What a crazy morning! Everything was going great, we were all on schedule to catch a train at 10:58 until 1 tiny event created a ripple effect… as we locked the door of the airbnb and started walking to the car, Ayva realized she forgot her water bottle inside!
A perfectly planned morning started spinning off the rails. I still had internet, so I texted the owner and he said he could be here in 10 minutes. No problem, just 10 minutes behind…
Then we saw the gas station and remembered we had to fill up! Another 5 minutes gone….
Then we arrived at the budget location to return our vehicle and apparently it was permanently closed! The attendants told us no car rental here, and suggested we phone the number provided. Great!!! We have no internet, no phone, a car to return, and 15 minutes until the train leaves. Tavis ran inside and was told where the closest car rental was.
That is when we had to come clean. It wasn’t how we planned to tell the kids but I believe the exact words were “We are not actually catching a train, we are going on a cruise ship. Get out and grab your bag. Addison go with Dad to return the car”. To fully understand the emotions… Tavis and I were arguing, Ayva was crying, and Ari and Addison were trying to figure out what we could possibly do to fix the situation. Yay! Not the greatest parenting moment????. We took the bags out of the car as quick as possible. Tavis and Addison drove off, while the rest of us stayed behind with the luggage.
It took about 5-10 minutes for the kids to process what had just happened. They were in shock and thought for sure we had lost our marbles. I had to show them the itinerary and confirm several times that we were not catching a train, and the ship behind us was our mode of transportation to Greece. Then I spent the next 5 minutes apologizing for all the lies, and they were recalling all the clues that led up to that moment. I explained that we have kept this a secret from everyone, not just them, for over 7 months. (I would like to point out this was NOT an easy secret to keep! Tavis and I decided that in order to keep it from the kids we couldn’t tell anyone.)
Our boarding time was between 11:00-12:00 and we we already in line by 11:30. It took some time to go through customs and security but we were on the ship by 1:00. The kids have their own room at the front of the ship. Tavis and I are a floor above at the back????. We unpacked our luggage and moved into our room. Then we all met for lunch in the buffet. We tried to leave the ship and spend more time in Trieste, but apparently you are not allowed to leave the ship once you have boarded. It was a bit disappointing but we got to spend the rest of the day familiarizing ourselves with this huge ship. Our phones are all connected to the ship’s free wifi and somehow, we are all able to send and receive texts. This is great because we let everyone do their own thing and when we want to meet up with them we send a group chat and everybody appears.
Our ship left port at 7:30pm. We are spending the next 9 days on MSC Splendida. We have 6 ports of call and will be visiting Greece, Turkey, and Italy. After 6 days of steadily moving, we can finally slow down and relax while we cruise to each destination.