LIVE from the Ruby Princess - VENICE to BARCELONA; May 17th to May 29th

[HKM]

Thanks for the Starbucks info. Too bad it didn't work. Mykonos sounds like fun. Sorry to see your trip ending - we've enjoyed cruising along. :-)

[caribill]

Pia - One question that has been asked on CC before but has never had a definitive answer --

 

If a couple reserves a single chair in the Sanctuary, can they share it by only one of them using it at a time?

 

If you have a chance to find out, the boards would like to know (at least for the Ruby).

[Pia1913]

Good Morning from Civitavecchia; coolish, but sun is shining. No rain in sight. I hope. It's very early, so this will be brief. We are getting off the ship before 8; all day tour to countryside. Cerveteri, Neri, etc., all places we've never been. Private tour arranged by someone on our roll call.

Bill, sorry you didn't ask that question sooner, but I will try to find out for you when I go to the gym tomorrow.

See you all later.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

 

 

Looks very early Pia.

Have a great day in the countryside.

[painfree]

Hi Pia..

 

Looking forward to your comments on this tour..We have a similar tour of the Italian countryside booked for this fall with Fabrizio for Rome In Limo..Thanks for sharing your cruise with us..

 

Carol

[regnig]

Pia here's hoping you are enjoying your tour today. We look forward to hearing about it upon your return.

 

Barb

[Pia1913]

OK..........so.....sometimes you hit it good and sometimes you get a bomb. Today's "tour" was ............. I really can't explain because it was no tour. It was a van with a driver, a visit to a necropolis/museum (entry not included) and lots and lots of sitting on our behinds; either in a van or on a bench. Oh yes, a 2 hour lunch at some out of the way restaurant (that's where the bench comes in; we didn't do it) definitely preplanned by the driver. A 45 minute stop around noon at a lake area for no apparent reason and told to be back at the van at a certain time. This would have been a nice place to stop for lunch; many restaurants, cafes and gelaterias/pizzerias. However, we soon learned why we didn't stop here. A quickie stop at a place for wine tasting. A joke. I won't even give it any credibility at all.

Back to the ship by 4:30. Best part of the day was stopping at the IC and getting a hot chocolate for Mike and a double shot Americano for me. BTW, we were caffeine deprived, but didn't go hungry. I had taken 2 peaches from the ship, and I always carry granola bars. Just in case. ;)

Carol: Sorry. I know this is not what you wanted to hear. However, others may have another opinion. I would suggest you consider Orvieto and Tarquinia instead of this one.

[Pia1913]

Just an aside. There must be at least six other ships in port with us today. I cringe when I think of what Rome must be like with all those people trying to get into the Sistine, Vatican, St. Peters, etc.

[san diego sue]

Hi Pia,

Boy you got stuck both times you took private tours. You should have been on our private ones last cruise. Our Guide was so much more than a driver. He knew his stuff, had reasonable places to stop for lunch. One stop, because he said didn't want us to waste any time, he picked up sandwiches and wine and we ate in a nice park area.

For others , he is Fabrizio with AllaroundItaly. We used him for Rome,Florence, and our another Rome stop we went to Orvieto and Bagnoregio.

He had the personality you would want to see in a typical Italian. first time we thought he really talked too much but loved him in the end. He lives in Rome ,

got to our ports for pickup right on time.

Gloria

[Pia1913]

Me again. Almost made an OOPS. I was changing for dinner when I realized I never gave you the entertainment du jour. Tonight's feature in the theater is the International Crew Show. MUTS has My One and Only, Explorer's has music only by East Coast Connection and Fusion is doing trivia; first "Where in the World Am I" , followed by Movie Poster trivia. I haven't mentioned the ECC group, because while the music is OK, the leader is awful. He sings. He shouldn't.

I also didn't post my limerick because they didn't read any this AM. So I'm neither a winner nor a loser. But this was my submission.

Naples, the port for Capri,

Had sights that I wanted to see.

Vesuvius, Pompeii,

See it all in one day?

Impossible - that just could not be!

OK. Time to go to Adagio for my yummy marguerita. Mike is into strawberry daquiris. :D

[Woobstr112G]

Pia;

 

Thanks so much for allowing us to virtually tag along with you. I've enjoyed reading all of your posts from your grand journey.....:):):)

 

Bob

[painfree]

Pia..

 

Good, Bad or indifferent..Your tour, ship and entertainment reviews are greatly appreciated..Thanks for sharing..

 

I goofed...Our tour is with Fabrizio from AllAroundItaly..I booked this tour 6 months ago and Fabrizio has assured us he will be our driver/guide..He came highly recommended by a friend..Hoping for a more productive and entertaining outcome..

 

Thanks again Pia for allowing us to travel along with you..

 

Carol

[pgintct]

Pia..

I goofed...Our tour is with Fabrizio from AllAroundItaly..I booked this tour 6 months ago and Fabrizio has assured us he will be our driver/guide..He came highly recommended by a friend..Hoping for a more productive and entertaining outcome..

 

Carol

Carol..... You absolutely cannot go wrong with Fabrizio. I was on a tour with him last April and he is well worth the money. Just kind of sorry you already have him booked when we are in Rome because I was going to contact him.

Paul:(

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Just an aside. There must be at least six other ships in port with us today. I cringe when I think of what Rome must be like with all those people trying to get into the Sistine, Vatican, St. Peters, etc.

 

Just to add to Pias comment...The 6 other ships in port were...

 

26-May-10 07:00 26-May-10 20:00 Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 17525

Norwegian Jade, Voyager Of The Seas, Aurora, MSC Lirica, Costa Deliziosa, Thomson Destiny

 

The figure of 17,525 represents the number of passengers in port that day.

 

Boy ,that Med can get busy.

 

 

[stinesheri]

Hi Pia,

 

We will be on the Venice to Barcelona leg on July 4th. I may have missed it in your earlier posts - do you have traditional or anytime dining, and how has the food been for dinner?

 

Thanks!

 

cs

[painfree]

Carol..... You absolutely cannot go wrong with Fabrizio. I was on a tour with him last April and he is well worth the money. Just kind of sorry you already have him booked when we are in Rome because I was going to contact him.

Paul:(

 

Hi Paul..

 

Was your tour organized by Amelia?...She had raved about Fabrizio and the popularity of his tours, so I booked really early..Since we have 2 visits to Rome on our 28 itinerary, I opted for tour of the Italian countryside and have a tour of Rome/Vatican scheduled for our second visit..

 

Carol

[pgintct]

Hi Paul..

 

Was your tour organized by Amelia?...She had raved about Fabrizio and the popularity of his tours, so I booked really early..Since we have 2 visits to Rome on our 28 itinerary, I opted for tour of the Italian countryside and have a tour of Rome/Vatican scheduled for our second visit..

 

Carol

Yes...... We went to Orvieto and I cannot remember the name of a small town on the top of a hill that we had to walk over a steep bridge to get to. I know I have it written somewhere.

[san diego sue]

Did those tours with Fabrizio. Orvieto and the town up on the hill is Bagnoregio. Not a easy walk. Fabrizio told us that our group was the first to make it. He may have been joking. We did the 28 day April 19- May 17th.

Also he took us to Florence and also Rome.

He advised us to get Vatican tickets as well as Colliseum tickets on line and the correct admission times.

Fabrizio has a few drivers that work for him. We were lucky to have him all three times.

[pgintct]

Yes....... you were extremely fortunate to have had him for all of your tours. I think he tells all of his groups that they are the first to make the trek. That's what makes him so special.

[FritzG]

Carol..... You absolutely cannot go wrong with Fabrizio. I was on a tour with him last April and he is well worth the money. Just kind of sorry you already have him booked when we are in Rome because I was going to contact him.

Paul:(

 

Ask Fabrizio to give you Aldo in Rome. We loved him when he was our guide in Rome on May 1st.

[painfree]

Hi Everyone..

 

This is like a 1st year reunion...Thanks for the postive feedback..Our first T/A was a huge success and know our upcoming cruise will be great too..For those who will be joining us...See you on board!!...

 

Carol

[Pia1913]

Good morning from freezing Livorno; overcast and drizzling. Can't tell you exact temp, but for us it's cold. Might feel better once we change out of our gym clothes.

Sanctuary info for Bill and others: Yes, a couple can interchange Sanctuary use whether they buy a day pass or an entire cruise pass. Your cabin number is entitled to one chair and they don't care who is in it. This is as per Vernon, with whom I spoke only five minutes ago.

Nothing planned for today, so we may take the shuttle out of here. Less than 2 miles into town but we are not allowed to walk in the port area. Shuttle is 5 Euros/PP and is good all day. In port with us this morning is Voyager of the Seas and Insignia (Oceania)

On board movie this afternoon is My One and Only and we will probably see that at 2:00 PM. Tonight in the Princess Theater is the pianist Linda Gentille; she was on the last cruise. In Explorer's that band is playing early, followed by Peer Factor at 9:30. MUTS has Michael Jackson's This is It and Fusion is doing trivia, followed by karaoke.

I believe our CD thinks we've won enough free drink, since he stopped reading the submitted limericks. Here's the latest one:

Civitavecchia is hard to pronounce,

But what I'm telling you is what really counts.

You'll go into port,

Take a tour of some sort,

And end up buying wine by the ounce.

Ciao for now.

Oh yes, CS, you wanted to know about food. This picky eater has found more to eat on this cruise than on any others. We never take traditional dining, but in essence we usually dine at the same time every night and we do have our same waitstaff. I need that, because my wonderful waiter Carlos tells me what to do. :D

[regnig]

Pia I'm so sorry that your tour yesterday turned out to be the pits :eek: as it seemed you were looking forward to it.

 

Don't you just love it when your waiter not only makes suggestions but that they are right on the mark! :D

 

James must really be getting ready to get of the ship.

 

Barb

[Pia1913]

Hi again. It's just about 4:00 PM and time for some vino. Saw the movie I mentioned this morning with

Renee Zelweger. I rate it a C, Mike's rating is D-. Price of admission was right, though.

Went into Livorno, walked around a few hours, found the booming market I had remembered and bought sunglasses. Now it's ti,e to start thinking about packing since our luggage tags have been delivered. We are scheduled for a 6:15 AM departure. UGH!

Barb: It's just part of travelling; some bad, which never outweighs the good. We just laugh and go on. ;)

[CruzinNoony]

Hi Pia,

 

We saw Linda Gentile on our TA Star cruise. If you haven't made plans for your evening entertainment, you might pop in on her. We thought she was awesome!:)