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

[lazygal]

Thank you for your wonderful pictures and review and for sharing your special family moments with us. I recently bought the Sagrada Familla family package. Don't believe they have discontinued it until you try. Someone on the Spain boards was having a fit that we were using this option and she may be spreading a rumor. They were very gracious with the "support" and as someone else mentioned, they do make more money this way. Our ticket prices go directly to preservation of the church VS. market 3rd party profits.

[ShellDil]

Once again - thanks for hanging in there! It took me awhile to upload the pictures from our day in Napoli and write up everything that we did from my notes! It's been pretty busy here but I managed to fit it in! I'm not sure if I'll get the whole day posted today but I hope to at least get the first half of the day done!

 

Tuesday, June 25th – Napoli

 

This is a day I had been so looking forward to! From the very beginning of the planning this port was one of the highlights for me. Not so much because of Naples, or shall we say, Napoli. But because by docking in Napoli we’d be able to not only be able to go to Pompeii but also the Amalfi coast! What could be better? All of this in one day?

 

 

 

 

 

We would be using Joe Banana Limo’s again and our port day was thankfully a long day. 7 am – 7 pm. We chose an “all inclusive” day with Joe Banana – the tour included our lunch as well as a guide in Pompeii.

 

 

 

 

Alex however was not too excited about our plans for the day. Sure, he was looking forward to Pompeii, but something seemed to be missing from our agenda. He could not believe we had a day planned in the place where pizza was essentially discovered, which is Naples – and yet we wouldn’t actually be setting foot in the city of Naples itself! How could we not be getting authentic pizza from Napoli? “Mom – you of all people? To not get the original pizza?” He was horrified! Well, it really didn’t seem quite right did it?

 

Anyway…we got off the ship and met our driver, Paolo, right on time at 8 am. Right away, we could tell this was going to be a great day. Paolo was one Italian who loved his job! Mimi mentioned to Paolo that maybe during our day if at all possible, could Alex get some authentic Napoli pizza here in this Pizza Capital of the World? Well – Paolo very enthusiastically accepted this mission!

 

We all got into his van and he explained his plan for the day as we set off for our first stop…Pompeii! He gave us some history on the way, which included some video clips he had on his dashboard iPad! He showed us some videos of the lava flow, eruptions, and pictures of Mt Vesuvius. This man loved the history of this doomed city!

 

I think I may have mentioned that prior to the trip, the kids and I had several “International Movie Nights” to prepare for some of the places we’d be visiting. Many movies were watched by just Megan and I. Alex thought they were a bit too “girly”. But we all watched a documentary on Pompeii. I think it may have been a PBS or National Geographic special. Alex had actually watched it in school before, but Megan had never seen it. It really was great that they both had such an in depth knowledge of what had happened there and what life would have been like leading up to the eruption.

 

Mt Vesuvius was looming at every turn during our drive. The crater had a few clouds around it, but the volcano was just huge!

 

I can not imagine living there with such an active volcano just waiting to erupt!

 

[ShellDil]

We arrived at Pompeii, and like our other private tours of the ruins we’d been to, we got there before the big buses filled with huge masses of other tourist arrived! Nice!

 

Our guide, Enzo, was there waiting and he had our tickets already so we could walk right in. Paolo made our introductions, we had a quick stop at the rest rooms and off we went!

 

Enzo was an interesting older gentleman. A bit goofy at times even! But he seemed to know Pompeii in and out! I know we only scratched the surface but we sure saw enough to get a feel of the daily life there. As we walked through the city, one could imagine the eruption and what came after!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

We saw the government areas and social areas

 

 

 

 

 

I felt like we saw it all - but I know we didn't!

 

There is so much detail here. So much history and really such tragedy. What amazing places these were! We of course saw the bodies frozen in time. This was so touching. Their breath literally taken from them as they were covered in ashes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw some artifacts that were recovered

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

 

 

We saw the bath houses.

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

We walked some more and made our way to the shops - the “fast food” stands you always hear about!

Alex and Megan pretending to serve some food

 

 

This was the Modestum's Bakery with the brick ovens that even could have been used for pizzas! Or maybe just breads…

 

 

Mimi and G-Pop listen to Enzo explain what took place here at the Bakery wile sitting on a millstone, used for making flour

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

We saw the residences - I felt like we saw it all - but I know we didn't!

 

 

This is the entrance to one of the very wealthy residences, the House of the Faun.

 

This is the colorful entrance way inside that gate to the House of Faun.

 

Inside the courtyard of the house.

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

This is the Macellum, which was a covered food market.

 

 

Right at the entrance of this area were more bodies - you could get much closer to these. At a matter of fact, our guide - Enzo insisted we get right up to the cases, much to the annoyance of the other tourists behind us and in front of us. He practically pushed the six of us behind the ropes and insisted that "we" could because we were with him. Ok....we quickly walked behind the ropes following him, snapping pictures and ignoring the people in line telling us to get out of their way. I have no idea if we should have gone behind the ropes or not - but he was our guide and there was someone in charge watching him and they never told him to move. So - when in "Rome" or should I say when in "Naples" so to speak...follow your guide! I did get some pretty moving pictures I think. I am amazed at the discovery of how to preserve the shape of these people in plaster. On the bodies here you can actually still see pieces of their skulls.

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

It was so easy to imagine such a busy port city that this was before it was destroyed!

 

 

 

 

 

This was the one place we bought one of those little books that shows the overlays of what the ruins look like and what the original city may have looked like. It was just fascinating to me. The size is just immense! The last page of the book shows a map of Pompeii in 79 A.D. and it could be of any modern day city. It’s just amazing to me. Then you turn the page and see what has been excavated. Such a small amount! There is so much more still under the earth! It’s hard to believe so much is still uncovered. Walking there it felt big – imagine how much more is there, underground today.

 

It was early when we arrived, so it was never too hot and it was never too crowded. Enzo seemd to always move us just as other people showed up where we were standing. I had no idea that Pompeii had already experienced pretty severe destruction from an earthquake prior to the eruption and it was in the process of rebuilding.

 

We had seen now ruins in Athens, Ephesus, smaller ruins in France and now Pompeii. Each was so different. So unique. So fascinating!

 

Just as the crowds started to really arrive it was time for us to move on. We said good bye to Enzo and met back up with Paolo.

[Buck1949]

Thanks for all your work in putting this together. Really a terrific reviews.

 

I love the photos but my favorites are the one of the personal residences, doorways, flowers. I just love that type of photos and have always been drawn to that type of artwork. Yours are frameworthy! Am so going to try to duplicate some of them when I get to go to europe again!

 

I just noted in your signature line that you are travelling on the Mediterranean in June of 2014. If you are by chance on the EPIC on June 4th, there is a roll call that I started over there. So far there are 3 families that are taking this cruise that have posted there. If you would like to join us over the next few months and you are on this cruise it's roll call can be located at:

 

JUNE 4th 2014 EPIC - Rome - Come Join Us !!

[ShellDil]

Continuing along....when we left off we were getting back into our van with Paolo after a most wonderful and touching visit to Pompeii. We were ready to head off to the Amalfi Coast for the rest of our day!

 

We began our drive through the Amalfi coast towards Positano where we’d be having lunch. As we started our drive Mt Vesuvius was a constant reminder of our visit to Pompeii.

 

 

Such a beautiful landscape, but such massive destruction!

 

 

As we drove higher the views became more spectacular. The camera was clicking away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

We drove through Paolo’s home town.

 

 

He pulled over on the side of the road, left the van running and told us not go anywhere! Said he’d be right back…we watched him run into a shop and came out looking disappointed. Unfortunately it was still too early for his favorite pizza shop to have their pizza ready. He was taking his mission to get Alex the best authentic pizza in the region quite seriously! He promised he would not let him down!

 

 

 

 

 

Paolo stopped every so often to let us take pictures and once and awhile he’d stop at one of the pull offs for us to get out and view the beautiful scenery.

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

At this point, I was sitting up front and while Paolo and I were chatting about making homemade pasta and life in Italy in general, it became pretty clear that he was a photo enthusiast himself. He started asking about my camera and somewhere along the line he asked if he could take some pictures from his side of the van to get the scenery. By the end of the day I just left the camera in the middle of the seat between us and he’d take the pictures he liked, I’d take the ones from my side! We made a good photographing pair!

 

 

 

He loved my camera! I gave him the info on where I got it – he was shocked at the US prices and thought maybe he could get a cousin he had in NJ to get it for him – even with shipping it had to be less than it would cost him here in Italy!

 

 

So anyway, the drive was more than interesting! Not for the faint of heart! So many roads were so narrow and winding! One car or truck would actually have to back up or down, to let the other pass! The big busses actually even go on those roads! Crazy! At one point, as we squeeked pass a big bus, Megan said she could actually see the whites of the eyes of the passengers on the bus as the passed us! We had complete faith in Paolo though.

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

 

 

 

 

 

 

At one point I think we took a “detour” that Paolo doesn’t usually take – there was some traffic he wanted to avoid – and we got to go up through Montepertuso. Here was got to see the hole in the rock that legend has it Mary made with the touch of her finger in a challenge with the devil. The devil could barely scratch the surface.

 

 

 

 

[cruzinlady1947]

Your pictures are remarkable and the scenery is amazing. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this review. I am enjoying it immensely.

 

Gwen :)

[joand452]

I was going to wait until your review was finished to comment again, but I just can't let this last set of photos go by without telling you how beautiful they are!!

 

Thank you so much! Now I have to see this in person!!

[big_schots]

 

 

 

I never comment on others pictures, but that is one awesome photograph. Absolutey loving this review.

[Buck1949]

ShellDil

 

I may have missed a posting about it, but if you don't mind my asking:

 

I was wondering what kind of camera / lenses are you using?

 

As several people have commented these photos are amazing.

[swim13]

Oh wow, those pictures of Pompeii, :eek: STUNNING!

[ShellDil]

Thank you so much everyone on the compliments on the photos! It really means so much to me! Photography is something that I really love and to have so many of you enjoying my shots really warms my heart! :D

 

 

 

ShellDil

 

I may have missed a posting about it, but if you don't mind my asking:

 

I was wondering what kind of camera / lenses are you using?

 

As several people have commented these photos are amazing.

 

 

Just before the trip I took the plunge and bought a new camera - I went with the Nikon D7000. I know Nikon just came out with the D7100, but going with the slightly "older" model I was able to save a few hundred dollars and get a camera that was so much better than what I previously had. My old DSLR was about 6 years old, so the advancements are huge!

 

I shot everything with the lens that came with it, the 18-105mm. For this trip, I didn't have a need for anything else. I brought a Nikon 70-300mm with me on the trip, but after the first day, I took it out of my camera bag. I never really had the need for it. It was too heavy to carry around, knowing I wasn't going to be switching out.

 

I've done just a little bit of editing on a few pictures with auto-contrast or some auto saturation. Some I've cropped a bit. But most are pretty much as I've shot them. I use Picasa - I haven't quite gotten a grasp of Photoshop.

 

I've mainly found that with the Nikon over my previous camera, I am able to shoot in pretty much any lighting condition and it's just so much faster. There are a few shots thrown in here that were taken with my parent's point and shoot - some that I'm in, or some of just the two of them - that when I see them on a larger screen - like when we watch the slide show of the day's pictures on our tv - the clarity of their pictures are not nearly as crisp.

 

If I wasn't walking around saying how much I "love this place" I was saying "I love my new camera"!!! It definitely was a fantastic investment! :)

[swim13]

Thank you so much everyone on the compliments on the photos! It really means so much to me! Photography is something that I really love and to have so many of you enjoying my shots really warms my heart! :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just before the trip I took the plunge and bought a new camera - I went with the Nikon D7000. I know Nikon just came out with the D7100, but going with the slightly "older" model I was able to save a few hundred dollars and get a camera that was so much better than what I previously had. My old DSLR was about 6 years old, so the advancements are huge!

 

I shot everything with the lens that came with it, the 18-105mm. For this trip, I didn't have a need for anything else. I brought a Nikon 70-300mm with me on the trip, but after the first day, I took it out of my camera bag. I never really had the need for it. It was too heavy to carry around, knowing I wasn't going to be switching out.

 

I've done just a little bit of editing on a few pictures with auto-contrast or some auto saturation. Some I've cropped a bit. But most are pretty much as I've shot them. I use Picasa - I haven't quite gotten a grasp of Photoshop.

 

I've mainly found that with the Nikon over my previous camera, I am able to shoot in pretty much any lighting condition and it's just so much faster. There are a few shots thrown in here that were taken with my parent's point and shoot - some that I'm in, or some of just the two of them - that when I see them on a larger screen - like when we watch the slide show of the day's pictures on our tv - the clarity of their pictures are not nearly as crisp.

 

If I wasn't walking around saying how much I "love this place" I was saying "I love my new camera"!!! It definitely was a fantastic investment! :)

 

Have you ever tried Adobe Lightroom? I wouldn't use Photoshop to edit any pictures like this. Lightroom is an amazing program and I usually run my pictures through there to make adjustments. The thing I also love about that program is its ability to export the pictures in a really small size yet it doesn't even compromise the quality! Also, you just make a watermark and upload it and viola, you never have to manually put one on yourself, the program automatically adds it to every picture you upload (you can uncheck the watermark box if you don't want that on pictures you would send to family members, etc.). You can also set the dimensions so all photos are equal in quality and size. I would suggest trying Lightroom 4, a new one just came out so I'm sure you can find a good deal on 4 and it is not even expensive from the start! :)

 

Photography is just awesome, you rock at it!

Edited August 4, 2013 by swim13

[ShellDil]

Have you ever tried Adobe Lightroom? I wouldn't use Photoshop to edit any pictures like this. Lightroom is an amazing program and I usually run my pictures through there to make adjustments. The thing I also love about that program is its ability to export the pictures in a really small size yet it doesn't even compromise the quality! Also, you just make a watermark and upload it and viola, you never have to manually put one on yourself, the program automatically adds it to every picture you upload (you can uncheck the watermark box if you don't want that on pictures you would send to family members, etc.). You can also set the dimensions so all photos are equal in quality and size. I would suggest trying Lightroom 4, a new one just came out so I'm sure you can find a good deal on 4 and it is not even expensive from the start! :)

 

Photography is just awesome, you rock at it!

 

Thanks Mike!

 

I have been thinking of Lightroom - I just haven't had a chance to look into it yet. I will give it some serious consideration. Especially knowing that's what you're using! Thanks for the recommendation!

[Jazzzy]

wwwooowww!

 

I found your review a few days ago ... and I am now all caught up. What an amazing trip and what a great trip report!

 

We are considering a trip on the Epic for next June. but I have some concerns - particularly the huge size of the ship and the bathroom layout situation. It seems really odd to have the shower be almost visible to the rest of the cabin ?

 

I love the itinerary though and your pictures have spoken a thousand words each! Thank you so much for sharing them :)

[Buck1949]

wwwooowww!

 

I found your review a few days ago ... and I am now all caught up. What an amazing trip and what a great trip report!

 

We are considering a trip on the Epic for next June. but I have some concerns - particularly the huge size of the ship and the bathroom layout situation. It seems really odd to have the shower be almost visible to the rest of the cabin ?

 

I love the itinerary though and your pictures have spoken a thousand words each! Thank you so much for sharing them :)

 

My wife and I along with another family just booked the Epic for June 4th. I too am not necessarily a big fan of such a large ship, but with the itinerary and only 1 day at sea, coupled with 'hopefully' a bit cooler weather - we chose to try it.

 

I have a Roll Call going if you decide that you might take the same cruise:

 

JUNE 4th 2014 EPIC - Rome - Come Join Us !!

[Jazzzy]

My wife and I along with another family just booked the Epic for June 4th. I too am not necessarily a big fan of such a large ship, but with the itinerary and only 1 day at sea, coupled with 'hopefully' a bit cooler weather - we chose to try it.

 

I have a Roll Call going if you decide that you might take the same cruise:

 

JUNE 4th 2014 EPIC - Rome - Come Join Us !!

 

 

Thats great!

 

I would have loved to book the June 4th - it's right before the summer price hike! But my son will still be in school so we are planning to take it at the peak price and peak season! :p

 

Jasmine