misguy

It is just after dawn on day 2, our first full sea day. The seas are not bad, but it is a grey cloudy morning, no sunrise to speak off. Looking at the navigation information, it is going to be windy on deck. We have a 12 knot head wind, and the ship is making 19 knots, so that make about 31 knot wind across the deck. We are on deck 1 with an ocean view accessible balcony, and we can feel the ship moving, but it is not bad, the Captain told yesterday to expect significant seas by this evening. If it gets rough tonight, we will be glad to have a deck one cabin and it is right by the mid-ship elevator, so the best possible location to cope with rocking and rolling. The Starlink connection is not so good now. I am getting about 100 K down and 380 K up, I purchased the highest bandwidth connection they offer. I hope it improves, or I am going to be very disappointed.

We did, we had two big roller bags, and 2 backpacks. I hung the heaviest back pack on the back of Chery's power chair, and wore the other one. It was very easy to roll the bags, and carry the small backpack. If I cruised from this port again, I would do the same again.

Last night we had a 7:45 seating for dinner and we agreed to share a table and were seated with 2 very nice couples and had a very enjoyable meal. There are pictures of the food and menu below. I tried the Mahi Mahi Diabolo and the Habanero shrimp, and while the flavor was nice, the food was bland. Cheryl had the Salmon with Dill and Capers, and the corn chowder. She thought the Salmon was very good, and the chowder was good. I ordered the desert and Cheryl tasted it. It was very good, but thankfully not oversweet. Then after dinner we stopped and watched dueling pianos for a while, and then Cheryl went to put together a puzzle, and I thought I was going to work, but I was wrong the bed kept calling my name, and finally I answered.

The line is for security, but it was only for those boarding Hal. The biggest issue was having to wait out side in the line, with no protection from the sun. We got there very early, and if we had waited till later it might have been less of an issue. We like to get on as soon as possible.

So we are at sea now, the ship sailed late, not sure why, but it was right at sunset that we moved away from the dock. We wanted to see the presentations - Origins, which is the Holland America Story, and it was very entertaining. The walk over from the hotel was easy, 1 block downhill to the waterfront and about three blocks of so to the cruise terminal. Cheryl stopped and shot some video and took pictures as we went along. We passed the San Diego Maritime Museum, which looked interesting and at least partly accessible. Check-in and boarding were a mixed bag. For those like us who were not 4 or 5 star Mariners were directed into a line that wasn't moving, you had to wait to drop your bags. The waiting area was on the street side of the terminal, in the bright sun and hot pretty quickly. That lasted about 45 minutes and then the line started moving, I dropped the bags and Cheryl went inside the terminal to wait for me in the shade. Once you are inside then you have a couple of those long Disneyland queues that snaked back and forth, The line moved quickly and soon we were boarding the ship. We were on-board a little after 12, And the rooms were ready, so we went and dropped our back packs then on to the dining room for lunch. The meal was good, and we shared a table with some nice people, so that made things good. In the afternoon, I was working in the room, I did sign up for the high speed package of internet, and the bandwidth was less than 1 meg down and less up. I switched to my Google Fi connection and had plenty of bandwidth. We talked about what we wanted to do about specialty dining, and there will be several that we will enjoy. Cheryl is not a seafood fan, so I will do the seafood boil by myself late this week. I am not sure what else we will do. After the Origins presentation, we stopped and listened to Dueling Pianos for a few minutes and then came back to the room. Cheryl is putting up the clothes, and setting things aside for the laundry. My bandwidth on the Starlink is good now 15.2 meg down and 25.6 meg up, One way to save some money is to get on internet device, use your phone as wifi hotspot, and then everyone in the cabin can piggy back off that one connection.

We are at the Hilton Homewood Suites, and this a great choice, we woke up and in the breakfast room we could see the Koningsdam in Port. We will walk/roll, my wife is using a Whill Model F from Scootaround. We normally travel with a Whill Ci2, but since there are tender ports, we are using a lighter folding power chair. The receptionist at the hotel this morning said it was a 10 minute walk, we will see. Since this cruise has so many sea days I hope to keep this post mostly daily in real time. Our port days may be a little more difficult since those days will be full of activities.

The elevator works fine, and after you get used to it, I think it is better than the old style. They even have it set to work for blind individuals.

We just came off the Icon of the Seas, and she is gorgeous. Here is a video tour of our cabin, I toured a bunch of cabins and so I will a lot more videos coming.

New Video Alert: Accessible New Year's Feast Aboard Star Legend! Hey everyone! Cheryl and I are thrilled to share our latest adventure - a New Year's Gala Dinner at Amphora on the Star Legend. It's more than just a meal; it's a celebration of accessible luxury and gourmet delights! In this video, we take you through each course, from the fresh tomato and watermelon salad to the exquisite lobster tail and beyond. It's a feast that shows how accessible travel can also be incredibly delicious. Watch the full video here: [https://youtu.be/yI58qoFWLfc] https://youtu.be/yI58qoFWLfc Don't forget to follow us for more accessible travel content: Instagram: @kenedmonds19 Twitter: @KenEdmonds19 Facebook: Kenneth Edmonds Together, let's make the world more accessible, one journey at a time! https://youtu.be/yI58qoFWLfc

The trip was wonderful, the staff was the best and we loved the food. I am back home, but have lots of pictures to share, plus video from several excursions. I will say if you don't mind doing it yourself, it is easy to get tor FCO airport using the train and save a lot of money. My wife travels with a power wheelchair and we did it with two large suitcases, two backpacks, with no issues.

Here is our video showing Deck 14 except for the Ocean View Cafe, which is another video coming.

First Dinner on the Star Legend The first meal was on New Years Eve, and so it was a special menu, see below. For starters we both ordered the watermelon and tomato salad. The dish was well prepared, but for me I am very picky about tomatoes and the tomato was as ripe as I would have wished, not a reflection on the cook, but the time of year. I had the Paprika seared Tuna Loin, and it was delicious, I just forgot to take a picture. We both ordered the Butter Leaf Salad with Pomegranate Seeds. Between the salad and the main course they served a Green Apple Granite to cleanse the palate. For the main course, I had the Butter Cooked Lobster Tail; and this was the best lobster I have ever eaten. Cheryl had the Pan Basted Black Pepper Beef Tournedos, and thought they were very good as well. For dessert, I had the Southern Pecan Pie, which was not what I would call Southern Pecan Pie, as it was somewhat dry and crumbly, rather than oozing syrup like I often get. But the flavor was amazing. Cheryl was full and skipped desert.

In Livorno, we hired a private guide and visited two old towns south of Livorno, both had castles, and we saw several others, we also ate at a country restaurant, the food and wine were excellent. The day was cloudy, and it started raining in the afternoon, so it diminished the pleasure of walking around. But it was a very interesting day. We saw new grape vines for the wine being produced and also olive trees that were several hundred years old. We could have done Pisa, but we chose to go to less traveled places.

We just arrived in Livorno, and what went from a great forecast at the start of the trip has now turned ugly, rain all day and mid 50's for temp. We had private tour arrangements, and now we are checking to see what they can do with a power wheelchair and the forecast rain.

Our morning before boarding the Star Legend. We were exploring Barcelona, using public transportation, which is very accessible, we never had any trouble getting Cheryl's power chair on board. One of the most famous landmarks is the Sagrada Familia cathedral. The architect is Gaudi, and I jumped to the conclusion that this was where the word gaudy comes from because all of his designs are very gaudy. However the word predates him by several hundred years. When

It was a Windstar rep. We are travel agents, and my wife and I document accessible travel. We are glad we made the trip and we are having a great time.

We just got back from walking about in Nice, both the area around the harbor, and we also walked over to Old Nice and went to the flower market. It was like a farmers market with lots of different things, including soaps orange liqueur, pizza by the slice, and amazing fruits, Take Euros, most places don't take plastic, and no one takes dollars. There doesn't seem to be any issue bringing fruit on board, we brought clementines, oranges, and a mango. We also bought bread and cookies back as well.

The galley tour was followed by a cooking class with the Chef, and it was very interesting. The chef has a cooking school he instructs and a yearly competition in Jamaica where he lives now.

We were able to sign up for the galley tour, so going to do that before we go walkabout in Nice.

The food has been consistently good, whether on the buffet, or in Amphora, the service is very good as well. The staff onboard is amazing. Today, we are planning on exploring Nice on our own, and I am also going to try to get signed up for the Galley tour.

On this cruise the ship is about half full. We are in Nice for the second day, yesterday we took the excursion to Monaco and to Monte Carlo. The guides were good and we got to explore the capital area near the Palace and we enjoyed our day. We put Cheryl's power chair under the coach, and as long as a guest has the mobility to get on and off the ship, the excursion would not have been an issue.

We are headed to do the Monaco and the Monte Carlo excursion this afternoon. The cold cloudy weather that plagued us in Marseille followed us to Nice, this morning was bright and sunny but now it cool and cloudy. Last night the sea was a little rough, and while you wouldn't have even noticed it on a bigger ship, it was very apparent on this ship.

Google Fi in Nice onboard

I will have to let you know later. When we got on board, between those that booked an extra day and boarded before us and those that are doing a R/T Rome, there were only a couple of days available. We are doing Candlelight in Livorno, since that is the warmest day for this sailing and then Cuatro 44 in Rome.