Pearl Travel

Barcelona day 2

IDONDE ESTA LORENZO?  Our second day in Barcelona was completely free and so we decided to explore.  We learned that when traveling in foregin areas you need to be specific about what you are looking for.  We headed off on the Metro, which is superb and so easy to use just watch you pockets and purses and ended up at what were the Olympic Village when we really wanted the Olympic stadium sites.  We finally made it there and saw the entrance to the Olympic area very impressive and now put to wonderful use as musuems, and convention centers.  We then decide we wanted to see another building by Antoni Gaudi so headed off on the metro fo Casa Mila.  We had to change from one line of the metro to another and as we were heading off we suddenly turned around and Idonde esta lorenzo? (where is Larry?)  We had lost him.  After some discussion we headed off for our original destination and since we were extremely hungry we stopped for lunch and then as we were approaching the Casa Mila there was Lorenzo – he had gotten on the wrong metro.  We did indeed see the building and then headed back to our hotel for a rest before we went to a Flamingo show.  this was fantastic there were times when the feet were moving so fast you could barely see them.  After this we had our ‘thanksgiving’ dinner paella at a sidewalk cafe.  It was a wonderful end to an adventure filled trip.  This was a superb trip with many ports of call as well as our two land stays.  I was very pleased with the Oceania Cruise, Shore Trips, and Comtours in Spain they all did a wonderful job that enhanced our trip.

Barcelona Day 1

I would be remiss if I did not finish our trip and our adventures with our stay in Barcelona.  Again we were so very impressed with this beautiful city filled with impressive buildings.  On Wednesday morning we bid farewell and Happy Thanksgiving to those who were on their way home to Cleveland and departed the cruise ship early in the morning.  After checking into our hotel we set off to explore the city seeing a market that was filled with so many things to eat that we headed off for lunch which we had at a tapas sidewalk restaurant.  We then had an afternoon tour of a portion of the city.  This tour included the public gardens first started by Gaudi as a residential development then donated to the city.  We had an overview of the city before going the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) church that has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be completed until 2020 or 2030.  This church is called a temple and is said to be the masterpiece of architect Antoni Gaudi.  Truly a magnificent structure even with all the cranes and construction going on.  We dined at a local restaurant specializing in seafood.

Marsielle

Yesterday we were in Marseille and doing a wine tasting of Chatreauneuf du Pape and then on to Avigon. The wine tasting was very good and the wine was excellent. We drove on to Avigion and saw the bridge of song fame or what is left of it. Today we have a relaxing morning – breakfast in our robes in the café was a hoot this morning and this afternoon we will be in Mallorca for a wine tasting and stop at a pearl factory. This will be my last blog for now as my computer time is running out. See you all back in Cleveland.

Monaco, Monte Carlo, and the Amalfi Coast

Today I bring you an update from Monaco and the Cote d’Azure.  We have spent the past to days at a pier in the harbor of Monte Carlo in Monaco.  I woke up this morning and looked out and wondered if this is where you live would you get tired of the wonderful sight that greets you every morning.  This is truly a jewel nestled in the Mediterranean Sea.  

Yesterday we spent the day on our own and strolled around Monte Carlo.  We saw the Prince’s palace, changing of the palace guard, the course for the Formula 1 race and generally rode around and viewed the sights. 

Today we had a day on the Cote d’Azure our guide Tony and drivers Patrick and John Jacques gave us a wonderful tour around the country.  We drove up saw lovely views overlooking Monaco and then on to Nice and again overlooking it nestled by the sea.  We were able to have lunch in a sidewalk café outside our weather has been truly fantastic.  We drove on to Eze a medieval village up in the mountains where we did some shopping for things of Provance – lavender.  We saw several other villages and sights along the way before returning to the ship.

Cinque Terre and Livorno

Going to catch up on two days today.  Yesterday we were in Cinque Terre.  I stayed on the ship but most of the group went off on their own and did the 5 towns of Cinque Terre by train and walking.  All said it was a beautiful area and they really had a great time walking between the villages and stopping at them as they progressed through the area. 

Today we were in Livorno and Joe and I did a tour of Lucca and the wine tasting at a boutique winery.  This small winery has about 16 hectares of grapes that they grow and produce wine form.  They only produce wine from their own grapes.  They also have 4 hectares of olive trees and produce EVOO cold pressed olive oil.  Unfortunately they do not ship wine to the US so we could not buy any but I did buy some EVOO.  This was an excellent tour put on by the cruise ship and we really enjoyed it.  Much of the other group went to Florence and really enjoyed it.  John and Char did the Discovery walk tour and said it was excellent.  Several of the other members of the group acquired new leather articles.  Florence is definitely the place to buy leather and gold.

Sardinia

Yesterday we were at the island of Sardinia.  Really a very beautiful island but we were personally disappointed in the shore excursion we took spent more time standing around than on the actual excursion.  It did not seem worthy of an Oceania type shore excursion and we did complete a complaint form regarding it.   On the plus side the weather yesterday was fantastic and when we came back to the ship we were able to spend some time in the hot tub!  It was over 70 degrees here – who would have thought it in November.  Last night we had dinner at Paulo’ one of the specialty restaurants (no additional cost) and had a superb meal.  Definitely fine dining at its best.  Today we are at La Spezia – Joe and I are taking it easy but most of the rest of the group are off exploring Cinque Terre by train and foot on their own.  After yesterday’s wonderful weather today it is cloudy overcast and foggy – we will see how the day develops perhaps it will burn off.  I continue to be impressed with this line and their excellent treatment of passengers.  Ta Ta for now more tomorrow

Napoli

As we continue on our way to Barcelona today we were on a private tour along the Amalfi Coast. We had 2 vans with 6 passengers each and we had a wonderful day. We visited a cameo factory and saw the cameo carved by a master craftsman. We stopped at an inlay wood factory and learned about that. We visited Sorrento and ate lunch on the side of the hill above Positiano. Our Lunch was at a little restaurant where MAMA made everything including her home made Lemoncello which was quite good a mixture of tart and sweet.  This evening we had dinner in the grand dinning room and spent a pleasant time listening to the piano player in Martini’s lounge. All in all a wonderful day in the Naples area. Tomorrow we are in Sardinia where we will do a wine and spirits tou

Bon Voyage

Today we left Rome and made our way to board the lovely Oceania Ship Insignia.  This is definitely an above average ship with personal attention to detail by all the crew.  We will be spoiled for the next 10 days as we cruise the Western Mediterranean.  Our cabin is a well appointed verandah cabin on deck 7 about the same size as the cabin on the Disney cruise ship.  The ship is beautifully decorated in a style of quiet elegance.   The port for Rome is Civitavecchia and it is truly a large commercial port located about an hour and a half from the city.  I would never recommend anyone sailing from here to not take a few extra days and spend some time in the eternal city.  Now we set sail in about a half an hour and we are off to toast our sail away.

Disney Cruise Line

Having returned from a 3 night Disney Cruise I had to take some time to extol the virtues of a Disney Cruise.  I freely admit that I am a ‘Disney Freak’ so of course would really enjoy this cruise, but I tried to look at it dispassionately and really was very impressed with what and how they do as only Disney can do it.  First to address those things that I found so distasteful on the other cruise I was on recently.  Yes things are expensive and yes you do pay for extras – a lot but it is not so very “IN YOUR FACE”  all the time.   Disney is about you and your family having a great time and if you are you will spend money anyhow.  The availability of the Characters on board is just outstanding and I can’t begin to express how impressed I was with the character interaction with children.  They must have special training to be that attentive time after time with each child – just spectacular.  If you have a small child this is the place to introduce them to the characters,they will not feel so overwhelmed as they do at the parks.  This trip was a 3 night girls getaway with my daughter-in-law and a 16 year old granddaughter and we had a great time.  We saw every show and they are of course spectacular with the magic touch of Disney. 

Our one day in port was in Nassau and we went to the Dolphin Encounter on Blue Lagoon Island where we did the “Swim with the Dolphins ” what a fantastic experience we were actually in the water petting, getting and giving hugs and kisses, dancing and generally interacting with the dolphins ending with the “push” when the dolphins actually push on the bottoms of your feet and you sort of stand up on them – really a breathtaking ride!  While expensive this was probably one of the best shore excursions I have ever been on and worth the money. 

Our second day was spent at Castaway Cay and a delightful experience on Disney’s own little island in the Bahamas.  Swimming, biking, sunbathing, feeding the stingray’s and snorkeling all made for a full day.   

One of the things I have frequently complained about on the Disney Cruise was the food, I am delighted to say they have improved there has been a change in all the dining menus since I was last on the cruise a year ago.  Definitely more upscale and tastier but still accommodating the smaller children with their own menu and quick service.  on a few night you can even have expedited service sot he children can finish eating quickly and then go on to their activities while you can relax and dine leisurely.

This is now my 4th disney Cruise and I can truly say they just keep getting better.

Norwegian Spirit

Now that we are home I thought I would wrap up my most recent cruise experience.  While I have complained about many things on the cruise we did have a good time.  I just think that cruising is not what it used to be.  To get anything ’special’ food, service, etc.  you have to pay additional.  This was not always so there was a time when you had wonderful food in the regular dinning rooms with out paying for the speciality restaurants, service in your cabin and about the ship was exemplary at all time.  This is no longer the case at least on this ship.  There are 2 things I think that have led to thisthese mega ship is by doing all the addons they possibly can.  that you have to pay for and the cost.  I think that 2.24 for a glass of Pepsi is ridiculous.

One is pricing – the cruise lines now are pricing cabins so low that the only way they can afford to operate

Two is the gratuities that are now added on to your ship board account and you cannot remove them or delete them on Norwegian Cruise Line.  This of course takes away all incentive for any kind of ’service’ that one might expect.  Perhaps the cruise line might reduce the gratuities to a more modest amount and encourage people to tip for better service.  

When all is said and done I would be very careful about who I recommended sail on this line and make sure that they knew about all the extras