pcrum

On 6/3/2023 at 9:00 AM, TravelBluebird said:

After brunch we (well I) decided to do some shopping. Left my tumbler for ice and drinks at home, and decided that already the late sea days have been cold enough that I wanted a sweatshirt or jacket. Plus I wanted my very first ship model, to have on shelve in my office where I tape the “talkie” part of my videos at home.

 

SO $128 later, we had 1 Carnival Venezia sweatshirt (cheapest but soft and hopefully warm one we could find—$49), one red Carnival tumbler for water and ice so I don’t have to keep buying water bottles ($16.95–they were $12.95 the day we boarded but those prices were crossed out and this is the new price) and the standard ship model at $59.95).

 

The glass inaugral-only model is really, really nice, but was $129.95 and very heavy.  Would look great in my office though…maybe I should do a return//exchange and pay the extra?  Can’t decide.

 

I lost my eyelash curler and although the makeup store is extensive, no eyelash curler. So if I look extra sleepy in videos this week you’ll know why 😂

 

Finally, the makeup store had a good selection of Sundry items, unlike the Carnival Mardi Gras in March. Photo below.

 

 

 

 

They used to give those tumblers to you for free when you purchased a soda package.  I had a bunch from when my kids were little that I just donated. 

8 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

Finally figured out how to get a bagel on day 9

 

 

What is the secret to getting a bagel?

5 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Sorry y’all Oia is fantastic. I feel like I’m walking in a postcard. We walked all over. We stopped to have a beer and a snack so I’ll catch you up. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!  It's your vacay!  We can wait!!

5 hours ago, purpleally said:

Two hours!!!  In May, it was maybe 20 minutes and then we walked down

Do you know about crowds in Sept/Oct?  I'm thinking to book for either next May or Sept/Oct.  I definitely want to avoid the crowds.  I live in Orlando, tourist central, and know what summer crowds are like, lol.  

The Anne Frank House. Your kids are the right age to appreciate it. You might need to book ahead. Not sure if it’s past tulip season, but Keukenhof Gardens is a short excursion from Amsterdam. 

And forget about ordering a classic champagne cocktail, which has a sugar cube soaked in cognac in the bottom of the glass, topped with champagne, 

Angostura bitters, and a lemon peel.
 

Celebrity did not have sugar cubes, not that the bartender had the faintest idea what I was asking for. Have never tried on Carnival. 
 

Cooper’s Hawk makes the perfect champagne cocktail. 

28 minutes ago, purpleally said:

I’m trying to find a decent excursion from Malaga to Gibraltar. Not a cruise excursion, we are staying in Malaga a few days before our cruise

Sorry, I cannot help you.  We took an excursion via NCL.  With the amount of travel involved, we felt safer with a ship's tour so that we didn't left behind. 

I work with people from Granada who told me the Alhambra was not to be missed. But, out TA cruise did not dock in Gibraltar, only Malaga, so we opted to do Gibraltar as an excursion from Malaga to see the monkeys instead. 
 

What were your impressions of the Alhambra? I hope to make it there on our next trip. 
 

Enjoying the trip report. 

57 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

This is why I love Europe. A glass of wine is the same price as a soft drink. And, the dollar to Euro exchange is very good now!

4 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Port planning-

After flights were booked, I did a deep dive into “things not to miss”. We aren’t huge Greek mythology people so Athens will most likely be our only “pile of rocks” interest. Beyond that, Santorini is really the highlight for me. DH, of course, wants to snorkel whenever and however. 
Santorini- The main issue here is getting to the top. Without an excursion, you can hike the stairs, wait in line for a cable car or ride a donkey. VV’s shore things had an excursion I liked that took you by boat to Oia and a couple of other stops for $35 pp. Then, magically, one day in the middle of April, it went up to $75 pp. I read, on the ports of call Greece page here on CC, that there was a boat company that would do the same thing for 30 euros pp, so I reserved the earliest tender time, 9am, on the app when they were posted, and the plan is to use that company to forego the Fira steps/cable car line, and get to Oia to explore on our own time. That’s most definitely going to be the longest port day because I want to try to catch the sunset from the port area before catching a tender back. 
Rhodes- plan is to explore the old town and maybe go to a beach. 
Bodrum- I’ve booked a Pirate ship excursion, outside of VV. It has 4 swim/snorkel spots and included lunch and drinks. I’d like to ride a camel at Camel Beach. After the excursion, hopefully head to the bazaar and shop. 
Mykonos- head to a beach club early before it gets too rowdy. I booked our tender time on the app for 10am. Clean up and go to dinner in Little Italy and explore. Probably enjoy some nightlife. 
All that really hinges on the TBD included excursion that we will learn more about Friday. 

Looking forward to your port information, especially Santorini.  It's on our list!!  Wishing you a wonderful trip.  The weather looks great for you!

Was the ship offering excursions to Alhambra from Malaga?  

8 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

For those who don’t know I was actually born about 50 miles from Venice. Not Venice beach….Venice in Italy. That was one of the things that made this more interesting for me. I was born and naturalized there.

 

It’s one of those things where I don’t think I needed to be naturalized. Both of my parents are American. But I was born in an Italian hospital. I have an Italian birth certificate. And the way the story goes is the hospital was very adamant that I was an Italian baby.
 

There was concern that I could be eligible to be drafted into the Italian army one day. So one of my dad’s Italian friends came to town with us and helped me get naturalized.

 

 

Can you get an EU passport as well as your American one?  Would make traveling easier.

1 hour ago, TxTeach79 said:

Home again. Early morning in Gibraltar… guests ashore at 7:15. We won’t be that early, but not too much later. This is one of the two days we don’t have anything booked in advance, just gonna walk into town and wing it 

 

It’s so easy to get a bus tour to go up the mountain or take the cable car. The monkeys are not to be missed. They are a riot. I could have watched them all day. I’d skip the caves, but the monkeys are so fun!

On 5/19/2023 at 5:26 PM, IntrepidFromDC said:

Just 10 days til the 15-day TA cruise starts!  I'm so excited to see the branding differentiation. I really have a feeling the "fun" is going to be dialed back a bit. Instead of Hairy Chest Contest it'll be Baci Ball.

I am hoping Venezia is different from regular Carnival cruises. If it is, it just might bring us back to Carnival after a 10 year hiatus. We turned platinum just as we discovered we preferred other lines. 

Just now, BlerkOne said:

Thank you. Hmmm. Were you on my tour? We went on an 8 hour tour.

https://www.spaindaytours.com/barcelona-tours/montserrat-tour/

 

 

Our trip was in May, 2019. We disembarked the NCL Epic and got the tour from the port and then it dropped us off at our hotel. Our tour was to Montserrat and then to Park Guell. We would have loved to do a cava tour, but it was not an option when we booked. 
 

What did you think of the tour? We were not impressed with that co. We also used them during this same trip in Seville and also were disappointed. Both of our tour guides seem disinterested and rushed us through everything. I was surprised, as I had read many good reviews of this company. 

Did you do Montserrat on your own or with a tour? We did it with Spain for a Day tour co., but would like to try it on our own next time, as we felt rushed on the tour. Your photos are gorgeous. 

4 hours ago, HelloItsMeB said:

My dermatologist would be very proud of my #protection. 

Love the hat!! I’m right there with you, as I’ve had far too many basal cell skin cancers removed! Love the glasses too! 

The room is such an improvement over other Carnival ships! Love the mural. The balcony seems larger too. 

I don’t usually consider myself to be a sentimental person, but I got goosebumps looking at your photos of the wall with the names of those who died in the Vietnam War. Such a sacrifice!!

6 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

Whale tail looks shiny and new 

 

 

Hell, after the last few days, so do we!

 

Aww, such a lovely photo. Wishing you two a wonderful vacay! You’ve come through the luggage debacle. Only good times ahead!!

2 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I guess we should get to dinner.

 

 

For me, there is just one choice in Barcelona: seafood paella and manchego cheese. It’s a steal in Spain, but very pricey in USA. And Rioja wine! 

4 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

HAL should serve those beers. They gave the t-shirts about their “Dam” ships. 

18 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Yeah as expected he was overly nice about it. Told me he would hold the suitcase for me all day if I wanted. And I could continue to use the hotel facilities like the rooftop lounge all day tomorrow if I want. 

 

Sometimes the front desk will have adapters you can borrow.  We were able to borrow one in Barcelona for our 2 night stay. 
 

edited: looks like I quoted the wrong post. This was about adapters to charge your devices. 

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

That was wrong. Not a single chip in this area. 
 

 

 

They do have all the maple syrup you could want though 

 

 

 

 

Not a fan of maple syrup, but if that Cadbury is the real stuff from the UK, I’d be all over that. The stuff you can buy in America tastes nothing like the British version. 

 

 

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I did not move my standard headphones to this bag so no inflight movie for me. The girl across the aisle is watching ticket to Paradise and I’m a bit jealous. 
 

They do have a good selection of
Movies. 

You are not missing anything with Ticket to Paradise. With such a good cast, I was surprised at how bad the film was!