ShotoJuku’s LEGENDary Mediterranean Adventure

[cruiseclues]

Outstanding and touching photo review...greatly looking forward to more. :):):):)

[Beachlover1964]

What a great surprise you planned for your wife! Excellent review, can't wait to read more.

[Captain Carnival]

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.

[4hunters]

Fantastic job on surprising her! Great start to your review as well. :)

[Captain Carnival]

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!!

[Captain Carnival]

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!!!

Edited May 23, 2013 by ShotoJuku

[TrqoisWtrs]

Awesome surprise for your wife! :) Enjoying the review.

[erby2283]

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

[Captain Carnival]

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.

[Captain Carnival]

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?

[oncruisecontrol]

A great start to your review. Can't wait for more.

[jbhcw]

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

[Jruns]

Thank you for a great review!!

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Nice review! Thanks for posting!

[Jruns]

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!!!!!!

[dragon94]

I had to laugh at your cat picture. My sister and I have a thing about trying to get a picture of a cat in every country we go to!

The best was a cat in Castelmola (sp?) eating a FULL plate of spaghetti! Enjoying your review! I also had tears in my eyes with your pizza box surprise!

[Captain Carnival]

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

Edited May 24, 2013 by ShotoJuku

[Captain Carnival]

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!!

[Captain Carnival]

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!!

[travelingts]

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.

 

Hubby & I also did this cruise and ate at the steakhouse the last night at sea. Wish we hadn't waited so long. It was delicious and definitely worth the $$.

 

PS - ShotoJuku, loving the review.

Edited May 24, 2013 by travelingts

[Captain Carnival]

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

[AXiDMonica]

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

[crewsweeper]

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

[Captain Carnival]

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

[oncruisecontrol]

 

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!!

Wow. What a nice recounting of your exchanging of gifts. It is great to hear how much two people really love and appreciate each other. Kudos.