May 5, 2012
Finally we reached the end of our Atlantic crossing and today we begin the first official voyage of our Mediterranean season. Our initial Turnaround port will be in Rome. Actually, the port is in the city of Civitavecchia, about 45 minutes from Rome. We had completed our winter season initiating each cruise out of Bayonne, NJ, and I was looking forward to the ‘romance’ of Rome. Boy was I disappointed. Tim had warned me about this the night before. He asked me if I was ready for another tent. In Bayonne, the passenger terminal is fairly unattractive as it appears to be a slightly ‘dressed up’ warehouse. The terminal for the crew, however, is a tent. Perhaps it could more formally be called a garden wedding pavilion. Still, it is a tent over asphalt, with all the charm that conjures up.
But in Civi (yes, we shorthand everything), we were faced with a tent not only for the crew but for the guests, as well! Since we had pulled into port shortly after 4am and we didn’t have to process US immigration, the morning was much more relaxed. So Tim took me on a tour of the facilities, in all their glory, to get me acclimated. I was stunned by the uneven asphalt floor and the large ‘flaps’ that provided entrance and exit locations. On the far right side there were very nice counters and some red carpet approaches that were our efforts to provide a better experience for our guests, but the basic facility was the very definition of austere. As we prepared to receive our crew we realized that proper cordons had not been setup to direct our soon to be arriving mates. With no security in sight our department went to work setting up boundaries to direct the traffic flow and then pulled over large luggage carts for them to stow their bags. One of the benefits here is that the crew members do not have to drag their bags up the gangway. Tim advised me that the charm would only increase when I saw where the crew would be asked to assemble prior to going through security.
The line was to form in front of the public restrooms. What a lovely first impression if this was a crew member’s first contract. I cringed at the thought. Soon, the fifty plus sign-ons arrived and recognizing the less than welcoming environment, Tim and I went out of our way to engage, encourage, and flat out ‘entertain’ our new teammates. Amazingly, the process went incredibly smoothly and in no time at all we had them on the ship and up in our beautiful SKY B conference room to complete their processing. Hopefully that visual image will stick with them far longer than our Turnaround tent.
Another thing that stunned me a bit in Civitavecchia was the security. Don’t misunderstand. They did an excellent job of screening the crew. However, if you were a ship’s officer in uniform you were able to walk through the terminal and out into the parking lot and back to the dock without any screening being done. It bothered me to think that anyone dressed like me could have gone into that parking lot to get any illegal thing and have easy access to the dock. But before you worry about the safety of the ship too much, know that I still would have had to go through the scanners at the top of our gangway. Yes, our security is aware of this little ‘hole’ in the process and ensures that we all get checked one more time.
While there is some charm in the simplicity of the facilities in ‘Rome,’ I’m glad that the majority of our Turnaround Days will be in Venice. Of course I still haven’t seen what that port has to offer, so maybe I better withhold judgment.
And the adventure continues . . .
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