What Bucket List Item Failed to Live Up to Expectations?

[cruisemom42]

46 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

And my favorite artist, and the same for DW, is Van Gogh.

 

Have you and your wife ever visited Arles? Amazing how much of the town and scenery are instantly recognizable.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Have you and your wife ever visited Arles? Amazing how much of the town and scenery are instantly recognizable.

😢😢😢😢😢😢 Did you really have to ask that question?

 

I believe I have previously wrote about how we tried to duplicate our 25th anniversary cruise where I had screwed up us getting to Florence on our 35th anniversary. The cruises were similar, but not exactly the same. The first had Valletta, Malta as a port while the second did not, but had Marseilles in France.

 

A cruise excursion in Marseilles being sold by the cruise line was to Arles. We bought 2 excursions pre-cruise, that one and Florence on Your Own because I was not going to screw that up again. Marseilles, unlike the other ports like Rome, Naples, Florence was an industrial port with little we found to do with our research. And we definitely wanted to see and be in Arles.

 

They cancelled the excursion as not enough passengers signed up for it. I was royally pissed off, and complained that we had paid in advance and now were left at the last minute with nothing. They asked what they could try to do to satisfy us. We ended up (at no extra cost though they had it priced higher) with an excursion that first went to Avignon and then somewhere else that I do not remember (probably because it was totally forgettable). Avignon was interesting though we would have rather been in Arles of course. The second place we were taken to as best I can remember was just a shopping stop and BORING.😢😉 

 

 

 

 

[cruisemom42]

28 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

we would have rather been in Arles of course.

 

Sorry about your canceled excursion -- I remember your story about the wrong-way train to Florence, but not this one. Fingers crossed you'll get there one of these days. 

[ontheweb]

7 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Sorry about your canceled excursion -- I remember your story about the wrong-way train to Florence, but not this one. Fingers crossed you'll get there one of these days. 

Thanks, I had not told that story before. I think I wanted to forget it. It is not like Florence where we did eventually get there and had a wonderful time.

[cruisemom42]

7 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

"Understanding" and "tastes" are two entirely different things.  Let's not go conflating them.

 

 

 

They can evolve hand in hand. Think of sommeliers for example.

[ilikeanswers]

On 5/20/2022 at 4:58 PM, CarelessAndConfused said:

Since the Mona Lisa has been referenced so much, let me ask you folks something.  I've always been curious about whether people genuinely like it all that much or if it's just a fascination for the fact that it is arguably the most famous painting (and undoubtedly worth a ton).  For my part, if I owned it, I wouldn't hang it on my wall.  On the other hand, I'd give up a billion dollars to hang The Starry Night if I had that kind of money.

 

I recently watched a doco about the painting of the Mona Lisa where a professional artist tried to replicate the painting the way Da Vinci would have painted it. I never realised before how technically difficult the painting was. I have new found appreciation for the painting but would I hang it on my wall? Nope😂.

 

I remember an art dealer once saying you should buy paintings that speak to you otherwise it is just a pretty picture that you'll never appreciate. I think that is a good way to look at art and personally contemporary art speaks to me a lot more than the so called great masters and I usually find art by women a lot more relatable. Also I love crafts like embroidery, metal work or weaving. A lot of people don't consider those things real art but to me there is just as much skill and artistry as any grand painting while telling more intimate stories about people, families and culture. 

 

As for the value of art watching the show Fake or Fortune makes me think the whole valuation of art is very whimsical and flimsy😂. 

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Sorry about your canceled excursion -- I remember your story about the wrong-way train to Florence, but not this one. Fingers crossed you'll get there one of these days. 

I bet it would not be a surprise to you if I told you this was an NCL cruise, NCL passengers. When we took the bus to Florence, we were excited for the art experience we were about to have. All the other passengers seemed excited about the shopping possibilities. And then with 5000-6000 aboard the Epic, there were not enough who were interested enough to sign up to see Arles.

[donaldsc]

On 5/20/2022 at 7:14 PM, ontheweb said:

😢😢😢😢😢😢 Did you really have to ask that question?

 

I believe I have previously wrote about how we tried to duplicate our 25th anniversary cruise where I had screwed up us getting to Florence on our 35th anniversary. The cruises were similar, but not exactly the same. The first had Valletta, Malta as a port while the second did not, but had Marseilles in France.

 

A cruise excursion in Marseilles being sold by the cruise line was to Arles. We bought 2 excursions pre-cruise, that one and Florence on Your Own because I was not going to screw that up again. Marseilles, unlike the other ports like Rome, Naples, Florence was an industrial port with little we found to do with our research. And we definitely wanted to see and be in Arles.

 

They cancelled the excursion as not enough passengers signed up for it. I was royally pissed off, and complained that we had paid in advance and now were left at the last minute with nothing. They asked what they could try to do to satisfy us. We ended up (at no extra cost though they had it priced higher) with an excursion that first went to Avignon and then somewhere else that I do not remember (probably because it was totally forgettable). Avignon was interesting though we would have rather been in Arles of course. The second place we were taken to as best I can remember was just a shopping stop and BORING.😢😉 

 

 

 

 

 

Were there no off ship private tours that you could have taken.  I did a quick WEB search and it seemed as if there were w whole lot of them.

 

DON

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Were there no off ship private tours that you could have taken.  I did a quick WEB search and it seemed as if there were w whole lot of them.

 

DON

We did not find out until the day of the excursion that it was definitely cancelled.

 

We had been warned that it was just short, but one of the folks at the excursion desk said he would push it. He also said it was a great excursion.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

We did not find out until the day of the excursion that it was definitely cancelled.

 

We had been warned that it was just short, but one of the folks at the excursion desk said he would push it. He also said it was a great excursion.

To add to what I wrote, if we had looked and found something earlier and they did manage to get just enough others, our cancellation would have caused not enough and cancellation for the others who did book it. As they said they were close to having enough and would push it, we were cautiously optimistic.

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

To add to what I wrote, if we had looked and found something earlier and they did manage to get just enough others, our cancellation would have caused not enough and cancellation for the others who did book it. As they said they were close to having enough and would push it, we were cautiously optimistic.

 

Unfortunately it's not just NCL. In the past I've had several cruise lines cancel excursions on me with little or no warning. Generally it tends to happen when I've booked an excursion that goes "off piste" as I think a majority of cruisers on some lines are on their first go-round and opt to see the highlights (e.g., in Rome, the Colosseum and Vatican; in Athens, the Parthenon; etc.)

 

After some really terrible experiences with ship tours I basically stopped taking them about 15 years ago and haven't looked back. Not only canceled excursions but changes in itinerary, long shopping stops, terrible guides and too little time actually spent at the site.

 

I heartily encourage you in future to look into other options. I feel like I get so much more out of port visits now. Truthfully I don't think I'd continue to cruise if I had to limit myself to available ship excursions.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Unfortunately it's not just NCL. In the past I've had several cruise lines cancel excursions on me with little or no warning. Generally it tends to happen when I've booked an excursion that goes "off piste" as I think a majority of cruisers on some lines are on their first go-round and opt to see the highlights (e.g., in Rome, the Colosseum and Vatican; in Athens, the Parthenon; etc.)

 

After some really terrible experiences with ship tours I basically stopped taking them about 15 years ago and haven't looked back. Not only canceled excursions but changes in itinerary, long shopping stops, terrible guides and too little time actually spent at the site.

 

I heartily encourage you in future to look into other options. I feel like I get so much more out of port visits now. Truthfully I don't think I'd continue to cruise if I had to limit myself to available ship excursions.

This was also an excursion far away from the ship, the kind it is often better to have the guarantee they will not leave with you if you are back late.

 

How far is Arles from Marseille - driving distance (trippy.com)

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

This was also an excursion far away from the ship, the kind it is often better to have the guarantee they will not leave with you if you are back late.

 

How far is Arles from Marseille - driving distance (trippy.com)

 

You have to do what you're comfortable with, of course. But...you were willing to go to Florence on your own, which is at least as far....

 

I look at the possibilities and make the best choice I can, but always in the back of my mind is that I don't want to waste an opportunity to see something I really care about. Although I plan lots more Med travel in my future, who can tell what will really happen -- just look at the last two years.  A taxi back to the ship from an hour away is only a blip on the radar of the total cruise cost and the memories gained are priceless....

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

You have to do what you're comfortable with, of course. But...you were willing to go to Florence on your own, which is at least as far....

 

I look at the possibilities and make the best choice I can, but always in the back of my mind is that I don't want to waste an opportunity to see something I really care about. Although I plan lots more Med travel in my future, who can tell what will really happen -- just look at the last two years.  A taxi back to the ship from an hour away is only a blip on the radar of the total cruise cost and the memories gained are priceless....

We did a Florence on Your Own EXCURSION on that cruise for our 35th anniversary. On our disastrous not getting to Florence on our 25th anniversary, I did not know any better. 😢

[navybankerteacher]

On 5/21/2022 at 9:46 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

They can evolve hand in hand. Think of sommeliers for example.

Sommeliers are no less able than anyone else to separate professional knowledge from personal preference.  Sure -- they can identify, and explain, a grand cru -- but when relaxing at home and wishing to enjoy a wine to complement a meal without devasting a budget - they can be very happy with a vin de pays.

[JRG]

On 5/19/2022 at 11:58 PM, CarelessAndConfused said:

Since the Mona Lisa has been referenced so much, let me ask you folks something.  I've always been curious about whether people genuinely like it all that much or if it's just a fascination for the fact that it is arguably the most famous painting (and undoubtedly worth a ton).  For my part, if I owned it, I wouldn't hang it on my wall.  On the other hand, I'd give up a billion dollars to hang The Starry Night if I had that kind of money.

 

There is alot going on in the background of the Mona Lisa,  you just have to look for it,  and its not just a fascination.

 

p.s.  For about $19.99 you can get a poster of both the Mona Lisa and Starry Night from Michaels or your local art store.  

 

I've owned both posters and framed them in a home theatre and this gave me a chance to study both in detail,   not to mention the fact that they make great conversation pieces too.

 

We've moved on though,  now we're into Remingtons.

[Turtles06]

On 5/12/2022 at 5:35 PM, Essiesmom said:

I disagree about Sagrada Familia.  I was mesmerized.  Perhaps you didn’t get inside?  It’s like no other cathedral.

 

On 5/13/2022 at 9:09 AM, capriccio said:

Especially with the sunlight streaming in through the windows! 

 

It's an amazingly beautiful place

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

 

It's an amazingly beautiful place

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

Or singularly ugly.

[Essiesmom]

45 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Or singularly ugly.

Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.  EM

[ilikeanswers]

I can't say the Sagrada Familia was appealing to me either, though oddly I did find the crypt quite nice. 

[George C]

On 5/22/2022 at 6:03 PM, ontheweb said:

We did a Florence on Your Own EXCURSION on that cruise for our 35th anniversary. On our disastrous not getting to Florence on our 25th anniversary, I did not know any better. 😢

The best excursion we ever took was with papillon , we had done some research and they had great reviews, had a great driver , tour guide going to first Pisa then Florence in a brand new Mercedes van , got 6 other people from our Roll call so cost was less than a hundred a person, even had skip the line to see David which was amazing. Then we had option to spend a little more time in Florence or go to a free wine tasting in a organic vineyard, we choose the wine tasting. 

[skrufy]

On 5/10/2022 at 12:54 PM, mnocket said:

Our bucket lists all contain those things that we are most excited to see & experience, but sometimes reality doesn't live up to expectations.  Have you gotten to cross off any bucket list items that kinda disappointed?  Things that you would caution others to think twice about so they don't waste precious time and resources trying?

Never took a Christmas cruise during our 18 years of cruising until this past December. Did a B2B, 12/12--12/26. Was very disappointed with the activities, especially on the 12/26 leg. Was so hyped leading up to the cruise. Overall the cruise was just what we wanted, beach and pool days for two weeks.

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, skrufy said:

Never took a Christmas cruise during our 18 years of cruising until this past December. Did a B2B, 12/12--12/26. Was very disappointed with the activities, especially on the 12/26 leg. Was so hyped leading up to the cruise.

 

I am surprised to read this.  The Christmas/New Year's cruises that I have been on have been among my favorites.  (A New Year's Cruise was somewhat disappointing on NYE because of the very large number of people who chose to "party" at Midnight in the Royal Princess Atrium.)  If I had chosen one, or both, of the other two venues, I probably would have been more pleased.

 

Would you care to share what ship you were on?  If not, that's OK.   

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

...

 

Would you care to share what ship you were on?  If not, that's OK.   

We took a QM 2 Christmas/New Year cruise in December 2019 -- and found it somewhat depressing - seeming that so many were trying so hard to be happy -- although we were fortunate in having a good group of table mates.

Edited May 24, 2022 by navybankerteacher

[skrufy]

18 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I am surprised to read this.  The Christmas/New Year's cruises that I have been on have been among my favorites.  (A New Year's Cruise was somewhat disappointing on NYE because of the very large number of people who chose to "party" at Midnight in the Royal Princess Atrium.)  If I had chosen one, or both, of the other two venues, I probably would have been more pleased.

 

Would you care to share what ship you were on?  If not, that's OK.   

Freedom