Barcelona SOS Mediterranean Greek Isle Cruise w/Paris and Copenhagen Review

[Cancruz]

Were are the pics of your admirer?;)

 

What happened to the bottle of Limoncello? :rolleyes:

 

Love all the photos! Forwarding them to Braeden.

[kirian]

Hi Ayasha,

 

Sorry I have been away for a while, but I just caught up on your Pompeii and Sorrento posts. What a wonderful day you had!!! I have never been to Sorrento, but now I will have to put it on my list :D

 

I have been to Pompeii twice and each time, it was so different (but equally wonderful). I think that folks that have never been there don't realize just how huge the town is.... so much to see. I saw some of the same things on both of my visits, but some different things as well. I still want to go back at least once more... without a guide... and just wander all around. It's such an amazing place to visit. You are so right about being able to truly get a feel for what life must have been like back then as you walk through it. Just a magical place!!!!

 

Thank you, as always, for sharing all of your fabulous photos with us!!!

 

Melissa

[windjamming]

Gak!! I've been busy too (what is up with this week) and catching up sporadically through my phone. What's this about an Italian admirer??? You waited until day 56 of your review to mention this or did I completely miss the buildup?

 

Dang, girl, you must have made some impression!! I hope you let him down easily (or not ... is Paolo now stateside?)

 

PS: I don't know why I named him Paolo. Did he have a name? Did I miss that too???

 

Will go back and see what else I missed!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[crvng4mr]

Subscribing, a European cruise is on my bucket list.

 

Thanks! I hope you are enjoying it.

[crvng4mr]

Were are the pics of your admirer?;)

 

What happened to the bottle of Limoncello? :rolleyes:

 

Love all the photos! Forwarding them to Braeden.

 

Haha Susan!!! Am I missing any part of the story?

 

I tried to give the Limoncello to you!:p

 

Please do! I have one he might not want me to post, lol. Tell him I won't post it.

[crvng4mr]

Hi Ayasha,

 

Sorry I have been away for a while, but I just caught up on your Pompeii and Sorrento posts. What a wonderful day you had!!! I have never been to Sorrento, but now I will have to put it on my list :D

 

I have been to Pompeii twice and each time, it was so different (but equally wonderful). I think that folks that have never been there don't realize just how huge the town is.... so much to see. I saw some of the same things on both of my visits, but some different things as well. I still want to go back at least once more... without a guide... and just wander all around. It's such an amazing place to visit. You are so right about being able to truly get a feel for what life must have been like back then as you walk through it. Just a magical place!!!!

 

Thank you, as always, for sharing all of your fabulous photos with us!!!

 

Melissa

 

Me too Melissa! I thought maybe you were planning our lady reviewer cruise.;):D I love Sorrento! So much culture. Pompeii as well.

 

Thanks lady! looking forward to your next post.

[crvng4mr]

Gak!! I've been busy too (what is up with this week) and catching up sporadically through my phone. What's this about an Italian admirer??? You waited until day 56 of your review to mention this or did I completely miss the buildup?

 

Windjammer you are funny! There was a bit of a build up from Pompeii.

 

Dang, girl, you must have made some impression!! I hope you let him down easily (or not ... is Paolo now stateside?)

 

Well, you know. (blushing) He is married so no bueno! I wish I could have taken her with me. Luckily I have another Paola here who is just as awesome.

 

PS: I don't know why I named him Paolo. Did he have a name? Did I miss that too???

 

Paola was the tour guide. She was awesome. I forgot the guys name right after I found out he was married. Know if he wasn't I might have been moving to Italy!!!

 

Will go back and see what else I missed!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Ha! Keep up Windjammer, btw Melissa is working on our cruise.......right Melissa.

[crvng4mr]

Of course the ride from Sorrento to Positano was absolutely stunning. It was a warm day with a little overcast and a lot of haze so I can only imagine what it would be like on a flawless sunny day.

 

We stopped at another look out to take pictures right before we arrived in Positano. It is just as beautiful as the pictures show. Diego said it is actually his favorite spot and I can see why. It is very different with posh stores and lots of internationals but for me it lacks soul. Which is why Sorrento is my favorite out of the two. Positano was very touristy and posh. That is great and I enjoy that sometimes but there are many places all over that are the same. I guess I have been very privileged to have experienced this and the same goes for Positano.

 

Diego gave us an hour to walk around. Positano has lots of hills and most of us only made it so far. Of course some of the boys decided just to rest and relax on a bench. I got myself gelato and a cannoli for the boy.

 

So of course, as usual, we have hit up the atm at almost every port since all the tours were to be paid in cash. This would be no different until it was. The first atm only gave the option of paying a bill or taking money from a credit card. The second atm kept rejecting the card. Well it wold take the card but deny the withdrawal. Here we go again! *sidenote* I split money between my daughter's account and mine, remember I have no credit cards, so that if needed we would be able to take out the max on both.

 

So we call the bank, because we know there is money in the account, and they said there was no note in the system for her being overseas. Yep! What do you mean no note. Aren't we on day 14 of being overseas! We have been using this card the whole time and not only that she went to the bank twice before we left. Anyway, t was handled over the phone in 3 minutes time. Crisis averted!

 

Almost everyone fell asleep on the ride back and I was very tempted to take lots of pictures for proof. Both boys sat up front and one happened to fall asleep on Diego. It was hilarious and I did take an incriminating picture of that for future use for his grandma.:eek:;)

 

Like always we got back to port on time and each driver presented us with a bottle of Limoncello. I just put ours right in my purse and brought it on the ship with me.

 

The evening was again typical for us as I am a creature of habit and stability. :) Very said that we had visited our last port and looking forward to another day at sea.

 

Pictures next!

[crvng4mr]

 

My house below on the right.[emoji7]

 

 

 

 

[crvng4mr]

 

 

 

 

 

[denisey]

Hi Ayasha

 

Great review! Isn't it freeing to go with just a carryon.

 

Now I have a dilemma! I read Stef 's review because we have a cruise booked on the Serenade (13 day New Orleans to Boston repo) and wanted to hear a out the ship. That lead me to Melissa 's and now yours. All great reviews have been such fun! But now I want to go back to Europe....so repo cruise or two weeks on land in Italy???????? Decisions, decisions!

[kirian]

Ha! Keep up Windjammer, btw Melissa is working on our cruise.......right Melissa.

 

Oh, absolutely!!!! I will really ramp up the planning of our "Reviewer Queens' Cruise" just as soon as I finish writing my review (which should be around Thanksgiving at the rate I'm going....lol :eek::D)

 

Melissa

[crvng4mr]

Hi Ayasha

 

Great review! Isn't it freeing to go with just a carryon.

 

Now I have a dilemma! I read Stef 's review because we have a cruise booked on the Serenade (13 day New Orleans to Boston repo) and wanted to hear a out the ship. That lead me to Melissa 's and now yours. All great reviews have been such fun! But now I want to go back to Europe....so repo cruise or two weeks on land in Italy???????? Decisions, decisions!

 

Thank you! It was actually, very nice to travel with just a carry on. Especially, as you will see later on in our land vacation adventures.

 

I say both! Lol! See you could use the excuse that the repo cruise isn't really a vacation cruise since they are just moving the ship to another port, lol. You like that?:cool:

[crvng4mr]

Oh, absolutely!!!! I will really ramp up the planning of our "Reviewer Queens' Cruise" just as soon as I finish writing my review (which should be around Thanksgiving at the rate I'm going....lol :eek::D)

 

Melissa

 

Yeah, maybe MADQ could do the planning?!:D You know since the rest of us are still in the middle of writing our reviews.....oh...and Windjammer! I'll give Steph a pass on the planning committee since she has a cruise around the corner.

[crvng4mr]

I will return this evening with several post and pictures of that evening, our last sea day and post departure Barcelona. I somehow forgot my journal and Cruise Compass at home today. How dare I!

[crvng4mr]

So tonight's dress was casual/white night. I must have been very pooped because the white party started at 9:30pm in the centrum and I missed the entire thing. I am pretty sure we did our typical dinner in the MDR at 6:30, Cai leaves before dessert to hang out with his friends, and Ciera and I head up to Windjammer for dessert, walk around the ship and stop at anything that sparks our interest then back to Park Cafe for our late night room snack.

[crvng4mr]

This last day was a day of reflection on all the wonderful things we tasted, seen, smelled, felt and heard. We leisurely awoke and had breakfast in the outside of WJ. We then wandered around the ship, playing a few slots in the casino, stopping by to see if we could book or talk about booking our next cruise (the wait was unbelievably long), so we took a book and went to the computer station to browse cruises. We also watched the MOB Dance Class pt 2 and a bit of the Horse Racing at Sea. Now that was quite interesting on how they actually accomplished it.

 

They had horses, of course made out of some sort of wood, with names/numbers on a "track". Then they roll dice for each horse and that is how each horse gets ahead. Very interesting!

 

By this time we decided to play some cards before the MDR opened for lunch. I had to make sure Ciera was on her game before she went off to college.:eek: At lunch we sat with 2 couples and both we had something in common with, besides the fact we were on the same cruise (ha ha!). One couple lived only 20 minutes away from us. Well big deal you say. Have any of you every heard of Spring Hill, FL, yeah well you probably haven't heard of Crystal River either. They lived there and the fact that we were sat at the same table on this cruise thousands of miles away is almost unfathomable. The other couple were from Canada but had a son who was 12 with them and Cai had mentioned him before. So our sons were hanging out with each other. It really made for great conversation.

 

We headed back to the cabin so I could enjoy what time I had left on my lounger before our cabin attendant had to remove it. I decided I wanted to punish myself even more and go watch the movie Captain Philips again but this time in the Cinema. Well it was packed. It is already small and people were sitting on the stairs, in some regular chairs and a couple of us sat on the floor on the top riser. It was just as enjoyable as the first time and less emotional for me which allowed me to see some things I didn't when I watched it the first time. Really good movie.

 

Now a mad dash back to the cabin to get ready for dinner and on the way to the MDR we had a great spot to watch the MOB Dance performance in the Centrum. I must participate on my next cruises (my daughter would never, the thought ew). This is why I will be going childless on my next cruise.:D Of course we enjoyed our dinner as usual and took pictures of our very favorite staff on the cruise except Verna because for some reason every time we spoke I totally forgot to take her picture. It was like talking to a friend.

 

Then we had to pack up, even though we were walk offs and had carry ons it was still a lot of stuff to fit. I know you all feel very empathetic to our situation. I tried to locate those who we toured with to say our goodbyes as everyone really had a great impact on our vacation.

 

Next up disembarking.

[crvng4mr]

Solarium

 

Few of my favorite ladies!

 

Dormin always had us taken care of.

 

 

My favorite Cafe-Lattitudes staff even though I never ordered anything but free delights.

 

My favorite Italian at Park Cafe

[Cancruz]

... what a wonderful time reliving our special cruise - thanks to your planning! You made everything work smoothly.

 

This has to be one of my most strenuous cruises - very, very port intensive and long tours to include most sites. Yet your smile was always there. You are an excellent planner. I was very blessed that our paths connected.

 

I was surprised to note that you felt the rush at dinner also. Our servers always seemed out of sync. Dinners were extra long, and we are slow eaters - lots of wait time. We always use select dining, but.... We found that menu choices, servings, and desserts were wanting even though we had plenty to eat. :eek: It just wasn't a "dining experience."

 

What secret video did you use for packing??? You were always elegant and well dressed - make-up perfect! I always over pack - secrets, please.

 

Looking forward to the Paris -mais oui!

Edited August 5, 2014 by Cancruz

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Next up disembarking.

 

 

:eek:NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! It just can't be that time yet! Don't let it end! Sniff.

 

Stef

[crvng4mr]

... what a wonderful time reliving our special cruise - thanks to your planning! You made everything work smoothly.

 

This has to be one of my most strenuous cruises - very, very port intensive and long tours to include most sites. Yet your smile was always there. You are an excellent planner. I was very blessed that our paths connected.

 

I was surprised to note that you felt the rush at dinner also. Our servers always seemed out of sync. Dinners were extra long, and we are slow eaters - lots of wait time. We always use select dining, but.... We found that menu choices, servings, and desserts were wanting even though we had plenty to eat. :eek: It just wasn't a "dining experience."

 

What secret video did you use for packing??? You were always elegant and well dressed - make-up perfect! I always over pack - secrets, please.

 

Looking forward to the Paris -mais oui!

 

Thanks Susan! I couldn't agree with you more. It was definitely not a relaxing trip so that means we have to make up for it, lol.

 

Yeah, most of the time we enjoyed our meal but mashed potatoes with everything is a bit boring. I mean get with it RCI. I will definitely plan on some pay choice options next time. Although my kids are fine with steak everyday.:rolleyes:

 

I posted the link one page one to the video. You are really being way too nice. Elegant? Really? If you say so I'll take it! As for makeup it really was on CC cream, mascara and lipstick/gloss. I wanted some pictures with me in them and without those things I look ghostly.:eek: The hardest thing was only bringing a couple of pair of shoes.

 

Paris is coming up soon!:D:D:D

[crvng4mr]

:eek:NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! It just can't be that time yet! Don't let it end! Sniff.

 

Stef

 

:(That's how we felt. But at least we had another day in Barcelona, Paris and Copenhagen to look forward to. Those coming up next!

[crvng4mr]

Well as you can tell by the title it is time to leave.:(

 

I decided since the last section time to leave on the Compass was 9 am we would sleep in until 7:45 and then head to WJ for breakfast. We wanted to get off at the last possible moment.

 

I tracked down our attendant in another cabin and gave her our bottle of Limoncello. I couldn't take it with us as we had completely packed carry ons and I certainly couldn't drink it all by myself. She was like family the entire cruise and even insisted we stay at her house in Costa Rica if we ever visit there. Some of you may get a chance to meet her if you have the Anthem booked as she has been one of the chosen for that ship.

 

We waited so long they were outside hosing down our balcony and windows.;) We made our way up to WJ with our stuff and ate breakfast, sadly. I was still trying to figure out a way to stow away on the ship somewhere but it would have been hard to do with the kids. Darn it! We mad our last trips to the bathrooms and headed out to disembark. I believe we were the second to last off the ship.

 

Now what?

 

Well luckily we ran into Victor and Joyce the evening before. They had an even latter flight home than us on the same airline and told us about a locker storage place close to Las Ramblas. When we exited the terminal the bus is easy to find to the beginning of Las Ramblas, to your left, we found them getting on the same bus. we then shared a cab to the storage place as it would have been too long of a walk from where the bus drops you off.

 

We thought with 5 of us and all the luggage we would have to take 2 cabs but we made it work with one and we were there within 5 minutes. This place was like a god send. We fit all our things into 2 lockers and also luckily Victor told me I needed to print out our boarding passes for Ryanair as they charge something like $50 for each at the airport. This facility also had internet service and printer. 20 minutes for 1 euro so I took care of that as well. We said our goodbyes and were off to explore Barcelona again.

 

I promised Ciera we would get Starbucks if she gave and had no attitude the entire day. Great win on my part as you will see later on in the day. So that is where we headed, to Starbucks. The kids both had Frappes and enjoyed the free wifi. They were in withdrawal mode until then.

 

After we just walked around a bit and stopped to take it all in. We window shopped and went into the huge Apple store and of course Cai hit every sneaker store there was and having my take pictures of him trying on all the latest kicks. we found a great European fast food place to eat but the name escapes me now. It was something with a P I think. I am sure it will come to me tonight around 2am and I'll wake up saying that is it but forget it again by the time I get up. Anywho, it was right next door to the Casa Guadi. We didn't go in but snapped a few pictures from the outside.

 

Our flight to Paris didn't leave until a little after 7pm. The kids were done, tired and hot by 3:30 so we headed back and picked up our stuff and then got on the bus to the airport. It really is a very convenient bus and I recommend it to everyone traveling to and from Barcelona, only thing is I can't guarantee you won't have a crazy driver like we did. Many times, we thought we weren't going to make it there alive, alas we did but it was very risky. Maybe he forgot he was driving a public bus or something and thought he was driving a racecar in the Grand Prix. Of course Cai slept through it all even though it only took us 20 minutes total to get there.:eek:

[crvng4mr]

Bye for now my sweet Serenade

 

 

 

 

 

[crvng4mr]

Were we stayed before the cruise. I forgot to take a picture until after the cruise.