QuattroRomeo

We'll be visiting Palma on a Wednesday in November and haven't been there before. The city photos are just beautiful. So far, we think we'd like to see:

- Cathedral(le Seu)

- Palau March

- Es Baluard, and lunch on the terrace

- Can Forteza Rey

- Fundacio La Caixa

- if time, a local wines shop

Is there a logical route to use for these sites and would it be walkable? Is it possible to enjoy the sites in a day without being too rushed? Thanks for any suggestions.

A few points to consider:

NCL Epic, Sept 3rd

Embarking Barcelona

Day At Sea- Monday

Naples, Italy, Arriving at 7am, Departing 7pm

Rome, Italy Arriving 6am, Departing 7pm ................. port is Civitavecchia

Florence/Pisa, Italy, Arriving 7pm, Departing 7pm ....port is Livorno

Cannes, France, Arriving 8am, Departing 6pm

Palma, Marjorca, Spain, Arriving 1pm, Departing 8pm

Debarking Barcelona

What you list here as Florence actually docks in Livorno. It is 1hr 45 min approx drive to Florence. Lots of choices for tours, to various towns in Tuscany.

The first day is a sea day, which is good if you have jet lag to recover from. No other sea days though, so you will be touring constantly and be quite tired. The fact that the sea day is a Monday is good though, because many museums in Europe are closed on Mondays.

The extra time in Naples is good because many tours are quite a distance from Naples ( Amalfi, Capri) or time consuming ( Pompeii, Herculaneum).

Cannes isn't tremendously interesting but you can easily go to other towns/cities that aren't far. Or, use it as a light day where you just take your time about town- a nice change of pace for this itinerary.

Palma is lovely but the arrival time is late. Mind you, it is nice to sleep in for a change and still have a number of hours in port.

2) RCI Freedom of the Seas, Sept 3rd 2017

Embarking Barcelona

Provence, France, Arriving 9am, Departing 6pm ............ port is Marseille on a Monday

Nice, France, Arriving 7am, Departing 7pm .....................port is Villefranche

Florence/Pisa Italy, Arriving 7am, Departing 7pm ..........port is La Spezia

Rome, Italy, Arriving 7am, Departing 7pm (One hour less than NCL)..port is Civitavecchia

Naples, Italy, Arriving 7am, Departing 6:30pm, (30 minutes less than NCL)

Day At Sea

Debarking Barcelona

Marseille gives you options to go to many different towns, but check if any sites you are interested in are closed on Mondays.

Villefranche is a tender port so allow for that in planning tours.

Florence- the port is actually La Spezia, which is quite a bit further from Florence than Livorno. You are better off going to places like Cinque Terre rather than Florence.

Civitavecchia- the shorter time here is a bit of a drawback- for tours to/in Rome, more time is better.

Naples- the shorter time here is also a drawback; the tours can be long/lots of driving/traffic.

Sea day just before disembarkation day is late in the cruise and doesn't provide relief in between heavy touring days, but it is good for leisurely packing.

Thanks for the replies! We'll be on the Jewel, so I hope for the best!

For the coffees that have different sizes, does size ordered affect the number of punches on the card per purchase? If so, I might need need 2 cards for a 12-nighter!!:p

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us, it sounds like you had a great vacation!

Did anyone try any of the specialty coffees from the coffee bar? Latte-tudes I think it's called? Your food and tour descriptions were great.

Thanks- It is too soon to see any promos on our planner for dining, so wasn't sure what to expect!

RCI newbie here- what does FNDR mean?

We like specialty restaurants on other lines, so this info is quite helpful!

We really like La Cucina. Try the Osso Bucco and the Shrimp Diavolo.. also the desserts are great there, too. Cheesecake is wonderful, so is the chocolate tart, and the affogato! The calamari and bruschetta are usually good also.

Best recommendation ever!! I must have drank a dozen of these. Probably my favorite drink of the whole cruise.

 

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Nice photos! Do you know what's in the DalE?

The towel bird's nest is so cute!!

We did a partial Panama transit on the Pearl in December, and the crew members were fantastic. Looking forward to hearing about your experience.

QuattroRomeo, could you describe your Tallinn tour a bit? I am looking to put together a custom one for July for 8-12 adults and want to see the highlights without excessive walking and also fit in a relaxing authentic lunch/beverages. Thanks in advance.

 

Chris

Sure- here is the post I made on the roll call at the time:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46339454&postcount=122

Because I cannot bring up the US version of ncl.com anymore, I don't know if the technical problems I'm having are related to that, or to something else!

Examples:

- I cannot make a partial payment in myncl. The radio button autofills to Pay in Full and that is it.

- I cannot read customer reviews on ncl shore excursions. When I click on the link it brings up a small square dialogue box all black, with a blue border.

Ncl tech support guy told me he can see it fine on the Canadian site, and I should be able to do/see everything. But of course he isn't in Canada. Any suggestions?

Hi Cuizer! Nice photos as usual! It's always interesting to see what shore trips others did on the same cruise. In Roatan, our tour visited Daniel's Monkey and Sloth sanctuary- is that the one you went to? The photos looked similar.

Tracy, you might find this helpful!:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/alcohol

p.s. Coincidence- we are on the cruise with you in 2018, and also on the cruise with Audrilee (Esahuma) later this year! Low carb people are everywhere!

-Pam

Thanks! You're right about the Java Cafe, it can be disappointing. On the Pearl, we used the one coffee machine in the buffet that actually ground fresh beans each time and makes an espresso style coffee, so we got some travel mugs and used those to put the good coffee in, added some water and cream. Made a decent Americano. Mind you their cream isn't really table cream but at least the coffee was good. The Bistro also has french press coffee.

Thank you for the fun review, looks like you both had a great time- which is what vacation is all about!

Do you know if there were any areas on Harvest Caye suitable for snorkelling?

Also, with your avatar, I figure you might know- where is the best coffee is on board?

Is there designated seating in the theater for suites.

Yes.

We also used Jorge for a customized itinerary. I ended up getting a great group from the roll call. We visited the rainforest for a chocolate making tour - terrific to see from start to finish, right in the forest. Saw all kinds of beautiful plants, leaf cutter ants carrying their leaves, hummingbirds, etc. right there. Also went to Luluberlu,, a wonderful art gallery with artisan goods and paintings you can afford, so much nicer than typical souvenirs. Had lunch at a local 'soda', good food and reasonable. Saw the coastline, beaches, banana plantations. Stopped in a grocery store before going back to the port-the best place to get your coffee, salsas, etc. at a much better price than the terminal shops. We had a wonderful day. It is beautiful out in the country!

We recently snorkelled on our Dec.2016 cruise, with a private company. We met them outside of the terminal shopping area- go all of the way out of the terminal where the taxis and public buses are. Once we found them, they walked us around a corner to a meeting point where a van drove us to the boat launch area. Only a 5 minute ride.

Apparently the launch area had been closer, but it was wiped out by a hurricane in October.

There were 14 of us in an outboard motor boat. The boat trip takes 45 minutes and there is no shade, so apply your sunscreen! It was fairly rough that day too from a storm the day before, so the ride was very bumpy and there were no seat cushions. Protect yourself from "numb bum" with a folded towel or use the life jackets before you get going, as the driver goes fast and it will be too windy to rearrange things!

We first stopped at Caye Caulker and walked to a restaurant, placing our orders for later. Then we headed out a short distance in the water to snorkel.

There were 2 guides swimming with us and they were good at pointing out things underwater, and steering us away from the coral banks. The sharks and rays swim was good fun- even though you are way out there, it isn't very deep and you can see lots of rays and sharks right beneath you; even spotted a barracuda. After the snorkel, we went for lunch on Caye Caulker, then another 45 minute boat ride and short van ride back to the terminal area.

This tour was $70. US pp, plus lunch.

Thank you very much!

Thanks everyone for your input! TMLA, which small villages did you choose? Sounds like something we might enjoy too.

...

If it helps, we disembarked from the Pearl yesterday and used the ship bus to FLL. It was $25. pp and we just booked it on board during the cruise. There are a couple of them based on how early your flight is.

Thank you guys.

This is the skillet bread recipe link-it's a great recipe site!

http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/?s=cheesy+skillet+bread

I adapted the recipe a bit-reduced the almond milk to 1/2 c. and also split the batter into 2 portions, baking them in 2 foil pie pans. Makes 12 very filling slices.

I found the original recipe too moist and thick. So this works to give a more bread-like texture, plus when you warm it up again in the oven it gets drier and even more like bread. It's great as a stuffing too, or to soak up 'gravy'.

I've also made it with mild white cheese like havarti instead of cheddar when I want something that goes with foods other than savoury.

Hi Audrilee! We're very happy to have found this method, too. Just finished baking a batch of cheesy skillet bread, Ray's favourite of the 'bread' recipes so far!

Are you able to get 18% or heavy cream anywhere on your cruises? I like that for coffee and it's not always easy to find!