luggage storage there.
We briefly chatted with a young British fellow who was taking a different ship, but who had not seen the details about the checkin and was desperately trying to make that round trip in ~40 minutes (we don’t know if he made it or not)
There was a large cruise ship docked at the port, as well as another fairly large ship with a big Tweety Bird painted on the smokestack. But, we assumed, our ship had not yet arrived.
With our luggage checked, we walked into the old city and found a restaurant that was open—80% of the restaurants and shops, easy, were closed, as we’re in peak Italian holiday season. With lunch done and a few more hours to kill, we walked around the old city, poking our heads into Chiesa dei Santi Pellegrino e Teresa, checking out the view from Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitan di San Ciriaco, and walking over to both the “old” and the “new” lighthouse. So much for not breaking a sweat!
We then returned to the dock area and bought some lemon sodas and water at a cafe across the street to wait for the ship. 30 minutes before we’d been told we could board, we walked to the dock and realized…the big ship with Tweety Bird on it was our ship! That gave us a ship to research, and we realized that our room would actually be… a legit stateroom, likely with shower and toilet and sink. And there would be *multiple *eating options on board. As Benton put it, “This feels like it’s more ‘cruise’ than ‘ferry.’” An accurate statement.
So, through security and customs, standing in line for a while, and then we were able to board, get checked in, get settled in our room (with shower and toilet and sink) and head out to explore the ship a bit.
THAT is when that, “Oh…you can board without a designated spot to actually spend the next 11 hours” ticket option reared its head. And it’s a little crazy.
First off, the ferry did take on a load of cars and campers, so some of those people may have had “their” space just be there cars. But, for many others—from individuals to couples to groups—the public spaces of the ship were their oyster. Inflatable mattresses in the hallways, a group commandeering a whole section of a lounge area, a hammock suspended outside on one of the decks, luggage spread across wooden benches outdoors. It was…a little crazy. Clearly, there were travelers who arrived with a strategy for their overnight trip. (It also seemed as though some people were a little surprised as to what they were in for over the next 11 hours).
The lines were long for the various food and drink options, and Benton suggested we skip the drink options altogether, as the boat does rock a bit (detectable…not really anything that makes it difficult to walk, though). We settled on eating at the restaurant, but, by the time we made our way there a bit after 8:00, we realized that the savvy travelers had gotten their names in “the book” as soon as they could: we wound up with a reservation for 10:00 PM.
We headed back to the cabin and Benton showered before we headed to dinner.
An interesting/memorable experience of the day:
Benton: being up 152-0 on Dad in gin before he at least managed to cobble together a couple of winning hands before I beat him. And, how people seemed to pretty freely just leave things in spaces to reserve them, including bags and purses.
Tim: the family of four—husband, wife, and two young boys—who were at a pair of benches near us. The younger son was an absolute riot—super energetic, and wore his emotions on his sleeve, so he seemed like a hilarious (to us) handful (for his parents).
