BREEZEing through the Mediterranean 6/27 - 7/9/12

[jonbgd]

Hmmm... not sure about that. There was a tax at the Steakhouse. We had reserved it at the old price of $30 each, and there was a tax of $4.80 added to our $60 tab.

 

Other than drinks, we actually bought almost nothing on board. I am almost certain the drinks had only the 15% gratuity added, no tax.

 

I made one small purchase in the gift shop near the end of the cruise, just a little pin and a postcard. Not sure if tax was added or not.

 

We did not purchase anything else, no photos, nothing from the shops. Nada. Oh wait, we did buy a pass to the thrill theater. There was no tax on that.

 

We did use our S&S card to put cash on the machines in the casino (it's all electronic, you don't even have to feed money in the machine anymore). This was just charged even money, no service fees or added charges of any kind.

 

Sorry, don't know if that fully answers your question.

 

I agree with you about the decor, by the way. It was very nice. Our only other cruise was on the Ecstasy which was all neon and glitz. I liked the Breeze much better.

Thanks I had read cruises originating from Barcelona had the tax. Maybe I miss read

[Irishlinny]

Becky, fabulous review so far! Love all the pics...even though we're sailing on the US inaugural, I'm still loving the photos of Europe! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for all of us eager beavers here!:):):)

[luckybecky]

Thanks everyone for the compliments. :)

 

Weary Traveller, I'm sorry to say that I somehow forgot to take photos of the casino, guess I was just too busy losing my money. (But had a little good luck at the end!)

 

Here's the breakfast menu, which you can hang out the night before, which we did on the days we had to get an early start. We always wrote in BLT so we could have bacon and toast for breakfast, and they always brought it. It's on the regular room service menu, which is available 24 hours a day, so no biggie to get it for breakfast.

 

[luckybecky]

Friday, June 29

 

 

We again had arranged a private tour for eight. We used a company called LimoinRome. Please note this very important distinction from a popular company called RomeinLimo. They are not the same! I had emailed several times about the tour we wanted with a guy named Claudio who was very helpful and always answered my inquiries very promptly. Although most cruisers visit Pisa, we decided that there is so much to do in Florence, we would skip Pisa and spend the full day in Florence. Port time was 7am to 7pm (back on board time 6:30). We had agreed upon a tour from 8am to 6pm at a cost of 540 euro for 8 persons.



 

 

We met up with our group in the lobby around 7:45 and disembarked. By the way, all ports except Barcelona used the gangway on deck 0. We found our guide easily. His name was Abbas. He said he was from Iraq and had lived in Italy for 35 years, since the age of 19. He immediately announced that we would be going to Pisa first. Of course we corrected him and said this was not the tour we had planned. He managed to recalibrate his plans pretty easily and took us directly to Florence. He gave us a little commentary as he drove, but he also answered his cell phone several times and conducted lengthy conversations. Not very professional or safe, in my opinion.



 

 



 

 



It took about an hour to drive to Florence. First, we went to Piazzale Michelangelo which provided stunning views of the city.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of our fellow roll call members posing for pictures

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we had a short drive to the Basilica di Santa Croce, a lovely church with beautiful art, and the burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo and others. This church was not crowded. Everyplace else we went for the rest of the day would be swarming with people.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

Note that if you are not dressed appropriately (shoulders and knees covered) they will not let you in. However, they had a handy vending machine near the entrance where you could purchase a paper robe to cover yourself.

 

 



 

 



We returned to the van to find Abbas taking a nap. Next he drove us to within about a block of the Duomo. Here, he dropped us off with a map, a scrap of paper with our reservation numbers for the Uffizi and Accademia, and instructions on where to meet him later in the afternoon. We walked to the Duomo and took some pictures. Abbas had discouraged us from trying to go inside, saying that the lines were too long and we would not have time. Someone from the ship later told us that the line moved very fast and really wasn’t a big problem, but it is true that we would have been challenged for time with everything we wanted to see.



 

 

We took some pictures of the exterior of the Duomo and the Baptistry doors. This area was very crowded and there were a number of beggars, some of whom were rather persistent and would come right up to you shaking a cup with a few coins in it.



 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we made the short walk to the Uffizi, stopping along the way for lunch at this place:

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

The tour company had reserved tickets in advance for Uffizi. This is one of the finest art galleries in the world. Tickets cost 15 euro per person, not included in the price of the tour. If you want to see the Uffizi gallery, do make the advance reservations. The line to pick up reserved tickets was nothing, but the line for those without reservations was quite long. We were a little confused where to go to pick up our tickets, but we figured it out. Our guide might have been helpful here, but we had not seen him since before lunch. This gallery is full of amazing art. We spent about an hour there and felt that we really had rushed through. You could easily spend much more time. Here’s a guy getting ready to start his day’s work pretending to be a statue.

 

 



 

 



When we left the Uffizi, we had just a short time before we were supposed to meet Abbas, so we sprinted over to the nearby Rialto bridge for a photo op, but really had no time to look around.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



On to meet our guide. He advised that we had 3pm reservations for entrance to the Accademia, but he wanted to get us there early and told us that it should take us only a few minutes inside to see David. He then told us we would be proceeding back to the ship as soon as we finished looking at David. We objected, saying our tour was scheduled to last until 6pm, and it is only an hour drive back to the ship. Abbas got pretty agitated. I was sort of the de facto spokesperson because I was the one who had arranged the tour, so I tried to explain the arrangements we had made with Claudio, but Abbas repeatedly interrupted me and would not let me speak. Abbas kept telling me that I would be responsible if we missed the ship (it was by now only a few minutes after 3, sail time was 7pm). When I mentioned that the tour I had arranged with Claudio involved a drive through the Tuscan countryside, Abbas kept insisting “impossible, madame, impossible!!”



Now anytime I ask my husband to do anything, he tells me “impossible madame!” in his best Iraqi-Italian accent. :) Paul felt that there was a cultural divide going on here and Abbas was not accustomed to having a woman talk back to him. We all felt that he was eager to end his day early, regardless of what I had arranged with Claudio.

 

 



Finally Abbas did agree to take us on a drive, but he had pretty much soured us on the rest of the afternoon. And to our astonishment, he stopped to fill the van up with gas, with us in it! Now, if you were running a tour company, wouldn’t you make sure you had enough fuel before you picked up your clients? Or at least he could have filled up during the 3 hours or so he left us alone in the city.

 

 



When we got home from our cruise, I emailed Claudio and told him about the problems we had and he was very apologetic. He agreed to refund $100 of our tour price, which he mailed to me in cash. I appreciated his attention to the problems we described. He seems like he wants to do a good job and apologized for Abbas who he said acted outside of his standard.

[luckybecky]

We got back on board around 5:15pm. Went to our room to change clothes. I had tried to pack light, but it was so extremely hot everywhere, I was going through two changes of clothes a day. Paul was tired and didn’t want to take the time to eat in the MDR, so we went to the lido buffet. I had the Mongolian Wok, which I had loved on the Ecstasy but didn’t enjoy as much this time. The Schezuan sauce was very spicy, as warned, but didn’t seem to have much flavor, only heat. The veggie choices were not my favorites for stir-fry either. Who puts peas and corn in stir-fry? There was no broccoli, carrots, mushrooms – but 2 kinds of cabbage. Paul wasn’t too impressed with the buffet either. It was passable, but not great. We did notice that it often had some of the same selections (but not all) being offered in the MDR for that evening.

 

 

We had a look at the candy store, where all the bulk candy sold for $8.80 per pound.



 

 



 

 



Later, we went to see the 8:30 pm comedy show with Smiley Joe Wiley. He was funny, but this was a family show and it was definitely geared toward kids – lots of poop and fart jokes. The kids in the audience loved him. At 9:45 we saw the adult show with Jason Blanchard. He was pretty raunchy, funny, but didn’t just totally knock my socks off. When we went back to our room, we had a surprise from John Heald! I’m not sure what we did to deserve this (maybe because I had contacted him about the Meet & Greet?), but it was much appreciated!



 

 



 

 



We called our kids from our room $1.99 per minute. The connection was a little choppy but not too bad.

 

Here's the towel animal Pavlo made for us today.

 

 

Next up: Rome!

[ripjerry95]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I am looking forward to making a plan to cruise the Breeze.

[luckybecky]

I was really looking forward to seeing Rome. One of the reasons we chose this itinerary was that we had an overnight in Rome which would allow us much more time to see the city. We had decided early in our planning that we would spend the night in Rome and not return to the ship overnight to maximize our time there.

 

We did not plan any formal excursions here. We got up pretty early and had a big breakfast. I tried the omelet station. This was one of my favorite breakfasts, and I will end up eating there several more times during the cruise. A nice guy named Negara made my omelets every time, and he also worked the Mongolian Wok at night. I don’t think he ever got any time off.

 

Look what we found at the Lido pool on our way to breakfast:

 

 

 

I think this towel animal invasion is something new that they’ve started doing, I’ve heard it reported on a couple of other ships.

 

We packed very light for our overnight stay because we didn't want to have to haul a heavy suitcase. We got off the ship and started walking but soon realized we should have taken the shuttle. We were very far from the top of the pier. So when we reached the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas, we hopped on the shuttle there. The shuttle lets you off right at the fort, at the exit from the pier area. I had researched online how to take the train, so we knew pretty much to do. Here's a very helpful youtube video if you are going to be making this trip.

 

Buy the BIRG ticket for 12 euro, which will get you to Rome via the train, and allows unlimited travel on the bus and metro for the day. There was a shop immediately outside the pier selling these tickets, and had a long line. We skipped it, walked 20 feet further to the next shop, where we purchased our ticket with no line at all. We took the short walk to the train station and it was pretty easy to figure out what train to get on. It's not a large station. Don't forget to validate your ticket before you get on the train. The train was pretty crowded but we did get seats. There were a few people who had to stand. It took about an hour to get to the Termini station in Rome.

[luckybecky]

From Termini, we walked to our hotel. I had purchased Borch maps (on Amazon) to all of our major ports and they were worth their weight in gold. However, even with a good map, I found it very difficult to navigate the streets of Rome. There is no rhyme or reason to the layout of the city. Streets twist and turn every which way. We exited the Termini station and made our way to our hotel, finding it with only a little difficulty. We stayed at Hotel Grifo. Hotels in Rome are very expensive. It's like trying to get a decent room at a good price in NYC -- not easy. Grifo is in a very good location very near the Colosseum. It was very affordable. Room was small, and we had trouble operating the old-fashioned skeleton key and lock which was very finicky. However, I would stay there again for the location and value. It included a decent breakfast

 

 

 

The guy working the front desk told us how to catch a nearby bus to go to St. Peter's. We walked to the bus stop. It was miserably hot, and had been so all morning starting with our walk along the pier from the moment we exited the Breeze. The heat is just exhausting. Getting off the bus near St. Peter's, we made a sucker mistake. It was around lunchtime and we wanted to eat before our afternoon reservation at the Vatican. When we got off the bus, we stopped at the first cafe we saw. We were very hot and thirsty. Paul ordered a coke. The waiter asked, "with ice?" and Paul said sure. The waiter returned with a huge mug of coke with a few little ice cubes. We laughed about the size and I said I'd help him drink it. We each got a pizza and I had a bottle of water. Our total tab for this was 42 euro (cash only). The coke alone was 10 euro, or about 13 dollars! Outrageous. We really felt like suckers. Should not have eaten at the first place we saw right by a major tourist site. Oh well. Lesson learned.

 

 

So we proceeded from here to St Peter's square. Took a bunch of photos and mailed some postcards at the handy Vatican post office set up to one side of the square. (1.60 euro to mail a postcard from Italy to the US.) Then we began the hike from the square to the entrance to the Vatican Museum. We passed many street vendors and beggars along the way. The line to get in the Vatican was VERY long. We had advance reservations so we just kept on walking. We finally got to the entrance and showed our ticket, where a guard directed us where to go to get in line to go through security. This was just a mob scene with no organization at all. We eventually made our way through security and were inside the building with a gazillion other people.

 

 

 

[Crusin Karen]

Your pictures are AMAZING. I have to keep picking my jaw up off the floor. :eek: DH was stationed in Germany in the Army and he travelled all over Europe and he has told me how beautiful it is, but until you see the pictures (and I would imagine in person too :rolleyes:) it is hard to imagine it. THANK YOU for sharing this with us! :)

[I Luv Crusin]

Becky,

thanks for your review! My daughter and I were on the Liberty in the Med. We sailed out of Rome on that cruise but a similar itinerary.

 

Did you have to make special arrangements to stay off the ship in Rome?

 

I think the first night is always more casual even in the Steakhouse than the rest of the cruise.

 

We enjoyed John as our Cruise Director too!

 

I can't wait for the rest of your review.

 

Lesley

[luckybecky]

Thanks for the compliment, Karen! :)

 

Lesley, we did not make any special arrangements, but then again, we didn't ask. We just left the ship and did not return until the next day. Several members of our roll call did the same thing. In fact, I think a few hundred people stayed away overnight.

 

Becky

[luckybecky]

I was really excited about seeing the vatican museums, with the Sistene chapel of course being the highlight, but the massive crowds really sucked the wind out of the experience. After we got inside, we muscled our way to a ticket booth where we exchanged our online vouchers for tickets. If you are going to go, it's absolutely essential that you pre-purchase tickets. If not, the ticket line was miles long, standing in the oppressive heat. If you can possibly work out a private tour before or after normal operating hours, then I highly recommend that you do so. After going through security and then exchanging our vouchers, we made our way to a turnstile to enter the museums. Again, the crush of people was ridiculous and with no organization.

 

From here we wandered into a couple of courtyards, and eventually found our way inside. The map room and tapestry room were amazing! We walked and walked and walked through a variety of museums, even at one point walking outside along some scaffolding around a courtyard. We had no idea where we were going but just followed the crowds. We went through a variety of museums including Egyptian treasures and modern art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We eventually reached the Sistene Chapel. It was incredible, but filled to the brim with people. You aren’t supposed to take pictures here, but the few guards could not possibly police these huge crowds and everyone was taking photos. Just don’t use your flash.

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

When you are ready to leave the Sistene Chapel, pay close attention. We came in at one end of the chapel by the Last Judgement wall. There are a couple of exits, one on each side, at the opposite end. One exit will put you out on the side of the Vatican, and you will have a long walk all the way around the walls to get back to St. Peter’s. The other exit on the opposite side of the chapel will lead you right out to the entrance to St Peter’s and you do not have to go through security again to enter. Make sure you take this exit from the Vatican to St Peter’s. It is the exit located directly under the painting of David and Goliath in the Sistene Chapel.

 

 

Overall, I found the Vatican to be hugely disappointing because of the crush of tourists. It was so bad, it seemed to me really unsafe. I think it would be better if they just limited the number of tickets available, but it seems they will let any number of people in. It was a shame not to be able to enjoy the art because of the mass of people. Definitely buy your admission tickets in advance if you plan to go so you can at least avoid standing in the heat for hours outside, but you still will need to be prepared for a crush of people once you enter.



 

 

After we exited the Sistene Chapel, we entered St. Peter’s Basilica and looked around. We sat in a quiet area for awhile just to cool off. Then we made our way to the ticket office to go to the top of the dome. You can buy a ticket to take you on an elevator partway up, but you are still going to have to walk and climb many stairs to get to the top. You need to be in pretty good health to try this. However the views from here made it very worthwhile. It was again very crowded and hot, and you had to jockey for the best photo spots.

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

By the time we finished all this, it was late afternoon. We took our time walking back in an easterly direction from St Peters. We made our way to Piazza Navona which was a lovely spot. We rested at an outdoor café and enjoyed a carafe of wine for 10 euro (about $13), served with some peanuts and chips. It was a great spot for people watching, with a lovely lady playing accordion in the square, and I could not resist getting a gelato.

 

 





 

 





 

 

 

 

 

From here, we walked five minutes to the Pantheon. The thing I loved about Rome is that there is something special around every corner: a charming square, a Roman ruin, a magnificent church, a quaint sidewalk café, a stunning fountain --- you cannot go more than a block without stumbling upon some wonderful surprise. The Pantheon was magnificent, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 



By this time, we had had a very full day and decided to head back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. But in spite of our map, we managed somehow to get on the wrong side of Palatine Hill. This is a very large area of archeological excavations and once we took a wrong turn, it ended up being a very, very long way around to finally make our way back to our hotel, but at least we got a few good photos.

 

 

 

 

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review and the wonderful pictures. Sounds like you had a good cruise.

[luckybecky]

The walk from the Pantheon to our hotel would not have been far if we had known where to go. The heat continued to be our ever-present foe, really draining our energy as we tried to find our way. During our walk, we stumbled across this beautiful church where a wedding was in progress. The churches are just amazing. Don’t hesitate to walk right in when you come across one. They are open to the public, but do be respectful of dress codes and silence while inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once back at our room we freshened up after miles of walking in the blistering heat, and then asked the front desk for a restaurant recommendation nearby. We ate at El Grillo Brillo, which had good food and pretty decent prices. A couple from our roll call happened to pass by and joined us for dessert. Bumping into people we knew was one of the best parts of the trip and made the roll call so worthwhile (I had also run into a roll caller at St. Peter’s!)



 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Our friends were on their way to Trevi fountain, so we joined them. It wasn’t too far to walk. It was mobbed with tourists like everyplace else, but of course we all had to toss a coin in the fountain to ensure our return to Rome someday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

Wow that was a full day! We fell exhausted into our bed that night. Next morning we hit the Colosseum. When we walked up a tour guide company hit us up and we took the bait. Admission to the Colosseum is 12 euro. For 30 euro, this company offered a guided tour of both the Colosseum and Palatine Hill, with no waiting in line. Rick Steves’ guidebook suggests getting your Colossium ticket at the Palatine Hill ticket booth to avoid lines, but we found long lines at both places. I guess the secret is out.

 

 

 

So, we decided to do the guided tour. We walked right in with our guide, no waiting and no security check. He gave us a tour of about an hour, then set us loose to explore and take photos on our own. This all was fine, but the drawback to the program was that the Hill tour did not begin right away. It was not going to commence until a couple of hours later: we were given instructions on where and when to meet. This did not work for us as we had scheduled a ride back to the ship, and besides, after you’ve already toured the Colosseum, who wants to hang around for two more hours waiting for the next tour to start? So buyer beware. We walked through Palatine Hill on our own.

 

 





 

 





 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we finished Palatine Hill, it was lunchtime. Then we had a 2:00 date with some other roll callers to make the trip back to the ship. We were to meet at Hotel Lancelot near the Colosseum, so we found the hotel and asked for a restaurant recommendation (we were never disappointed with hotel staff suggestions!). They pointed us to Naumachia which was great. It was another miserably hot day. You can see poor Paul drenched in sweat, and it was barely noon! The restaurant is empty because we arrived early, it started filling up by the time we left around 1 or 1:30.

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

One of the best decisions we made was to join a group of roll callers for the ride back to the ship, rather than taking the train back. We were so hot and exhausted after days of sightseeing. One member of our roll call had organized a ride back for about 15 of us. We had 2 vans, it cost 20 euro per person and was so nice to have a relaxing ride with friends instead of trekking back to the train station. In fact, one train broke down on the way back, leaving several dozen passengers scrambling to make it back to the ship. I believe John even mentioned this on his facebook page. (No one was left behind as a result of this, but it was stressful for all involved.)

[luckybecky]

Back on board, we checked out Hasbro the game show. Butch (who will eventually take over as CD of the Breeze) was host. He is very enthusiastic and did a great job. The show is definitely oriented for families and kids. They do a different type of game each time they do the show. When we saw it, they did Sorry Sliders. Paul and I thought it was OK, but not so great that we needed to see it again. Prize package was a set of Hasbro games.

 

 

 

Dinner in the Main Dining Room at last! This was our 5th night on board but our first time in the MDR! We had anytime dining. I would not do it any other way, since this gave us the flexibility we needed with all our sightseeing plans. We were in at 6pm, out at 7. No long waits between courses on this visit, and everything was served at the proper temperature. There were no dancing/singing waiters on any night we went to the MDR. I had the egg roll appetizer, strip steak, WCMC and cheese plate for dessert. Couldn’t eat it all. I love the cheese plate, and the WCMC was superb! Sorry my pics are so poor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop, the juggling show with Niels Duinker in the Ovation Theater. The show was entertaining and he’s an amazing juggler, but at times his attempts at comedy were a little stilted. I thought an entire one-man juggling show was too much; he would have been better doing a shorter routine as part of a variety show. Next, we went to the Punchliner club for the 9:45 show with Austin Knight – very funny!

 

 

 

Finally, we hit the casino for half an hour before we collapsed into bed after another very full day. Sorry I failed to get casino pictures, not sure how I overlooked that. It’s quite spacious with all the usual games. Only 6 video poker machines though, with lousy pay tables.

 

 

 

One thing about the casino, remember that it takes US dollars. We had not thought about this when planning for the trip, and we took very little US cash with us. So whenever we wanted to play, we had to charge it to our S&S card. There was no fee for this, but if you would rather not charge your gambling expenses, do take cash from home. You’ll also be paid in US dollars when you win. If you win on a slot, the money will go onto your card, which you can then take to the casino cashier and cash out. Or, you can just take the card to another machine and load your winnings from the card into the new machine.

[LizaMM]

I am so loving your review!

 

I am not sailing the Breeze until she is in Miami and Caribbean sailing so of course I am LOVING the photos of the ship....but I am also really enjoying your tour of Europe!

 

Thank you so much for posting your review :D

[luckybecky]

Monday July 2 – A Sea Day – finally! We left home over a week ago and have been going full steam ahead ever since. We were so relieved to have a day at sea! We woke up to this view as we passed through the Strait of Messina.

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

We went to the Comedy Brunch. I had the eggs benedict with hash browns and bacon. Very good. They brought a big basket of breads and muffins to each table, more than needed for 2 people, so a lot of it went to waste. The comedy part of the brunch was disappointing though. It was VERY brief, just a few jokes and a plug to come see the full show that night. Some roll callers later told us that one of the comedians had been quite inebriated at the late show the night before. I can’t vouch for this since I wasn’t there, but maybe a hangover was to blame for the rather weak comedy at the brunch.



 

 

The eggs benedict:



 

 



 

 



The decks were very full of course. Every chair was occupied by someone…or something. I am glad to read that Carnival is taking action about chair hogs and it seems to be getting a positive response on board. I have a lot of pictures showing the same chairs staying empty for long periods of time but won’t bother posting a lot of them since the problem is being addressed. Please don’t hijack this into another debate about chair hogging – I’m just posting my observations on this particular cruise which may no longer be relevant given the new policy. Here’s just a couple of shots of the decks:



 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I took this photo from my balcony. I believe it is deck 5, plenty of chairs if you just want sun, but no pool.

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

The Hairy Chest contest drew a crowd. Here is a Conga Line being led by one of the finalists.

 

 



 

 



Here’s the aft pool. It struck me as odd that they have a "wet floor" warning cone out. I mean, yeah, it's a pool. ;)



 

 



 

 



At some point during our wanderings I took a photo of the menu at the Burrito Bar. We ate there once. It was good, and the salsa bar is great.



 

 



 

 



Our cabin was just down the hall from a laundry room. It was busy ALL day. We went in and out of our cabin several times during the day, and noticed a line outside the laundromat every time. The place would stay very busy for the rest of the cruise. I had done a load early on with laundry from our time in Barcelona, and there was no line then, but beware. After a few days, you will definitely have to wait. Also, for this reason, I would very strongly recommend NOT booking a room right across from the laundry (in this case, that would be in the area of cabin 10264). At one time, I saw security asking a very belligerent man to not loiter and leave his bags of laundry in the hall. The man argued what else was he supposed to do while waiting? Apparently, security gave up, because there often would be people hanging around the area, sitting on the floor, chatting with each other, etc, for the remainder of the cruise. Since the doors did not afford much sound insulation, I’d have been unhappy having this constant parade of cruisers outside my door if I were booked in a nearby cabin. Laundry is open from 6:30am to midnight, if I remember correctly, and costs about $3.50 a load, charged to your S&S account, no coins required.

 

 

 

Since the weather was so hot, we were changing clothes twice a day. Instead of waiting in line, I decided it would be worth it to send out a bag of laundry. You’d be surprised how much you can fit in a bag if you roll it very tightly. It cost $15. But beware: one bra disappeared from our load, and I did not realize it was missing until a couple of days later. Keep note of what you sent, and check to be sure it all comes back. I did not bother asking about the missing bra, because it was a couple of days later and I figured by that time it was probably a lost cause. I also recommend taking a bit of powdered laundry detergent and hand washing small items in your sink.

[harrodsfan]

Yes, the door definitely seemed to be the weak link. This was also true of the hall door. There was not too much traffic in the hallway, but we could definitely hear when people were talking out there. I never heard a peep from above, below, or from the cabin on the other side that did not have the adjoining door.

 

I hope you can get your cabin changed. I always travel with a good set of ear plugs and I used these every night on the trip. They helped a lot. Plus, we were always so exhausted from sightseeing, I nearly went into a coma most nights.

 

Have fun on your cruise!

The connecting door is the problem...we just spent a night at hotel with the same problem. Always travel with earplugs..

[harrodsfan]

Note that if you are not dressed appropriately (shoulders and knees covered) they will not let you in. However, they had a handy vending machine near the entrance where you could purchase a paper robe to cover yourself.

 

 



 

 



We returned to the van to find Abbas taking a nap. Next he drove us to within about a block of the Duomo. Here, he dropped us off with a map, a scrap of paper with our reservation numbers for the Uffizi and Accademia, and instructions on where to meet him later in the afternoon. We walked to the Duomo and took some pictures. Abbas had discouraged us from trying to go inside, saying that the lines were too long and we would not have time. Someone from the ship later told us that the line moved very fast and really wasn’t a big problem, but it is true that we would have been challenged for time with everything we wanted to see.



 

 

We took some pictures of the exterior of the Duomo and the Baptistry doors. This area was very crowded and there were a number of beggars, some of whom were rather persistent and would come right up to you shaking a cup with a few coins in it.



 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we made the short walk to the Uffizi, stopping along the way for lunch at this place:

 

 

 

 

We always go to that place in Florence for snacks. Clean bathrooms, great food and reasonable. Great people watching. Loving your review.