Cool Girl & Crazy Mom do the Med-Venice: A (very delayed) review of a Serenade voyage

[iriegirl]

I see them, and I'm using Chrome as well.

[lisiamc]

I can see them. I'm using my iPad. Loving your review!

[LauraStrick]

Of course I would include you, Sarah! CM and I had such a wonderful time with you and your family. You were all so sweet - hopefully we can have the pleasure of cruising with you again one day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We really did have an amazing bunch, didn't we! I'm still waiting to meet my future husband though... you better not have married him off at a destination wedding without me :D (for those of you that are still following along when we get to Ravenna, this will make more sense to you... so stay tuned... we should be at Ravenna by Christmas....lol:eek::cool:)

 

 

No worries, Meliisa! No worries!! And I'm seeing pictures fine on iPad and through Mozilla

[kirian]

Thanks everyone who confirmed they are still able to see the pics. As y'all know, this photo-posting thing has not been my forte in the early stages of the review, so I'm super relieved that they aren't "acting up" again :)

 

For those of you having trouble, perhaps trying viewing them using a different browser. Hopefully that will help!

 

And don't worry, Cannes is in the works. I am about halfway done writing it, but hope to have it up by this afternoon.

 

Melissa

[relaxlynn]

Hi Melissa,

 

I'm so happy that you are writing this review. I totally forgot about that first night staying up so late. Karl is actually smiling in the picture. Your review is probably going to help me recall other totally fun things about this cruise.

 

Lynn

[kirian]

(CM is pointing out that this is Day 2... not giving the Peace sign...lol)

 

Welcome to Cannes – the Land of Red Carpets, Indie films and…. What else? We shall see!

 

I awoke to the sounds of room service arriving at 7:25a. I thought they were supposed to call beforehand, but they either didn’t or our phone wasn’t working. So, I stumbled out of bed (I can only imagine how I looked), and exchanged the tray of coffee and pastries for the tip I had (fortunately) set out the night before.

 

After making ourselves presentable and downing a bit of coffee and carbs, we hit the Windjammer for a quick breakfast. We LOVE having breakfast at the Windjammer… especially when we can sit outside. Besides affording us a nice view, it gives us a chance to check the weather and determine if we need to change or grab anything (umbrellas, hats, etc) from the cabin before going ashore for the day.

 

Today’s weather was NOT very nice. The temperature was pleasant enough (68F) but the skies were gray and it rained on and off most of the day (sometimes a mist, sometimes a downpour). Fortunately, we’re not so sweet that we would melt in the rain, so after breakfast, we headed for the tenders.

We were scheduled to arrive in Cannes at 9a, but not only did we get there early, they called the first tender at precisely 8:52a (or so says my handy journal….lol). I believe these first tenders were for priority passengers and/or those with tickets. We were in no rush, so we waited until they opened the tenders to all passengers (which was at 9:45a). We were on the tender around 10a for the short journey to the shore.

 

Fortunately, the ride was a smooth one. Once we got off the tender, we walked about 100yds to get to town. Here’s a tip: where the tender lets you off, there is a small Tourist Info booth. Be sure to stop by to grab a free map of the town. As soon as you get to the end of the pier, just before you cross the street, be sure to check out the fancy (but tiny) public restroom. I have

no idea what it was like inside, but it sure was cute from the outside.

 

 

 

 

Our first stop was a lookout atop the hill. To get there, we crossed the street at the end of the pier and, keeping the harbor on our right, we walked about 50yds to a set of stairs on the left (you can’t miss them). We headed up the stairs, turned left, walked another 30yds to set a set of BIG stairs. UGH! Ok, ok, I thought, at least I won’t feel guilty eating dessert later.

 

So up the mega-stairs we went. Poor CM, she has such short little legs. I thought she would never make it (Luv ya, Mom!).

 

Once at the top, we found a small church which we went into for just a couple of minutes. The views from the church yard down to the town and harbor were really nice. I can only imagine how beautiful it must look when the sun is shining…. Especially since by this time, we had our umbrellas up to protect us from getting too wet in the rain.

 

This part of our adventure probably lasted about 45 minutes (from the time we departed the tender to the time finished our hilltop view). At this point, we decided to head down the hill and make our way to town. We “sort of” used the map. At times, it didn’t make much sense since the streets are so small and wind this way and that, but I figured if we just went downhill, we would eventually get to the town proper.

 

The first cool thing we discovered was a farmer’s market. We found out it was open 6 days a week (I think it was closed on Mondays) and it shuts down at 1p daily.

 

 

 

 

This place was amazing!!!!! Now, it’s nowhere near the size of the Boqueria in Barcelona, but it has a charm all its own. I definitely recommend you take a stroll through it (even if it’s just to get out of the rain)…. You are sure to see some really interesting things you never knew existed. Check out these giant mushrooms and really tiny strawberries we discovered at two different stalls:

 

 

That's some MEGA-fungus!

 

 

Talk about itty-bitty strawberries! Look at them in comparison to the raspberries on the right.

 

 

We were getting a little hungry, so we hunted down a snack in the market. There was this guy (with quite the crowd around him) making something called Socco (which is a flatbread made from chickpea flour) that he baked to order in a little mobile brick oven. How cool!

 

 

 

 

The people in the market were so amazingly friendly! Don’t you just love friendly folks? I know I do!

 

(con't)

[kirian]

(con't)

 

So, after making our way through the market, we headed deeper into the town where we passed wine stores, fois gras stores (yes, entire stores of duck liver products!), butcher shops which displayed their…wares…feet included (yuck!), and an assortment of other shops like you would expect to find in a small town in France.

 

 

Quack, quack!

 

Yuck! No feet please!!!! Besides, are these chickens or baby raptors? Look at those claws!

 

My major purchases in the town consisted of 2 mini-hand creams made in France. One was Lavender and one was Rose…. They smelled divine!!!! I still use them (sparingly) when I feel like a special treat. They were 6E each, so it’s not like they broke the bank. Crazy Mom splurged on some dark chocolate orange sticks at a candy shop. They were yummy! Of course, they should have been because they cost a small fortune (at least in my opinion). We got a tiny bag that maybe had about 15 pieces (2-3” slivers) for 10.08E. Yikes! But, when in France…..

 

We were getting pooped. Plus, the weather was just sort of icky, so we decided to head back to a wine bar we saw next to the market. What an excellent choice this turned out to be!!!

 

We grabbed a small table outside that faced the side of the market. There were big blankets scattered around on various empty chairs that you could grab if you were chilly… how nice! I ordered a glass of rosé for each of us. When they brought them out, they also brought along a little plate of paté, bread and cornichons…bonus (and very tasty!). Now, I realize this is common practice in Europe (at least it was in France and Italy), but in the States, that little plate of nibbles would have cost you at least $10. The paté went perfectly with the rosé we chose. So perfectly in fact, that we ended up ordering another round of drinks, with came with… you guessed it... another plate of nibbles. Each round of drinks was only 9E and well worth every penny! A little while after our second round of wine was delivered, the waiter even came back out with a small plate of cheese. DOUBLE BONUS! I am loving the hospitality in Cannes!

 

 

 

Well, all this wine and yummy treats took place over about an hour and half. I know, you’re thinking, you sat in Cannes, in yucky weather, with nothing other than the side of a market to look at for 90 minutes?! Ah, but these were not a boring 90 minutes, I assure you! So, what did we do doing this time? Why, we watched them close the market and tear down pack everything up, of course!

 

Ok, Ok, I know that now you are REALLY thinking we had lost it already or else the rain had water-logged our brains. I mean, who spends the better part of an afternoon watching a farmers’ market being torn down while in Cannes? Cool Girl and Crazy Mom – that’s who!

 

Seriously, it was fascinating! You have to keep in mind, they setup and tear down this market 6 days a week. These people are hardcore! Many of them had their own little forklifts or small tractors which they used to transfer their wares, and their tables, and power strips, and…. EVERYTHING… back to their trucks to be hauled away until the next morning. When I say they tear down everything, I really mean it. Not a scrap was left behind. And, in the off chance they left a mote of dust, have no fear, the Coolest-Mini-Street-Sweeper-On-The-Planet was on the scene to suck it up!

 

You can only see one person in this photo, but there were about 6 of them running in front of the street sweeper with these old school witches brooms sweeping the "stuff" into it's path.

 

Ok, Ok, now I KNOW, beyond the shadow of a doubt, you’re like, “What?! They flew halfway around the world, to go on an awesome cruise, and they spend the afternoon of their first port enthralled by a street sweeper? Who are these people and do I really want to continue reading this review?” Well, to that I say, “Yes, yes you do!” Think of it this way, while some people were off seeing what the other tourists do when they come to the area (in other words, not the things the locals do), we got to experience the “real” Cannes.

 

CM also got an extra bonus before we left the wine bar to head back to the tender. She got to be molested by a little dog under the table. It was hysterical! Ok, I wasn’t the one being hit on by the dog, but still. It took a few moments before the pup’s owner (sitting at a table nearby) noticed the X-rated show that was taking place and put a stop to it (CM had tried to politely refuse the dog’s… advances… but it just wouldn’t take no for an answer). Still makes me giggle just to think about it.

 

Anyway, it was getting to that time when we needed to make our way to the tender. We reached the tender station around 3p and had to wait about 10 minutes for the next one. (Tip – There is free wifi at the tender station, which is enclosed and has seats). Back on board the Serenade, we found ourselves dead tired… from the rain, from the walking, from the wine (never!) or maybe from the encounter with the randy pup… who knows… but we were pooped! CM was kind enough to make a run to the Park Café for sandwiches and salads to bring back to the room for us. I was too tired to even get off my bed when she got back. I ended up napping for about 90 minutes and then, energy restored, I partook of the goodies CM had delivered earlier. (Side note – we shared a ham & cheese sandwich and the chicken salad sandwich (which my notes say were not good) and a chef salad which apparently was good (so says the journal)).

 

Tonight would be the first of three formal nights, so it was high time for us to get gussied up for the big event.

 

Next up – the Captain’s Reception

[kirian]

 

 

(notice how they tiered the sidewalk to accommodate the tables)

 

(YUM-EEEEEE!)

 

 

(Yes, we had matching coats.... now everybody say, "awwwwwww")

[kirian]

Hi Melissa,

 

I'm so happy that you are writing this review. I totally forgot about that first night staying up so late. Karl is actually smiling in the picture. Your review is probably going to help me recall other totally fun things about this cruise.

 

Lynn

 

I am so happy that I finally got it started. Took me long enough!!! So glad you are along for the ride. We had a blast with you and Karl! Wait 'til we get to Venice when I will talk about a certain group of crazy ladies who ended up "slightly" lost after a wine/tapas tour :eek::D

[Irish Cath]

Melissa I am absolutely just loving your review. So much so that having just found it today I have read it in its entirety to the detriment of some other very important things that I should be doing ! Your first port day in Cannes seems wonderful to me. Some of my most wonderful vacation memories are those of unplanned stops in wine bars spying on locals going about their daily activities. When myself and DH reminisce about our own 12 nighter on the Serenade its almost always of those moments and not the time spent in tourist attractions. You're almost making me want to write a review of our trip, although as I started one last year and regrettably didn't get a chance to finish it, I would be embarrassed to try again !

Finally your tale about the amorous pooch has me laughing out loud - what an image - poor CM, bless her heart !

[Theredofshaw]

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your barcelona tips. good read on your review so far, keep it coming!

 

 

:D

[Moondawgie]

I'm still with ya kirian and enjoying every crazy minute. Randy dog also made me LOL. Good job with your notes (ng chicken salad).

 

I'm going on the Serenade in Oct - and even though the itinerary is not the same I am enthralled by your port tales.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Enjoying your review ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - Oy, excuse the auto correct ;)

[NS Girl]

We loved Cannes, rain and all. We took the Petite Train de Cannes for a wonderful city tour. It was a great way to tour the city and stay dry at the same time. Not costly either. The train stopped for a bit suffer the tour so we went exploring on our own and went back to visit some of the places we passed on the tour. We stopped at a café and had crepes for lunch. They were huge and we couldn't finish them. It was a great day.

[NS Girl]

Oops can't edit posts from the mobile. It was supposed to say the rain stopped for a bit after the tour. Now that makes a lot more sense.

[kirian]

Melissa I am absolutely just loving your review. So much so that having just found it today I have read it in its entirety to the detriment of some other very important things that I should be doing ! Your first port day in Cannes seems wonderful to me. Some of my most wonderful vacation memories are those of unplanned stops in wine bars spying on locals going about their daily activities. When myself and DH reminisce about our own 12 nighter on the Serenade its almost always of those moments and not the time spent in tourist attractions. You're almost making me want to write a review of our trip, although as I started one last year and regrettably didn't get a chance to finish it, I would be embarrassed to try again !

Finally your tale about the amorous pooch has me laughing out loud - what an image - poor CM, bless her heart !

 

Hi Irish Cath - I am so flattered to read that catching up on my review took precedence over other important things :D And that you were able to read my , shall we say, "sometimes long-windedness", in one sitting... you're a trooper!!!!

 

You're so right about it being those little, surprise things we find while traveling that really stick with us. I really think CM and I have talked more about the market in Cannes than we have about the Colosseum in Rome!

 

Don't be embarrassed about getting delayed on your review (heck, look at me!). You should definitely write it up. Just do it at your own pace and don't allow what some may comment to cause you to rush. I for one, would definitely read your review :)

 

BTW - I was out to dinner with friends when I first read your comment and I almost spit my drink out when I got to last line where you said "bless her heart" That was sooooo funny!!!! (I know, I shouldn't have been looking at CC when I was out, but we were just waiting for our table and, well, I couldn't help myself :cool:)

[kirian]

I'm still with ya kirian and enjoying every crazy minute. Randy dog also made me LOL. Good job with your notes (ng chicken salad).

 

I'm going on the Serenade in Oct - and even though the itinerary is not the same I am enthralled by your port tales.

 

Glad I haven't lost ya, Moondawgie :D

 

Enjoying your review ;)

 

 

Thanks, Julia! I'm so happy to hear you are enjoying my tale!!!

 

BTW - I positively LOVE the screaming stick figure in your signature. It cracks me up every time I see it. I actually can't help but sit there and watch it "do its thing" at least 2-3 times before I scroll past. Always brings a smile to my face (of course, so did a mini-street-sweeper, so I don't know if you will take this as a compliment or not)

Edited July 12, 2014 by kirian

[kirian]

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your barcelona tips. good read on your review so far, keep it coming!

 

:D

 

Thanks so much!!!! If there is anything you want to know about Barcelona, or find out about tips I may not have posted, please feel free to ask away!!! If I can't answer you, I'm sure someone else following along in the review would be happy to help!

 

We loved Cannes, rain and all. We took the Petite Train de Cannes for a wonderful city tour. It was a great way to tour the city and stay dry at the same time. Not costly either. The rain stopped for a bit after the tour so we went exploring on our own and went back to visit some of the places we passed on the tour. We stopped at a café and had crepes for lunch. They were huge and we couldn't finish them. It was a great day.

 

See, this is what I love about CC! People get to read about different things that can be done in the same Port. Thank you so much for giving folks a chance to see another option. If anyone has questions about the Petite Train de Cannes that Sarah went on, I'm sure she would be happy to answer :)

 

BTW - now I suddenly want a crepe :eek::D

[kirian]

Either I am a photo IDIOT (which is entirely possible) or something is haywire at Flickr. If you are having trouble seeing the photos on some of the early threads, I sincerely apologize. I have no clue what's going on or how to fix it :confused:

 

If you are interested in a particular photo (based on it's description), please let me know the post number and I will attempt to upload it from a different site to a new post.

 

I am now trying photobucket (since Flickr is causing an issue for me and now I can't get logged back into tinypic). Please send me good vibes that I will find a super user-friendly photo storing site that will consistently work for me!!!!

 

Melissa

 

BTW - it looks like the new way I am posting pics makes them HUGE (see next post)!!! Where is some airbrushing when you need it...lol!

Edited July 13, 2014 by kirian

[kirian]

So, tonight would be our first formal night. What!!! We just got on the ship yesterday! Actually, this was a great choice for what would be one of three formal nights. Why, you ask? Because Cannes was an “easy” port of call. By this I mean, for most folks, it probably didn’t include a lot of strenuous walking and we were all back on the ship by late afternoon as the ship was scheduled to set sail at 6p. If we had to have a formal night on a non-sea day, this was probably the best port to have it after.

 

…….

 

Disclaimer #13 – The munchkin and I LOVE formal nights! Now, I realize they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but where we live, it’s so casual. There’s hardly ever an opportunity to get gussied up, so we are alllll about formal nights on cruises!

 

……..

 

Tonight would also be the Captain’s Reception. The captain of the Serenade for this voyage was Captain Rune from Norway. He was an absolute joy! Captain Rune was funny, down to earth and accessible (we saw him out and about somewhere on the ship almost daily and he participated in many of the fun little activities we attended). Crazy Mom and I agreed that he was our “favorite” captain so far on the cruises we had been on together. Captain Rune, if you’re reading this…. WE LOVE YOU!!!!

 

OK, enough fan worshipping… back to the party….

 

We had late seating in the MDR (8:30p), so around 7:30p we headed for the Centrum. Our cabin was on deck 4 which is the same as the “base” floor of the Centrum, so it ended up being amazingly convenient throughout our voyage. So convenient in fact, that we booked the exact same cabin for our TA on the Brilliance next year.

 

CM and I love the tradition of getting our photo with the captain and Capt Rune Johnson didn’t disappoint. The line to get your photo with him wasn’t long at all at the time we were there (probably around 5 minutes). The captain had a nice word for everyone who was getting their photo taken. He was just such a sweetheart (not to mention quite handsome!)

 

 

 

For those that don’t know, the Captain’s Reception is also the night of enormous volumes of free champagne. As a reminder, CM and I aren’t picky, so we thoroughly enjoyed whatever it was they were pouring. And pour they did!

 

 

As if keeping this table full wasn't enough, they also had a ton of servers walking around with trays of bubbly!

 

I can only begin to imagine how many bins they filled up with empty bottles!

 

 

At 8p (in between early seating and late seating), the Captain was formally introduced by a group of Louis XVI style dancers. The dancers had just completed the first of the 3 (I think) aerial shows that are performed in the Centrum. The show was to Madonna’s Vogue. During the short welcome speech the captain gave, he presented the following facts…. On board we had:

 

2152 passengers from 48 countries (the largest representations were as follows: 1100 Americans, 300 Brits, 180 Canadians, 130 Spaniards, 40 Mexicans, 30 Germans)

 

810 crew representing 60 countries

 

I just love this kind of trivia info!!!!

 

.......

 

Bellies full of champagne (yum!) we headed off to dinner. Tonight, the third couple at our table showed up (they had been assigned to the early seating initially, but were able to switch). Cheryl & Layton…. A lovely couple from The States. When they asked the maitre’d about switching to the late seating, he told them he had the perfect table they could join that had 2 fun & friendly couples sitting at it (awwww…. How sweet of him!).

 

This evening, I chose the banana/rum soup, the tenderloin (which was very good) and the chocolate soufflé. Mom had the lobster bisque (she liked it… to m, it looked a little thin for it to be a bisque IMO, but it did have some nice chunks of lobster). She also chose the tenderloin and had lemon meringue (one of her favorites) for dessert. She said the filling was extra tart, but good, but the little pie crust shell it was in was quite hard).

 

I also remember one thing that it doesn’t look like I jotted down, but it made such an impression (in a non-good way) that it stuck with me. CM doesn’t like ANY pink in her meat. It kind of freaks her out (I on the other hand, can hear faint moos coming from my steak and it doesn’t bother me in the least). When she placed her order, she said she would like it well done. To which Cleevdan (remember, non-warm & fuzzy Cleevdan?) replied, “Medium Rare or Medium Well.” Ummmm… that’s not what she asked for.

 

Now, before anyone thinks we are high maintenance or don’t get that they are trying to feed a ship of precisely 2152 passengers, we do get it and we are about as far from high maintenance as you can get. But seriously, it’s a cruise ship and all anyone ever talks about is how awesome it is to be able to get what you want at dinner. I tried to politely (and in a joking manner) explain to the waiter that CM just didn’t want to see any blood, so if there was any way they could just toss one of the already prepared medium-well steaks back on the grill for another minute (or heck, just soak it in some au jus so she wouldn’t see any red… and yes, restaurants sometimes do this when you send your undercooked steak back and you don’t even know it) that would be fabulous. I think Cleevdan grudgingly (not even trying to hide the fact that he was slightly annoyed) said he would see what he could do. I think in the end, he managed to wrangle up a steak that was closer to the well-done side, but he could have been nicer about it…. Just saying.

 

Anywho……

 

Tonight’s show was the Back Beat Beatles and we were stoked!!!! You see, on our last cruise, there was a Beatles cover band called the Beatle Maniacs and they were AMAZING!!!! So, we thought this band would be similar and went so far as to tell our tablemates how excited we were and that they should definitely go to the show. I am sad to report, they weren’t very good at all. In fact, they were so bad that we left after 5 songs. It ended being a good choice as the show didn’t even start until 10:45p and we had an early start the next day (however, if they had been good in the least, believe me, we wouldn’t have let an early morning keep us from enjoying the full show).

 

Back Beat Beatles, if you’re reading this, I am really, really sorry. Truly, I don’t mean to hurt your feeling in the least, but I have to be honest with the nice folks here who are reading my review

 

We arrived back to our cabin to find our “official” Meet & Mingle invite and this little fella waiting for us

 

 

 

 

Next up – La Spezia

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

 

 

Talk about itty-bitty strawberries! Look at them in comparison to the raspberries on the right.

 

 

Lol --seriously? you guys don't know these? How peculiar:). Here they're called "Walderdbeeren" -- literally translated that would be "forest strawberries". They pretty much grow like weeds -- taste really intense, although not really like regular strawberries. Lol -- the only thing you have to make sure of is to wash them first in case a fox came too close to them .... danger of getting infected with echinococcus multilocularis wich is a fox tapeworm which will basically destroy your liver:(. But once you thoroughly rinsed them, you're good to go --- and boy they are so yummy!

 

Stef

[Irish Cath]

Lol --seriously? you guys don't know these? How peculiar:). Here they're called "Walderdbeeren" -- literally translated that would be "forest strawberries". They pretty much grow like weeds -- taste really intense, although not really like regular strawberries. Lol -- the only thing you have to make sure of is to wash them first in case a fox came too close to them .... danger of getting infected with echinococcus multilocularis wich is a fox tapeworm which will basically destroy your liver:(. But once you thoroughly rinsed them, you're good to go --- and boy they are so yummy!

 

Stef

 

We have these in Ireland too, they grow in hedgerows, although they are not nearly as common now as when I was growing up ( which is only about 20 years ago thank you very much) I'm slightly scared of your information about tapeworm destroying my liver as we used to pluck them off their bushes and eat away when we were kids. Actually maybe that's the reason some Irish people have destroyed livers and its not from whiskey after all :D:D

[kirian]

Lol --seriously? you guys don't know these? How peculiar:). Here they're called "Walderdbeeren" -- literally translated that would be "forest strawberries". They pretty much grow like weeds -- taste really intense, although not really like regular strawberries. Lol -- the only thing you have to make sure of is to wash them first in case a fox came too close to them .... danger of getting infected with echinococcus multilocularis wich is a fox tapeworm which will basically destroy your liver:(. But once you thoroughly rinsed them, you're good to go --- and boy they are so yummy!

 

Stef

 

I hope you weren't planning to get hired as the spokewomen for Walderbeeren anytime in the future... I think you may have lost your chance after this comment.....LOL!!!!!

 

Seriously though, I have never seen anything like these.... no clue they existed. I would love to have some berries that grow like weeds in my yard. Now I'm definitely going to have to try them if I ever run across them again (after thoroughly washing them of course! :p)

 

Melissa

[sprout76]

Melissa....loving your review. Thank you for taking the time to write it and take us along on your journey. I'm sure it is very time consuming,but I'm taking notes. My cool mom and I are taking this trip in 2016 for my 40th birthday (yes...2016) so I'm reading as many reviews as I can to find out things to do and I love the idea of Cannes being easy enough to just wander and explore. I was initially thinking I'd be doing this trip solo since DH doesn't really like to travel, but my mom is getting very excited.mwhen you're finished I'm thinking I'll print off the review and send it to her (she's not very good with the internet) bless her heart:D

[crvng4mr]

Loving your Cannes experience!!!! And now we know what those little strawberries really are! I can't wait to read what is next!