**Trip of a Lifetime Review - Italy and Rhapsody of the Seas 9.16.2016**

[tweetylori]

You got me started on the trip of a lifetime and now it has paused! Write faster, girl! :D

 

So glad I found your report...you are a delight, your review is awesome and I can't wait for more!

[Virtopia]

Sorry to have only 2 posts tonight, but I go back to work tomorrow :( so I'm preparing for that. But I've uploaded all my pictures for the next 3 ports so expect the rest of day 8 and then also day 9 and 10!

 

Thanks again for following along, so glad that everyone is enjoying it :D

[sg1phileshipper]

What a scary way to wake up. I would have been spooked, especially travelling alone. Enjoy your first day back at work :)

 

 

Cindy

Edited October 4, 2016 by sg1phileshipper

[kirtens]

I am loving the review! You travel like me, we are both planners [emoji1]

 

 

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[champagne123]

Well, don't keep us hanging. Did your toilet get fixed?:D:D:D Just kidding. Wow, I have never been through a storm. (hope I never do). It must be very scary in the dark and not even being able to see outside. Looking forward to more of your GREAT review. :):):)

[heatherb1958]

Hello my dear Heather! It was so great meeting you and your husband. You, along with some others from the roll call, made my cruise so much more enjoyable :D

 

 

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Thank YOU Deon for not ignoring my request to get up and dance on the pool deck for the Dancing under the stars night. It was amazing it was the same night as the rude awakening. The crew were fantastic.xx

[Bailtuck2]

Hi Deon, let me start by saying that you are an amazing and courageous woman. I appreciate your comments, descriptions, pictures, notes & suggestions on your awesome European trip (oh my...one day, one day). From the start, every base seemed to have been covered, your planning was so thorough. To find that you were a solo traveler/cruiser made this review even more intriguing. I'm new to solo cruising, I have just have one under my belt. I'm hoping to do a "back to back" cruise for my 2nd solo. Of course I would love to do the itinerary you just did. Your pictures were awesome and beautiful. I've made notes from your review for future references. You are a great story teller. Your Review reads like a novel that I could not stop reading. Just as someone mentioned before, I have never been as absorbed in a review as I have been with your "Trip of a Lifetime." Thank you so much for sharing this amazing experience with us. I'm encouraged. One day it's going to be me visiting those fabulous places.

 

 

9/6/17, 9d Alaskan Cruise-RC Indy, Future

9/9/16, 8d Eastern Caribbean, Carnival Valor

[SeeUsoon@Sea]

Thank You so much for this review! I am also gonna do a solo trip to Europe next year as a B2B2B. Yes it's gonna be a month long! It also will knock off a lot on my bucket list and will be my trip of a lifetime as well. Please continue!

 

 

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[Virtopia]

Awwww thank you everyone for such sweet comments. I really appreciate it. This trip was very special and dear to me and it's fun reliving it through this review.

 

Finishing up some commentary now so expect the review to continue shortly!!

 

 

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[ckrobyn]

Howdy neighbor ;)

Absolutely loving your review, and somewhat in awe that you are so brave and independent!

I will anxiously await more installments!!! :)

[Virtopia]

I'm backkkkk! Let's get right to it :D

 

I met my stateroom attendant on the way back to my cabin, who said he’d leave me to catch up on sleep, which was wonderful. I checked the toilet (fixed, yeaaaa!!) and I slept for about another 3 hours and then got up to properly start my day. I walked around the ship and was able to see the most severe damage from the storm which was to the Viking Crown Lounge. About 15 panels had been knocked out and the paparazzi was out to take pictures, so of course, I joined in. My afternoon napping spot was badly damaged as the ceiling appeared to be affected as well. Unfortunately, it was closed for the remainder of the sailing, even though the glass was replaced the day we were in Athens.

 

Aww, this made me so sad

 

More broken glass

 

This turned out to be quite a lazy day, as sea days are supposed to be. I spent a lot of time on deck 5 reading and writing and if I wasn’t there or at the pool bar, I was napping in my cabin. It was great. I ended up having dinner in the Windjammer, which became my primary dinner spot for the remainder of the cruise.

 

In terms of internet usage, I opted not to get a package but instead got 3 24 hour passes and used each pass between two days … so for the first sea day, I activated it around 6pm, therefore having it until 6pm the following day as well. I got one free day, so I only paid for 2 days and it worked really well for me. I got the Surf package and used it to make wi fi only calls about 4 times during the cruise and was able to easily post pictures to Instagram. I talked to my family, who informed me that the storm had already made it onto the news online, and I assured them all was good with me.

 

Tonight was the Latin theme party on the pool deck and it was a lot of fun! I did a few steps that constituted dancing but it was nice to see everyone let loose a bit and forget about the morning events that took place.

 

 

 

Now, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about making it to Santorini when I went to my bed that night. But, I fell asleep having faith that it would all work out.

[Virtopia]

After the 5am wake up call from yesterday, I'll admit, I was scared that we wouldn't make it to Santorini. I knew it was a tender port and even though the captain kept saying that Santorini was a go, I just didn't believe him.

 

Luckily he was right and I was wrong. We're in Santorini!!!!

 

 

When I heard the captains announcement that we were anchored, I thought it was a dream. As much as I was looking forward to all the ports, Santorini was the single driving force for any itinerary that I looked at. It had steadily been number 2 on my bucket list for over 20 years. I quickly got myself ready and went up to the top deck to look out. Yes, I did a bit of a happy dance as well as it also appeared that the bad weather had left us behind and we were due for a beautiful day. We were in port from 8am to 8pm, so I got breakfast to avoid the tender rush and made my way down around 10am. Even the tender sailing up to the port was breathtaking with the white washed buildings lining the top of the hills.

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

Even though this port was of the utmost importance to me, I didn't buy a shore excursion and couldn't gather enough people for an independent tour, so I went DIY as best as I could. I had read on here about a 20 euro method in which I'd take a boat to dock in Oia, then a bus up to Oia for a few hours and then another bus over to Fira and the cable car back down to meet the tender. This appeared to be the best method to see as much sights as I could so I went with that. After I bought my ticket, we probably waited 20 minutes before a boat pulled up ... and then they sent it away, saying it was too small and they were calling in a bigger one. Sigh, I already felt like my precious day in Santorini was being wasted away. The bigger boat arrived close to 10 minutes later and off we went! The ride over to the Oia dock was about 15 minutes and we were immediately met with the bus that took about 10 minutes.

 

 

 

Finally I was unleashed on Oia and the obsessive snapping began. Hopefully you can feel some of the magic I did through these pictures. There were some moments where I had to stop and stare before I took the picture because I couldn't believe the beauty I was seeing. When a bucket list dream like this comes true, you have to truly live in the moment, so I did just that.

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

 

 

 

 

My obsession with bookstores has reached Santorini!!

 

[Virtopia]

 

 

 

This view though ... geez

 

[Virtopia]

 

 

 

 

 

Just a happy girl fulfilling a bucket list dream ... I had to wear my blue!

[Virtopia]

Now, as much as I was enjoying walking through the cobblestone streets, turning down random alleyways and snapping every angle I saw, after about 90 minutes, I was pretty much done. I'm not a fan of crowds and it just became overwhelming with 2 other ships in port. I walked around a bit more as I didn't want to rush from this dream and then made my way to the meeting area for the buses about 90 minutes before our scheduled time. There was a long time as the other ship was leaving port earlier than us and I'd say it took me about 35 minutes to get onto a bus and be on my way to Fira, which was an absolute delight as well. I spent a bit of time walking through some more narrow streets and it was much quieter here than in Oia so I enjoyed that aspect.

 

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

Now, I've read things about the cable car line being ridiculously long ... today was no exception. I thought about walking down for maybe 15 seconds and quickly joined the line. It took about 25 minutes to get to the front and I enjoyed the views as we made our way down. I caught the tender back over to the ship, refreshed up from all the walking and went to have lunch in the Windjammer.

 

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

After about an hour, I thought to myself, what the heck am I doing on the ship? I'm in Santorini!!! So, back to the tender I went! There was 3 of us on the tender and I was able to really appreciate the views and was able to get some amazing shots.

 

 

 

Although I didn't go back into the city, just being on land was great. I picked up a few missed souvenirs and hung out a bit before catching the tender back.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2016 by Virtopia

[Virtopia]

Now, I know people talk about sail away in Venice being amazing but sail away from Santorini? I tried to get a good picture but the memory will definitely live with me forever. Seeing all lights light up on the white buildings? Everyone was trying to catch the perfect picture and this was the best I came up with.

 

 

 

I quickly decided that windjammer would be my dinner option tonight and I'm so glad I did ... freshly made donuts with a selection of toppings?? Me please!! Knowing that I had an early tour the next morning (meeting time was 7:15am ... eeek!!), I made my way back to my cabin for some reading, writing and then sleeping. Up next ... Athens!!

 

Probably of the best desserts I've had on a cruise ship ... amazing!!

[Virtopia]

I woke up at the break of dawn ... literally. The tour with PK Tours was scheduled through my roll call and the meeting time for the tour was 7:30am. After the tours I missed during my time in Italy, I was determined not to miss anymore. Of course, I missed breakfast and promptly got off the ship to meet with our tour guide. There was 11 of us in total – 5 couples and me! – and off we quickly went to make it to the Acropolis before the crowds made their way there.

 

Driving through the streets of Athens felt like driving through any major north American city – a lot of traffic and a lot of people on the street. We made it to the Acropolis shortly after it opened and met up with a few tour groups as well. As we were going in, we luckily caught some young Greek soldiers who had just finished hanging the flag at the top and they were now marching down. Everyone stopped to capture their precision.

 

 

 

 

I’ll be completely honest - I was not prepared for the insane sights I was about to see and we hadn't even arrived at the main attraction yet!

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

Can we say wow??

 

As we started to make our way to the top, I knew I'd be in awe and clicking for the duration of my time here.

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

 

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

I'll leave you with these final Athens shots for tonight ... be back tomorrow with more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Parthenon and I ... love at first sight!

[Bailtuck2]

Amazing review of these places I've only read about in books. Nice pic of you at the Parthenon.

 

 

Upcoming:

9/6/17, 9d Alaskan Cruise-RC Indy.

Enjoyed:

9/9/16, 8d Eastern Caribbean, Carnival Valor, St Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, Grand Turk.

11/16/15, 5d, 1st Solo Cruise, RC Indy of the Seas, Labadee HAITI, Falmouth Jamaica.

11/8/14, 5d, RC Liberty of the Seas; Belize City, Cozumel Mexico.

4/12/14, 7d, Carnival Breeze, La Romana, Dominica Republic; Curaçao, Aruba, Grand Turk.

10/21/12, 7d, Carnival Pride, Eastern Caribbean.

2011, Carnival Destiny, Eastern Caribbean.

7/3/95, Big Red Boat, Bahamas