The Cruise Of The Year (Final)

The next day and night is again spent at sea only. This is when our ship takes its rounded trip all the way to Venice. This being Friday June 8, 2007, it signifies our second last day to our cruise. As usual there are hives of activities on board to keep everyone busy and entertained. The usual on board sales of souvenir and semi luxurious items are back on display just as they always are each time the ship sets sail since these are duty free. Whenever the ship stops at any port, it cannot sell these merchandise without the proper port or country’s licence to do so. These sale galore proves very popular to all the ladies on board since the products sold are of high quality and affordable at the same time.

On Deck 6 & 7 we have the musical show at the Princess Theatre and this time it is " What A Swell Party", a musical show which makes Cole Porter famous. Songs like "dancing cheek to cheek", "on the streets where we live", "old Man river", "diamonds are a girl’s best friend", "Let’s fall in love" and many more are sung and choreographed to make them even more memorable for old folks like us.

But later still , it is the Princess Pop Star Final, which is something like the American Idol show albeit on a very small scale and confine to the Club Fusion outlet. Only six finalists which includes me but two fails to turn up, leaving only four to contest. It is karaoke style contest and the audience determines the night’s winner. Each table is given a voting paper which is collected at the end of the contest to determine the night’s winner. There is only one winner and no runner’s up or the rest. This time I lost by a count of two votes, so I was told by one of the organisers. To ensure me of that extra votes to win how I had wished my Gin gang is around then ! Anyway, it is all right with me, since there is no special trophy for it and the whole event is to be taken as just a fun event. Everyone is given the same bag of goodies which contains a bottle of wine and Princess Cruise luggage straps. The wine we later on give it to our stateroom steward Cristian, a Croatian, who has been very helpful to us ever since we get on board.

Another long day at sea whilst we take another route back to Italy and heading for Venice our final port of call on Saturday June 9, at 1300 hrs. We will be staying here for the night. From our vantage view we can see the beautiful coast line of the city. Venice, long revered as one of the most beautiful cities in the world It lies at the head of the Adriatic Sea in the saltwater Laguna Veneta. Resplendent with graceful palaces and churches, the city is built on 118 small islands and laced with a unique network of canals and bridges. Although the motorboat, or vaporetto, is well accepted today, the gondola is the more traditional means of transportation. A surprisingly agile craft, each gondola is lovingly built like a piece of fine furniture, sometimes requiring more than a year to complete. Gondoliers belong to a centuries-old guild, steeped in tradition, and are quite adept at moving their boats easily with a single oar. The tall mooring poles with distinctive spiral striping are the original models for barber poles.

The heart of Venice centres around St. Mark’s Square, which has been called " a great, marble salon" open to the sky, where bells chime, violins play, shoppers stroll, lovers embrace, and visitors take it all in over cappuccino in a congenial cafe. The piazza is huge yet harmonious, with covered galleries all around, sheltering luxury ships and cafes. Just a turn of the head allows you to admire St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Bell Tower, the Clock Tower where giant bronze Moors have struck the hours for five centuries, the old law courts and the old library. Described by Napoleon as the finest drawing room in Europe, the Piazza San Marco is just a prelude to a city whose treasures are too numerous to count.

The bewitching city of Venice has always considered itself to be "married" to the sea. Overseas commerce and investment made the metropolis wealthy and powerful, and much of the city’s unique charm comes from the reduced noise and slower pace of life along the canals. But don’t be deceived; the Venetians are second to none in their astuteness, vigour , and capacity for hard work.

Venice was founded originally by refugees from the mainland seeking a safe haven from the Huns, then later from the Franks between the 5th and 8th centuries. At one time Venice controlled Cyprus, Crete, and much of southern Greece. Centuries of naval warfare with the Ottoman Turks cost Venice control of those areas, but they didn't lose their commercial edge until Napoleon abolished the Republic in 1797.

Because of its strategic location at the head of the Adriatic Sea, Venice quickly became a transit port for trade between central Europe and everywhere in the Mediterranean, but especially the Holy Land. Much of the commercial and military traffic during the Crusades was carried by Venetian ships, which acquired untold wealth for the city’s merchants. The Crusaders also helped to expand the land controlled by the Republic to islands and coastal enclaves along the Balkan peninsula and the Aegean Sea.

In 1204, the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo led a powerful army to Constantinople and captured it from the Byzantine Empire. Some of Venice’s greatest artworks and treasures were violently looted from the East at that time, and triumphantly brought home as booty. Although the Greeks were able to recapture their city within just a few years, the treachery of the overeager Venetians has poisoned relations between the two peoples ever since. It also became a major source of the great rift between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches, which continues to this day.

The short tour of the city by boat and later by gondola cannot but brings back fond memories for Ainul and I for it was here that the late Din and Zahara joined us for our European tour in 1976. Most memorable was the incidence when Din’s bathtub overflowed and the water seeped through the floors to the next room below it to the annoyance of the rooms occupants ! In those days, using the bathtub was foreign to us more so to Din and Zaharah ! The other incidence was when after purchasing two sets of Venetian glass ware for both Din and I, we both decided to cancel the orders for fear that these would not be sent to us. We resorted to contacting our Diner’s Club Agent at costly phone calls to do it. It all started when we happened to come across other shops selling the same glass ware at a much cheaper price and hence we concluded that we had been cheated.

Well, what can we say of the Venice of today? It has not changed very much but most certainly a lot busy than before as a result of more tourist visiting the place. With ship loads of visitors from all the cruising ships that anchored at the place, Venice prospers from these visitors.

Back to the ship for the last time till the next day June 10 Sunday, we have to put our luggage outside our stateroom door for collections which commences by eight that night. As usual everything is done very efficiently with clear written instructions on leaflets placed on our stateroom mail rack. For us who have registered through our credit card, all charges on board is billed directly to the credit card and the final itemized copy of our account is delivered to our stateroom before we disembark. Earlier we took advantage of speedier checking in at the airport and enjoy the hospitality lounge for VIP as well. This we do by paying extra service fee. Indeed it is well worth it because all our luggage are taken care of and we are even escorted to the green lane for customs and immigration clearances. All that accomplished, we are ready for our first leg to Amsterdam and thence home to complete our sixteen days vacation.

This has been our Vacation of the Year !