LIVE from the Prinsendam - 24 day Med Rivieras & River Explorer - please join us

[kazu]

Back on board the lovely Prinsendam as we sail out of Cartagena.

 

Here is today’s When and Where:

 

 

 

[kazu]

Here is tonight’s dinner menu.  

 

 

 

 

We won’t be testing it out as we will be dining in the Pinnacle Grill tonight with Angelo & Helen & Andrea 😄. A good night to dine a tad earlier as we have an early day tomorrow.  And I do mean early and busy.

[cat shepard]

The still photo of the experienced female dancer with her skirt swirling around her may be blurry in your opinion. But for me - it gives me a sense of the dancer’s movement. I would be tempted to frame that one.

 

And I will never be sorry about you sharing any pic. Never.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Good morning Jacqui!

well for us here in San Diego and afternoon for you! What lovely pics again!

Your videos were perfect!

Have a wonderful dinner at PG!!

Sleep well, and looking forward to seeing more.

Smooth Sailings

Denise😊

[kazu]

2 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Good morning Jacqui!

well for us here in San Diego and afternoon for you! What lovely pics again!

Your videos were perfect!

Have a wonderful dinner at PG!!

Sleep well, and looking forward to seeing more.

Smooth Sailings

Denise😊

 

Thanks Denise.  Sitting in the Crow’s Nest having a lovely glass of wine before I prep for the PG.

 

I really like Tudor, our PG manager.  He’s very accommodating and I’m pretty confident it should be a good meal.  Also, the new menu starts I believe tonight or last night?

 

I’ve had good luck catching up as our port stops have had some pretty good wifi and we were just DIY.  DH is trained when we stop go take a break to ask for the password for the wifi.  I brought the other IPad so he could watch some soccer but so far he has declined.  Sheesh!

 

Tomorrow though is a busy one.  Hopefully if wifi holds up tonight I might even get Ceuta done.  OMG so pretty.

 

Tomorrow is Barcelona.  And a few of us intrepid people are taking the train to Tarragona to see the Roman ruins and the cathedral. Our guide will meet us at the train station in Tarragona and will be off 🙂 

 

I owe it mostly  to CRUISEMOM42 (hope I got her name right)  who was kind enough to share all her research on the sites there.

 

She was going to be on our cruise but had to cancel.  I was sorry to hear it as I was really looking forward to meeting her.

 

The train tickets were already bought to avoid any issues with kiosks so - a quick taxi trip to the station and we should be good to go (I hope).

 

Cheers from the lovely Prinsendam.  

 

 

[kazu]

3 hours ago, cat shepard said:

The still photo of the experienced female dancer with her skirt swirling around her may be blurry in your opinion. But for me - it gives me a sense of the dancer’s movement. I would be tempted to frame that one.

 

And I will never be sorry about you sharing any pic. Never.

 

 

You are very kind, thank you 😄 

 

If I get boring just tell me and I will try to turn it to make it more interesting.

 

I don’t have the skills of some the posters of live threads.

[dfish]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

If I get boring just tell me and I will try to turn it to make it more interesting.

 

I don’t have the skills of some the posters of live threads.

Oh, yes you do.  Your travel threads are never boring.  And, I think food porn is lovely.

[DeeniEncinitas]

The Roman Amphitheater in Tarragona is great! Also Circus of Tarragona ruins.

Barcelona for us is home. Fell in love so many years ago. With every trip over we will stay a week prior or after in regards to our cruise, and fly out of Barcelona to Paris for our City of Lights for about 10 days prior to home. 

Anxious to hear about PG’s new menu too!

Have fun on your train ride and tour👍

Wish I was in the Crows Nest😒

Sleep well

Sad about our Notre-Dame 😪 She is an architectural wonder and am sooooo

happy to have been there so many times!

Will be there next year in May and hope to be able to see her ! It looks like as of today from Saint Michaels across to the bridge is as far as you can go or across the Seine. I want to being flowers. Will see.

Take care Jacqui and Jose

will look forward to more

Denise😊

[Krazy Kruizers]

Denise

 

We are also glad that we got to see Notre Dame for the first time many years ago on a land vacation.  Spent quite a few hours there -- well worth the time to see all that beauty. 

[DeeniEncinitas]

25 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Denise

 

We are also glad that we got to see Notre Dame for the first time many years ago on a land vacation.  Spent quite a few hours there -- well worth the time to see all that beauty. 

Hi KK!

Im so with you on that👍👍👍

Where the spire fell I have wonderful pictures of the beautiful gardens there

where we would sit and watch all the people either across the Seine or just walking past us viewing the gardens and seeing the magnificent gables and architecture. We both are very fortunate to have been there! I appreciate all the valuable information you constantly give here on CC, just like Jacqui.

Thank you KK🤗

Denise😊

 

 

 

[kazu]

3 hours ago, dfish said:

Oh, yes you do.  Your travel threads are never boring.  And, I think food porn is lovely.

 

You are very kind and patient with my bad posts.  Thank you 😄 

[kazu]

Had a fabulous dinner in the PG.

 

Got the Captain’s table.  It’s my favourite spot as it is a bit more private.

 

Got our cellar master all set up (already booked) with roll call friends.  Asked for the Captain’s table for that too 😉 

 

Great day.  Tomorrow is a busy one so I will probably fall behind.  We’ll see - wish us luck.  We have to catch the right train to get to Tarragona at the right time.

 

Yes, you got it, we’re not staying in Barcelona - we are heading to Tarragona - home of wonderful Roman ruins and a Cathedral that should be outstanding.  Of course, we will also “savour the flavour” there 😉 

 

Our guide awaits us at the Tarragona train station and he is good looking enough to bring back on the cruise - LOL,

 

The new PG menu comes out here on the 24th, so I will post this one later as well as that one if you want.

 

I think we are doing room service tomorrow for breakfast.  No time to fool around.  I think I’m going for the smoothie.  Not sure if that is for everyone or not - sure hope so as it sounds good.  I’ll report later (remember food is subjective).

 

I like to keep food and coffee light when we are on a train.

 

Wish us luck tomorrow.  I didn’t have it in the casino tonight - LOL.

 

I’ll catch up on Ceuta sometime tomorrow.  I will say that if you have an itinerary that features it - DO IT.  Lovely.  More tomorrow.

 

On a new note, which I rarely do, we were truly saddened to see the news on Notre Dame.  So much history gone.  I do believe that a lot of some treasures were moved out and billionaires have already raised millions of dollars to help with the restoration of the artwork inside but it will take a lot of time.

 

So sad to see this happen and so grateful we got there when we did.

 

I hope many of the treasures were saved.

 

Sailing from Cartagena to Barcelona.  Life if rough on the Elegant Explorere 😉 

 

 

[DeeniEncinitas]

A lot of good luck your way Jacqui!

Love The Cellar Masters, and they sure do pour a lot of wine and champagne 🥂😉😳. Waiting for those photos.

Have a great time tomorrow! Enjoy your train ride! A lot of nice scenery and Tarragona is a port city. I really liked the ruins and enjoy art history.

Denise😊

[shrimpboat123]

9 hours ago, kazu said:

Back on board the lovely Prinsendam as we sail out of Cartagena.

 

Here is today’s When and Where:

 

 

 

 

We didn't see you in Cartagena today. Oh right you're in Spain and we're in Columbia. My mistake! 😁

[cat shepard]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

On a new note, which I rarely do, we were truly saddened to see the news on Notre Dame.  So much history gone.  I do believe that a lot of some treasures were moved out and billionaires have already raised millions of dollars to help with the restoration of the artwork inside but it will take a lot of time.

 

So sad to see this happen and so grateful we got there when we did.

 

I hope many of the treasures were saved.

 

 

 

Not only were many artifacts saved, but most of the rose windows survived. The main altar and its cross - ok. The statues of the apostles and evangelists had been removed for the restoration. Their fire department chaplain removed the crown of thorns and the Blessed Sacrament. The stone infrastructure is ok. 

 

But the roof supported by “the forest” with its iconic spire - gone.  But huge donations have already been pledged to rebuild. This goes beyond religious beliefs. 

[kazu]

7 hours ago, shrimpboat123 said:

 

We didn't see you in Cartagena today. Oh right you're in Spain and we're in Columbia. My mistake! 😁

 

LOL Glen  - sounds like you two are having fun 🙂

 

4 hours ago, cat shepard said:

Not only were many artifacts saved, but most of the rose windows survived. The main altar and its cross - ok. The statues of the apostles and evangelists had been removed for the restoration. Their fire department chaplain removed the crown of thorns and the Blessed Sacrament. The stone infrastructure is ok. 

 

But the roof supported by “the forest” with its iconic spire - gone.  But huge donations have already been pledged to rebuild. This goes beyond religious beliefs. 

 

Thanks for the update.  Our news is limited and we don’t have a lot of time to watch it 😉 

[cat shepard]

And I just read they saved the massive 18th century organ.

 

We now return to your regularly scheduled program.😉

 

 

[Cruizer Bill]

Thanks for this great thread, this is fun! 

[kazu]

Good afternoon from Barcelona.

 

We did it everyone!!!  We successfully took the train to Tarragona.  Paco, our guide was waiting for us and we explored the ruins and the magnificent cathedral, had a bite in the mercado and then successfully took the train back to Barcelona.

 

Thank heavens we planned to take cabs.  The little Prinsendam was docked the furthest I have ever seen a ship.  OMG.  No one could have walked it.  NO ONE.

 

Now, to find where I left off and bring you up to date as much as I can.

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

Here is today’s When and Where:

 

 

 

[kazu]

And here is tonight’s dinner menu:

 

 

 

[kazu]

Here is our room service breakfast menu:

 

 

We are in a Neptune Suite (yes, I broke down when the price became somewhat bearable and upgraded) so the part that is shaded I suspect only applies to NS and above?  I’ll try to get a look at the other room service menu to let you know for sure.

 

I wanted to keep it light, so I ordered a smoothie.

 

 

Forgot to take the pic until I had had some sips - sorry 😉 

 

It wasn’t bad at all.

[1of4]

Beautiful pictures Jacqui.  Lovely review.  I can hardly wait to be well enough to resume cruising again.

 

as for Notre Dame in Paris, the workers were spotted on the roof this morning (Wednesday) and the goal is to have the rebuilding done in 5 years in time for the  Olympics.  We will take pictures August and hopefully again in 5 years for our 25 anniversary.

 

 

[1of4]

Showing one of the rose windows intact.

[drowelf]

4 minutes ago, 1of4 said:

Beautiful pictures Jacqui.  Lovely review.  I can hardly wait to be well enough to resume cruising again.

 

as for Notre Dame in Paris, the workers were spotted on the roof this morning (Wednesday) and the goal is to have the rebuilding done in 5 years in time for the  Olympics.  We will take pictures August and hopefully again in 5 years for our 25 anniversary.

 

 

Glad to see the Breakfast Room Service Menu still looks the same as last August. If I remember correctly the shaded stuff are +$$ items for non-Neptune's. And still plenty of space to write stuff in. We always get the Passion-Fruit Juice and order Hot Water (no cups) for our tea. 

 

As for the 5 year rebuild of Notre Dame, I saw the speech in which Macron stated that, but multiple experts have said that ain't going to happen. Several said its probably going to take a year or 2 just to plan on how to rebuild it. There is a little item such as the fact that there are no longer any Oak trees in France, or Europe, large enough to re-create the beams in the roof forest.