Trieste and Embarkation (Cruise day!) - Nov 2024

Trieste and Embarkation - November 1, 2024

We arrived in Trieste at 9pm. I read concerns about walking near the bus station, with a park nearby where people slept at night. I priced Ubers and buses and considered them as a backup if we were uncomfortable, but we planned to walk as plan A. After arriving, some people were being picked up near the station doors, but others were walking. So we felt okay walking too. We were near the water for part of the walk. Once we got to the main square/piazza, we saw Halloween costumes and some partying. Our hotel was Urbanauts Studio Minelli. The front picture was actually from the reservation email. Good idea; then you know what you are looking for. They also had a sign pointing to it off a more main street. This hotel had no desk or person on site. We had to complete the registration a few days before, which was before leaving home. The registration required our passport numbers; this was noted an Italian law that they must collect. This seemed very normal for an international hotel. We had to provide a credit card number for them to charge the city tax. They emailed the door code to use to have our room key dropped and other details for getting in and checking out. We were on the top floor. I liked it; it had a cool personality. They also gave a nice bottle of water (my fear of drinking Italian water from getting sick 25 years ago) and a wine complimentary. It had a kitchenette too, but no tea for Travis. The downfall was that the bed had a wall on 3 sides, so I had to climb over Travis to get in or out of bed. I just got up for the restroom when he did, so he will be moved for one trip and not asleep to wake up in my climb when I returned. Also, a slanting ceiling that I think I hit my head and foot on, but that was part of the cool personality. The shower was a little difficult with one open side, but it was hot water so good. You cannot see the full shower, but part of it and glass on the lefthand side of the picture. 

The next morning, Friday, Nov 1st, we left our luggage in the room, did not check out yet, and went exploring. Old gate, church, view of mountain toward the water, and Medieval Tower called Tor Cucherna. I was impressed by the Tower's perfect hole in the domed roof. 

Historic Greek theater. 

Walking just before this, there were three military officers with machine guns. I asked Travis what he was getting us into. He noted that he just saw a Jewish museum; they were guarding it due to a recent issue in Israel. We saw several like this in Italy where military uniforms and jeeps were guarding something instead of normal police officers. This brought us to Giant's staircase and view from it. From the staircase was the fortress, Roman forum, and a church. It was All Saint's Day this day, so mass was in progress.  

Right past the church was a nice and free museum. We went through only part of the outside; then decided that we better head back to the hotel to checkout. Our plan was to checkout, which was at 11am, and with our luggage, have lunch. I put the cruise luggage tags on, and we visited the hotel room restroom one last time. The lunch area was very busy for people being off of work for All Saint's Day, and we were not finding much. So, Travis preferred that we try to drop of the luggage at the ship. This was a discussion on our FB group before the cruise - what time we could. The thought was noon; we were there before noon and were able to drop off -- so we just know a little before noon. Our hotel was very close to the cruise terminal and main square (in English, the Unity of Italy Square). 

Without luggage on the bumpy cobblestone and crowded square, we decided to have lunch at Trapizzino Trieste that I found beforehand. Travis had Double Cream, and I had Meatball with sauce. Mine was okay; Travis liked his. We also shared a Sicilian rice ball. It did have peas, but it was very good. They asked if we wanted marinara sauce, and we said yes. We thought they forgot because there was no container of sauce, and then we found it inside the rice ball instead. We ordered to go and waited outside as seemed to be suggested. I think that someone that ordered after us took my Trapizzino, so they had to make me another. They were affordable. We ate at the main piazza and took these pictures. 

Our ship is peeking out from behind a building with statues. The Four Continents statue. 

We picked a late boarding time to see more of Trieste. With the luggage, we could have instead checked-in and boarded, had lunch, and got back off. Though I guess after boarding, they would want us to do the muster first. So, after eating, we looked at Four Continents more closely. This statue also attracted people bothering tourist; these people noted a survey of some sort and were pretty aggressive. 

We walked along the water to the Grand Canal of Trieste, seeing the churches at the end. There was also a market setup for All Saint's Day in a piazza. This piazza had restrooms down some stairs; exciting. BUT, they were just holes in the ground -- flashbacks to my trip to Italy 25 years ago. One lady came out of a stall, so I guess managed the situation. I met another lady down there, and we were both like "NO". As we climbed back up the stairs, I was telling her the story of when I was here before that my Aunt and I ate at a restaurant that promised free restrooms to customers. After eating, we went to use the promised restroom, and it was a hole in the ground with no stalls even just int he middle of the room. We held it then too. 

We walked back to Giant's Staircase going back to the museum that we cut our visit short on earlier. Fountains at the staircase (there were a few streams of water; they did not show up well in the picture). 

An inside museum display. There was a surprisingly lot see. We could tell that the museum, inside and outside displays, used to be a paid museum. We stayed until it was time to walk back for our 3pm cruise boarding.  

Since our boarding time was late, we boarded super fast. We never stopped to wait. When we entered the terminal, the Italian police looked at our passports and tickets very carefully and examined them for a while. Then another port worker reviewed them, followed by another that directed us to the Latitudes priority check-in. At check-in, two people checked us each in at the same -- scanning our passports and getting our keycards.

We went through security, immediately boarding, and going to our muster station (they handed us a paper with the location by station when we checked-in). We then went right to our room since they were ready at that late time. We were in 9049; a near the forward, starboard side, inside room. Again, Travis's suitcase had arrived, and mine had not yet. I'm never sure how they get separated. Travis unpacked. We split our stuff between the two cases, so we really both unpacked. We had an 8pm sailaway. They said that they would announce the safety information later, but it did seem much later with the 8pm. We stopped at the CruiseNext desk to book our Sapphire Latitude events; we picked the Wine Tasting and dinner with an officer (noted that this would be a two stripped or above officer). I wanted a small snack -- probably not small enough at the buffet. I first had chocolate ice cream, which was not great, but I do love that NCL has included ice cream! I first thought just until 3pm since it closed at 3pm for the start of snack and tea time in the Great Outdoors other days, but later, I found it reopened for dinner. Today, I discovered the lemon sorbet that I loved, and they had it everyday (that we went in). Travis found a pretty lemon and blueberry tart dessert. Great views from the Great Outdoors of the sunsetting.  

The cabin pictures. It definitely needed more drawers; there were only two -- one for each of us -- in the righthand side closet. Lots of shelves, but those seemed like our messy stuff was showing all the time and that we could walk by and knock it off the shelf. The closets were nice because the lights came on with a motion sensor. Our bathroom had two dirty/disguising spots on the door. If they would not come clean, it seems like they should be scraped off and painted over them. The bathroom layout has been updated and not the traditional Jewel class bathroom. I liked the design and colors, though the angled toilet was a little more challenging to use. No towel trouble; it always flushed right when the button was pushed. The mirror in the bathroom was too dark to see well; maybe if it had a light going across the top of the mirror too and not just on the sides. The mirror in the room was better. Do note that the circle of light to turn it on lit much of the room overnight. It reflected on the mirror across from it and on the ceiling. We always wear our eye masks, so it was fine. It lit the way to the restroom at night. Our room steward just brought my luggage and did not ask our preferences. On our previous NCL with only one room make up, they asked what time we wanted. This time, we never knew; though there was a sign in our room with the room stewards' names, hours, and a phone number. So, I made requests for our steward with a note that he got the next day. We requested an extra towel (we always had plenty), ice, and to remove the fridge mini-bar pay items (he just stored them on the ice bucket tray above the fridge). NCL also provides washcloths by default. No free pay per view movies or TV shows. Bed and pillows were comfortable. Our status water and chocolate strawberries were in the room.  

I picked O'Sheehan's for dinner; it is normally my favorite but was a little disappointing. I also missed the only time that I saw the Flourless Cake with Stracciatella in the MDR, my favorite. It used to be an almost nightly dessert item. The dessert items are much scaled back from our previous cruises. There were two changing options + nightly ice cream/sorbet choices of the day + a cheese plate. One night we did not order anything and went to the buffet later -- when I discovered ice cream in the evening. For dinner, I had the nachos that were not as good as I remembered and tried the sweet chili wings (I normally get buffalo). The flavor was good, but the skin was not crispy. They were still good. Travis got his favorite -- the pork, plantains, and rice dish.  

The buffet still had some Halloween decorations from the day before, so I got pictures.   

Next up...Koper, Slovenia Cave and Castle

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