Jump to content

Europe Here We Come! Vision of the Seas July 29,2019: 12 day Mediterranean/Greek Isles


mom2mybugs

Recommended Posts

On 8/4/2019 at 10:52 PM, mom2mybugs said:

y then i had had waaaay too much wine anyway to really eat it.  Overall we really enjoyed it, and the sommelier picked excellent wine pairings.  Unfortunately the pacing was really weird... The wines were poured significantly before the food came... And the chef was very very uncomfortable talking to us.  Even though it was the same menu we'd had before, it was good to see the different pairings and the subtle flavor differences.  Jane

I love the chef table , but I found out 30 to 50 % of the experience is which group you are sharing the table with , it can make all the difference . First time we went to the chef table there were a very nice group of people and time just passed very fast. Second time it was another nice group but they did not spoke English so it was different 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Sweety said:

I finally went through the entire live blog. First, Happy Anniversary. Thank you for taking me on your awesome cruise. I lived outside of Roma for 6 months. Thank you for your fantastic pictures. 

I thought about you on Jeff's bday... Look what they made him!!!

20190805_194950.thumb.jpg.5798076b897246302413f3d7159bb4e8.jpg

20190805_194918.thumb.jpg.418ac7402986f9afebeab182597f755e.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/5/2019 at 10:20 AM, FionaMG said:

 

Perhaps everyone who enjoys doing Chef's table should start suggesting this on their end-of-cruise surveys. It seems to me that Chef's table should be exactly that: Chef's table and not corporate table. After all, these are all qualified chefs; I'm sure if corporate just gave them a budget they'd be more than happy to give free rein to their creativity. 

I'm not sure I ever thought to do this!  I will totally add it!  Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/5/2019 at 7:22 PM, Cruising to Retirement! said:

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed reading your blog, Jane!!!  Your pics, your information, your comments make me feel a little part of your journey!  We hope to someday soon go on a cruise that covers this exact same itinerary!!!  I was hoping to get the name of your awesome Royal ship/shore excursion that your family did in Rome!  It sure seemed very in depth and covered so very much in just one day.  Could you please let me know the name and # of that shore excursion for future reference!  I'm so glad that a Pope/showing did not slow you down with such a limited about of time including the travel back and forth to the port.  Thanks again for the awesome "blog journey" sort of....  Michelle

I will try and remember to check my tickets.  It was very pricy compared to some but so worth it for us to see so much!  We feel we missed out on a lot in Florence but Rome was amazing!  Thanks so much for the complements!  I enjoy sharing with all of you!  I've done an awful job with scoping, but the blog I'm hoping will be a nice memory for me as well!  Tomorrow is a sea day and  sometime around sushi making and thriller practice I will blog about mykenos and Santorini!!  Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Traveler said:

I love the chef table , but I found out 30 to 50 % of the experience is which group you are sharing the table with , it can make all the difference . First time we went to the chef table there were a very nice group of people and time just passed very fast. Second time it was another nice group but they did not spoke English so it was different 

I totally agree!  We had a great group this time and the 4 hours flew (it was a very long chefs table!). Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day?   The days become a blur on these long cruises lol...DAY 8 was mykenos and Jeff's bday!  Happy 51!   

I love having at least an ocean view for the mornings.  The rest of the time isn't as important!  Here is sunrise from our window.

20190805_060222.thumb.jpg.b5fcfe2abf4deaa3a643073d9be4e738.jpg

The seas apparently were so Rocky on the last sailing that they cancelled the next day of Santorini.  They were passing out sea sickness medicine for free at the meeting point for our outing to Delos so we were worried.  It was a pretty rough boat ride, but we were fine.  My daughter is looking at archeology in college (uh-oh for career opportunities but yeah on the cool factor) and we are all history nerds so we were looking forward to seeing Delos... The mythical birthplace of Apollo and Artemis and a holy site for centuries.  It was very cool.  We were able to see ruins in the museum ranging as far back as 6BC.

20190805_102401.thumb.jpg.57fe006c96f68e2e1941d620ca4ee975.jpg

20190805_092205.thumb.jpg.b0a0b08e89d68c7e800b9b79a837c4cc.jpg

20190805_095133.thumb.jpg.2938aed012984c5a5ea42f2ad060f77d.jpg

20190805_104751.thumb.jpg.53122c65ede16e55bccc813b2aee914d.jpg

Antony Gormley is a sculptor from England originally who has done a lot of human forms.  They have put his Sculptures (and 5 new ones) on the island in different spots to "bring life to the island".  I'm not sure I like them or not.  The first one I saw too me two minutes to realize I wasn't looking at a naked man standing there lol!  

20190805_105207.thumb.jpg.38fb4f607caf39d82c330784a5444ec0.jpg

20190805_103752.thumb.jpg.0f79c492b24f34f1a7d5d3c5d995997d.jpg

20190805_103803.thumb.jpg.e064746d9ad5cfef6d7a281dc78900de.jpg

The most famous image from Delos are the famous lions.  We saw the real ones inside the museum, but the copies outside show how they were positioned across from a huge lake (which was drained to prevent malaria).

20190805_101904.thumb.jpg.0f99011b75a0f8cf39c157c4ec38f881.jpg

20190805_095731.thumb.jpg.40cae403c186de29caa44156c6afdb91.jpg

After Delos we headed to mykenos and the old port (the ships dock at new port and they run a water bus system to get to the main stuff in mykenos).  We had been really looking forward to mykenos as we thought it would be less touristy and crowded than Santorini.  We were actually pretty disappointed in it.  We must not have found the pretty street areas and we didn't plan on the beach (which I hear are really nice).  It was beautiful from a distance and we did find a good Cafe and one or two residential streets.  

20190805_112432.thumb.jpg.3a129f1a61d21a643af6d6093c92012a.jpg

20190805_113323.thumb.jpg.87639b4333283dfc4406e00f5774fd78.jpg

20190805_121245.thumb.jpg.e2c3a8370badc5fb3af0af9d608fd137.jpg

20190805_125546.thumb.jpg.92fc2e78a725cbd2e31ba8603ac04e9b.jpg

There are feral cats everywhere!  Some friendly, some not.  They were even all over Delos.  

20190805_115116.thumb.jpg.1582ac95739eae2f9a02fc4601fe4dac.jpg

 

At both mykenos she especially Santorini we were able to get great pics of vision!

20190805_135317.thumb.jpg.2f5a133f79ea440a053258b5500a18dd.jpg

We really weren't wowed by the shopping and the streets.  We wished we had brought suits and just hung at the time public beach!

20190805_115001.thumb.jpg.880f1d4bcad763147bc78cc64e57f751.jpg

We headed back pretty early to the ship to enjoy some sun time and get ready for Giovanni's! Giovanni's,  as usual, did not disappoint at all!!!! For the first time we bought a bottle of wine... Which killed me since we have the drink pkg but we wanted a good bottle for Jeff's bday and there were only 2 reds available by the glass, which I think is silly at a specialty restaurant. Here are some food porn pics.

20190805_195119.thumb.jpg.52b17b85e9615b46164ee1b559bf225a.jpg

20190805_192441.thumb.jpg.9b9ab35989ce4dc1f343bc5eed6b6f72.jpg

20190805_192437.thumb.jpg.ba3f564b085149cadaa35b37e2760a62.jpg

20190805_192516.thumb.jpg.f9cbad3e9961b1f9175e646da30d17d0.jpg

20190805_195106.thumb.jpg.b82ffde4f9f4850d341c12a5d1f8a64f.jpg

20190805_184907.thumb.jpg.35c74bf3e27134c40a098d054860cef4.jpg

20190805_185306.thumb.jpg.1ca8ea0876a2c6fbb12908ba917b03e1.jpg

It was white night!  This is the first time I actually bought a white dress.  I was all set to dance at the 80s hour and the pool deck party... After the wine, the huge dinner, the 645 meeting point...we were exhausted and asleep by 1030! Sigh.  Last night I was up to 3 and nothing happening.  Lol... Next time!

20190805_201824.thumb.jpg.2fa81b1e494bfc5ea72a3ecffc50b01b.jpg

And that is Mykenos!  I'm going to nap in my deck chair, go to izumi sushi class (and do the bad evil leave my chair for an hour and hope it's there), and practice thriller another time (class 3!)

We have no dinner plans...I don't know how people do udp.  Partly it's because we are eating at cafes during the day but we are just stuffed! We like the mdr idea but after an all day port, windjammer calls our name!  This is out of order but here is our dinner view last night that I will leave you with! 

20190806_202007.thumb.jpg.80b3fa893c883fbd245fef742260305f.jpg

20190806_202012.thumb.jpg.9761e86fff8799e39aca02d669057f9d.jpg

20190806_202146.thumb.jpg.810ed11b2b28e5f8bb3cac67a10cf6f2.jpg

 

20190806_100201.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They just had an Alpha... Alpha... Alpha call.  This is the first time I've noticed them giving a room number.   So sad.... Hoping everything is ok as we are on the very start of a sea day on the way to malta.  I'm sure we aren't far from something in the Mediterranean but right now I don't see land.

20190807_104748.thumb.jpg.e3513243befa47a112e5bf9760f36c49.jpg

Ok... Can't believe I just have up my sushi making class but I'm not getting off my deck chair until I have to for the thriller practice!  Jeff and Madison went and I told mads to take lots of pics!  Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we sailed in the fall with our adult children, we all had the beverage package and with six of us, our firm rule was staying within the limit.  When we ate at Chops, there were no reds that looked good within the by the glass limit, but we knew of one that we loved in the MDR.  We asked very nicely, and they had no problem bringing up a couple of bottles and serving us by the glass.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Fairlynew said:

We asked very nicely, and they had no problem bringing up a couple of bottles and serving us by the glass.

This is something I remember hearing about all the restaurants, including the MDR. If there's a wine you really like that's not offered on the menu of whichever venue you're at, you can ask for a glass of it and as often as not they will go and get a bottle to open up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I thought Giovanni’s usually served Oberon by the glass (I know you mentioned that you liked it). Were you just looking for something different ?

They didn't have it listed... Main dining room had it.  I like it better than Jeff did.  The Oberon on this ship is an extra 6 a glass plus the gratituity... Ugh.   So we decided to splurge and it was very good!  Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Fairlynew said:

When we sailed in the fall with our adult children, we all the beverage package and with six of us, our firm rule was staying within the limit.  When we ate at Chops, there were no reds that looked good within the by the glass limit, but we knew of one that we loved in the MDR.  We asked very nicely, and they had no problem bringing up a couple of bottles and serving us by the glass.  

And I think if I'd pushed they would have, but I think the reds on this trip have been a bit weak.  There ones they serve by the glass are just ok or they are charging for them.  There aren't a ton in the allowed amount.  Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, JLMoran said:

This is something I remember hearing about all the restaurants, including the MDR. If there's a wine you really like that's not offered on the menu of whichever venue you're at, you can ask for a glass of it and as often as not they will go and get a bottle to open up.

Majesty's schooner bar did this with the Oberon...I asked if they could get me a bottle to have by the glass (it was only in mdr) and they brought 2 bottles and told me to definitely just pay by the glass.  I was very happy!  Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DAY 9 SANTORINI...

Santorini was totally a surprise at how much we loved it!  I had been freaking out about the 5-6 cruise ships we would see there and after mykenos, we just weren't sure what to expect.  

Because of the tender situation (they were still calling in numbers at 11 for Cannes) and because we were there and didn't quite understand all the transportation options, we chose to do the royal "Oia on your own" which gave us bus transportation, 45 mins to take pics and shop,and then transportation to Thira (or Fira....I saw both names).  

At this point I want to say something about tours and guides.  They vary widely!  Some trips we had a great guide who was interesting, informative, could speak perfect English and was amazing.  A couple times our guide was monotone, slightly disorganized and not nearly as interesting.  Apparently there is a difference (at least in Greece) btw a guide and an escort.  I found this out when I sat and watched a woman berate our little barely 20s timid "escort" on the way to Thira because she didn't share enough info on the way to Oia and the other bus got all sorts of information so why wasn't she more interesting?  OMG!  Whatever your view, why yell at the guide in your own language?  What is she suddenly going to do...become a fountain of knowledge and speak more clearly?  If you have an issue, let royal know when you are back or hire your own private tour.  It was so ugly tourist out of order.  Ok...rant over....back to beautiful Oia.  

Oia was absolutely amazing and I want to go back.  We did go very early...were one of the very first tenders and beat a lot of the crowds there.  This made it a lot better.  Even by the time we were leaving after only 45 mins it was getting more and more crowded and it was not as nice.  But we loved it...I wish they let you stay longer.  We would have really liked to sat in one of the cafes and drank a glass of ?!  

Every time we turned around there was another beautiful view and another amazingly interesting building.  I took hundreds of pictures.  There are gazillions of little paths and stairways that led to more little shops, more views and cool building.  I could have explored for hours.  The colors were incredible and the sea the most gorgeous blue!  I could post way too many pics but here are a few, including one of my beautiful daughter who was the happiest I've seen.  A year ago we were battling some pretty scary stuff with her and it made my heart sing to take these pics.  Santorini is one of my new happy places for sure!  

20190806_092241.thumb.jpg.7622b907127b937ada0c7a76aad76276.jpg

20190806_092004.thumb.jpg.17b854bc2c22238810d50848ad4d3392.jpg

20190806_091655.thumb.jpg.ed45722c551e7840d8a9503b0cca597d.jpg

20190806_091223.thumb.jpg.ad734f08ad643a87b8136457cd38063c.jpg

20190806_085417.thumb.jpg.c1f551e4fc2f2c1e10fa8dc6422b0c00.jpg

20190806_085247.thumb.jpg.35e6a2429d28b268564e665f059eca33.jpg

20190806_083442.thumb.jpg.5c3420c5d083f04bfa7a68312c4787b7.jpg

20190806_083502.thumb.jpg.7873bfcc9f30dd014d4e7f3c03cc51a8.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SANTORINI continued...

On to Thira.   On the outskirts it is just a regular city with lots of yrafgic, drug stores and not pretty.  I was not impressed until we walked out of the congested area and we found the amazing area (I still think Mykenos prob has this as well and we just didn't find it).  Thira isn't as charming as Oia but has its share of great views.  Everywhere  in the two villages there were amazing doorways that were unique and pretty.  I love this picture with vision in the back!!

20190806_104315.thumb.jpg.4c47ac2b729764b01557b345b64541d9.jpg

20190806_104355.thumb.jpg.434144a3b61529a221ab43a73f5d5a9e.jpg

20190806_104348.thumb.jpg.e4562b465cd65d1004f711d1720380c3.jpg

As is our habit we found a little cafe and tried the local drinks and food.  Madison tried fava beans and liked them,while I tried the very good Santorini beer!  We could look at Vision while we ate and I didn't get a pic on my phone, but Jewel showed up to join her sister vision!

20190806_124832.thumb.jpg.b96a5b056b69e6df823c72ca0414009a.jpg

20190806_111153.thumb.jpg.5e7fe1bb475db40536505a3c7635d6a4.jpg

 

20190806_113850.thumb.jpg.fb60832d7ad2fac070cbb98161f58a8a.jpg

20190806_113852.thumb.jpg.1a9b17f6c383559d5c84a91fa505ce2a.jpg

20190806_113150.thumb.jpg.00384241aae88de911c47e7dce71af37.jpg

We shopped, found more quaint and incredible views! I love this old church and then the view of the grafitti under it...old and new...

20190806_130625.thumb.jpg.b2a1f5d90fc16a7cbfb6d045190c6449.jpg

20190806_130610.thumb.jpg.49753ec2b84229c1eaa5e0554a24da99.jpg

20190806_130223.thumb.jpg.be8f33fcb26542ba73d4e17a0ad56452.jpg

20190806_105558.thumb.jpg.41a98e15571415e26eea4a9157ea356c.jpg

 

I think this last one is from Oia but so cool and I forgot to add it before. 

20190806_092723.thumb.jpg.6d7b2e24c87d95eb9e569100d5e4b5e3.jpg

It was getting around 1 and we'd heard horror stories about 2 hour lines to ride the cable car from Thira to the port.  You can walk down but it's very slippery and hot.  I figured we could wait in line.  It turned out to be only 45 mins!  It would have been even shorter if people weren't people and letting 8 friends jump into their group and just deciding they didn't need to wait and cutting into line.  I loved the people who tried to just walk in front of us 5 mins away from the ticket booth!  Yeah...NO!!    The cable car ride was very cool!!

20190806_133952.thumb.jpg.012baa7b8b5d3f2593f4e45249e9a0a7.jpg

20190806_134636.thumb.jpg.15ecf6dea1c3c5622249e0af6600f01d.jpg

20190806_134633.thumb.jpg.e09af4f056b2164e7eafb262e35c456a.jpg

20190806_134643.thumb.jpg.99c6ecf684c4fbf97cb1e065cfd87eb8.jpg

On the tender ride back we found out their walk took 53 mins down so I was happy we cable carred it!   Santorini is very rocky...the cliffs were numerous and it amazes me how they can build these buildings into them.  

20190806_140017.thumb.jpg.41b5ddef2eac929a71e7e65d4b10fbf1.jpg

20190806_135826.thumb.jpg.28752c9ea91cf00a5459cebbc73ac94e.jpg

20190806_135849.thumb.jpg.b1134cab9ed497baf1a4639afb50ab3f.jpg

And a last picture of mads on the top of the tender!

20190806_135723.thumb.jpg.a9180f5f2a696d883beca8bdec0c3cba.jpg

We really loved our day in Santorini!  Dinner as usual was relaxed in the windjammer for us, while Madison joined one of her friend's  family in the MDR.  Jane

20190806_113340.jpg

20190806_134636.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DAY 10...another sea day.  Sea days are just therapeutic for me, but boring for you to read about.  I had practice 3 for thriller and sat in my deck chair. Jeff and Madison went to the sushi class and LOVED it!  They said it was super fun and that they are going to make sushi when we get home.  Makes me happy!!   We made great use of our drink pkg again and basically had a wonderful day.

  It was formal night so we got dressed up and went to mdr.  They actually called us to see if we were coming and we're very concerned we hadn't been happy on night one.  We definitely enjoyed the main dining room the couple times we went but when you add in specialty dining and all the port eating and the drink pkg it is just too much for big long dinners.  We were really surprised when they brought us a piece of cake and sang "happy anniversary" to us!  The 50 year royal cakes are still being offered as well! 

20190807_190522.thumb.jpg.f9b0327ee63d56e32277d8feb42cfd4d.jpg

20190807_195044.thumb.jpg.fd36bf15ef83c73f6c2680e520f0dfd9.jpg

20190807_194725.thumb.jpg.68fc829902dfffa304018689c3c63cfc.jpg

We did go to the production show.  We have made most of the shows (we missed the Motown one on Malta day) and most have been pretty good.  The production shows by the royal singers and dancers have been weak.  I've seen boogie wonderland before and the songs aren't great..they did the "cake in the rain song" that is not really boogie or disco...just bad lol.  It does not help this is a very young cast (most are first tours) and they just aren't developed enough.  Watching a fresh faced 19 year old sing "I will survive" just doesn't quite work lol.  Anyway I always drag Jeff to them anyway!

20190807_213451.thumb.jpg.960f601b03b03b0a8e3d1b8489a8a936.jpg

Ok...that brings us up to day 11and Malta but I have to head to class 5 Of thriller!  More later!  Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonderful pictures!!  It looks like ya'll are having a great time!  I am so happy that your daughter is doing well and enjoying herself.   I remember you mentioning some struggles with travel insurance and getting home to her a few years ago.  It is great to see her look so radiant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Fairlynew said:

Wonderful pictures!!  It looks like ya'll are having a great time!  I am so happy that your daughter is doing well and enjoying herself.   I remember you mentioning some struggles with travel insurance and getting home to her a few years ago.  It is great to see her look so radiant.

Thanks so much.. Yes... Last year was tough and we are so thankful to be having this time.  She even put herself on the centrum stage lol! She is the one in the middle blue shirt!  Dancing during 70s party in the centrum!  

20190808_204636.thumb.jpg.ce3ba6baaf5ce549583551cb6dd0f1ed.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DAY 11 MALTA

The Malta day didn't start off well.  Up until then, the only weather issue we'd had all trip had been a 2 hour rain storm in Barcelona.  We were scheduled to do a boat trip into the blue grotto and then a trip to marsaxlokk.  We woke up to this amazing view out our window: 

20190808_081941.thumb.jpg.abfbb3ac85324989fa17914a48c1fc5f.jpg

20190808_081957.thumb.jpg.83c09c83577e756e17f612e4fc7807df.jpg

20190808_082009.thumb.jpg.785ad8154c19d8e95b773e5a60c9a319.jpg

 

All looked good this day until they told us it  was impossible to take out the boats into the grottos... The wind was too strong for the 8 person boats.  We were pretty bummed out, even though we would get back 25% of our excursion price and do a trip to the village of vittoriosa  (the oldest walled City across from Valletta).  We weren't that wowed until we found out that 2 days later they would be celebrating their "festa" (religious ceremony) of St. Lawrence!  We ended up with an absolutely amazing tour guide who walked us all through the narrow ancient streets.  It was incredible...I took hundreds of pics but here are a few off my phone.

20190808_170528.thumb.jpg.a9c0795a378c1f68b1515514ffe7d236.jpg

20190808_092113.thumb.jpg.236373b75871618ea9aef6a974f897ec.jpg

20190808_092630.thumb.jpg.78ff307a977d63d34560bfaca6dd3abc.jpg

20190808_094401.thumb.jpg.49bf90badcc3040bfbc05bb1a8d0c985.jpg

20190808_095507.thumb.jpg.2f67ef4d7cd9c515ee7e62fbee7b5221.jpg

It was just wonderful and something we lucked into.  Our bad luck turned into one of the highlights of the trip!  We them drove to see the blue grotto from up above.  It was still very pretty and we were able to stop and walk around a little village near the grotto.

20190808_103117.thumb.jpg.c0bbd7436600bf64f672f358e5a8e092.jpg

20190808_104950.thumb.jpg.f9ec6fd677118fc742b3294d079f7b58.jpg

20190808_105253.thumb.jpg.ef64dca0f0f2ede59ea5d820eefe6c39.jpg

20190808_110221(0).thumb.jpg.b36b85cb804a91093dd8b2c251da1d5d.jpg

There was even a little area to swim...I'm guessing the water was pretty deep but they even had a shower there (the purple thing in the pic).  

20190808_110014.thumb.jpg.cc57c2085a56666af0df641af33a905e.jpg

It was on to marsaxlokk... Or so we thought.  Excitement number 2 came when our bus wouldn't start... After only a ten minute wait we had a new bus and we were in our way (after hiding in the shade lol...it was very hot in Malta--mid 90s).

20190808_111134.thumb.jpg.f2414959ff65c22ff5af800c95f435f4.jpg

20190808_111801.thumb.jpg.18d057d4bab27bfb46b129bb06e671d7.jpg

Our incredible tour guide was unflappable... Getting us the new bus and offering all sorts of things to do in Marsaxlokk and Valletta.  Marsaxlokk was full of very colorful fishing boats and lots of little market stalls.

20190808_115437.thumb.jpg.e317bcb91c85eff0963ea8c3845bc0a1.jpg

20190808_122610.thumb.jpg.44fce2844f8b530ba5b38ee4f1c43f78.jpg

20190808_122607.thumb.jpg.ccbb009f224339c1179e3880a6c8b41c.jpg

20190808_115253.thumb.jpg.53e6ce9165bb83948c59b1dcdf82c5df.jpg

One thing we had to try were the Malta specialty of pastizzi... Little phyllo pastries filled with ricotta or peas.  We found a little walk up Cafe where we could find them (they were only .40 Euros each), as well as Maltese beer and the Maltese drink of Kinnie (a local orange and herb carbonated drink which was pretty interesting).  Oh yeah... And the really yummy apple pie... All of this for under ten Euros!  

20190808_120119.thumb.jpg.cbd90425357ced74b8deea4b02fa58b3.jpg

20190808_121037.thumb.jpg.3aca70f6505abe886ea76f6f21f125d1.jpg

20190808_121039.thumb.jpg.4b9215605c9fa99de0b40160154787f4.jpg

After this fun excursion we were dropped off near the old City Valletta.  After wandering a bit, we finally figured out how to get there and were so thankful the tour guide had mentioned the cathedral of St. John.  OMG... Incredible and I got to see Caravaggios IN REAL LIFE!!!!!   

20190808_132751.thumb.jpg.84a35fd8d738ade8cc7d27375b536fbd.jpg

20190808_141945.thumb.jpg.6490ef95a88c7fb3f974861e380b505c.jpg

20190808_140802.thumb.jpg.823f6e5751f57334f62cd1449c5b6cbc.jpg

20190808_140744.thumb.jpg.f1fe3977bb739a7ead1bc405e0319042.jpg

20190808_135153.thumb.jpg.f48713e07cae68979df4f90f17d1c5f7.jpg

20190808_135000.thumb.jpg.1e7ef4ef6ee74de8a8903fd465e2ff72.jpg

20190808_142655.thumb.jpg.7609d26a549840e733356835c91dd9ae.jpg

20190808_143050.thumb.jpg.968e6bedda49e54b4a3d19de842ba12d.jpg

I didn't realize that Caravaggio was defrocked (I will have to study the history) in front of his huge painting of the beheading of John the Baptist... The patron saint of the church.  It was so interesting to wander the church... We spent a long time there and then began to be a little panicked about time (we belong to the @Matt team that all aboard is about 2 hours before it is!  And I had a thriller practice at 430!  It took us a bit to find the park where the elevator is to get you up and down from the port.  It is in a very pretty area that had an upper and lower park.  It costs 1 euro to go up, but it was free for us to go down!  We saw an interesting plaque commemorating WWII soldiers and got some great pics of our ship.  

20190808_152327.thumb.jpg.30e67f25c7f3fba1a097cd6cddc67a14.jpg

20190808_145556.thumb.jpg.5ce3b84d62d9f57f71d7053f81d2c526.jpg

20190808_144715.thumb.jpg.23acbf5e820bc0d7552881a1d34f8257.jpg

20190808_145040.thumb.jpg.409b89f12fd39af3452842221fd82f6b.jpg

20190808_144758.thumb.jpg.655773418e791e0d1a1f5dd1f0ff4901.jpg

20190808_144916.thumb.jpg.263afd26bdddcdade7bf3e919a26f3bb.jpg

It was a VERY long walk back to the ship only because the port is fenced off and the entrance is at the very end away from the elevator.  We were hot and tired when we got back and found the dreaded luggage tags.. 

20190808_152421.thumb.jpg.515f0fba7423465202690f220d8fd037.jpg

We decided to grab drinks and watch sailaway from the deck 5  wrap-around.  I think it has been my favorite sailaway spot.  It was quiet and we got to catch a last look at our last European port.  We were so sorry to leave Malta...it was truly a wonderful stop!  I had to take a few pics of myself for work, and while we were doing that, a very nice lady asked if we wanted a pic!  We didn't have too many couple shots so this was great! 

20190808_162231.thumb.jpg.d2ec803d0dd27f1ff4fb4588a7318645.jpg

20190808_170305.thumb.jpg.7b13e6dc94a758302655429ac89df4b7.jpg

20190808_170611.thumb.jpg.380cc546eadedcd825dc7512bcce88e5.jpg

20190808_170524.thumb.jpg.6650deaf6599a4865dfbeed4eb42fef3.jpg

20190808_170311.thumb.jpg.7ede6ec2920caf969fd4ea38a075f183.jpg

20190808_170922.thumb.jpg.49e2073e3964959455adbad8fc64c9b4.jpg

We ended the night with chops and the 70s dance party.  Madison ordered vegetarian spinach crepes which were really super good.  I got the rib eye which was an awful cut of meat but the ? cocktail was wonderful!

20190808_203507.thumb.jpg.c7b22b53ea0bf4d210d48d7d5378cbb2.jpg

20190808_195725.thumb.jpg.dc3ee5cc0ac88e203643891a62ceeff4.jpg

The 70s party was fun but too short and then they jumped right into lounge music... It is too bad that the centrum doesn't do more just dance music.  I know that Viking crown does, but it is so far away from everything that nobody goes...we never made it up there the whole 12 days.  

20190808_200846.thumb.jpg.f6a5cc9a178262812ee4c4d5fceb9836.jpg

20190808_204831.thumb.jpg.f289c919c530c9cd621368b0d8c00a09.jpg

Jane

 

 

 

 

20190808_144916.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DAY 12 LAST SEA DAY!

I found that 12 days doesn't take away from the last day blues :(.    You know you have to pack .. You just don't wanna lol!!!   I had 2 thriller rehearsals and got put right in the middle towards the front, so I had to make sure I didn't drink too much in my deck chair so I could perform at 10 lol.  It was a great day...I stayed in my chair until almost 630 when I couldn't avoid it any more and had to pack.  It made us miss the farewell show, which was a drag, but something had to give.  With the carry-on suitcase we were fine on weight (just FYI... Many Europe flights only allow 20kg or 44 lbs checked bags and they weigh your carry one AND personal items--not all but Norwegian did!).  

We ate one last time at windjammer (we really did like it for dinner and will decrease specialty to 3 or so next time).  Then I had to get ready for thriller!  Uh oh...I packed all of our makeup.  Good thing they hadn't taken the luggage from the hall yet!   I don't have any pics on my phone... Jeff filmed on the camera.. But I looked very zombie-ish lol!  Madison started out till the last possible minute with her friends and we got to bed well after 1am! Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ack... Just deleted disembarkation day lol!  Sigh!  Anyway, we didn't sleep well...I was up before 5 and Madison left at 6 to say goodbye to friends. 

20190810_054951.thumb.jpg.ad7d0b55bd70ae5a14585d857af873c9.jpg

20190810_054956.thumb.jpg.ff4b9bac615e561429a1727cb23226a2.jpg

We didn't have to fly out till 355 so we had some options.  We could have stayed on the ship, but that would have been depressing to hang with all the people excitedly starting their trip so we decided to do an excursion with royal to Montserrat and get dropped off at the airport.  It was amazing!!!  Although a long drive, the views were amazing, the Benedictine church beautiful and we were so happy we did it!

20190810_090918.thumb.jpg.6a1505116bfdbeb659a08ee54d84b2d3.jpg

20190810_093513.thumb.jpg.393234e9be68a940b437c907aa7f071f.jpg

20190810_112559.thumb.jpg.e675afabcf077310bcda1beabf8d884e.jpg

20190810_095806.thumb.jpg.1af9a45d1b998728d2d718a2ee060ecd.jpg

20190810_093606.thumb.jpg.eb1b39c5fd808a2b17eee056fc593f08.jpg

20190810_095307.thumb.jpg.77e141ca0eec217d07039de25c73ea4f.jpg

20190810_095425.thumb.jpg.d88c9ce49d6ef6f9a697290359f8aad5.jpg

 

There was a statue of st. George (I think) by the artist who did the passion facade of segrada familia (not gaudi who only completed the Nativity facade).  It is striking...

20190810_095222.thumb.jpg.e252a5b07a7a16cb3cb92c2e5e35b282.jpg

20190810_095232.thumb.jpg.2fb0c131b8b6ab8a30639bda4c6ecdff.jpg

Monserrat is famous for it's "Black Madonna" dating from the 13th century.  It was beautiful as was the rest of the church. Again... Took hundreds of pics but here are a few!

20190810_102120.thumb.jpg.b31173808039c65a9fa00ee2194f220d.jpg

20190810_102146.thumb.jpg.bb2f5e69864fb358c6f9838937b0f75a.jpg

20190810_102138.thumb.jpg.b183b116f6fe728c11fb28e5c7f249b9.jpg

20190810_102248.thumb.jpg.e130eeb38e64978cdc6eb86ada989f29.jpg

20190810_104039.thumb.jpg.bd52fe069211ddcaef5bfd288e024a2b.jpg

20190810_102248.thumb.jpg.5d11d4fb85b03fd747e72c1ffba5cc70.jpg

20190810_104221.thumb.jpg.790621f2e5db0ad647dec4311ef983cc.jpg

20190810_102337.thumb.jpg.7d7ab6da40e629c13f98a7ef75f259fc.jpg

20190810_102318.thumb.jpg.6d8782fd24b2311dfd23c3cb42e35a99.jpg

20190810_103106.thumb.jpg.2c39ea4c7febfce60d4204f6973b18a2.jpg

20190810_104659.thumb.jpg.1dd1e3261765f8fdb550b910c446c7c2.jpg

20190810_104717.thumb.jpg.ff28f82ba973bc824c13f04e78e669a0.jpg

Built into the rock that surrounds the Fitch is an area you can light candles.  I was able to light a candle in mentor if my parents and my dad who would have loved this trip.  How I wish we'd discovered cruising sooner!

20190810_102854.thumb.jpg.d5e0ca12e13dbb2e7818cf3214cfbfb1.jpg

20190810_103751.thumb.jpg.af8bdec927df0c5cccf35080aadfff90.jpg

20190810_103528.thumb.jpg.dd43212502f9288e1e831c861f49cb96.jpg

Time to race to the airport where it took an hour to check in and then we made the mistake of trying stir fry... That took almost an hour!  We ran to our gate to find our flight delayed for almost 2 hours.  Oh well.. we had time to eat our stir fry and then even have a glass of cava!  The flight was uneventful though incredible again we had to wait for a gate at O'Hare.  Customs was easy peasy and we were home by 10pm.  Sleeping was a very good thing since we'd been up over 24 hrs!  I will have to do final wrap up thoughts later as it is Monday morning and alas... I'm back to work lol!  Ugh! Jane

 

 

20190810_093606.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So... My final take-aways.  First of all, I focused this blog mostly on the trip and not necessarily the ship because it's something different.  I really like vision.  The crew, the cruise director, the activities director, my stateroom attendant...I have no complaints!!  They were all amazing.  I'm not a picky cruiser and vision was totally fine, especially for a port heavy itinerary.  It truly never felt crowded except when chair hogs hit the decks.  I felt like the ship was in good condition (yes a bit of rust here and there, but hey, that's me too lol) and the shower curtain doesn't bug me.  That being said, we had some negatives as well.  The music venues are very limited, the bars were limited and the activities are limited.  For me, that was fine.  My sea days involved myself and 5 novels!  My husband, who had previously been on adventure, freedom and allure surprised me by saying he really prefers the bigger ships.  He would rather sail on a bigger ship if we can get the same itineraries and trade the price difference by staying in an interior room.  We are scheduled on rhapsody for next spring break...we got an amazing deal and great itinerary (including Belize and Roatan) but we may cancel and save up a bit... Especially if we decide to go to the UK next summer.  

   Speaking of itineraries... Europe was mostly amazing!!!  We did find that just like the Caribbean, there are better ports and that we are excursion people.  A whole day of shopping won't work for us...we need something to do.  Otherwise, you start seeing the same shops, just like in the Caribbean!!  

   Long trips:. We found that 12 days was just awesome!  But I was still sad to get off... The 2nd to last day is always gonna suck no matter how long your cruise is!

   Eating:. Unless there is lots of variety, we will probably decrease our specialty dining... It's just too much food.  Same for the dining room...we will continue to do my time because we just don't want 2 hour dining every night.  We enjoyed windjammer on those days we were tired and just wanted to relax, or had eaten big at port.

   Drink pkg:. The drink pkg even on 12 days was totally worth it.  We went through at least 3 bottles of water every day, coffee every morning, 2 glasses of wine with dinner and at least 1 cocktail a day.  Could we do without it, yes but for us it is really worth it and again, I'd be willing to go with a smaller room to afford it.  It was pricy but it worked for us absolutely.  Just FYI, the lowest price we ever saw was $48/day, and $57 with the internet 1 device each.  The drink card never showed up on our 12 day cruise so people must have been purchasing enough drinks!  

Packing:. Ok... So I definitely did better this trip, but could have done a bit better.  We managed 3 checked bags and 1 carry-on and didn't bring back a lot of souvenirs.  I could have done better... The laundry bag was amazing and my stateroom attendant made me fill enough for two bags and charged for one.  Nothing shrunk and next time I could easily pack fewer bathing suits and PJs and cover-ups.  Still would worry about my dresses, but none of Jeff's nice polos shrank!  

So that is our trip.  I'm so sad it's over...we have dreamed of this for a lifetime and planned it for almost 2 years.  But we have memories to last us forever, amazing pictures and the knowledge that we will do what we can to continue traveling.  Life is way too short not to try and travel, and for us it's a priority!  Thanks for coming along on our voyage with us!  Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much for sharing your adventures!  We're doing western med next May and it's only 7 days.  I am going to wish it was 12!!  We're on Allure, which will be our third Oasis class but our (college aged) kid's first.  It's going to be tough with six port days - they are going to want to do everything!! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, KathyC said:

Thank you so much for sharing your adventures!  We're doing western med next May and it's only 7 days.  I am going to wish it was 12!!  We're on Allure, which will be our third Oasis class but our (college aged) kid's first.  It's going to be tough with six port days - they are going to want to do everything!! 

The port evenings I have to admit we were tired!  It will be harder with all the great shows and music that allure will have at night!  Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...