Connie Review - 11 nite E.Med with 2 kids

[MicCanberra]

 

Additionally, the CD last summer on the Connie was the wonderful Alejandro, who happily was also on our Equinox cruise this year. Previously I would not have thought that would have made much difference to me, but surprisingly it did because I thought him hilarious.

 

 

He is a real scream.:cool:

[Apexgal]

Pools are all saltwater.

[Beanb41]

Its a shame that you missed Ephesus. It was the highlight of our April cruise on the Connie. We also booked Ephesus Shuttles. We had an organised tour of Athens that picked us up at the ship took us to the Acropolis museum, up to the Acropolis, watched the changing of the guard and for those who wanted it shopping in the Plaka. Being there in April meant temperate climate which was very pleasant. Love reading the reviews brings back many pleasant memories. WE thought that many of the evening shows were average but it was free entertainment. We also found the CD Maartyn too over the top for us but there has to be something to complain about right.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Beanb41

[Apexgal]

Day 10 - Messina

 

I went back and forth on this port. Originally I thought the kids would love to see Etna and researched that direction. When I suggested it to the family, my kids looked at me like I had horns on my head. My 9 year old was convinced it was going to blow at any second and we were all going to be swallowed up by rivers of lava. Ok - no sense in having anyone stressed about this trip and less to pack for me because that would have meant one day of heavier clothes.

 

The reviews raved about Taormina but I was hesitant because I thought - all anyone talks about is a little shopping village that has beautiful cafes. Totally my speed (but not really anyone else's). AND it was going to be a hike to a train, then a train to either a bus or a taxi and then a small walk. 2 kids with that many modes of transport had me ready to explode! And the private transfers seemed expensive.

 

Then I thought Messina - but the more I read - the less there was other than a cool clock. Since we had already skipped Ephesus, we were not skipping this port and cannolis were at stake!

 

So we burned up the last of the OBC and got our only ridiculously priced shipped excursion - Taormina on your own transfer for all 4 of us - figuring the kids could endure 3 hours of cute cafes if needed for me. We booked as soon as we got on the ship and it did sell out. At 845 am that morning we met the group in the theater and headed out. The guide spoke such heavily accented English she was extremely hard to understand - but we had booked this solely for transport so any tidbits we gleaned, were just a bonus. It was a beautiful ride down the coast (even better on the way back).

 

The bus drops you on level 1 of a parking garage and then you take turns jamming into an elevator to the 7th floor, then all wait for the guide to tell you to meet back here and she points you in the right direction. By this point, we were down to about 2.5 hours of true "on our own time". It wasn't nearly enough!

 

Our goal for the day was to eat and see the theater. We walked quickly through town (which at 10 am was still empty and many shops still closed), knowing there was a Roman theater at the other end with great views of Etna that we wanted to hit. We stopped for a cannoli to share and it was amazing! We also got a merengue to share - also amazing. We told the kids - this was a dessert tasting tour day. We'd get one amazing pastry from a shop - share it and go on to another. Made them way more excited about all the little stores.

 

We made it to the theater but we weren't expecting the entry fee to be so steep - 30E total but whatever, we were there. It was quite steep in the theater and very hot but was worth the cost of admission and did have great views. Side note - after seeing it, the kids at this point asked why we didn't go to Etna and asked that we go next time. "sigh"

 

Back out, we tasted granitas, Arancini and Sicilian pizza - rounding out our own tasting tour of Sicily. By far the best food day we had had. The town had filled up (and the shops were now open) but sadly we didn't have much time to browse as we had to head back to our bus. We could have all (including the kids) easily spent another hour or more at least. This is one of the reasons I'm not a fan of ship tours but I'll admit - it was easy. Taormina was one of my favorite days.

 

We made it back to town and about 5 minutes from the port is the central square. We walked over to see the clock (which was cool) and a church and then realized we had all hit our "done" button for the day and it was back on board the ship for some rest and dinner.

 

After dinner we skipped dessert in the MDR because we had heard they had an Italian dessert buffet set up in the Oceanview with cannolis. We made a beeline for the most disappointing offering yet - if we hadn't had amazing food earlier that day, I'm sure it would have been great but we should have stuck with the chocolate cake in the MDR.

 

This night was the ladies slot tournament and I figured why not. It's in the fine print that you have to sign up before 9 pm that evening (starts at 10) and you sit at a machine and hit the button as fast as you can. It was enjoyable and they give you a free $10 in slot credits while you wait plus 2 drinks (if you don't have the drink package) which I somehow turned into $13 (yep - really big gamblers here).

 

Up next - The last full day - a sea day!

[MicCanberra]

Great day on Sicily, glad the kids enjoyed it too.

There is nothing to compare to the cannoli's made there either, absolutely wonderful.

[Aus ATC]

Thanks for the review. Our own experiences of the X80 from Piraeus to Athens are not dissimilar - here is a perfect opportunity for a public transport to excel, and it fails. We waited a long time for the trip to Athens - why is there not a 10-15 minute service with ships in port? Build it and they will come - maybe that was the Romans?

 

We also experienced a failed return service (took a taxi instead). Perhaps symptomatic of the Greek economy?

[LauraAnneC]

Really enjoying reading your review!

[Apexgal]

The last cruise day also happened to be a sea day. Being the type-A personality that I am, there was no way I was going to enjoy this day until the majority of our stuff was packed. After sleeping in, hubby brought me a coffee and muffin and then took the kids away for breakfast so I could get to work. He's happy to help but sometimes it just goes faster if I'm the only person in the room.

 

An hour later and 3 of the 4 suitcases packed, the kids were back and announced that they wanted to spend the last sea day in the kids club. All day. Who am I to say no. It's not like we hadn't had plenty of family time this trip. Bye kids - have fun!

 

One of the few activities excited me and the hubs - the Top Chef at Sea competition so we headed out. I dropped our names in the chef and the judges category and we were chosen to be judges! While I'm sure that the contestant chefs (cruise participants) were excellent cooks - they had an immense amount of help from a ship chef. Being a judge basically meant I had my lunch cooked by a ship head chef and it was excellent. The other activity that I had participated in was the galley tour on the first sea day.

 

Lunch with the kids and then we had planned to spend out last (and only cloudy day) on our balcony. Unfortunately - due to some horrible planning - Celebrity decided they had to paint the crew stairwell that was directly under out balcony. The stench was too much to bear even outside. Why they couldn't have done this on a port day is beyond me. But it ruined our last day on the balcony. No worries - off to the adult pool where we easily found 2 seats together mid afternoon.

 

The kids club had a talent show scheduled for 4 pm and we arrived a few minutes early. This was packed so get there early to be able to see your kiddo. Dancing, gymnastics, piano, joke telling, singing were on tap. Even some soccer ball kicking.

 

As we were getting ready for dinner, my eldest says - "man, I could really go for some prime rib" - words I never hear from my chicken-tender-loving child at home. He got lucky - it made a 2nd appearance (though a noticeably smaller cut). They ate quickly and back to the kids club - they were serious when they said they wanted to spend all day.

 

Hubs and I decided to play off the $18 in casino vouchers we had accumulated and unfortunately, they had fallen out of his pocket somewhere along the way. The 930 activity was silent disco in Cellar Masters - I'd always wanted to try it but its usually past my bedtime. In the 30 min we were there - no one danced.

 

We took a walk to get our ship Christmas ornament and I wanted to check out the sundries just for comparison. Wow - hardly a thing was available and it didn't look like they were just sold out. I think you could have bought toothpaste and Pringles and that was about it. It reaffirmed giant medical kit that I bring that accounts for nearly any occurrence my kids may have. 3 of the family had small colds during this trip and we had blown through some Sudafed and cough medicine.

 

Back to the room to finish up the last suitcase and get everything out in the hallway. We had 1 night in Rome and one night in our destination airport before a 3 hour drive home so I had packed so that we only had to deal with one suitcase (highly recommend).

 

It had been our longest cruise and longest vacation ever (and we still had a little more). We worried that we would be together too much or we would tire of vacation. Even as I packed that last bag, I realized I could have stayed on a few more days. Having the sea days well spread out to give us a break from touring was crucial and I'll admit, I'll study future cruises not only by the ports but by the schedule overall now.

 

Up next - Debarkation and Rome (again).

[MicCanberra]

Sounds like that kids club is worth it, they do a marvellous job to keep kids of all ages entertained. We always pack so that we are only using one suitcase on the way home as well, makes it so much easier.

[SPacificbound]

Absolutely wonderfully written review along with a little comedy. Great job! :)

 

"man, I could really go for some prime rib" Love it!:D

[Von & John]

Fabulous review - I really enjoyed it!! Reading about Sicily & the choices you had were interesting. We would have chosen Mount Etna. We have never made it to the island of Sicily. John's heritage is part Sicilian & mine (quite a ways back) is from Florence. Somehow, in our 3 Mediterranean trips we have never made it there - guess we'll just have to plan another cruise or land trip :)

 

I agree w/ your eldest "I could really go for some prime rib". Thanks for sharing your adventures.

[villauk]

Regarding the silent disco, after you left, quite a few did get up and dance. However it was slow to get going. Personally, I though the venue didn't help.

 

I'm sure you'd have won a lot more in the casino if it had been a 'men only' night :rolleyes: :D.

 

Had to smile as our travelling friends always purchase a Christmas ornament from wherever we travel - continued this sailing, even though they are on cruises for the next 2 Christmases :D.

 

We did have some stunning sailaways from our aft balconies on this cruise :).

[Apexgal]

In planning this trip I had planned to take the train from Civitavecchia to Rome. But then as I looked at what ships were in port I immediately changed my mind. There were 5 ships in port including the Harmony - nearly 20K cruise passengers all trying to get to Rome. Public transit wasn't going to happen.

 

My previous disembarks had been with Royal Caribbean over the years and since we have always driven, we've never been too concerned with the times. We've done express walk off and we've done a more leisurely call your number. All had involved usually waiting in a long line to scan my card, then a fight to get the bags then a long customs line. At least an hour. With Celebrity - from the time I left my room to the time I was standing outside with my bags was 15 minutes. We were 45 min early from the transfer I had ordered from Rome Cabs.

 

Now, once you are outside at Civitavecchia, there is very limited space to stand and its mostly in the sun. Thankfully, our transfer was 30 min early. All this speediness had us at our hotel in Rome ready to check in by 9 am.

 

We had had plans to visit the Coliseum in the late afternoon as it was closing but when we arrived so early into Rome hubby was determined that we were going right now. Thankfully we had bought tickets ahead of time. BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE. They are good for whenever you want! I still can't believe people still show up in rome and think - hey, maybe I'll visit the Colesium and haven't bought tickets.

 

The security line was extra long and they were making us empty out our water (and yep - it was like 90 degrees). But we were inside within 20 minutes (and immediately found the free tap to refill). Then we had to get set up. We had considered a private family tour but just couldn't commit to a time. My fairly geeky husband came up with an alternative. We bought the kids new headphones that were wireless and had Bluetooth in them (about $25 each on Amazon). Then he bought himself a wireless Bluetooth splitter for his phone (about $20 ish) that allowed him to control the stopping and starting on the audio tour. Then we downloaded Rick Steves audio tour (free). So far we are out $70 for our tour and it was completely well worth it. The signage in the Collesium is few and far between with thousands of people crowding around it. We happily stood in the shade listening to the oddly comical audio tour. (I had my own cell phone and was old enough to control my own audio).

 

We did the same audio tour for the Forum (after a mandated stop for an expensive pizza and my most expensive of the trip but necessary Coke of the day). At this point, we are wishing we had done this for the Acropolis. Next time.

 

Back to the hotel for some afternoon rest and our bags were happily waiting for us in the room. A little afternoon shopping from some places we had spied on our first trip and then out for dinner at a place recommended to us by a local (amazing!).

 

The next morning we were up and we were out to the airport. The international terminal at Rome probably deserves its own post but just come early (3 hours) and be patient - and we even had priority status. I think we counted 8 different id/security checks of some sort plus 2 busses I believe. You stood in a line to get in a line. You also had to empty all of your electronics - including charing cords, cameras, kindles, headphones into a cheap plastic bag they gave you. I was terrified we were going to lose something.

 

Finally onto the long flight home and realized Delta was going to give us 1 meal and a snack for a 10 hour+ trip home and we'd already been in line for 3 hours. They fed us 3 times in the middle of the night on the way over while we were trying to sleep but food was few and far between on this flight. Thankfully, there is always an emergency protein bar in my bag for the kids. Hubby had laughed at my bag of snacks that I'd been hauling for 3 weeks at this point but we ate everything I could rummage up.

 

Home (almost sweet home). One more hotel - because we had a 3 hour drive from the airport and we were zonked. Up at 430 eastern the next morning and home by 8 am to wake up our dogsitter with doughnuts.

 

Overall - I highly recommend a cruise for Europe with kids. So much less unpacking and packing. Other than a long flight (that they happily zoned out to movies on) its not horribly different than traveling to the Carribean. The one thing this trip did require was a lot of planning on my part. It was like planning 12 different vacations - all required activities, transportation etc. And I had the big book. I printed out a copy of every tour, every confirmation, every meeting point and phone numbers. Yes, it was on my phone but there were several times when I needed info and didn't have connectivity. This took half a day to assemble.

 

Some would say our kids won't remember this trip and it was a waste. They may not but it wasn't just for them. I'll remember this trip and I'll remember them experiencing all sorts of things for the first time with them. We love to travel and have just been waiting for them to be old enough to bring along. There really never is a perfect age. Shortly, I'll have a teen and they won't want to leave their friends. Then I'll have a high school/college student who has a summer job and can't get away. Then they will be out on their own and unable to take time off. Then they hopefully will have their own family. So I'll take these trips now when I can and adjust as they get older.

[MVPinBoynton]

The one thing this trip did require was a lot of planning on my part. It was like planning 12 different vacations - all required activities, transportation etc. And I had the big book. I printed out a copy of every tour, every confirmation, every meeting point and phone numbers. Yes, it was on my phone but there were several times when I needed info and didn't have connectivity. This took half a day to assemble.

 

 

To keep all the confirmations and details needed for a trip, I print all of it into PDF files in DropBox. Then use the "save on device" option so I can see them offline. It is so nice to have everything available to review when the internet is not available.

[MicCanberra]

Thank you so much for your review, I have really enjoyed it.:D

[SM2]

Really enjoyed your review.

 

Thank you.

[texasgirl29]

 

 

 

Some would say our kids won't remember this trip and it was a waste. They may not but it wasn't just for them. I'll remember this trip and I'll remember them experiencing all sorts of things for the first time with them. We love to travel and have just been waiting for them to be old enough to bring along. There really never is a perfect age. Shortly, I'll have a teen and they won't want to leave their friends. Then I'll have a high school/college student who has a summer job and can't get away. Then they will be out on their own and unable to take time off. Then they hopefully will have their own family. So I'll take these trips now when I can and adjust as they get older.

 

 

I think you are a great mom creating these wonderful memories for your family.

 

JoAnn

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Taylor D]

I have read a lot of reviews because we were just over there but yours was the best I have read.

Great family vacation all of you will never ever forget.

[Apexgal]

Thanks for the kind words. It was fun to write and hopefully will help out another parent with some of their question.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Apexgal]

To keep all the confirmations and details needed for a trip, I print all of it into PDF files in DropBox. Then use the "save on device" option so I can see them offline. It is so nice to have everything available to review when the internet is not available.

 

 

My husband saw this comment and said "that's brilliant" and since he was the pack mule who had to carry my printouts - this is the direction we will go next time!

 

 

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Edited August 31, 2016 by Apexgal

[MVPinBoynton]

My husband saw this comment and said "that's brilliant" and since he was the pack mule who had to carry my printouts - this is the direction we will go next time!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Glad you like it. And with Dropbox, he can also view the info on laptops, iPads or your phone if he shares the files or folder with you.

[Azulann]

What a awesome review for any family traveling with children.

Planning is the key even for just adults... if you don't want to have a melt down or miss seeing something you have your heart set upon.

 

thank you again and hope your have fun on planning your next cruise.

[MicCanberra]

Glad you like it. And with Dropbox, he can also view the info on laptops, iPads or your phone if he shares the files or folder with you.

 

Cheers, we will consider doing the sharing of files for the next trip as a phone was stolen on one of our previous trips, so we took hard copies of the important things anyway.