Live from Vista—Montreal to Miami

[turnip eater]

43 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

I haven't thought about Baristas. Didn't even know they did cocktails, but you can't get the 2-for-1 cocktails there. It has been a bit too cold to be out on the back deck. Today at lunch was the first time we saw anyone out there, and then only a hardy few. 

 

Just went up to Baristas. I was right, that you can't get the 2-for-1 Happy Hour there and they don't have any place to sit that we can fit the seven of us. But if you don't do those two things, that could work.

 

We were on the back deck at 1:00pm today, in t shirts, some in light jackets. Absolutely packed out.

[DrKoob]

19 minutes ago, turnip eater said:

We were on the back deck at 1:00pm today, in t shirts, some in light jackets. Absolutely packed out.

Had a class in the Culinary Kitchen today. Never made it up there. Today would have been the day. Certainly not yesterday. I tried going out there and lasted about 5 minutes. And I love the cold. 

[DrKoob]

Day 2 in NYC: I Need More Power & better feet.

 

Pre-dawn photos

Our second day in New York City started early for me (Like, when is that a surprise?) with a two-hour photo walk. But that walk got interrupted before it even began...twice. First, as I was leaving the ship, I looked at my phone (that I use to track my travels, navigate by GPS, call Kathleen if I need to, etc.) and found that it had not charged overnight even though it had been plugged in. Damn! So I walked back upstairs and plugged in. I knew I could get it up to around 40% in under 30 minutes, and that would be enough. Half an hour later, I was on my way.

 

This time, I got off the ship and through security before I thought, "You should check your camera batteries as well." (I always have two on me. One in the camera and one in a pouch on my camera strap.) The one in the camera was at about 25%, but the one on my strap was...dead. So, back through security, back on the ship, up 4 floors to grab my third battery, which thankfully was fully charged. Finally, I was on my way. Whew! That was frustrating.

 

My original intention had been to re-walk the High Line, but since I had done that the day before and also five years ago, I decided to go out and shoot some light—Times Square. On the way, I thought how ridiculous it is that I would NEVER walk in the dark for that distance in Seattle. I would never have felt safe. But here I was in the Big Apple, and I felt totally secure. Working people were everywhere, a friendly cop on most corners and strangely enough, walking three miles around Manhattan, I did not see a single person high on fentanyl, asking for money or doing anything but getting on with their day. What a difference a few years makes. Seattle wishes it was as safe as NYC.

 

At any rate, I had a fun walk around the Times Square/Broadway area and these are the photos I brought back (and of course they have captions). Sadly CC doesn't do well with photo galleries so you will have to click over to my blog at www.jimbellomo.com to see them.

 

Midday trek

Back to the ship, and after a quick breakfast, and five of us were off in an Uber to explore NYC. Jocelyn was still getting over her cold, and Kathleen felt like it was coming on, so they elected to stay on board. We were first headed to Zabars on the Upper West Side. If you have never heard of Zabars, just imagine the most well-stocked grocery store you have ever been to, where you can get ANYTHING, and it is all crammed into two 7-11s...with an entire kitchen shop on top of it. That's Zabars. Here are three quick shots to show you what I mean—you can see them on my blog (no ads...and I am not selling anything...come on over: jimbellomo.com.

 

All the sections of the store were as well-stocked, with as many choices as the cheese section. Add an upstairs cooking supply store, and for people like me who love to cook, it was magic. We stuck around there, but I knew I wasn't going to buy anything because I didn't want to have to lug it around the rest of the day. I am ashamed to say that every product I saw in the kitchen supply shot that I really wanted, I took a photo of with my phone and will be ordering those from Amazon when we get back home. I love to support small businesses but Zabars looked like they will survive (they have for a very long time).

I got done looking long before the rest of the gang, so I went outside to find a mailbox to drop some postcards I had written. Yes, I still write postcards. And then I planted myself in front of the store and did some street photography until everyone else had made their purchases. Here's a quick gallery of photos from that session of waiting about 15 minutes. Again, galleries don't work on Cruise Critic so please stop by https://www.jimbellomo.com.

 

I forgot to mention that this midday foray into Manhattan had totally broken one of my absolute travel laws—never go anywhere unplanned. For me, the worst thing to be when traveling is just wandering around and going, "What do you want to do now?" Just typing those words bothers me. I know. I should just be spontaneous. But more arguments and ruined vacation days have come from those seven words than I want to remember. But there we were outside of Zabars, asking ourselves where we wanted to go. So we checked the map and found out we were just north of the entrance to Central Park, and since no one in our group except me had ever walked through the park, we decided to head that way.

 

Once we were in the park, the next question was where to go. I had never been to the Belvedere Castle, so we headed off to find that. Hopefully, it would make a good photo-op. It did. After exploring the castle and the views from the castle, we spoke with a park guide who suggested a great walk down the rest of the park to Columbus Circle. I was all up for this, but that's because I am the walker in the group. The rest of the group decided that what they wanted most in NYC was a pastrami sandwich at a deli. So they headed off to find one on Lexington Avenue, and I headed south into the park on the route the guide had suggested to shoot more photos. Here's what I got in the park. (By now you should know where to find the photos.)

 

After I took the second Belvedere Castle shot, the battery in my camera died, and I had to switch to my partially charged backup. Talk about worried. I knew I had a long way to go to get back to a charger. So I walked through the rest of the park, making sure my camera was only turned on to take a composed shot that I liked. For me, this was sheer torture. I like taking pics of everything (that's why my batteries keep running out) and then sorting them out later. I probably discard 80% of the photos I take. But on this walk, I only took the ones I absolutely HAD TO HAVE. And this situation put me on another search. I was in Manhattan. There must be a camera store nearby where I could buy a new Nikon battery. Hopefully, they will have one fully charged and ready to go. So I popped out Google Maps on my phone and Googled nearby Nikon stores. I about fell on my face when I saw I was only 1.9 miles from the midtown home of B&H Photo.

 

For those of you who are not nutso, serious photographers like me, B&H is our Mecca. They are the ultimate camera store. They are only in NYC, but half the serious photographers in the USA buy from them. I had considered going there earlier, but I would have been the only one interested, and it would have been way too tempting for me. They literally have everything! Of course, as it turns out, they don't have everything. They don't sell fully charged Nikon batteries. Damn! (But that was OK. I got to spend about an hour browsing B&H and didn't spend a cent.) Did I mention that B&H was at 34th and 9th? Because now I was way past Pier 88—so off I went to get back to the ship and to rest my feet. My total miles walked on this day in the Square, The Park and B&H was 14.2. To say my feet and legs were mad at me is a huge understatement.

 

The walk back was uneventful. I didn't have any more photo opportunities because, by now, my camera battery was totally dead.

 

Sailing away from Manhattan

My plan (since I had shot our sail-in to NYC) was just to take a few photos as the ship was sailing back down the Hudson to the sea. But when I went up on deck and found that there was almost perfect light focused on the city, I had to stay and take more than a few photos. It was a good thing I had completely charged one of my camera batteries as soon as I had gotten back to the ship. Because, in that 45-minute trip from Pier 88 to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, I shot almost 300 photos. Everywhere I looked, there was perfect light on something else. I hope you agree. And don't worry. I culled them down to a few of the best. And of course you can see them at www.jimbellomo.com.

 

Other than an evening meal at Ember (another of Vista's specialty restaurants–that I will review soon along with the other three and all the food), that was about it for this day. It's a good thing because my feet could not take standing anymore. I was thrilled that yesterday was a sea day, and I didn't have any place to go except an onboard culinary class—more about that tomorrow. Today, we are in Charleston, South Carolina, and I look forward to a short walk to pick up a rental car, a covered surrey ride around downtown, some of the world's best Carolina BBQ at Rodney Scott's and a tour of the Magnolia Plantation. With a 90% chance of rain...this should be fun.

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by DrKoob

[makai 7]

Fabulous photos!  Brings back memories of being a teenager hanging out in Central Park and walking around Manhattan 😊

[nparmelee]

B&H.... I'm not allowed in there alone, hubby is afraid of what I might spend. Zabar's is also very fun! Just charged all the camera batteries as we head out for our pre-cruise in Rome tomorrow. Want to make sure I can hit the road shooting Saturday morning.

[DrKoob]

Charleston: Bad Bread On My Great Sandwich

Let me explain the headline here. Imagine my day yesterday was a sandwich with moldy bread but a great piece of BBQ brisket in the middle. That was my day in Charleston.

When I finished writing up yesterday's post to finalize NYC, I headed upstairs, and while Kathleen was in the shower, I heard what I believed to be the pilot boat outside our verandah. So I grabbed my camera and went out to shoot photos. What I saw might have been a harbinger of what our day would be like—two tugboats—actually pushing and pulling the ship. In all our years of cruising, I have never seen the wind so bad that it took two tugboats (one pushing, one pulling) and the ship's thrusters to get us on the dock. Added to that bad wind was driving rain. And I was going to go out and walk in that as soon as we docked.

 

Here was our plan at that point. I had rented a mini-van from Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Their office was 1.9 miles from the cruise terminal. I was going to take a walk with my camera on a beautiful sunny day, get the car, and then come back and pick everyone else up for a day of planned activities. Then, at the end of the day, I would drop everyone off, return the car and walk back to the ship.

 

Problem one: It was not a beautiful, sunny day. The rain was coming down sideways, and the wind was at (according to the ship's info on our TV) 34 knots. But I had a job to do, and I was going to do it. So I grabbed the big golf umbrella that Oceania puts in every stateroom, and I headed out to go get the car. The walk was not pleasant. The umbrella reversed itself in the wind about every 10 steps until I got away from the port, where I was better protected from the wind. By the time I got less than 500 yards from the ship, I was pretty much soaked from the waist down. The spray from cars going by hitting big puddles didn't help either. But I mustered on. And after a long, wet, dreary slog, I got to the car rental place. Except the sign above is what I found.

 

I had made the rental car reservation with Enterprise in February when Mike and I were planning excursions. We each took some ports, and I had taken Charleston because we had been here before and loved the city. In all the time since April 28th, when the sign in the window states that this office closed...permanently, you would have thought that Enterprise would have bothered to let me know this pretty important fact? Did they? NO! In fact, they had sent me an e-mail reminder about my rental two days prior showing this address. In fact, if you go online to Enterprise right now, you can still book a car at this address. WTH???

 

To say I was upset with Enterprise at this point was probably one of the biggest understatments of this century. I was screaming, cursing, soaking wet, standing in front of a closed store. So I call the number on the sign. I was put on hold by their automated system for five minutes and then told that their voicemail was full and hung up on. Did this three times before I finally decided to call their 800 number, which put me in touch with another Enterprise agency about a 20-minute drive away from where I was. Notice I said drive.

 

At this point, I have to give this Enterprise agency (they are a franchise) full credit. Their manager jumped in and sent an Uber for me, got me to her store, had the car I had reserved ready and waiting and had me on my way back (a 30-minute drive) to the ship in no time. By now, it has been almost two hours since I set out, and I am just getting back to pick up the rest of the gang—minus Kathleen, who had caught Jocelyn's cold—and get started on our day.

 

Our original plan had been for me to drive the group downtown, where we would grab a horse-drawn surrey and take the tour around the older parts of the city and the waterfront. Not only had we lost the time to do this, but the horse-drawn surreys were covered to protect people from the sun, but those covers would do nothing to stop us from getting soaked by the wind-driven, sideways-falling rain. So we bagged that idea, and I drove the group around the old section of town that Kathleen and I had visited in 2016.

Our plan for the day continued with an early lunch at Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ. When I was here in 2016 to teach a workshop, I met James Roller, a great guy who owns and runs a website called DestinationBBQ.com. He is something of an authority on the vinegar-based BBQ that is all around this state. I asked him then what BBQ place was the best in Charleston, and he said, "Hands down, it's Rodney Scott Whole Hog BBQ." So I went and tried it, and he was right! I mean, this place has a James Beard award for BBQ. That has to say something. And I love going to eat someplace that someone tells me is the best, and it is. So, when I came back with friends to Charleston, I had to take them there. If you go, and you eat meat, you should go there too.

 

 

We had the MOST amazing lunch. To me, this lunch was the best thing I ate on the entire trip. Or at least it tied with our meal in Toscana (on the ship) for the best meal. It was so good I have to describe it to you. I ordered the two-meat combo, and the two meats I chose were the "whole hog" and the brisket. Each order comes with two sides and a slab of cornbread. I got the collared greens and the onion rings. Topped that off with a local IPA, and I was in HOG HEAVEN! The meat was melt-in-your-mouth, and the sides were perfect. If you are ever in Charleston, this should be your one must-eat place...unless you happen to be a vegan.

 

Our next stop was a drive out of town to the Magnolia Plantation. We had booked three different 45-minute tours there in advance. The first started at 1:00 p.m., and we arrived right on time. The first tour is entitled Slavery to Freedom. We met up with our guide for this tour, the wonderful Vanessa (who had recently moved here from Seattle), and she shared with us the life of slaves on the Magnolia Plantation from the mid-1600s through the present day. I am ashamed I did not get a photo of Melissa, but my buddy Mike did, and I will let you know when his review comes online in about three weeks or so. That way, you can see what she (and the other guides I forgot to take photos of) look like. Her tour was definitely the best of the day as she did a presentation, and then we toured four historical slave/free man quarters. See my photos below.

 

 

From there, it was on to our tour of the plantation house. The photo of the outside of the house is here because we weren't allowed to take photos inside. Our tour guide was Millie, and again, you will have to wait for Mike's review to see what she looks like. (BTW: I will post the link when Mike's review is done, so you if follow me, you will get it when it is ready.) It was a very nice tour, and Millie (a retired teacher) was an excellent guide. The house is very nice.

 

Our last tour started just outside the house when we boarded a tram and were taken on a tour of the grounds to see how they farmed rice in the 1850s when the plantation was in full production. It was a nice tour, but since the driver who did the tour was two cars in front of us, I never got his name. This tour was just "fine," and we all decided that if we were to do the tours again, we would skip this one. It's just not enough to see beyond some swamp and some far-away baby alligators.

 

At this point, our plan was that I would drive the rest of the crowd back to either downtown or the ship, and then I would go and return the car and walk back. Well, you know I couldn't walk back. This presented another problem. We were 28 minutes from the ship, the rental car return was 25 minutes from the ship, and I needed to have the car back by 5:00. We left the plantation at 3:55. YIKES! Not only that, but if I got the car back by 5:00, they would give me a ride back to the ship. After that time, they would be closed, and I would be on my own. Needless to say, it was one of the longest, most stressful drives of my life. I did get the group back to the ship, knowing full well that I was going to have to turn around and go back out to the rental agency. And as we drove to the ship, we just happened to notice that the road I had to drive back out on was SLAMMED WITH TRAFFIC! I was not in a good place. The ship wasn't sailing until 6:30, but I was beginning to doubt I would be able to get back in time. I was sure I would never get back to the rental agency by 5:00, so I would be on my own to find an Uber to bring me back to the ship. While waiting at a light on the way back, I checked, and the nearest Uber could not even get to the agency to pick me up for 45 minutes, and the ride would cost (surge pricing at rush hour) $64.

 

But thanks to the Apple Maps app that routed me around all the traffic on some back country roads that made me think I was lost the entire time, I made it to the agency at 4:58. They had their van going out with the incredible Linda driving it, so she took me back to the ship. And she even found a way to get me back on board by 5:45. She is my Charleston hero. I was sure I was going to have to call my friend who lives in nearby Mount Pleasant and get him to let me spend the night and then fly to Miami today. Thank goodness that didn't happen.

 

So now you can see why I said yesterday was like a moldy bread sandwich with great filler in between. Our lunch and tour were excellent, but getting there and getting back were not.

With all of this going on, I did manage to get some pics you will find them on my blog at jimbellomo.com

 

That about covers one of the MOST STRESSFUL DAYS of travel I have ever not had the pleasure to experience. Loved the lunch, liked the plantation, and I will NEVER rent from Enterprise Rental Cars again. The idea that they never told me that location closed or that they are still showing it open on their website is just WRONG!

 

[DrKoob]

Just a quick note about the rest of this review of our Oceania Vista cruise. We are on our last full day today. We are at sea, headed to Miami (where it is predicted to be raining and 99 degrees—how fun) tomorrow to disembark. After we tell Mike and Cathy goodbye (they live in South Florida, so they just need a car ride to get home) we will execute a plan to get the rest of us to the Fort Lauderdale airport at different times. I will also be renting a car there (but thankfully from Avis—and you can believe I checked on it) and driving. Steve and Jamie to catch their 2:51 flight back to Orange County, and then Kathleen, Jocelyn and I will grab lunch before we return the car and get on our 5:40 p.m. Alaska Air flight to Seattle.

 

My plan is to finish the review at home, where I will do a quick post on disembarkation (probably tomorrow at the airport) and then, sometime in the next few days, do a major post (with photos) about the public rooms on Vista followed up by my last post summing up and reviewing the cruise itself with a comparison with Viking Ocean. I hope you will stick around for the last couple of posts.

[Jockocruiser]

10 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

Just a quick note about the rest of this review of our Oceania Vista cruise. We are on our last full day today. We are at sea, headed to Miami (where it is predicted to be raining and 99 degrees—how fun) tomorrow to disembark. After we tell Mike and Cathy goodbye (they live in South Florida, so they just need a car ride to get home) we will execute a plan to get the rest of us to the Fort Lauderdale airport at different times. I will also be renting a car there (but thankfully from Avis—and you can believe I checked on it) and driving. Steve and Jamie to catch their 2:51 flight back to Orange County, and then Kathleen, Jocelyn and I will grab lunch before we return the car and get on our 5:40 p.m. Alaska Air flight to Seattle.

 

My plan is to finish the review at home, where I will do a quick post on disembarkation (probably tomorrow at the airport) and then, sometime in the next few days, do a major post (with photos) about the public rooms on Vista followed up by my last post summing up and reviewing the cruise itself with a comparison with Viking Ocean. I hope you will stick around for the last couple of posts.

We’ve come this far.  You think we’re going to punt now?!😘

[cluso]

1 hour ago, DrKoob said:

 I will also be renting a car there (but thankfully from Avis—and you can believe I checked on it) and driving. 

 

Just a heads up.  A couple years ago I reserved an Avis car at the 99 SE 2nd St location-a short cab ride from the port (after a TA).  When we got there, there were no cars available.  They had a tiny lot and were waiting for people to turn in cars.  We, along with about 12 other groups, waited 2 1/2 hours standing on a hot city corner before we got our dirty car.  We had a 12-hour drive back home, so yes, we were pissed off.  It seemed they were counting on cars to be turned in by people starting their cruises.  And they weren't getting many turned in early.  Lesson learned for us was just get a car at the airport.

[DrKoob]

9 minutes ago, cluso said:

 

Just a heads up.  A couple years ago I reserved an Avis car at the 99 SE 2nd St location-a short cab ride from the port (after a TA).  When we got there, there were no cars available.  They had a tiny lot and were waiting for people to turn in cars.  We, along with about 12 other groups, waited 2 1/2 hours standing on a hot city corner before we got our dirty car.  We had a 12-hour drive back home, so yes, we were pissed off.  It seemed they were counting on cars to be turned in by people starting their cruises.  And they weren't getting many turned in early.  Lesson learned for us was just get a car at the airport.

I have heard that and it is worrisome. But we don't have a flight until 5:40 at night and we don't want to sit and wait in an airport all day. 

[cluso]

27 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

I have heard that and it is worrisome. But we don't have a flight until 5:40 at night and we don't want to sit and wait in an airport all day. 

Just thought you might want to rent a car for the day at the airport--it's not far.  Although, don't know how last-minute prices will compare.

[DrKoob]

1 hour ago, cluso said:

Just thought you might want to rent a car for the day at the airport--it's not far.  Although, don't know how last-minute prices will compare.

Ours has to be a Suburban because there are so many of us, and I paid a pretty penny for it. Hopefully, that means they will have it ready. There shouldn't be that many people bringing those back.

[ssawjo]

4 hours ago, DrKoob said:

 

 

That about covers one of the MOST STRESSFUL DAYS of travel I have ever not had the pleasure to experience. Loved the lunch, liked the plantation, and I will NEVER rent from Enterprise Rental Cars again. The idea that they never told me that location closed or that they are still showing it open on their website is just WRONG!

 

If, and you should, get a survey email from Enterprise Rental, tell them in detail what happened.  A CSR will most likely call you and give you a pretty good credit for the cost of the rental.  It happened to me and I was quiet pleased.

[loge23]

Well done Doc! Looking forward to the epilogue.

We're in the final days (hopefully) of the mucky season here in SoFL and boy has it been mucky!

We're booked on the Vista for the1/31 sailing, our second on O after the Regatta trip this past July.

Agree with the Toscana review - that was some dinner! The bottle of Luce didn't hurt either. We had a great table looking out center aft. Other meals were very good as well.

We thought our voyage on Viking O surpassed the Regatta experience but it wasn't a fair comparison due to the itinerary and length of the cruise. The Vista trip will be a better barometer.

We're long-time Princess cruisers (since '92) but as Bono sings, we still haven't quite found what we're looking for yet. We do not claim to be "loyal" to any service or product we pay for - isn't that supposed to be the other way around?

Different strokes for different folks, right? Hope it went well and safe trip home!

 

 

[GerryL13]

@DrKoob I got stressed just reading about your Charleston adventure. I haven't yet heard from my brother about how his day was, but he said he was going to take a tour of the city.

Sounds like I will not meet you when I board Vista on Monday. I'd thought you were one of the (seemingly) many who are continuing on.

[Hambagahle]

On 10/10/2023 at 10:12 AM, kjbacon said:

Regent’s 3 older ships are smaller than their 3 newer ships, which hold about 750 passengers. Regent is our favorite line and our first choice. We love the all inclusive pricing structure and the top quality of everything throughout. As for food, Regent’s specialty restaurants are almost as good as O and their MDR is better with more flexibility. Oceania’s newer and larger ships are a solid second choice for us.

I agree - having sailed Regent in the past.  But it is TOO expensive.  You can be on Oceania, add all the extras (drinks, excursions etc) and come out better financially AND in a larger suite.

[Cruisin' Lbrn]

11 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Charleston: Bad Bread On My Great Sandwich

Let me explain the headline here. Imagine my day yesterday was a sandwich with moldy bread but a great piece of BBQ brisket in the middle. That was my day in Charleston.

When I finished writing up yesterday's post to finalize NYC, I headed upstairs, and while Kathleen was in the shower, I heard what I believed to be the pilot boat outside our verandah. So I grabbed my camera and went out to shoot photos. What I saw might have been a harbinger of what our day would be like—two tugboats—actually pushing and pulling the ship. In all our years of cruising, I have never seen the wind so bad that it took two tugboats (one pushing, one pulling) and the ship's thrusters to get us on the dock. Added to that bad wind was driving rain. And I was going to go out and walk in that as soon as we docked.

 

Here was our plan at that point. I had rented a mini-van from Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Their office was 1.9 miles from the cruise terminal. I was going to take a walk with my camera on a beautiful sunny day, get the car, and then come back and pick everyone else up for a day of planned activities. Then, at the end of the day, I would drop everyone off, return the car and walk back to the ship.

 

Problem one: It was not a beautiful, sunny day. The rain was coming down sideways, and the wind was at (according to the ship's info on our TV) 34 knots. But I had a job to do, and I was going to do it. So I grabbed the big golf umbrella that Oceania puts in every stateroom, and I headed out to go get the car. The walk was not pleasant. The umbrella reversed itself in the wind about every 10 steps until I got away from the port, where I was better protected from the wind. By the time I got less than 500 yards from the ship, I was pretty much soaked from the waist down. The spray from cars going by hitting big puddles didn't help either. But I mustered on. And after a long, wet, dreary slog, I got to the car rental place. Except the sign above is what I found.

 

I had made the rental car reservation with Enterprise in February when Mike and I were planning excursions. We each took some ports, and I had taken Charleston because we had been here before and loved the city. In all the time since April 28th, when the sign in the window states that this office closed...permanently, you would have thought that Enterprise would have bothered to let me know this pretty important fact? Did they? NO! In fact, they had sent me an e-mail reminder about my rental two days prior showing this address. In fact, if you go online to Enterprise right now, you can still book a car at this address. WTH???

 

To say I was upset with Enterprise at this point was probably one of the biggest understatments of this century. I was screaming, cursing, soaking wet, standing in front of a closed store. So I call the number on the sign. I was put on hold by their automated system for five minutes and then told that their voicemail was full and hung up on. Did this three times before I finally decided to call their 800 number, which put me in touch with another Enterprise agency about a 20-minute drive away from where I was. Notice I said drive.

 

At this point, I have to give this Enterprise agency (they are a franchise) full credit. Their manager jumped in and sent an Uber for me, got me to her store, had the car I had reserved ready and waiting and had me on my way back (a 30-minute drive) to the ship in no time. By now, it has been almost two hours since I set out, and I am just getting back to pick up the rest of the gang—minus Kathleen, who had caught Jocelyn's cold—and get started on our day.

 

Our original plan had been for me to drive the group downtown, where we would grab a horse-drawn surrey and take the tour around the older parts of the city and the waterfront. Not only had we lost the time to do this, but the horse-drawn surreys were covered to protect people from the sun, but those covers would do nothing to stop us from getting soaked by the wind-driven, sideways-falling rain. So we bagged that idea, and I drove the group around the old section of town that Kathleen and I had visited in 2016.

Our plan for the day continued with an early lunch at Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ. When I was here in 2016 to teach a workshop, I met James Roller, a great guy who owns and runs a website called DestinationBBQ.com. He is something of an authority on the vinegar-based BBQ that is all around this state. I asked him then what BBQ place was the best in Charleston, and he said, "Hands down, it's Rodney Scott Whole Hog BBQ." So I went and tried it, and he was right! I mean, this place has a James Beard award for BBQ. That has to say something. And I love going to eat someplace that someone tells me is the best, and it is. So, when I came back with friends to Charleston, I had to take them there. If you go, and you eat meat, you should go there too.

 

 

We had the MOST amazing lunch. To me, this lunch was the best thing I ate on the entire trip. Or at least it tied with our meal in Toscana (on the ship) for the best meal. It was so good I have to describe it to you. I ordered the two-meat combo, and the two meats I chose were the "whole hog" and the brisket. Each order comes with two sides and a slab of cornbread. I got the collared greens and the onion rings. Topped that off with a local IPA, and I was in HOG HEAVEN! The meat was melt-in-your-mouth, and the sides were perfect. If you are ever in Charleston, this should be your one must-eat place...unless you happen to be a vegan.

 

Our next stop was a drive out of town to the Magnolia Plantation. We had booked three different 45-minute tours there in advance. The first started at 1:00 p.m., and we arrived right on time. The first tour is entitled Slavery to Freedom. We met up with our guide for this tour, the wonderful Vanessa (who had recently moved here from Seattle), and she shared with us the life of slaves on the Magnolia Plantation from the mid-1600s through the present day. I am ashamed I did not get a photo of Melissa, but my buddy Mike did, and I will let you know when his review comes online in about three weeks or so. That way, you can see what she (and the other guides I forgot to take photos of) look like. Her tour was definitely the best of the day as she did a presentation, and then we toured four historical slave/free man quarters. See my photos below.

 

 

From there, it was on to our tour of the plantation house. The photo of the outside of the house is here because we weren't allowed to take photos inside. Our tour guide was Millie, and again, you will have to wait for Mike's review to see what she looks like. (BTW: I will post the link when Mike's review is done, so you if follow me, you will get it when it is ready.) It was a very nice tour, and Millie (a retired teacher) was an excellent guide. The house is very nice.

 

Our last tour started just outside the house when we boarded a tram and were taken on a tour of the grounds to see how they farmed rice in the 1850s when the plantation was in full production. It was a nice tour, but since the driver who did the tour was two cars in front of us, I never got his name. This tour was just "fine," and we all decided that if we were to do the tours again, we would skip this one. It's just not enough to see beyond some swamp and some far-away baby alligators.

 

At this point, our plan was that I would drive the rest of the crowd back to either downtown or the ship, and then I would go and return the car and walk back. Well, you know I couldn't walk back. This presented another problem. We were 28 minutes from the ship, the rental car return was 25 minutes from the ship, and I needed to have the car back by 5:00. We left the plantation at 3:55. YIKES! Not only that, but if I got the car back by 5:00, they would give me a ride back to the ship. After that time, they would be closed, and I would be on my own. Needless to say, it was one of the longest, most stressful drives of my life. I did get the group back to the ship, knowing full well that I was going to have to turn around and go back out to the rental agency. And as we drove to the ship, we just happened to notice that the road I had to drive back out on was SLAMMED WITH TRAFFIC! I was not in a good place. The ship wasn't sailing until 6:30, but I was beginning to doubt I would be able to get back in time. I was sure I would never get back to the rental agency by 5:00, so I would be on my own to find an Uber to bring me back to the ship. While waiting at a light on the way back, I checked, and the nearest Uber could not even get to the agency to pick me up for 45 minutes, and the ride would cost (surge pricing at rush hour) $64.

 

But thanks to the Apple Maps app that routed me around all the traffic on some back country roads that made me think I was lost the entire time, I made it to the agency at 4:58. They had their van going out with the incredible Linda driving it, so she took me back to the ship. And she even found a way to get me back on board by 5:45. She is my Charleston hero. I was sure I was going to have to call my friend who lives in nearby Mount Pleasant and get him to let me spend the night and then fly to Miami today. Thank goodness that didn't happen.

 

So now you can see why I said yesterday was like a moldy bread sandwich with great filler in between. Our lunch and tour were excellent, but getting there and getting back were not.

With all of this going on, I did manage to get some pics you will find them on my blog at jimbellomo.com

 

That about covers one of the MOST STRESSFUL DAYS of travel I have ever not had the pleasure to experience. Loved the lunch, liked the plantation, and I will NEVER rent from Enterprise Rental Cars again. The idea that they never told me that location closed or that they are still showing it open on their website is just WRONG!

 

Dr Koob, I loved every minute reading of your adventures during your Vista cruise from Montreal to Miami as well as your stunning photos(which I accessed on your website)! I’m looking forward to your final review of your trip especially your comments on your meals as we get excited about our April 2004 cruise from Rome to Valletta on Vista.

I might offer a suggestion regarding the Enterprise fiasco you endured. Contact their Corporate office and ask for a total refund. I had one unsatisfactory experience when I booked an Enterprise car while visiting our son in Boston then drove to New Haven to see our daughter. The car seemed fine but when in New Haven getting gas with my daughter we discovered a family of spiders in the car. I called Enterprise and they brought me another ca, then reversed all the charges (as they should) without me requesting the credit. Other than that we’ve always been pleased with their customer service especially when we decided  to drive the family to Florida from Ohio for a wedding and they didn’t didn’t have the class of SUV we had reserved when we arrived to pick it up but they upgraded our SUV to a brand new Land Rover with only 7 miles on it!

[Victoria51]

Not sure if you are still onboard, but could you comment on the situation with Covid.   Are people being careful?  I know the staff is masked but how about the passengers?  We sail on the Vista in a few weeks,   We will be getting our vaccines this week so hoping we will be safe.   Thanks and have enjoyed your posts.

[DrKoob]

2 hours ago, Victoria51 said:

Not sure if you are still onboard, but could you comment on the situation with Covid.   Are people being careful?  I know the staff is masked but how about the passengers?  We sail on the Vista in a few weeks,   We will be getting our vaccines this week so hoping we will be safe.   Thanks and have enjoyed your posts.

I am not onboard, but I am at the airport waiting to fly home. Saw very little if any COVID. Certainly did not hear about it. A few people were sneezing and coughing but I think they were like two of our party who caught colds, were sick for a day and feel fine now. Three of us think that we saw less than 1% of the passengers with masks on. 

 

One thing I am going to mention as part of what needs to be improved are the sanitizer stations. On most ships I can find them everywhere. On Vista they. are stuck into cubbyholes on walls and can be really hard to find. 

[Lastdance]

Please tell Mike that I am so thrilled to hear that he is happy and enjoying travel.  Often, I wondered what happened to him, as I had read all his reviews.  Sometimes people have followers much like teachers have students, but never know what exactly happened after not hearing from them for quite a few years.  He always seemed to be excited about traveling and sharing his adventures on CC.

 

DrKoob, my DH and I have an TA booked on Vista in 2025, so that will be our first.  We are also elite+ on Celebrity with a few more cruises on the books, but no new ones on the horizon.  The prices have gone up and the quality down; however, we do enjoy The Retreat life, just not at those prices.  We are looking forward to our cruise from Miami to Portugal, along with remaining in the country for a week or two.  Oceania was our new choice based on so many things, but now because of the new Program simplyMore, we are looking at several different lines due to excursions being included; we always like to do our own excursions in port.

 

Thanks for your detailed review and safe travels!

[Victoria51]

48 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

I am not onboard, but I am at the airport waiting to fly home. Saw very little if any COVID. Certainly did not hear about it. A few people were sneezing and coughing but I think they were like two of our party who caught colds, were sick for a day and feel fine now. Three of us think that we saw less than 1% of the passengers with masks on. 

 

One thing I am going to mention as part of what needs to be improved are the sanitizer stations. On most ships I can find them everywhere. On Vista they. are stuck into cubbyholes on walls and can be really hard to find. 

 

48 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

I am not onboard, but I am at the airport waiting to fly home. Saw very little if any COVID. Certainly did not hear about it. A few people were sneezing and coughing but I think they were like two of our party who caught colds, were sick for a day and feel fine now. Three of us think that we saw less than 1% of the passengers with masks on. 

 

One thing I am going to mention as part of what needs to be improved are the sanitizer stations. On most ships I can find them everywhere. On Vista they. are stuck into cubbyholes on walls and can be really hard to find. 

Thanks so much for your post.  I know it is up to us to protect ourselves if we are concerned.  Hopefully, others will be considerate. 

[BellKat]

38 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Please tell Mike that I am so thrilled to hear that he is happy and enjoying travel.  Often, I wondered what happened to him, as I had read all his reviews.  Sometimes people have followers much like teachers have students, but never know what exactly happened after not hearing from them for quite a few years.  He always seemed to be excited about traveling and sharing his adventures on CC.

 

DrKoob, my DH and I have an TA booked on Vista in 2025, so that will be our first.  We are also elite+ on Celebrity with a few more cruises on the books, but no new ones on the horizon.  The prices have gone up and the quality down; however, we do enjoy The Retreat life, just not at those prices.  We are looking forward to our cruise from Miami to Portugal, along with remaining in the country for a week or two.  Oceania was our new choice based on so many things, but now because of the new Program simplyMore, we are looking at several different lines due to excursions being included; we always like to do our own excursions in port.

 

Thanks for your detailed review and safe travels!

Mike is still publishing reviews. He has not stopped. He has a very lovely woman in his life who shares his passion for traveling.

[DrKoob]

Disembarkation...Warnings, Thunder, Lightning & More

 

I am waiting at the airport and thought I would do two things. I want to drop you a photo of one of the most magnificent sunsets I have ever seen (taken last night at sea off Florida from the 14th deck).

Disembarkation

We did all the usual stuff: Put our luggage out the night before, kept clothes and carryons to get off with, had breakfast in Baristas, told Massimo goodbye, packed up and got out of our stateroom by 8:00.

Disembarkation from the ship was a little delayed. The first people were not allowed off until 7:45, so please take that as a warning if you think you will just be able to walk off to catch an early flight. We got off with the first group.

From that point on, we split into two groups. Mike and Cathy were driving home to Wellington (just 40 miles or so north), and I needed a ride to the Avis office to get a rental car for the day. Mike, Cathy and I were some of the first to exit under a covered awning and then into an air-conditioned room warehouse-like room where all the luggage was located. We got their luggage (Kathleen, Jamie and Steve would get ours when they got off), and we were on our way. Their driver met us right outside the building, and we didn't get too wet getting in.

 

I talked them (and their driver) into taking me the two miles (as the crow flies) but nine miles (as the car drives), which was awesome of them. We had a heck of a time finding it because our driver was only letting his phone show written directions and not a map. We came very close to hitting a median barrier head-on. It was about as scared as I have been while driving in a while. But we did finally get there.

People had warned me about this particular Avis office. That they would not start their shuttle to the port until 9:00 am (when you have to be off the ship) or that they would not have cars ready when you got there, no matter when you reserved them. I was hoping this would not be the case with me, but alas, it was. I was the first customer in the door at 8:00 a.m. when they opened. The lady at the desk said that they were cleaning my car and that I would have to wait. We had reserved a Chevy Suburban because there were five of us with all our luggage, and when I came in, I had seen a white Suburban about a block away in their parking lot.

 

Did I forget to mention that when we got up this morning on the ship, there was a light rain, and it was 85 degrees? And that as soon as we left the ship, the heavens opened up and literally dumped water. Thunder, lightning and the equivalent of a firehose of water. So, getting from Mike and Cathy's ride to the Avis counter left me soaked to the skin.

Inside the agency, I was told to have a seat. There were four chairs and room for about eight other people to stand, and by the time I left (25 minutes later) the place was full. Not sure what was going to happen when their 9:15 shuttle arrived.

In the meantime, while waiting, I was watching the white Suburban out the window. No one was cleaning it, or anywhere near it, so I kind of assumed it was not my car. Wrong again. After seeing it sitting there with nothing being done to it, my name was called, and I was told that it was my car. Since it was still POURING, I asked if they could possibly pull it up to the office for me so I didn't have to get the two bags I had with me (and myself) totally soaked. I was told (by the three people working there—doing nothing) that I should just walk the block...which I did, getting myself and my bags thoroughly soaked. I mean, I looked like a wet dog who has been walking in Seattle rain for at least an hour.

And when I got to the car, I could not figure out how to open it. I got the front door open but not the rear cargo area. And I knew it was on my key fob, but I couldn't see through the water on my glasses which little icon it was—finally got it figured out and got into the car to try and figure out the car's systems. It was at this point that I wished I had paid better attention in high school Spanish because all the controls on the cars were programmed in Spanish, and I was darned if I could figure out how to change them back to English. In the meantime, 9:00 am had rolled around, so I needed to get back to pick up Kathleen, Jocelyn, Steve and Jamie at the ship. So I had to use my phone to navigate, and I was back in front of the cruise port within about 20 minutes...just as they were walking off. They jumped in the car, and we were off.

 

Off to where? Originally, we had wanted to do a Miami tour because all of us were leaving in the late afternoon. But at the last minute, Steve and Jamie's flight got moved way up (it's 3:30, and they are already in the air), but ours didn't. That's why I rented a car. I also found a Miami driving tour app that did a nice 1.5 hour tour of Miami with narration and GPS. It worked fairly well, but it still needs improvement. When we were done with the tour, it was time to drop Jamie and Steve at the Fort Lauderdale airport. Once we had them off to airplane land, we headed into downtown Fort Lauderdale to grab lunch. We found a great Mexican place downtown—El Camino. Give it a try if you are downtown, but remember, the portions are enormous.

 

And that led us back to where we are now, Fort Lauderdale airport at 4:30 p.m., waiting for our 5:40 p.m. Alaska Air flight. We will get back tonight around 9:00 PST (which will be midnight based on when we got up), and then we have about an hour ride home. Whew. I am tired just thinking about the six-hour flight coming up. Thank goodness we are in First Class. And thank goodness we are heading home. See you tomorrow with a ship tour in photos, provided I get out of bed. Otherwise it might be Monday.

 

Oh, and we have all decided it was basically a great cruise and a great trip, no matter how many rental car snafus there were🤣 .

[DrKoob]

43 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Please tell Mike that I am so thrilled to hear that he is happy and enjoying travel.  Often, I wondered what happened to him, as I had read all his reviews.  Sometimes people have followers much like teachers have students, but never know what exactly happened after not hearing from them for quite a few years.  He always seemed to be excited about traveling and sharing his adventures on CC.

 

DrKoob, my DH and I have an TA booked on Vista in 2025, so that will be our first.  We are also elite+ on Celebrity with a few more cruises on the books, but no new ones on the horizon.  The prices have gone up and the quality down; however, we do enjoy The Retreat life, just not at those prices.  We are looking forward to our cruise from Miami to Portugal, along with remaining in the country for a week or two.  Oceania was our new choice based on so many things, but now because of the new Program simplyMore, we are looking at several different lines due to excursions being included; we always like to do our own excursions in port.

 

Thanks for your detailed review and safe travels!

Mike never stopped after Carol passed. We went on the last cruise together before COVID hit (got off Celebrity Reflection on March 2). You can find all his past reviews by clicking here. 

[makai 7]

Jim- looking forward to reading your final thoughts- hope your flight goes better than the rental car snafus.