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AS this morning from 10-10:30 I got one ride, MW from 10:30 to 11:30 again one ride. Probably the last surfing on this definite non unicorn cruise. There were at least 30 people in the MW/boogie boarding session. I said goodbye to as many of the sports staff that I could find. Tomorrow Kotor, then Split we will visit the next day. I had to give guest relations our passports since we have never been stamped entering the EU. The clueless lady a guest services didn’t seem to understand what we were doing, so, we have a receipt for our passports, but not sure when we get them back. jc

Hi LB I just downloaded the X app and it now shows me Elite plus on the app and elite on the X website. Typical RCI IT department

The beach in Mythos bay is now on my must do things before I die list. I will post pictures later of the beach from way up on the cliff road. Beautiful JC

I like traveling to Greece, but we had not been to Agrostoli (celphalania) or to Chaina (Crete) before. I really liked both islands way more than Santorini or Mykonos or even Rhodes. I really want to come back and visit these places on a land trip. They are so much less over crowded and more beautiful (IMHO and YMMV). Sitting in the little harbor at Fiskardo, and looking at the Lagoon catamaran, failing at backing in to the harbor it a spot about 1 foot too small for it, and my yearning to do a charter was pretty high too. Although, it was a laugh watching them try to wedge it in, with boats on both side loading fenders which of course makes the hole smaller. There is no chance the lovely Krystal will let me fulfill that fantasy though. No surfing yesterday since Advanced was later as well as my excursion later, they really needed to switch those around. When we returned to the ship it was pretty late, and they had the boogie, then mixed then AS starting at our dinner time. Today could easily be my last surfing day. AS at 10AM for 30 whole minutes then 90 minute mixed wave. Haven’t looked at the afternoon schedule, but trends indicate it is not optimal. 🤣 We have tours tomorrow in Kotor and again the next day in Split. Then the whole flying home thing kicks in. K, bought at dress at Fiskardo and wore it to dinner. Ciao jc

Mine is not, just checked, although it shows me with an inexplicable number of Captain’s Clubs points. It shows I have 153 points. I did 2 X cruises last one was in 2000. My memory was that the conversion was 30 points per cruise ie I should have 60 points. I just applied for the Silverseas (doubt I will sail with them but who knows) and got this reply. Loyalty Status Match Enrollment Form We received your request and are verifying your loyalty information. You will receive an email within 7 days once your Loyalty Status Match is complete and in effect. Thank you for taking advantage of the loyalty status match program across Royal Caribbean®, Celebrity Cruises®, and Silversea®. When I clicked the email link it showed my RCI and X linked already. I do have an X cruise booked in 2025 from Sydney to Hawaii, and since I am a lowly D+ I am still stuck with the basic drink package. I am assuming I can get that any time of the day, along with free elite plus drinks 5-7? The X world is mass confusing to me, since I am so aware of RCI habits. jc

Totally agree, although if it follows AS and is followed by Boogie it is not horrible, but the other way around it is a complete cluster. Example yesterday. Show up at 4:50PM for 5PM mixed wave. There is a dozen plus people in line and then some not actually in line, but in line with their spouse (hard to tell when you show up). So it is hard to figure out for both the sports staff and those in line the actual count. So mixed wave starts, and most are trying to get the blue band. Because most of them can’t surf, they fail instantly on their two tries, but because the staff wants a 10 on the survey they give them each 3 tries and not 2. Which means when AS starts at 6pm for 30 minutes, the last of the triers is on the wave at 6:11PM. Which means I was the last on the wave at 6:29PM doing a 3 minute ride. I got in 5 rides with just 3 of us in line for the last 18 minutes. That is evil. Something weird on this cruise. All of the bar staff have moved around. So my favorite bartenders are at bars I don’t go to. Which sucks. Plus on the 15 night, they never gave me a ticket for the diamond drinks. They started to at the end of the 11 night, and now they give me one for every drink. For example, I had no drinks used on my card, so I got a glass of Gran Marnier with 5 shots at the bar at deck 4. No problem except, I also got 5 tickets to sign and to tip on. They have always had to run the card each time separately for each drink, but 5 tickets is nuts. Whomever is their process guru is a complete idiot. The patrons are waiting for an extra minute or two while the staff slides card punches multiple screens and tabs on screens 5 times, when they should easily be able to change from 1 to 5. Not a problem if you are the only one there but when I am doing it, there are usually 5 people standing there all of them wanting a drink. I think giving the tickets increases the tips (i know it does for me, as I don’t carry money around, I give my favorites a 20 at some point and now I don’t even know where they are). That is all the bean counters care about, because who knows if those $ tips on the sheets ever get in the bartenders hands. I bet the $ bills do. Today we have the best of Cephalonia tour. No AS until 9AM which is when we are to meet our tour in the theatre. JMHO and YMMV jc

So, we didn’t get off the ship in Mykonos part two. They had no surfing at all in the morning, and Advanced stand-up for 9PM. There is no way I am sober or awake enough to surf at 9PM. I went up when boogie board was almost over and mixed wave starting around 6PM and the line was 20 deep. I turned around and headed back to the cabin. Last of our 6 BOGO nights in Giovanni’s last night. It is good, but definitely not worth full price. My steak was medium when I ordered medium rare. So, tonight back to the MDR. Giovani’s has been like a ghost town most nights. We did a tour today to Kournas Lake, Arkadi Monastery and Rethymnon old town. It departed at 7:30AM, another reason for no 9pm stand-up!😜 The tour was pretty straight forward, went to the largest fresh water lake, I didn’t know they had mountains with snow on Crete. Then the monastery, and finally the town for shopping and lunch on our own. Lots of bus time, but we really liked Crete, would happily spend some time there. This afternoon, they have mixed wave for an hour at 5PM and AS for 30 minutes at 6PM. I guess I will try to see what happens at 5:30PM. Tonight is formal night. jc

Short update, Mykonos was cold and windy. 60s with 30 mph winds most of the day. Did 8AM stand-up for an hour in my wet suit. Just me and staff for the hour. We originally had a Viator tour booked but cancelled on the advice of the Pins saying that there wasn’t that much to see that you couldn’t just do on your own. So, we went to town on the water taxi 2 euro pp each way. Shopping was exactly like everywhere else, except the purses said, Mykonos instead of Santorini, Rhodes etc. The little streets were crowded. We eventually worked thru the old town and got to the historic windmills took some shots and returned to the tender line beating the big rush to get back to the ship. Pretty uneventful. Krystal doesn’t want to go ashore again today as we return to Mykonos. Yesterday was Piraeus (Athens) we walked into town after getting our new sea pass cards, about 12,000 steps round trip. It was a bit better than we expected. I put the Zara store near the city center in my map, and we shopped along the way, but didn’t buy anything. The Zara store apparently was scheduled to open on May 19, 2024 according to the shop window, but they missed that deadline. So no Zara. After we found a little grocery store and bought our two bottles of wine got back in time for lunch in the MDR. Turns out B2B cruisers get the Key Lunch on deck 3. Which confused the man with the list of key people for a second since we were not on his Key list. After lunch, I went up to the FlowRider expecting a crowd. It was about 1:15PM about 15 minutes after the mixed wave started. I was about 10th in line, that has not happened one time in the previous 26 days. All but one of those had a blue band. Another first had happened. I am guessing that there will be 20+ blue bands on this sailing. I made about 3 runs before the real line started, and went back to the cabin, to watch the Indy 500 a day late. Apparently, my local NBC affiliate dumped the race about half way in to go to wall to wall coverage of local thunderstorms and potential tornados. Which did not make me happy. So, I had to switch to Peacock, since I don’t have the premium package, every so often I had to watch some silly ad for a minute. Continued the race after dinner in Giovanni’s made it to the Will Power crash before turning it off. Went to the crown lounge for a coffee this morning, and just now finished the race, and now updating you on the cruise. Congrats to Joseph Newgarden, h*ll of a pass. I, also watched the Monaco GP prior to the 500 and it was a snooze fest. I love the history, but it is not really a race track, just a qualifying track which is spectacular to watch. Anyway ciao till later jc

It got warmer quick was 73 by 9:30am

It is 66 putting on wetsuit

So, it was very warm in Ephesus yesterday. That said in port for surfing, I wore my 2mm jacket, top only. It was 70F. It was just me on the wave along with staff, Bradley and Anna. Bradley surfed and tried my board. Anna didn’t want to get cold and wet, although about 9 she finally surfed and promptly fell and got wet.🤣 Went to WJ after had an omelet, nice with no crowd. Then we wandered into town. I had forgotten somewhat how pushy the vendors are. Beautiful wife needs a fur coat, real fake watch, purse (fake), scarf, and so on. Every shop every block. We finally found a pharmacy, and we bought some (real) Nivea face wipes. Back thru the vendor gauntlet. Freshen up and head to the pier again to meet our guide Cetin. We had a private Mercedes Van. He begins to tell me the history of Ephesus with details that were a bit hard to understand thru his not perfect English (not bad just a bit hard to understand at times). Took us first to the river that used to take ships to the port at Ephesus, then back on the main road to a rug shop supported / operated by the Turkish government according to the rug sales guy. I had forgotten, too, how every tour leads to a rug shop. Even though my mother bought one the last time we were here in 2000. We had lunch prior to the rug demos, it was included. Chicken kebabs, bread, 3 dipping sauces, water, meat balls and salad. It was not good or bad, but sort of food. I am pretty sure that the last thing in the world I need is a $30,000 silk Turkish rug. That said, some of them are beautiful. We watched them take silk off the cocoon, watched a few knots on the loom and then watched dozens of giant rugs rolled out for us. We were told about the investment qualities of the rugs. The free shipping, etc. We never talked individual pricing, but if you really want to buy a rug, I would think hours of negotiation would be in order. After I asked the guide what percentage of people who go to the rug shop actually buy a rug and he said, 50-60%. I am such a loser. No rug.😂 After we went to Ephesus, where I spent 80 euro for K and I to enter, the private tour was $119 for both. I am not going to bore you with descriptions of a place you either already know about or don’t care about. It is an amazing ruin. He made all of the same jokes I remember from 24 years ago, about Elvis, and Elton John. It was very sunny at this point of the day and Krystal was melting in the heat. So, we didn’t spend as much time as he intended at the sight. The bathroom facilities in 2000 were a disaster at Ephesus. That has been resolved and they are quite nice now. After we headed to Sirince village, and since we were not interested in shopping or having Turkish Coffee or fruit wine, we didn’t stay too long. I think our guide was worried we weren’t happy, but really, after 20 plus days of seeing this stuff and doing this kind of shopping and drinking, we really just wanted to see it all and not do more. It is 7AM and I am going to go to the 8AM AS and following Mixed wave then we will see about the challenge of getting a tender and up the cable car into Oia Santorini, Greece. Ciao jc

O, I am way behind. Dale won. Tom didn’t compete, there were a couple of “kids” (anyone under 40) who had just gotten their blue bands one could do a show pony, but they wiped out multiple times (as expected). 70s party after we got back to the room for her to dress for the party, she has been struggling with allergies and she bailed on her favorite cruise activity. On the upside, we went to bed early! Yesterday was Rhodes, I had forgotten we had been here 24 years ago on the Celebrity Millenium. We did a tour which mostly consisted of going to Lindos where some climbed to the fort and the acropolis, we found a restaurant with a view of it and had a glass of wine and lunch. Our tour was thru Viator, and it was well run. The “kids” who went to the fort and acropolis were struggling to get lunch in as well and were a little beyond the 2 hours allotted, but to their credit they got take away lunch and ran up the hill to the bus. It was very windy in port, but in Lindos there was no wind as it is sheltered and it was very warm over 30C or 86F. After the stop there (which is quite nice) we headed back to the medieval city next to the port. And had a typical wine tasting at a little restaurant. The wines were forgettable (I need to learn to avoid these things), but we had a nice chat with fellow cruisers. After we wandered around looking at the Chinese made clothing for 15 euros and the maybe actual Greek clothing for 150 euros. We didn’t buy anything. Back on the ship I got dressed for the FlowRider, joined Dale and a “kid” with his wife and baby who were doing boogie board were the only ones there. The “kid” then tried stand-up at the last moment and got a blue band with only minimal coaching from Dale and I. After he got the blue band I explained that is now advanced stand-up and he could stay. His wife was not having that and off they went. Pretty sure I will not see them again. 🤣 Dale and I continued for about 30 minutes as we sailed from the harbor, I explained to Dale that the Collosus (spelling?) was only mythically believed to span the harbor, in reality it was most likely in the city by the harbor according to historical records, he kept telling me where its feet were located. 😜 Who knows for sure what happened millennia ago. The winds were ripping and when the ship turned into them, I was on the wave, and at the top as I threw water, I was getting it like I was in a car wash, and it made me cold quickly. Once Dale and I realized that the ships heading was going to continue in that direction, I bailed and he quickly followed suit. Dinner was the formal night, and instead of lobster it was grilled “jumbo” prawns on top of mashed potatoes. I had the NY Strip (medium rare) escargot, Caesar, and shrimp cocktail with baked Alaska. It was fine. After dinner and a chat with Kay (pin) and Kathy (who have been with us since Galveston) we learned about their adventure the previous port in Medina, Malta, where they were in a carriage and the carriage ran over a lady by accident. It sounded quite gruesome, and clearly traumatized the two sweet ladies. Just a reminder that bad things can happen is wonderful places. We headed to bed. Today we are in Kusadasi, we have a 12:30 tour thru Viator to visit Ephesus and Sirence Village and a temple there. I am off to the 8AM 30 minute AS and probably the 90 minute mixed wave to follow. Ciao jc

I try my best to keep hydrated, and there are few drinks that make me feel more like summer than the two we have been drinking. I like them because they are refreshing and not high in alcohol which is good when you are in foreign lands and need to keep your wits. jc

From the Sandro web page. It is still in the fancy shopping bag in the cabin. We did the War History of Malta tour thru RCI, a lady in our group got locked into a bathroom for about 45 minutes, and it took a man with a large pry bar to get her out. That put us behind schedule, so when we got back to the ship after the stop at the Mostra Dome basilica we decided to not walk around and got back on the ship, partly because we were not sure of the sail away time. So, I surfed for the last 2 hours in the mixed wave and the AS sessions. We would have had plenty of time it turns out as we didn't pull away until almost 6:30PM. Valleta's grand harbor is one of the neatest ports to sail into or out of in my opinion. I watched it from the wave. Today is the last sea day as we are on the Ionic Sea. It is hazy again, and around 70PM. They didn't have an AS session this morning and a short mixed wave. So, I lazed in the cabin. We have been having toilet issues, for the second day. So, that has been a bit of a pain. We left yesterday on our tour with an over flowing toilet, fortunately we are on deck 12 and there are public restrooms very close by. Still, not awesome. Tried to eat at the WJ for lunch, I stood in the stir fry line for 30 minutes before I gave up. The process needs work, it is the best reason for lunch in the WJ. So, I grabbed some stuff, slammed it down, got a ice cream cone on the pool deck and finished it in Studio B to watch the first performance of the Ice show with the new cast that joined us in Galveston, but performed it for the first time today. I think this cast is better than the previous cast, but they could have been burned out while this one is new. I am not all that knowledgeable about this matter. However, the Ice show is in my opinion the best show on the ship, way better than the productions shows. I plan on surfing at 4 ish today until 6PM. At 6PM it is the best of the best. I assume Dale will win again, unless Tom competes, they are the only people on this sailing that do tricks. I am not entering because being the best carver doesn't count. 😆 I am definitely the oldest again, that also doesn't count. There is another comedian / magician tonight we plan on attending at 7:30PM. Tonight is our second 70s party, so K is happy. Deme from the sports staff, who is married to one of the ice cast danced last time and he seemed a bit out of his element. We will see if he improves. Bradley from South Africa dances as well, but he seems to fit the role better. Hopefully Dale won't steal the rings I gathered from the cast from me again. jc

Yesterday, we did a tour with RCI, which could have been a great tour if we could have skipped the bus portion. We left in a bus from the harbor in Naples to Sorrento. We could have taken a ferry from Naples to Sorrento. We had about 2-1/2 hours in Sorrento, where we repeated our Roman lunch at the Fauno Bar. It was a bit more expensive and the pizza and salad were not nearly as good. However, the Aperol and Limoncello spritzes were great. 🤣 We walked the streets and looked at the shops, but since it was Sunday only the local trinket shops were open so we didn’t buy anything. After this stop we rejoined the bus for a 90 minute hot as HE double Hockey sticks ride to Salerno, again, we could easily have taken a ferry from Sorrento to Salerno. When we got to Salerno we finally got on a motor launch with about 4 or 5 bus loads of people and went to Amalfi about a 30 minute boat ride. The best part of the tour. We went past our villa from my favorite land trip in 2004 and could see so many familiar sites. I enjoyed that. When we got to Amalfi, we wandered thru the Main Street up the hill past the church with so many people that it was a little claustrophobic. We were to meet back at the drop point at 3:30PM and after a limoncello and lemon sorbet we did so. Unfortunately, two people of our 47 bus mates didn’t show up at 3:30PM nor at 3:45PM. I only know we had 47 originally because we counted twice😜. This is why I hate ship bus tours. Finally after we loaded on the boat short two people, I could hear our tour guide talking to them and something about chocolate. We finally departed Amalfi to head back to Salerno about 30 minutes late. Fortunately, our complaints about the hot bus were rewarded as the bus had sit with the AC running for some amount of time before we got back and it was almost comfortable for the last 75 minutes back to Naples. I do not understand why they don’t skip the buses. It would have been a perfect trip if the motor launch had picked us up or dropped us in either Naples or Salerno. Then bus to and back from one of those choices. We could have enjoyed a lot more of the Amalfi coast. I would happily pay more for that trip. Our ship was delayed departing because of our late return. I had only walked 14000 steps when I got to our cabin. Such a relaxing foot day!😂 We were tired and we had a couple of glasses of wine in the cabin, then ate in the WJ. The only thing I found that I liked was the Sweet and Sour Chicken, and there were dregs in the wok and they never replaced it. So, OB, my opinion of the WJ for dinner is not good. This morning I arrived for Advanced stand-up and there were 4 of us. So, had a good hour and 1 more run. We surfed with Stromboli in the background. Lovely! Lunch in the MDR was typical, and as we were leaving the ship leaned hard to port. We were entering the straits of Messina! So we rushed up to the decks and the winds were whipping the flags madly, and the railings of the ship were packed. Took some pictures then off to the cabin. I have been downloading photos, paying bills, and other housekeeping activities that I have neglected for a while. I am going to dress now for the FlowRider. It is still mixed wave for 45 minutes then an hour of advanced. ciao jc

Two days ago was Nice, which was very nice.🤣 Did an expensive tour for what it was thru RCI. Took a boat from the ship to Nice from Villefrance harbor. Got on a bus next to a small cruise ship and a bunch of mega yachts. This little harbor was prepping for Monaco GP next weekend, as they had shops selling all of the F1 team’s merch. I would have fancied a little time shopping there. We then took a bus to the main drop off area in Nice. When we returned at the end of the day, there was some ceremony with military and police, and the police did not want us to cross the street or do drop offs. I think it was an event associated with a former Israeli Prime Minister, as I recognized the face on the video screen in the park. After drop off, we went straight up the perpendicular street for shopping. We visited lots of stores and ate lunch at a small cafe. Had a completely amazing dessert at Ballanger. We ate a crepe with chocolate, strawberries, and bananas and we drank a crazy milk shake. That was about 18 euros. Yummy. We went into a large department store, and saw a shopping / beach person by a company called Sandro, but they didn’t have a price on the bag, so it didn’t get purchased. Krystal bought a somewhat similar but obviously much cheaper other purse at one of the little shops that specialized in shoes. After lunch we went up and down the main beach area old town streets, and after a couple of hours in that maze we went back to drop off area and were taken to the tender port in Villefrance where we waited for about 30 minutes to get on a tender to get back on the ship. We walked only about 15,000 steps in Nice. My feet were tired, after 4 straight days in port. I surfed for 30 minutes before going to Nice first thing in the morning. This cruise is not going to be the surfing unicorn that the last one was. Too many ports and too many people in line during mixed wave. Rome is always a great but exhausting place to visit. After we got out of the Termini train station we went directly to the Spanish Steps. When we arrived there, we were amazed at the number of tourists. Massive throngs of people everywhere. Yikes. Shops were opening, so we wandered down the steps to them.🤣 Since a lot of those shops are super stupid expensive and exclusive we mostly window shopped, although we did enter a few. On about the third loop of streets we found a Sandro store. We went in and bought the purse we had seen the day prior in Nice. Just under 400 euro. Ouch, but she liked it. Later we found a shop with a pair of Birkenstocks that she liked there went another 135 euros. We then walked to the Trevi Fountain, and that little piazza was jam packed full of people. It was insane. We had been to Rome on two different trips, and we had visited the Trevi fountain, multiple times from those trips. My pictures from 2000 and 2004 look like we were the only ones there comparatively. We then headed off to the Panthenon to find a place to eat. We stopped at a little restaurant in the corner of a tiny street. Ate a Fruiti Da Mare Pizza and an arugula mixed salad and both were wonderful. Krystal had a Limoncello Spritz and I an Aperol Spritz. Very yummy. After this and a visit to the aforementioned church/pagen monument we found a dress to buy. It was only about 60 euro. I am sure it will fall apart shortly, but it looked cute on her. We then walked to the Colliseum and past the Roman Forum, Arch of Triumph and other historical places, only to find massive crowds. Much of the road was blocked off, and it looked like they were preparing for a parade or something similar. Finally, we completed our circuit of Rome and arrived about 90 minutes before our return train. We had another Aperol and Limoncello Spritz before I decided to try to figure out which of the 29 tracks our train was going to be on. The boards only show about the next 30 minutes of departures, and our train didn’t declare a track until 15 minutes prior to our departure. That was a bit of a pain in the bottom and Krystal was worrying that I had been killed or something because of how long I was gone, silly girl. After the train ride we caught a cab 6 euro each with 6 other RCI passengers and returned to the ship. When we got to our cabin my watch indicated that I had done something near 28,000 steps. No wonder my feet were so tired. continued

So we are on express train from Civitivecchia to Roma Termini. On my iPhone so can’t type a lot. Chaos getting a taxi at port. We followed directions of ship officers and those waiting for shuttle thought that put them in taxi line. Fortunately taxi driver made sure we got in. Beat the rush to train ticket line and quickly got our tickets car 6 seat 11 & 12C. Nice was very nice!🤣 will update later. Too much port time on this sailing. OB no headaches or any symptoms that I can think of. ciao

Yesterday was the end of the cruise. We woke up at 7AM finished packing the bags and found our stateroom attendant to give him our information about our new cabin, to hopefully help him transfer the bags. The process to get the new room key was easy, and we got off the ship around 9AM. Got to the free shuttle to take us to the World Trade Center in Barcelona. It left promptly. According to Dale from the FlowRider they had been on the bus for over 30 minutes before it left. We had a similar wait at the end of the day. We walked up Las Ramblas, before very much was open for business. Arrived at Catalunya Park and started shopping at Zara, Desequil, Primark, UniQlo, El Cortes Ingles, and other shops, as we made our way to La Sagrada Familia Cathedral. We ate lunch at McDonald’s since we were trying to avoid a long delayed lunch. We still arrived early for our entrance time so we walked the blocks around the cathedral, and Krystal bought a t-shirt at one of the sketchy tourist shops. The cathedral has made a lot of progress since the last time we were there. The inside to my eye looks almost completely finished. It is to my eye the most unique and beautiful cathedral we have visited. I am not a Gaudi devotee, but I think he must truly have been a genius. He clearly had a unique vision about how to build a Gothic Cathedral. During our walk around the block, we noticed the shortage of available taxis, so we decided to walk back since we had about 20 minutes to spare at the worst case scenario and most like another 30 minutes. Our feet were on fire when we got to the bus. When we got to our state room I had walked 24,449 steps (over 10 miles) per my Apple Watch. Since we had our new stateroom cards with a red sticker we skipped right past the last of the arrivals for our cruise. Cleared security. Went to the duty free shop bought our two bottles of wine and was disappointed that there was no more security, I could have bought more! 😂 Our luggage was in our new cabin waiting for us. Our old cabin was 9390 corner aft deck 9. It was small and run down. The balcony was nice, but was covered heavily with soot every time we had a port call. James our steward hadn’t addressed it since before Malaga, and it was pretty nasty. Our new cabin is much larger, but we lost our two lounge chairs so it only has a taller table and two chairs. The view from the aft corner was amazing for star gazing and seeing the horizon, our new cabin had been washed and had about 3/4” of water on the floor. We asked our steward to address it and after dinner at Giovanni’s it was mostly gone. We have the upgraded amenities (shampoo etc) in our new cabins. Much more closet space, bathroom shelves, nicer Villery Boch sink, etc. Krystal likes our new cabin much more. After putting my stuff in the closet after unpacking, I headed off to the FlowRider. Got there about 4;15 and surfed for about 75 minutes. Line was short with a couple of new boogie boarders. Holdovers Dale (winner of all the titles for surfing) and Jay the comedian were there. There is a new blue band young man, Rob from Isle of Wight. Before Advanced stand-up started at 5:30PM it was just the three holdovers. I had a blister on my great toe from the walking and I was a sluggish surfer at best. Jay saw me fall, and said, he didn’t realize I could fall.🤣 I fell about 3 times. It was coolish, so I left Dale and Jay the wave for the last 15 minutes. I asked Jay when he performs again, and he actually doesn’t know for sure. I found that strange, but hardly surprising. Dinner was super slow for our first BOGO at Giovannis, and we met an interesting couple from Florida originally New Jersey which I could have guessed without being told. The husband used me as a prop for people who are part of his group at another table. Again, the New Jersey showed thru amazingly well. 😂. It was all fine, but a bit weird. O well. He said he would be up to watch me surf at 9AM, and we will see, considering how much wine they had at dinner I would think the chances are slim and none. After we went to the Schooner bar to get some Gran Marnier to drink on the balcony with its limited view. The new bed seemed firmer than the last, but it could be the miles we walked and the additional falling on the FlowRider. In the Crown Lounge this morning, and it is a tiny fraction of the people in line of the previous cruise for the coffee machine. Last night we arrived after 6PM and there were many empty chairs. So, that is better. Heddy, a pin, said she was not allowed in the suite lounge on the previous sailing that she was 5 points short of that cut off, but she is allowed in on this cruise, so obviously, a lot less C&A big numbers on this cruise. Yay! We are doing a Royal tour of Nice and Eze today. Ciao, off to the cabin to prep for the FlowRider. jc

Lunch at Le Pepica was good, although a bit rich, and pricey, but I knew the pricey part heading in. We took the shuttle from RCI to the port terminal entrance. Valencia is a commercial port and you are not allowed to just walk off the ship. We had spent a couple of days in Valencia on a land tour 18 years earlier, during the America’s cup lead up races so the city looks very much the same, but without the large America’s cup presence, although there are still lots of signs of the America’s Cup in the harbor including a yard with lots of old hulls of racing boats that appear to be just left to time. We walked the 1.2 miles to Le Pepica and the huge public beach there. We were early and we shopped a bit at an Ale Hop store, lots of cute stuff (mostly things you don’t need), and we bought a few little items. After we still had time to kill so we sat watching the beach. Ran into some of the sports staff as they were obviously coming to the beach to eat and drink a bit. At 1PM we joined the line to enter Le Pepica which took about 15 minutes to get seated, as the line was probably 75 people long in front of us all with 1PM reservations. Upon entering, we realized this was the same restaurant we had eaten at 18 years prior. 🤣 After we walked back after stopping at a Farmacia for some sundry items. The FlowRider had extremely early and late hours so I didn’t surf at all. The staff replaced the glass, and it looks better and safer (ie not held in place by lines holding it in place. We did not go to the farewell show, but I understand the liar game show was entertaining. JC

So, we had a port day and I am behind in updating. Malaga is a nice cruise stop, and about a perfect one for the short stop we had yesterday. We took the shuttle 10 euro for both from the pier to the city center parking lot. Walked up the main shopping street and then to the west to El Cortes Ingles, the giant Spanish department store. After we wandered thru the market where all the fresh fruits, fish, beef, and other similar delights were for sale. We bought a bottle of water and a fruit smoothie and returned to the bus drop off for the ride back to the ship. Krystal bought a few items, a pair of pants and a couple of little tops. We ate in the WJ with no stir fry station. The night before the headliner was Jay Rowling (or something similar), I am not sure how to describe his show, a bit of a mixture of comedy, juggling and balancing things on his face with a small bit of magic with odd items thrown in. Probably one of the better shows. So, with that bit added, they had mixed wave from 2 to 5PM and advanced stand-up until 6:30PM and I arrived just before 5PM. On the wave was Jay Rowling. The only people there were the Mexican couple from Mexico City, Jay and jc. Shortly it was just Jay and jc for about 30minutes until Daniel and Gabby showed up. He is not very good, but he is trying and unlike most people in the line he is motivated to get better and actually listens to coaching. Seems like a generally good guy, and very much the same person as on stage. After surfing we dressed for the show and dinner. Dinner in the MDR was probably the worst menu of the cruise, and I ate the very average NY Strip steak for about the 5th time. The show was the East Coast Boys another Jersey Boys (FV) show. They seem to love those on the TAs, as we had a different but similar group on the last years Anthem TA. They did a good job. The theatre was only less than half full. Post show, was the 70s party. Krystal’s favorite part of the cruise. She goes all out on the show, and other than a really well outfitted Elvis she was the best dressed for the part. Person on the ship. She had fun. I endured with a smile and an occasional dance move. 😂 Today is Valencia, we don’t arrive until 11AM and off the ship at 11:30 theoretically. The AS is 8AM til 9. I am skipping, but will head up around 8:30 to say goodbye to everyone not on the next sailing. IE Peter, Daniel and Gabby most likely. They are closing the wave most of the day to replace the glass at the back of the ship past the FlowRider, and won’t open it until 8:30PM. There is no way *I will be functioning well enough a that time of night to ride, so a lost day. We have plans for Paella at Le Pepica at 1PM for lunch. Hopefully, we can get there in time. ciao

Yes sir. I am going to continue surfing, but I will try to remember to just fall down rather than try to save it. I have zero symptoms. So hopefully I am fine. First time I can ever remember falling like that. Hopefully I will never repeat. Appreciate your concern This morning was the regular four, Peter, Daniel, Dale and I I quit after about 90 minutes it was pretty cool. Gabby showed up about an hour in. I didn’t surf aggressively because I didn’t want to get wet. Even with my wetsuit it is brisk. I had a good fall only. That is helping with the lines. I am planning on going back around 3:30 for 90 minutes. Lunch was in the WJ. Had the stir fry for about the 4th time. It was the first time where the line went quickly. Dinner last night in the MDR was pretty solid. I am not a fan of the menus, but I still think the food is not bad. It is not awesome, but it is good. We watched the show Ana Iza Ching a violinist with an attitude. Started off playing a Muse (one of my favorite modern rock bands) song, and I am pretty sure I was the only person in the theatre (full) who knew what I was hearing.🤣 She played a lot of Queen in her set (who wants to live forever, Bohemian Rhapsody, and We are the Champions) and a little classical music. The royal orchestra played with her. I probably prefer it to the singers and dancer shows, but it was not a must see. The comedian/musician a few days ago was really good. JC

So, still not sure if the caps are an EU thing or a UK thing, but most be the former. Yesterday was the ugliest day of the cruise, as the weather has been really good. A lot better than the May TA on the Anthem from Cape Liberty last year. In the morning AS session, I had a bad fall (only fall) and landed maybe on the board at the bottom with the back of the head. Fortunately, I have a very hard head, and after a moment felt fine, although it was a bell ringer. Surfed til 11 then went to the main theatre for a discussion on consecutive cruisers. It appears that there will be 375 people on the 11 night cruise from Barcelona to Athens, which according to the officer leading the discussion is a record. Not sure if that is a fleet wide record or a Voyager record, or a made up record.😂 We have to have our stuff if our suitcases prior to 8AM they will then take our luggage to our new cabin, which we will have for the last 18 nights. They are providing a shuttle for us to the WTC. We have a Sagrada Familia ticket so we will leave the ship around 10 and make our way to the basillica. Well it is 8:30 new time, last change at least while we are in Spain, so off to the room to get ready to go to the FlowRider. jc

So, these idiotic bottles of water are the EU’s fault? That is all I seem to be able to get from any bar or as my C&A welcome gift. They are very bad. What about sports drinks? We ate at a very good restaurant Gastrónomo. A bit off the beaten path, but excellent. Had limpets, triggerfish, French fries, baked sweet and regular potatoes, tomatoes, and salad. O, and of course, a couple of glasses of red wine from Portugal. Yum. The locals seemed to love Coca Cola, and they were the old fashioned type with a lid on a reusable bottle. Yesterday morning, advanced hour was basically, just Peter from Frankfurt and I. I surf goofy, So, I did half my runs surfing regular. It is so hard, I am basically like a noob who just got their blue band on that side. I am very tired this morning with another hour jump. AS starts in 30 minutes and I haven’t even finished my coffee yet. Who knows how many people who haven’t done it yet will show up in the mixed wave sessions. Other than the 83 euros and change for lunch all we bought was a tube of lip balm with sun block. I left mine at home and my lips are getting pretty bad. K tried on some cute Fly of London sandals, but they hurt her arch, so PDG didn’t get much income from us. Sorry to the locals. ciao jc

We are at the dock in the Azores. We spent 8-10PM on lounge chairs on our aft balcony scanning the horizon wrapped in a blanket searching for whales then til about 11PM looking for satellites. Saw zero of the former and lots of the latter. We watched the show called something like Quintessence Duo of the Sea or something. A couple doing Cirque du Soleil type dance, ribbon swinging and strength dancing. It was quite good. Best of that kind of thing I have seen on a RCI ship in the main theatre. We love Cirque so from me that is high praise. Apparently, we came to the dock extra early because of a medical emergency. So, for those who want it we have extra time here. I am planning on heading to the wave shortly for an hour. The unicorn nature of the ship has degraded slightly, as the few people between age 20 and 50 some have now earned their blue bands, partially my fault as I encourage them to take a lesson and how to do it. O well. Dale from Texas won the kind of the 360s yesterday. He is not the best at 360s although unlike when he won the same crown for boogie, he actually had competition this time. The true king of 360s watched with me as Dale won. We are glad it makes him happy. Our plan is to wander thru town since it is a Saturday shop and eat. If anyone has a lunch with excellent seafood recommendation you have about 90 minutes to let me know! thanks in advance to lunch recommendations jc

Yesterday was a nearly perfect sea day. Sunny, 66F no apparent wind on deck as the wind was from behind and we had following seas. Only small rollers that rarely had much effect on the ship or FlowRider. Dale won king of the 360s on the boogie board. It was a crowded field as he competed against himself. 🤣 I was the only witness as I was packing up my stuff, and left my IPhone. I saw him do his run. Then went to the cabin. When I returned to get my IPhone he was packing up and I asked if he won. I announced his victory to the Pinnacles we were setting with in the crown lounge when he came in. I got a lot of blank looks. 🤣 We went forward again over night so now on Ponta Delgado time. So, no moving forward in time tonight! Yay! Surfing begins in 35 minutes. So, I had better head back to the room and get ready. jc