Beyond LIVE Med Review 10/20-10/30: Tales from our Suite Roman Holiday

[zitsky]

I found the new $3 cookie.  It's a warm cookie ($2) with ice cream ($1).

[RRFPresident]

10 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Jeremy is going to go on a Retreat guest tour of the engine room that we received an invite to on our bed yesterday evening.
 

Thank you for such detailed reports. I'm following along in preparation for our sailing on Beyond in December. We were just talking about how a tour of the engine room was something we wished was offered. Will have to remember to try an orange whip as that looks delicious!

[JDPCruisers]

11 hours ago, GenerationX said:

It’s a beautiful day on the Mediterranean Sea!

 

We’ve just finished another very nice breakfast in Luminae.  Now THAT is what a proper charcuterie plate should look like!

 

We’ve had the same Luminae service team each meal there and so far the service has been been excellent.  We’ve hit that glorious sweet spot where when you have a really good team, they start to get to know your preferences and things have start to arrive without you even having to ask.  

 

I saw our bread service lady pop into the back and refill her tray before she came to our table to make sure she had pistachio danish to offer us.  

 

Our waiter Eko knows I like a little heat on my Asian dishes and when I order them he asks “shall I tell the chef make it a little spicy for you?” 

 

At lunch and dinner, after our main course is cleared, two double espressos automatically appear before us and Raymert the sommelier is already approaching with my glass of 20 year tawny port.

 

I foresee a conversation with Jeremy regarding an expansion of our additional tipping budget for the Luminae team.

 

After breakfast we stopped back by the room to get a bag of laundry ready to send in.  Sharing the price list for anyone interested.  We get 2 free bags for Elite Plus loyalty so we just fill out the number of each item in the bag for tracking purposes and then write “ELITE PLUS” in the total due box.  I also take a photo with my phone of the completed form just in case the slip or its carbon copy should get misplaced.

 

This laundry loyalty perk is one of the most valuable ones for me, especially on a longer cruise. I don’t trust anyone but myself and my long time cleaners at home with my nicer items, but it’s a plus to be able to clear all my low maintenance cotton/poly Kohls clearance rack finds out of the post-cruise dirty laundry pile.

 

Our agenda for the day is fairly light as we prepare to kick off 3 straight days of ports tomorrow.  I’m signed up for the premium wine tasting this afternoon (that I had to miss last cruise thanks to an overzealous evening in the Club the night before) and while I’m there, Jeremy is going to go on a Retreat guest tour of the engine room that we received an invite to on our bed yesterday evening.

 

We plan to give room service a try again today for a light late lunch on our veranda weather permitting (Captain Kate says we have a chance of hitting some “liquid sunshine” later).  Tonight we have evening chic night #2 with the Elements production show and the dinner reservation I’ve most been looking forward to: Le Voyage!

We’ve just settled in with orange whips and a wake view at the sunset bar.  Soon to come:  a report on the rest of our bonus sea day yesterday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So glad to hear that Luminae is living up to expectations and to what we have experienced over the years. With some of the issues X seems to being have as of late, your experiences are encouraging! Looking forward to hearing/seeing more of your journey.

[hcat]

24 minutes ago, JDPCruisers said:

So glad to hear that Luminae is living up to expectations and to what we have experienced over the years. With some of the issues X seems to being have as of late, your experiences are encouraging! Looking forward to hearing/seeing more of your journey.

lucky  for Gen X and  others that Luminae is meeting expectations.

 

In  Nov on BEYOND, we had a very lackluster and  disappointing  Luminae experience..from all perspectives  (other than our sommelier)

 

No pleasant greeting on arrival,  seated either in a dark booth along  the wall or in the  noisy central area..Very robotic  slow service.

 

Menu was mostly  un appealing to us. We much prefer the pre meal tidbits in BLU to the amuse bouche concoctions ,  and think the BLU menu, food prep and service is far superior !

 

Luminae Bread lady doled out 1 roll at a time and would disappear.. One day she announced bread would be late. In BLU you get a bread basket that is promptly  replenished.

 

The Luminae shrimp cocktail shrimp were mushy, limp, warm and tiny;  and the sauce was mostly ketchup. (compared to BLU which served jumbo fresh shrimp with a proper sauce)

 

We stuck with Luminae due to the always available salmon for me,  and fact that  the tiny lobsters were very tasty..But we finally bailed..( as did others) . We then had a great dinner at BLU and one at Raw on 5.

 

I was also locked in the Luminae ladies room behind  a malfunctioning auto door ( beware! ) After banging and yelling , I was freed, the maitre d hardly said "sorry!" 

 

Glad to hear it is now  delivering a better experience but we'd never go back.

 

We are happily returning  to  AQ class with BLU on Ascent! Just a better fit for us!

[GenerationX]

 

Hello from Sicily!  I know I’m almost 2 full days behind in reporting, but we’ve been having the most incredible day and can’t wait to share!

 

This morning I was awakened by the sound of my better half telling me I’d better get it together because I’d overslept and we only had half an hour until our excursion assembly time.

 

Another thing I miss about butler service:  having someone to bring me a latte and danish from Al Bacio on these types of mornings when I’m in a rush. Fortunately I still have Jeremy…who will not be receiving a tip for his services. (I know, I still a full report on our thoughts on the reduced Retreat/butler experience too.)

 

The raspberry danish and vanilla latte hit the spot then we headed down for our excursion Taormina City on Your Own.  This was booked through Celebrity and really just a transfer rather than an excursion. There’s no guided tour (although Celebrity offers those as well) just a bus ride for the hour trip each way to and from port.  I also priced booking a private car for this trip and it was going to be about $250 US.  Booked during an excursion sale, the Celebrity bus transfer was a little over $100 total.

 

The ride to Taormina took about an hour then we had 3.5 hours to sight see, have lunch and then meet back for the bus.  The drivers warned us to be on time because the taxi drivers waiting at Taormina know most of the fares they pick up there are cruise passengers who missed their bus back and are distressed purchasers and the drivers price the ride to port according (he said they can demand 300-400 euros or more).

 

I did some research on Taormina in advance to find a good restaurant to treat Jeremy to lunch.  Regular followers know my love of fine cured meats and cheeses. The only person I know who loves these things even more than I do is Jeremy.  Looking online I found Circe Enofood & Lounge and made us an online reservation in advance.

 

When we got there the restaurant wasn’t full, but because we’d reserved they gave us one of the best tables in shade on the patio.

 

The menu is pretty much a Bible of cured meats and cheeses and they have several flights you can try of different selections from all over Italy.  You should’ve seen Jeremy’s eyes light up when our literal tower of mortadella, salami, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, pecorino and aged parmesan (accompanied by local olives, cured artichokes, honey and lemon preserves arrived at the table).  We also each got a focaccia sandwich that was so good Jeremy considered trying to smuggle the rest of his back on the ship. They were served warm and the locally made pesto on mine was unbelievable.

 

Jeremy got a prickly pear tequila cocktail and I tried a wine flight of premium Sicilian wines.  I fell in love with one that our waiter told us has won a number of international wine competitions. After my flight I couldn’t resist having a full glass of it.

 

The restaurant has a small shop next door that I stopped in to buy a bottle of wine to take home as well as a couple of jars of the amazing pesto and lemon preserves.

 

When I came back out, there’s the love of my life again holding a shopping bag out to me.  He said “just a little thank you for arranging such an incredible trip and buying me an amazing lunch”.  Sometimes the best bags don’t have to be designer!

 

I know, I know, the mush.

 

After lunch we walked around town a bit more and had gelato and listened to the street musicians.  We almost got a little turned around wandering up side streets, but luckily Taormina has a Louis Vuitton and a Dior and I can navigate quite well via shopping landmarks.

 

It was a very warm day but I made sure to bring a jacket anyway and was glad I did as many of the churches we wanted to look in required ladies to have their knees and shoulders covered.

 

We went to the scenic overlook to check out (actively smoking today) Mt. Etna and bumped into a couple from London that we met on the ship.  We all decided to grab an aperol spritz at a nearby piazza and spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and laughing.

 

At one point, the men’s spritzes kicked in and they decided to try and serenade us ladies with their own rendition of “That’s Amore”…that’s when we cut our husbands off for the afternoon.

 

The great part is with all the Italian food and drink, Jeremey and I both managed to nap pretty hard on the bus ride back to the ship, so now we’re fresh as daisies!

 

We’re going to go have some tea in the retreat lounge then maybe hit the pool for a bit.  Tonight there’s a silent disco party just for retreat guests.  We also just got a call from the retreat concierge saying that the maitre d has approved our request to invite some new Australian friends we met onboard yesterday who are on their honeymoon in a standard IV room to dine with us in Luminae tonight (with cover charge and gratuity of course).

 

Ciao for now from the best day ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[terrydtx]

15 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

 

Hello from Sicily!  I know I’m almost 2 full days behind in reporting, but we’ve been having the most incredible day and can’t wait to share!

 

This morning I was awakened by the sound of my better half telling me I’d better get it together because I’d overslept and we only had half an hour until our excursion assembly time.

 

Another thing I miss about butler service:  having someone to bring me a latte and danish from Al Bacio on these types of mornings when I’m in a rush. Fortunately I still have Jeremy…who will not be receiving a tip for his services. (I know, I still a full report on our thoughts on the reduced Retreat/butler experience too.)

 

The raspberry danish and vanilla latte hit the spot then we headed down for our excursion Taormina City on Your Own.  This was booked through Celebrity and really just a transfer rather than an excursion. There’s no guided tour (although Celebrity offers those as well) just a bus ride for the hour trip each way to and from port.  I also priced booking a private car for this trip and it was going to be about $250 US.  Booked during an excursion sale, the Celebrity bus transfer was a little over $100 total.

 

The ride to Taormina took about an hour then we had 3.5 hours to sight see, have lunch and then meet back for the bus.  The drivers warned us to be on time because the taxi drivers waiting at Taormina know most of the fares they pick up there are cruise passengers who missed their bus back and are distressed purchasers and the drivers price the ride to port according (he said they can demand 300-400 euros or more).

 

I did some research on Taormina in advance to find a good restaurant to treat Jeremy to lunch.  Regular followers know my love of fine cured meats and cheeses. The only person I know who loves these things even more than I do is Jeremy.  Looking online I found Circe Enofood & Lounge and made us an online reservation in advance.

 

When we got there the restaurant wasn’t full, but because we’d reserved they gave us one of the best tables in shade on the patio.

 

The menu is pretty much a Bible of cured meats and cheeses and they have several flights you can try of different selections from all over Italy.  You should’ve seen Jeremy’s eyes light up when our literal tower of mortadella, salami, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, pecorino and aged parmesan (accompanied by local olives, cured artichokes, honey and lemon preserves arrived at the table).  We also each got a focaccia sandwich that was so good Jeremy considered trying to smuggle the rest of his back on the ship. They were served warm and the locally made pesto on mine was unbelievable.

 

Jeremy got a prickly pear tequila cocktail and I tried a wine flight of premium Sicilian wines.  I fell in love with one that our waiter told us has won a number of international wine competitions. After my flight I couldn’t resist having a full glass of it.

 

The restaurant has a small shop next door that I stopped in to buy a bottle of wine to take home as well as a couple of jars of the amazing pesto and lemon preserves.

 

When I came back out, there’s the love of my life again holding a shopping bag out to me.  He said “just a little thank you for arranging such an incredible trip and buying me an amazing lunch”.  Sometimes the best bags don’t have to be designer!

 

I know, I know, the mush.

 

After lunch we walked around town a bit more and had gelato and listened to the street musicians.  We almost got a little turned around wandering up side streets, but luckily Taormina has a Louis Vuitton and a Dior and I can navigate quite well via shopping landmarks.

 

It was a very warm day but I made sure to bring a jacket anyway and was glad I did as many of the churches we wanted to look in required ladies to have their knees and shoulders covered.

 

We went to the scenic overlook to check out (actively smoking today) Mt. Etna and bumped into a couple from London that we met on the ship.  We all decided to grab an aperol spritz at a nearby piazza and spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and laughing.

 

At one point, the men’s spritzes kicked in and they decided to try and serenade us ladies with their own rendition of “That’s Amore”…that’s when we cut our husbands off for the afternoon.

 

The great part is with all the Italian food and drink, Jeremey and I both managed to nap pretty hard on the bus ride back to the ship, so now we’re fresh as daisies!

 

We’re going to go have some tea in the retreat lounge then maybe hit the pool for a bit.  Tonight there’s a silent disco party just for retreat guests.  We also just got a call from the retreat concierge saying that the maitre d has approved our request to invite some new Australian friends we met onboard yesterday who are on their honeymoon in a standard IV room to dine with us in Luminae tonight (with cover charge and gratuity of course).

 

Ciao for now from the best day ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love Taormina we got to spend 3 nights there on a land trip in 2018. Did you try any local cannoli's, the city claims they were invented there. Our favorite Sicilian winery is on the slope of Mt Etna, Gambino winery. Last year while on the Reflection we had a private tour of Taormina and Gambino booked, but because of bad weather we were 3 hours late getting to Messina and our tour was canceled as were all ship tours.

Edited October 27, 2023 by terrydtx

[Wirral Girlie]

56 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

 

Hello from Sicily!  I know I’m almost 2 full days behind in reporting, but we’ve been having the most incredible day and can’t wait to share!

 

This morning I was awakened by the sound of my better half telling me I’d better get it together because I’d overslept and we only had half an hour until our excursion assembly time.

 

Another thing I miss about butler service:  having someone to bring me a latte and danish from Al Bacio on these types of mornings when I’m in a rush. Fortunately I still have Jeremy…who will not be receiving a tip for his services. (I know, I still a full report on our thoughts on the reduced Retreat/butler experience too.)

 

The raspberry danish and vanilla latte hit the spot then we headed down for our excursion Taormina City on Your Own.  This was booked through Celebrity and really just a transfer rather than an excursion. There’s no guided tour (although Celebrity offers those as well) just a bus ride for the hour trip each way to and from port.  I also priced booking a private car for this trip and it was going to be about $250 US.  Booked during an excursion sale, the Celebrity bus transfer was a little over $100 total.

 

The ride to Taormina took about an hour then we had 3.5 hours to sight see, have lunch and then meet back for the bus.  The drivers warned us to be on time because the taxi drivers waiting at Taormina know most of the fares they pick up there are cruise passengers who missed their bus back and are distressed purchasers and the drivers price the ride to port according (he said they can demand 300-400 euros or more).

 

I did some research on Taormina in advance to find a good restaurant to treat Jeremy to lunch.  Regular followers know my love of fine cured meats and cheeses. The only person I know who loves these things even more than I do is Jeremy.  Looking online I found Circe Enofood & Lounge and made us an online reservation in advance.

 

When we got there the restaurant wasn’t full, but because we’d reserved they gave us one of the best tables in shade on the patio.

 

The menu is pretty much a Bible of cured meats and cheeses and they have several flights you can try of different selections from all over Italy.  You should’ve seen Jeremy’s eyes light up when our literal tower of mortadella, salami, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, pecorino and aged parmesan (accompanied by local olives, cured artichokes, honey and lemon preserves arrived at the table).  We also each got a focaccia sandwich that was so good Jeremy considered trying to smuggle the rest of his back on the ship. They were served warm and the locally made pesto on mine was unbelievable.

 

Jeremy got a prickly pear tequila cocktail and I tried a wine flight of premium Sicilian wines.  I fell in love with one that our waiter told us has won a number of international wine competitions. After my flight I couldn’t resist having a full glass of it.

 

The restaurant has a small shop next door that I stopped in to buy a bottle of wine to take home as well as a couple of jars of the amazing pesto and lemon preserves.

 

When I came back out, there’s the love of my life again holding a shopping bag out to me.  He said “just a little thank you for arranging such an incredible trip and buying me an amazing lunch”.  Sometimes the best bags don’t have to be designer!

 

I know, I know, the mush.

 

After lunch we walked around town a bit more and had gelato and listened to the street musicians.  We almost got a little turned around wandering up side streets, but luckily Taormina has a Louis Vuitton and a Dior and I can navigate quite well via shopping landmarks.

 

It was a very warm day but I made sure to bring a jacket anyway and was glad I did as many of the churches we wanted to look in required ladies to have their knees and shoulders covered.

 

We went to the scenic overlook to check out (actively smoking today) Mt. Etna and bumped into a couple from London that we met on the ship.  We all decided to grab an aperol spritz at a nearby piazza and spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and laughing.

 

At one point, the men’s spritzes kicked in and they decided to try and serenade us ladies with their own rendition of “That’s Amore”…that’s when we cut our husbands off for the afternoon.

 

The great part is with all the Italian food and drink, Jeremey and I both managed to nap pretty hard on the bus ride back to the ship, so now we’re fresh as daisies!

 

We’re going to go have some tea in the retreat lounge then maybe hit the pool for a bit.  Tonight there’s a silent disco party just for retreat guests.  We also just got a call from the retreat concierge saying that the maitre d has approved our request to invite some new Australian friends we met onboard yesterday who are on their honeymoon in a standard IV room to dine with us in Luminae tonight (with cover charge and gratuity of course).

 

Ciao for now from the best day ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pleased that at least one of the pictures I took turned out for you!! 😍

[theopup]

Thanks so much for yet another wonderful daily write up.

 

We will be in Sicily in September on the Ascent, and have the same explore Taormina on your own excursion booked.

 

 We will need to check out that restaurant as well.

[WNCtourist]

That lunch looks amazing! And the photo of you tasting wine is iconic!

[mchell810]

So very glad I had lunch before catching up on your posts!  I just made note of the restaurant -- definitely need to stop there on my next visit to Taormina.

 

[Azulann]

Now that is a great Italian Lunch ! My mouth is watering ! I love love Italian wines of all kinds . 

[Jim_Iain]

Curious of your stop in Livorno.   Are you going to hit Pisa, Florence or Both?   So much to see but so little time.  

 

 

[Lastdance]

There is an individual on FB who posted that she hired a car for Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii.  She is looking to share, as total price is $700 for 8.5 hours.  She goes by the name of Swope Farm, but not sure if she is in a single cabin or not.  If you shared what the two of you are doing, I missed it, so just thought I would post this.  I have no idea how you might find her if interested.  If you see this and might be interested, I can message her...anyway, enjoy your day!

[hcat]

looks like you had a great day at Taormina.. when we went we saw a wedding party coming out of the church..all very romantic!  

 

We had a  lovely lunch there , & spent our money on some amazing sicilian pottery, little pewter donkey carts and other items that represent the area. etc.   Sal is mostly Sicilian, so  these gifts  were much appreciated by family..Only so much stuff we could carry home in our suitcases!

 

The big question is...Did you buy the Bee? 

[Trent0341]

Looking forward to your review of Le Voyage as we will try it out this summer.

[maggie.1008]

Mary Frances makes a bee purse that you need! Love following along. So appreciate your love for good food,wine and living the best life. Cheers, Heather 🥂🍷

[hcat]

went to Mary Frances website...lots of nice bees... and TJ Max has a  style sim to  "the Bee".

[hcat]

Just now, hcat said:

went to Mary Frances website...lots of nice bees... and TJ Max has a  style sim to  "the Bee".

unable to upload pic

[GenerationX]

Good afternoon from Livorno!

 

I’ve never been happier to have had a late port arrival time today because yesterday was a FULL day for us.  If you’re coming along, please settle in for a long read and photo overload.

 

Yesterday started with another super early, 7:15am excursion assembly time that meant another al Bacio breakfast of coffee and a pastry.

 

Our tour was the small group Taste of Sorento and Pompeii through Celebrity.  It was listed as a strenuous 9.5 hour excursion and the description was on point.

 

We started with about an hour drive up into the hills of Sorento to tour a family olive farm and have a tasting of their olive oils, meats, cheeses and preserves.  Again, it was barely 9:30 in the morning, but at each they gave us full bottles of locally made white wine to wash it all down.  Jeremy and I decided not to offend the locals by leaving good wine to waste and besides wine is grapes and grapes are breakfast food.

 

After the tour and tasting, they did a cheese making demonstration, then I was promptly separated from 50 more euros of my money getting some of the farm’s red pepper infused olive oil, artichoke spread and chocolate limoncello.  There are going to be some big fat Italian dinner parties at my house this winter!

 

After we left the farm we had a 40 minute, winding road ride down to historic Sorento where our guide gave us a short walking tour then we had an hour and a half on our own for shopping and/or lunch.

 

I had planned to do some research in advance on the good restaurants in town for this day, but alas in all the other pre-cruise prep I ran out of time.

 

Instead we just wandered through the side streets (our food tour guide in Rome told us this was the way to find the better restaurants in touristy parts of Italy) and came upon a small fresh fish market with swordfish and squid on display.  We saw a man paying and leaving with a hand cart stacked with a couple of coolers of fish. We decided to follow the fresh seafood guy at a respectful distance and see where he led and it took us to a restaurant called La Bascilica.

 

The kitchen wasn’t opening for another half hour but the manager saw us as he was finishing setting up the patio and told us we were welcome to come sit and have some wine and bread and olive oil until we could place a lunch order.  

 

We asked about the fresh fish di giorno we presumed we’d seen the supplies for entering the restaurant.  Unfortunately it needed time to be cleaned and marinated and couldn’t be ready in time for us to really enjoy it before we had to be back to meet our guide.

 

Instead we split a bottle of Chianti and then Jeremy had a prosciutto and mozzarella platter (the man is meat and cheesing his way all through Italy) served with some incredible roasted eggplant strips cured in olive oil and sea salt and I settled for some locally made pasta with cherry tomatoes and Basil. Actually, it’s entirely unfair to call that pasta settling.  Around my 4th fork full (and 3rd glass of Chianti) the bells of the church next door started to ring and the food, wine and ambiance made me absolutely devastated at being forced to return to my provincial American existence on Tuesday.

 

After our wonderful lunch, we met back up with our guide and headed to tour Pompeii.  This is where I realized the “strenuous” rating for the tour came from.  Pompeii is massive.  We spent 2.5 hours on our guided tour and there was only one break to sit down (near the start in the auditorium).   We only got through 3 sections.  Our guide told us to see the entire excavation and all the side exhibits you’d need a minimum of 8 hours.

 

Most of the pathways are uneven cobblestone (leave your heels and wedges at home, ladies) and there’s lots of stairs and steps up and down without hand rails.  There was one couple in our group where the wife had her leg in a knee brace and was walking with a cane and I felt so bad for her as it was clear she was struggling to keep up.

 

History nerds that we are, I was also so glad again that we did Pompeii as a guided tour and with a reputable guide.  Apparently guide and ticket scams are common. Also, not all guides are created equal.  

 

As our group was being walked around, I overheard another guide telling a small group that a statue was an original excavated from the ruble  and restored.  I recognized it from a sculpture coffee table book at Jeremy’s mom’s house…it was made in like 1995. 🤦🏾‍♀️

 

There were so many little details we probably wouldn’t have noticed or known what their significance was if we hadn’t had our guides pointing them out.

 

One other cool feature included in our tour was 360 virtual reality glasses that our guides had us put on in different areas of the ruins and they let us see what artists beloved those ruins looked like in their full glory just before the eruption.

 

I heard some others who saw us ask their guides about the glasses and be told that an unguided audio tour just with the glasses costs $40-$50.

 

After our afternoon at the ruins we headed back to the ship and took a quick nap before dinner in Luminae.

 

We ate a little earlier than usual getting to the restaurant about 7:45 and it was extremely busy.  We didn’t have to wait for a table, but our service team warned us the kitchen was backed up and things would be slow.  Eko and the restaurant manager came by repeatedly to apologize and check on us.

 

Thanks to our long day, we were just happy to be in chairs and consuming calories so the delays didn’t bother us too much.  We’d also worked up a real appetite and had extra courses which lengthened our dining time.

 

We ordered all of the appetizers as well as the always available off menu Caesar salad then we each got a filet mignon and split an order of the bucatini entree.  For dessert we split the almond cake.

 

That filet mignon was so good Jeremy not only ate all of his but also finished mine when I got full.

 

We didn’t finish our dinner until almost 9:45, then we dropped down to the martini bar where Maelyn made Jeremy and I special espresso martinis before we headed to the late show in Eden.  Ive already talked about how much we enjoy the production shows on E-class but definitely don’t miss the way more intimate shows in Eden and the Club either.  It’s also definitely worth getting there at least a half hour early to get one of the best seats. You get to appreciate the performers in a whole different level of detail. You can see the acrobats’ and dancers’ muscles shaking and just how much strength it takes to do what they do, and with perfect smiles on their faces the whole time!  

 

After the show, the cast hung out outside Eden to take photos with guests and Jeremy and I got to thank them for all the great entertainment they provided over the cruise.

 

We decided to have a couple of more rounds of Eden mezcal cocktails and then ended up shutting down the night club at 1:30am.  When we got back to the room my husband decided he was hungry again so we did a late night room service order of a cheeseburger and fries to split.  

 

The burger was good (does a burger ever not taste good at 2:30 in the morning after a night of dancing?) but the fries were lukewarm and the tray came delivered without salt packets (which the fries needed) or silverware/napkin roll (which led to us having to use a washcloth to wipe our hands while eating).

 

We finally collapsed at 3am, which became 2am right after due to the ship time change.

 

We’re currently on our veranda sipping wine and sulking after our excursion today and trying to avoid starting to pack.  I know I have catch up writing galore to do, which will give me a chance to focus on happier memories tonight after dinner. More to come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hcat]

What a day you had.  Great experiences make great memories!

Nice to be young &  able to take it all in.

 

The photos are amazing and the writing style is brilliant! Great talent.

(not always easy for those who live in the world of pleadings, briefs and contracts all day!)

[lola2013]

I’m happy to hear you were able to visit Sorrento, which is my all time favorite place on the planet.  I enjoyed my favorite pizza there by doing just what you did…pick a street and wander until you spot food paradise.  I am not a foodie…a slice (or several 😉) makes me a happy traveler.  
Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Susan 

[Azulann]

When you had your church bell ringing moment , eating lunch in Italy, that is the reason to travel . Savor that experience and years later you can  remember as if it was today. What a wonderful journey you two have upon.

 

I too always look for a cafe down an alley at least two blocks off any tourist street. Found  local ones in Rhodes, Corsica, Rome  and Barcelona , some of my most memorable lunches. 

[theopup]

Another wonderful daily review, thanks for bringing us all along.

 

 I love your wine choices also!

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Good afternoon from Livorno!

 

I’ve never been happier to have had a late port arrival time today because yesterday was a FULL day for us.  If you’re coming along, please settle in for a long read and photo overload.

 

Yesterday started with another super early, 7:15am excursion assembly time that meant another al Bacio breakfast of coffee and a pastry.

 

Our tour was the small group Taste of Sorento and Pompeii through Celebrity.  It was listed as a strenuous 9.5 hour excursion and the description was on point.

 

We started with about an hour drive up into the hills of Sorento to tour a family olive farm and have a tasting of their olive oils, meats, cheeses and preserves.  Again, it was barely 9:30 in the morning, but at each they gave us full bottles of locally made white wine to wash it all down.  Jeremy and I decided not to offend the locals by leaving good wine to waste and besides wine is grapes and grapes are breakfast food.

 

After the tour and tasting, they did a cheese making demonstration, then I was promptly separated from 50 more euros of my money getting some of the farm’s red pepper infused olive oil, artichoke spread and chocolate limoncello.  There are going to be some big fat Italian dinner parties at my house this winter!

 

After we left the farm we had a 40 minute, winding road ride down to historic Sorento where our guide gave us a short walking tour then we had an hour and a half on our own for shopping and/or lunch.

 

I had planned to do some research in advance on the good restaurants in town for this day, but alas in all the other pre-cruise prep I ran out of time.

 

Instead we just wandered through the side streets (our food tour guide in Rome told us this was the way to find the better restaurants in touristy parts of Italy) and came upon a small fresh fish market with swordfish and squid on display.  We saw a man paying and leaving with a hand cart stacked with a couple of coolers of fish. We decided to follow the fresh seafood guy at a respectful distance and see where he led and it took us to a restaurant called La Bascilica.

 

The kitchen wasn’t opening for another half hour but the manager saw us as he was finishing setting up the patio and told us we were welcome to come sit and have some wine and bread and olive oil until we could place a lunch order.  

 

We asked about the fresh fish di giorno we presumed we’d seen the supplies for entering the restaurant.  Unfortunately it needed time to be cleaned and marinated and couldn’t be ready in time for us to really enjoy it before we had to be back to meet our guide.

 

Instead we split a bottle of Chianti and then Jeremy had a prosciutto and mozzarella platter (the man is meat and cheesing his way all through Italy) served with some incredible roasted eggplant strips cured in olive oil and sea salt and I settled for some locally made pasta with cherry tomatoes and Basil. Actually, it’s entirely unfair to call that pasta settling.  Around my 4th fork full (and 3rd glass of Chianti) the bells of the church next door started to ring and the food, wine and ambiance made me absolutely devastated at being forced to return to my provincial American existence on Tuesday.

 

After our wonderful lunch, we met back up with our guide and headed to tour Pompeii.  This is where I realized the “strenuous” rating for the tour came from.  Pompeii is massive.  We spent 2.5 hours on our guided tour and there was only one break to sit down (near the start in the auditorium).   We only got through 3 sections.  Our guide told us to see the entire excavation and all the side exhibits you’d need a minimum of 8 hours.

 

Most of the pathways are uneven cobblestone (leave your heels and wedges at home, ladies) and there’s lots of stairs and steps up and down without hand rails.  There was one couple in our group where the wife had her leg in a knee brace and was walking with a cane and I felt so bad for her as it was clear she was struggling to keep up.

 

History nerds that we are, I was also so glad again that we did Pompeii as a guided tour and with a reputable guide.  Apparently guide and ticket scams are common. Also, not all guides are created equal.  

 

As our group was being walked around, I overheard another guide telling a small group that a statue was an original excavated from the ruble  and restored.  I recognized it from a sculpture coffee table book at Jeremy’s mom’s house…it was made in like 1995. 🤦🏾‍♀️

 

There were so many little details we probably wouldn’t have noticed or known what their significance was if we hadn’t had our guides pointing them out.

 

One other cool feature included in our tour was 360 virtual reality glasses that our guides had us put on in different areas of the ruins and they let us see what artists beloved those ruins looked like in their full glory just before the eruption.

 

I heard some others who saw us ask their guides about the glasses and be told that an unguided audio tour just with the glasses costs $40-$50.

 

After our afternoon at the ruins we headed back to the ship and took a quick nap before dinner in Luminae.

 

We ate a little earlier than usual getting to the restaurant about 7:45 and it was extremely busy.  We didn’t have to wait for a table, but our service team warned us the kitchen was backed up and things would be slow.  Eko and the restaurant manager came by repeatedly to apologize and check on us.

 

Thanks to our long day, we were just happy to be in chairs and consuming calories so the delays didn’t bother us too much.  We’d also worked up a real appetite and had extra courses which lengthened our dining time.

 

We ordered all of the appetizers as well as the always available off menu Caesar salad then we each got a filet mignon and split an order of the bucatini entree.  For dessert we split the almond cake.

 

That filet mignon was so good Jeremy not only ate all of his but also finished mine when I got full.

 

We didn’t finish our dinner until almost 9:45, then we dropped down to the martini bar where Maelyn made Jeremy and I special espresso martinis before we headed to the late show in Eden.  Ive already talked about how much we enjoy the production shows on E-class but definitely don’t miss the way more intimate shows in Eden and the Club either.  It’s also definitely worth getting there at least a half hour early to get one of the best seats. You get to appreciate the performers in a whole different level of detail. You can see the acrobats’ and dancers’ muscles shaking and just how much strength it takes to do what they do, and with perfect smiles on their faces the whole time!  

 

After the show, the cast hung out outside Eden to take photos with guests and Jeremy and I got to thank them for all the great entertainment they provided over the cruise.

 

We decided to have a couple of more rounds of Eden mezcal cocktails and then ended up shutting down the night club at 1:30am.  When we got back to the room my husband decided he was hungry again so we did a late night room service order of a cheeseburger and fries to split.  

 

The burger was good (does a burger ever not taste good at 2:30 in the morning after a night of dancing?) but the fries were lukewarm and the tray came delivered without salt packets (which the fries needed) or silverware/napkin roll (which led to us having to use a washcloth to wipe our hands while eating).

 

We finally collapsed at 3am, which became 2am right after due to the ship time change.

 

We’re currently on our veranda sipping wine and sulking after our excursion today and trying to avoid starting to pack.  I know I have catch up writing galore to do, which will give me a chance to focus on happier memories tonight after dinner. More to come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love the Sorrento area, we have visited 3 times in the past. If we had no kids or Grandchildren here, we would have already moved to live in the hills above Sorrento.

[barneyboy]

2 hours ago, lola2013 said:

I’m happy to hear you were able to visit Sorrento, which is my all time favorite place on the planet.  I enjoyed my favorite pizza there by doing just what you did…pick a street and wander until you spot food paradise.  I am not a foodie…a slice (or several 😉) makes me a happy traveler.  
Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Susan 

It’s such a lovely place. We spent 11 nights there last summer and did lots of wonderful day trips to Pompeii, Naples and all the islands. When ever we stop at Naples on a cruise we always take the ferry to .Sorrento for the day.