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

CruisingGatorGirl

By CruisingGatorGirl,
in Celebrity Cruises

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It works for me sometimes. I re uplaoded and it said it was a duplicate so would not finish the upload. here is a different link, see it this one works :( :confused:

 

Driving along the Amalfi Coast as our RIL driver sings to us:

 

Really enjoying your review. You appear to have a real zest for life. The video is blocked on my computer.

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Us Two

Us Two

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video also worked for me ,and I thought the comraderie (spelt that wrong)was just fantastic, I would have had tears in my eyes!!! So will you get on with the journey, before we all start taking fits. :D We'll all have withdrawal simptoms when your done, as it is!

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CruisingGatorGirl

CruisingGatorGirl

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Really enjoying your review. You appear to have a real zest for life. The video is blocked on my computer.

 

The Amalfi coast video is still blocked on my computer also. Love, love, love your review!! Can't wait until the engagement!!

 

okay, one more time :) hope it works now!

 

 

p.s. if my computer speeds up I will have one more update before bed. Come on 'puter!

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CruisingGatorGirl

CruisingGatorGirl

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Post #12: Cardio Pays Off!

 

5/29/2012, Tuesday, Kotor, Montenegro

 

Solstice: I woke up just as Captain Yannis was turning the Solstice 180 degrees to face the bow towards the way out of the Montenegro fjords. Today we all decided to sleep in a little and try to leave the ship between 9-10. There was a chance of rain for later in the day so we did not want to get off too late.

 

 

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Kotor: The plan for today was Tyler, Brandon, and myself would climb up to the fort while mom and dad just strolled around the city together. We easily reached the tender and before long we were stepping off in Kotor. I pointed up to the red flag at the top of the fort and told Brandon and Tyler that was where we were headed!

 

Pictured below: Group shot from the dock in Kotor. One of my all time favorite trip pics!

 

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Now before I get any further I need to pause and give some back-story. I do not like doing cardio/working out. However, at home I do cardio almost every single day because I have to. In preparation for the trip I did the stair-stepper a lot. On the trip I had been pigging out, you saw, I ordered 4 desserts one night! Therefore I looked at climbing to the top as a fun way to get my cardio in! Brandon and Tyler would disagree.

 

Ok back on track

 

We did not get a map or anything for Kotor, it is pretty easy to get around. We followed the crowd to the entrance of the medieval town. And walked through the cool opening in the wall.

 

 

 

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We left mom and dad and easily were able to find the start to climb the winding path up to the fort. We paid the guy 3 Euros to climb and started.

 

 

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Not long after we started did Brandon and Tyler start complaining, already? Come on guys! We made it to the half-way point where a guy sells water and there are a few benches to cool off and rest. This seems to be the point where those who decided they do not want to continue go back down and those that are determined continue on. We lost Brandon at this point and Tyler was being a good sport. Well honestly the reason he stayed was because he didn’t want to leave me alone, he really did not want to continue.

 

Pictured below: Scenes from the half-way point. Still have a long ways to go!

 

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post 11 continued below…

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CruisingGatorGirl

CruisingGatorGirl

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continued from above, post 11- part 2, Kotor

 

**There are videos in this post and my next, fingers crossed they work!

 

I don’t know if it was because of all the cardio I did before the trip, but I found the climb to be nice and it felt good to get some cardio in. I did not even break a sweat; however I did take my cardigan off. What I did find to be challenging was the uneven ground made up of flat stones as stairs and no steps in some areas.

 

 

I loved the wild Poppy’s (poppies?) all over Italy. While Tyler took a break I took some pictures of the flowers: (p.s. I want to have a poppy in my bridal bouquet now for memories of the trip)

 

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By this point Tyler had enough. He is Mr. In Shape so I thought it was hilarious that I was breezing past him!

 

 

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We finally made it to the top. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the top. It was nice and breezy up top and we could see the storm clouds rolling in.

 

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We hung out for a little, took in the view and headed back down. There is not really a lot to do up top besides take the view in, which is truly spectacular. The ship looks so BE-A-Utiful from up high!

 

 

 

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Going down took 23 minutes. I found almost “skipping” down was a lot easier than stopping and stepping each individual step. I flew down the switchbacks and stones and made it to the bottom in no time.

 

Video from the fort at the top of Kotor:

 

 

 

 

post 11 continued below…

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CruisingGatorGirl

CruisingGatorGirl

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post 11-Part 3 continued from above

 

We took the tender back and decided to nap… until… what sounded like someone was putting dynamite in the mountains and exploding them starting going off. It made both of us jump right up out of bed. It was thunder! The thunder has the deep rolling, growling, roar that moves through the mountains like a fast roaring thick something I don’t know haha. The video does not do it justice, like most videos.

 

Here is a video of the thunderstorm in Kotor:

 

 

We could no longer sleep. I found my dad and he wanted to play backgammon. We headed up to the Sky Lounge to grab a couple seats, play backgammon, and get ready for our departure from Kotor.

Sky Lounge:

 

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As suggested on here, we all headed to the Sky Lounge to watch us navigate through the fjords and make our way out to the Adriatic Sea. The thunder storms continued and the rain rolled down the windows of the Sky Lounge. However, by the time we existed the fjords the sky cleared up!

 

 

 

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We all broke apart. Most of us went to nap. I did some P90X and headed to the gym for some more cardio. I gained about 7 pounds by now. EeeEEk! I know some of it was bloating but lets be real, I did order 4 desserts in one night! HA!

 

We saw the magic show before dinner tonight. We thought it was good and enjoyable. Next we explored the ship before heading to dinner. We do not drink but this bar was really cool. A Rod Stewart look alike hung out here every night. I love how on a 2 week cruise you give nick-names to people you see over-and-over on the ship.

 

 

 

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After dinner we ran into the magician who was very chatty with us and drunk; very drunk. Just look at this picture!

 

 

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After trying to converse with the magician we watched the “Dancing with the Stripes” a dance contest that featured guests and crew. It was very entertaining. See the video below; there were some real characters! Off to bed we went. You can see **Esperanza**, our cruise director, in this picture. I liked her a lot! Sorry I have the urge to put sparkles around her name! She had so much energy!

 

 

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“Dancing with the Stripes” dance contest:

 

 

 

Up next: Venice day 1!

 

 

-Ashley

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searoses

searoses

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i was watching that last night as snl started and there was jon hamm in front of a fake gondola singing as well. laughed and woke my husband up,. he loved the video,too...excited to hear more. envy your desire and ability to mt climb and then have fun doing more cardio...oh the good old days...lol:D

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kat228

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Hah...we absolutely loved the Hot Glass Show too. We kept finding ourselves there.

 

Even funnier is at the time we lived only an hour from Corning and we had never been to the actual museum (we rectified that after the trip!)

 

And yeah...I always bring my own shampoo and conditioner. And my own hairdryer. My husband now agrees with me on the hairdryer! The hairdryer on Celebrity was fine, but when we got to the hotel in Rome, it took me like 40 minutes to dry my hair.

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Myari

Myari

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Loving your review. Also, I can't wait to hear about your Paris trip as well because I am thinking of combining a med cruise and Paris for our honeymoon next year and wondering if it is entirely too much.

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djwcruisejunkie

djwcruisejunkie

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I keep checking in the hope that you've posted 'the next thrilling instalment'!! :p

 

We sail on this cruise in 12 days time, so I'm hoping to read the rest before I go - get typing Ashley, we're all holding our breath for the engagement!

 

My husband proposed to me on our very first cruise, round the Med in 1996 - seems like forever ago - back then we could only afford a tiny inside cabin near the back of the ship - always smelled of diesel yuk! And when the ship rolled in the night, and my bedside glass of water spilled on me I though we were sinking :eek::eek:

 

Now we book cabins with daylight - and ships that have BIG stabilisers :D

 

Deb xx

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Celebrity Cruises - BPP

Celebrity Cruises - BPP

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We are inviting a few of our Cruise Critic members and readers to be among the first to participate and have a chance to have their Celebrity vacation and destination images and videos shared with the rest of the world.

 

We’re admirers of some of the photos and stories you’ve shared. Today, we’ve launched Celebrity Cruises Storybook hosted on our Celebrity Cruises Facebook Page.

 

Please take a look at http://on.fb.me/QVlbwI and click on Add Your Story. Follow the simple instructions. We’ll review the content and your Celebrity Cruises story could be shared with others and possibly used in our marketing materials.

 

Thanks for your participation and being such a strong supporter of our brand.

 

All the best……Brian

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Orator

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We are inviting a few of our Cruise Critic members and readers to be among the first to participate and have a chance to have their Celebrity vacation and destination images and videos shared with the rest of the world.

 

We’re admirers of some of the photos and stories you’ve shared. Today, we’ve launched Celebrity Cruises Storybook hosted on our Celebrity Cruises Facebook Page.

 

Please take a look at http://on.fb.me/QVlbwI and click on Add Your Story. Follow the simple instructions. We’ll review the content and your Celebrity Cruises story could be shared with others and possibly used in our marketing materials.

 

Thanks for your participation and being such a strong supporter of our brand.

 

All the best……Brian

 

Very nice :)

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CruisingGatorGirl

CruisingGatorGirl

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I keep checking in the hope that you've posted 'the next thrilling instalment'!! :p

 

We sail on this cruise in 12 days time, so I'm hoping to read the rest before I go - get typing Ashley, we're all holding our breath for the engagement!

 

My husband proposed to me on our very first cruise, round the Med in 1996 - seems like forever ago - back then we could only afford a tiny inside cabin near the back of the ship - always smelled of diesel yuk! And when the ship rolled in the night, and my bedside glass of water spilled on me I though we were sinking :eek::eek:

 

Now we book cabins with daylight - and ships that have BIG stabilisers :D

 

Deb xx

 

Aww that is so sweet! I think getting engaged in Europe is magical! Unfortunately I have mid-terms this week so I will not be able to post probably until Saturday :(:( I am sorry! it takes me a while to get pictures uploaded with my slow internet. i will try my best to post before Saturday!

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CruisingGatorGirl

CruisingGatorGirl

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We are inviting a few of our Cruise Critic members and readers to be among the first to participate and have a chance to have their Celebrity vacation and destination images and videos shared with the rest of the world.

 

We’re admirers of some of the photos and stories you’ve shared. Today, we’ve launched Celebrity Cruises Storybook hosted on our Celebrity Cruises Facebook Page.

 

Please take a look at http://on.fb.me/QVlbwI and click on Add Your Story. Follow the simple instructions. We’ll review the content and your Celebrity Cruises story could be shared with others and possibly used in our marketing materials.

 

Thanks for your participation and being such a strong supporter of our brand.

 

All the best……Brian

 

Wow! Thank you, that is awesome! I definitely will add my story :D We are hooked on X for life!

 

This has been the best thread in a long time!! Almost 14,000 views! Thank you Celebrity for noticing and acknowledging 5 happy X cruisers:D

 

Wow! That is such a compliment, thank you!

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