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Hello from Dubrovnik, Croatia! Our ship arrived promptly at 8am and we were so excited we headed right off the ship at 8. Because we had an overnight in this port we decided against doing a shore excursion and planned our own day. The ship docks around 15 minutes away from the old town and Celebrity offered a shuttle bus for $15 PP. I heard last summer this was not charged so some people on the cruise were upset about that. We opted for uber as it was ~7€ each way and we could be on our own time. Once we got to the old city we entered through the Pile Gate and purchased the Dubrovnik pass for 35€ each to walk the walls. I recommend doing this as your first activity as it gets really busy and hot later in the day. It took us around 2 hours to walk the entire thing including a stop for a cappuccino, some shopping, and a second stop for a mimosa. The cafes that line the wall are stunning For those wondering how difficult the wall walk is, i would say its a moderate effort. There are very steep stairs to get up to the wall and to get down. Once you are on the wall itself the walk is fairly easy. The stairs to the fort are very steep and difficult. Once we finished walking the walls we enjoyed a stroll in the old town and stopped at D’vino wine bar for a glass of local wine. We then walked over to the cable car station to head up to the top. I believe the tickets were around 30€ each round trip. The trip itself is expensive but we had a reservation to visit the Panorama restaurant for lunch at the top of the cable car. The views are unreal from here. If you do want to have a meal at the top make sure you make a reservation well in advance. We headed back down the cable car after lunch and got some gelato while we waited for our next activity, a 4 hour private boat tour booked through Rewind Dubrovnik. The boat picked us up in the old town and cost 470€ for 2 people for four hours. We decided to go to the blue grotto and then enjoy some free time at the neighboring Elephiti islands. The water was freezing so I didn’t get in but my husband swam for around 30 minutes while I enjoyed some wine on the boat that was included in our tour. We then traveled to the island of Lopud. We walked around for about an hour visiting the local church, walked along the beach, and then enjoyed some cake at a local restaurant our skipper recommended. After our visit to Lopud we got a 360 view of the island of Sipan before heading back to the Old Town. I highly recommend seeing Dubrovnik from land and sea views After our tour we changed out of our swim suits into some dinner clothes and headed to Nautika Restaurant. When we have an overnight in a port stop I love to enjoy a nice dinner off the ship. I think this is a great way to experience some of the nightlife and culture of the city that you can’t do when you leave a port earlier in the day. Nautika is situated right on the sea with majestic views of the walls and the fort. We were seated right on the terrace with views of the sea. We opted to do the 5 course tasting menu as the price was only a little bit more than what we were already planning to order. It was definitely a splurge but a very special meal that we will always remember. We got back to the ship around 9pm and went straight back to our room to rest up for Day 2 in Dubrovnik!

Unless directly involved it would be a difficult legal argument to involve family in any punishment for choices made by one adult. If a person drives a car drunk and injures someone else, would you punish the family? If so, why stop with family? It's more likely friends or in some cases neighbors that live on the same street have a better insight into an individual's mental state and substance abuse patterns. Would you punish a neighbor who has insight or knowledge that a person has driven drunk before? What about illicit drug use? Of course not. Punishing the individual who survives with a ban is appropriate if for no other reason than to make sure there is not another attempt on a company vessel. Unless there is evidence that other people were involved with the poor choices made they limit the response to the person who made the poor choice, assuming they survive.

train : 1h/1h20 from roma (4.60€ pp) taxi : 125€

You will see an email that looks similar to this if its offered.

Personally I like Marcella Royal Hotel. It’s below Villa Borghese garden in a quiet area. Has a rooftop breakfast overlooking the city, which turns into a piano bar at night. Most people don’t book it because it’s an extra 15 minute walk to the city center.

I was away from here for 7+ days and have now caught up. Happy belated birthday! I'm sorry so many shenanigans had to happen while you were both on ship and traveling. I always love happy photos of your brother eating. I think of the classes of ships, I have a particular penchant for Freedom class ships too - they kind of fit that happy medium between small ships and gargantuan ones. Thanks for blogging!

Ok…I really REALLY need to stop placing Amazon orders lol! They are still getting here before we leave, but I do need to pack. I swear I buy new travel shampoo containers every time I travel. Does my shower eat them the way the dryer eats socks? Tomorrow I will take some of my target gift cards and buy more sunscreen, aloe and anything else I just have to have! Gotta remember to buy dog food too…but no treats! My dogs are getting plenty of extra calories with all the cicadas they are eating Jane

I can’t wait to see utopia pics. We are done early because they are constructing like crazy (finally going to full-day kindergarten). This summer is very long, next summer will be very short! Jane

sketchy how?

WTF

Wait for it..... wait for it.... this is exact where my head went. Please, lord no! Not a neighbor with a Bluetooth speaker!

Strongly suggest living as the locals do and booking and Airbnb

Here’s the thing…they can definitely deliver the pie on the last night. That is no problem. Can they pack it for travel? Not sure. But it doesn’t hurt to ask. Can you take it off the ship? Well, it might not be allowed but we’ve all (well @OCSC Mike and I have at least lol) walked off with a ziploc bag or two of cruise food before lol. Personally what I would do is plan ahead. Pack a container (do not recommend ziploc bags for pie lol) that you know can hold a slice of pie. That way you are not depending on the ship to have that in supply. Then, ask the genie on the last evening to have the pie delivered to your room. Put it in your container and way you go!

For Costa maya a cheap cab will get you to the beach easily. For Cozumel paradise beach is pay for what you need.

We are staying at the Marriott Grand Flora. We also thought hard about H10 Palazzo Galla but picked the Marriott simply because we snagged a family room and that made more sense for us.

If you jump and survive, I'd guess that is pretty much an automatic ban, no matter the reason you jumped.

I’ve seen jumps in port result in a “lifetime cruise ban”.

I agree that the family should not be held accountable for the actions of an individual if the family is in no way involved. Unfortunately, most of these incidents seem to be triggered by depression, drunkenness, gambling, anger, or some other mental or physical health issue. Yes, every once in a while there is a foolish daredevil who suffers a fatal accident, but who can predict that occurrence in advance? Many cruisers also become ill on ships and have to be evacuated, which may delay a cruise, some have even died on board, other times cruise ships have to pick up passengers from ships in distress, also a delay situation. Yes, it is unfortunate to lose vacation time, but life is never 100% guaranteed. I have lost count of the many issues that have affected my vacations, but they all become part of the interesting memories. I

might as well put all my shopping to good use omg we could totally be a gang!!! (but like a ~respectful gang) cup clip club (gang)!!!!

He jumped from deck 11, it's a miracle he didn't got severe injuries.

Since we'd been there before, we purchased a Casita for that port day. Got it for well below $100.00. For your son, I highly recommend that shuttle to Ron Jon Cocoa Beach. Check the RC app or online to see what is included.

I am thinking about this sailing as well...NFL Wild Card Weekend on the Utopia sounds like a good time.

I am sad to report that I am unable to give my personal opinion on the comfortabity of the benches. My wife and I arrived about an hour before show time and were able to snag a particularly comfortable lounger right in the center of the theater. Highly recommended!

We just stayed at the Albergo Del Senato, after our Odyssey TA. It was a lovely hotel, great staff, excellent breakfast and a wonderful rooftop bar. It is adjacent to the Pantheon, and centrally located. We would stay there again, and hope to the next time we are in Rome. https://www.albergodelsenato.it/index.php Cant tell you if they have transfers to the port city, since we booked a private transfer.

This has been considered...but at the end of the day I need to be honest with myself...I'm a dude...that's too much like work