Med Cruise- Royal Treatment Athens to Barcelona

[cruisequeen4ever]

Palermo-

 

For me, Sicily was all about the cannoli. For DH, it was all about The Godfather movies. Both were to be easily and thoroughly accomplished via Messina but only minorly via Palermo. Just the same, it was cool to visit Sicily.

 

This was the day our sweet room steward really showed his true colors! We thought for sure we had put out the sign to have our room serviced, but upon return, we discovered we had accidentally put out the "Do Not Disturb" sign instead. The poor guy stayed on duty until we returned at 1:00 to ensure our room was cleaned! We felt soooo bad!

 

We booked the Catacombs excursion through Princess because I had read of the tourist being murdered the previous month and that Palermo wasn't the safest place to just be walking around.

 

Our bus took off for what started out as a city tour. The guide was informative, and we got to see a building used in The Godfather, so at least DH experienced an eensy bit of The Godfather. Then things got off kilter. The guide received a phone call, and she began to speak rapidly and tensely in Italian/Sicilian (whatever dialect or language it would be deemed). She at least told us what was happening after. A group of 4 missed the bus, and we needed to backtrack to pick them up. Ok, you are given a time to meet of 30 minutes prior to departure, and you know you'll be left behind if you're not punctual. Why are we now being punished for others' irresponsibility?! The bus turns around, and we wonder how much our tour is going to be affected by this disruption. We drive back by the tourist sites and park. We are told we are actually at the site of our walking tour of 2 churches, so maybe we aren't being disrupted that much after all. We walk to the first church, and we wait, and wait, and wait. Why? Because the guide is talking to the 4 late arrivals, trying to find them headsets and talking to her company about the whole thing. The late pax are completely unaffected by the fact that we are all waiting. They're asking the guide question after question and not even wanting to tour the churches! What happens in the end? Well, turns out the pax weren't even supposed to be in our tour group!!!!! Argh!!!!!

 

Time for the tour at long last! The church was amazing! Entire 3D scenes were sculpted into the walls. It was one of the coolest churches I've ever seen. Once done, we met our next delay. Several asked to use the bathroom. Now a more assertive guide would have said that our official bathroom stop would just be in 15 minutes, but no, we had to wait 10 minutes for people to wait in line to use a single bathroom. AFTER people lined up to use the bathroom, she mentioned that we would be having a bathroom break soon.

 

We then walked to the second church. It was cool but nothing compared to the first one IMHO. Half the group rudely chatted amongst themselves in the echoey church while we tried intently to listen to the guide's explanations. Many were annoyed. If the chatterers weren't interested, they could have easily stepped outside to converse.

 

Anyway, we then walked to a square next to the big department store of Palermo. We were given about 30 minutes of free time to use the bathroom, have a snack, or explore. I had to have cannoli in Sicily, so we went to the outdoor cafe in the square for cannoli, a Capuccino for DH, and a lemon granita for me. Service was very slow, but we did thankfully finish in time. The cannoli unfortunately wasn't that good, but at least I had cannoli in Sicily, and the atmosphere was nice.

 

Next, we made our way back to the bus to drive to the Catacombs. Now, this is not just my opinion, this was stated as fact by our guide...Palermo drivers are crazy. There are no driving laws, or if there are, they aren't enforced, and people do whatever they want. It was nuts! If you want to park, there's limited space, so you just pull up wherever you want, put your car in park, roll down the window, and go about your merry way! The window down means you won't be long. We saw tons of cars parked in this fashion. The drive to the Catacombs was around 20 minutes. The street it's on is beyond chaos; cars were parked in the middle of the street, cars were turning around without turn signals in the middle of the street, and then there were all of the big tour buses. Our bus driver effortlessly parked, though, and it was time for the main event.

 

The Catacombs belong to the church. Hundreds of years ago, people chose to put their dead loved ones in these Catacombs to preserve them and enjoy them beyond death. They would dress their loved ones and visit them. This was quite costly, though, and when someone could no longer pay the fee, the loved one would be taken out and buried. After a while of this practice, people could no longer afford to do this, so the Catacombs shut down, and traditional burials resumed. "Out of respect for the dead", there's no photography or video allowed, though they'll happily sell you an array of photos! Awwww, so it's more out of respect for their wallets!

 

The Catcombs are under ground and so a welcome respite from the intense Sicilian heat. You actually walk on graves as you tour. There's a plexiglass type flooring over the top of the graves. The bodies are strapped to the walls in little individual alcoves. The elite had more formal spaces that could be vertical or horizontal. Men were together, and women and children were together. It was an unusual experience and very fascinating. The visit was about 30 minutes, including souvenir shopping time at the end.

 

Tour completed, we wound our way back through Palermo to the ship. The A/C on the bus was minimal, and it was sweltering. DH and I needed to get our requisite magnet, so we walked back out to the outer edge of the port to the souvenir booths and then back to the ship. As we were going through the port gates, we heard a dispute of some cruise pax. The police had stopped them because they refused to pay more for their taxi than they had originally agreed to pay. The taxi driver had doubled the length of their tour time without their request and wanted more money. In the end, the police let the pax into the port without paying extra.

 

Overall, I could have easily skipped Palermo. The Catacombs were thankfully interesting enough to warrant the excursion, but in general, the day was mediocre. Everyone else we spoke to said the same, with some even getting fed up with their tour and walking back to the ship on their own, despite feeling unsafe! Messina would have been so much better, and DH had a very valid point when he said, "If Malta was dropped and Naples brought back, why didn't the captain then switch out Palermo for the originally planned Messina?" That would have made us much happier.

 

We were now halfway done with our 14 day cruise and happy to have an afternoon at sea, filled with Alfredo's lunch, Bingo, and relaxation.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Turnaround day in Rome-

 

Time for a new batch of pax and new adventures!

 

The day dawned early as we had a full day excursion to Rome. We had originally pondered taking the train independently, but in the end, this tour took us to the exact places we were going to go on our own and maximized our time because we didn't have to worry about missing the ship. Win win!

 

We had a nice, small group of 20 and a giant, new, well-air-conditioned tour bus with seating for about 50! Score!

 

DH and I shared a cappuccino from the ship as we enjoyed the drive into Rome, memories of our trip 2 years ago filling our heads and conversation. The gas station stop this time had a wayyyyyy better bathroom than the one 2 years ago! And then I had a good chuckle when we passed the gas station from 2 years ago that was now shut down!

 

There was much less traffic this time in Rome because it was a Saturday. The tour escort (not called a guide because in Rome, there's a special license for guides; the escort takes you from the ship and is the one responsible for you) provided us with a map of Rome as well as her contact info. in case of emergency. She even had a What's App account to allow for wifi communication if we didn't have phone service, very handy. She pointed out The Colosseum, Circus Maximus, the Forum, and a plethora of other sites as we drove to pick up our official Rome guide and then on to our drop-off point by the Spanish Steps.

 

We had a short walk to the Spanish Steps, and I have to say that being in a group really adds a layer of protection against theft. Ok, you just have to know and accept that at least one site you visit in Europe is going to be full of scaffolding or walled off for refurbishment. For us, it was the Spanish Steps. Not a big deal at all to me because I was there for Trevi Fountain, the biggy I missed last time, and DH was there for the Pantheon, the biggy he missed last time. Thanks to our GoPro monopod, DH was at least able to film the Steps from above the plexiglass wall. The Rome guide regaled us with lots of history and info. as we walked a few blocks to...TREVI FOUNTAIN!!!!

 

Oh was it gorgeous!!!! Sparklingly clean after its recent renovation and full of splendor! It was actually better than I imagined and bigger than I had pictured! The place was a madhouse of tourists, but thankfully the tourists were pretty good about taking "their" shot and then stepping aside for the next group. I was able to get 3 photo opps at Trevi and am thoroughly satisfied. There's a gelateria at Trevi called Melagrano. it was some of the best gelato I've ever had and had bathrooms available for tour groups. The line was long but worth the wait. I cooled off with my gelato as we walked to the Pantheon. The guide was considerate to take us through an air-conditioned mall as a shortcut. Then we hit the bump in the road!

 

There was a line of hundreds of tourists outside the Pantheon. That's normal for a big tourist spot in Rome, right? Wrong! The Pantheon is free to tour, so there shouldn't be a line. We were the lucky ducks to come on a day of a private event being hosted in the Pantheon, which resulted in its temporary closure. The guide asked when it would re-open and was told 11:15 AM. Well, it was now 11:25 and still not open. Time wore on, the heat grossly affected the pack, and people in our group started to talk about skipping the Pantheon. Whoa there!! We paid for an excursion that includes the Pantheon, and the Pantheon is THE reason DH chose this excursion; we are NOT skipping it! I told the escort that if others wanted to leave, that was fine; we would stay behind to wait and then take a taxi to meet them later. The escort understood, but just then, we got word that the event had ended; we just had to wait for the attendees to mosey on out. The group decided to wait; 20 minutes later, we were still waiting, and the grumbling began again. The escort came to me and said they were going to leave and would we like to stay or leave, too? I said I needed to ask my hubby; she understood, but an Italian pax in our group just started yelling at me in Italian. The escort translated that he was upset and needed to know ASAP whether we were staying. Now I completely understand; it was sweltering, and we were in the direct sun, BUT it is not OK to yell at me! I got DH and asked his preference, and he of course wanted to stay. Our escort was so kind and said she'd stay behind with us and let the guide take the group on. Well, just as that was decided, the line started moving! We had been waiting about 45 minutes, and we were now

actually moving! Suddenly, the group was enthusiastic about the Pantheon again, and everyone stayed. The only problem was that a group of teens and adults was trying to skip the line and push through. DH and the guide kindly prevented that and got us in. It was magnificent. I never realized that there's an open air circle at the top. We spent about 15 minutes inside, and then happily satisfied, we made the trek to Piazza Navona.

 

It was a short walk, and there we were given 15 minutes instead of the planned 30 due to the delay at the Pantheon. The guide left at that point. She thanked us for persevering at the Pantheon because she really wanted to stay but couldn't force the group to stay. The escort then chimed in that the Pantheon is such a highlight, and she too was happy we didn't leave. We had time to explore and use the bathroom. The restaurant at the entrance had a very clean bathroom for .5 Euros and the sweetest little, old Italian lady running it. She complimented me on my curls in Italian and dried my hands for me after washing them.

 

We then took the bus to our lunch spot near the Vatican. Papa Rex was the restaurant, and it was not a great experience. The lasagna, salad, potatoes, and Tiramisu were OK, but the lunch took about 1.5 hours instead of the slotted hour, the vegetarians never received their entrees, and our only entree choice was veal, which resulted in a lot of sour faces and left behind meat on plates. DH and I would have much rather had a slice of pizza on the street! Also, beware that they take your pic when you enter and then put the pic on the table in from of you, but it's far from free. They didn't speak much English and never said a price, so none of us knew whether there was a cost until I asked. At least the conversation with our table mates was fun.

 

Lunch done, we walked our way over to St. Peter's Square. We were given about 40 minutes of free time. Not enough to tour but enough time to explore and see the outside of the buildings. That's fine because this excursion wasn't meant to be a tour of the Vatican. It just included some free time here, and the excursion was clear that it was quick. We shopped and got gelato, not great gelato but refreshing at least, and then it was time to walk to the bus. You go through a tunnel to board.

 

The drive back was peaceful, and DH and I napped. Unfortunately, that's when I woke up with a cough. It was so sudden. I assumed it was from sleeping with my mouth open and the A/C vent above. Stay tuned for tomorrow's port to know if that was the case.

 

Most new pax were already onboard, so we quickly went through Security with our In Transit cards and re-boarded just as Muster began. It was so nice to hop in the pool instead of going to Muster! Awwww the life of B2Bers!

 

Up next: Cruise 2

 

 

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[houstonheels]

Curious about the Beatlemaniacs - we saw them last summer on Regal, and their website says that they are back on Regal this summer. But like you, we are on Royal in Med this summer, actually going the opposite direction as you - Barcelona to Athens. Can you please tell us which days they were on your cruise? Thanks!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review and God bless you with those long flights and so many airlines.

[pris993]

The day my hubby's cruise was just about ruined...

 

We are sitting in the dining room on our first sea day peacefully decorating Venezian masks with Matt33 from the cruise staff and other pax when "ding ding ding" happens. "Ladies and gentleman, this is the captain speaking..."

Me: "Oh no, oh no, no, no, no"

I just knew what was coming and the effect it would have on my DH.

The captain proceeded to say that regretfully Malta would have to be skipped due to hurricane force winds that are very unusual for June.

To say that DH was displeased was an understatement. Malta was his #1 port of the entire cruise. That news clouded the whole day and really left a sour note in DH's mouth about cruising the Med. As an experienced cruiser, he knows this can happen; we have just been fortunate to never have had it happen until now. He just kept saying that if he was traveling by land, he could just fly there a different day if the weather was bad, and this is likely the last Med cruise we are doing because European ports are too important to have to risk skipping. He didn't fault Princess or the captain because he knows they were just being safe; he just doesn't want to risk missing his top picks of ports again.

 

At that evening's Platinum/Elite Cocktail Party, the captain asked what everyone's favorite port was, and I must say, most people shouted Malta.

 

Here's my Public Service Statement:

Don't book a cruise for a particular port if you're not OK with the chance of missing it. I'm willing to risk it because I love cruises more than anything, but not everyone is like that.

 

Spoiler Alert:

Gibraltar redeemed the cruise for DH, but he still says next time we will be going by land. Darn!

 

 

 

 

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Malta is amazing, the best part is approaching it, enjoyed the approach which took at least an hour.... we have done at least 12 Mediterranean cruises over the years... we have missed Monte Carlo due to wind once, had a storm come up after leaving Venice once, Venice actually was under water the day after we left, we got lucky. So it can happen but not often. I hope you make it back to Malta one way or another in the futrure.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Curious about the Beatlemaniacs - we saw them last summer on Regal, and their website says that they are back on Regal this summer. But like you, we are on Royal in Med this summer, actually going the opposite direction as you - Barcelona to Athens. Can you please tell us which days they were on your cruise? Thanks!

 

 

The Beatlemaniacs were onboard for the entire first cruise (6/11-6/18 Athens to Rome). They performed on stage in the theater one night, and then the second to last night, I believe, they led a Beattles dance party in the Piazza. Both events were completely full, and everyone young and old were having a blast! Also, one of the band members was a judge on The Voice of the Ocean the last night of the cruise. Ron Goodman (cruise director) commented how lucky we were to have them onboard.

 

 

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[TracieABD]

Ohhh... I got a cough in Rome, too. We have been home for a week and I am still coughing. It takes a lot of shiny off the vacation if you come home sick. Boo.

 

Please, keep us posted.

[Wichenford Wolf]

Naples- the planned, then taken away, then brought back port:

 

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Like your hubby we were looking forward to Malta as we had not visited before - well actually my wife did when she was 14, a little while ago now - but took the opportunity to stroll around the streets of Naples to see if it really was the dump I had envisaged.

 

It wasn't quite as bad as I had thought, but I'll happily tick it off my list and find something else to do when we call there another time. The other point I would make about Naples is the heat. It was 35 degs Celsius and even the locals in the bar we visited were complaining!

 

Thanks for your review which is bringing back memories of a great 14 days.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Ohhh... I got a cough in Rome, too. We have been home for a week and I am still coughing. It takes a lot of shiny off the vacation if you come home sick. Boo.

 

 

 

Please, keep us posted.

 

 

That sucks! You boarded the day we disembarked. The "kennel cough" as I call it was definitely going around the ship. When you see things like a lady dipping her finger in the serving spoon for the salad dressing and then licking it, (and of course the hacking everywhere) it's no mystery how things spread!!

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Cinque Terre is coming up...

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Cinque Terre-

 

This was the day I had dreamed about for months! Soooo many people had said Cinque Terre was a must do, and the pics online looked amazing. Last time, we did Florence and Pisa, so this was our chance to do the big 12 hour excursion to Cinque Terre (means 5 villages in Italian). This is definitely not an excursion worth risking on your own or with a private company. There was so much room for error

 

We rose with the sun, had breakfast, and boarded our excursion bus for the 2 hour or so journey. Remember yesterday, I developed a sudden cough. Well today, I felt the onset of a cold, but it was minor. Well what started out as minor had no chance because sitting directly behind me was a pax with a full blow respiratory illness! Cough, labored breath, blow nose, repeat the entire ride! The ship's doctor happily excuses pax from excursions when they're that sick. It prevents outbreaks, and who wants to be on a 12 hour excursion feeling that way?? Apparently this person did. Keep in mind, this was a cold, rainy day.

 

Anyway, the drive was fairly scenic, and we had a "comfort stop" at a gas station in Tuscany. A very kind male employee held the bathroom door open as our line of about 20 ladies waited. Only 1 other lady and I thanked him; I couldn't believe it!

 

We then drove 15 more minutes to pick up our guide in La Spezia. We had completed our bus leg, and it was time for our train leg. The escort bought our tixx, and we boarded. There was plenty of decently comfy seating. An extremely short ride later (mostly through a tunnel), we arrived at our first village!

 

*Now I have to say that though we had a great guide and escort, the communication was dicey throughout the day because neither the guide nor the escort knew exactly how or when we would reach each village or even which villages we'd visit! This was due to a recent mudslide and today's stormy weather. The norm is to take a boat ride, but it can't operate in rough seas. If you take this excursion, make sure you have your headset on to hear instructions, or you could get very lost!

 

We got off the train in Manarola, and this is where the guide would be informed of our next plan. She got the word we were all hoping for that we would get to take the boat! Hooray! The boat is far more scenic because it travels along the coastline with a direct view of each village. We were given about 20 minutes free time, and then we would wind our way down stone steps and along a primitive, narrow rock path along the sea to our boat. There were several other Princess groups there, too, and I noticed that they were lining up early. I asked our escort if I could, too, because we wanted to sit in the coveted outside section for the best views. She was fine with that, so I got in line. DH stayed behind to explore more. He then joined the line with our group that ended up last in line. I was so glad I had gotten in line! The path at the bottom of the cliff is about 3 ft wide at most, and there's no railing, just the cliff on one side and the sea on the other. The boat was a public ferry that had already picked up many pax at another village. They extend out a steep metal gangplank from the bow, and you grab those railings and hold tight because that ramp goes upppppp and downnnnn with the waves, and boy did we have waves that day! It was crazy! I went straight up to the top and secured the very last 2 seats up there; phewww!! We had a great view and a short, albiet rocky ride to Vernazza.

 

Vernazza was a village we hoped to visit but wasn't a guarantee. Again, super important to have your headset on because we didn't know we were to disembark here until just before the boat docked. The disembarkation process was the reverse and utilized the same moving, steep gangplank. We were given 30 minutes in Vernazza. DH and I hightailed it to the castle to climb for a cool viewpoint. Made it to the top, took our pics, and then headed back down. This whole time, it was pouring! Thank goodness we opted for jeans, rain jacket, and tennis shoes that day! We wandered around the village and bought some yummy pastries. There's a cool church, but it was having a service, so we didn't tour it. Children were playing in the courtyard. Row boats were beautifully displayed all over the beach. We then got into line for our ferry. The rest of our group was a few people behind us. We boarded, and this time sat inside for warmth and to escape the rain. The next thing we know, our guide is announcing that due to the downpour, our group would be waiting for the next ferry to ensure indoor seating for everyone. So here we were, without our group, headed to the last village. Thankfully, our group was for sure going to end up there, and another Princess group was onboard with us.

 

A 10 min ride later, we arrived at our final village of Monterosso. We followed the other group to their meeting point under the shelter of a bridge and notified their guide what had happened. He very graciously called our guide to inform her that we were here and would wait for them. They were about 15 min behind us. It's still pouring and cold.

 

Our group arrived, and we were escorted to a tasting room to sample locally made wine and olive oil. I bought some olive oil for my friend, we sampled everything (it was OK but nothing else tempting to buy), confirmed the meeting point, and set off for our approx. 2 hours of free time.

 

I really wanted to go to Mikey's, but we decided against it when the guide said its in the new area 20 min away. We'd have to walk there and back, hope to get in without a res, and get back within 2 hours. Instead, we wandered the streets until we found our back-up restaurant. It's super tiny, and with the rain, everyone was filling the inside of the restaurants, but we managed to get a table within about 10 min. We were pleasantly surprised at how efficient the service was. DH's wine was served in a fun looking Italian jug type thing (I'm sorry I can't remember the term for it), and the caprese salad was delicious. That's when the service ended, though. We waited and waited, watching every other table get ther entrees, desserts, espressos, and bills, including those who came in after us. We finally said something, and we suspect they had forgotten about our entrees because the waiter went and shouted at the chef and then told us it would just be a few min. Sure enough, 5 min later, we had our food. My pasta was scrumptious. DH liked his food, but half the mussels (which everyone said you HAD to have in Cinque Terre) didn't open! After finishing, we were out of time and sadly had to skip dessert and coffee. We grabbed some subpar gelato (I am so not picky with ice cream, but this tasted sour, and the cone seemed stale) by the meeting spot, and thus ended our visit.

 

Our group walked the 15 min or so trek to the train station, boarded the train, and quickly arrived at our destination where we would reboard the bus for the journey back to the ship. The drive back was about 2 hours and included a bathroom stop at a gas station. The views leaving the Cinque Terre region were beautiful.

 

Ok, so I had expected today to be one of the highlights of the whole trip. Was it? No, it was actually rather underwhelming, especially considering the amount of effort you put into reaching each village. Bus, train, boat, boat, train, and back to bus. Was it worth it? Well, yes because if we hadn't done it I would always regret not going, but I wouldn't go again. The photos I had seen online were nothing like the villages in person; they had to have been photo- shopped. The villages were ok but kind of drab, not the vibrant colors you see in pics. We saw way more beautiful buildings the following day and other days. Mind you, it was raining, cold, and I experienced an intensifying cold throughout the day, but still, it just wasn't all that impressive.

 

*This excursion is NOT for those with limited mobility.

 

 

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[GweninTX]

I am so sad about Cinque Terre - we were planning on it for our cruise next year and with a private company that stays with you to help guide. You really do not advise a private tour?

[ROLY305]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to see if any of you might be interested in joining my wife and I on a tour in Messina which will be August 31, 2016. We are just 2 right now but have room for another 6 and that will make the cost much less. This is what they include.

 

Pick up at the port in Messina and drive us to the Alcantara Gorge

From the Alcantara Gorge they will take us to Taormina to see the theatre, sites of Mount Etna and shops, cafes, etc.

From Taormina back to Messina port

Approximate length: 5-6 hours

Transportation in private Mercedes Benz van (or similar) fully insured

Private Licensed Driver/Escort English Speaking;

All miscellaneous expenses i.e.: motorway tolls, gasoline, parking,etc.;

Monument only Greek Theatre Entry Fee 10 Euros per person NOT INCLUDED.

Gratuities for driver NOT INCLUDED

 

Total per person: 90 euros

 

If interested please let me know soon. This is cheaper by far than anything the cruise ship offers and they don't even have an option to go see the Alcantara Gorge which is amazing.

[Cassicruiser]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to see if any of you might be interested in joining my wife and I on a tour in Messina which will be August 31, 2016. We are just 2 right now but have room for another 6 and that will make the cost much less. This is what they include.

 

Pick up at the port in Messina and drive us to the Alcantara Gorge

From the Alcantara Gorge they will take us to Taormina to see the theatre, sites of Mount Etna and shops, cafes, etc.

From Taormina back to Messina port

Approximate length: 5-6 hours

Transportation in private Mercedes Benz van (or similar) fully insured

Private Licensed Driver/Escort English Speaking;

All miscellaneous expenses i.e.: motorway tolls, gasoline, parking,etc.;

Monument only Greek Theatre Entry Fee 10 Euros per person NOT INCLUDED.

Gratuities for driver NOT INCLUDED

 

Total per person: 90 euros

 

If interested please let me know soon. This is cheaper by far than anything the cruise ship offers and they don't even have an option to go see the Alcantara Gorge which is amazing.

You may want to post this on the roll call for your cruise, as then you'll be bringing this to the attention of people who will be on the same cruise with you and could be interested in joining up with others for tours. :)

[ROLY305]

you may want to post this on the roll call for your cruise, as then you'll be bringing this to the attention of people who will be on the same cruise with you and could be interested in joining up with others for tours. :)

 

thanks! Will do! Great tip!

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

 

Your description of your Naples port call was amazing. Thank you for taking the time to post it. I can't wait to go back there.....:):):)

 

Bob

[cruisequeen4ever]

OP;

 

 

 

Your description of your Naples port call was amazing. Thank you for taking the time to post it. I can't wait to go back there.....:):):)

 

 

 

Bob

 

 

Thank you [emoji3] Every time I have one of those lemon candies I'm instantly transported back to Capri!

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Summer really carried me away from finishing this review! I left off shortly into the 2nd half of our B2B...On to Monaco...

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Monaco-

 

Being at the front of the ship really paid off today; we awake to a perfectly centered view of Monte Carlo and its harbor. It was time to hit the ground running for one of my most sought after port days. In fact, DH asked me to skip breakfast on the ship for the first time ever! Ok, it came with an incredibly silver lining, though...an invitation to have breakfast with my love in FRANCE!

 

We got ready quickly and used the glorious power of the black card to skip the tender line. In fact, it was such a seamless process that DH didn't even notice me flash the card. The tender ride was quick, and we were delivered to the dock right by a Silverseas ship and gorgeous multi-million dollar yachts.

 

We strolled, I mean sped-walked, along the marina until we reached the city of Monte Carlo. From there, it was difficult to tell how to get to the train station. We used a map, but the streets were confusing, and hardly any shops were open to ask for directions. We stumbled upon another group looking for the train station, too, and together we found it. Upon entering a rather nondescript entrance, you're enveloped by a long, marble tunnel. There was not ticket booth, only 2 automated machines. Oh dear, they were only in French! I tried to navigate through with my limited French to no avail. A Frenchman saved the day by doing the whole process for us! DH tried to give him a Thank You tip, but he politely declined. Tickets in hand, we raced to make the next train. The tunnel with the tracks was fairly empty and dark, but we found the platform with about 10 other people waiting. A minute later, the train appeared, and we were off! There were plenty of seats, so we each took a window seat on the sea side. The train was pretty filthy with gunk and graffiti, so we focused on the outside. I had thankfully taken a pic of the train monitor that showed the order of stops, so we'd know when to get off. This really helped, since they dish announce every stop. DH did notice a sign at each stop, but I missed them. A short 17 minutes later, we arrived at Villefranche-Sur-Mer.

 

DH had discovered this beautiful seaside village on a "Top places to visit around the world" article and immediately planned to take me there this trip. You could either walk straight down to the beach or along a path over to the center of the village; that's what we did. Our first and main order of business was a picturesque breakfast by the sea. DH told me to pick whichever restaurant I wanted among the row of seaside restaurants. We checked them all out and returned to the first one, which offered padded wicker love seats directly in front of the sea and fun EDM music. The waitress promptly gave us menus in English, which was much appreciated. We each ordered the French breakfast, which came with a cappuccino, freshly squeezed orange juice, chocolate croissant, butter croissant, and French bread toast with butter and jam. She laid out a linen tablecloth over the table in front of the love seat. Our waitress was a sweet French girl who helped us learn some French phrases to see us through the rest of our visit. We tipped her extra for the French lessons. This was definitely the most peaceful, romantic breakfast with the sea lapping against the marina wall directly in front of us, the colorful village behind us, and my hubby's arm around me. Breakfast was scrumptious; boy the French do croissants light years better than Americans!!

 

We then strolled, this time we really did stroll, along the village and over to the beach by way of some souvenir shops. The beach was ROCKY, like cut-your-poor-bare-feet rocky and way-too-difficult-to-walk-through-in-flip-flops rocky, but we were determined to walk the beach, and so we persevered. The beach was full of people but not too crowded. The water was quite cool; I wouldn't have wanted to swim in it.

 

We made our way over to the stairs that lead up to the train station and returned to the tracks. This stop actually had a manned ticket office, which was a relief. The man didn't speak English, but DH did an excellent job communicating with him and successfully procured our return tickets. A few minutes later, the train picked us up for the sweltering (no A/C onboard) but short journey back to Monaco.

 

Our next goal was to reach the palace in time for the changing of the guards. We raced back to the area where the pathway to the palace was and up, up, up. Stick to the side for a narrow slice of shade. We made it in time to get a front row view! Plus DH was able to hold the GoPro way up above everyone's head for a full view of the whole procedure. The process took about 10-15 minutes. We didn't have time to tour the palace because we had reservations for lunch across the harbor.

 

Back down the hill we went and over to the marina to find the water taxi. The water taxi is an affordable 2 Euros pp to transport you back and forth across the harbor. We timed it just right for the next taxi and enjoyed the short trek with jaw-droppingly gorgeous yachts everywhere we looked.

 

Upon reaching the other side, we walked up to the road, past the yacht club (can only imagine how expensive that membership is!!!) and to the building that supposedly houses the elevator to the casino area. It was confusing because there was construction, but we found the marble tunnel to the elevators, and up we went. At the top, you can either go left or straight and around. We didn't know which way to go, so we took what ended up being the scenic route around the back and arrived at the famed Cafe de Paris a few minutes early for our res. The hostess took us to our reserved patio table only to find a lady had decided her handbag needed its own table and had taken ours over. We asked to be seated elsewhere and decided indoors might actually be a reprieve from the heat, so in we went to a half booth. This was much more comfortable. DH went with the prix-fix lunch menu, and I had my first real French filet Mignon. A gloved server carries around a basket of rolls from which you can choose. I ordered fresh pressed lemon juice, which is straight lemon juice served with a glass of sparkling mineral water and packets of sugar to mix, yourself. It was fun. DH's lunch was sadly unremarkable. My filet Mignon could not have been more tender, and the pommes frites were perfect! We opted out of dessert in favor of a gelato stop later.

 

Here is where our amazing day turned sour. My main goal this port day was to experience the grand Monte Carlo Casino. I had researched the dress code, and we had dressed accordingly. I was giddy with excitement as we walked up the steps no into the lobby until we were YELLED, and I do mean yelled, at by the security guard across the room from us. The one in front of us had no problem with us, but the one across the room yelled no and said our footwear was not allowed. DH and I were both wearing nice, leather flips flops, not tennis shoes that were clearly prohibited, not cheap rubber flip flops, but quality leather ones. I told the security guard I had read the dress code, and flip flops were not banned. I was wearing a long dress, and DH was wearing linen pants with a dress shirt. Under-dressed we were not! I looked around at the sea of tourists coming in, wearing ridiculous tourist apparel and TENNIS SHOES, and they were all allowed in! I believe we were totally discriminated against based on our age. All the older people were allowed in despite wearing clothes that were prohibited like tennis shoes and shorts.

We were pissed to say the least. DH was determined to get me to the casino, so we determined that we had 2 options, either buy me 100 Euro sandals or take the water taxi back across the harbor, tender back to the ship to switch our shoes, and do the reverse trip to the casino. We opted for the long but much cheaper option. Mind you it was 2:30 in the afternoon, all-aboard was 5:15, we never play it to the last second, and the water taxi runs every 20 min. We hoofed it back to the water taxi, water taxied back across the harbor, took the tender, walked all the way across the ship and up to our stateroom, changed shoes, and made the reverse journey, all the while DH asked me every minute exactly what time it was. I have never seen him so determined to make something happen. I even told him over and over it was ok; I would let this dream go, but no, he was gonna get me to that casino if it was the last thing we did!

 

There would be no time for gelato, but we made it back to the casino with enough time for me to play my requisite 20 Euros on penny slots for 10 minutes. In that 10 minutes, I got 3 bonuses and cashed out 13 Euros, very satisfied with my Monte Carlo Casino experience. The casino was much smaller than I expected but very worth the visit. The decor was ornate and beautiful.

 

We then sprinted back to the water taxi and made it on the ONE that would get us back in time to make the ship! Back to the tenders where we made it on the third to last tender back to the ship.

 

We were so hot and tired from our day ashore that we decided to skip dinner in the dining room. Horizon Court and Bistro offer soooo many delicious dinner options, and with a million dollar backdrop of Monte Carlo sail away, we feasted on the aft deck. It was a long day but an extremely satisfying and memorable day!

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

The unexpected ship day AKA Toulon-

 

We had planned to go to St. Tropez but ended up needing a relaxing day on the ship, so we slept, ate, read, lounged, watched MUTS, and treasured our mostly private day aboard the ship!

 

Thankfully, we had visited Toulon twice on our previous Med cruise, so although it is the port that takes you to the beautiful French region of Provence that we love, it was OK that we missed it this time.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Gibraltar-

 

Awww, Gibraltar. I had dreamed of visiting The Rock of Gibraltar, since I had first heard of this faraway island from a childhood movie. Of course my plan had been to take the cable car to the top, which was definitely NOT DH's plan!

 

We rose early, donned our tennis shoes, caffeinated ourselves, and exited the ship for our hiking adventure! Princess offers a port shuttle that takes you to the town square; this transport was DH's gift to me for agreeing to hike the Rock of Gibraltar. Upon arrival, we made several attempts to get a taxi to the Mediterranean Steps, but as we had been warned online, no taxi was willing to take us there. They all wanted to give island tours. We went back to the shuttle stop, and I asked a shuttle driver how we could get a taxi to take us. He so kindly called his taxi driver friend who appeared within 10 minutes; many thanks to the shuttle driver and his friend!! The taxi driver did not try to over charge us and was friendly, so we happily tipped him extra for saving the day. We paid the fee to enter the national park, used the clean bathroom, and were off for the big hike!

 

I should back up to say that the original plan was to hike the Rock the standard way of taking the switchback roads, BUT I unwittingly gave DH the idea of doing the more intense hike of the backside of the Rock, known as the Mediterranean Steps. This was offered as a Princess excursion, and if you want to do this, I highly recommend booking the excursion in light of how difficult it is to get transport to the Med Steps. We did book the excursion but were wait listed and never cleared the wait list.

 

Back to the hike...at 10 AM, it was just DH and I for most of the journey. Shortly after you begin, the steps go DOWN; wait, what?! We are hiking to the top; why would we be going DOWN?? I first thought we had somehow taken a wrong turn, but upon backtracking, we realized we were on the right trail and would first be going down before going wayyyyyy back up.

 

The trail alternates between dirt and steps and between having a rope railing and nothing. I was still sick with the upper respiratory illness on this day, so I took my inhaler and gave it my best effort. DH encouraged me to use the rope railing to pull myself along whenever I could, and that was good advice. The benefit of going independently was being able to stop whenever we wanted or needed. We sat on rocks periodically but mostly would stand and look out to to sea and the many cargo ships anchored on that side of the Rock. There was a cave along the way, and though our adventurous side wanted to explore, our wise side decided it would be best not to awaken whatever possible animals might inhabit the cave. We only encountered a few other people on the hike. When I really reached the end of my limit, we thankfully ran into someone coming back down who encouraged me when he said it was only about 15 more minutes to the top. That propelled me on, and we reached the top of the Rock of Gibraltar 45 minutes sooner than the average time! Go team us!

 

We finished our bottles of water, knowing we would be back among humanity soon and able to buy more. DH went off to explore a humongous military battery left from WW2, I believe, and I sat on the wall, gripping my purse in case an ape jumped out and wanted to snatch it.

 

We then walked down the path, awww to walk down, to St. Michael's Cave. Our national park tixx included entrance to this cave, so we were able to walk right in. The first order of business was to take a refreshing drink/snack break, though! I had 2 slush puppies and salt and vinegar chips from England. Signs warn you to watch out for apes inside the open air cafe, but we didn't see any. We then toured the cave, which was interesting and didn't take very long to explore. The exit is different from the entrance, and I was so exhausted that I made the foolish decision not to trek back up the hill to use the bathroom. Word of advice; use the bathroom before entering the cave. Upon exiting, we encountered our first Barbary apes! There was an adorable family hanging out on the wall with their 3 day old ape baby nursing away. Way too cute! A guard was there to ensure that tourists didn't get too close. Of course a tourist lady just couldn't listen and walked right up, causing the mama ape to tap the papa ape and send him to chase off the group. We promptly left to avoid this.

 

Our plan was to take the cable car down, BUT a taxi driver warned us that you actually have to walk back up and across to take the cable car. Warning- all taxis are full at the top; no point in even trying to take one if you don't already have one. DH left it up to me, and I decided I guess we'd better walk down the rest of the way. I had no idea just how long that walk would take!

 

The time was 12:30, and all aboard was 3:30, I believe. Though that sounds like plenty of time, and we could at least see the ship in the distance, we were still quite a distance across the island from the port. We stopped at the ape's den and watched the young apes swing and play. They were curious about DH's GoPro and tried to grab it, but DH was stronger. Continuing down the switchback road, we came to several offshoots that may or may not have been quicker. We decided to play it safe and stick to the road. There was no time to stop at the WW2 tunnels, but they were a welcome sight because it might we were getting closer to town.

 

At about 1:30 we finally reached the edge of town. We cut off to take steps down, down, down to a main pedestrian street lined with shops. We purchased well-deserved ice cream cones and perused the shops along the street and in the town square. I felt so relieved to be back by the shuttle. DH had really wanted to have a British lunch in Gibraltar, but I was concerned about time. Thank goodness we didn't stop for lunch because the line for the port shuttle was lonnnnnng. Then when we approached the shuttle, a couple tried to skip the line and jump on, no way!

 

Back onboard, it felt so good to take a shower and eat lunch by the pool. Sailaway was fascinating with a sighting of Africa in the distance! Mission accomplished; we have conquered the Rock of Gibraltar!

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Valencia-

 

Finally, a day to sleep in. Valencia would be a restful port stop at just half a day and in the afternoon.

 

We booked the San Jose Caves excursion before it sold out, and I was excited! These caves are not easily reached independently because they're about 45 minutes outside of Valencia.

 

The tour began with a driving tour taking us through the modern side of Valencia with the famous Science museum and over to the old side with historic buildings. Valencia is a unique city and full of beauty.

 

Once we reached the old side, the bus dropped us off for a 1.5 hour or so walking tour. This was nice because DH wanted to explore Valencia, and I wanted the caves, making this the perfect excursion. There weren't a lot of bathroom opps on this excursion, so use it when you can. Our guide was informative, but he would never say how long we would be stopping somewhere, so you'd never know whether you'd have time to run to the bathroom, grab a drink, or buy a souvenir. I wanted a granita in the intense heat, but I didn't wanna risk losing the group. DH managed to get gelato, I managed to find a bathroom, and we bought our magnet, so it worked out.

 

At the conclusion of the walking tour, we boarded our bus for the 45 minute drive to the caves. Sometimes Princess overestimates drive times, not in this case. We were given time to use the bathroom, and then the guide hurried us into line for the boat ride through the caves. If you're tall like us, you have to stand in line bent over because the line is inside the cave, and the cave is low. Apparently, there isn't usually a long line, but there was some backup with the boats causing a delay. As a result, we were majorly behind schedule. There are about 10 people per boat plus the local Spanish man who rowed us through. You have to board the rowboat carefully to avoid capsizing; one to one side and the next to the other side, back and forth, so you sit across from your party.

 

The ride was everything I hoped for and then some. The guide didn't speak English at all and would yell at the group sometimes; thankfully a family on our boat spoke a little Spanish and realized he was saying "watch your heads" because the cave had such a low ceiling in some parts. There are times when you can sit up and look high up, and others you have to bend over and protect your head. We then came to a spot with a dock in the middle of the cave. We had no instructions on what to do, but we got out and just followed the cave as a group and eventually came to another dock where our boat mysteriously was awaiting us. We re-boarded and completed the ride back to our original spot. The ride was probably about 30 minutes. Don't do it if you're claustrophobic! There are absolutely no air holes the entire ride.

 

Back outside the caves, we had time to grab gelato while we waited for the last boat of our group, and then we re-boarded our bus. We were just leaving the caves at the time of all aboard and still had the 45 minute drive back! Thank goodness for booking directly through the cruise line! The guide reassured us that he had informed the ship of our late arrival, and all was well. We were the last group back to the ship, the lines were dropped, and our final sail away commenced!

 

This last evening of the ship we decided to eat in Horizon Court instead. We love the landfall menu, but due to our late arrival, we had missed dinner and had at least been able to have that menu at the end of the first cruise. The food was fantastic, and I had all of my favorites like caprese salad, fettuccini Alfredo, and the absolute best Normal Love chocolate cake! The only downside was a lady dipped her finger in the serving spoon in the buffet to sample the salad dressing; beyond yuck!!!!!!! We watched the sea as we savored our final dessert onboard.

 

Packing was dreaded, but at least this cruise, we still had 2 nights post cruise of vacation.

 

 

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Barcelona-

 

Disembarkation is the saddest of days. Up early and seriously savored every morsel of our last ship breakfast. Everything was running on time, and when we reached the Platinum/Elite Lounge, our group was called right after. Off the ship, found our luggage right away, no customs, and right outside into the taxi line.

 

The taxi line probably had 200 people in it, but as others have said, they really do move it along efficiently. After about 20 minutes, we were ushered to a taxi, where the driver effortlessly squeezed our abundance of luggage into his small car. It was a pleasant drive to our hotel as we smiled at familiar sites from 2 years ago. We lucked out with a taxi that had a credit card machine, paid, and made our way into the hotel. The staff was very nice and took our luggage so we could explore. The room would not be ready until much later.

The hotel is truly centrally located, so it was easy to walk off to explore.

 

We made our way to Las Ramblas to find La Boqueria because it was closed when we went before. Boy was everyone there; I can see why pick pocketing is rampant. Hold your cross body bag close to you, and don't let go as you squeeze through! The market was fascinating with Iberian ham hanging everywhere, lots of fresh juices, and then my favorite destination, the candy stall! I had been dreaming of this. I got a bag and began putting fun shaped candy into it. It was under 5 Euros, and I saved it to eat at home. (It ended up smelling disgusting and made me not even want to eat it, so I gave it to my brother who loved it.) Then we were happy to leave the chaos and continue on Las Ramblas to reach the waterfront.

 

My goal was to have lunch. DH's goal was for us to walk to the zoo and have lunch somewhere along the way. I didn't think the zoo was within walking distance, but I was wrong. After walking along the waterfront and stopping to relax along the way in the shade, we discovered we were right by the zoo! And even better, one of the highly rated restaurants DH had considered for us was right there! We ate inside at Talles de Tapas, and it was great. The inside was cool, the food was good, and the bathrooms were clean.

 

After that, we walked the few blocks to the zoo and spent the rest of the afternoon there. It's HUGE! Just when you think you've seen it all, there's more! I saw animals I had never even heard of. I tried to avoid getting a granita in case the water was unfiltered but after 2 hours gave up and got one; it was sooooo refreshing!

 

After the zoo, DH assured me that we would take a taxi back to the hotel, and a short walk outside the zoo, we found a taxi stand. This taxi didn't accept credit cards, but the total was under 10 Euros, and it was fine.

 

We showered and got dressed up for our big evening. The hotel called us a taxi to take us to Tablao Cordobes for our dinner and flamenco show, and the taxi was quick to arrive. You can easily walk there, but we were running late. Well, unfortunately in our hurry, we discovered that this taxi didn't accept credit cards, DH was out of Euros, and I had forgotten to transfer my Euros from my day bag to my evening bag! Thank goodness DH had US Dollars, and the taxi driver accepted this payment, since we made it worth his while.

 

Tableau Cordobes was the top ranked flamenco dinner show and located right on Las Ramblas. They tell you to not arrive early because seating is based on when you buy your tickets, not when you arrive. Don't believe that!!

 

We got there 10 minutes before our reservation time, and we were the last to arrive! Most people were almost done eating, and some of the food was already out and not replaced! That was not cool! We quickly went around the buffet and sat down to eat. They don't like to tell you that the Sangria is unlimited at the table, but it is. Do note though that they do not give you any once you enter the show room. Only cava is served in there, and it's 1 glass per person. Dessert was much tastier to me than the regular food, though DH liked it all. My favorites were definitely the hot churros in Mexican chocolate sauce! Make-your-own coffee was fun, too. We definitely had to eat quickly because everyone else had eaten so early.

 

They tell your table group when to enter the showroom and exactly where to sit. Again, it's not true that you get the best seats if you book early because in this case, the last people got the best seats with actual legroom, breathing room, and a table for their drinks! We, on the other hand, were crammed in with a tour group who got the priority seating. Nonetheless, all seats had a great view of the show. The show was spectacular, and I can see why it's so highly rated. They let you film and take pics the last 5 minutes.

 

At the end, we hurried out because our night had just begun! We walked 20 minutes to the Palau de Musica to attend a guitar performance. We had purchased our tickets online and carefully selected seats that would help us take in the whole experience at this amazing music palace. The acoustics were phenomenal, and the experience was supreme. This was a highlight for my musically gifted husband.

 

After the concert, we leisurely wound our way back to the hotel, stopping for gelato along the way. The city really comes alive at night.

 

The next day we woke up bright and early for our 13 hour Dali excursion. We took a taxi to the meeting point and found a nearby cafe to buy cappuccinos and croissants for breakfast. Breakfast was delicious except for finding a bug at the end of my croissant!

 

This was a small group excursion to Figueres for a tour of Dali's home and Cadaques for a tour of his museum. Our tour guide was a British ex-pat, so he spoke perfect English. He was a wealth of information on all things Spain and regaled us with history stories all day. In fact, he had so much to say that DH wouldn't let me sleep in the car for fear I'd miss something of note. *sigh* It was a 2 hour drive to the tiny coastal town of Figueres and not that scenic; it actually kind of reminded me of my hometown area of Northern CA.

 

Dali's home was as eccentric as he was and definitely my favorite part of the day. I wouldn't recommend a visit to the museum without going to his home, too. After touring his home, we had lunch as a group at a tiny restaurant in Figueres. This was a pricey excursion, and they didn't skimp on lunch. We had a choice of steak or fish, salad, wine, espresso, and dessert. Conversation was good with the group, and the food was tasty. After lunch, we had some free time, which wasn't that interesting in this small town, and then we got back in the van for the hour drive to Cadaques.

 

The Dali museum was interesting, with my favorite exhibit being a car high up in the air that poured rain water when you put money into a slot. The admission also included the Dali jewelry museum next door. We really were given too much time here, as we all sat waiting for the van for about 20 minutes. I at least had gelato, and DH ordered potatas aioli or something like that that were scrumptious. The drive back was terribly long due to traffic, resulting in a very delayed arrival back into Barcelona. This tour company was very good, and we learned a lot.

 

It was time for our last dinner in Barcelona, so we showered and walked over to Las Ramblas to find DH's tapas pick for us. We stopped for drinks along the way as it grew dark and then roamed the narrow streets until we found the restaurant tucked down a side street. It was quiet now at 10:30 PM, and we had a nice tapas dinner. I really grew to love potatas bravas and aioli (or whatever the name was) that day. After dinner, we walked back up Las Ramblas to get our last gelato of the trip just before they closed at midnight.

 

Our time in Europe had come to an end. It wasn't a perfect trip with me hurting my foot and getting sick, but it was another European adventure that stole our hearts yet again!

 

 

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[EightFurryPaws]

Thank you for doing a wonderful and detailed review. I relived so many of the ports from your trip.

 

We were on June 25-July 16. As soon as we boarded the plane from Barcelona back to the USA, I started feeling miserable. After two weeks home, I finally started feeling better.

 

It seems like any cruise I take, no matter where I go or how long I'm on board, I come home with an terrible cold or just feel lousy. But I just expect it and keep on cruising. Maybe some day I'll be surprised!!

[cruisequeen4ever]

EightFurryPaws, glad you enjoyed it! Cruise blogs are my favorite reading material because of their ability to transport us instantly to a cruise ship! Healthy future cruises to you!

 

 

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