SD2 - Rome-Nice, 6-20 October

We leave for Rome tomorrow!!:) Almost all packed and won't be able to buy a thing because there is no room!

CDreamers join us Thursday in Rome and we go to the ship on Saturday. They'll be with us the first 7 days and then we'll stay on for the following week.

Since CDreamer has already "appointed" me the designated reporter, I'll do my best to report on the crew and any good "stuff" we hear -- like a third ship?? Will likely not post every day, but will try to keep you up to date on our adventures and sights.

It will be soooooo good to be back on board!!

Vandrefalk

Bon Voyage Vandrefalk! We look forward to your postings. As far as purchases, just have them UPSed home.:D

Have fun! Bon voyage! May your two weeks aboard SeaDream be the dreamiest ever! :)

Have a wonderful trip, Vandrefalk. There couldn't be a nicer time of year to travel, and you will thoroughly enjoy it I know. Can't wait to hear your reports and live vicariously.

And not that I'm suggesting it, but one of my girlfriends has a solution to the lack of room for purchases. She just leaves some of her husband's clothes in the hotel to create room in the luggage. Believe it or not, he never notices!

Yah! We're finally going to get some action around here.

You must check in fairly frequently, if not daily. . .that is if you don't want Jim Avery tapping his foot and getting after you. Me too, for that matter. I'm not much for delaying gratification when I'm excited. . .and I am very excited FOR YOU guys!

Bon voyage and safe travels, Vandrefalks and CDreamers!

Have a wonderful trip, Vandrefalk. There couldn't be a nicer time of year to travel, and you will thoroughly enjoy it I know. Can't wait to hear your reports and live vicariously.

And not that I'm suggesting it, but one of my girlfriends has a solution to the lack of room for purchases. She just leaves some of her husband's clothes in the hotel to create room in the luggage. Believe it or not, he never notices!

Finally got the bags all packed - a necessary evil for me - but that now means we are one step closer to being back on SDII!

Yes, Vandrefalk will be your "live" reporter since I'm much more lazy and prefer to do recaps once I've returned to earth and have weaned myself off those bottomless glasses of the bubbly (not that I ever indulge all that much, of course. ;)).

Vandrefalk: safe travels, and we will see you and Mr. Vandrefalk very, very soon! :D

"Yes, Vandrefalk will be your "live" reporter since I'm much more lazy and prefer to do recaps once I've returned to earth and have weaned myself off those bottomless glasses of the bubbly (not that I ever indulge all that much, of course. ;))."

Yeah, right, CDreamer :D

Zimmy, DH is taking half the clothes I am -- suspect he would miss some of them!!

We will do our best on reporting!

See ya soon, Sis!

Vandrefalk

Best wishes for smooth seas and fair weather. Know you will create the good energy that makes SD so perfect when it's perfect-- almost all the time.

Looking forward to those reports but since you don't have to get Internet for work promise not to nag

Enjoy those 1st day mussels:)

FT

Wishing you WONDERFUL travels--

have a cappucino at Caffe St. Eustachio for me before you get on board!

FT, thanks for the good travel wishes and fpebbles appreciate the cappuccino/cafe tip.

Zimmy, as fond as we are of Mr. Vandrefalk, we do not wish to see him running around the ship half nekkid, looking for his clothes! :eek:

Keep the light on, Sis - we're right behind you! :D

Vandrefalk,

The 2 week itinerary is great! Really covers a lot. I hope they still do the Cinque Terre Boat trip. We highly recommend it unless you have already done it on another voyage. Looking forward to you taking us all along with you. :D

Yall must be on board by now. I know you will have a ball.:D:D

Sorry not to report in sooner -- the hotel internet was not friendly and was expensive. So, we are HERE! :)

We enjoyed our two days in Rome -- using Rome Cabs (Claudio and Michael), we saw the aqueducts, old roman walls, Appian Way, Castle Gandolfo and environs, Hadrian's Villa and Villa D'Este. All very nice. Had a lovely dinner in town near the Spanish Steps (Live Restaurant -- CDreamer will likely post something on the Rome restaurants thread). Then drove to Trevi Fountation and threw the required coins to ensure our return to Rome! Claudio showed us some wonderful views of Rome, complete with almost full moon!

Yesterday, we headed to the port with a detour to Ceri -- a delightful hill town. We had a wine tasting and a lovely lunch. Arrived at the ship about 3:30 and were greeted by Capt Terje, Peter Rima, and Jeff Fithian. Somehow, we have never sailed with Peter in all our nights on SD and we look forward to getting to know him. Jamie is M'aitre D; Shaun Chief Bartender, Roland and Michael bartenders. Jasper is our waiter; June is here and several other familiar faces. Chela is at the concierge desk and Elena is Chief Purser, but we haven't seen her yet. Katherine is Assistant Club Director; Katherine is also the name of our cabin stewardess; and George is the pianist. Think that's all the names I can think of now!

We are Deck 4; CDreamers on 2. Dinner last night was good -- avocado and baby shrimp terrine and tournedos rossini for me and cointreau souffle for desert. Quick breakfast this morning before heading off to Montecassino -- a Benedictine monastery on top of a mountain that has been destroyed about four times, most recently in WW II. Quite spectacular. Gaeta is charming with an old fort and a cathedral up the hill. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of flies about today so opted not to wander the town. We head to Sicily in about an hour.

One note to FT -- no mussels today! Whatnot knows some folks on this week, one of whom mentioned the mussels, so I was surprised not to see them on the menu. Oh, well -- the lasagna was wonderful -- with Tomacz, what else would you expect?? We are hoping for a chef walk with him in either Amalfi or Sorrento -- dependent on when they finally decide to do Pompeii.

We were able to book excursions for this week in advance, but some have been cancelled. No info on next week, so we will see. I like the pre-booking option, but it still depends on numbers as to whether or not the tours go!

So, that's it for today -- I am trying to remember to take pictures of the menus so I can talk about them later :) It is soooooo good to be back on board!!

Vandrefalk

Lasagna in Italy with Peter and Jamie. Absolutely delicious. Even without what is now not always the first day tradition of mussels. Maybe later in the week :) sounds like so much fun. Peter and Jamie are our absolute favorite team so hope you enjoy this week. Thanks for making the hard effort to check in. Greatly appreciated back here.

FT

Hi karen. Thanks for taking the time to check in. Looking forward to more.:D One afternoon when you are on a Bali Bed, have an Espresso Martini for me. A great pick me up that I just cant make as well at home. :eek::D

Hi Karen this is Lena Olie's other half Glad you are back on SD2 and always like your reports and looking forward to this one.Too bad they did not have the mussels we always look forward to that the first day but all the food is good on SDWe will be getting on in Barcelona for the 15 day crossing/Hope Jamie and Peter still will be on. Is Werner on now I know he wll be on the crossing how about Frank the sommelier? Lloking forward to your reports and happy cruisingHi to Cdreamer

So glad to see some onboard reporting. Like everyone else here, I know the effort it takes and I thank you.

Can't wait to hear more, but first make sure you take care of your fun. We'll be here waiting.

Be safe.

So nice to hear from all of you! Wish you were all on board with us. The passenger mix is fairly low key -- no "cat woman" yet! Couple of groups of ladies -- some other groups and NO KIDS!!:D

Last night's dinner was grilled lobster -- DH had gratinee escargot and I mushroom veloute as starters. I did the 24 K chocolate fondant. I am so bad about remembering all the menu items!! Will try to remember to take pics of the menus so I can do a fuller report later. One thing I have to note: CDreamers are now gluten-free and you wouldn't believe the effort the crew goes to to take care of them! They get gluten-free toast in the morning and last night Jamie brought an entire plate of gluten-free appetisers for them! Only on SD :)

They also had an issue with vibration in the bed in their cabin -- and so got moved two doors down from us last night. Think they had to relocate the sales rep from Brazil :)

Today, we are in Trapani Sicily. Mrs. CDreamer is under the weather so is trying to get better, but Mr. CDreamer joined us on the tour to Segesta and Erice. Segesta is probably the best existing Greek temple around -- even though it was never formally finished. Quite impressive and gives you a sense of what other temples would have looked like. Did not make it to the ampitheatre there, however. One interesting thing was a pillar with the head of Medusa (one of the symbols of Sicily) at the temple, but with the **** baton and another Fascist symbol put there by Mussolini when he came to dedicate the train station near there. Then on to Erice, a charming mountain top town, which was hidden in the clouds when we got there. Very narrow winding streets, with cute little shops and flowers. Lots of marzipan (which I love) -- a leftover from the almond snacks the nuns used to make. Clouds lifted later and we had a good view of the valley. Lots and lots of inclines and steps and uneven walkways. I managed not to break anything (been there, done that) and certainly got my exercise today!

This afternoon will be quiet -- we sail at 5 for Malta, so probably won't walk around Trapani. We've been invited to dine with the Captain tonight. Tomorrow will be another walking tour.

Quick notes -- Yes, Frank is the sommilier and Werner is on board.

As you know, we were unfaithful to SD when we went to Alaska. Being back has just reinforced what was missing on Regent -- you just don't get the closeness with the crew that you do here. Plus, this is a special trip for us (25th anniversary) and they all seem to know it! It just doesn't get any better.

Do let me know what you want to hear about -- food, excursions, etc. and will do my best to comply. More later!

Vandrefalk

Thanks V.:D Looks like you hit the no kid jackpot. Love it when the mix is just right. We also had a bad vibration issue on SDI. We were 2 deck aft on the starboard side. VERY loud and actually shook the bed like one of those "Magic Fingers" beds but it never cut off.:eek: Had to finally corner the Captain and he managed to get whatever it was turned off during sleep hours. Still had it during the day and no open cabins to move to. Hope the weather stays nice for you. Keep the news coming.

Sounds like you're having fun! :)

Happy 25th. We had our 35th on SD2 this spring and was great. Glad Werner and Frank are on board. We had that cabin on deck 2 with he vibrations they never figured out what it could not move since they were full. Glad they got to move and hope Mrs Cdreamer will feel better soon.

Hello everyone, just a quick check in since Vandrefalk is the "official" reporter while on board.... ;)

Thanks for the good wishes. SD crew and doc are taking excellent care of me... well actually, they are spoiling the heck out of me! And while my throat still feels like I am swallowing razor blades (only symptom), my fever has broken and I feel much better overall. I am SO glad they were able to move us up to this cabin on deck 4, as I spent the whole day yesterday in bed and was able to get some much needed rest. Today we are in Malta so I am hoping to join Mr. CDreamer for a little walk around Valetta after lunch while the Vandrefalks (I believe) are taking the "walk through history" tour today.

Again, I cannot thank the SD crew enough for their TLC and genuine concern. They have been amazing! And if you're wondering why I'm not naming any specific crew members here it's because EVERYONE has been attentive - delivering food to my cabin day and night, asking how I am doing, preparing something special that is gluten free and sending it up to me, prescribing meds, etc etc etc. I can't imagine getting this kind of care on any other cruise line!

I'm glad you're feeling better and the crew is taking such excellent care of you. You're right that you'd probably never get that kind of service on any other line! :)

Thanks for the reports. Keeps us all going until on board ourselves. Likewise on wishing you the best on the anniversary. Hope all are back to full strength soon so get better with the able help of the top notch SD staff attention.

By the way, for future reference, which cabin on deck 2 seems to have the permanent shakes?

We look forward to future reports. As the cold weather settles in here in the USA Mid-Atlantic we all wish we were with you in warmer, sunnier climes!