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| Strait of Messina - Mediterranean Sea - Sicily/Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
Princess immediately stepped to the line and made things right
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| Royal Princess - Mediterranean Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
WE HAD visions in our mind of the recent "stranded ships" by Carnival out in the Caribbean during the past year or so. A nightmare. We thought maybe we should head up and get some food before everything went to hell. Upstairs, there was a lot of murmuring and chatter. Eventually, the captain came on and explained that they were having electronics problems. With the main propulsion unit. They were working to get things fixed. An hour or so later, he came back on with the proverbial "good news and bad news." Good news: the ship had an emergency propulsion system (a little research later revealed that this was relatively new maritime law in the aftermath of the broken down ship horror stories - all new ships and refurbished ships now have this facility). The bad news, though, was that it could only move the ship along at about 6 knots. We weren't going to make it to Naples by our scheduled time. That would - of course, wreak havoc with everyone's shore schedules. We would continue to Naples and all the ships amenities, air conditioning, food storage and preparation, the bars, shows and shops would continue to operate as normal. In the meantime, have a free drink on the ship and continue to enjoy the facilities.
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| Tug - Port of Naples, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
I WAS crestfallen. I had been gunning for the Amalfi Coast for the entire trip. Now it appeared as if we would miss it. But as we sat there, letting the Captain's words sink in, we realized how fortunate we were in many ways. Not stranded at sea with no sanitary facilities or food. On a beautiful cruise ship in beautiful weather in the Mediterranean. Alive, safe and healthy. This was just a blip on the screen (although one that would soon get larger). By the next day, the decision had been made to cancel the balance of the cruise. It was pretty understandable. Safety is always going to be the primary driver in these situations. I am not going to re-hash the whole story again here. I gave a detailed account of it back in the early days of this blog, in: Expanding Our Travel Horizons - Murphy's Law. I will re-iterate the positives of this adventure. Princess immediately stepped to the line and made things right. A full refund of the entire cruise. Full responsibility for getting everyone home (not just to the final cruise destination. Home). I won't say there wasn't a certain amount of chaos, but ultimately it all came together. We looked at it from a "glass is half full" standpoint. We had just gotten 3/4 of a long Mediterranean Cruise - essentially free. It was a nice vacation which had only cost us our flight over, our extra days in Venice, and incidentals. Not by any means a terrible deal. And it wasn't over yet.
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| Port of Naples Tug - Assisting The Royal Princess - Naples, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
WE ULTIMATELY limped into Naples at about midnight after our scheduled day. The activity woke me up and I stood out on our balcony, fascinated, watching the harbor tugs turn us around and get us situated on the docks.
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| Amalfi Coast (overlooking Positano) - Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
IT TURNED out that our re-scheduled flight home to Michigan wasn't until two days later. In the meantime, we were given full use and access of the ship, our stateroom, and amenities, including maintaining the buffet and dining room. We contacted Rome-in-limo to see if there was any way they could accomodate us for the Amalfi Coast. Unfortunately, they were all booked out, but what they were able to do was provide us with a driver to get us to Rome the next day for our flight out of the airport in Rome. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, they are a great company.
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| Looking back on Amalfi from the pier - Amalfi, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
WITH OUR new friends, Scott and Pam, we did the next best thing we could. We walked down onto the pier and hired a taxi driver for the day to take us up the Amalfi Coast. Though his English was virtually non-exsitent, we managed to negotiate a price for the day and get through to him that we wanted to see the highlights of the coast. To him, we later learned, that meant only to Amalfi and back. But we made a few stops for views, and then were on our own for about 90 minutes in Amalfi. Obviously, he wasn't a guide, but still I got to see it and make some pictures! All in all, a good day.
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| Amalfi Cathedral - Amalfi, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Amalfi Cathedral - Amalfi, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
WE WERE pleasantly surprised at the lack of crowds and ease of getting around the coast and in Amalfi. When we returned in 2017 with our friends, Paul and Linda, the staircase up to the Amalfi Cathedral was completely packed with people - and the street below, as well. I was able to walk right up to the bottom of the stairs to make this photograph. In 2017 I had to hold my camera up above the crowd in the street.
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| Public Beach at Amalifi, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
THE NEXT morning, the 4 of us left The Royal Princess for the last time, meeting our car and driver down in the port area. Most of the drive to Rome (just under 2 hours) was on 4-lane highways and uneventful. Our driver was a nice guy who also was one of their guides.
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| Near the Rome city center - right around the corner from Scott and Pam's Hotel Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
OUR DESTINATIONS were quite different. My wife and I were staying at a hotel right next to Fiumicino, Rome's airport, about 15 miles outside of Rome's city center. Scott and Pam were staying on in Rome for a couple days and were booked in a hotel right near the city center. We had a little over 1/2 day though, and we decided we would ask our driver to drop our bags at our airport hotel, and wait while we checked in. We then rode in to the city with Scott and Pam. Our driver gave us a little drive around mini-tour of inner city Rome, before dropping us off at their motel, where he presented both of us with a bottle Limoncello.
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| We had neither the time, nor an appointment to see the inside of the Coloseum (though Scott and Pam would get inside later that week), I did get my chance to shoot it in nice lighting from the outside - Roman Coloseum - Rome, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
AFTER THEY checked in and we consulted a map, we realized we were within close walking distance of some of the sights, including the Coloseum, the entrance to the Agora, the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. Amazingly, we saw most of these sites and covered a lot of Rome that afternoon.
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| Trevi Fountain - Rome, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
WE WERE pretty lucky with our timing. Although still crowded with tourists, the famed Trevi Fountain was at least approachable. We have been back twice more and the first time it was under repair and virtually closed, which the second time (in 2022) it was such a mob scene it was really impossible to get a decent view or shot of it.
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| The Spanish Steps - Rome, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
HAVING SEEN the iconic sights within walking distance, we took a long, slow, walk back up toward their motel, and just looked at the sights and the incredible classic architecture.
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| Center City - Rome, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
AS A photographer back in those days, my primary focus was on landscape images. The concept of "street photography" hadn't really ocurred to me as something I would be attracted to. I still probably wouldn't call the bulk of shooting I do when in cities on travel "street shooting," per se. I think perhaps a better description might be "cityscape." I have always like colors and quirky signs, like the pizza baker statue. But it is not often that I "see" a street scene that I think has merit as a photograph on its own. When I saw the lone young man walking on a street below me, I actually though this was one where everything would come together and make a very nice street photography photo. I think I was right.
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| Center City, Rome, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
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