Trip of a Lifetime - Med Cruise - Serenade of the Seas 5/23/2014

[Karemark]

Love this review. What type of food do they serve at the Park Cafe for breakfast?

 

Thanks! They have yogurt parfaits, fruit, breakfast sandwiches, and a little bagel "bar." It was a nice change for a couple of days.

[Karemark]

Thanks Karen, such beautiful pictures. Really brings back memories. It's funny how sometimes people take pictures of the same things. I took this one in 2010 in the same town :D

 

That's too funny! I thought it was such a beautiful path.

[Karemark]

We had a whirlwind day adn hurried through so we would have time to see everything.

 

 

 

 

[dirvin0500]

I'm loving this review. Post more pictures. It's like I was there.......:D

[Karemark]

We saw the Spanish steps, threw three coins in Trevi Fountain (one to return, one to return in love, and one to return soon).

 

 

 

We quickly saw the pantheon

 

 

 

We stopped and had a quick lunch and decided we wanted to try the local pizza and gelato. Antonelle gave us the perfect recommendations for both! Yummy!! Lunch at Forno and gelato at Blue Ice.

 

Edited June 17, 2014 by Karemark

[Karemark]

We were off to the Vatican. We stopped and picked up our tour guide, Massimo. He was a wonderful guide for us!

 

We toured the Vatican Museum

 

 

 

And then the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo's work was magnificent! I was disappointed we weren't allowed to take pictures in the chapel. It was indescribable!

 

 

 

 

St Peter's Square

 

[Karemark]

I'm loving this review. Post more pictures. It's like I was there.......:D

 

DOUG! But you were there and I wish we were all back there again!!

[Karemark]

St Peter's Basilica

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were sad for Massimo's time with us to end - we very much enjoyed his tour!

 

 

It was time for our drive back to the port and time to end our day in Rome we saw A LOT in a very short period of time. We definitely need to make it back to Rome!!

 

Antonelle was amazing. He made our day very special!!

Edited June 17, 2014 by Karemark

[Karemark]

We returned to our cabin and enjoyed some wine on the balcony before it was time to get ready for dinner at the Chef's Table.

 

We had arranged this dinner with several of our CC friends. The food was absolutely delicious and the staff was outstanding!! We laughed and ate and drank a lot!!

 

What a special anniversary this was...one we will never forget!! We already felt this was going to be our best cruise ever!!

 

Our clocks needed to be moved forward an hour before going to bed - we knew that was going to hurt!!

[librarylady19]

Great review. I'm in the process of writing my review of our Azamara Journey med cruise now and I know how much work it takes! We visited Montepulciano in Tuscany as a side trip from Florence. Definitely would love to visit San G next trip. That area is so beautiful. Our only stop in Rome was the colosseum and it was so crowded there that it didn't leave the best impression.

Edited June 18, 2014 by librarylady19

[Nana57]

Great review! Can you please list all the Tour Companies you used. I'm planning to go next June. How far back was your cabin? Port or Starboard side?

[krev]

Really enjoying your positive and up beat review! We are cruising the Med Sept 12, Southampton to Rome and back. 16 nights and I think it's 9 ports, we don't go to Greece but that will be another time.

 

 

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[Karemark]

Great review. I'm in the process of writing my review of our Azamara Journey med cruise now and I know how much work it takes! We visited Montepulciano in Tuscany as a side trip from Florence. Definitely would love to visit San G next trip. That area is so beautiful. Our only stop in Rome was the colosseum and it was so crowded there that it didn't leave the best impression.

 

Thanks Sandi! I will have to check out your review! We stopped at the colosseum first thing in the morning before the crowds were too bad.

[Karemark]

Great review! Can you please list all the Tour Companies you used. I'm planning to go next June. How far back was your cabin? Port or Starboard side?

 

We were port side three cabins up from the aft cabins. I think it was a great location. There are some who had cabins too close to the centrum and complained the noise from the nightly entertainment keeping them up.

 

 

Here are the companies we used:

 

Barcelona - Barcelona Day Tours

Cannes - Riviera Premium Tours

Livorno and Naples - Rome in Limo

Rome - Easitaly Tours

Athens - PK Travel - this was the only tour I wasn't absolutely thrilled with

Turkey - Ephesus Shuttle

Santorini - We rented a car from Tony and did the island on our own

 

 

I would highly recommend all of the above with the following issues: We are currently having issues with Rome in Limo trying to get a refund for an overpayment we made (250 euros). As the review continues, I will keep you up to date on the outcome. The other issue was PK Travel. We really didn't care for the tour guide, although other CC groups enjoyed their guide. More info to come when I post a review of our day in Athens.

[Karemark]

Really enjoying your positive and up beat review! We are cruising the Med Sept 12, Southampton to Rome and back. 16 nights and I think it's 9 ports, we don't go to Greece but that will be another time.

 

 

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Thanks Kelly! You are going to have a great time! What are your ports?

[Karemark]

Here are some pictures from our Chef's Table...including some food porn!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2014 by Karemark

[Karemark]

 

 

 

 

 

[dirvin0500]

OMG....I could just pick up that lamb chop by the bone and gnaw away.... How barbaric...

 

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[krev]

Thanks Kelly! You are going to have a great time! What are your ports?

 

 

Southamptom, sea, sea, Gibraltar, sea, Barcelona, Nice, Rome, Pisa, Cagliari, sea, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, sea, sea, Southampton

 

 

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[Karemark]

OMG....I could just pick up that lamb chop by the bone and gnaw away.... How barbaric...

 

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Forums mobile app

 

I know, right!! That lamb chop was asking for it and it was yummy!!

[Karemark]

Southamptom, sea, sea, Gibraltar, sea, Barcelona, Nice, Rome, Pisa, Cagliari, sea, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, sea, sea, Southampton

 

 

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Wow, that's an intense itinerary but sounds amazing!

[krev]

Wow, that's an intense itinerary but sounds amazing!

 

 

Yes! We are really looking forward to it. I have a one week trip to Scotland next week (we live in Canada) then several weeks of RVing for the summer then the cruise! Oh, and we still work as well!

 

 

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[krev]

The food looks amazing! We were on Serenade in 2011 for our first Caribbean cruise, they didn't have a Chefs Table then but Chops was wonderful

 

 

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[DiJohn]

I know, right!! That lamb chop was asking for it and it was yummy!!

The whole experience was yummy! Karen posted the invite to the CC group on our forum and we had been "online dating" for about a year, so we were dining with a great group of friends. Great food, great company and the culinary staff was incredible! And yes, we all picked up our lamb bone and gnawed on it!

 

Dianne

[Nana57]

Thank you for the info. When did you book your flights? You spent 2 nights in Barcelona. How was the area in which you stayed?