Med Cruise on the Brilliance~ June 7, 2016 ~ My Diary

[maxs mom]

After our visit at the Pantheon it was time for lunch. Giovanni dropped us off at a Trattoria. Unfortunately the waiter had a bad attitude. We were charged 16 euros just to have bread and utensils........common practice in a lot of places. But we weren't aware of it until the bill came and that just didn't sit well with us. Oh well.....

 

 

After lunch we went to the Piazza Navona......a place that I have never been before. Neat place!

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

 

 

 

 

 

Before leaving the Piazza we noticed a place for Gelato.....conveniently located as we were walking toward the van.

 

[maxs mom]

Finally.......we headed over to St. Peter's Square. We did not go through the Vatican Museum this time since we went there the last time we were here. That was just too time consuming......so we just went in St. Peter's Basillica. Beautiful! We had to stand in line there for a little over twenty minutes to get through security. At first when we saw the lines, we didn't want to, but Giovanni assured us that these lines would move quickly and it looked better than most days......so we stuck it out.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2016 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

 

 

 

 

 

After a full day in Rome......we headed back to our van and on to the port. Wow!! What a jam packed day!!

Edited July 10, 2016 by max'smom

[stowapple]

Hi all,

Enjoy your trip! The beginning of the cruise was very busy, but once you

 

get a sea day the rest is great!

 

Nice pictures!

[maxs mom]

We were totally wiped out and ready to head back to the ship. Many of us took a little nap on the ride back. We were back to the ship around 5 o'clock and bid Giovanni number two farewell. Another great job by Rominlimo!!

 

 

Later that evening we met up with Ann and Vic in the DL.....then Andrea and Michael.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful evening.

 

 

 

It was a Windjammer kind of night again. Tremendous and delicious selection of food.....and we enjoyed it. Straight to bed after that! Another busy day ahead!

 

[Thetrail]

At about 8 o'clock.....we walked down a little alley next to the hotel....not too far.....to the Plaza Reial. Some friends had taken us here before' date=' so that's how we knew about it.

 

 

 

We ate at a restaurant that we had also eaten in before......right on the corner there, called Rossini. Excellent food.....I had grilled salmon that was very tasty. And also a local beer. We finished that off with some cappuccino and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

Always enjoy your reviews and pics, they are always appreciated!....K.O.:)

[maxs mom]

Saturday ~ June 11, 2016 ~ Salerno/Amalfi Coast

 

Up early again! Not used to so much activity!!! But we got our breakfast again in Park Café. That's ok but I can't wait to get back to having breakfast again in Chops!!

 

Nice sail in this morning:

 

 

 

Once again....we have a tour scheduled with Rominlimo. Today there were 6 of us, so we had a smaller van. We were joined by Mike and Leslie from Atlanta today. We met our driver at 8. He said his name was Jonny.....which was short for......you guessed it.....Giovanni! Giovanni number 3!!! What a cutie and he did a great job for us today.

 

 

We got right under way driving up the curvy road to see the Amalfi Coastline. We would stop every now and then for a photo op.

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

This is the van we were using for the day.

 

 

Anything any larger would have had great difficulty today, so this was just perfect!

 

Our first stop of the day was the town of Amalfi. A very quaint little place.

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

We were turned loose for a while to explore. It was a lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before going back to the van after our exploration, we stopped at a café for a cup of cappuccino.

 

[maxs mom]

Back on the road again.......more beautiful views everywhere we turned!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

One of the stops we made had a little stand with fresh fruit and they were squeezing juices. It smelled so good!!

 

 

 

The really big lemons like this are for making lemoncello.

 

 

And we continued on towards Positano.

 

 

 

And there it is!!

 

[ms8654]

Hi Jane!!

 

Thank you for the review.

 

Marie

[maxs mom]

Next we drive down into the town of Positano. Jonny was able to drive us a good way down into the town. He turned us loose and we did some wandering and shopping. Very enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

After a little shopping, Jonny took us way up above the town....off the beaten path to a restaurant where we had reservations. This was a family owned restaurant called Constantino's and it was wonderful!!!

 

First of all.......the view:

 

 

Then we met Constantino himself!

 

 

They had a special where you could get all kinds of courses plus wine for 28 euros a person. Michael and Andrea got that and it was amazing. Andrea let me have their wine, but John and I split a pizza and some salad. Everything was delicious!!

 

When we walked in.......we saw our good friends and ship mates already eating here!

 

 

This was our table:

 

 

This was the view from our table:

 

 

[maxs mom]

This was an amazing part of our day and so enjoyable. Wonderful food and a great atmosphere.

 

 

 

We polished off the meal with a round of lemoncello.

 

 

After lunch.....we drive off again and see some more fantastic countryside.

 

[audome78]

Great review, as usual, Jane. We will be on the Brilliance in January. Do either, or both of the CL or the DL have outdoor seating? We love those venues that do. Thanks for all you do!

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[stowapple]

Looks like you had a great time at Constantino's, beautiful view!

 

Jim and Nancy

Stow, MA

[maxs mom]

Next Jonny took us out in the country to a place that manufactured olive oil. Just a little place, but they had a show room and they arranged for us to have an olive oil and lemoncello tasting. It was quite impressive. I had no idea there were so many flavors of olive oil. We tasted all the different kinds with bread and they were all delicious. I wish I could have bought it all!!! And who knew that lemoncello came in a chocolate flavor!!? And also pistachio and melon flavors. In the end.....lemon was my favorite and that's what I went home with! This was so much fun!

 

 

 

 

After the tasting we had an opportunity to purchase whatever we wanted. We bought as much as we thought we could get back on the ship and get into our suitcases, but that was not near enough!!!

 

 

From there we headed down to sea level to the town of Sorrento. We set off wandering and shopping around there for about 45 minutes before heading back to the ship.

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Great review, as usual, Jane. We will be on the Brilliance in January. Do either, or both of the CL or the DL have outdoor seating? We love those venues that do. Thanks for all you do!

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

Yes.....the Concierge Lounge has the outdoor seating. That's a nice area unless it's very windy.

 

[CRUISEMAMI]

great review and pictures as usual, thank you so much for taking the time to do this. We were on jewel for b2b over Xmas/new year and Ricardo was covering the concierge lounge for Diego. What a very special welcoming man he is. He has lost a lot of weight, good for him, he is looking good.

 

 

Ricardo's weight loss was do to a health issue! He's trying to get some weight back! He has about 30 pounds to go, that's what he has told me!!!

[maxs mom]

Ricardo's weight loss was do to a health issue! He's trying to get some weight back! He has about 30 pounds to go, that's what he has told me!!!

 

Whar???? I mean I knew about his health problems, but he doesn't need to gain 30 pounds back!!! He looks greaat!

[CRUISEMAMI]

Whar???? I mean I knew about his health problems' date=' but he doesn't need to gain 30 pounds back!!! He looks greaat![/size']

 

 

Well, this is what he told me on his last email! This was before your cruise started!

I haven't heard from him!

He doesn't like to use the DL email, for private use!

Such great guy!!!!

Do you know if he will move to the CL, after Charmaine leaves at the end of the month???

 

I'm going break the rules and send him an email, right now!

Great review: my favorite?

My beautiful city: Rome!

Awwww..... Wish we were there with you guys!

[Virtopia]

Great review! You've already hit Florence and Rome which I'm doing pre cruise ... making notes on some of the places you stopped!

[maxs mom]

Great review! You've already hit Florence and Rome which I'm doing pre cruise ... making notes on some of the places you stopped!

 

 

Great! I hope this has been helpful.