***LIVE*** From the Carnival Freedom

[VA breeze]

Kali4

With a 7:35 departure from Frankfurt you'll get to Rome really early. That's great. Are you planning an excursion or just heading on to the ship?

Just 10 more days!!!!!

[7toEleven]

Thanks so much for the information. I'm to the point now where I want specifics, so I've e-mailed John Heald, hoping he can help. Haven't yet heard, but will let others know when I do. If I don't hear from him, I won't plan anything until the afternoon, per the postings. No sense cutting anything to close.

 

Do you have any idea how much time we should allow for going from the ship, to the train station, to the Vatican exit on the train? Making plans for the day we're docked there . . .

 

In the meantime, we're all thinking the 'McStreamy' experience was truly a great way to end a cruise. . . we're big Grey's fans - how fun!:)

 

 

I can't answer your question on how much time to allow from the ship into Rome (Vatican). Our trip was diffrerent in that we did Rome 3 days pre-cruise. I would strongly suggest pre-booking a guide for the Vatican. You get to see so much more.

[Disney 5]

Thought I would jump in here. We had Sean from Angel Tours for the Colosseum (25 euro each?) and free Pantheon tours and he was awesome. It was raining the day we did the Colosseum and the group was a little large, so he gave us each 5 euro off. The Pantheon is an amazing must do place, there was no charge but we did tip him 5 euro each and he seemed genuinely surprised and grateful.

 

And ~ I am not a big tour guide fan . . . so I truly appreciated him.

 

Janet

Thanks, Janet - that truly does help!

 

Coleen

[Kali4]

VA breeze, We plan on just heading to the ship when we get there. We should be to the ship at a nice time as long as we make our connection. Time seems to be moving so slow this week, I can't wait to get there!

[69VeeDub]

I have a quick question..what nights are the formal nights??

[alinehu]

The first and the third sea days

[VA breeze]

New question! Will we be responsible for gathering our checked luggage at the airport in Rome to catch our Carnival transfer or will our luggage be transferred on its own? My brother just sailed with Royal Carribean and they didn't see their luggage from the time they checked it at the airport until they reached the ship. We sailed out of SanJuan in '03 and we had to take our luggage with us from the airport to the Carnival shuttle. Thought maybe Carnival now had the same system as RC. How about it, all you experienced cruisers!

[picture time]

Hi Everyone,

I am on the Carnival Freedom right now. We just left Venice. I am having a wonderful time and I just wanted to let others know that I have had no complaints. The internet on the ship is VERY slow. I went on the Capri, Sorrentino and Pompeii shore excursion that was offered through Carnival. There were a lot of people doing this excursion. I liked it because it would have been tough to see all three places on my own. I didn't like it because it was really crowded during times of transfer. The boat to Capri, the boat to Sorrentino and the funicular(spelling?) up to Capri was very crowded and we had to wait. It was no fault of Carnivals-just the busy times of the summer. In Venice we did it on our own and had no problem. I will try to write more later. There is a line for the internet because they are doing a special for two hours- half off of time used. I rushed writing this but I wanted to give back because the forums helped me plan my cruise.

[7toEleven]

New question! Will we be responsible for gathering our checked luggage at the airport in Rome to catch our Carnival transfer or will our luggage be transferred on its own? My brother just sailed with Royal Carribean and they didn't see their luggage from the time they checked it at the airport until they reached the ship. We sailed out of SanJuan in '03 and we had to take our luggage with us from the airport to the Carnival shuttle. Thought maybe Carnival now had the same system as RC. How about it, all you experienced cruisers!

 

 

Yes, you will be responsible for collecting your luggage (at least that is the way it was May 25th). The carnival rep's are right there in the baggae area, are very helpful, very personable. I hope you and all your luggage gets there at the same time. We had 4 pieces, only 1 arrived with us. The next two 2 days later. Finally the last piece was the first to arrive in our room on the ship! Must add, this is no fault of Carnival's, entirely the airlines. But, it was Carnival who did the leg work hunting it down and keeping us informed, and we hadn't booked our air through them.

Have a GREAT trip!

[wrk2cruz]

Question??? Are there taxis available at the pier to get to Florence?? and..Do you know what they charge???:o

We will be there on a Sunday and really don't want to take the Carnival Bus.

[VA breeze]

7to eleven, What kind of ID did you have on your luggage that helped them track you down? We'll have our regular tags plus the Carnival tags. It's good to know that Carnival helped you. We booked everything thru them so hopefully they'll come thru for us like they did you.....hopefully, though, we won't need help and our luggage will accompany us. I guess you freaked out at the airport when you didn't get all your luggage and you had 12 days ahead of you.

All the more reason to pack carry-ons. Thanks for your help!

[7toEleven]

7to eleven, What kind of ID did you have on your luggage that helped them track you down? We'll have our regular tags plus the Carnival tags. It's good to know that Carnival helped you. We booked everything thru them so hopefully they'll come thru for us like they did you.....hopefully, though, we won't need help and our luggage will accompany us. I guess you freaked out at the airport when you didn't get all your luggage and you had 12 days ahead of you.

All the more reason to pack carry-ons. Thanks for your help!

 

VA breeze;

 

All we had on our luggage was the regular tags you put for name, address etc. The strip the airlines put on them. We hadn't attached our ship tags as we were spending 3 days pre-cruise in Rome and you have to claim your own luggage at the airport. So we thought we should just attach them at the hotel the morning we leave. There was an airlines rep at the baggage claim area (well I say an airline rep, now I'm not really sure who she was employed by) but, upon seeing us still standing there, and now everyone else is gone, she came up to us to ask about our luggage. When we told her 3 pieces were missing she asked our name. Then said they have notified us 2 pieces never left Chicago for the flight to Rome. But, oh oh there should be 3 pieces! Anyway, she sends you to a desk, that looks frequently used, to fill out a claim. The real hero in this is a gal who works for Carnival at our Carnival booked hote, (Cicirone). She is the one who kept calling and checking and letting them know when the bags get in where they are to go. Loved that gal! Two bags arrived the second night we where there. The third arrived (never knew where it had ended up) at our room on the 3rd day. Funny it was the first piece of luggage to arrive! So, this piece never had the chance to get the Carnival bag tag attached to it. But, someone had written out a tag with our information, cabin number etc. Anyway, I just thought it was a miracle! I'm not sure if I mentioned this but we meet a lady, who was traveling along, who never saw one piece of her luggage. Golly, she was miserable, wouldn't go to the dining room, and of course, not on formal night. We tried to seek her out again to invite her to join us but we didn't run into her again. What a sad story.

So, carry on is yes a good idea. But, they were being very strict with the size, number, and of course contents. Somewhere I read that couples shouldn't pack all of their items in one suitcase but should divide up their things so that if something does go missing you have some items. I was very lucky in that we were traveling with my sister and her husband, celebrating 35 years of marriage) and we are the same size. She shared very graciously with me. It was a little "freaky" at the airport not to see your bags come through. But our story did have a happy ending.

You are going to have a wonderful, exciting trip. Upon your return, let us know just how much fun it was!

[HapiFeet]

All these stories make me more certain that I'm going to order the Retriever Luggage Tags from www.magellans.com. You can put your itinerary in them and seal them up (some people suggest taping them). There is a message in several languages about what is in the tags. If you think about it, it makes much more sense to have your luggage sent to where you will be going, rather than the home address as most of us do. We're going to be in Rome 3 days, the 12-day cruise and then 6 days in Venice. I'd totally freak if I didn't have any luggage for all those days.

 

Thank you all for sharing all the information on this thread. It really helps us future cruisers!

[JanfrWA]

We're going to be in Rome 3 days, the 12-day cruise and then 6 days in Venice. I'd totally freak if I didn't have any luggage for all those days.

 

Thank you all for sharing all the information on this thread. It really helps us future cruisers!

 

6 days in Venice ????? I am so curious if you don't mind sharing? Are you originally from there? Family? Many sites to see?

 

I have to admit that was our least favorite port. Enjoyed St Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace Secret Itinerary Tour was interesting. The two half days and busy vaporettos made it difficult to see everything we wanted, and we would liked to have gone out to the lagoon islands. The canals and crooked streets were ok too, but overall it seemed more expensive and it just wasn't great for us.

 

So tell me what we should have done instead. We do plan to take our youngest daughter to Europe in a couple of years, and if Venice is still above water;), we were planning to stop in for a day or two but hadn't intended to stay much more than that.

 

thanks! Janet

[pluto2]

:D Hi,

I haven't got all the details for my upcoming Freedom Grande Med cruise, but I'm curious how much wine people have taken onboard. Do you just put it in your carry on & show them when you're boarding? Can you get wine in any of the ports to bring on, or are you searched & not allowed? I read one poster who got nice wine in a port and took it back on for the second half of the trip, but I thought it was only allowed at the start.

 

Thanks,

A newbie to cruising

[HapiFeet]

6 days in Venice ????? I am so curious if you don't mind sharing? Are you originally from there? Family? Many sites to see?

 

I have to admit that was our least favorite port. Enjoyed St Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace Secret Itinerary Tour was interesting. The two half days and busy vaporettos made it difficult to see everything we wanted, and we would liked to have gone out to the lagoon islands. The canals and crooked streets were ok too, but overall it seemed more expensive and it just wasn't great for us.

 

So tell me what we should have done instead. We do plan to take our youngest daughter to Europe in a couple of years, and if Venice is still above water;), we were planning to stop in for a day or two but hadn't intended to stay much more than that.

 

thanks! Janet

 

Hi Janet -

 

I'm a photographer and want to get as many photos as I can while Venice is still above water. (I also need to do the same of Alaska before it melts!). I'll take pictures of gondolas, windows, doors, shops, local people and markets, fountains, squares, etc. We plan to visit the other islands and I can't wait to photograph the painted houses on Burano. We want to get lost and just live with the locals instead of in the tourist crowds. We may take the train to the mainland. When there are the least number of cruise ships in Venice, we'll go to the main tourist attractions. We're staying at a small B&B overlooking a canal on a side street, which includes breakfast and we're bringing our shake mixes for dinner, so we'll just have lunch as an expense. Oh, and my film. We're also traveling in September after kids are back in school, so the crowds and the heat will hopefully be less.

 

I was also disappointed in the way Carnival split our days in port and told my husband that just isn't enough time to photograph Venice. Depending on your daughter's age and interests, it may not be as interesting for her. We're both 60 and looking forward to a slower pace in Venice.

[7toEleven]

Hi Janet -

 

I'm a photographer and want to get as many photos as I can while Venice is still above water. (I also need to do the same of Alaska before it melts!). I'll take pictures of gondolas, windows, doors, shops, local people and markets, fountains, squares, etc. We plan to visit the other islands and I can't wait to photograph the painted houses on Burano. We want to get lost and just live with the locals instead of in the tourist crowds. We may take the train to the mainland. When there are the least number of cruise ships in Venice, we'll go to the main tourist attractions. We're staying at a small B&B overlooking a canal on a side street, which includes breakfast and we're bringing our shake mixes for dinner, so we'll just have lunch as an expense. Oh, and my film. We're also traveling in September after kids are back in school, so the crowds and the heat will hopefully be less.

Hapifeet;

 

I, too took pictures of windows, doors, people, buidlings etc., from all different angles, from everyport we were in. My camera was stuck to my face! Have had such a great time upon our return in viewing them. I want to make a wall display of some of the pictures. Windows/doors of the Med, through my eye. We had split days while we were in Venice, with the first day being totally rained out after about 3 hours there. So, man oh man did we do the second day fast. I'm jelous you get to spend so much time there. It would be awesome to spend more time there. Although, I'm one of those who believe that Venice won't sink and Alaska won't melt! But sounds like if they do you will have it well recorded. Do enjoy your wonderful trip!

[flahagan]

Picturetime,

Thanks so much for taking time out to post an update during your trip! I can't wait for a report when you return. In the meantime, I wish you great weather and wonderful adventures. Have a fabulous journey!

[HapiFeet]

:D Hi,

I haven't got all the details for my upcoming Freedom Grande Med cruise, but I'm curious how much wine people have taken onboard. Do you just put it in your carry on & show them when you're boarding? Can you get wine in any of the ports to bring on, or are you searched & not allowed? I read one poster who got nice wine in a port and took it back on for the second half of the trip, but I thought it was only allowed at the start.

 

Thanks,

A newbie to cruising

 

We're not taking wine this time because of luggage allowances, but we did on our other cruises. We packed 8 bottles in one carry-on bag and checked it at curbside. The porter put fragile stickers all over it for us. When we got on board ship, our cabin steward wheeled the bag to the wine steward and she had a bottle waiting for us each night at our table. Our tablemates (fellow CCr's) insisted on paying the corkage fee and we all left dinner with a big smile each evening. Good wine, good friends, good times...:D

[HapiFeet]

Hapifeet;

 

I, too took pictures of windows, doors, people, buidlings etc., from all different angles, from everyport we were in. My camera was stuck to my face! Have had such a great time upon our return in viewing them. I want to make a wall display of some of the pictures. Windows/doors of the Med, through my eye. We had split days while we were in Venice, with the first day being totally rained out after about 3 hours there. So, man oh man did we do the second day fast. I'm jelous you get to spend so much time there. It would be awesome to spend more time there. Although, I'm one of those who believe that Venice won't sink and Alaska won't melt! But sounds like if they do you will have it well recorded. Do enjoy your wonderful trip!

 

That's too bad that you got rained out in Venice, Janet. You'll enjoy walking by your photo wall and remembering where the windows and doors were.

 

Al Gore was saying this morning on the Today show that the scientists are discovering the polar ice cap is melting 3 times as fast as they projected. Alaska is our next trip.:eek:

[HapiFeet]

Does anyone know if there are porters at the Rome Termini station? We're being dropped there post-cruise and will be taking the train to Venice.

[VA breeze]

7toEleven, that's quite a story! I'm glad you had a happy ending. What a horrible situation for the lady who lost everything and no one to share her misery with. My husband and I always share luggage just in case something goes missing. We'll definitely share this time. We start packing this weekend!

[maylee]

My son was required to do a journal of his trip for school, we were away for 6 weeks. He has just completed it and I thought it might be useful for those with families to read it from a young ones perspective. I have only included the cruise days plus pre-cruise in Rome, and the 3 days following the cruise in Sorrento. I have also edited it as in contained a lot of names of people who may prefer to remain anonymous.

 

ROME

 

We were picked up by a shuttle and driven to our accommodation. It was humungous, 2 bedrooms, bathroom and another sitting room. Nice. We left soon and went to a place called the Pantheon.On the way we almost started losing our way but got to a square close to the Pantheon called Piazza Navonna. There were lots of restaurants and little shops. We decided we would try our first Italian gelato. I had white chocolate, chocolate cookies and strawberry. It was super delicious. We went to the square again and saw a man standing like a statue trying to get money. You could see him shaking abit and it was funny. We went to the Pantheon and waited for the free tour.

 

The guide Lena came and told us some information. The points that I liked were these:-

- The building is one of the best structures in Rome and maybe anywhere.

- It is dome shaped like an egg, and is 42 meters high and 42 meters wide. The dome is half of a sphere.

- The ground around the Pantheon at the back is lower. It was like this 2000 years ago. Buildings fell down and the city rose above it. There used to be steps up to the Pantheon but the new roads were higher and covered them.

- All the bronze and marble that covered the outside of the Pantheon where stripped off by invaders, which just left the bricks exposed.

- There is a mystery about angry dolphins. There is a fountain at the front of the Pantheon and also on the back of the Pantheon which has nasty looking dolphins but no one knows what it means.

It was really very interesting. The guide was enthralling too.

 

We went to a place on the other side of Piazza Navonna for dinner. I had pizza. We got another gelato on the way back, this time I had Banana and Lemon. Yummy Yummy.

 

Back at the square we saw the same man standing like a statue. He was really good. We got back to our accommodation a bit late, but today was pretty awesome.

 

 

June 5th, Tuesday 2007 ROME/VATICAN CITY

 

I woke up later than everyone. We went to have breakfast and met some people from Cruise Critic. Cruise Critic is a website where people share information about cruising. Mum had joined our cruise roll call and had met a lot of people who would be doing the same cruise as us. We rushed to the Coliseum metro station to meet Lina our guide from the Pantheon who was going to give us a tour of the Coliseum and Roman Forum. So this is the tour:-

 

We saw three triumphal arches; one was a lot bigger than the other two. The 2nd one was the Arch of Titus. It was built in dedication of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. On the arch were carved the following - people carrying the 7 headed lamp stand, Victoria the goddess of victory behind Titus in a chariot pulled by horses. In the background of the Arch was the wedding cake building with the same chariot and horses.

 

There was a flame that was always burning, they believed if the flame went out Rome would fall. The flame was guarded and keeps burning by Vestral virgins. No one was allowed to touch the Vestral Virgin, not even with a shadow. One day a Vestral virgin was caught with a lover. The lover was flogged to death. They dug a big pit and put food and water in it, they then sent the Vestral virgin into the pit via stairs as no one could touch her and buried her alive. We saw were Julius Caesar’s was cremated, it had flowers on it.

 

Then we saw the coliseum. Again like most buildings it was stripped for its gold, bronze and marble etc. There may have been mock sea battles in the Coliseum. The coliseum had gladiator fights against wild animals and each other. Many people died in the arena as part of the entertainment. There were gate numbers at each entrance arch so the people would enter through the number on their ticket, although it was free of charge. Another interesting point is that today if someone receives a pardon from death row, the Coliseum is lit up the next night.

 

Another interesting little tour was walking through Palatino Hill which is the ruins of the Palaces and gardens. We then had gelato (lemon, Peppermint).

 

We went to the metro and went to Vatican City. We just stayed about 15 minutes and took a few photos. We headed for the Spanish steps and met lots of Cruise Critics. We decided to go and have dinner with another family, after dinner we had more gelato (blackberry, raspberry and coconut). Saw the same dude in Piazza Navonna, in a restaurant so we went and talked him. Went home to bed.

 

 

June 6th Wednesday 2007 ROME / CIVITAVECCHIA

 

Got up and packed our bags. We brought our tickets to Civitavecchia. We walked to Trevi Fountain for a quick look and then headed back to pick up our bags. Wheeled our bags to the train station and met up with some Cruise Critics and took the train to Port together. When we got to Carnival Freedom, there was absolutely no line to get in. So we went to our room and unpacked everything. We met all the Cruise Critics, most of the anyway. We had dinner. I had Beef Soup, Sweet and Sour Shrimp and Crème Brulee. YUM!! At 8pm we had a demented lifeboat drill to tell us how to put our life jackets on when there is a billion signs telling us how to wear them. We went to Camp carnival to sign Micah up and joined their welcome Party for kids. Afterward we had ice-cream YUM. Bed

 

 

June 7th Thursday 2007 NAPLES / ITALY

 

Up really early. I met some other kids from CC for the first time. Exited the ship with a group from CC(12 altogether) and caught the train to Pompeii. We got a good guide and he told us some interesting stuff. Like the big stones on the road, they were stepping stones but also the perfect size for their chariots to go over. But their enemies in war didn’t have the perfect size and would crash into them. There was also plaster casts of bodies that they found after the volcano killed them instantly, you could see parts of the skulls, fingers and toes of the people.

 

We then went to Herculaneum. There was lots of Mosaics and Mum really like that. All nice building and you could see parts of really old wood that were charred.

 

We went back on the train to Naples. Had some pizza, they only made two different kids. Naples is where pizza was invented. The Margarita pizza was first made for Queen Margarita and was made in the colors of the Italian Flag, Red – Tomato, White – Cheese and Green – Basil.

 

We went back to the ship and went to the arcade with the same kids we spent the day with. Watched half the movie Chicago.

 

Mum and Dad went to the Show. There was two people that were called onto the stage, their names were Yu Pu and Dick Little. I watched it later on TV.

 

June 8th, Friday 2007 DAY AT SEA

 

Woke at 8:30 and had an omelet for breakfast. Sort of did nothing all morning except run about 2.5 kilometers around the top of the ship. I had a burger and a delicious strawberry mousse for lunch. Relaxed all day. Saw a hairy man competition and played some trivia on the deck while going on the waterslide, swimming and relaxing in the spa. Then dinner, tonight I had Strawberry soup with mint, lobster and an apple waffle thing. Micah havoc- He spilled his water and it went down to the lower floor of the dining room, our waiters laughed so much.

 

Saw a Beatles review concert. If I knew the songs it would have been better. While Mum and Dad went to parties and Micah went to Camp Carnival, I caught up with my journal from three days ago.

 

June 9th Saturday 2007 VENICE

 

Slept in till about 9am. Had breakfast. Went to a Past Guest Party, they showed all the carnival ships. This is our second, first Valor and now Freedom. We got free drinks too. We went out to the front of the shop and watched the view as we cruised into Venice. It was really cool. Venice is a place with the water as roads and boats as cars. Bridges are zebra crossings; Vaparettos are Metros (a slower version). We walked around Murano and Mum brought some glass for her mosaics. Ran back to the ship to have dinner with Micah who had stayed in Camp carnival and then back out. Went to St. Marks square and walked around. It was getting really dark when we left. It was 10pm. On the vaperetto ride back we ran into some Cruise Critics and we all walked back to the ship together. When we got back I caught up on my journal and then watched Robots which just happened to be on TV.

 

June 10th Sunday 2007 VENICE

 

Bed at 12:30, and got up at 7. Had breakfast, bacon and eggs on a muffin. Went back into Venice to St. Marks Square. Wandered around and looked at shops. Got an averagely bad gelato. Then we did a tour of Doge’s Palace. We saw all the armor and weapons in one room. Awesome. We saw jails. The guide told us about a guy called Casanova who escaped with another guy into the attic, then made their way down to the bottom and left for Germany. We saw the torture chamber where there was a rope hanging down. They used to tie their hands behind their backs and lift them up by the hands, sometimes up and down several times. OUCH. Saw the Doge’s room and many other rooms.

 

We went back to the ship. Had pizza for lunch and had a swim. Time went by and it was time for dinner. I had Soup, Snails and Salmon for dinner. After a magnificent Apple desert, we went to a comedy show. It was hilarious. He would do a disappearing cracker trick, cracker in hand, secretly changed hands, say “Sprinkle Magic Dust (cracker) and the Cracker was gone. He was making fun of magicians.

 

 

June 11th Monday DUBROVNIK, CROATIA

 

Woke about 8. Had waffles for breakfast. We got off the boat and caught a taxi into the Old Town. When we got there we walked the walls around the city. The walls protect the city from enemies and the sea. It isn’t just museums and shops, people actually still live there. We learnt that the city was only bombed 15 years ago, and all the new roofs were tiled in Orange, and then ones that weren’t hit are still the older color. There weren’t many old roofs left.

 

After walking the walls we had lunch, pizza that was yummy and then had a quick look at the shops. We went to the beach with our new CC friends. We collected lots of sea glass. There was white ones, green ones, gold, and orange ones. Good fun. We caught a taxi back to the ship. For dinner I had Prawns, scallops, perch and salmon. The scallops were magnificent. Was followed by a chocolate crepe. After dinner we were invited to go to the balcony of some Cruise Critic friends, and we watched the sail away from Croatia and the sunset. Watched a boring show and then bed.

 

June 12, Tuesday DAY AT SEA

 

Woke at 9. Had toast and yoghurt and watched TV till 11. Played basketball with two other people and crucifying lost. Had pizza and got in and out of the pool, spa all afternoon. For dinner had French Onion soup and a very filling pasta with scallops and prawns. Did journal. It was a relaxing day.

 

 

 

June 13th Wednesday 2007 MESSINA/ TAORMINA, SICILY/ITALY

 

Woke at 6. Had frosty flakes for breakfast. We got off the ship and caught a bus full of Cruise Critics members. The port was Messina and the town we went to was Taormina, a nice little town. From the town we could see Mt. Etna, about 3km high. After half an hour it was covered in clouds. We saw the Greek theatre, it is still being used today, and they were setting up a movie screen for the film festival. After that we went shopping for a long time. We tried a Sicilian delicacy called Cannoli. It was a pasty tube filled with different flavored cream. Not to mention the plain and the icing sugar. We had chocolate, ricotta and vanilla. I ate a delicious vanilla cannoli and so did mum, Dad and Micah had chocolate.

 

We also had gelatos, mango and pineapple and it was probably the best gelato flavors yet. I think after a bit more shopping we went back to the bus. I slept for 45 mins of the 1 hour bus ride. Back on the ship we went for a 1 hour swim and then went to dinner. Egg Roll for starter, like a spring roll. Then vegetarian lasagna with spinach, I like spinach but there was tons of spinach and hardly any cheese. Apple pie for dessert. We went up onto our friends balcony as we passed Stromboli. We didn’t see much action. As we were leaving we saw some puffs of reds in the smoke it was an awesome sight. . I couldn’t believe people actually live so close to it. Went back to the room and I did my journal, watched TV and then bed.

 

June 14th Thursday 2007 DAY AT SEA

 

Woke at 9. Mum had a galley tour and Micah had rehearsals for a talent show. So Dad and I had Eggs Benedict (eggs and bacon on a muffin). Played mini-golf with Dad and Mum, scores were:_

Game 1 Me - 24 Mum – 26 Dad – 24

Game 2 Me – 20 Mum – 20 Dad – 20

Second game we played off, and Mum got a hole in one and she won.

 

Dad and I played basketball, I did heaps better this time but the basketball went straight into my thumb and bruised it badly. I couldn’t use my left hand without it hurting. Went into the pool and spa till 3:15. Went to the talent show to watch Micah, they was hoola hooping, singing and Micah did the chicken dance. Had ice-cream and went for dinner. Corn Soup, Chicken and ice-cream cake for desert. YUM. Watched another show and the finale was “oh when the Saints…Go marching in. Oh when the Saints …Go marching in…” That was interesting.

 

June 15th Friday 2007 BARCELONA, SPAIN

 

Got up at 7. Had frosty fruits and yoghurt. Got of the ship in Barcelona. We took a taxi to the Gaudi Sagrada Familia Temple, which was kind of weird. We then caught a train to Park Guell. This is the park Gaudi designed and is full of mosaics. Mosaics buildings and a very very very very long bench/ seat. We walked all around the park; it’s very different and went up to the very top of the park for a good view of Barcelona and the sea. We took the train back to the top of Las Rambles shopping strip. I brought myself a small mosaic of an elephant. In Las Rambles, they had live animals, my favorite were these really cute chipmunks, there was also lots of people statues like Edward Scissorhands and some other weird ones. I had a really nice coconut and toffee gelato. We went back to the ship early and went swimming as it was really hot. For dinner I had mushroom soup and tiger prawns, and an orange soufflé. We watched Phantom of the Opera on the big screen, then I did my journal and bed.

 

June 16th Saturday 2007 CANNES/ NICE/FRANCE

 

Woke early. Went off the ship in Cannes France. We had a really good guide and we did our tour with some people from cruise critics. Michel our guide told us tons of information. He said that Cannes was the 5th largest city in France. First we went to Monte Carlo. There were lots of expensive cars, like Ferraris and Mercedes. We saw the Casino and views over the harbor, with lots of amazing boats. We got back in the car and went to another place in Monaco. Michel gave us choices about what we could do and suggested that the Aquarium might be good for our family, it was amazing. There was a humungous tank with many types of fish, even a sea turtle, a massive ray and lots of sharks. Magnificent. We saw fish I had never seen before like floating things. There were lobsters, clownfish, camouflaging fish and sea horses. After that we went into the museum section where they had skeletons of fish, turtles, and whales. My favorite was the Sperm Whale. They also had old diving equipment and the first submarine.

 

The guide then drove us to Eze village. We walked to the very top of the village. The view was spectacularly brilliant. Sea on one side, nice pleasant half-forest, half garden on the other. It was a nice little village built on the top of a mountain. After that we went to the larger village of St.Paul. Lousier views but still nice. We then headed back to the ship… but the ship was gone. They told us before we left that they might have to move the ship to the other side of the island as the wind might make it too rough… They were right, it was a rickety rackety tender ride back to the ship. Got there at 7 and had buffet food tonight. We watched Pirate’s of the Caribbean 2 – Dead Men’s Chest.

 

 

June 17th Sunday 2007 FLORENCE/ ITALY

 

Today we had another guide who picked us up early. We went with the same other CC members. The guide didn’t give us as much information as yesterdays guide but he was very nice. Mum was sick and vomiting. We went to see the leaning tower of Pisa. It leans a little more than the old photo’s I have seen. We had a long drive into Florence, our first stop was at a Museum to see the statue of David that Michelangelo made, and it was really big. We also saw two copies of the David statue but Michelangelo’s was much better. In the car as we were driving one of the other kids taught us how to play Texas Holdem, like 2 card poker, we also played 3 – way Go Fish. We had a few boring stops and some shops, like the Duomo Church and Bell Tower and Ponte Bridge. We said goodbye to our new friends from Cruise Critic, because it was the last day of the cruise.

 

June 19th, Tuesday 2007 MT VESUVIUS

 

We woke up nice and early and had a buffet breakfast, there was also free internet in the hotel. We caught a train to Ercolano station as today we climbed Mt. Vesuvius. When we arrived at the station we took a shuttle taxi up to the car park at the 1000mt mark and walked up to the crater. It was a big hike up, the path was covered in stones and dust. When we reached the top we saw inside the crater and man was it weird, it was so big and people on the far side looked like ants. Going down was very slippery on all the stones. It took us 1 ½ hours to reach the top and return. The taxi took us back down to the train station. We returned to Sorrento and walked around a bit, we had a gelato (kiwi) and walked down to the Port. Next to the Port is the beach, you have to pay to go in, we worked it out and it would have cost $60 au dollars just to go and have a swim. There was a free beach next to it, but it was very small and crowded. We went back to our Hotel and I went to check my emails on the computer.. Another nice dinner, journal and bed.

 

June 20th Wednesday 2007 CAPRI

 

Woke up and had another big breakfast. We caught the hotel’s shuttle to the Port and took a ferry across to the Island of Capri. From there we caught a bus up the scary road to Ana Capri. We wandered around the town and did some shopping, Mum brought some lemoncello, a special drink from Italy. Mum wanted to go and see the villa of San Michele, we eventually found it and looked inside the small house and then went into the gardens and explored. The villa was built on the side of the cliff and the views were really good. We saw some steps at the bottom and we decided to take the stairs back down to the harbor. The map said that there was only 500 stairs but I counted them and there were at least 900. We spent the rest of the day at the beach, I didn’t want to swim so I sat on the waters edge with my legs in and looked for sea glass. Back to Sorrento on the ferry, had orange and lemon gelato.

 

 

June 21st Thursday 2007 AMALFI COAST

We jumped in a bus and went down the magnificent Amalfi Coast. We stopped at Positano first. It was a town built on the side of the mountain, so steep at the top of the hill. We found steps from the road all the way down the hill, through a small town and onto the beach. The beach here was different to the other beaches in that the small stones were all black, it looked like a car park. We walked back up the hill to the bus stop and took the bus to Amalfi town. We had an awesome meal of pizza and calzone, they added a 6E cover charge to the bill, we didn’t know that because it was all in Italian “coperto = $1.50” but they don’t tell you that. We went down to the Amalfi beach, and Micah and I splashed each other. I got tons of rocks in my shorts. Back to the bus for the long ride back up the Amalfi Coast road to Sorrento

[JanfrWA]

Tania,

 

Your son did a great job!! I must also say that he used several big words that I would not have thought of! Hopefully he gets a high grade!

 

We enjoyed watching the sights go by with everyone on the aft of the ship! Hopefully our travel paths will cross again someday.

 

Thanks for sharing ~ it was interesting to hear his take on the cruise! A few times he made me laugh out loud!

 

Janet

[alinehu]

Hi Tania!!

Tell your son that he did an excellent job and that I love it!! I was impressed on what your son eats mine are very picky eaters. Thats very good!! what your son wrote makes us feel good about the kind of education we are giving our kids travelling .AHHH !Anyway it was a pleasure meeting your family . Him mentioning us from cruise critic makes me remember all the times that we meet with you, at the wall in Dubrovnik , at the line for bathroom in the greek theatre, at the halls, etc. Your family always had a smile and a Hola! for my family.This cruise critic is a great thing, bringing us together, in 30 cruises, this is the first time that I had this great experience and I love it. You did many things with your new friends and I would have done the same if I didnt have my own group and all things already planned . What a blessing!