ladylemondrop

Thankfully we are not flying home. But I still have to carry it somehow… my case was so full already when I got here!

Tonight we dined at Le Petit Chef, it was fun, and the food was tasty, nothing too fancy but very nice anyway. We love the animations it’s just childish fun. My husband loved the lobster and said it’s one of the best things he’s had this cruise. Dessert is basic, ice cream. After dinner we went to the Full Moon Party, by the pool, even though the weather is a bit windy, it was very well attended. It wasn’t my favourite choice of music but I understand you can’t please everyone at a disco. (Was old stuff and I prefer modern pop) People let their hair down though! IMG_4085.mov

The shuttle bus was return and was free. I just don’t think they had time to check tickets etc it was so busy and such a short window in port. I spent waaayyy too much on soap! Everyone back home is getting soap…

We didn’t have long in port today, and it takes a good half hour by shuttle (free) from the ship to the cathedral. I would not recommend trying to walk… We went into the beautiful cathedral, and then walked through the tiny winding streets of Le Panier district, yes, scruffy, but so full of character! It was interesting. We bought lots of soaps to take home as gifts. We are now ‘home’ again already at 1pm. We have been invited to the Helipad sailaway but it’s very hot up there with no shade so we will probably stay by the pool in the shade.

Yes having a really wonderful time we have absolutely no complaints at all, a few very minor niggles but nothing worth dwelling on. The biggest noticeable difference is the sheer volume of people compared to last year. That’s not a fault of the cruise line, that’s just luck. As in, last year we were lucky it sailed half empty! We are hoping our tour in Cadiz is not 5 coach loads full. Today we are in Marseille and just doing our own thing.

Oh, in Tuscan…they are to die for! So creamy, I wish they would serve like this in the main dining room…

The house band are really good , they are called higher love - IMG_4038.mov

Tuscan - it was wonderful. We had a lovely view of the aft whilst sailing away. The food is so plentiful, it’s like a good challenge, be ready!! Get those stretchy trousers/pants out! After dinner we had a walk around the ship for digestive purposes, the pool always looks so nice at night. We finished with cocktails at the world class bar, just amazing, they are superb… Shuby is a very bad influence and gave us shots as well. Fred, you have a lot to answer for!!!

Pisa! We took a train, all by ourselves (we had a bus tour originally but it got cancelled last minute by Viator) Katie really really wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so we braved the train. We got the shuttle bus from the port, to the terminal then a taxi from right outside to La Spezia Centrale Station, 15 euros. Tickets cost 33euros total for 4 people. Bargain! The train took an hour and a quarter. It arrives at Pisa San Rossare, and is a five minute walk to the left when you exit the station (you can see the tower clearly) easy! We spent a while at the Tower taking those obligatory photos that everyone does. Then we walked down Corsa Italia for some shopping therapy. There are a lot of fabulous shops and it was shaded too which helped. George wanted an authentic pizza lunch experience so we had to go to a specific restaurant that had been extensively researched. It worked out to be a great call, it was very tasty and we needed the rest after a lot of walking. Our train back was on time, the trains are nice with double decks, toilets and clear instructions of which stop you are at. I would definitely travel that way again. It was a tiring day so as you can see (much to my sons amusement) we had a nap on the way back. Tonight we are back in Tuscan Grill for dinner. More food……

Last nights dinner, great table at the back of the MDR - the wait staff here are just excellent, we had Lloyd, Tony, and Tapas the sommelier, all went so over and above for everyone around us, we were told if we want anything extra, or see something on someone else’s table we like - ask! They will bring! They also offered us chefs special appetisers (not had this experience before, maybe they have had a lot of feedback about menus) they were clam chowder, and seafood crepe, both excellent. We also asked for fries instead of mash and they brought so many we laughed (sorry I didn’t get a photo of them but you know what fries look like) they were good fries! We had clam chowder, seafood crepe, then Pork Schnitzel, and BBQ ribs, all delicious I have to say. No complaints at all. Before dinner we went to the Ensemble bar (near Murano) for drinks, it’s really lovely quiet place with soothing jazz style music. After dinner was a bit quiet around the martini bar, we hope they will bring some more music fun back again soon. We did ask them to do some juggling etc, as they haven’t done any of that classic martini high jinx at all yet. We have noticed however that the Cruise Director, Pete, seems very multi talented - he has hosted a hypnosis show, a late night comedy show as well as doing his other regular entertainment work. Tomorrow we are in La Spezia (Pisa). IMG_3929.mov IMG_3941.mov

9237 - really great cabin! Am sure 9241 is too…

I heard from another passenger today that they loved Constellation, they said the staff were really fun, and it was a lovely ship still.

This was my ‘Italian’ lunch by the pool this afternoon……not quite as healthy!!!😂 Thats a frozen strawberry daiquiri with chocolate swirl. Another one off my list…..

The cookery class was great fun according to my son and his girlfriend, they made and ate their own Italian lunch. It was 80 euros pp. The website is - https://cookingclassincivitavecchia.com/ They highly recommend this! Great alternative to trekking into Rome.

Today we just headed into Civitavecchia on our own. Our son and his girlfriend have gone on a private cookery class here in town but we just wanted a quiet wander. It was very hot today, 29 degrees Celsius. We saw the market, lots of nice fish there, then the cathedral, before heading to the seafront. We saw the kissing couple statue, and everyone taking selfies etc. The beach is a bit scruffy but the water looked ok. We used the free shuttle bus to get from the port and back. The ship have a stand to welcome you back with cold drinks etc, very nice touch. As always we had a nice time but feel happy to be ‘home’ on the ship! IMG_3899.mov IMG_3909.mov

We love to sit at the High Tops near the entrance, just goes back to when the kids were younger so they could find us easily after sleeping in!

This mornings sweet treat in the Oceanview buffet - Sticky Buns. This is the one cake I can’t resist, it was warm, gooey and worth every calorie!

Pool bar is the best place for the milkshake style cocktails. They also offer a mudslide, a French Caribbean and a Miami Vice (half pina colada, half strawberry daiquiri) They are mostly ice, some milk, and the alcohol, don’t forget to ask them for the chocolate swirl.

Oh and one more picture - drinks by the pool today, Frozen Toasted Almond, from my list that I acquired on cruise critic! Delicious. We have also tried a lot of the martinis listed here, we are very diligent in our studies 🤣

Hcat, ducks is just something that people do on cruises for fun! I only found out about it recently but we joined in and it is something that just puts a smile on your face, the guys at the Martini bar were squeaking one tonight every time they got a tip. Lawn club was good, just as we remembered it, really tasty home style food. A lovely laid back atmosphere too. I will let the photos speak for themselves…. I had a proper dessert tonight!! (And a cheeky night cap martini of course) 😉 early night for me. There’s a huge storm it’s wonderful to watch on the balcony.

Yes, still wooden!

I will look when I go up to swim and let you know. 👍🏻

I started the day by randomly finding a duck! She’s very cute 🐣 An apology - I did not get any photos from last nights dinner, we shared a table in the MDR with two other couples and I didn’t want to be that rude person with their phone out during dinner. Our table was situated a bit better, that’s the good news. The bad news- food was pretty average. I had Steak Dianne with Hasselback potatoes. The steak was tough and over cooked, the potato was not hasselback just one tiny piece of roasted potato. Disappointing. The snails seem to be a hit though, the chap next to us says he has two portions every evening! I opted for liquid dessert again at the Martini bar… These cocktails are too good… Today we went to Cagliari Sardinia. Our tour was Panoramic sightseeing (from the bus) and a stop at a Tuscan farmhouse for cheese and wine tasting. It was busy, five coach loads of us all descended on the farmhouse, and I was a little overwhelmed by it, we usually do small group tours but I didn’t organise any this time. This was the moment I wished I had! The food was excellent of course, locally sourced salami, cheese and prosciutto, served with white or red wine and very gracious Italian hospitality. Afterwards we drove past the salt lakes and saw Flamingoes! Now that was exciting. They apparently arrived in Sardinia in 1993 and haven’t left. We couldn’t get a good photo as they were not close enough. They look so elegant. Tonight’s dinner is at the Lawn Club. I’m already dreaming of carrot cake!

Hi Fred! I’m here with Shuby he says he will message you! And he is looking forward to seeing you 😃

Great advice! I’m ashamed to admit I only managed one Mangotini, it was delicious but am pacing myself so that I can partake of more martinis later. 😁 Food at Sushi on Five was good, presented nicely and the restaurant was peaceful which was appreciated on this busy sea day. We had Shrimp Wonton, Edamame, Pork Gyoza for appetisers. Followed by ramen noodles, one was tempura shrimp, one pork, one lobster. All hearty and delicious. Like a bowl of warm wellness… Bill was approx $25 per person. Its a beautiful day at sea too, thought you might like to see the view from our hump balcony… Am currently enjoying this view, while reading my book (Anxious people by Fredrik Backman who wrote A man called Ove, which is equally brilliant!) Does life get better than this? IMG_3788.mov