erby2283

It's so disappointing they don't go to Venice anymore isn't it? (I understand their arguments just saying it's disappointing). When my mom died in 2017, I planned my first ever Mediterranean cruise and trip overseas because I decided life was too short to wait. Boy am I glad I did! I was away for 19 days, had an overnight cruise stop in Venice, and packed in so many different countries it was amazing. Then Covid hit - so I am forever grateful I took the plunge to go when I did.

Hello! We flew to Lisbon for three days following our cruise in Barcelona. Have you thought about possibly booking through VRBO or another type of vacation rental company? We found a fabulous one bedroom apt right on Rua Augusta and the cost was around $530 USD for all three nights. Just a thought. 🙂

In my case, it's just true. 😂

When I sailed on Anthem in Oct 2016, one of our ports we were supposed to go to Bermuda and found a letter in our stateroom upon arrival that our stop there was cancelled. I think they just gave us longer time in another port (but it was so long ago, I don't remember exactly).

Awww. They do look alike. She is beautiful. Sadly my baby passed in 2016 after getting his 4th cancer but I cantbear to change my picture. Then I got him tattooed on me so I still see him every day.

I got it on Amazon as well. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z2AKO3G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Can you please adopt me? I can only cruise about once every 3-4 years and have only been overseas once. I am so jealous!

So if I enjoy hot weather, you don't think September would be too cool for me to do a Turkey/Greece trip? I keep checking the temps now and it's like high 70's low 80's during the days depending on the county (Haifa, Santorini, Crete).

When we went to Barcelona in 2019 we arrived around 8 am and went to the hotel - they had lockers to store our luggage until check-in. We just walked around taking in the sights of the city. We even took a boat ride, got some lunch, walked though the gothic section, took a ton of pictures...before I knew it, it was time to check in. Got unpacked (we also had 2 days prior to cruise), enjoyed the balcony of our hotel for a bit, walked around a bit more looking for a dinner spot (most seemed to offer the same thing on our section of Las Ramblas) and by 8 pm local time we were wiped out! We had a tour scheduled to pick us up early the next morning - but going to bed early got us on schedule for the rest of the trip. Wish I could say the same for returning to the states. After 19 days in Europe it took me a good 2 weeks to get back to our time zone....uuuggghhhhh.

We did Spain Day Tours - Montserrat and City Tour. We had shortened time at Montserrat but was adequate for us. Then, we booked Sagrada Familia for the morning of embarkation because I always have the itch to board WAY too early and I figured it would be a nice distraction to spend the morning there and then board in the early afternoon. Even in August Sagrada Familia was blazing hot and muggy but 10 am and my bf wanted out of there ASAP so it was a little disappointing for me bc I would have liked more time there. Maybe this could be an option for you. 🙂 Also agree with Hank - pickpockets are always watching you. I bought a really good over the should Travelon purse that has these anti-theft zippered pockets. Made me feel much more secure. https://www.amazon.com/Travelon-Anti-Theft-Classic-Crossbody-Black/dp/B01EAFEEN4/ref=sr_1_6?crid=27S0DYV8ZMRPS&keywords=over+the+shoulder+purse+with+lock&qid=1663691737&sprefix=over+the+should+purse+with+lock%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-6 Also bought something for my bf to carry his stuff in rather than his wallet - it connects to his belt loops but then hangs down inside the pants rather than out. You can never be too careful. Have a wonderful trip....and take me with you. 🙂

We had to purchase a Skip the Line ticket for the Colosseum for a tour we were taking. It was sold out - so we had to get a ticket that had an accompanying audio - basically any ticket with a certain time slot. However, it was the security line that took forever when we got there. It was insane - although it was August. It limited our time to around 15-20 minutes by the time we got inside. I was sad I didn't get more time.

We docked in Livorno and it was about 1.5 hours. If I remember correctly they showed a brief video in the van (on Italy). There were only 6 of us on this tour and we made fast friends on this tour. We still talk today three years later. If you stop in Pisa on the way home, it kind of breaks up the ride back a bit. I think we all slept on the way to Pisa...lol.

When we were there in 2019, we had time to eat a relaxed lunch and shop for a good hour or so. However, we were there on a Monday and Accademia in Florence is closed on Monday's - not sure if that contributed to the extra time because it's normally part of the tour.