She Sails Away

Port stops: We stopped in Palma de Mallorca, Marseilles France, Florence, and Rome, and Naples. Palma: We walked around on our own and immediately discovered their cathedral. Took lots of photos, admired the views, shopped the shops, and wandered the part of town behind the cathedral that felt very old-world. (Even with a Starbucks in the middle.) Lots of horsedrawn carriage rides available, bakeries, cafes, gelato, souvenirs. We had a fun day and came back to the ship after a few hours. Marseilles: We wandered on our own again--lots and lots of walking with that day. We toured the striped cathedral (incredible!) and then walked and walked the waterfront. It was hot and we discovered (to no one's surprise) that public restrooms were few and far between. We had to walk to a mall and produce a euro coin to get into the restroom there. Some gelato and french pastries, lunch on the water, and then back to the ship. Florence: We booked an all-day tour through the ship to go to Florence. What a great day. Long bus ride--almost two hours. We stopped halfway at a gas station for a restroom break and my son grabbed us two Red Bulls to keep us going, because we were dragging. Florence was spectacular--no other way to put it. Jammed as jammed could be with fellow tourists, but we expected that. We had booked the tour that took us to the art museum where The David is, then lunch, then a walking tour of the city. Even though we had tickets with a timed reservation, the guide warned us that we'd wait a long time and be in a mob, and we were. Of course it was worth the mob to see The David---just breathtaking. The rest of the art in the museum was spectacular, as well. We were at the museum an hour or more, then the guide led us around town and explained to us what we were looking at. The Duomo is beyond description, and pictures don't come close. The city was bustling and fascinating and swimming in sculptures and old world ambience and architecture. Lunch was at a cafe, we were served spaghetti, bread, and biscotti. There was also wine for those who wanted it. Honestly, I found the food to be sorely lacking, and I am not a foodie in the least. But it served the purpose. After lunch, we continued our walking tour, taking in the bridge, more buildings, more of everything. We were given almost an hour on our own. We were encouraged to go into a specific leather store and see a demo and of course, buy stuff. We skipped that and got gelato by Neptune's Fountain, shopped around, and took more pictures. We returned to the bus just as it started to rain. We made the restroom stop halfway back, then returned to the ship about seven pm. Our guide was just amazing and did such a good job keeping the group together (we had a couple of stragglers) and keeping us informed. But it was hours of being on your feet, so keep that in mind. Rome: We did another all-day tour (10+ hours) through the ship. It was called something like "The Eternal City, Small group tour." And it was definitely the highlight of our trip. We made the two hour bus ride into Rome (bathroom break forty minutes into the trip). We went straight to Vatican City and began an hours-long walking tour of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and the Basilica of St. Peter church. IN-CREDIBLE. Just life-changing, really. So many things to see in that church. To sum up as quickly as possible our morning: We walked through the Vatican Museum for almost an hour. And I do mean that we walked. There was no lingering, no stopping to read anything or take pictures--you walked along steadily and that was that. The place was shoulder to shoulder the entire time and we had to stay close to our guide so as not to get lost among the hundreds of other people and tour groups. Our guide carried a small pole with a red ribbon on it… Along with half of the other guides in the building. So it was easy to lose sight of her. We did have ear pieces and she kept us informed of what we were looking at the whole time. This was priceless, as otherwise, the morning would have been a senseless blur of paintings and tapestries. This part took about an hour. As we approached the Sistine Chapel, our guide warned us NOT to lose her. And not to go out a wrong exit or wander off, she'd never find us. She stressed to us to stay close. So we get pushed into the Sistine Chapel and it was like a can of moving sardines in there. I mean---way more than shoulder to shoulder--we were JAMMED into a mass of bodies all moving at different speeds, with security waving us along and telling us not to stop walking. if you are claustrophobic, this is not the tour for you. It was most definitely a crush. I turned my head to look back at the painting on one wall, got a quick glimpse, and turned back----and my entire group was GONE. I panicked, searched everywhere--couldn't find them. My son had been beside me, he was gone. I tried to stop and look around, backtrack, but security all but shouted at me to keep walking. I was shoved out of the chapel within minutes, searching for my group, and I have to say, I never got one single good look at the painting on the ceiling. Outside the chapel, I waited and waited for my group to pass. I texted my son. He didn't answer. No one came. I started walking, but the hallway led to an exit to the outdoors. I saw sunlight and stopped. I finally just leaned against a wall and waited and eventually my son texted and told me to stay there, and after a while, my tour group came by and I joined them. Whew. But I was more than sad that I missed the chapel so badly. Lesson learned. Hang onto your people physically, walk slowly as possible ,and look and look. You can't take pictures, but you can look much more than I did, I'm sure! Outside, we looked around the courtyard, then went into St Peters. For those of you who care about things like bathroom breaks, let me just mention were going on three hours now with no bathroom break available. And we'd been on our feet that whole time, too, so keep that in mind. If you have trouble walking or find standing painful, this is NOT the particular tour for you. In fact, they made it clear in the description that this was not accessible and that we'd be walking "three miles" in total. We toured the church---just astounding. So overwhelming. Opulent, historic, massive, humbling and inspiring. So great. Then we hit the 'official' Vatican gift shop, where everything--even shot glasses and T-shirts--had been blessed. Then it was on to a nearby cafe for our lunch. (And restroom.) We ate outside at tables for two or four, and it was lovely. Some musicians came and played for us---all American songs, ironically, but on an accordion, so that was just lovely. They played Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I did it My Way, and songs like that. They came around with a cup afterwards, asking for donations. We were also approached several times as we ate by people begging for money--I mean that literally, and by people selling things. The food was terrific--wonderful baked ziti, a salad, turkey with gravy, wine was available, and we had tiramisu for dessert. I am attaching pictures but I am just now discovering these are not normal jpegs, and I have no idea what's wrong with them, so I apologize. ETA: I found some jpegs on my phone, so I'm adding those. But I don't understand this HEIC thing and I'm worried the majority of my photos are messed up. Because I am finding only some of my photos, they're all out of order and jumbled. Sorry! To be continued.

Food: Windjammer was as expected...hit or miss. Tons of variety, food mostly just so-so, but lots of it. Crowds were as expected---thick on excursion mornings, scattered other times. They did have very long hours depending on what we were doing in port, so that was helpful. Food in Main Dining was terrific. I have heard so much bad stuff I was prepared for something awful. But we found the food to be great, hot, creative, satisfying, and just right. Service was outstanding. Izumi: My son ate there and LOVED it. 150 Central Park. We ate here for the first time--pricey, but special. Heavy on the ambience and service....a bit slight on menu selection, but if you drink, wow. TONS of choices there. I had the "cauliflower steak," which turned out to be an entire head of cauliflower...and the host was actually disappointed I didn't eat the entire thing. (Who can eat a whole head of cauliflower, I wonder?) Here's the thing--it really tasted like steak. They had it roasted with different oils and spices, it came with a cream sauce and cranberries--a lot of stuff going on that added up to "Wow, this is way better than I thought it would be." My son had some really rare steak, we had appetizers, he had the fried cheesecake and I had a hazelnut thing---all of it was SUPER. The host did apply pressure to us to be sure and give them a good review--not a big deal, just something I am sharing here. Sugar Beach--I bought a bag of chocolate covered pretzels here and immediately threw them away. They had been there a WHILE. A LONG while. It was like leather. My son tried one and agreed. Ick. Cafe Promenade had all the usual yummy snacks. We also hit the juice bar in the spa several times and had juices and Starbucks. Great stuff. Food at Playmakers (Poke nachos) was super....we had the Campfire Cookie twice! food 8 pmakers.HEIC food 9 Pmakers.HEIC food 11 france.HEIC

as far as entertainment: We saw two separate ice skating shows: "1977, a thrilling adventure on ice." And later in the week, "iskate 2.0." Both shows were wonderful--incredible, so fun. The "1977" show opened with some drones coming out in the dark, unlit, over the ice...and then the show started when music exploded and the drones came on and swam around in pinks and yellows to "miles and miles." So good. The skating was fun and lively, and the "I-skate 2.0" was every bit as fun. For theater shows, they had "Hairspray" and "Flight...dare to dream." Both were WONDERFUL. I had never seen either and for some reason, didn't think I'd like Hairspray. I loved it! I wish we had gone twice! Both shows were just as good as you could ask for, with really great colorful sets and costumes and such high-energy and talented cast. I won't spoil the end of "Flight," But sit in the middle of the audience and have your camera ready. (And I'm not referring to the photo I shared.) Aqua Theater: Two shows shown MULTIPLE times all week. Plus, if you happened to be wandering Boardwalk at the right time, you could catch the cast rehearsing for a new show. We saw HIRO, which was very energetic and inspiring and awesome. Then we saw a whole other show, which I don't remember the title of. And it's not listed in the sheet of paper I brought home, listing all of the shows. But it was a full blown show and it was great fun. Both of them included a 'flying woman,' a young woman who puts on a really tight waist harness and then goes flying all over the place on a series of cables, over the audience and pool. Wow. Other stuff: Comedians! There were two...Gary Cauette and Dylan Mandisohn. I didn't go to either, and heard that one was funny, one was not. They had the Love and Marriage game show on our last night there, and they had a magician who performed two different nights. Wonderful! Hairspray 2.MOV AQ TH flying woman.MOV abyss 4.HEIC abyss night.HEIC

First of all, thoughts on Symphony: She was fabulous! What's not to love? Absolutely gorgeous. Boarding day was perhaps the smoothest I've ever seen....we got out of the cab and never stopped walking (hardly) until we were on the ship at eleven am. Easy-peasy. The ship is shiny and still looks brand new. Soooo much space. It was a full sailing--I didn't get the numbers, but it felt full, for what that's worth. A big mix of international crowds--I heard lots of Italian, French, and German on board, and spoke to several folks from Ireland and Scotland. Plenty of Americans, as well. Lots of families aboard. We left Barcelona very late. The captain eventually announced that they had a medical emergency and were waiting on an ambulance, which was expected in about twenty minutes. I was wondering why on earth an ambulance would take twenty minutes to get there, when the "alpha" call went out from the pool deck for another emergency. My son was walking by when that one happened and said someone had fainted. But they seemed okay when they came to, and were sitting up and getting medical help. In any case, it was about three hours later before we actually left. I hope everyone was okay. So here are some general thoughts on the ship: Pool deck--spotless. Crowded, of course....forget wandering into the solarium and finding two chairs together. Those things get claimed earrrrrly in the morning. ALL of the hot tubs stay full, naturally. But still....plenty of lounge chairs and nice places to hang out for everyone. You need a reservation to have any meal at all at Solarium bistro. I went into my app within minutes of boarding and they were all gone. Oh well. I checked a few times during the week and nothing opened up. I was given the opportunity ahead of cruise to make show reservations and a reservation for the Rubicon/escape room, so I did all that before we boarded. My cabin was a boardwalk balcony, deck 8. I was near the aft with a view of the Aqua theater (and Abyss.) That was fun. It was fun to see the Johnny Rockets waiters do their dancing, see the silent disco party one night, and hear the thundering music from the Aqua show several times during the week. The boardwalk was lively and hopping, but never overrun. We walked up to Playmakers twice to eat and had no trouble getting a table. Dazzles is beautiful, they have a lovely card room on deck 14, and overall, everything is just so PRETTY. The promenade stayed busy all week. The Rubicon escape room was fun-but hard! Get a good group and really work at it. That hour flew by and we did not solve it.

Hi, all! Just back from a three-week long adventure---a two week Transatlantic (other cruise line), followed immediately with a week on Symphony. My dates were May 21-May 28. I met my son in Barcelona, we did a little sightseeing and spent the night there, and then boarded Symphony the next day. It was a fabulous cruise and I thought I'd share a few tips, insights, photos, for those going on this cruise in the future. Side note, on my Transatlantic, I picked up what I think was norovirus. YIKES. I was SO SICK. Good grief. Fortunately, I was on the mend when we reached Symphony, but I barely ate the first few days. So here we go on my recap:

I know it's subjective, but I have to say my room attendant looked absolutely defeated and exhausted every single time I saw him. My son had a different cabin on a different floor and his room steward looked the same way. Excellent service from both of them, though. Really exceptional. Definitely felt for them. They were never not there.

Just got off Symphony in Barcelona, we had once a day service which I was informed of, but I was not asked which one I preferred. (And that didn't bother me, I'm just sharing that information.) If given the choice I much prefer morning. I shower at night and go through the towels and washcloths, obviously I sleep in the bed, I tend to bring empty water bottles and trash back to the room with me and stuff my trash cans. It's nice to go to breakfast and come back and the trash cans are empty and I have fresh towels and the bed is made and I'm good for the rest of the day. As it turns out, we did have morning service most days, (all of us on the hall,) although there were 2 days when we all had evening service. I did get two towel animals during the week. No paper compass.

We found there to be a huge mix, much more so than usual Caribbean trips, of international passengers. Lots of French spoken, lots of Italian, I heard quite a bit of German as well. There were tons and tons of teenagers and kids on the ship and everybody seem to be having a blast. Didn't find language barriers in the least. People were friendly and/or kept to themselves. Everybody got into the spirit of dressing up in white for white night, formal night, there were a couple of community dance parties in the promenade and they were packed with happy people getting along just fine. Adventure ocean always had kids scurrying in and out the entryway whenever we passed. as far as shore excursions, there were several options for Italian speaking only, Spanish-speaking only, etc.

On symphony 2 weeks ago we left Barcelona hours late because of two medical emergencies in a row. Neither one were severe, thankfully.

Happily following along! I just did this cruise last week and got home on Sunday. Looking forward to revisiting all of those amazing places right along with you.

Odyssey is a gorgeous ship in her own right, with plenty to love. However, I did find the entertainment to be quite disappointing. I don't remember liking any of the shows and I'm not especially demanding in that way. So if entertainment is important to you, that's just my two cents.

Just got off symphony in Barcelona last week on a Sunday, taxis were waiting and I made it to the airport in under 40 minutes, from the time I left the cabin to the time I walked into the airport. Check-in was fairly quick and I was at my gate within 30 minutes. I had an 1130 flight and even with stopping to buy snacks, I was at my gate by 915. Obviously, I did self-assessed luggage and just walked off the ship as soon as possible, which was about 730. on a sidenote, a baggage handler strike started that day, I believe. Our flight was delayed three hours because there was no one to unload the plane from the previous flight.

So glad you're okay!

Although I'm always sad to see disembarkation day come, once it's here I want off the minute the ship is open. I am ready to get home and usually anxious to get straight to the airport and catch the earliest flight possible. I also would not enjoy having to wait until after 1 o'clock to get on the ship on that first day. That's half your very first vacation day wasted.

Thank you for the adventure and the photos! Can't wait to go in a few weeks!

Those photos are incredible!

It sounds like it's already pretty warm out there?

Let's see that pedicure!

Oh how terrible

Love this. I will be doing this cruise in three weeks! Thank you for the info on everything! Following right along!

You look adorable in everything you've shared here; surely the shorts set will be a success! Good for you for cleaning out your closet--it's a great feeling to do that right before vacation. (And right after Christmas.)

I'm headed to Miami in two weeks. Yikes.

What a happy family!! Love that. Looking forward to hearing all about Star Class! I love Allure!

My goodness---that was some trip to the airport! YIKES. Thanks for bringing us along! So fun. Great pictures! I'm already looking forward to your Wonder blog next year. I've never been on that one. I forgot about that Once Upon A Time show.....I couldn't stand it. I left. I think somewhere around Rapunzel, too! You make this Casino thing sound so easy. When I tried all that on Enchantment, (first time in a Casino) I was overwhelmed!

Such wonderful pictures. I feel like I'm there! And holy cow… That is a long time to be on hold. But what a score! Which ship will that be on? very creative on the sangria.