AllRightJack

22 hours ago, Scottishclover said:

I hope you enjoyed the cruise as much as we did. We’ve been discussing the Arctic Circle Cruise this morning. Prices have went up since I started this review😭 We may go back to our usual hiking holidays in the Austrian Alps. Saying that for 2 weeks in a similar standard of hotel as The Beyond, there is not much of a difference in price. Prices for hotels everywhere have really skyrocketed recently. 

Thank you @Scottishclover. We must have so much in common. I also enjoy hiking in Austria. I particularly like saalbach-hinterglemm and Neustift. My youngest daughter goes off to University soon, so not sure how much longer she will come on holiday. Might be more affordable then😀! I’m sure our paths will cross in future. DH is a lucky man.

On 8/3/2023 at 12:46 PM, Scottishclover said:

MESSINA, SICILY

 

What did we do?

Celebrity Shore Excursion “In the Footsteps of the Godfather”. When we booked it ages ago it was reasonably priced. 

What did others do?

Taormina was very popular, Mount Etna Tour also. 

Need to Know

The ship docks very near the centre.10 mins walk to the cathedral. On leaving Messina it’s a great sail through the Straits of Messina and you will  also see the active volcano Stromboli.

 

New day, new port. That’s what is very special about cruising, waking up in a new place each day. When researching this port, I realised that we would probably need to get out of Messina and asked my sister for advice. She had done a big Sicily road trip last October. My options were Taormina or Godfather Tour. The Godfather tour was a resounding yes from her. She had been to Taormina and said it was so crowded and we would like the mountain towns much better. How right she was. 
 

Our tour lasted from around 8:30- 2:30pm. It took you to two mountain top towns where scenes were filmed. You actually didn’t need to have watched the Godfather films to appreciate the beautiful scenery. DH and I have seen the films but the DDs hadn’t. 
 

After about an hour on the bus, we stopped at the first village, Forza d’Agro.The journey there was quite hair raising! It reminded me of some of the roads on our favourite holiday island of Madeira. 

The bus driver coped well with all the hairpin bends. 

Forza d,Agro was so genuine and completely untouched by tourism.

 

2 different churches were used in filming the scenes for Michael and Apollonius’s wedding. This was one used for inside filming. 

I thought the skull under Jesus was interesting. I’ve never seen that before. 
 

The sleepy main square. 
 

An espresso here cost €1. That was more like it. 
 

There were lovely views of the Sicilian coastline and our guide pointed out Mount Etna across the hazy sky. 
 

After some free time to wander, we got back on the bus for a 40 min drive to Savoca. Here we got an included lemon granita ( so refreshing) with what I can only describe as a giant breadstick to dip in it. Then we had a short walking tour with our guide up to the church followed by some free time for a look around on our own. 

We walked altogether from the main square up to the church perched on the cliff. As it was so hot, we took our time. 

 

The exterior of this church was used for the wedding scene. 

You could get this little tuk-tuk up to the church instead of walking.

DD1 admiring the views. It was so pretty in every direction. 
 

The famous Bar Vitelli had a room inside with lots of photos from the filming. 

A sculpture to honour Francis Ford Coppola.

 

We thought the tour was brilliant. The guide was lovely and gave the right amount of information. If you were really into the Godfather, you might have liked more information about that but I thought the information about the actual mafia activities in Sicily was more interesting. It’s all about corruption of government organisations these days. 
 

Back at the port, we decided we might as well see what Messina was like. We found most of the cafes and shops closed. I wondered if they had a siesta time here due to the heat? We couldn’t even find a gelateria open😭 Maybe we were looking in the wrong place but everywhere seemed to be deserted. Even the Cathedral Square was quiet.

Messina Cathedral

 

Sailing through the Straits of Messina was an added bonus. You are very close to land on both sides. On sea day 2 we passed through and it was a little rocky but it was much calmer heading north this time. We managed to be in the right place at the right time ( Sunset Bar) to see Stromboli at its best.

Stromboli is active at the moment.

This was the daytime view of Stromboli taken on sea day 2.

 

Sicily Verdict

Be prepared for it to be hot. This was the first day I heard people complaining about the extreme heat. I would definitely recommend the Godfather tour. It gave you a great sense of the true Sicily. I think you need to do a tour here as Messina doesn’t have a great deal to offer. We absolutely loved our day here and would love to come back to Sicily for a longer holiday. 

I’m new to cruise critic but have been following your blog with real interest. I was also on the Beyond at the same time and it’s so interesting to read your thoughts on the experience. Wonderful pictures. Do you think you will cruise the Artic Circle next year after cruising two years in succession? DH can’t be so mean if he signs off on three cruises in a row😀