5/23/12 1st time X/cruise, med. engagement, Paris; oh my! Solstice Med. Trip Report

[CruisingGatorGirl]

...Post 6 continued

 

 

 

After sail-away, we headed down to our rooms to relax a little before dinner, we had the late seating. We had our first of many spectacular meals that first night. Our first thoughts of the Grand Epernay dining room was sleek and sophisticated- not tacky (like some of my cheap cruises). We were seated at a corner table with a nice window. Our server, Nehemias, was again, spectacular. I can hear his voice now telling us about the dinner. In fact I made pizza tonight and I can picture him explaining “the beautiful pizza the chef prepared tonight…” ahh the memories. We enjoyed the sun setting as we progressed through our dinner courses. I had the crème brulee that night, my first of about 30 desserts for the trip. No exaggeration, I have a huge sweet tooth as you will soon find out! We were all very satisfied with our meals. However, I did not care for the Caesar dressing. This was the only night we felt some motion. I did get a little sick, no one else did.

 

 

 

We did some exploring and off to bed, we have not had much sleep thus far and will not really get a lot of sleep until a sea day. Good night Solstice!

 

 

 

As Captain Yannis would say, “Outtt”

 

-Ashley

Edited September 4, 2012 by CruisingGatorGirl

[CruisingGatorGirl]

This is going to be one of those reviews I never want to end, I can tell ;)

Looking forward to The Arts Hotel; I have had a drink there by the pool, but never stayed.

 

It was very nice! I only have a few pictures, I posted them above. Hope one day I make it back there, I am sure you hope you do too!

 

How funny!

 

I'm also a Gator!, also terrified of flying, and I also LOVE airplane food. However, I NEVER EVER unbuckle my seatbelt in flight and it's a catastrophe for me if I have to go to the bathroom in flight. Two transatlantics a couple summers ago with no restroom trips!

 

Can't wait to read the rest.

 

B

 

Wow another person like me :) I don't know how you do it because I tend to drink more water on flights!

 

More please! I leave Wednesday for Barcelona and sail on Solstice Saturday:)

 

You lucky duck :D I work tomorrow, but I will try and get some posted as quickly as possible!

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Thank you everyone for the kind words! I thought everyone would think I write too much. i tend to be wordy :rolleyes: I guess that's what being a grad student does to ya :p

 

I hope you're a grad student in something with writing since you are obviously so good at it. I can't wait to read more - I believe we will will stopping at several of the same ports on our cruise in October.

 

Wow thank you, that is very nice of you to say. Writing has never been my strong area. It is something I constantly have to work and improve on. I am pursuing a Ph.D. in Education; I was a high school teacher back in FL. I actually have a few books I want to write one day- when I am done with school. Maybe I can become a travel author! Hmm, get inspiration from Celebrity... sounds like a good plan to me ;) dreaming

 

Love your descriptions. Can't wait for more. I too am terrified of flying. We have a 12hour flight to Europe soon. Hurray for Ativan.

 

I don't know what I would do without my medicine! Hope you have a smooth flight like we did :)

[sayvan]

Looking forward to your review. I will be on the Solstice in April'13 for 28 days .... keep the pictures coming and thanks for taking the time...

[kat228]

Joining in! I love the reviews like this with all the pictures!

 

Congrats on the engagement! For our honeymoon last year we did Celebrity in the Mediterranean...our first on Celebrity and we fell in love. We actually planned our wedding date around our honeymoon!

 

I'm excited to read the rest!

[searoses]

what a terrific review.......you and your fiancee are a lovely couple. i would love to cruise europe with my kids. will have to wait for the 6yo grson to get older!! looking forward to more.

[TeaBag]

This is a great review. I love your enthusiasm for everything.

[mimito4]

Well, how cute are you? Let me phrase it another way, how precious are you?

 

From one mom to another, please tell your mom congratulations for doing a great job tutoring and mothering you for 26 years! Yes, you were lucky to be experencing such a treat courtesy of your good parents, but they are also lucky to share you company.

 

Pssst. Don't tell them I said that.

 

Looking forward to the rest. Please don't take much of a break. ;)

[TLCOhio]

Appreciate your nice postings and lots of pictures. Your pictures in Barcelona, at the market there, the many interesting buildings, etc., bring back nice memories from when we were there departing on the Solstice from last June. Keep up the good postings and fun travel details. Look forward to seeing more.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 101,173 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[gelo7]

Great report and excellent pictures.

[jagaul]

Loving your wonderful review and photographs! We will be on this exact cruise on 10-14 so am devouring all of your thoughts about Barcelona and now the Solstice.

Can't wait for the remainder of your trip!

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Post #7: Am I really on the Cote D’Azur?

 

5/24/2012, Thursday

 

Pictured below: The quaint, colorful, seaside town of Villefrance along the Cote D'Azur

 

 

Solstice, South of France: I jumped out of bed as soon as the alarm went off (we used our cell phones for alarms, on airplane mode)… I wanted to get up super early, I am guessing maybe 5:30-6ish? I peaked my head through the heavy, darkening curtains slowly to try and let Tyler sleep. Ummm, holy cow, we were port side, sailing slowly along the Cote D’Azur approaching our port of Villefranche. Whattt! No Way! No time to be quiet, too excited for soft voices. I ripped those curtains open and turned to tell Tyler to tell him “you have got to see this!” but him and most of the rest of the ship decided to sleep some more. From leaning over the balcony and turning my head side to side and up and down I felt alone. How can everyone be sleeping through this??? Of course I know I was not the only one up, it just felt that way at the time because I was so excited! I just wanted someone to be witnessing this beauty with me! It was a very special moment for me, my first morning on the Solstice, seas as calm as a pool, temps in the high 60’s/low 70’s, looking into the eyes of the French coastline.

 

Pictured below: What I first saw when I went onto the balcony

 

 

I took French for 3 years in high school and after visiting Paris in 2004 I fell in love with France, Europe, the culture everything. I had been waiting for this moment, to see the Cote D’Azur, something I study years ago in person. And we could not have asked for better weather! I was practically ready to jump off the boat and swim to shore!

 

Today the plan, according to “the book,” was room-service on the balcony, catch the first tender in, take the train to Monaco (complete dad’s dream to see the Grand Prix), take the train back to Eze, and if time permits, see Cannes too since the film festival was going on.

 

pictured below: Breakfast with a view

 

 

Villefrance, France: We made the 2nd tender, no lines/waits nothing, got right on. We easily made our way to the train station. We waited in the short line to buy our train tickets for Monaco. The man selling the tickets did not speak English, “SWEET, I get to use my mad French skills” I thought to myself. Well they are not really mad… you know what I mean. I practiced in my head my numbers and conversations I would need anxiously awaiting my turn to step up and order tickets for my family. I felt like a proud 4 year old! I bought the tickets and we headed to the platform.

 

 

 

At the platform the workers warned us that pick pocketing was bad now, especially with the Grand Prix and Film Festival happening in the same week. We also were told there was a train strike going on. The train came quickly and it was standing room only. I gave everyone strict orders to watch their watches and money. The man next to us, had his wallet taken right our of his pockets while we were standing next to him! But we came out just fine.

 

The train ride was a short 16 minute ride along the coast line. I loved this brief ride, wish it would have lasted longer!

 

 

 

Monaco: We got off at our stop and immediately the hairs on our arms stood up, we all stopped and looked at each other and grinned… the race cars were roaring and ripping through the streets! We could hear and feel their wrath even in the station! It was going to be a good day! My dad has always dreamt of seeing the Grand Prix of Monaco but since until a year ago, had no desire to go to Europe he never thought this would happen. He specifically picked this cruise because it would be in Monaco during the race.

 

Pictured below: Vendors line the streets for the Grand Prix of Monaco

 

 

We followed the crowd out of the station anxiously awaiting our first sight of the race track, and BAM, we were hit with a mean dose of reality. Fences everywhere! They have the race completely blocked off so those without tickets could not see it. I could feel my dads heart sinking, he did not even have to say a word, I knew it. How were we going to turn this around?

 

I tried to redirect the attention to the first goal of the day, getting to the top where the royal palace was, I knew that was a great viewing spot, just maybe we could see the race there? We started our way towards the top but due to the race many roads were closed and I was not sure how to get there. I timidly walked up to vendors to ask for help. I suddenly became very self conscious of my French; the vendors hardly spoke English. When I get nervous I have my “little girl voice” as Tyler calls it. It came out. They did not really know what I was trying to say. I just nodded my head and walked along. I got some confidence and asked again. Now we are talking.

 

continued below...

Edited September 5, 2012 by CruisingGatorGirl

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Post 7 continued from above...

 

 

Pictured below: View from the top

 

Pictured below: Fences put up to block race views

 

We started to climb up the ramps to the top…. But…. Even the ramp had double high fences so if you were on the next level up you still could not see it! Eek! Ok now to plan B. We got to the top and wanted to see the changing of the guards so we decided to wait. What happens next I am sworn to Monaco secrecy. It involved goat blood, handshakes, poker, DNA, and the like. No, just kidding, but really I am not suppose to say what happened per the Monaco race camera guys, hint hint. My dad did some smooth talking and we got a P R I M E viewing spot, thanks to some very nice cameramen. Unfortunately the pictures from this are few, and are on my dads phone. I will try to get them on here. But for now this little picture will have to do:

 

 

 

Now that dads life was complete we could continue on with our regularly scheduled program. Next stop, trying to find THE Monte Carlo Casino. This proved to be quite the challenge. As I stated, the race had many streets closed and detours all over the place. But, we must continue on to find THE Casino! At every corner I had to keep asking for directions, usually police type people who were moreee than willing to help me, to make sure we were on the right track. At each corner they would say “ah, yes, just around that corner” hmm get to that corner, no casino, ask the next person “just after that turn” and so on and so forth. We knew that “just around the corner” really meant around 10 more corners. We could see the top of the casino but there was no direct path. In hindsight we should have got a cab. My mom and brother decided to wait for us at the train station.

 

Pictured below: taking a break from the walk to the Casino to pose for a picture with the city behind us. We dressed up because we thought that was required for Casino entry. That was not the case.

 

 

The streets turned into a white marble looking material and the grass became greener. (see the picture in the collage below). We started seeing high-end, top designer stores and knew we were getting close. FINALLY, we see it! Ah ha! Yes! But, we were not allowed in until 2 because of race activities. So we waited and rested our feet on the nicest park bench I have ever seen. Finally the gates opened! Standing on the steps of THE Monte Carlo Casino overlooking THE Grand Prix of Monaco was surreal. Inside was even more amazing. They check everything in your possession when you walk in, phones, water, etc. so I have no pictures, sorry.

 

By the time we left the casino a moderate rainfall started. We decided to take a cab back to the station. Man, I tell you, that was the best cab ride ever! We had a nice, cold, plush Mercedes taxi with magazines, tinted windows, the works. We could have stayed in that cab for hours our feet were hurting so bad. We caught up with mom and Brandon.

 

Pictured below: Only in Monaco can you go to a "Plane Store"

 

 

We worked our way to the platform and I asked the lady working there when the next train would arrive. We were told due to the strike it would be at least an hour, but probably longer! So we found an open area and made shop on the platform with other cruise passengers waiting to get back.

 

 

Solstice: We never made it to Eze or Cannes due to the strike; and to be honest, we were tired. So we headed back to the ship for our first formal night. It was not a true formal night, they called it cocktail or something like that. Tonight on the ship we saw the Solstice show, we thought it was spectacular. My only critique was the dancers were not completely in synch, but we ALL enjoyed the show. We also took advantage of room service and ordered cookies and milk. We ordered room service quite a bit- Tyler loves to eat. I blame him for the 9 pounds I gained! The food always arrived hot and promptly. Note, if you are ordering your breakfast for the next morning, when you pick a time slot, they always come at the beginning of that time slot.

 

Pictured below: town of Villefranche, cocktail night on Solstice, and the streets leading up to the casino.

 

 

 

Next up: Florence! And our first Rome in Limo tour! Can’t wait!

 

Bon Soir CC!

 

-Ashley

Edited September 5, 2012 by CruisingGatorGirl

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Thank you everyone reading along! I put a lot of time into typing everything. I am already at 13 single-spaced pages in a Word doc. so I greatly appreciate every comment! I will be in a wedding this weekend so I will try to get a few more posts in.

 

Joining in! I love the reviews like this with all the pictures!

 

Congrats on the engagement! For our honeymoon last year we did Celebrity in the Mediterranean...our first on Celebrity and we fell in love. We actually planned our wedding date around our honeymoon!

 

I'm excited to read the rest!

 

Thank you! Did you do a review? Our dream is to do the Greek cruise for our Honeymoon :) Anything special I need to know about a honeymoon on X?

 

what a terrific review.......you and your fiancee are a lovely couple. i would love to cruise europe with my kids. will have to wait for the 6yo grson to get older!! looking forward to more.

 

Aww thank you :o We are looking forward to the day we can bring our future kids to Europe! That won't be for a while :rolleyes:

 

Well, how cute are you? Let me phrase it another way, how precious are you?

 

From one mom to another, please tell your mom congratulations for doing a great job tutoring and mothering you for 26 years! Yes, you were lucky to be experencing such a treat courtesy of your good parents, but they are also lucky to share you company.

 

Pssst. Don't tell them I said that.

 

Looking forward to the rest. Please don't take much of a break. ;)

 

Why thank you, that is so very kind of you to say! I feel so lucky to have the parents I have and to create memories together in Europe :D

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Appreciate your nice postings and lots of pictures. Your pictures in Barcelona, at the market there, the many interesting buildings, etc., bring back nice memories from when we were there departing on the Solstice from last June. Keep up the good postings and fun travel details. Look forward to seeing more.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 101,173 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

Thank you SO much Terry! Your report was what really inspired me and got us excited! I would read excerpts of your report to my family. You have excellent journalism skills! Thank you for your comment!

 

Loving your wonderful review and photographs! We will be on this exact cruise on 10-14 so am devouring all of your thoughts about Barcelona and now the Solstice.

Can't wait for the remainder of your trip!

 

Well you are in for a real treat; you are going to L-O-VE your trip! I should have my report done by then ;)

[2552phxcrzr]

Seems to me like you should start a personal travel blog ... you'd be good at writing it, you could share it with others, and you'd have a place where you could look back on your travels ... think about it.

 

And if you decide to go for it, make sure you give us all a link ... so we can keep up with you.

 

I'm enjoying your journal.

[ColleenFL]

Great job on the trip report, honey! I am re-living our trip all over again, can't wait to do it again! Rome in limo is the best! Can't wait for your report my little miss Gino, lol, (everyone will know what I mean about that comment when you get to Pompei)!

Love mom

[bagibabe]

Fab review and pictures :) Can't wait for the next installments!! Getting me so excited for my forthcoming trip on Solstice (October 2012) and our overnight stay in Barcelona. Sailed on Solstice for 12 nights August 2011 for our 25 Wedding Anniversary and had a magical time.

 

Im also a very nervous flyer :( and I can fully appreciate what you go through...but weirdly I too enjoy the food, walking about and the toilet breaks!!!

 

Enjoy your wedding trip this weekend :)

[kat228]

 

Thank you! Did you do a review? Our dream is to do the Greek cruise for our Honeymoon :) Anything special I need to know about a honeymoon on X?

 

 

Here's the link for my review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1516705

 

I don't have much advice. We did Aqua Class, so Blu was a real treat for the honeymoon since we didn't share tables it was a little more intimate.

 

Oh, and make sure you're still able to fly in the day before. We had flight issues because there was a huge snowstorm that hit the Northeast the day of our wedding (we were spared) but the flights the next morning were all messed up. And Delta royally screwed things up on top of that :rolleyes: Trying to scramble for flights is not the way to start your honeymoon!

 

We had Santorini and Athens on our cruise. We weren't fans of Athens (a little gray and dirty) but absolutely loved Santorini. We did a wine tour on Santorini and it was fantastic: http://www.santoriniwinetour.com/index.php/en/

[zoey09]

I am loving your review as well! I cant wait to do a Mediterranean cruise and CONGRATS on your engagement!! I got engaged on celebrity as well and we are having our honeymoon on celebrity in January! I feel like you can't go wrong with a honeymoon on a celebrity cruise ship!! They make you feel special even if it isn't a special occasion. We are doing aqua class for our honeymoon, as the previous poster has said it is a little more intimate since you can dine in blu! And I have read you are still close enough to other tables where you can have the chance to meet others if you want. I have never stayed in aqua, I never even stayed in a stateroom with a balcony so I am in for a big treat lol!. I can't wait to read more of your review, and see more pics! and you guys are a beautiful couple by the way!

[BKFlowerMound]

Post #5: Barcelona in 4 hours

5/23/2012, WednesdayTour highlights: all the Gaudi buildings, UN-freaking-believable (again there I go with the “freakin’”). Pictures do not do the buildings justice. We also enjoyed seeing the shopping/high end part of town, and the Olympic village. Overall the bus ride was a very pleasant, relaxing experience… I am sure the sunny 70 degree weather didn’t hurt. I do not have many pics because, well, we were on a moving bus!

 

I am loving reading your reports. Just a minor technical point that might actually excite you. I think what you are referring to above isn't the Olympic Village. If you are referring to the area where the stadium, the pool, etc., on Montjuic are, that area was referred to as the "Olympic Ring."

 

The Olympic Village is where the athletes lived during the games. What might excite you is that the actual Olympic Village is now the Hotel Arts and the tower next door. In other words, some athlete who was in the games stayed in your hotel room.

 

I'm looking forward to your next installment!

[buzzybuzzbuzz]

I have been reading your report since 1st day but had a panic attack earlier today when I logged on and couldn't fine your thread!

 

We are on board 2 weeks tomorrow, which will be our 1st cruise and we are so.... excited.

 

Loving your review and loving the enthusiasm, as a European (Scottish) we tend to take things a bit for granted.

 

Can't wait for the next installment.:D

[cyncorrell]

Can't wait for your next installment!!

Congrats on your engagement,

we have a 12 night Solstice in less than a month!!!

[Lin84]

Loving your review so far and congratulations on your engagement! We got engaged on our first cruise last year in Florence. We are taking our first Celebrity Cruise for our honeymoon in November (Eclipse - Caribbean) - so excited!

 

Look forward to hearing the rest of your review!!

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Post #8, SA-BRI-NAAAaaaa

 

5/25/2012, Friday

 

Livorno: Had breakfast on the balcony again. We really love the expansive room service menu you get with Concierge Class! We felt like royalty with all the food!

 

 

 

Today we have our first of three Rome in Limo tours. Like many of you, I learned about RIL from the CC boards. I’ll just go ahead and say what everyone already knows, it is WELL worth the money! I could go on and on about how amazing RIL was. I will try to touch on some of the highlights as we go along. My parents, mainly Dad, were a little skeptical at first. However, by the time we returned from our 2nd RIL tour, my dad said the drivers were the highlight of our whole entire vacation! He wishes we could have them everywhere. What he found most impressive was their authentic love for their cities. And the love they have for their jobs, showing off their beautiful cities!

 

Ok enough of the mushy- I Heart RIL stuff. Seriously, you should use them!

We will be meeting our driver at 7:30 am. There was a chance of rain today so we debated on bringing the umbrellas. Ultimately we decided not to, but no worries! 1.) it did not rain and 2.) Sabrina (our driver) had cold waters and umbrellas for us! As soon as we walked off the ramp we saw our driver, Sabrina, with our name sign. The tour was just for our family. The agenda was a quick peek at the leaning tower in Pisa and off to Florence.

 

 

 

Pisa: We took quick pictures at the leaning tower of Pisa, bought some silly souvenirs. If you ever want to play a prank on someone buy the leaning beer mugs, shot glasses… good times. We had some fun tricking people once we got home who did not take the time to look at the glass at first when we handed it to them. Try it!

 

Dad as an engineer; he was quite impressed with the Leaning Tower! Sabrina showed us 3 more leaning towers on our way to Florence.

 

 

 

 

Tuscany: Sabrina waited for us and informed us we had a lengthy ride to Florence. She had a big colorful, school-style, map of Italy for us to look at as we drove along through the Tuscany region. She asked if we were wine drinkers, well no, but we do like cooking! So she called up her friends who own a family-owned olive oil factory, Laudemio, holy hot olives! No it is not called “Holy Hot Olives” that is what I was thinking after our spectacular experience there!

 

After calling her friends they said it was ok for us to come by. Sabrina, who by the way, pronounces her name Sa-BRi-NAaaa, which we had fun with the rest of the trip talking like Sa-BRi-NAaaa. We would play pranks calling each others rooms acting like we were Solstice staff looking for someone talking with the undulating Italian accent.

 

She explained to us how the farm is all-organic; as we drove past the rows of olive trees (bushes?) she explained how they control the bugs without pesticides. This is how I remember it: at the end of each olive row, a special kind of rose bush is planted. Pests are first attracted to the rose bush. Therefore, if the rose bush is damaged than there is a good chance the olives are infected too! Pretty neat, huh?

 

 

We pull up. The owners graciously welcome us in and start explaining why their olives are so amazing. To be honest I don’t really remember why, it involved acid and pressing, that is all I know. What I do know is that I wanted to drink the Extra Virgin Olive Oil straight from the bottle! Back home I just bought grocery-store olive oil, we had no clue how AMAZING olive oil could be! (same with mozzarella as you will see on our Naples port day)

 

The nice lady brought out the bread pieces and the fresh, new bottle of oil. She started soaking the break with olive oil, we all exchanged a look “ummm ok, guess we are having bread with our olive oil then!” Well, let me tell you, what an experience. Before eating the samples we treated it like fine wine, spinning, sniffing, etc. SOLD! I’ll take 100 bottles please! No, we can’t, I don’t think Delta would approve. So we left with 5 bottles between the 5 of us, some will be gifts.

 

We were also given strict instructions to keep the oil in its box as light will damage the olive oil? Ok whatever you say olive oil lady you sure know a lot more about this than us! We were paranoid about the bottles breaking in luggage. We made it just fine.

 

This is jumping ahead a little bit but since we have been home we have “Europe Night” once a month and we only eat the olive oil on Europe Night, trying to savor it as long as we can!

 

Florence: Back on the winding road we go. Next stop Florence! Sabrina first brings us to a high viewing spot to get a spectacular view of Florence.

 

 

Continued below...