Our Amazing European Adventure! Navigator of the Seas & Norwegian Epic Review w/pics

[ShellDil]

Hey there! I hope to continue with the trip report today or tonight. This past weekend was really busy and then work has really gotten in the way of this fun stuff! I just wanted to let everyone know I'm still there and working on the next day's pictures! :D

 

Hang in there!!

[ShellDil]

 

Did you bring any kind of travel plug adapters?

 

 

Yes, we brought both a converter, which we only needed for the kid's DS chargers. And then adapters. We had two for our hotel rooms and my parents I believe had one. We had the kind with multi plug outlets so you could plug more than one device in at a time, as well as I think a USB plug. With 7 nights or so in hotels, we really needed them!

[ShellDil]

So out of curiosity I googled what I said and ETSY came up as a site like I mentioned but they charged to get added to the site (unlike a few of the other companies) I Know nothing about photography but I found the article I read interesting. Maybe it won't help you but since I know nothing someone else reading this might be interested. It compared the different sites for selling your work.

 

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/make-money/sell-photos-online/

 

Thank you for the photography information! I'm going to check out the link! :)

[ShellDil]

 

Whew...I'm back! What a weekend and then busy Monday and Tuesday! Last week was Megan's 12th Birthday, so we had Birthday events over the weekend! I took her and a friend to see Wicked on Sunday, and of course we had a sleepover on Saturday night. And work has been getting in the way of editing my pictures and typing up the trip report - that's just no fun! But I really wanted to continue along, so hopefully I can get at least part of our day in France posted tonight! I've got the pictures uploaded...so here goes! Thanks for hanging in there!

Friday, June 21st

Today we started the day with breakfast in Taste. It was good. I had an omelet. We would be docking in Provence, Marseille, France at 10:00 today and be in port until 7:00 pm, final on board at 6:30. It was nice to have a relaxing morning, but still a long day in port!

 

 

 

 

 

We have a day planned with Provence-Connection Tours, and we found our driver, Marcel, right away. He was very personable. You could tell right away how much he loved his job, he loved his country and he especially loved talking about the places he would be taking us. My dad sat in the front of the van and spent the day talking to Marcel about everything from the country, to the sites, to nuclear power to the school system in France! It was fascinating to listen to them. I think my dad found a kindred spirit! While Marcel was a good driver/guide, there were a few times where he got off track talking and took a wrong turn or two and I started to actually wonder if we’d get back to the ship in time once or twice!

[ShellDil]

Our first stop was Arles. It was amazing to me how you step out of the van and you truly feel like you’re in France! We had a short stop at the old Theater

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

and then the Arena, or Colisseum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are all Roman Ruins.

[ShellDil]

Then we had some time to walk around the little town. This is again another circular town set around the Colisseum. So quaint and charming with little shops and home set in a circular formation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I again just “loved it here” as I mentioned several times during this trip to my kids who were walking with me! “Ok mom, we got it!”

 

 

 

On our way to our next stop we passed by Le Cafe La Nuit where Vincent Van Gogh once painted and actually painted the cafe itself in a picture as well.

 

 

[ShellDil]

Next we drove to Pont du Gard. This is a huge Aqueduct bridge from the Roman Empire. It was built in 1 AD and is the highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges and is the best preserved. It was quite a sight!

 

Unfortunately Megan wasn’t feeling too well. I think she was a bit car sick. So Mimi and her stopped at the little café and had a snack.

 

 

 

 

The rest of us walked up to the main viewing area for some pictures. There was a nice park area there with what seemed like some school or camp kids and even some cabanas set up by the water.

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

Next up....we visit Avignon! I'll get to the rest of our day in France tomorrow (Wednesday)! I'm glad I could at least get some of our day posted today! A few pictures on the way to Avignon....

 

Crossing the Rhone River (It's out the van window, so not the best shot!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cjcruiser27]

Thank you!there! I hope to continue with the trip report today or tonight. This past weekend was really busy and then work has really gotten in the way of this fun stuff! I just wanted to let everyone know I'm still there and working on the next day's pictures! :D

 

Hang in there!!

[ShellDil]

Our next stop was Avignon. This was another town that had such a “French” feel about it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We first walked up to the Pope’s Palace. This really looked like quite a castle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

Alex and I walked up to the gardens and had a great view of the Rhone River and the Avignon Bridge. Mimi and Grandpop followed behind. Keith stayed with Megan and sat in the square by the Palace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

We had about an hour to wander around here. This was where we would be eating lunch. Marcel recommended we find a quick “grab and go” type lunch. I found a Panini that I liked – it was tomato and chevre cheese. No one else really found anything that appealed to them. Really? Finally of all things, Megan and Keith found cheeseburgers and Fries – are they French Fries? Alex found a four cheese Panini – like a grilled cheese. He was getting really grumpy at this point. He needed his food fill! He couldn’t find pizza and felt nothing would satisfy him! Thank goodness we found the Panini! He’s not the most adventurous eater! I’m not sure what my parents ate- by this time we had split up and met later at the van.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed Avignon and would have loved to spend more time browsing all of the shops and art stands!

[ShellDil]

Our last stop of the day was Les Baux.

 

 

 

 

I think this was my favorite part of the day, and I just have to come back here! Actually to this entire region of France. Again – it would be uttered from me more than once “I LOVE this place!” Oh my goodness – the views! The shops, the fact that we were walking in a little village built into the side of a mountainside! We didn’t make it to the castle, and only made it into a few shops. But I’ll say it again – I loved it there! Charming! It seemed at the time I was taking many pictures, but apparently I didn’t. I think I was too amazed with the actual sights.

 

 

 

I was just browsing and oohing at all of the little stores, sure they’re all geared towards tourists, but all of the soaps and perfumes and lavender!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Megan went off with my parents and I was with Keith and Alex. Alex found a candy store and his day was complete! I won’t even tell you how many Euros we spent there! But that candy weighed a lot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

Every single day so far has been beyond perfect! This was no exception!

 

We made our way back to the Epic, with a few more wrong turns from Marcel. Crazy! We laughed about it, and I did feel assured since when we were in Les Baux we bumped into some people from our ship on a ship tour and we were leaving 30 minutes before they were. I felt we had a good cushion!

 

 

I’d heard some people on the ship and also read some reviews as well of some people who were planning to just stay on board on the Marseille port because there wasn’t much to do. We ventured out into the countryside and it was one of the most beautiful days we had! The Provence region of France was gorgeous! We saw so much in this day! Our tour was spaced out perfectly – while sure it would have been great to spend more time in each place, seeing as much as we did gave us a fantastic overview of this region! I’m so glad we did what we did here!

 

Once we got back on board, none of our group of four had any interest in either Taste or Manhattan’s for dinner. My parents went to Manhattan. They liked it more there. We just found the menu to be rather limited. I almost felt like the choices were limited in a push to gear you towards the specialty restaurants. Which when we did go were far superior. However, for a family of for, the prices did add up quickly. I will mention that since Megan was under 12 her meals were half price. Sometimes we had to remind the server again after the bill came and they had to take it back to adjust it, even though they had previously asked her age prior to her dining. But that did save some money.

 

The four of us had reservations tonight for Blue Man Group. We’ve all seen it before, so we know the show and we know we like it. Alex is a percussionist and he really enjoys that aspect of the show. Last minute, Megan decided to skip out and go to the kid club. Alex and Megan had dinner in O’Sheehans before the show. We found the food there to be good. Nothing special and the serving sizes rather small. Once you know this, you can order more appropriately.

 

I get the feel this one has the "not another picture mom" attitude going on!

 

 

After O’Sheehans we split up, and went to the show. We enjoyed the Blue Man Group, as expected. It was packed. It was nice to sit back, relax and just laugh. And then Alex went off to the teen club. But not before seeing an all time favorite - yes...

 

Just look - even at nearly 14, my teen still loves Spongebob! I'll have to admit, when they were little kids, I couldn't stand Spongebob, now that they're older - I'll take Spongebob over so many other shows on tv! I was happy to stand there for the picture!

 

We went to the early show and then Keith and I went to Wasabi for dinner. It was really good and even though it’s a pay a la carte restaurant, we felt it was priced very reasonably and we left feeling very satisfied.

 

When we got back to the cabin, both kids were already back. Alex seems to like the Royal Caribbean teen club a bit more.

 

We had this guy waiting for us in the room tonight!

 

 

Tomorrow we have yet another adventure!

 

[ShellDil]

Saturday, June 22nd

 

Today we will be visiting Palma de Mallorca! I had never even heard of this island until I saw the itinerary for the Epic. We don’t dock until 1:00 pm and we are in port until 8:00 pm. Sure we’re in port for a long time, but I found the times to be pretty unusual. I didn’t want to do a ship tour and trying to find something “unique” here was difficult with this strange time frame.

 

Finding a day out on a boat was a challenge, since we really wouldn’t be out and about until at least 2:00 – by the time we could get to a dock somewhere. It seemed sort of late in the day for a beach day too. I knew the family didn’t want to see cathedrals – so what would we do here in this Palma de Mallorca?

 

Well, here it is, I’m up at 8:00 am! I actually slept in a bit! Everyone else is still asleep. I went out on the balcony and saw some lovely islands!

 

 

 

 

 

I checked the Daily to see what was going in this morning – it’s pretty much a half a sea day! I went to get breakfast in the Garden Café and enjoyed eating outside. Then went back to the cabin to get everyone up. Don’t waste this beautiful morning!

 

Keith and I went and got some chairs by the pool and I read. The kids went ad did their own thing. For a bit they played the big chess game. Then Alex went to the teen club. I believe they were doing some version of Pictionary. I think Megan went back to the cabin.

 

So, back to our day in Palma! We docked right on time at 1:00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We docked and got off the ship by 1:15. Disembarking on the Epic was simple as could be, most days! The only confusion was at some ports it wasn’t always clear which deck they were using to walk off. Some days stairways were closed off that were open on previous days. I’m sure they made announcements, but we never heard them in the cabin. If there was a way to hear them, we never figured it out.

 

We ended up booking another tour with Tours by Locals. We had used this company in Florence as well. I had actually booked this tour first, and then booked the tour in Florence. In my tireless quest to find something just a bit different – I found Kym who was willing to customize our day to fit whatever we wanted to do. Which to be honest – I had no idea what that would be! I told her about our group, our likes and what we had already done this trip. She came up with a pretty darn nice day! We had corresponded several times leading up to the tour to confirm our plans and we met right on time. Her husband, George was our driver.

 

As soon as we arrived she pulled out 6 hats for us and insisted that while they might feel a bit silly – it was our gift from her and let’s all wear them for the day. Ok – this was going to be a bit different, but fun for sure! She also gave each of us girls a fan to keep and to keep us cool. It was another hot day!

 

So what did Kym and I come up with for our day in Palma? Well – we didn’t plan on going to the tourist caves! First, we’ve been to caves before…and second, our day was going to be a bit more unique. And involve some Mallorcan food and wine! Tapas here we come! Somewhere along the emails I had mentioned to Kym that Keith was a chef, so she also had a part of the day planned for him as well.

 

 

[louthebowler]

loving the review, but have hung back from saying so, as didn't want to spoil the flow of it, but then thought you are not a mind reader ( are you?) so how can you know how much I am enjoying it!

every time I look and nothing has been posted, I think- come on now- forget the family and work and all the other things getting in the way!! if only I could learn a little patience.

keep up the good work

[ShellDil]

loving the review, but have hung back from saying so, as didn't want to spoil the flow of it, but then thought you are not a mind reader ( are you?) so how can you know how much I am enjoying it!

every time I look and nothing has been posted, I think- come on now- forget the family and work and all the other things getting in the way!! if only I could learn a little patience.

keep up the good work

 

Thank you! I'm glad you commented - the positive feedback does really help. Sometimes when there are no comments I wonder if anyone is out there still reading! :eek:

 

I hope to get to some more posts either later today or tonight. If I can squeeze some in between work today as well that would be nice too! ;)

[kenandlaura06]

Thank you! I'm glad you commented - the positive feedback does really help. Sometimes when there are no comments I wonder if anyone is out there still reading! :eek:

 

I hope to get to some more posts either later today or tonight. If I can squeeze some in between work today as well that would be nice too! ;)

 

Definitely still reading! Keep the review coming!

 

 

Send from device_name using Cruise Critic your_app_name App

[cjcruiser27]

I hope you post a photo of the hats! You mentioned they made you feel silly?!

Saturday, June 22nd

 

Today we will be visiting Palma de Mallorca! I had never even heard of this island until I saw the itinerary for the Epic. We don’t dock until 1:00 pm and we are in port until 8:00 pm. Sure we’re in port for a long time, but I found the times to be pretty unusual. I didn’t want to do a ship tour and trying to find something “unique” here was difficult with this strange time frame.

 

Finding a day out on a boat was a challenge, since we really wouldn’t be out and about until at least 2:00 – by the time we could get to a dock somewhere. It seemed sort of late in the day for a beach day too. I knew the family didn’t want to see cathedrals – so what would we do here in this Palma de Mallorca?

 

Well, here it is, I’m up at 8:00 am! I actually slept in a bit! Everyone else is still asleep. I went out on the balcony and saw some lovely islands!

 

 

 

 

 

I checked the Daily to see what was going in this morning – it’s pretty much a half a sea day! I went to get breakfast in the Garden Café and enjoyed eating outside. Then went back to the cabin to get everyone up. Don’t waste this beautiful morning!

 

Keith and I went and got some chairs by the pool and I read. The kids went ad did their own thing. For a bit they played the big chess game. Then Alex went to the teen club. I believe they were doing some version of Pictionary. I think Megan went back to the cabin.

 

So, back to our day in Palma! We docked right on time at 1:00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We docked and got off the ship by 1:15. Disembarking on the Epic was simple as could be, most days! The only confusion was at some ports it wasn’t always clear which deck they were using to walk off. Some days stairways were closed off that were open on previous days. I’m sure they made announcements, but we never heard them in the cabin. If there was a way to hear them, we never figured it out.

 

We ended up booking another tour with Tours by Locals. We had used this company in Florence as well. I had actually booked this tour first, and then booked the tour in Florence. In my tireless quest to find something just a bit different – I found Kym who was willing to customize our day to fit whatever we wanted to do. Which to be honest – I had no idea what that would be! I told her about our group, our likes and what we had already done this trip. She came up with a pretty darn nice day! We had corresponded several times leading up to the tour to confirm our plans and we met right on time. Her husband, George was our driver.

 

As soon as we arrived she pulled out 6 hats for us and insisted that while they might feel a bit silly – it was our gift from her and let’s all wear them for the day. Ok – this was going to be a bit different, but fun for sure! She also gave each of us girls a fan to keep and to keep us cool. It was another hot day!

 

So what did Kym and I come up with for our day in Palma? Well – we didn’t plan on going to the tourist caves! First, we’ve been to caves before…and second, our day was going to be a bit more unique. And involve some Mallorcan food and wine! Tapas here we come! Somewhere along the emails I had mentioned to Kym that Keith was a chef, so she also had a part of the day planned for him as well.

 

 

[Riggy84]

Thank you! I'm glad you commented - the positive feedback does really help. Sometimes when there are no comments I wonder if anyone is out there still reading! :eek:

 

I hope to get to some more posts either later today or tonight. If I can squeeze some in between work today as well that would be nice too! ;)

 

I'm still here. Waiting (im)patiently for the next instalment!

Your photo's are just beautiful! Makes me think i should get a decent camera, rather than just snapping on the iphone!

I just don't think i'll get much use out of it! And considering i'm about to fork out for a new car, i don't think i can justify the costs of a new camera! I've already had to face facts that i won't be able to buy the lovely turquoise suitcase i lusted after :(

Oh well, only 29 days and 13 minutes until i leave London for the Epic :D

[mrsfecura]

 

 

 

 

Wow - the sky in this one is amazing.

[ShellDil]

I hope you post a photo of the hats! You mentioned they made you feel silly?!

 

Oh I do! I think had one of us been wearing a hat, not so silly, but 6 of us wearing hats - now we looked silly! ;) But it was also fun! :D

[ShellDil]

I'm still here. Waiting (im)patiently for the next instalment!

Your photo's are just beautiful! Makes me think i should get a decent camera, rather than just snapping on the iphone!

I just don't think i'll get much use out of it! And considering i'm about to fork out for a new car, i don't think i can justify the costs of a new camera! I've already had to face facts that i won't be able to buy the lovely turquoise suitcase i lusted after :(

Oh well, only 29 days and 13 minutes until i leave London for the Epic :D

 

Thank you for the compliment on the photos! While getting a great camera can help, I have seen some pretty good pictures taken with iPhones too! I went back and forth for a few years trying to rationalize the cost of a new camera. Finally I figured if there was a time to upgrade, it had to be before this trip! But remember, it's not all the camera - you have to set the shots up and take tons of pictures to get the shots you love!

 

What this camera did for me was allow me to shoot in some lighting that my old camera would have forced me to mess with settings more, or the pictures would have been a bit more grainy. I had better speed with this camera as well. I think once you go out of the auto mode and into more manual settings, upgrading cameras makes a bigger difference.

 

There are some pretty great point and shoot cameras out there!

 

But alas...if you have to get a car...I guess there must be priorities! Car...luggage...camera! :)

 

Have a great time on the Epic! Less than a month for you! :D