Live from Celebrity Ascent Rome to Barcelona August 10, 2024.

[Stockjock]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

 Enjoyed your review.. we sometimes  visit Cosmopolitan for sit down breakfast..  nice menu, good service and hot food. Also nice for lunch..but  too busy for dinner. 

 

 Hope you have a  smooth trip home..What's up next?

 

thanks for Vine info.. interesting.. sometimes reviews do make a difference.  We stay away from any item that is noted as "frequently returned" 

 

 

Taking the GF on Oceania in a few months for a milestone birthday.  First cruise on Oceania, so not sure if we’ll like it or not.

[hcat]

1 minute ago, Stockjock said:

Taking the GF on Oceania in a few months for a milestone birthday.  First cruise on Oceania, so not sure if we’ll like it or not.

we'll watch for your review!

[kabmab]

Thanks for your review!  We did Western Med on Apex in 2022 late August, good ports.   Hot but not oppressively so, but then we live in south Tampa Bay where we're routinely mid-nineties in summer.   Took the Ascent TA in April and really enjoyed the ship.  The infinite veranda was great for the TA.  Soon on Beyond for first time.

[Lastdance]

Thank you, @Stockjock for sharing your cruise with all of us.  I am sorry that it was very humid and hot for both of you; however, it was August, so that explains a lot in Europe.  You were in so many of my favorite ports which have fond memories for me.  We are doing Ascent’s TA this October from Barcelona to FLL, so I am really looking forward to it, even though I have been to Barcelona many times, not to mention most of the other ports too.  Again, that you for your honest commentary and glad the heat and humidity didn’t overwhelm your cruise.  I will say that Portofino was so crowded from your photos - Just wow!  Your girlfriend always looked perfect for the venues!

 

I am also trying Oceania’s Vista for her spring TA next year...cheers!

Edited August 17 by Lastdance

[Scottishclover]

I was also on this cruise and had a great time. Thanks @Stockjock for taking your time to share your thoughts and experiences while on holiday. I may also do a short review on what we did in ports to give people a different perspective. We hiked around 10-15 km  in every port except Palma- well we walked from ship to the cathedral and back but no uphills or rugged trails so that was more walk than hike. 
 

Regarding the heat: while we found it hot we just made sure we were off the ship  straight after docking to get our hikes done in the cooler part of the day. I admit there were some days you could have wrung out our T-shirts after hiking but counteracted that with some electrolytes and a lemon granita. I also think not being used to the ice cold air conditioning that you get in the US also has its advantages. 

[Stockjock]

After returning from about 10 days of gluttony on Celebrity Ascent, I told myself I wasn't going to get on the scale for a few days, but I decided to do that this morning. Often, I lose weight on cruises due to all of the walking, but I was sure that wouldn't be the case this time.

The result? I gained 1.8 lb. or 0.82 kg, which isn't too bad, although I had gained a few pounds before the trip that I'd like to work on.

I tried an app called Time Shifter - The Jet Lag App, that promises to reduce or eliminate jet lag. You input your flight data and it provides a schedule of when to go to sleep, when to wake up, when to drink coffee, when to take a nap, when to pop some sleep aids (they recommend melatonin which is OTC in the U.S.). The first trip is free and after that, something like $10 USD. I didn't follow their recommendations religiously, but I didn't more or less followed their suggestions.

For example, yesterday, they encouraged me to nap on and off on my flights, drink coffee "a little caffeine and often" at a certain point, sleep at one point with melatonin, naps at another point. Naps on and off as we approached San Diego, and then go to sleep at about 11 pm San Diego time, taking more melatonin to force a normal sleep schedule, waking up at 7 am today. And next, the plan is to drink coffee, or other caffeine, about every 2 hours from 7 am until 3 pm. At that point, no more caffeine, bright light from 5 pm until 10:30 pm, less light until 11 pm, and finally take more melatonin to help get a full night's sleep beginning around midnight.

Not sure if I'll buy it next time, but so far, I feel pretty good, considering. And I also got adjusted to European time more quickly than usual (i.e. didn't fly there and sleep all day).

Edited August 18 by Stockjock

[Stem to Stern]

Welcome home!

Thanks for sharing and describing this interesting app.

There is an app for everything now.😂

We catch a few z’s on the flight over to Europe.

DH has no trouble sleeping on a plane or anywhere else for that matter.😂

I take a Benadryl because it wears off in 4-5 hours and doesn’t come with the side effects of weird dreams and lingering morning brain fog like melatonin does.

Upon arrival we somewhat ignore the time difference and power through the day on the adrenaline and excitement of our first day of exploration in a fantastic, cosmopolitan city.  
This makes for a sound first night’s sleep for both of us regardless of the unfamiliar accomodations.

For our return flight and reaclimation to the Eastern time zone, we don’t really find it necessary to make a sleep plan since we are so bloody knackered from the vacation.😂

[Stockjock]

At the risk of being repetitive, I tried to provide a detailed report here, but I also provided a much condensed summary elsewhere, which I might as well share here as well.

Even though I posted a number of photos from my recent trip and cruise to Europe, here's a copy of a recap that I shared elsewhere.

We had a really nice time on Celebrity Ascent, which is their newest ship. We sailed in their somewhat controversial Infinite Veranda and I previously posted a couple of videos about our experience with this type of cabin.

I tried the Time Shifter jet lag app that was recommended to me, and while I didn't follow it religiously, I followed the general recommendations and they did seem to help. Got in last night, woke up at 6:30 am this morning Pacific Time, and I feel pretty good today.

The weather was HOT and really humid, i.e. quasi-miserable, and Europeans hate air-conditioning, so that was no good. The food was great, and surprisingly good on the ship given a recent decline in food quality. Ascent is Celebrity's newest ship, and we had zero problems or issues with the cruise itself, which is almost shocking.

A brief recap of our itinerary, for the hell of it.

Day 1 Rome: We were just there last year, so we didn't do too much. GF insisted on an expensive, but very nice, rooftop dinner that was over $400 USD, and then griped that she spent so much on dinner, lol (I pretty much made up for it later). We stayed next to Spanish Steps.

Day 2: Tuscany: A full day trip to Tuscany (12 hours) from Viator. Long, but enjoyable.

Day 3: Cruise check in. The ship is gorgeous.

Day 4: Ajaccio, Corsica, France: Cute town but boring. Everything is about Napoleon. Super hot. We saw his bed, which is tiny.

Day 5: Portofino, Italy (shown): Pretty, very small, super hot, very expensive, unbelievably crowded. Our 2nd visit here. Anyone want to guess the price for the following? Bowl of gelato (2 small scoops), 1 liter of water, burrata cheese starter, 2 Aperol Spritz?  Yes, $126 USD, as mentioned previously.

Day 6, La Spezia, Italy: We went to Cinque Terre, which I love. Did a cruise-sponsored tour that visited 3 of the 5 towns. They drove from town-to-town-and we took the train back. Super hot, super crowded, and the route we took meant massive hill climbing on 2 of the 3 stops. Train delayed a lot (Italy Time), which meant sweating our asses off waiting for it. But I do love Cinque Terre. We had limited time, thus the cruise line-sponsored tour.

Day 7: Cannes, France: Our 2nd visit. We did a cruise line tour that visited Nice, Éze, and Monaco. Not a bad tour, but we did something similar years ago. Importantly, the air conditioner on the bus crapped out, creating a miserable experience. Monaco was clean, nice and had free public restrooms, which was good. We didn't climb to the top of Éze, as it was steep and just too hot, instead doing drinking and charcuterie in a restaurant at the base.

Day 8: At sea. 15-16 foot seas, lots of wind, heavy rain, literally non-stop lightning all night (that's not an exaggeration). In the day time, rain subsided, still windy, but temperature *finally* comfortable.

Day 9: Palma de Mallorca, Spain: We visited this Spanish island years ago, but did a tour to a cave, which was mistake, even though it was interesting. We liked Palma a lot. I could see flying there to spend a few days on the island. We did a cheap ($58 pp) Viator excursion called "Tapas Tour", which was self-guided. Basically, you start at the first tapas bar, get your choice of a couple of tapas, and wine/sangria/beer is included. Then, you receive directions to the next 4 tapas bar, so 5 in total. Good value and a fun tour.

Day 10: Barcelona: We love Barcelona, but we had limited time there due to the GF's work schedule, and we were just there early this year. So, straight to the airport and back to the USA. 2 hour delay by UAL, but I had a couple of lounge passes that I used in Newark, which helped. I think I got food poisoning from a cheeseburger that I bought on the EWR to SAN leg. Still feeling the effects of that. Returned home to discover that my oldest goldfish, AH (abbreviated, he was not a nice fish), died while we were away. Fortunately, his "friends" mostly ate him. Sushi, yum!  Got on the scale this morning and I gained 1.8 pounds (0.82 kg), which isn't too bad.  But I had gained about 5 pounds (2.27 kg)  before the trip, so still work to be done!

That's the recap. Let me know if you have any questions, or want photos of anything in particular.

Edited August 18 by Stockjock

[swigso]

Hi what a great review we love Rome