The ferry to Genua, with stop in Barcelona, was quite full, mainly Moroccan emigrants on their way back to Spain or Italy, many of them with the entire family. Some Spanish and Italian families, the occasional German, Swiss or French couple mainly with mobile homes, approx 40 motorcycles (40 men and 1 woman on the backseat) and one bicycle, special enough that it was topic of discussion amongst the crew.... The ferry was built more like a cruiseship, but many of the special features were no longer available or adapted, e.g. a prayer room in the former children play area. The atmosphere was quite lively, Marrocan men sitting on the back-deck around the (waterless) pool smoking and playing cards, children running around and playing, air mattresses or other kinds of improvised bedding in all the hallways and corners, (the costs of a cabin are approx 200 €) the experts had occupied their spaces minutes after boarding. We enjoyed our cabin with large bathroom without smoke detector, so we could cook on our gas stove in the bathroom. Luckily the ferry accumulated 5 hours delay so that we arrived at 8 am instead of the originally planned 3 am.
In Genua we got a museum pass and after a nice cup of Italian coffee, spent the day looking at Palazzos, Cathedral, and understanding the origins of the Saint Johns order in one of their former hostel/hospitals (Johanniter und Maltheser), which connects well to our Camino to Santiago experience. We took the cable car up the Righi to enjoy the view, including the broken autobahnbridge and spent considerable time searching to buy food for the next boat ride.
The ferry to Palermo had a totally different atmosphere, even bigger and grander, adding sun decks, cinema and playground to an even larger (empty) pool and several cafes and restaurants. But there were mainly single middle aged men travelling, clearly for work, the occasional couple, our age and older and a handful of families, difficult to find on the huge ship. Quite a few dogs, pets seem to be a good reason to take a ferry rather than an airplane. When the film session started (Alice in Wunderland, in Italian language), I had a quick look at the audience and it was a fair representation of the overall passengers: mainly middle aged men on business, one family with children and a couple of couples....
When we finally got back on land in Palermo it took us both a couple of hours to feel on firm ground again, we still had the impression of swaying floors.
Prayer Room in the former "Aladdine" children space
Pop-up café on the MS "Excellent"
Waiting for embarkment in Tangier Med