Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

[Another_Critic]

I abandoned Spain to go to Andorra, but didn't get my passport stamped.  🙂

[BecAus]

We arrived back onboard yesterday in Ravenna after a 24n trip interruption, disembarking in Cape Town to head off & do some other things while they sailed up the west coast of Africa: Kruger Safari / Cairo / 4n Rome / 7n on Odyssey - Santorini, Mykonos, Ephesus, Naples - / Venice / Bologna / Ravenna.

Everything went to plan (on the most part) but we’re glad to be back onboard & fully unpack till we disembark in Barcelona in 20n.

 

Ravenna was a really lovely little town, we did a walking tour to see the mosaics.

 

Today we are in Trieste, berthed right in the centre of town. We got off and wandered around for a while and had some lunch - some really beautiful old buildings here!

 

Having a drink in the Vortex lounge & saw something up here that I haven’t seen happening before……

 

 

Mosaics around Ravenna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a lovely Church in Ravenna - San Francesco - under the alter at the front, through the arch is a very old crypt - now constantly covered by water

Through the water you can see the original mosaics & there are goldfish swimming around 

 

 

 

The lovely old buildings in Trieste

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serenade berthed right in the centre of Trieste

 

 

The video I took was too big to load but first time I’ve seen the bar rotating up here - recently fixed I’m told

 

 

 

[jmh2006]

1 hour ago, BecAus said:

We arrived back onboard yesterday in Ravenna after a 24n trip interruption, disembarking in Cape Town to head off & do some other things while they sailed up the west coast of Africa: Kruger Safari / Cairo / 4n Rome / 7n on Odyssey - Santorini, Mykonos, Ephesus, Naples - / Venice / Bologna / Ravenna.

Everything went to plan (on the most part) but we’re glad to be back onboard & fully unpack till we disembark in Barcelona in 20n.

 

Ravenna was a really lovely little town, we did a walking tour to see the mosaics.

 

Today we are in Trieste, berthed right in the centre of town. We got off and wandered around for a while and had some lunch - some really beautiful old buildings here!

 

Having a drink in the Vortex lounge & saw something up here that I haven’t seen happening before……

 

 

Mosaics around Ravenna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a lovely Church in Ravenna - San Francesco - under the alter at the front, through the arch is a very old crypt - now constantly covered by water

Through the water you can see the original mosaics & there are goldfish swimming around 

 

 

 

The lovely old buildings in Trieste

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serenade berthed right in the centre of Trieste

 

 

The video I took was too big to load but first time I’ve seen the bar rotating up here - recently fixed I’m told

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing the pictures from Ravenna.  I was there a couple of weeks ago to board Explorer but only got as far as the train station.  Next time, I would like to see more of the city.

[CSHS1979]

Trieste on left, Koper on right

 

[Saab4444]

Is Captain Stig back on board?

[BecAus]

Yes he is!

[lovesthebeach2]

We’re on board!!

Came on in Ravenna. I’m not one to do pictures but I can help with questions. I can say since we were last on Serenade in late February 2023, it’s beautiful. So much has been updated, including we have a new toilet! That doesn’t seem like much but shows the level of upgrades that were made. Our cabin is perfect.

 

Food quality is better than we’ve had lately and MUCH better than we had in that Feb cruise in 2023.

The vibe on the ship is so relaxed. I love walking down the hall and seeing how so many decorated their cabin doors. 
 

Even though we had heard the ship is full, we hardly see people at all. So different than regular cruises. Very very quiet. it’s wonderful. 
 

We have a full port schedule until Barcelona when we get off ☹️…there’s only 1 sea day so even though we don’t have too many excursions (just enough), we’ll still getting off every day. Weather is perfect but warm. 

[BecAus]

Saturday saw us in Koper, Slovenia. We took a trip up to Lake Bled and stopped in at the town of Ljubljana on the way back. Traffic was horrendous on the way back to the ship as school had just broken up for the year and the guide said families move to the coast for the holidays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is the town of Ljubljana 

 

 

 

The dragon bridge 

 

 

My husband’s lunch, we call these chevups at home

 

 

 

This pink building in Ljubljana is supposed to resemble a beehive?

 

Koper’s main square near the cruise ship terminal 

 

 

A church next to the clock tower with a very large organ inside 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Monday at 04:37 PM by BecAus
xxx

[BecAus]

The last 3 days we spent in Croatia: Zadar / Split / Dubrovnik - beautiful country! My husband’s family is from here - he’s been before but I haven’t. I didn’t get off in Zadar, had a rest day, but Split & Dubrovnik were really nice!

Lots of Game of Thrones references but I’ve never watched it so didn’t mean much to me & lots of ‘duck boutiques’?

 

 

Split - including a visit to Diocletian’s Palace 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dubrovnik 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rode these ATV buggies up the top of the cable car - ~ 1/2hr to viewpoints higher up overlooking Dubrovnik & Serenade docked below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving Croatia - heading to Kotor, Montenegro - our next stop, a tender port

 

 

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

Which ship was docked with Serenade?

[lovesthebeach2]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Which ship was docked with Serenade?

Not sure which port you’re asking but in Dubrovnik it was Oceanic 

today in Kotor we have oceanic, Aida, another we saw on the way in and Star Clipper… which was also in Zadar. That’s an awesome boat. I’ll try to post a pic I took. 

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Which ship was docked with Serenade?

Oceania Vista

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/dubrovnik-port-137