ShotoJuku’s LEGENDary Mediterranean Adventure

[Captain Carnival]

Enjoying your review! A Mediterranean Cruise is on my Bucket List!:)

 

A trip of a lifetime, or maybe longer!

[cathyz]

Thanks - I just could not recall his name!

Great review, thanks!

[Raisinkain]

What a great great review so far I can not wait to see what happens next. Giddyup Trigger

[Captain Carnival]

What a great great review so far I can not wait to see what happens next. Giddyup Trigger

 

Messina is up next and Trigger gets saddled not long after; if I only had a picture!

[emortiz24]

Truly enjoying your review! My husband and I were planning on doing this same itinerary in October but weren't able to work it out. So I am living vicariously through your review but would love do to a Mediterranean Cruise some day. Congratulations on your 30th Anniversary!

[Captain Carnival]

Our Return To Italia – Welcome To Messina, Sicily!

 

With our second and final sea day behind us we were now back on schedule to visit our next six ports of call all in a row and also a return to waking up with the sun too, fortunately we now turned our clocks back one hour making us now six hours ahead of EST in the USA. Of the six remaining ports, four were in Italy, with each one more spectacular, and at times explosive, than the others with our first Italian port stop of Messina, Sicily.

 

For many, Sicily itself may have a black eye, or is that hand, from the Godfather film series or perhaps some may recall that once captured by the allied forces in WWII Sicily became a bridging gateway onto the Italian peninsula during Operation Husky in the summer of 1943, however we found Sicily to be one of the most beautiful and inspiring ports of our cruise.

 

Our arrival in the port area was precipitated by an incredible sunrise at around 0530 hours forcing me to go outside onto our balcony and watch the two coastlines draw and merge closer together as Sicily and the Italian peninsula are only 2-miles apart. Of course we were required to get up and get ready to meet with our tour group at 0745 and be off the ship to meet our tour guide by 0800.

 

Before going forward I would like to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to “AfricanDoll18” (Derell P.) for coordinating our collective tours with the Rome-In-Limo (RIL) tour group as both she and they did JOB ONE in giving us all the BEST tour experience imaginable!!!!!

 

 

 

Today’s RIL guide was a young guy named Luca, (no not Luca Brasi) who wasted no time in getting our group out of the port area and towards our destinations that were (surprise) around an hour away. We sped our way along the coastline and through a multitude of tunnels that cut through the mountains rather than up and over them like a rollercoaster ride. Along the way Luca did point out some of the areas where the Godfather film was shot (no pun intended) including the town of Corleone which is actually more than 100 miles to the west but the town of Savoca was actually where many of the scenes were filmed (in Sicily).

 

One of our first stops was a brief visit at a honey store where they keep a large amount of bee hives and then they harvest the honey directly and turn it into their own product with different flavors. They also made their own wine and provided samples of both honey and wine for tasting, we had some as an early morning snack!

 

 

We also made a stop at the nearby town of Castelmona where we made a quick pit-stop and toured a local Church. This was just one of many-many-many Churches (too many to recall individually) where we would make an effort to stop, prayer and make our traditional 3-wish requests (when visiting a Catholic Church for the very first time).

 

We then drove to the LARGEST and ACTIVE volcano in all of Europe – Mt. Etna and we ascended to the top and an area where we could get out and walk up to one of the caldera vents. It was very breezy and somewhat colder as when we made our ascent from sea level the temperature was in the mid-70’s when we out of the van it was in the mid 50’s with an added wind chill making it feel in the low 40’s – BRRRRRR!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent more than an hour up on the volcano before literally winding our way down to the town of Taormina where we toured the town on foot, ate a fantastic lunch and topped it off with a HUGE cannoli as Sicily is also known as the birthplace of the Cannoli. This was both a treat and perhaps a BIG mistake too. Although we split this beat of a cannoli it was so incredibly filling that neither one of us was really able to eat dinner back on the ship in fact I skipped the main entrée altogether.

 

 

 

 

After setting sail that evening John Heald announced that we would be in for a special treat that might excite the senses of both sight and sound if we were lucky and we were.

Here's a hint - BOOM!!!

 

That and more coming up next!

 

Ciao For Now!!

[Captain Carnival]

Truly enjoying your review! My husband and I were planning on doing this same itinerary in October but weren't able to work it out. So I am living vicariously through your review but would love do to a Mediterranean Cruise some day. Congratulations on your 30th Anniversary!

 

Thanks and more is to come as we are just about halfway home to the cruise finish line.

[Captain Carnival]

Nearly 5000 views now - I just wish I had more feedback like this one! Gratzi John!!!!

 

 

John Heald commented on your link.John Heald wrote: "that was fantastic Susan. What a brilliant couple and what a fantastic review. I am honoured by their kind words and enjoyed the photos of two people having fun. I have sent this to all the senior management here and I know they will be thrilled. Thanks Susan for posting this here and my best wishes to you and to ShotoJuku.......love that name. cheers"

Better make that over 6000+ Views now... :eek:

[Captain Carnival]

BOOM!!

 

After setting sail from Messina our (“the”) Cruise Director John Heald announced that we would be in for a special treat that might excite the senses of both sight and sound if we were lucky and we were. What he was referring to was that within a short distance of our course was the island of Stromboli that is not just your atypical island made up of sand and surrounded by surf but actually an island made up of volcanic lava rock and such and that Stromboli is quite active.

 

 

We had finished up with dinner and made our way up onto the Sun Deck (deck 10) around 7:30 PM and saw that we were now in proximity of Stromboli and actually making a circular approach as the Captain had received permission to orbit the island once and be no closer than 2-miles before went would resume our regular course.

 

 

As we approached Stromboli appeared to be just another lone island that had a few clouds hovering nearby. It turns out that those were no clouds but volcanic exhaust venting from the caldera at the very top. As we got closer you could see visible signs of recent lava spills that had run down the sides and glimpses of light coming from the Stromboli’s peak. As we got closer still dusk had occurred and the now glowing peak of Stromboli stood out even more against the darkened sky with faint signs of lava activity but would be so fortunate to see something more.

 

 

And then it happened…..….eruption!!

 

 

 

BOOM!!!

 

Based on the elevation height of Stromboli (3000+ feet) I would say that the eruption clearly sailed as high as a few hundred feet in the air. The accompanying concussion report (the BOOM) arrived just a few seconds afterwards resulting in the entire ship gasping in a collective eruption of OOoohs and AAaahs!!!

 

Pictures and my description are one thing however one of our fellow M&M’s actually captured the event on video Here is the link -à

courtesy of Bucketlist#1 Thanks Guys!!!

 

Tomorrow we will see an even BIGGER volcano – Mt. Vesuvius when we visit the port of Naples.

 

Ciao For Now!!

[dragon94]

Thank you again for this review! You are bringing so many memories back from our Med cruise! Sicily was one of my favorite spots! We also used Rome in Limo for three tours in Italy they were the best.

Anyone who is thinking about doing a Med cruise-it is a must-you will not be disappointed!

I hope you had some pizza in Sorrento! ;)

[obx_fintoo]

....

 

And then it happened…..….eruption!!

 

 

 

BOOM!!!

 

Based on the elevation height of Stromboli (3000+ feet) I would say that the eruption clearly sailed as high as a few hundred feet in the air. The accompanying concussion report (the BOOM) arrived just a few seconds afterwards resulting in the entire ship gasping in a collective eruption of OOoohs and AAaahs!!!

 

Pictures and my description are one thing however one of our fellow M&M’s actually captured the event on video Here is the link -à

courtesy of Bucketlist#1 Thanks Guys!!!

 

Tomorrow we will see an even BIGGER volcano – Mt. Vesuvius when we visit the port of Naples.

 

Ciao For Now!!

 

 

This is awesome!

[Captain Carnival]

Thank you again for this review! You are bringing so many memories back from our Med cruise! Sicily was one of my favorite spots! We also used Rome in Limo for three tours in Italy they were the best.

Anyone who is thinking about doing a Med cruise-it is a must-you will not be disappointed!

I hope you had some pizza in Sorrento! ;)

 

Thanks for your comments! As I write this and go though more than 1600 photos I find myself reliving this adventure too; it's too bad you can only put 6-pictures in per post!

 

As pizza, I believe we had some in every (Italian) port!

[dragon94]

Thanks for your comments! As I write this and go though more than 1600 photos I find myself reliving this adventure too; it's too bad you can only put 6-pictures in per post!

 

As pizza, I believe we had some in every (Italian) port!

 

LOL, My husband took over 6000 photos! New camera and dual memory cards :eek:

[Captain Carnival]

This is awesome!

 

Thanks!!

 

Although I have to work until 0300 hours I "hope" to have enough time to add some additional "awesome" to the review tomorrow before I have to go back to work!

[gbntmom]

Thanks so much for a wonderful review! I'm thoroughly enjoying reading along. My daughter & I will be travelling to the Med. next year for her graduation gift. What beautiful memories you & your wife must have! Keep up the great work!

[funinthesun1964]

Loving this review! Especially the following:

 

The way your presented the surprise cruise w/ the pizza box! cute

The exchange of gifts in your cabin

LMAO about Paul Stanley. How appropriate the reward was the STAR.

 

Our 30th anniversary is fall of 2014, do you think you could drop some hints to DH? :D I better not count on a surprise from him :rolleyes: I am usually the one who does the planning. Lucky me!!

 

We were thinking about cruising on the Legend in February, so am enjoying the photos of the ship!!

 

Happy belated Anniversary to the two of you!!!!

[Angiet75]

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!

[Captain Carnival]

Loving this review! Especially the following:

 

The way your presented the surprise cruise w/ the pizza box! cute

The exchange of gifts in your cabin

LMAO about Paul Stanley. How appropriate the reward was the STAR.

 

Our 30th anniversary is fall of 2014, do you think you could drop some hints to DH? :D I better not count on a surprise from him :rolleyes: I am usually the one who does the planning. Lucky me!!

 

We were thinking about cruising on the Legend in February, so am enjoying the photos of the ship!!

 

Happy belated Anniversary to the two of you!!!!

 

Hi and Thanks for your kind remarks! I'm glad you enjoyed the KISS reference and I had posted another one a few days ago in this line; can you see it? "Thanks Sherry - I've heard from a few that tears are falling over this one - thanks again!!"

 

Keep on reading as you never know when another KISS reference may appear...:D

[Captain Carnival]

Buongiorno Readers!!

 

Well it's good morning for me as I had to work some overtime last night and didn't get to bed until 4:00AM so I really do not have too much time today to write the next action-packed installment until tomorrow. So for now let my Bella Bride show you where are next port of call will be...

 

 

 

What a Little Strutter!!

 

 

Ciao For Now!!

[Captain Carnival]

Nearly 5000 views now - I just wish I had more feedback like this one! Gratzi John!!!!

 

 

John Heald commented on your link.John Heald wrote: "that was fantastic Susan. What a brilliant couple and what a fantastic review. I am honoured by their kind words and enjoyed the photos of two people having fun. I have sent this to all the senior management here and I know they will be thrilled. Thanks Susan for posting this here and my best wishes to you and to ShotoJuku.......love that name. cheers"

 

Better make 7000+ views now!! :D

[funinthesun1964]

Hi and Thanks for your kind remarks! I'm glad you enjoyed the KISS reference and I had posted another one a few days ago in this line; can you see it? "Thanks Sherry - I've heard from a few that tears are falling over this one - thanks again!!"

 

Keep on reading as you never know when another KISS reference may appear...:D

 

 

haha, Paul Stanley was my favorite member of the band when I was in junior high! Was shocked when they removed their makeup! :eek:

 

We see a tribute band here at a local venue called "rockin' on the river" in Cuyahoga Falls. Here is a link to them - "strutter"

 

 

These days, my favorite band is "chevelle" - love them!!!

Edited May 31, 2013 by funinthesun1964

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Great Review!!

[Captain Carnival]

...Was shocked when they removed their makeup! :eek:...

 

So were their girlfriends!

Up next (tomorrow) is our visit to Old Napoli and it will be worth a deuce! :rolleyes:

[funinthesun1964]

So were their girlfriends!

 

Up next (tomorrow) is our visit to Old Napoli and it will be worth a deuce! :rolleyes:

 

 

hahaha :D:p

[pbmsmile]

Sail Away Day

 

We finally came to the day where we would sail away from Venice and continue our cruise adventure aboard the Carnival Legend. Although we were scheduled to set sail at 2PM, we opted not to venture off the ship again and avoid the long walk and people mover thing yet again so we just enjoyed our time on board and the “new and improved” Serenity Deck.

 

While we were there the newly (re)launched Carnival Sunshine had pulled up along on the other side of the pier as she too would be setting sail on her maiden voyage the very next day. Although Sunshine was to board passengers in just a few hours I noticed that a fleet of workman in hardhats could be seen scurrying around the decks still cleaning up. In fact there were still very large green dumpsters sitting on the lido deck that were hoisted off by a very large crane only minutes before the first guests pulled up in buses for embarkation. Now that I think about it, I wonder why we had to walk the entire way and they were driven in air-conditioned buses?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just before setting sail we had the customary safety drill and then cast off and set sail. After leaving the pier we headed east along the southern perimeter of Venizia and sail right past St. Mark’s Square – a very impressive sight! All-in-all it took nearly two hours to reach the northern Adriatic sea and proceed southeast towards Dubrovnik, Croatia for our second port of call – Bon Voyage!!!

 

 

 

 

Que Bella!!

 

Upon our return we found the John Heald had personally sent us a few treats - chocolate covered strawberries, a bottle of champagne, and of course a 24-carat gold (plastic) ship-on-a-stick...Gratzi John!!

 

 

Ciao For Now!!

Never been to this corner of the world...living through your experiences! Thanks for the review!!