LIVE from the MED with Sungirl - Noordam 5/7/14

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your detailed Live Review. :):):):)

[KCSungirl]

Some seriously angry seas my friends. 18 ft. swells and we are being bounced around like crazy. Never been seasick in my life, but today I got out the Bonine. It is BAD and Scary. Calvi, Corsica scratched. I just want to make thru the night and get to port. Be back later with an update. I posted several pictures today to my FB travel page. Party On

[shrimp56]

Sorry for the high seas and sorry that you missed Calvi. Stay well!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Yikes...hope the seas calmed down...enjoying your Facebook posts too!

[KCSungirl]

Change of plan, At Sea instead of Calvi, Corsica

 

Gale force winds and unsafe sea conditions for tendering, this port was scratched. I would have been ok with that had I been able to use my terrace in the Villa. There was no going out on any terrace today. It was very bad conditions. I never get sea sick, but did take Bonine today. Lots of people taking it easy and looking a little green. We enjoyed breakfast with some new friends, Jude and Dennis from south Florida via England. A leisurely lunch and hanging out in the villa with an amazing view. The crew members are taking such good care of me. All of the cooks in the Buffet treat me like they are my private chefs. I obviously am a minority in verbalizing my appreciation for cooking for me. You get what you give. Show some love to these guys and gals that are almost slaves. I don’t know how the crew members work these hours. It doesn’t seem humane or possible, Everyone has been friendly and kind. Our room stewards are also fantastic.

 

Big night out on the town. Since we had a leisurely day, we went out tonight. Hit the Blues Club, Piano Bar, and the production show “Heat” All the entertainment is great. The best laughs are in the Piano Bar. My mother’s karaoke. It cracks me up. These seniors are hilarious. They were doing hand motions to songs like “It’s my Party” by Lesley Gore and “Your just to good to be true” by Frankie Valli. I asked Michael, the piano man, if he could sing 70’s or 80’s music. He looked at me like I was an alien. How about some Bee Gees? Show tunes? Manilow? Michael relies way to much on a recorded track. Not too much piano playing going on. He said he would find something for me. HA! Can’t wait to find out what that might be.

 

An observation we have noticed is there is a lot of farting and belching going on. Seniors seem to be a lot more gassy.. They can’t hear/see/smell, so they don’t know they are trailing farts around. Ignorance is bliss.

[KCSungirl]

14 May Wednesday - Monaco

 

This is a crazy time to be in Monaco. The LeMans Gran Prix and the Cannes Film Festival are huge events. I could not believe the preparations that are done for the car race. Unbelievable. I had a very ambitious plan to cover every square inch of the Riviera from Monaco to St. Tropez. Obviously I had not done enough research. I had planned to visit, Eze, St. Paul de Vence, Nice, Antibes, Cannes, etc. Exiting the ship, I had a moment of clarity. Why not just enjoy Monaco and come back someday and visit other places on the Riviera. Great idea. We got on the HOHO Bus at the port(21euro/pp). We rode to stop 7, The Prince’s Palace. Got off, watched the changing of the guards and bought tickets to tour the Palace. Very interesting audio guide tour of the Palace. Drips riches. Artwork and furniture were impressive. The area is full of tacky tourist shops and cafes. We walked around and found ourselves the Oceanography Museum and Aquarium. WOW! If you are taking kids under 12 to Monaco, this is a must. The structure and architecture of the building is worth the price of admission alone. I didn’t know we were going to visit the museum, so I didn’t buy the combo ticket for the Palace/Aquarium (19euro). I paid 22euro total. Not a big deal. We had lunch at the restaurant in the museum. It is on the top floor with gorgeous views. Free wifi also. I enjoyed fresh clam linguine, caprese salad. We wandered around some more after leaving the Museum. Went back to stop 7 to get back on the HOHO bus. There is a problem with the HOHO bus. There are not enough seats on the bus when people don’t get off. My suggestion to you is, ride the full loop - one hour to see the tour. Stay on the bus for a second tour, but get off at stop 7 to see the palace and museum. Catch the bus back down to the ship at your leisure. The state is only 2 KM, so it doesn’t take long to get from one end to the other. We walked around the harbor and drooled over the yachts on the way back to the ship. Great Day.

 

Another day, another buffet. Off to dinner. I think we will pass on the Mind Reader show tonight. Maybe we'll enjoy the spa or go back to the Piano Bar (comedy club) and Blues Club.

 

Thanks for you comments. I love taking you along.

[Shebba]

So fun to join you on this trip. In three weeks we'll be there!!

Edited May 14, 2014 by Shebba

[SeaWatch]

14 May Wednesday - Monaco

 

This is a crazy time to be in Monaco. The LeMans Gran Prix and the Cannes Film Festival are huge events. I could not believe the preparations that are done for the car race. Unbelievable. I had a very ambitious plan to cover every square inch of the Riviera from Monaco to St. Tropez. Obviously I had not done enough research. I had planned to visit, Eze, St. Paul de Vence, Nice, Antibes, Cannes, etc. Exiting the ship, I had a moment of clarity. Why not just enjoy Monaco and come back someday and visit other places on the Riviera. Great idea. We got on the HOHO Bus at the port(21euro/pp). We rode to stop 7, The Prince’s Palace. Got off, watched the changing of the guards and bought tickets to tour the Palace. Very interesting audio guide tour of the Palace. Drips riches. Artwork and furniture were impressive. The area is full of tacky tourist shops and cafes. We walked around and found ourselves the Oceanography Museum and Aquarium. WOW! If you are taking kids under 12 to Monaco, this is a must. The structure and architecture of the building is worth the price of admission alone. I didn’t know we were going to visit the museum, so I didn’t buy the combo ticket for the Palace/Aquarium (19euro). I paid 22euro total. Not a big deal. We had lunch at the restaurant in the museum. It is on the top floor with gorgeous views. Free wifi also. I enjoyed fresh clam linguine, caprese salad. We wandered around some more after leaving the Museum. Went back to stop 7 to get back on the HOHO bus. There is a problem with the HOHO bus. There are not enough seats on the bus when people don’t get off. My suggestion to you is, ride the full loop - one hour to see the tour. Stay on the bus for a second tour, but get off at stop 7 to see the palace and museum. Catch the bus back down to the ship at your leisure. The state is only 2 KM, so it doesn’t take long to get from one end to the other. We walked around the harbor and drooled over the yachts on the way back to the ship. Great Day.

 

Another day, another buffet. Off to dinner. I think we will pass on the Mind Reader show tonight. Maybe we'll enjoy the spa or go back to the Piano Bar (comedy club) and Blues Club.

 

Thanks for you comments. I love taking you along.

 

How much time is needed to see Monaco? We are hoping to do 1/2 day there and 1/2 day by bus to Eze.

[Susie51]

Thank you for your entertaining and detailed review, I'm looking forward to more.

[KCSungirl]

*******BREAKING NEWS******* There is a CREPE station at the Breakfast buffet! Why did I only figure this out after 7 days? God is trying to help keep me from blowing out the Michelin around my waist. My labor intensive day required us to get our butts out of bed way too early. I wanted to cover a lot of ground today so I booked a tour with a group formed on the CC roll call. There were 7 people in a VW Minivan. The tour company is “One Day in Provence”. William is the owner and he contracts with guides on demand. Our guide, Joanna, was hard to understand. Her English was really not in the acceptable range, but she was very sweet and I could manage the language thing. This is the only port I felt pressure to pre-reserve a tour because I knew I wanted to get out of town. Marseille is the second largest city in France, next to Paris. Traffic is bad and it’s all the same shopping, etc. as other large cities in Europe. It’s worth a look at the end of the day, but definitely get out of town. Since I was grateful to join the group from the roll call, I didn’t really take the time to research the tour. If I had it to do again, I might make changes to the plan. I liked our group a lot, but we moved way too slow for my taste. We left the port and drove to Aix-en-Provence. We toured the city center. Very charming city. If I had it to do again, I would go on to Avignon from Aix. After Aix, we drove toward the coast to Cassis to a winery. We toured the winery and had a tasting (15euro/pp). I would not have taken this tour if I had done my homework. I have been to wineries in lots of places, so this didn’t interest me so much. The view was beautiful, however. The countryside driving was fabulous. The wild poppies rock my world. After the wine tasting we went to Cassis and had a nice lunch on the harbor. Charming harbor. We took the 45 minute boat ride to the Calanques (16euro/pp). I loved this. So beautiful. After the boat ride we went to Le Castellet, a charming city. We walked around, shopped, took in the views. We were getting tired. It was at least an hour or so back to Marseilles. We drove around Marseille, saw the Cathedral and Old Port. Tour cost 100euro/pp plus the extras. We toured 9am-7pm and paid extra for two additional hours. Pretty good deal considering how much driving/time involved. Back to the ship at 7:30pm. Very long day, but we packed in a lot of activities. Very Happy.

 

Upon returning to the ship, we ran to the buffet. They were featuring a fantastic Mediterranean night buffet poolside. A BBQ with steak, lamb, pork, etc. The decorations were awesome. Flags and festive colors. I only have one complaint - the Buffet needs to stay open til 9pm 8:30pm is such a rush.

 

After dinner we were too tired to do anything. Unfortunately we missed what probably was a excellent production show - Zambra - a Barcelona dance troupe featuring Rumba, Flamenco, Torreo. We crashed hard when we returned to the Villa. The full moon last night and tonight was INCREDIBLE. I posted a pic on my FB travel page. I have an older, cheap Sony pocket camera. It doesn't always take the best photos, but I have taken some cool pics.

Edited May 16, 2014 by KCSungirl

[sunsetbeachgal]

Keep it coming!! Thanks!!

[chrispb]

An observation we have noticed is there is a lot of farting and belching going on. Seniors seem to be a lot more gassy.. They can’t hear/see/smell, so they don’t know they are trailing farts around. Ignorance is bliss.

 

Ha-ha. I remember my 98 yr old grandmother - she only had to stoop, walk, sit or stand and we'd hear the Trumpet Voluntary. I'm sure she purposefully ignored it and hope that we hadn't noticed.

[SeaWatch]

*******BREAKING NEWS******* There is a CREPE station at the Breakfast buffet! Why did I only figure this out after 7 days? God is trying to help keep me from blowing out the Michelin around my waist. My labor intensive day required us to get our butts out of bed way too early. I wanted to cover a lot of ground today so I booked a tour with a group formed on the CC roll call. There were 7 people in a VW Minivan. The tour company is “One Day in Provence”. William is the owner and he contracts with guides on demand. Our guide, Joanna, was hard to understand. Her English was really not in the acceptable range, but she was very sweet and I could manage the language thing. This is the only port I felt pressure to pre-reserve a tour because I knew I wanted to get out of town. Marseille is the second largest city in France, next to Paris. Traffic is bad and it’s all the same shopping, etc. as other large cities in Europe. It’s worth a look at the end of the day, but definitely get out of town. Since I was grateful to join the group from the roll call, I didn’t really take the time to research the tour. If I had it to do again, I might make changes to the plan. I liked our group a lot, but we moved way too slow for my taste. We left the port and drove to Aix-en-Provence. We toured the city center. Very charming city. If I had it to do again, I would go on to Avignon from Aix. After Aix, we drove toward the coast to Cassis to a winery. We toured the winery and had a tasting (15euro/pp). I would not have taken this tour if I had done my homework. I have been to wineries in lots of places, so this didn’t interest me so much. The view was beautiful, however. The countryside driving was fabulous. The wild poppies rock my world. After the wine tasting we went to Cassis and had a nice lunch on the harbor. Charming harbor. We took the 45 minute boat ride to the Calanques (16euro/pp). I loved this. So beautiful. After the boat ride we went to Le Castellet, a charming city. We walked around, shopped, took in the views. We were getting tired. It was at least an hour or so back to Marseilles. We drove around Marseille, saw the Cathedral and Old Port. Tour cost 100euro/pp plus the extras. We toured 9am-7pm and paid extra for two additional hours. Pretty good deal considering how much driving/time involved. Back to the ship at 7:30pm. Very long day, but we packed in a lot of activities. Very Happy.

 

Upon returning to the ship, we ran to the buffet. They were featuring a fantastic Mediterranean night buffet poolside. A BBQ with steak, lamb, pork, etc. The decorations were awesome. Flags and festive colors. I only have one complaint - the Buffet needs to stay open til 9pm 8:30pm is such a rush.

 

After dinner we were too tired to do anything. Unfortunately we missed what probably was a excellent production show - Zambra - a Barcelona dance troupe featuring Rumba, Flamenco, Torreo. We crashed hard when we returned to the Villa. The full moon last night and tonight was INCREDIBLE. I posted a pic on my FB travel page. I have an older, cheap Sony pocket camera. It doesn't always take the best photos, but I have taken some cool pics.

 

A poolside buffet - what a great idea! How often do they do this on a 12 night cruise?

[Aussie Gal]

Loving your reports. So glad you found the crepes at the buffet.

 

We did a similar tour to you from Toulon a few years ago and loved Cassis and the boat trip to Calanques. We also went to Le Castellet but unfortunately ran out of time so didn't have very long there. We had to be back to the ship by 5pm so it was a rush trip back.

 

Jennie

[KCSungirl]

Boo Hoo. Only two more nights. It’s a clear, but cold and windy day. I got to enjoy very little time on the terrace relatively speaking. I hope someday I can book this suite again and enjoy hot sunny skies everyday. Fingers crossed that I will be lucky again.

 

Enjoyed breakfast in the buffet. The cooks are truly special. They are treating me like royalty. We are getting attached. I have never felt so well taken care of on a cruise ship. Enjoyed lunch in the buffet. I love the deli station and PC loves the burgers. We are creatures of habit. We eat the same things everyday. I did indulge in 2 crepes, though.

 

After breakfast, the shops had set up a Bazaar poolside. It was cute. Mostly Turkish type things. Some Spain/Italy items. Food items, ceramics, etc. Mostly good garage sale items. Everything I buy I say it will be in the next garage sale. I did buy one of those Fez type caps. Forgot what they are called. It was $3 and I thought it would make a good costume for a video. And I can wear it in Morocco or Turkey.

 

Time to pack. I hate this part. We went to the thermal pool one last time. It was formal night again (3 nights total). I saw some great costumes in the formal wear parade tonight. Gowns with Skechers and Merrell shoes. Comfort rules. We had a big night out on the town. We hit every entertainment venue. The Blues Club is by far the best entertainment we have ever had. These musicians are complete stars. The production show was fun - Droom. A good vs. evil love story with pop songs, wild costumes and sets. Love my time at the piano bar, aka the Comedy Club. I don’t think we ever got past 1972. No show tunes, no movie theme songs, no Barry Manilow. It was fun watching all the seniors bob up and down. We stayed out past our bedtime and we took advantage of the 11pm bistro. PC is eating 8 scoops of ice cream every night. He needs a 12 step program. No soft serve at 11pm, only lunch and dinner.

 

Packed some bags. I packed perfectly for this trip, except we needed fleece jackets. We only had the windbreaker type. It was cool. Great for touring, but not good for sea days.

 

Tomorrow - the ultima dia.

[KCSungirl]

Barcelona is rocking with excitement today. We were the only ship in port today after the Costa Riviera left early. The port is going to start getting super busy with the summer season. I didn’t have any advance plans for the day. The only thing for sure that I wanted to see was Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia. Get your coffee and listen to me. People stand in line for tickets for over three hours. This is completely stupid. I bought my tickets online, the day before. They sell tickets every 15 minutes and you pick the time. This is what you do - get off the ship, get a taxi, go the Sagrada Familia first thing. Buy advance tickets between 9-10am. I walked right in. Also get the audio guide. You are missing out if you don’t go inside. A drive by is NOT sufficient. This is a masterpiece not to be missed. We spent a little over an hour at SF. We then caught the HOHO bus outside. We both the green and red line. There are two HOHO bus companies. They have tons of buses and are efficient and excellent.

 

Why is Barcelona the place to be today? If you know something about Spanish Futbol (soccer) then you might know the FC Barcelona team and Atletico Madrid. (Real Madrid is in the league also) These Spaniards are crazy for their futbol teams. Barcelona was playing Madrid for the championship. If I have my facts correct, Madrid was the underdog. They won in a 1-1 draw. The sea of color from everyone wearing their soccer shirts was cool.

 

After exhausting ourselves riding the HOHO bus, we got off at the main plaza, walked around, found Starbucks, strolled La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter. Beautiful day, albeit a bit cool in the shade. We made out way down to the Christopher Columbus statue and decided to walk to the ship instead of taking the shuttle or taxi. BIG mistake. It was a long walk. I had packing to do, people to see. UGH. Made it back to the ship at 6pm. Ran to the buffet to meet my boyfriends behind the food line. They are getting giddy over me. It is adorable. They even got me the souffle from the dining room that is not served in the buffet. I told them I wanted to take them home with me to be my private chefs. I am sure they would gladly come home with me.

 

After some packing, the Piano Man, Michael was doing his show outside on the lido deck at the back pool. Very nice venue. PC agreed to stay 45 minutes with me and then he ran to the Blues Club. All the seniors were there, bobbing up and down.

 

No photo purchases, no spa treatments, not a dime in the casino BUT drum roll……………………..I was the heavy hitter on the Internet plan. The internet manager was great! He thanked me for my business and gave me lots of bonus minutes.

 

Cinderella is getting ready to turn back into a pumpkin………..The long road home……………….

[Huskerchick]

Thanks for your taking us along on your adventure! Your tips have been spot on and your observations of goings on around the ship have me at times laughing out loud. Safe travels home.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[KCSungirl]

Oh how I hate this day. It's torture. So I stayed up all night and ran up a phone bill dealing with the airlines. Lufthansa screwed my seats up. I am flying United, but my first flight is on Lufthansa, so they manage checkin all the way thru. They had me in the back of the bus to Chicago. I need to let them know who I am. I am Fungirl and I am not sitting in a middle seat in row 43. That would be just too much shock to the system after living in the Palace. Kind of like Blue Jasmine.

 

Went to see my chefs for breakfast. One last crepe. Ectasy. I booked the HAL transfer bus to the airport ($39/pp). Normally I would never do this. However, I am out of euros and I have no energy left to make any more transactions, negotiations, decisions, etc. plenty of cabs available, but it was eary. 4 ships in port - ncl spirit, ncl epic, rccl liberty of the seas.

 

The HAL shuttle bus was painless, except for the fact that I stress on myself for spending the extra $40. Why do I do this? Let it go! The airport checkin lines are hideous. You could never be too early. Lots of shopping at the airport I went to the United ticket office, not the checkin counter. I calmly asked this man behind the desk to fix my situation. I told him I am Christie Brinkley in a fat suit disguise. He generously moved me to premium economy and put me in the bclass line. I am number 5 I can't be greedy or I might lose my good luck. To be continued...

[Aussie Gal]

Paige,

 

Good on you for standing up for yourself. I cannot imagine you in the middle row at the back. At least you got Premium Economy which is not quite Business but a good step up from down the back. Enjoy the flight.

 

Jennie

[sunsetbeachgal]

What a great journey this has been! Thank you for taking us along with you!

 

Safe trip home!

 

Carole

[localady]

So enjoyed being a passenger in your travels.:D

Your writing and attitude are so refreshing, you traveled to several of my favorite ports. Appreciate you taking the time and money to do so.

Safe travels home and thanks for taking us along!

Edited May 18, 2014 by localady

[Augie's mom]

Thanks for taking us along. I loved your trip and look forward to mine, on the Oct.8 same ports. You have given me plenty of ideas and I have/will cherish your posts as I reread before my trip.

thanks

Terri

[mollyanne]

This has been so much fun to read - thanks for taking us along!:)

[KCSungirl]

Waking up in Barcelona, going to sleep in Kansas. The Princess has gone back to reality. Hopefully, not for very long. Where are my Chef's? My room stewards? Those people smiling and putting you in a good mood? I was grateful for premium economy with a completely full flight. BClass was not meant to be on a Sunday. International airline travel takes stamina. I forget I have been able to travel off peak days most of the time. Sunday's are rough. Chicago was a zoo. The foreign immigration line was over three hours long. Those poor people. Everything was hard coming home, but so worth it. The highlight of the day was a STUD pilot coming to my rescue. PC got on the flight because he has TSA clearance for the fast lane security. I was stuck in a one hour security line. It was one minute til flight time when I arrived at the gate and the gate agent wouldn't let me on the flight. He either had some Napoleon complex or wanted to go on coffee break. PC told the flight attendant the situation, she told the pilot, and the pilot got up and told the agent to let me on the plane. I so wanted to kiss him, but I really needed to brush my teeth. I would have been stuck in Chicago. I am so lucky!

 

I have several comments/opinions about the cruise. Should I start a new thread to help others or continue on here?

 

Sunset Beach Gal and Aussie Gal, thank you for helping me pre-cruise and for being my friend. Muah!

 

Thank you everyone for coming with me. Thank you for taking the time to read/post. I hope I see you again soon. I am in the process of posting more photos on my FB page. I will do my wrap up/souvenir video soon! Party On and safe travels, Sungirl/Fungirl (Yes, I do have two vehicles with vanity plates)

[KCSungirl]

I faced the dreaded SCALE. No weight gain and I ate like a pig. I guess I walked it off. Standing ovation for the guys that treated me better than I have ever experienced before on a cruise. Happiness.