After squeezing in as much of Rome as we could in our short time we are now headed to the port to board the Azamara Pursuit.  The port for Rome is in Civiavecchia which is about an hour away.  If you take a Mediterranean cruise that doesn't start in Rome but says it stops in Rome this is the port you will be in so keep that in mind when planning your day.   Since we are on a smaller ship we will be visiting some ports that the big ships won't do on a typical Mediterranean cruise.  I love the idea of visiting the smaller less busy ports, especially after spending a couple days in crowded and busy Rome. 
 Last night Daylight Savings ending here in Europe, which is a week earlier than back home in the US so now I am 5 hours ahead instead of 6.   It also means that now sunset is around 5 pm which is a bit of a bummer.   When we got up this morning it was rainy and windy.   We realized we were lucky that we had such nice weather for our 3 days of walking around.   On the ride to the port the weather seemed to get a little worse with the winds picking up along with some thunder.    When we arrived at the port it was easy to see that that seas were very rough as the waves were crashing over the seawalls around the port.   The boarding process was quick and easy, another plus of sailing on a smaller ship.   We explored the ship, which has only been sailing for about 3 months since coming out of drydock so it still had that just like new smell.   I really love everything about this ship.   She isn't too big but not too small either.   She seems brand new with a modern sleek style.   There were a few other ships in port with us.   The MSC Meraviglia was right in front of us and she is a mega ship so you really got a feel for how small the Pursuit is in comparison.   
   The weather was still pretty rough when we went to the muster drill and luckily since this is a smaller ship the muster locations are inside in either the theater or dining room.  I have been on many cruises where weather has caused adjustments to our itinerary but this was a first to find out that our ship would not be leaving port today due to the weather.   That obviously meant we were going to miss our first port of Olbia, Sardinia.  It is always disappointing to miss a port but that is something you do always have to be prepared for when cruising.  Since this cruise only had 1 sea day originally and it wasn't until the end of the cruise I am OK with a rest day to recover from all the exploring we did in Rome.  It will be nice to sleep in and just enjoy the ship.   The Captain said the plan is to leave port at 9 pm tomorrow so that is a long time to wait out the storm.   For anyone that didn't arrive early for the cruise they might be happy to have a whole day to go visit Rome.   I am thinking if the weather isn't too bad maybe we will get off the ship and wander around the port area which is in a city dating back to the 2nd century.