Captain Carnival

Today our port of call was Izmir, Turkey that once again was not to be our primary tour destination requiring us to be up with the sun and off the ship by 7:45 to meet our tour bus and leave the area at around 8:00. For this excursion we used another private tour company – the Ephesus shuttle, that for the most part did an incredible job in getting us to so many great sites with just one minor hiccup at the end….they kidnapped us…I’ll explain more later on.

As I recall our guides name was “Maiek” (Mike) and he was very well versed on the area historically and culturally and briefed us along the hour+ journey from Izmir south to the area of Selcuk that would include stops at the House of the Blessed Mother, the ancient city of Ephesus, and of course a visit to the nearby town of Kusadasi where we were kidnapped; more on that later!

Once we arrived in the area we went directly to the House of the Blessed Mother so as to avoid the onslaught of the thousands of visitors that were destined to visit that day; they were just behind us by around 20-30 minutes! Just a brief history…Mother Mary was brought to Ephesus by the Apostle John after the Resurrection of Christ and lived out her remaining days there, some 11 years. This is also the site where the assumption of Mary took place as well so were indeed walking on Holy Ground and you could feel it! Perhaps being Catholic gave us both a sense that this was so much more than an historical site but more spiritual, nearly like a pilgrimage to visit the home of the Mother of all of us (as Catholic/Christians) and we were literally shaking!

The home itself is not very big whatsoever and you are not allowed to linger inside or take any pictures as there are literally thousands of people lined up outside behind you waiting for their turn to come in and shuffle on through. There is of course an opportunity to offer a prayer, and thereby “linger” a bit longer in this Holy Home, and that is to do what any good Catholic would do – kneel and pray. Fortunately I eye-spied two kneelers that were placed off to the side of the main room for that specific purpose so we each took one and offered our own heart-felt and prayerful intentions.

After getting up we got back onto the shuffle-line and made our way outside where I found a large photo of the interior “altar” so we stood in front and I snapped a quick picture; our faces pretty much convey the overwhelming sense of awe that we were feeling at the time.

Once outside the home we found that the area where the spring water that has been blessed by several Popes so we drank some from each spot and blessed ourselves and crosses that we wear around our necks. We were able to purchase some of the Holy “Spring” Water in small glass bottles for your own use. There was one older woman on our bus who was at times not able to make all of the climbs and such, but she always gave it a try, that was not able to get up to the site so I bought her a bottle of the Holy Water and gave it to her while she waited on the bus.

There was another area just down the hill where one could leave a prayerful request and leave it on the “wishing wall” that was covered with I’m sure millions of requests. It was said that if your wish is to be fulfilled (permanently) you must return to the Home and find your written request; I guess we may be going back one day…sooner than later I hope (and pray)!

Standing in front of the prayer request wall wearing a powder blue shirt for our Blessed Mother.

I don’t have too much time to write today, so I’ll have to write more about our visit to Turkey tomorrow in what might be called “leftovers” so I’ll leave it at that. Oh yes, I will talk about our brush with being kidnapped too!

Ciao For Now!!

I gave my wife the exact same thing for our 30th! Good find, Sir!

Great minds think alike - thanks!!

Oh my goodness:):):). Another calico:). Great review!!

Actually she is more of a brunette with red highlights; oh wait a minute...you meant the cat!! :D :rolleyes:

ShotoJuku,

I am thoroughly enjoying your pictorial. Looking forward to you continuing adventure in Europe. Thanks for sharing your 30th anniversary with us.

Thanks!!

Up Next: Izmir, Turkey!

Athens, Greece

One of the best things I really enjoy about cruising is the concept that one is actually traveling on a floating hotel that takes you from different ports and countries overnight in what seems like a mere blink of an eye. Not more than a few hours ago I was in Dubrovnik, Croatia and when I awoke I was in Athens, Greece. Sailing further east required us to turn our clocks forward another hour so now we were 7-hours ahead of EST which for me kind of made it like I was working the midnight shift at home.

Athens was certainly more metropolitan that Dubrovnik with signs of a more condensed infrastructure of older and aging buildings crowded upon one another certainly a much larger commercial presence in the port itself. I did get a kick of seeing how so many businesses, buildings, and ships that were painted in the blue and white colors of the Greek flag.

Athens (Port of Piraeus), like all the other ports to follow, required you to be up with the sun so that you would be off the ship around 7:45 AM as tours departed at 8:00 AM (with or without you). Ironically, many of our ports of call required you to travel at least an hour or more to the specific sites that you wished to visit unlike visiting say Cozumel, Mexico or Georgetown, Cayman Islands where you basically stay in and around the local area. Today we booked a tour with Piraeus Express, a local private tour that utilized a very large coach bus that seated around 80+ passengers or so. Our tour guide on the excursion was a young lady named Catherine who spoke English very well and she was also very knowledgeable about all of the sites we visited and about Greek history.

We left the port as scheduled are made our way through downtown Piraeus towards Athens stopping a few times along the way to see some of the Olympic stadiums that had been built for the 2004 games. Many of the “new” stadiums were sadly no longer in use and as Greek economy itself had hit more than its share in speed bumps many of these magnificent structures sat in a state of disrepair. Ironically yet again though was that one stadium in particular – the Panathenaic Stadium was initially built entirely of marble in 329 BC and has more than 50,000 seats and is the virtual finish line for the marathon run and is actually still utilized today.

Not far from the stadium is the nearby Government center and the tomb of the unknown soldier where we stopped just in time for the changing of the guard. For anyone who has seen the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery with the USMC cannot help but be impressed and this demonstration, although different, was very impressive too.

We then visited the archeological site of the Temple of Zeus. Sadly only a small amount of the original site is left with just a few columns left standing. This is where you can purchase your tickets to visit the Parthenon site but I caution you to watch your change as I was shorted 10€ as was another man on the bus however our guide Catherine “The Great” promptly corrected the matter and recovered the €’s promptly; that’s one way to ensure a tip!

Before heading up to the Acropolis and the Parthenon site we stopped for lunch at a local Greek café that featured a variety of Greek dishes. We ordered a lamb dish (no pizza here) and some Ouzo, a clear alcohol, to drink. We were warned just how potent ouzo could be so it is strongly recommended that you mix it with water until it becomes cloudy. Ouzo has a sweet licorice taste so I pretty much left it untouched as I’m not a licorice fan however our tablemates made sure it don’t go to waste – Opa!!

We then visited the Parthenon itself which is located atop a very high mountain top that pretty much overlooks all of Athens below, truly a gathering place for the Greek Gods.

The Parthenon has certainly seen better days having been built in 447 BC and is currently under a major restoration project with a variety of cranes and other equipment all throughout the site. It was also incredibly packed with many other tourists making navigating around the site difficult to do. We spent nearly an hour before we had to depart back to the ship but grabbed as many pictures as possible.

Once back at the ship our day ashore was complete and returned to our stateroom to settle in for a bit before getting ready for dinner and a show (I don’t recall which one). This night, like many to follow, ended early as other ports of call awaited us just on the other side of the sunset/sunrise.

Ciao For Now!!

Hey Shoto!!! Loving the review!

Thanks - more on the way shortly!

You are the SWEETEST husband for planning all of this for your wife... it looks like you had the trip of a lifetime! This itinerary is AWESOME and you are reminding me of my cruise last year... some of the photos you've taken are at the identical spots I took some silly shots too!

 

Happy belated anniversary, I wish you both many many more years of love and happiness. :D

Thanks - certainly a trip of a lifetime, one that I would love to repeat; I suppose there are many anniversaries left! :)

ShotoJuku, you're certainly schooling some us us old bludgers who often take our dazling "brides" for granted. We are unworthy!:D

No tuition required, but a Bud Light would be nice should our paths ever cross! :D

Really enjoying your review! Love the kitty picture...I have a calico that is similar:). Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Here's another one from Venice!! :D

Fun Day At Sea #1 (continued)…

One of the other very important things that we did on our first sea day was to meet with all of our M&M roll call members. We actually had met several on sail away day on the serenity deck just a few days earlier but now we had an opportunity to formally meet many-many more. I started the roll call of February 15th 2012 and it grew immensely to the point where I just couldn’t keep up with all of the varied screen names so putting a face to a name at this get together was great for everyone. As I recall at last count 103 people had signed up to attend this (free) get together that was held in Billie’s Bar at 2PM. I didn’t do an actual head count but the room was packed with a virtual sea of M&M’s. Here are a few Pics….

Way To Go M&M's!!!

Ciao For Now!!

Fun Day At Sea #1

One of the things that I found was particularly great on this cruise was that out of 12 days, only 2 were sea days as I “prefer” port calls and exploring and there was plenty of exploring yet to come so the first sea day was somewhat of a welcomed change. In general we never really “sleep in” and that goes for cruising too. I find myself on many days waking up with, or just before, the sunrises and will either get up and walk around, do some exercise out on deck while watching the sunrise, or just hand out on the balcony. On this cruise I found myself using the “self-assist” room service option available on all cruises which is to say I throw on a pair of shorts, ball cap, and find my way up to the lido deck where I grab 2 cups of coffee and a couple of apple and cinnamon Danish and bring them back to the cabin via the “self-assist” room service option however I never get a tip – damn!

Today’s sea day was filled with some of Carnival’s standard activities such as the mixology contest, trivia, pool-side games, and such. The Legend has 3 pools including 2 on the lido deck (separated as the family/child pool and the adult pool plus the pool located on the serenity deck). We spent a good part of the day at the adult pool just lounging, reading, and just relaxing in general.

As for eating in the MDR we always select early dining and only missed one dinner on the day we visited Rome. We always request to sit at a large round table for 8-10 people so that we can meet new cruisers rather than just a table for 2 as we can do that at home. On this voyage we were at a table (#240) for 8 at sat with 3 other couples. Although we were the “youngest” couple in age, we seemed to be the senior cruisers and were able to provide our tablemates with some helpful information on some of the must do’s and/or do not’s with cruising in general. As for travel our tablemates all had some extensive travel experience already so they reciprocated by giving us some helpful shore information too.

As you know, this special cruise was to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary that occurred a few days earlier on May 1st but continued on our first elegant night. I found that the traditional wedding gift for 30 years was pearls so I wanted to give my Bride not only a gift of pearls but also a pearl of a gift. I found a unique necklace of (cultured) pearls in that came in some subtle shades of blue and also another set of 3-bracelets of white pearls with some blue added in as well. To me, each of the 3-bracelet represented the 3-decades that we had been married as well as our 3 children. Of course she absolutely loved them and the symbolism that came with them as well and she wore them to elegant night showing them off to everyone along the way.

For me, it’s the “giving” of a gift that gives me great pleasure and satisfaction however on this particular anniversary/cruise my Bride was not going to be outdone. After surprising her with her pearls she in turn threw me for a surprise my giving me an incredible gold and diamond wedding band. I wore my first band for the first 25 years of our marriage however after 25 years of wear, and as a drummer I “tap” a lot on tables and such, it had become a bit out of shape so she gave me another plain band on our 25th anniversary 5-years earlier. So there I stood somewhat shocked and stunned when she handed me a box with this magnificent ring inside as she told me just how she had to covertly and acting in concert with my kids wrangle up the money to get me the ring.

Gold and diamonds are among some of the most precious metals and elements on the planet, however for me, or shall I say US, what we have together can certainly be added to the periodic table under the symbol of M&M!

Ciao For Now!!

Also, did you enjoy the legend (again) how was the food, on board entertainment and how we're the beds (mattresses) since that too has been on the boards lately! We are sailing her in June (baltics) will be our first time on legend! Thanks for any info!! Great pictures!!!!!!

1. Legend was very well cared for, immaculately clean, with incredible service!

2. Overall the food was excellent as was the entertainment that included the standard production shows plus additional entertaiment such as a piano act, lounge singer, illusionist, comedians, as well as John Heald's special humor during the audience participation shows; I'm a BIG fan!

3. The mattresses' were just fine, a bit firm for me, but fine nevertheless.

4. Thanks for the compliments and more pics and stories are on the way soon after I get home from work(damn job that forces me to work and make $$$ so I can cruise)! :D

Bravo and well done!! Your wife is a very lucky lady but I'm sure she already knows that ; )

Thanks for the compliments!

As "fortunate" as she might be it is actually me (after 30+ years) who is the lucky one! :D

Just curious where on Naga Shima "Long Island" are you from?

Thank you for taking the time to post your review! Looking forward to the rest. We sail on the Legend in Nov but would rather it have been your itinerary.:D

It is too bad that Carnival is no longer offering this itinerary.

As many of you are aware when posting you cannot add more than 6 pictures (per post) at a time so from time-to-time I may post some supplemental pictures as stand alones too.

Some Additional Dubrovnik Pictures....

One of the local residents!

I should mention that I am a "Catman" and will post some additional Cat-Pics throughout our adventure.

Ciao For Now, or is that Meow For Now!!!

Dubrovnik, Croatia

When I first booked this cruise I must admit that of all of the ports of call Dubrovnik just didn’t seem to do anything for me, after all – what could Dubrovnik have to offer? The answer is….an abundance of rich history, incredible beauty, a really cool old city, and gelato (Croatian style).

During any overnight transit from one port to another during any Caribbean cruise one usually arrives to see a tropical setting filled with plenty of beaches, humid air, and of course that incredible bluer than blue water. Arriving in Dubrovnik we were greeted by beautifully landscaped mountains, crisp cool air, and a sea of orange colored rooftops – uniquely different and certainly breathtaking!

This was one of the few ports where we didn’t have an organized tour planned so after grabbing some breakfast in the Unicorn Café we headed out and grabbed a carnival sponsored bus that took us into the old city and back for only 8€ each. The trip took no more than 15 minutes and dropped us off right in the middle of the town right near the entrance of the walled city and when I saw walled I mean a towering fortress complete with a moat and drawbridge! In essence one has two options when entering, you can either choose option a. mill about the streets on the ground level or you can select option b. climb and ascend (over and over again) up to the very top of the wall that completely encircles the city with a circumference of nearly 2-miles; we of course chose option b. climb the wall!

I must say that the hike wasn’t too bad, more of a light to moderate experience comparable with hiking through the Smokey Mountains or up to the top of Diamond Head, it certainly is not climbing to the top of the Empire State Building (on the outside)! There is a series of steps and risers that bring you to the top with an abundance of flat sections allowing you to coast easily along the way. All-in-all I would say we it took us around 90-minutes to go up, around, and down again in our own moderate self-paced tour. I would suggest that you bring a bottle of water to hydrate along the way.

Of course when you reach the town square you can always grab some gelato (Croatian style) too!

Ciao For Now!!

Great job on the review, really enjoing reading it! I'm sailing on Legend in a month. I'm wondering if you did the steakhouse? Trying to decide if it's worth the $. Also wondering how your sea days were.

Thanks!

No we did not eat in the steakouse but we did tour it during on the "behind the fun tour" which I will talk about during one of our two sea days.

BTW: If you have any questions please feel free to ask....

Can I ask where you found that door poster? I ask because DH and I (along with 2 of our 3 sons) are sailing on Legend in July for our 30th anniversary. That would be a great addition for us.:)

 

I am really enjoying your review (especially the way you sprung the cruise on DW:cool:). Thanks so much for sharing!

Hi Kathy,

We found the "30" poster in an "I-Party" store, it was in the birthday section for 30-year olds, I added a cutout of our M&M t-shirt in the middle.

Ciao!

Sail Away Day

We finally came to the day where we would sail away from Venice and continue our cruise adventure aboard the Carnival Legend. Although we were scheduled to set sail at 2PM, we opted not to venture off the ship again and avoid the long walk and people mover thing yet again so we just enjoyed our time on board and the “new and improved” Serenity Deck.

While we were there the newly (re)launched Carnival Sunshine had pulled up along on the other side of the pier as she too would be setting sail on her maiden voyage the very next day. Although Sunshine was to board passengers in just a few hours I noticed that a fleet of workman in hardhats could be seen scurrying around the decks still cleaning up. In fact there were still very large green dumpsters sitting on the lido deck that were hoisted off by a very large crane only minutes before the first guests pulled up in buses for embarkation. Now that I think about it, I wonder why we had to walk the entire way and they were driven in air-conditioned buses?

Just before setting sail we had the customary safety drill and then cast off and set sail. After leaving the pier we headed east along the southern perimeter of Venizia and sail right past St. Mark’s Square – a very impressive sight! All-in-all it took nearly two hours to reach the northern Adriatic sea and proceed southeast towards Dubrovnik, Croatia for our second port of call – Bon Voyage!!!

Que Bella!!

Upon our return we found the John Heald had personally sent us a few treats - chocolate covered strawberries, a bottle of champagne, and of course a 24-carat gold (plastic) ship-on-a-stick...Gratzi John!!

Ciao For Now!!

Venice – Part 2

After exploring the ship for a bit we left once again for St. Mark’s Square again taking a long walk along a long pier, then the people mover to Piazzale Roma (this time we both made it), and then onto a vaporetto to St-Mks-Sq. Once there we found the activity to be a bit more robust with more people, sights, and sounds. At one point in the middle of the square my Bride was approached by a young man holding several bright red carnation stems and he handed her one proclaiming to her “Here is a flower for such a beautiful “bella” lady!” Of course she graciously accepted it telling him “gratizi” while I continued to walk straight ahead, shaking my head and waiting for the inevitable….and then it came….”May I please have some money pretty lady?” This is where it got good, she turned to him and politely handed it back with her face now just as red as the carnation was itself! Got to love her!!

We continued to walk and stroll about when I decided that perhaps we could take a page out of Rick Steve’s tour books and do what he suggested – get lost in the back alleyways and explore. So we did both – explore and got lost! Actually, there are no street signs however every now and again you may see a bright yellow sign up on a brick wall that tells you which way to go towards some of the more common points of interest so if you find yourself lost just follow the “yellow brick sign!” After walking around and making a variety of lefts, rights, and an occasional u-turn we found ourselves at the Rialto Bridge which is some 2-miles from where we started (to explore or get lost – take your pick).

After taking a few pictures we opted to have dinner at a Ristorante with a street-side table; of course we ordered yet another pizza, pasta, and vino too! After dinner it was back onto a vaporetto (there’s a stop right there) and we went home to our Carnival Legend stateroom 7243.

Ciao Bella!!!

Ciao For Now!!

There’s no place like home!

Having sailed on Legend twice before returning to her seemed to be more like a homecoming of sorts except that this time the house had moved from Tampa to Venice, good thing I brought a map! Legend, a Spirit Class ship, just seems to be the perfect size as not being a behemoth and not too small; kind of sounds like the three bears version for ships as Legend is just right for us.

After checking out of the Olimpia we found our way over to the people mover that requires that you purchase a ticket for 1€ each. Fortunately I had a 2€ coin in my pocket so after navigating through the automated machine for a few minutes I was able to make our purchase and made our way over to the turnstile’s that have swinging arms that open and close very fast. I went through first pulling the two LARGE suitcases behind me and then it was my Brides turn, or so I thought. In an effort to be helpful and even a little gallant I told my Bride to bring to put the two small suitcases right in front of her, scan the ticket and that I would pull them through and she could follow right behind them.

Ready-Set-Go….Ticket scanned – swing arms open – suitcases pulled through – and bride too….NOT! Just as soon as I pulled the suitcases through the turnstile arms closed at warp speed leaving me and all of the luggage on one side and she on the other. Of course she could have crawled under and probably ended up in jail or just go back and purchase another ticket except for the fact that I didn’t have another € coin but only € bills, the smallest being a five. So off she went around the corner with a five € bill and I waited and waited and waited for her return…

After several minutes she finally returned somewhat exasperated yet with ticket in hand. It seems that the ticket machine was a bit stubborn in accept her money until another passenger waiting behind her graciously gave her a 1€ coin and assisted her in pointing out that to select the “English” setting on the machine to stop looking for the USA flag symbol but to push the British flag instead. Once again, there’s no place like home!

We were able to check in quickly and board the ship instantaneously, well except that you had to walk around a ½ mile before getting to the ship. Once on board it was business as usual – drop off any carry-on items in the room, head to the lido deck for lunch and of course enjoy our first funship special proving yet again that there truly is no place like home!

Ciao For Now!

Suffice it to say that although the plane ride was not shall what I had envisioned, it did of course get us across the Atlantic safely landing it Venice. After deplaning we made our way through the terminal and purchased two bus tickets (6 euro each) from Marco Polo airport to the Piazzale Roma (bus parking lot) on the Island of Venizia. This is pretty much where the road ends and the canals begin. This is where a little advanced scouting paid off as I found a hotel that was not only a few short steps, and only one bridge, over the first canal but also just as convenient to getting to the “people mover”, a Disney-like-monorail, that takes you to the port terminals.

As LEGEND was not due in until the next day we stayed the first night at the (Best Western) Olimpia Hotel (that’s the way it’s spelled). The Olimpia is located on one of the first canals and also has a lovely courtyard in the rear. Pound-for-pound, the Olimpia offered us just what we needed and we were quite pleased with our stay. The Olimpia’s rooms are not quite what you might imagine what a “Best Western” hotel might offer in size, in fact I would say they may actually be just around the same size as an ocean view stateroom. The hotel staff was efficient, helpful, and friendly and also provided a (FREE) terrific breakfast complete with real china settings, silverware, tablecloths, and a coffee waiter. The Olimpia also provided FREE Wi-Fi too which was often hard to find throughout our trip.

After checking in we went out to grab something eat settling on a nice canal-side Ristorante and ordered and split both a pizza “provolone y funghi” (ham and mushroom) and spaghetti Bolognese, both were incredible! One thing we discovered early on is that restaurants also add on a “service/cover charge” of usually around 2.50 Euro each as their form of tipping so you do not need to feel compelled to leave more though I usually did. You also cannot ask for a glass of water but must buy a bottle of spring water if you want water so for just a bit more you can get a liter of vino-rossi (red wine) – “gin dan” everyone!

Between the jetlag, and perhaps the vino, we were due for a brief (4-hour) nap at the Olimpia before striking out to explore Venizia. After returning to the Piazzale Roma we purchased two vaporetto (water bus) tickets that run along the Grand Canal and of course to St. Mark’s Square. By the time we arrived a majority of the daytime visitors had thinned out and we found the square somewhat desolate but certainly with plenty to see and experience like Gelato!

We eventually found our way home to the Olimpia and looking forward to the morning and heading over to our new home for the next 12-days – the Carnival Legend.

Ciao For Now….

The next several weeks seemed to creep along somewhat slowly however as we neared our launch date time seemed to move more quickly. Before you we knew it the day had arrived, the actual anniversary date that is, and we celebrated 30-years of wedded bliss the best way we knew how, well actually the second best way, and that was of course to pack! We usually do not have any luggage issues per se when cruising because as most of you know there are no weight restrictions when boarding the ship but God help you if you breach the precious 50 pound limit by just an ounce so we ended up packing one LARGE suitcase each and also one standard size carry-on bag each as well; fortunately the snorkeling gear stayed home on this cruise!

We were to fly from Tampa à Philadelphia à Venice the very next day. Some of you may have suspected already that I tend to be a romantic at heart and when it came to booking the airline seats for our Trans-Atlantic (red eye) flight to Venice I chose row “30” to commemorate our “30th” anniversary; BIG mistake!

As it turns out row 30 is actually the very last row of seats that are conveniently located right next to the bathrooms. To add insult to injury it also appeared that the vast majority of the remaining 250+ passengers must have grown up in a barn as they seemed to never have acquired the ability to close the door (when exiting the bathroom) leaving me to serve as the official lavatory doorman for nearly 9-hours. As an added bonus not only did the seats in row 30 not recline as they were wedged in against a rear bulkhead partition but the food/drink cart’s last stop was of course….wait for it….row 30 and usually out of whatever items we may have wanted; so much for being a romantic!

Ciao For Now…From Row 30!

Up Next - Venizia!!