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Serenade...Med/Adriatic 'Honeymoon' cruise (a retrospective photo review!!)

drummerdavebmth
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drummerdavebmth

drummerdavebmth

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Great trip report! I enjoyed seeing your photos, very nice. This makes me excited about my upcoming trip in June, slightly different itin..but very close to your's...I can hardly wait!

 

Thank you!! You'll love the Eastern Med........Being on MSC should be cool too! One of the things I like about cruising the Med, embarking from a Mediterranean port (rather than a local, British port to us - i.e. Southampton) is the cosmopolitan mix of passengers - a great nationality & culture mix!! :)

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drummerdavebmth

drummerdavebmth

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Now that we were well and truly out into the Adriatic sea again, we got ready to go for dinner.....and stopped off at Vintages for a pre-dinner drink.

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

After dinner, we watched another arial show in the Centrum...before having a leisurely walk through the ship via the shopping area.

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

Later that evening it was the traditional 70's Disco party. Our Cruise Director (Mercedes) looked quite the part!!

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

Finally (and rather reluctantly) it was time for bed. Tomorrow would be our final day at sea. It turned out to be quite a memorable day!!

 

Stay tuned.....

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drummerdavebmth

drummerdavebmth

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Ok then......Let's see what our last sea day will bring.

 

It started with my usual check on the TV to see exactly where we were (always sad at this point in the cruise, seeing where we had been - and wishing we were still back at that point in the cruise).

 

We were approaching the Strait of Messina (the bit of sea between Sicily and the Italian mainland).

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

Then back on our balcony, we spotted Mount Etna (do you remember us climbing this earlier in our cruise? - looking at it now, it's hard to believe we made it up there!!)

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

Edited by drummerdavebmth
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drummerdavebmth

drummerdavebmth

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As we were passing Messina, we watched a Holland America ship pass us by...

 

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

 

Around about 12pm, RCI staff put on a really nice presentation in the Centrum. RCI staff representing many nationalities were introduced (all doing a little solo dance, to much hand clapping and cheers) whilst waving their national flags. It was really cool to see and made you appreciate how truly multi-national Royal Caribbean's staff is. Everyone was so proud and happy waving their flags....It brought a lump to my throat... Amazing!!!

 

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

Of course, watching all that emotional flag waving made me hungry....so we went to the MDR for lunch.

 

Here's my desert.......it was soooooo good!!

 

<a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1592/26305287335_a1d7381571_b.jpg' alt='26305287335_a1d7381571_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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drummerdavebmth

drummerdavebmth

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When we got back to our room....we were in for a nice surprise. We were sailing past the Island of Stromboli with it's active volcano (one of 3 in Italy). we could clearly see the smoke coming out of the volcano!!

 

All this from our balcony!!!

 

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

But THIS is what was really grabbing our attention (...and yes, that really is a town you see on the right of the Island!!)

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

Edited by drummerdavebmth
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drummerdavebmth

drummerdavebmth

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I love this photo.....

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

<a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1650/26032447810_deb0c6e188_b.jpg' alt='26032447810_deb0c6e188_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

Sailing past Stromboli like that and viewing all it's splendour right from our balcony is another one of those moments I'll remember for the rest of my life. Incredible!!

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bunnyrab

bunnyrab

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Thanks for the beautiful memories of some of the places we visited in October 2014. Love the way Dubrovnik has cleaned up their buildings. Hard to believe their age.

 

Thanks also for the preview of Serenade. Our next up cruises. 23 days total.

 

Heather.

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drummerdavebmth

drummerdavebmth

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And so, alas, we have come to the end of our cruise. We stood on the balcony watching the sunset from our balcony before going to dinner in the MDR one last time. The sea was so calm...

 

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

The next morning we woke up back in the Italian port of Civitavecchia, where our adventure had begun......And from our balcony we spotted P&O's Ventura and the Celebrity Equinox (which we last saw whilst in Venice).

 

 

p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

Soon enough, we were on a coach back to Rome airport. Whilst on the coach we reflected on all the amazing things we'd done and experienced. There were lots of memories of which we'll both cherish forever and doing this review has helped keep those memories fresh and vibrant.

 

This is the last photo I took of our holiday. I liked the way the mist looked, hugging the distant hills as our coach sped by....

 

 

p><p>So there you have it. That

 

 

As I have mentioned once or twice during my review, my wife was filming our holiday on her GoPro for YouTube. I think she did a fantastic job, but don't just take my word for it

(in the description there is the video timings for each port, so you can always skip to what you want to see, although I hope you find the time to watch it all).

 

 

This review has kept me occupied whilst waiting for our next cruise - The 'Ovation of the Seas' inaugural 3 nighter followed by the 5 nighter immediately afterwards (our first back-to-back), sailing from Southampton - We will be embarking this Thursday (14th April). Wooohooo!!!

 

What adventures shall we have on Ovation I wonder? I guess that could be a story for another time....

 

If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out the review I did for our first ever cruise (where I proposed to Jen!). It was on 'Independence of the Seas' to Norway. It was a wonderful cruise to a beautiful country - the scenery was breath taking (photo's galore!). The review link is in my signature.

 

Cheers!

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hancogran

hancogran

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Absolutely fantastic review.. and I watched your video too! :) You both did a great job...so many wonderful pictures and film to look back on in the years to come.

 

We have visited a few of the places mentioned in your review so it did bring back memories but we are also scheduled for a 9 night Greek Isles cruise from Rome in May of 2017 so the pictures gave us a taste of what to expect. Hope you both have a fantastic time on Ovation . Thanks again for taking us along with you. Hopefully you'll be doing an Ovation review. ;)

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drummerdavebmth

drummerdavebmth

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Absolutely fantastic review.. and I watched your video too! :) You both did a great job...so many wonderful pictures and film to look back on in the years to come.

 

We have visited a few of the places mentioned in your review so it did bring back memories but we are also scheduled for a 9 night Greek Isles cruise from Rome in May of 2017 so the pictures gave us a taste of what to expect. Hope you both have a fantastic time on Ovation . Thanks again for taking us along with you. Hopefully you'll be doing an Ovation review. ;)

 

 

What kind words, thank you! Jen is thrilled you watched her video too :)

 

You'll love the Greek Isles, for sure.

 

Maybe I will do an Ovation 'Inaugural Back 2 Back' cruise review.....I enjoyed doing this one and the Indy one I did previously....so watch this space! ;)

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