Emerald Princess Rome to Barcelona September 26 -October 3 2015 in photos and video

[Bimmer09]

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What a beautiful bed!

 

 

 

Such style, such singular imagination from the mind of one man

 

[Bimmer09]

I had come to the end of the tour and rather than wait for the elevator with the people who had been trailing me I took the stairs down to street level.

 

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The Exit is via the Gift Shop which makes perfect commercial sense

 

 

 

[Frflatt]

Thank you Norris for your kind welcome.

 

I imagine London has changed a lot since you were last here - I've only been here since 1997; before that I lived in the Midlands ( I come from Nottingham - Robin Hood and all that). But one thing that hasn't changed are wet Saturday afternoons - though I prefer Digestive biscuits with my tea! Will definitely read your other reviews - look forward to it.

 

Eclipse is a lovely ship but the things that I missed most were the IC - they only serve sweets at cafe al baccio and I enjoy the salads and sandwiches at IC. I missed the Piazza area and felt it was all far more enclosed - no real central entertainment/people watching area. The excursions weren't as good - shorter and less variety. The variety and amount of entertainment was lacking and I found a lot of the staff to be rude and indifferent - though I'm sure this can happen on any cruise line.

 

Thank you again for keeping me engaged and enthralled over the past couple of weeks - I am definitely a fan of your delightful and amusing literary style.

 

Stephen

[azdmelani]

Greetings and I'm glad to see you are still here!

 

We'll be in Manhattan next Weekend so watch out for me in Central Park.

 

Going to visit some of our favorite restaurants and a show at the Met Opera.

 

Norris

 

I fully expect a "live from" post with pictures! Have a blast Norris, will keep my eyes peeled for you.

[Bimmer09]

Thank you Norris for your kind welcome.

 

I imagine London has changed a lot since you were last here - I've only been here since 1997; before that I lived in the Midlands ( I come from Nottingham - Robin Hood and all that). But one thing that hasn't changed are wet Saturday afternoons - though I prefer Digestive biscuits with my tea! Will definitely read your other reviews - look forward to it.

 

Eclipse is a lovely ship but the things that I missed most were the IC - they only serve sweets at cafe al baccio and I enjoy the salads and sandwiches at IC. I missed the Piazza area and felt it was all far more enclosed - no real central entertainment/people watching area. The excursions weren't as good - shorter and less variety. The variety and amount of entertainment was lacking and I found a lot of the staff to be rude and indifferent - though I'm sure this can happen on any cruise line.

 

Thank you again for keeping me engaged and enthralled over the past couple of weeks - I am definitely a fan of your delightful and amusing literary style.

 

Stephen

 

Stephen, thanks for the response re the Eclipse. Rude and indifferent staff will be dealth with as I am the Master of Sarcasm and taking no s***.

 

I can actually get McVities digestive biscuits in Chicago as they are my favorite.

Cadbury's Dairy Milk/Fruit and Nut too and Branston Pickle....but I digress.

 

After 39 days of writing this I am in the home stretch. I will be done before your upcoming cruise.

 

Cheers!

 

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

I fully expect a "live from" post with pictures! Have a blast Norris, will keep my eyes peeled for you.

 

Thank you!

 

I always take loads of pics and video in New York but they will end up on my blog someday. It's been 6 years since we visited whereas we used to go once a year.

 

I haven't even looked at my photos from our foliage drive to Northern Michigan

3 weeks ago. I'll catch up soon.

 

Norris

[smeck]

As always, our Rome in Limo driver Alfredo was 15 minutes early but we were sitting outside waiting for him.

 

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OFF WE GO!

 

I took some photos as we drove (what a surprise)

 

 

Castel sant Angelo along the banks of the Tiber river

 

 

Alfredo drives the E Class Mercedes. To get to the highway involves driving down some narrow roads where the traffic is slowed. Alfredo tells us that as it is a beautiful Saturday many Romans are heading to the beaches.

 

 

Once we do get to the highway ramp we can make up for lost time. Soon we are sailing along the beautiful Italian countryside...albeit blurry.

 

 

Life in the fast lane

 

 

We visited Rome on the Caribbean Princess this past May on a two week cruise. Great re-living the cruise through your pictures.

[love2cruisegal]

Ruth, it makes all the "work" worthwhile when I see that people are enjoying this enough to feel they have to respond. So thank you.

 

The Silhouette cruise is 64 days away but we will be in Ft. Lauderdale the day before (Always Be Early!). As the Itinerary is the Caribbean with only 3 ports (San Juan, Phillipsburg and Basseterre ) the ship will be a main focus for me unlike in the Med where the Emerald was a means of getting us to all those ports. No surprises on the Emerald as I've sailed both of her sisters. X will be a surprise around every corner and hopefully all good ones.

 

I know the Specialty restaurants are pricey compared to Princess-but not to the land based ones we use in Chicago (or SF or NY) but I also know they offer discounts on board to fill the seats. Even so the value of the packages we got at booking are @ $1200 so that's money that we normally spend out of pocket ( our gratuities paid/ beverage packages each and $300 OBC.) It will be nice to eat from new menus and of course we have Luminae the Suites-only dining room and Blu.

We haven't tasted the food yet but it photographs well!!

 

We are going ashore in each port-a Segway tour of the forts in PR, some beach snorkeling boat ride thing in St Maarten with beach BBQ, and the Island train/Catamaran ride in St. Kitts. 3 sea days which Carol loves. Do you know if they offer Ship tours??

 

We have a butler which is new to us but I know there will be some aft balcony dining he can help us with.

 

The UBD on the Royal will be a great experience. When do you plan to have it?

We have always done it (3 times I think) when sailing aft as there is no wind.

Always at sea but if you have a late port departure when the sun is setting and the port lights are on that would be magical too.

 

Thanks again for the response!

 

Norris

 

Norris,

 

Thanks for your reply. I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise on X in January and will enjoy reading another review from you as usual.

 

We originally booked our Med cruise on the Royal back in March and then Princess had this big sale in early fall. We were able to upgrade from balcony to deluxe balcony for reduced fare. Also paid gratuities, a specialty restaurant, and a beverage package, but if you didn't want beverage package you get OBC. We didn't feel the beverage package would be worthwhile since we only have 3 sea days out of 14 day cruise. We wouldn't be onboard enough each day to use it.

 

Yes we think the UBD will be amazing. Not sure when we plan to have it but we will be in some ports late and Mykonos and Santorini are a couple of them which would be beautiful at night or sun set.

 

You will be stopping in one of our favorite ports - St. Maarten. Have been there twice and just did the island tour to both Dutch and French sides on the first cruise. In 2013, we did an island tour by bus and then stopped to board a catamaran to cruise in the lagoon to the French side. Many beautiful houses and condos on the cruise. Stopped in Marigot for shopping and had time to have a crepe in a French cafe, then boarded the bus for the trip back to port. It was very nice and was a Princess tour so not sure if they have it on X, but maybe they do. You are stopping at another port we would like to see - St. Kitts. Will love to read your review of it.

 

Thanks.

Ruth

[Bimmer09]

We visited Rome on the Caribbean Princess this past May on a two week cruise. Great re-living the cruise through your pictures.

 

Welcome smeck!

 

Glad it is bringing back happy memories.

 

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

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(No fridge magnets were found but they would have them later at Batilo.)

 

Here is some of the detail from the ground floor

 

 

and the staircase

 

 

and the exterior gate

 

 

Time to step outside

[homeinboca]

I think I saw my grandmother's Singer sewing machine!

 

Ron

Edited November 14, 2015 by homeinboca

[Bimmer09]

Still to come....

 

Outdoor Tapas Food Porn

Casa Batilo

Hotel rooftop at night

Barcelona Airport

The End

 

Less than 50 photos remaining.

 

Norris

[cormike1]

Did he design that furniture Norris? Some of it is just as amazing as his buildings if they are his designs. So did you say you liked this building better? Bring on the rest Norris....I am waiting lol.

 

Corinne

[cormike1]

Oh I noticed you are stopping in St. Kitts on your next cruise. It is a lovely island and the people are wonderful. If you need any tours set up you can get in touch with Liz Pereira with Pereira tours. She is a great lady and will design anything you would like to see. She is from our Province, Ontario and moved down there a few years ago. She gets great reviews on Trip Advisor. We met her for coffee the last time we were there after having chatted on a St. Kitts website for years. If you do set something up with her you can tell her that Corinne from Brockville recommended her. You won't be sorry Norris.

[Bimmer09]

Did he design that furniture Norris? Some of it is just as amazing as his buildings if they are his designs. So did you say you liked this building better? Bring on the rest Norris....I am waiting lol.

 

Corinne

 

Everything I've read attributes the furniture and door designs to Gaudi.

 

I liked this building better than Batilo which was much smaller and more crowded.

It also didn't have the furniture and bathrooms etc as Mila. You'll see the photos soon. Batilo was an existing house remodeled by Gaudi whereas Mila demolished the house he bought at 92 Passeig de Gracia and Gaudi started with a clear plot of land.

 

More Sunday.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Oh I noticed you are stopping in St. Kitts on your next cruise. It is a lovely island and the people are wonderful. If you need any tours set up you can get in touch with Liz Pereira with Pereira tours. She is a great lady and will design anything you would like to see. She is from our Province, Ontario and moved down there a few years ago. She gets great reviews on Trip Advisor. We met her for coffee the last time we were there after having chatted on a St. Kitts website for years. If you do set something up with her you can tell her that Corinne from Brockville recommended her. You won't be sorry Norris.

 

Thanks for the recommendation Corinne.

 

We've booked an excursion in St Kitts and with X you have to pay for it up front.

 

I'll look at her tour company.

 

Cheers,

 

Norris

[perfect match]

COSTA CONCORDIA

 

We were boarding the Crown Princess in ft. Lauderdale on January 14 2012 when I heard a conversation behind me talking about a cruise ship that had "ran aground" the night before. I had visions of a ship having run onto a sandbar in fog or something of that ilk.

 

On board I heard the name Costa Concordia for the first time and later learned the full story as known at the time. I followed that story since and have watched videos from that night. A maritime disaster of the highest order and one which would never have happened if not for the recklessness of the Captain.

 

It was a ship the same size as the Emerald. Now it sits in Genoa, being dismantled day by day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rest in Peace to the 32 people who lost their lives that night.

 

Norris

 

As sad as it makes me to see these photos of the Costa Concordia, thank you for sharing them. I have followed her story since the night she went aground.

 

I have made it to the start of your disembarkation in Barcelona, so I'm almost caught up. I'll take a break now since I want to start Barcelona with fresh eyes. I know it will be good, and I don't want to miss anything!

[Bimmer09]

As sad as it makes me to see these photos of the Costa Concordia, thank you for sharing them. I have followed her story since the night she went aground.

 

I have made it to the start of your disembarkation in Barcelona, so I'm almost caught up. I'll take a break now since I want to start Barcelona with fresh eyes. I know it will be good, and I don't want to miss anything!

 

Nancy, and what an incredible, unnecessary story it was. Needless tragedy.

 

I'm glad to see you following until the end!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

On leaving Casa Mila...

 

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I found a table free at La Pedrera cafe on the sidewalk and sent a text to Carol, still inside, to tell her where I was. A double espresso was ordered and I watched the group of 4 Nigerians who would lay their white sheets on the sidewalk filled with leather bags and tee shirts. They would re-arrange them (Merchandising 101) and be looking all around them. When they saw a Police car they would pull the strings on each corner of the sheet and scoop their wares back up and start walking. They weren't there for long as the Police passed twice in 15 minutes. * You can see some of their stuff and one of them in the photo above.

 

A busker came along playing violin which added to the relaxed vibe I was enjoying. I always tip a good busker and gave him a Euro.

 

When Carol came back we moved to the next block where she found a bench and consulted her Streetwise laminated map to find our lunch spot. I threw out a name that I had checked on Tripadvisor- Cuidad Condal and it was on La Rambla. Carol punched it into Google maps just to be sure of finding it and off we strolled.

 

 

Here's a short catch-up video...

 

[YOUTUBE]qNeTUfKFVPU[/YOUTUBE]

 

We'll see you at the restaurant!

[Bimmer09]

It's a great walking city with those big wide streets and sidewalks. The drivers obey traffic lights (a nice twist after coming from Chicago) and there are no panhandlers or homeless unfortunates laying in the doorways. As it was Sunday many of the shops (mainly clothing stores) were closed.

 

A band of fun, happy visitors from Mexico took advantage of the closed stores to get some pics to show the folks back home. They used the Chanel store which is next to our hotel...

 

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The evening before, just as it got dark, I needed some Euros. You'll recall the Emerald didn't have any and their Currency Machine was out of order. The hotel didn't have an ATM but this one was right across the street. The ATM had a color camera and a monitor so while I was withdrawing money right on the street I could see what was behind me-that was a comfort as I felt vulnerable to a snatcher.

 

 

The hotel sent me a survey after our stay and I gave them a great score but mentioned the poor internet. They say they are working with their provider on a fix...

 

OK, now we are going to eat...

[Bimmer09]

The restaurant has two spellings of it's name. The one on the menu is Catalan.

As usual the kitchen was across the street and the terrace was served from there.

 

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Here we found one of our favorites-white anchovies in oil and vinegar

 

 

Jamon Iberico of course, a must-have!

 

 

Tomato bread

 

 

The cold dishes are brought all together. There's more food coming...

[Bimmer09]

A hot dish- a Spanish Omelet

 

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For dessert Norris had a coconut cake

 

 

Carol had the Creme Catalan

 

 

All plates were licked clean and we will definitely go back here. Here's the sidewalk part of the restaurant where we were sitting.

 



 

We walked up La Rambla on our way to our last tour- Casa Batilo

 

[Bimmer09]

It's not the expansive building that Mila is but it draws a crowd and so feels very cramped on the stairwells especially.

 

As always, there was a crowd when we went to visit around 5 pm on the Sunday.

 

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We get to skip the line as we have our tickets already and we pass the lines in a jiffy. We pick up our tour headsets and find the only elevator as we are starting on the roof. The elevator is tiny. Cosy with just two of us in there. We go up to the roof but once there can't get the door open and are called back down to the ground floor by a button-pusher. Apparently a staff member has to open the door on the roof. Two other people joined us for the ride back up. Such close quarters that there will be an exchange of colognes during the trip. Here's the elevator.

 

 

It's at the back of the small ground floor lobby

 

 

Up on the roof

 

 



 

[tigerbeth]

Norris,

 

I'm still here & waiting for your every instalment ,enjoying every moment & reliving our 1st European cruise if 2011.

We had 4 days in Barcelona before we boarded the Ruby Princess,our first day we also went to Montjuic with a guide that we had to ourselves it was great,we walked back down through the lovely gardens and found our way to the fountains.

 

We had organised to meet people from cruise critic for drinks & tapas at you guessed it Ciudad Condal !!! We loved it , however we sat inside & the waiter we had was not very helpful & as none of us spoke spainish we had a very strained relationship with him .

Loved meeting the new friends , who joined us on a tour of Monserret the following day .

Ah memories !!!!

Thanks Norris !

[Bimmer09]

Norris,

 

I'm still here & waiting for your every instalment ,enjoying every moment & reliving our 1st European cruise if 2011.

We had 4 days in Barcelona before we boarded the Ruby Princess,our first day we also went to Montjuic with a guide that we had to ourselves it was great,we walked back down through the lovely gardens and found our way to the fountains.

 

We had organised to meet people from cruise critic for drinks & tapas at you guessed it Ciudad Condal !!! We loved it , however we sat inside & the waiter we had was not very helpful & as none of us spoke spainish we had a very strained relationship with him .

Loved meeting the new friends , who joined us on a tour of Monserret the following day .

Ah memories !!!!

Thanks Norris !

 

Thanks for keeping up with this!

 

Monserrat is another thing to do when we return to Barcelona. 4 days would have helped us a lot, but at least we got the Gaudi's off the list, although Sagrada Familia left some stones unturned-the museum and models in the basement and we didn't get up the towers. We know we'll be back so no sweat or regrets.

We had a mix of relaxation and hectic touring.

 

Carol spoke Spanish at Cuidad Condal and maybe that helped get us off to a good start. I have 3 Rosetta Stone languages I work on-Italian, French and German so am not in a hurry to confuse myself with Spanish just right now.

 

We're in the last couple of days and I've used up all my videos and have less than 50 photos left.

 

Onward!

 

Norris