Euro Trip Mini Blog 7

It's only money.

That is what my parents tell me and that is what I'm going with!

We had quite the (you guessed it) adventure getting from Rome to Barcelona. 

After killing our legs for two days, walking the city of Rome, seeing everything and anything we could in the short time we had, we ran (all joking aside) with our packs to make the train we had to make to get to the ferry on time in Civitavecchia, Italy. 

When we got to the platform (platform 27 - of course the very last and furthest one there is) we were dripping with sweat, red and out of breath. The train we were supposed to take had broken doors so it was still sitting there. Yes! We were then told it would be delayed even more. Drat! Then, come to find out the train next to us that left two minutes after we got there, went to the same place. We could have been on it. Instead, we jumped on the next available train and arrived 15 minutes later than it was scheduled to. 

Per the phone conversation with two employees from the ferry company, the one that had us running in the first place, we had to arrive at least 2 hours before the ferry in order to book the €160 private room and get the Eurail discount. 

The ferry was scheduled to leave at 10:15pm. We arrived at 9:00pm and had to run, again, with our packs, over a kilometer to have any chance in even getting on the ferry, nonetheless booking a room.

Again we arrived out of breath, red and dripping sweat. But, much to our surprise we were still able to book a room, although, that wasn't the only surprise. A private room would now cost us €370 each. A shared, 4-bed room would cost us €135 each and we would have to sleep in separate rooms because they are booked based on gender. 

We told the woman at the window that we spoke to someone on the phone and saw prices online, which both resulted in different information. She told us our Eurail passes weren't valid at the ticket office and the only way to book with the Eurai is to do so at a place in Rome or another city, even though the ferry leaves from Civitavecchia. She simply didn't care. So we booked separate rooms and headed on the ship for our first ever, surprise, double-what-we-thought-it-was, cruise. 

When we got on the ship we decided to talk to the women working reception there. We told them what we had gone through to see if we could get an upgrade and they informed us that a private room is actually only €100 more than what we paid for our separate rooms and that none of the rooms even come close to €370 each. 

Basically - no one knew what they were talking about. 

End result? We upgraded and €400 later we enjoyed the most overpriced, ill-serviced, mini-cruise from Italy to Spain there is. We had to pay €5 for 30 min of wifi, got to sit next to a pool the size of a queen-sized bed and pay €6 for a vodka orange juice (but with a day like that - you don't say no to a drink)! 

Oh and did I mention the private room we paid €100 extra to upgrade to was actually a 4-bed dorm that was simply made no longer available to the public? That's right - 4 beds, two down, two up, a toilet and a shower. It was cramped with just the two of us so I can't even imagine it with 4. 

The plane tickets we were told of earlier that would cost €140 each to go directly from Rome to Barcelona started to sound pretty damn good at that point. We chose the "lower-priced cruise" because we thought it would be something new, fun and half the price of two plane tickets. Little did we know.. 

Albeit, we made the best of it and got to Spain safely. After all, it is only money, right? 

On the agenda for tomorrow: Spanish sight seeing, costal kayaking, cave snorkeling, and eating our weight in Spanish food! If we can't make a proper  entrance, you best believe we will make a proper exit! 

Spain, watch out! 

Xoxo

Photo above: waves behind our ship.

Photo above: smiling through it in the hallway of the cruise ship!

(Camera added some weird green thing to my face - that's not me, promise)! Haha