Day 5 - Mediterranean Cruise - France

 Or rather NOT France.

We arrived in Marseille at 7am Monday, but didn't go into the port.  We found out that the dock workers were on strike and there were protesters in port blocking things for political reasons.

So the passengers waiting to get off the ship were sitting in all the atriums grumpy with their luggage all day.  AND the passengers on land, trying to get ON the ship, weren't able to.   The captain came on the speakers every hour or so and gave us updates in 4-5 different languages each time.  He was trying to work something out with the government of France to let us dock but nothing came of it.

He announced that he wrote a "sternly" worded letter to them and we kept thinking and doing the math in our heads.  "If we land now, it'll take an hour to get off the ship with these crowds, an hour to walk around and then another hour to get back onboard..."  hmmm  Then we dropped each of the times in half with each disappointing announcement until it just wasn't worth it.

So the 4 of us spent the day exploring the ship.  

Being that it was chill and winter out, only very brave people attempted the outdoor hot tubs and the pools were not open.  So we found an open table on the deck and talked, sharing photos we'd taken so far.

Over in the corner of the deck, we noticed about 30 kids, found out later they were 15ish yo students from Rome on a class trip.  They were playing ping pong and accidentally hit the ball way base towards the tables.  A man in a blue jacket was sitting at one nearby and grabbed the ball as it rolled past him. He promptly tucked it in his pocket and refused to give it back.

The kids swarmed around him asking for it and he sat there with his girlfriend/wife all smug and ignored them.  Then he got up and left the deck.  The kids were amazed at his audacity and looked around for help.

THIS is where we came in.  They noticed us watching and came over to see if we could help.  Since Ruth Ann and I had been studying Italian, we caught a bit of what they were asking.  We were stumbling on one word so one girl finally whipped out her cell phone and her translation app. 

AHA!  Chiesto - You already asked for a new ball!  Got it!

Well, they won't refuse two determined grown up women!!!

So Ruth Ann and I went into Mommy mode and said, "WE'LL take care of it!" and we headed out the door to the Savannah bar where the extra balls were.  We got that part translated just fine!

As we walked out, a few of the kids called out after us "We LOVE you!" in English! lol!  Well, we don't have the extra ping pong balls yet, so hold your applause.

After much searching, we finally tracked down the girl guarding all the various types of balls.  She was only instructed to give us ONE ball!  I asked for another pretending not to be with Ruth Ann, but she said, "ONE ball!" and pointed at Ruth Ann.  Yikes!  Okey dokey then!  

The kids were grateful for the ball and swarmed back around the ping pong tables.  We saw them around the ship during the next few days.  And we saw the blue jacket guy at breakfast each day!  What a jerk.

Well, it turned out that we were NOT going to land in Marseille France after all.  We felt the ship start moving around 8pm that night and only afterward 30 minutes or so, the captain made the announcement that we were heading to the next port, Genoa, Italy.  The people with their luggage were given there rooms back and the people on shore were bussed to Italy.  If you were on the FB group for this ship, there were grumblers!!  Which I don't blame them!  I'm sure they missed their flights or work.

Everyone, including us, received $100 each toward onboard credit toward our bills or purchases in the gift shop which was rarely open, but I took advantage of it when it was and got more souvenirs! :)

And poor Teresa and Ken!  This was their 2nd attempt to land in Marseille!!  So they STILL haven't been to France.  The last cruise they were on here, they couldn't land because of high winds so the cruise line took them to Monaco for the day instead.

Third time will be a charm!

End Day 5.