Live EPIC Mediterannean 11-Day Cruise from Marseille, France October 2, 2023-with pics!

[graphicguy]

19 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

But your fan club will all be on the Viva transatlantic. How will we cope? Calling @JIMESOPUS and @bluesea777 for backup.

 

That does look like fun.  But, rain check, please!!!!!!

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

That does look like fun.  But, rain check, please!!!!!!

Hahaha, I'm going to help them bust your chops anyway.  Seriously, trust that you are having a great time abroad, be well & travel safely.

 

In case you changed your mind, you do know that NCL will do your laundry on the TA.  No worries and it's complimentary, whether it's the Viva or Prima, etc. 😁  Haven isn't sold out on the Viva, Suite prices looks good (we have friends on her last week.)  In the unlikely event you'll reconsider the Prima, solo supplement already dropped for the OV (and possibly Balcony) at dirt cheap rate ... Haven, however, sold out except for bidding.   I understood that NCL is helping to fill up both TA crossing by making it available for CAS players via land partners. 

 

And, if you take the TA back, you don't have to worry about lugging the luggage around town?  How heavy was your carry-on & cabin luggage together ??  Transferring at Lisbon Airport is a challenge when the plane is parked on the tarmac, climbing the stairs to board the aircraft (not enough enclosed gates & ramps that are accessible friendly ...) 

 

Keep those lovely pictures coming, thanks for continuing to share your travel.  

Edited October 22, 2023 by mking8288

[graphicguy]

Thinking the Viva or Prima as my next cruise.  Really wanting to sail one (or both) of those ships.

[laudergayle]

7 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Thinking the Viva or Prima as my next cruise.  Really wanting to sail one (or both) of those ships.

This Viva itinerary in January/February looks awesome and Solo Balcony under $3000.

 

7-DAY CRUISE ON NORWEGIAN VIVA

Caribbean: Barbados, Antigua & St. Lucia

from San Juan, Puerto Rico

[graphicguy]

56 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

This Viva itinerary in January/February looks awesome and Solo Balcony under $3000.

 

7-DAY CRUISE ON NORWEGIAN VIVA

Caribbean: Barbados, Antigua & St. Lucia

from San Juan, Puerto Rico

Prima has even better deals out of Galveston around February ‘24!

[DCGuy64]

On 10/21/2023 at 8:57 AM, graphicguy said:

 I saw a few people tumble for no other reason they wore flip flops (not very smart) or fashion shoes instead of walking shoes.

+1 for this. I only wear flip flops at the beach and at the pool, that's it. They're very trendy nowadays (I remember seeing people wearing them to class back in my college days), but they are TERRIBLE for walking older streets in Europe. I'll never understand why people think they can walk for miles in those things. You'd be better off barefoot!

[graphicguy]

Attended a day “chef” school in Arezzo.  Not going to challenge Racheal Ray, but learned at lot, and ate what we made.

[graphicguy]

I love visiting local markets.  This was the same one where the wealth of loose spices were on display in NICE!

[graphicguy]

St. peter’s Bascilica…

[graphicguy]

Keep finding random pics…….Open air market in Florence selling wild boar (among a little of everything else, too)…..

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by graphicguy

[DCGuy64]

16 hours ago, graphicguy said:

St. peter’s Bascilica…

Planning on attending mass there next Thursday pre-cruise. 🙂 So glad you got to go there!

[ellenw]

11 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Keep finding random pics…….Open air market in Florence selling wild boar (among a little of everything else, too)…..

 

 

 

 

Oh, those markets in Europe! Love them. Makes me wish I was staying somewhere with a kitchen that I could cook. Well, almost....

[graphicguy]

Looking at some cruises for 2024.  Have mentioned in the past, my current TA has been a little MIA recently.  Seems she’s OOTO a lot these days.  No issues.  I know she’s been hinting that she may be pulling away from the business a bit.  But, it seems more frequent.

 

Anyway, have been contacting other TAs.  Gotta say, my results have been mainly dismal.  The big name TAs either have lowered their standards, or I cruise so much that I end up knowing way more than they do.

 

Either way, tough to even get a quote even when I lay out very specifically what I want, where I want to go, the dates I want to go, on the cruise line and ship I want to sail.  Seems they can’t even handle that.

 

Was on the phone with a very large on line TA yesterday for 30 minutes.  Game him all of my details (down to my Latitudes number) as well as the specific cruise, date and category I wanted.  After 30 minutes, I still couldn’t get a fare from him.  He was trying to sell me insurance before he could even tell me what the fare was. Insurance price is based on the fare, as I tried to explain to him.  I felt like I was speaking Chinese to him.

 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

23 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Looking at some cruises for 2024.  Have mentioned in the past, my current TA has been a little MIA recently.  Seems she’s OOTO a lot these days.  No issues.  I know she’s been hinting that she may be pulling away from the business a bit.  But, it seems more frequent.

 

Anyway, have been contacting other TAs.  Gotta say, my results have been mainly dismal.  The big name TAs either have lowered their standards, or I cruise so much that I end up knowing way more than they do.

 

Either way, tough to even get a quote even when I lay out very specifically what I want, where I want to go, the dates I want to go, on the cruise line and ship I want to sail.  Seems they can’t even handle that.

 

Was on the phone with a very large on line TA yesterday for 30 minutes.  Game him all of my details (down to my Latitudes number) as well as the specific cruise, date and category I wanted.  After 30 minutes, I still couldn’t get a fare from him.  He was trying to sell me insurance before he could even tell me what the fare was. Insurance price is based on the fare, as I tried to explain to him.  I felt like I was speaking Chinese to him.

 

 

Happy to recommend my guy. Independent, not associated with any of the big agencies. Responsive, knowledgeable, full disclosure this is his side business but I never feel neglected. Of course, CC does not permit me to post his name. 
 

Also, I do my own research, so it is a simple booking process for me. I have not used him for in depth planning. 
 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Sugar Magnolia

[DCGuy64]

I love our TA. He's always quick to respond, he's independent so not beholden to any particular cruise line, and he never tries to sell us anything. I just tell him the time of year we're interested in cruising and he does the rest.

[graphicguy]

Open for any TA suggestions.  My user name at Yahoo is how to email me.

 

TIA!

[Travelicious]

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Looking at some cruises for 2024.  Have mentioned in the past, my current TA has been a little MIA recently.  Seems she’s OOTO a lot these days.  No issues.  I know she’s been hinting that she may be pulling away from the business a bit.  But, it seems more frequent.

 

If she is pulling away, is she able to recommend someone else at the same agency?

[Travelicious]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Open for any TA suggestions.  My user name at Yahoo is how to email me.

 

TIA!

I'll email you in a couple of days to see what you found out.  

[MaisonRose]

On 7/9/2023 at 12:18 AM, graphicguy said:

Interestingly, I am looking to meet family in Italy (Cortona) after the cruise (that's where both my late parents are from).  So, I'm actually looking for a way to get from the Marseille cruise port to Cortona.  Open to suggestions.  Train looks like a bunch of transfers.  Bus?  Maybe!  Flight?  Maybe!

It’s a nightmare by train. Last December we did Avignon to Rome/Civitivecchia by train. It meant connecting to one of two trains running PARIS to Rome very early. One is the Frecciarossa (IT) and the other is a TGV. THE Italian train goes into Rome Termini …and an aside: it stops in Florence where you can transfer to a southbound train stopping in Cortona (they are pretty frequent).

Here’s what we did so as not to leave Avignon at 6am.  We took the TGV to Lyon Part-Dieu the evening before & stayed overnight at a local hotel. The next morning we picked up the Frecciarossa around 9:30am. This route takes you through the Alps which is pretty cool. We changed in Milano to another train which stopped in Florence. YouTube has plenty of vlogs about these trains & trips.

Our journey in Business Class was in the range of $400 for two “senior” tickets. It was stylish and very comfortable. We got excellent help with transfers because I pre booked handicap help. Pre booking that free service was a nightmare but gosh did it work. Grazie to Francesco in the Termini handicap office.

An alternative would be to fly to Florence (or Rome FCO in a pinch, and take the rails from there. Connections & times are not favorable (no non stops) and pp fare $160 up..plus bags!

And YES there are Eurobuses and you might get some hits by downloading Rometorio.

I hope this helps.

*We just booked a TA out of Barcelona because getting to Italy from this part of France is so awkward. You can’t just go east to Nice, Monaco, Ventimiglia, Genoa so easily because there’s no high speed rail yet.

Cheers,

Susan

Maybe your relatives will drive up to Ventimiglia (drive about 4 hours) to collect you.

 

[graphicguy]

22 hours ago, MaisonRose said:

It’s a nightmare by train. Last December we did Avignon to Rome/Civitivecchia by train. It meant connecting to one of two trains running PARIS to Rome very early. One is the Frecciarossa (IT) and the other is a TGV. THE Italian train goes into Rome Termini …and an aside: it stops in Florence where you can transfer to a southbound train stopping in Cortona (they are pretty frequent).

Here’s what we did so as not to leave Avignon at 6am.  We took the TGV to Lyon Part-Dieu the evening before & stayed overnight at a local hotel. The next morning we picked up the Frecciarossa around 9:30am. This route takes you through the Alps which is pretty cool. We changed in Milano to another train which stopped in Florence. YouTube has plenty of vlogs about these trains & trips.

Our journey in Business Class was in the range of $400 for two “senior” tickets. It was stylish and very comfortable. We got excellent help with transfers because I pre booked handicap help. Pre booking that free service was a nightmare but gosh did it work. Grazie to Francesco in the Termini handicap office.

An alternative would be to fly to Florence (or Rome FCO in a pinch, and take the rails from there. Connections & times are not favorable (no non stops) and pp fare $160 up..plus bags!

And YES there are Eurobuses and you might get some hits by downloading Rometorio.

I hope this helps.

*We just booked a TA out of Barcelona because getting to Italy from this part of France is so awkward. You can’t just go east to Nice, Monaco, Ventimiglia, Genoa so easily because there’s no high speed rail yet.

Cheers,

Susan

Maybe your relatives will drive up to Ventimiglia (drive about 4 hours) to collect you.

 

It was quite an adventure on the train.  Ended up flying from Marseille to Rome, and taking a train from Rome to Cortona.  None of it was without major issues.  Too much craziness to really outline in total here.  But, Ryan Air is just a terrible airline.  Trying to check in was a lesson in absolute chaos.  Add in checking luggage and those issues just multiplied.  

 

Marseille and Paris airports are in disrepair.  I had 3 pieces of luggage (one large, one rollaboard and one back pack).  Slogging that through the airports, when the escalators weren't operating, up and down several flights of stairs, and up and down with Ryan Air because they won't invest in a jet way, allowed me to expand my creative cursing usage.  I knew they were a bad airline when they were more interested in hawking perfume and cologne up and down the aisle mid flight than to letting me buy a bottle of water from them.

 

Add to that, it seemed I was plagued with people who felt it was their duty to cut line in front of the "American".  

 

By the time I got to Rome (FCO). and purchased a train ticket to Cortona, it became clear that train travel with luggage is not a particularly bright idea.  Changing trains, schlepping the luggage off the train, on to the platform (which had a large gap), and back on again, usually where luggage had to be literally thrown onto the train from the platform, because you absolutely could not roll it with such big gaps, hoping the doors wouldn't shut with your luggage on the train, and you stuck on the platform.  Fortunately, I had some helpful strangers who would help.  Then again, there were others who would have not even bothered even if they saw me falling onto the tracks while trying to load the luggage and myself on the train.

 

Let's just say, I won't do that again.

 

 

[graphicguy]

Two weeks after disembarkation, and I'm scoping out my next cruise.

 

To be fair, I know some of the former NCL faithful who used to reside in these threads have made their way to MSC.  So, I took a look at some of their offerings.  Granted, I'm still a bit stung by their attempt to charge me more for a fare I had already booked.  So, there's not a big impetus for me to book anything with them.  Looking at fares at MSC, I don't see the "bargains" either.  Nix them.

 

Celebrity?  Whoa!  Their fares have really gone up since I last sailed them a few years ago.

 

Royal?  Carnival?  Not in the mood for either.

 

Well....I have Cruse Next certs.

 

I have been jonesing for a Prima/Viva Cruise.  So, looking at those for early 2024.  Want this one to be easy-peezy.  No huge gyrations getting to  or from the (dis)embarkation point.  Looking for ports I know how to get in and out of with the least amount of effort.

[Sugar Magnolia]

33 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I have been jonesing for a Prima/Viva Cruise.  So, looking at those for early 2024.  Want this one to be easy-peezy.  No huge gyrations getting to  or from the (dis)embarkation point.  Looking for ports I know how to get in and out of with the least amount of effort.

 

I get it. I must have been on Ambien and hallucinating when I booked two Transatlantics in a row, with about a week gap between them. The only consolation is knowing that I am guaranteed 6-7 sea days with no obligation to do anything. That could spell relaxation or vexation. Stay tuned.

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by Sugar Magnolia

[graphicguy]

10 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

I get it. I must have been on Ambien and hallucinating when I booked two Transatlantics in a row, with about a week gap between them. The only consolation is knowing that I am guaranteed 6-7 sea days with no obligation to do anything. That could spell relaxation or vexation. Stay tuned.

 

oooooooo.....I do kind of like that idea, though.

 

Prima...Feb 2, '24.......Solo Balcony looks interesting.

[Sugar Magnolia]

8 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

oooooooo.....I do kind of like that idea, though.

 

Prima...Feb 2, '24.......Solo Balcony looks interesting.

 

Okay, but you'll miss out on the Groundhog Day festivities. 

 

[graphicguy]

6 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Okay, but you'll miss out on the Groundhog Day festivities. 

 

Well now....that's tragic!  LOL!!!!!