...and took the elevator to Deck 10, Lido for lunch. Lunch was delicious, as usual.
Afterward, we went to our cabin, 7201. A few minutes later, our luggage was delivered so we unpacked.
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Next, we headed for the Spotlight Lounge at the rear of the ship for our Cruisecritic Cocktail Party. I paid Annette for our Rome tour and Lori for our Taormina tour. Then I circled the room taking pictures of everyone and meeting the people that I hadn’t already met – Lisa, Kathy, Debby, Lori, Rick, Patti, Becky, Duane and his friends, and many others.
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Before we headed off to dinner, we went out on the bow and took pictures. We found CC's, George and Linda, Doug and Lois, and Traci and John out there. Of course, I wasn’t surprised since I already knew that they were in cabins 7202, 7203, and 7204.
I was surprised to see that, although our cabin was in the bow of the ship, we had been assigned to table in the Southern Lights dining room in the stern of the ship. We decided to make the best of it for the first night and eat there but to request a change to the closer dining room. We had no problem changing our table since most people seem to prefer late dining.
After dinner, we went to the Hat Trick Casino, set up our accounts, and lost a small amount of money in the slot machines.
Before bed, I ordered room service for 7 AM the next morning – just fruit, croissants, coffee and juice. We wound up doing this almost every day on this cruise. It took the place of a wake up call and saved us the trip to the dining room or Lido Deck.
October 8, 2011 - Monaco
It seemed strange to be in port on the first full day of a cruise. There was no sea day to ease us into cruise mode. But, since I cruise for the ports, I got right out on the bow after my shower and started taking pictures of Monaco while Frank dressed. Monaco consists of three levels – the marina level, the lower corniche and the upper corniche.
We walked off the ship and out past the port area where we came upon a trolley train. It seemed like a good way to get up to the Palace, Princess Grace’s cathedral, and garden, and it was.
We took pictures in the garden, saw the changing of the guards at the Palace, and went to the Cathedral about ½ hour before it was to open at 1 PM. Sadly, it did not open at one. A tour guide told me that the priests were on strike and then she said, “Just kidding!”. Happily, we met a really nice couple, Durinda and Sammy, from South Carolina and chatted for almost an hour. And then, at two, the cathedral opened. Dorinda and I checked out everything in this gorgeous cathedral while Frank and Sammy continued their conversation. Afterwards, we made our way back on foot using elevators, escalators, and paths along the sea walls.
I don’t remember what we did after we got back onboard but I’m sure that eating was part of it. That night, we went to the Southern Lights dining room and met our new tablemates, Joan and Linda, two retired nurses from Canada. They also changed their table because they were given late dining and wanted early dining. They were great to talk with. After dinner, we made our donation in the Hat Trick Casino and then went back to the cabin.
October 9, 2011 - Livorno
On Sunday, I went to Pisa and Lucca with Joyce – Frank decided to stay on the ship. It was a sunny day with temperatures of about 65 in the morning and 78 in the afternoon. After we met in the atrium lobby at 7:30 AM, we took the Carnival shuttle bus (5 Euro each, roundtrip) to Livorno where we boarded the #1 public bus to the train station. We were prepared to pay but no one asked us for money. At the train station we took the train to the Pisa Centrale station. We just missed the 9:50 AM connection to Lucca and another the next train was at 12:50 so we walked a little less than a mile to the Miracle Square where the Tower is located. It was a pleasant walk across the Arne River and past stores and little cafes. The WC is located past the tower and basilica and it costs .3 Euros to use it. After taking a few pictures and buying some souvenirs, we headed back to the train station. There are three places to buy food there including a McDonalds. We opted for pastries and cappuccinos. My cappuccino was the best I have ever tasted, probably because of the chocolate sprinkles on top.
After finishing, we got onboard the train to Lucca. We met a nice couple from Atlanta who were cruising on the Crystal Serenity on the train. We wanted to take the 2:42 PM train back to Pisa so we didn’t have much time to spend in Lucca. The stores and sights were ¼ to ½ mile away from the station. The scenery was lovely. We passed a bride and groom who were having there wedding pictures taken so I took a few too. We saw the tower and a large church and went into a few shops. We loved the shop with the Venetian masks and bought souvenirs at the family-owned ceramic shop. After that, we realized that we’d have to hustle to get back for the train. We boogied. However, needless to say, we missed it – just by one minute. Since the next train was at 3:42, we crossed the street to a café across from the piazza and had a café American and a delicious nutella-filled doughnut. Life was / is good!
We took the 3:42 PM train to Pisa and switched to the train to Livorno. Then we hurried to the bus stop in front of the station to catch the #1 bus back to Piazza. There were a million other cruisers also waiting for the bus but Joyce and I managed to get on. After we got to Piazza Grande, we walked to the shuttle stop and found several shuttle buses waiting for us so we boarded and got back to the ship right away. It was 5:30 PM. The cut off for boarding was 6:30 so missing the two trains didn’t hurt us.
I was tired from my day of adventure so Frank and I had dinner at the buffet on Lido deck and then went back to our cabin to watch Secretariat.
October 10, 2011 – Civitavecchia
Monday was the day for Tour #1 (Rome). We met Annette and the rest of our group of 29 at 8 AM off the ship. It was about 55 degrees outside. We had to wait our turn for a shuttle bus that took us about ½ mile to the area outside the port where our guide, Giulia, and our Rome-in-Limo bus were waiting.
Giulia was very friendly and very animated. We enjoyed her company. The ride to Rome took almost 1½ hours. Shortly after we got inside the city, we came to the Colosseum. The driver parked the bus and we walked a block or two to the Colosseum. Guilia gave us radios and earplugs but it was a little hard to understand what she was saying. We climbed a lot of stairs to get to the walkway around the Colosseum and took a lot of pictures. Guilia told us that the stone walls were covered with beautiful marble but it had all been stripped away many centuries ago to be used on other projects. Originally, there was metal in the stone walls but that had been removed as well leaving holes in the walls.
After we left the Colosseum, we went to Fontana di Trevi. While we were there, we also entered an Eastern European church. Then we walked to the Pantheon. The inside of the Pantheon was beautiful. It was circular inside. As in most of the churches, there were altars all the way around. When we came out, we went for lunch. We went into the closest restaurant that we could find and I had delicious eggplant parmegian with bruschetta and Frank had minestrone soup. After lunch, we met Giulia in front of the Pantheon. She had a surprise for us – to save us some walking she sent us to the Vatican in a taxi. We waited for her and the rest of the group in the Café Vaticana where we had café American.
The Vatican – It was full of treasures from the Renaissance and earlier eras but it was so crowded, especially in the Sistine Chapel. I’ll let the pictures I took in the Vatican speak for themselves.
We arrived back on the ship around 7:30, grabbed a bite in the Lido Marketplace and headed to bed.
October 11, 2011 – Naples
Tuesday was a day of rest for Frank. He stayed in bed the whole day. After eating the breakfast from room service, I got books from the library, plopped on one of the shaded, circular, Serenity beds and read for much of the morning.
In the afternoon, I walked across the street to the Piazza Municipio and did some window shopping.
After returning, I had dinner in the Lido Marketplace and ordered dinner for Frank from room service.
October 12, 2011 – Messina
On Wednesday, we went on our prearranged trip to Taormina on this day. Lori had organized it and we had 35 people onboard a large, comfortably equipped bus. After leaving Messina, we got on the AutoStrada (super highway) for a few miles. We got off in ? and drove along the sea until we saw signs for Sorveca. Then we drove up, up, up, on narrow streets, making many hair-pin turns. We bought granite and pastry in Sorveca and then we walked further up the mountain to the church where ? married ? in The Godfather.
After leaving Sorveca, we drove to Forto d’Agro. This was also way up in the mountains. We went inside the church there and then I sat with Joyce, Maryann, and her sister at an umbrella table next to a fountain and enjoyed cappaccino.
The next stop was Taormina. It’s one of those towns for the rich and famous that also has a bunch of tourists mixed in. There are plenty of expensive jewelry, clothing, and art shops and lots of restaurant. Joyce and I had lunch at a biergarten for arencini, a traditional Siciliani dish, and stopped for gelato as well. After being there 2 hours, we met our tour guide. She took us to the Roman theatre ruins, and two churches. We had all opted to not pay extra to see the Greek theatre ruins, which is one of the big draws there because we were so tired.
We took the Autostrada back to the ship and boarded around 4:30 and had time for a soak in a hot tub on the Serenity deck.
October 13, 2011 – Sea Day
Thursday was a typical sea day – a little Lido, a little shopping (a Pandora bracelet), and a little slots.
Frank and I dressed for Elegant Night in the dining room. I wore a new black dress, my sheer black jacket and lots of pearls. Frank wore his new sports coat and dress pants.
The highlight of this day was the evening’s entertainment. After having dinner (lobster for me, Prime rib for Frank) with our tablemates, Joan and Linda, and their friend, Elizabeth, we went to the Showcase theatre for the Samantha Jay concert. She was fabulous. She played classical, light classical, and Andrew Lloyd Weber music on the violin, alto sax, oboe, and ? with the Magic stage band backing her up. We sat with Gary and Sandi and enjoyed their company too.
October 14, 2011 – Palma de Mallorca
What a beautiful island! I want to come back her for at least a week – to see the yachts in the marinas, the beautiful hotels and restaurants, “old city” artifacts and buildings, and beautiful beaches.
We took the shuttle bus to Passeig Maritim and walked to the garden outside of the Cathedral. Frank relaxed in the garden while I climbed about 40 steps to the entrance of the Cathedral Museum. The climbing and 4 Euros entrance fee were worth it. It was the most magnificent cathedral that I have ever seen. My pictures don’t do it justice. I’ll just have to make another visit. The cathedral grounds cover a large area and the museum gift shop exit is at the other side from the garden. I found my way back to Frank okay though. We had café American and soda at the Café Mokka across the street from the Cathedral. Then we took the shuttle bus back to the ship.
I went to the Serenity deck and enjoyed the hot tub again until 3:50. Then we went to the Past Guests’ party and met up with Beryl and Bob. Afterwards, we went to Cucina del Capitan. We sat with Becky and Patti, Joyce, Annette, Joy, Maryann, and Maryann’s sister. Our group also included Lori, Rick, Traci, John, Regina, and Bonnie. Frank had delicious short ribs. I yummed up the calamari, tomato and mozzarella, and cannoli but I thought the Chicken Parmegiana was only so-so. A hint for future Carnival Med cruisers: Everyone who ordered the tiramisu raved about it and one of our tablemates said that the apple dessert she ordered was the best she had on the ship.
October 15, 2011 – Marseilles
It’s 10:20 AM on Saturday and we haven’t decided if or when we’ll leave the ship today. The seas were extremely rough last night and Frank didn’t sleep well. I’ve been up since 7:00 AM. After showering, I took pictures, ate breakfast up on Lido, picked up a USA Today newsletter on deck 5, chatted with Susan and Colby and Betty and Dick, returned my library books, and brought coffee to Frank.
Frank decided to stay onboard so, after promising to be back by 3:30 PM, I left him in the cabin and went out to take the shuttle bus to the old town. The shuttle bus ride took about 25-30 minutes and ended on the Quay du Port. I walked on the marina side of the street past many flower vender stalls and then I came upon the Trolley Train. This train takes two routes – old town shopping and Notre Dame de Garre. Luckily, the Notre Dame train was filling up. I bought a ticket and hopped on. The sights along the route were interesting. However, there was a loud group behind me who talked and yelled the whole way to the cathedral. Although the trip to the cathedral was less than optimal, the cathedral and its grounds were wonderful. The whole of Marseilles was laid out before us. It was marvelous for taking panorama shots. And, Notre Dame was worth the climb to the entrance. After immersing myself in this place for awhile and visiting the gift shop, I returned to the parking area and got in a long line of people who were waiting for the trolley train. A trolley train arrives every 10 minutes so the line moves fairly quickly. However, it was annoying to see a couple with 4 grown children cut into the line in front of a Japanese couple who didn’t protest about 10 people in front of me. I was lucky to get a seat on the next trolley but the family of six didn’t fare as well. I heard them protesting that the people behind them just pushed in front of them and took the remaining seats on the trolley. Karma!
I got on the shuttle bus after I got off the trolley and was back on the ship by 2 PM. I knew to look for Frank in the Lido Marketplace when I found an empty cabin. I had a great pork relleno and cheese potatoes for my lunch.
I had a lesser case of pre-partem blues on the last day of this cruise than the other ones – probably because it was such a busy day. I set out my clothes and a few toiletries that I needed for the next morning and packed my suitcase around 4 PM and we headed to the Spotlight Lounge one final time to meet our Cruisecritic friends at the Farewell Party. We expected to be the only ones there but there were many others. Not to fear though; there were plenty of free drinks for all and lots of good company. Almost everybody came. Sandi was missing because she caught Gary’s cold but we got to say goodbye to her later on Promenade. They still had another cruise, a transatlantic one, in front of them on the Ruby Princess leaving from Venice. Libby and Jack were also going on that one. Our new Australian friends, Bob and Beryl, still had four more weeks of vacation left. Annette and Joy were staying overnight in London, and others were staying in Barcelona for a few days. Lucky people! But I can’t complain.
We left the party at 6 PM so we could have one last dinner in the Southern Lights dining room with Joan and Linda. As usual, the food was delicious and my only regret was that I didn’t have an aluminum box to put our prime rib leftovers in so we could bring them back to Kizzy.
After dinner, we returned to our cabin and finished packing. Since we had two stuffed 24” bags, we put them outside our door so we didn’t have to push them off the ship ourselves. Next, we watched the broadcast of the ship’s version of the Newlywed game and then we went to bed.
October 16, 2011 – Home
We got up at 5:30 AM this morning and were ready to leave the cabin at 6. We hugged Joseph goodbye and gave him an additional 13 Euros for his excellent work and because we liked him so much. We were off the ship in no time. This was the easiest disembarkation ever. There was plenty of Carnival staff to direct us to our luggage. We got the bags and pushed them outside the terminal building. We were supposed to meet Robin and Mark for a shared ride to the airport at 7 AM. Since we were early, they weren’t there yet but showed up about 10 minutes later. The taxi ride was fast and uneventful and both of our airlines were in the same terminal at the airport.
