Day 11 at Sea

Days at sea can be relaxing and rejuvenating or filled with activity. Today we achieved a better balance. JP and I went to the Destination expert Karen’s talk on Gibraltar at 9 am. 

Gibraltar is British but located on the southern tip of Spain a hop skip and a jump from Morocco. 

ME and DG found deck chairs in the shade uo on deck 17. They texted us through the Princess app but it was some time (like hours) before we read their texts and actually found them. So we went up and enjoyed fresh air and some pleasant temps in the shade. Today it was 27 C  - so a really lovely temperature. 

We had a light lunch so we had a little space to try afternoon tea in the Capri dining room. JP had very limited choices for gluten free but they cobbled together a small offering for her too. 

Tonight was formal night - and I totally didn’t pack correctly. I was thinking Princess had removed formal nights and scaled back the dress code. Instead I was remembering Holland America (or Norwegian Cruise Lines or Oceania) all of whom have simplified dress expectations. As such I didn’t pick any really fancy clothes and feel that I am making do with a black T-shirt dress that I packed. 

After supper JP and I went to see the production show, Rock Opera, which is great entertainment (we had seen it last week and I loved it). 

We joined ME and DG for the Yes No game show in Princess Lice theatre at 9 pm. The object is to be interviewed and answer questions without using the word yes or no. The winners lasted 3 minutes and were rewarded with a bottle of champagne. Lesser time frames maybe got a coaster or other freebie. There was lots is laughter so fun to watch. 

We watched one karaoke performer then called it a night. I needed to write my blog then get a good night of sleep for a 6:30 alarm tomorrow!

The fun and laughter continues and we really are enjoying every aspect of this vacation!!

Day 10, Barcelona

What a day!!  We packed it full of sightseeing architectural buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi (whose name I did not know before planning this trip).

We planned to be off the ship by 7:30 or 8 am and we hit the mark. We had tickets for 9 am to go to Spain’s most visited monument (with more than 3,000,000 visitors per year) Le Sagrada Familia and were prepared to take the subway. 

We are at the half way mark of our cruise having completed 7 of 14 days so it is the end of the trip for some people and the beginning for others, but for us it marks the middle. The Enchanted Princess is rotating through three 7 day cruises through the Mediterranean this summer and we chose two of the three weeks for our wonderful girls cruise. So today as hundreds of guests are disembarking we thought there would be a queue for taxis. In fact there were plenty of taxis and there was no queue - so we hopped in one. 

Our driver got us to Le Sagrada Familia by 8:35 am so we enjoyed viewing this beautiful church from the outside. 

This building of this church began in 1883 with another architect, Fransesc de Paula del Villar, who built the Crypt below the rest of the structure. Gaudi was brought on in 1885 when he was just 31 years old, to take over the project. Gaudi ended up working on this project for more than 40 years, until his unexpected death when he was hit by a streetcar. 

For the first 20 years, Gaudi followed Villar’s initial designs for the Basilica of the Granda Familia. However 20 years later Gaudi had become one of the greatest modernista architects and had built nearly all of his masterpieces - casa milla, casa battlo and park Guell.  He felt prepared to present his overall vision for the Granda Familia. And so his vision has become the template for what followed and that basilica has continued to be built 140 years later. 

Originally the work was funded by philanthropists, now people like our tour group paying 40 € for tickets inside and a guided tour help continue to pay for the completion of the building. 

We entered the basilica a little before 9 am and were all surprised to see inside the stained glass. Outside, the detailed architecture captures your eye and you don’t event see the stained glass. Inside the stained glass is evident. 

The green and blue hues come through in the east side of the building as the sun shine through into pillars intended to look like a forest. 

We met with our guide Oliver at 9:30 am and were given headsets to hear his commentary as we moved throughout the church, beginning outside then moving inside. The tour was 50 minutes long and incredibly informative. 

I bought a book from the Bookstore about the Sagrada Familia published by Escudo De Oro and am sharing a photo which is better able to show the massive size of this project - because the photo is taken from a drone in 2018. 

There are to be three main entrances - this entrance on the West depicts the passion story of Christ (Last supper, soldiers casting lots for Jesus’s cloak etc, and ultimately dying on the cross).

I will add that work is able to continue on this mammoth project a century later because Gaudi insisted on making plaster moulds of his project so that others could see his vision. 

The third version of Gaudi’s mould for the interior, demonstrating how he wanted nature to be reflected inside to be like trees in a forest. 

Visiting the Sagrada Familia was a profound experience. We spent hours visiting and it was now time to move on. So we found a cafe across the street and had lunch outdoors, still with a view of the Basilica!  

Our lunch time view. 

ME went to purchase a SIM card for her phone, we all did a little shopping and walked torwards a condo complex, La Pedrera completed by Gaudi. DG and JP paid the 28 € to go into the complex, ME and I stayed out. We found a stone bench in the shade and breeze to rejuvenate while the other two toured and snapped photos. 

Outside view of Gaudi’s La Pedrera without a straight line in it - and some fabulously ornate balcony railings. 

DG photo on the roof of the condo looking down into the atrium. Amazing!

We walked further to Casa Battlo, another Gaudi condo. We had little time to visit this building, but we did find time to visit the gift shop on the bottom floor of the building!

This is a replica of Casa Battlo found in the gift shop of the building!

And then we caught a taxi on the street back to the ship. We drove along Las Ramblos a very popular street (also known for pickpockets so I was glad to be securely in a vehicle) to return to the port. We needed to swipe in by 5 pm and we had 15 minutes to spare!!

A shower was in order after our 35 Celsius day in the full sun. We enjoyed supper in the dining room and were all very tired as we sat in the comfort of air conditioning and full bellies. 

We spent some time posing for pictures with our matching shirts then enjoyed live music in the piazza. O’Malleys was full to hear the trio perform upbeat Irish music. 

We all started out watching movies under the stars - I was the only one who stayed to see the end of the Whitney Houston: I wanna Dance with Somebody movie to find out newsflash, she dies, sadly.

We have a day at sea tomorrow  - which means that all of you will be reading this a day or two later than Friday, July 29th, 2023, when it actually occurred!

We are heading for cooler temperatures in the 20’s in Gibraltar - and that will be a welcome reprieve. 

Day 9 At Sea

It is always lovely to have a day at sea to recover from busy port days.  JP and I ate breakfast and dinner in the dining room. DG and ME ordered room service for breakfast and had pizza for supper. JP and I enjoyed the prime rib in the dining room!

We started out trying to go to a speedy Sudoku challenge (DG was particularly keen!) but the organizer failed to show. After that we all went to a presentation about the ship and an interview with the Captain. Always interesting!!

Then we were off to the Princess Theatre for a cooking demonstration with one of the head chefs and a Maître D. Their friendly banter was casual and witty. After that we got to go on a tour through the kitchen right beside the Amalfi Dining Room. 

Maître D greeting us in the kitchen. 

Many chefs hard at work!

Then we returned to the Princess Theatre for a presentation by Destination Expert, Karen, as she talked about Barcelona. 

After lunch we all did independent things - I chose to watch the new Steven Spielberg version of the movie, Westside Story, in my stateroom. I have never seen the movie or musical before!  Is it ever sad.:(

After dinner we all enjoyed some time on our Verandah - it wasn’t too hot!!  The Variety Show demonstrated the strength and diversity of the entertainment on the Enchanted Princess.   It was uplifting to watch!!  ME and JP went and danced in the piazza while DG and I watched!!

Bed time now as we prepare for another early start tomorrow morning for Barcelona!

Day 8, Messina, Italy

Another wow day today!!  We awoke to pleasant temperature of 29 C. That was positively delightful to sit on our Verandah as we were pulling into port around 6:15 am. Once I had access to wifi I reread my favourite cruising blogger to see how she and her husband travelled to Taormina from Messina. It was possible and involved a timely departure from the ship, catching a train and then a bus to get to Taormina. I presented this idea to the others at breakfast and they were all keen to try so that we might go visit the Greco-Roman Theatre. 

So we hurried up, finished breakfast, hustled back to our room and packed up to leave by 7:30 so that we could get to the train station to catch the 8 am train. We exited the port gates and immediately spotted a man with a sign to Taormina and JP asked did we want to consider a taxi?  We paused and he approached us to ask if we were interested. ME immediately started speaking in Spanish (close enough to Italian!) saying to make his pitch quickly because we had one minute to consider the offer and then were carrying on to the train station. 

His offer was a van ride to Taormina and back, with 2.5 hours waiting time for us in Taormina for 300€. He had room for 6 people - we saw another couple standing nearby and asked if they were interested too. Six of us meant the price was 50 € per person. Sold. That worked out to about $75 Canadian and far less headache and logistics than we thought would be involved with the day. 

We moved to his comfortable van and loaded in. Our drive was about 50 minutes to Taormina so we got comfortable and enjoyed the ride!  The couple who joined us were from Perth, Australia - and were just delightful. 

Jean Franco was happy to drop us off right at the gates to the old town in Taormina. We arrived about 8:40 am - and we were told the Greco-Roman Theatre opened at 9 am so we took the opportunity to walk the streets without crowds (but with delivery trucks instead!)

JP, me, ME and DG posing in front of the Taormina sign. 

So much quaint art to go along with the views!

We then headed towards the theatre where we paid the 13.5 € entry fee. It was amazing to see this colosseum that was used then destroyed around 450 AD. 

There are views from every angle - but it was particularly interesting to see Mount Etna so prominently evident. 

Mt Etna is the most active volcano in Europe. 




JP and I stayed as long as possible at the site while DG and ME went for a bit of shopping. 

We met our driver back at 11:00 outside the old town gate and started the return trip to Messina. 

We saw a beautiful viewpoint over a beach and it is below:

 

Our driver hurried back to the Messina town centre because JP asked about seeing the clock celebration that happens in noon at Messina. 

We decided to have lunch at a local cafe where we ate arancino (JP had anti pasta) and cannoli for lunch - two local specialties. 

I was lucky enough to find an elastic knee brace so I will have a little more support. For those well wishers asking about my knee - it seems to have improved the last two days. 

Once back on the ship I decided to do a load of laundry. It required visiting two different laundry rooms but I was pleased to dons an empty machine. Laundry was a popular activity at 3:30 today!

Dinner was surf and turf tonight. Delicious. 

We went to see the production show 5 skies - it was a highly technical production simulating a video game. Entertaining- but I preferred Rock Opera from a few nights ago. 

We watched a fun dance competition in the piazza after that!  Karaoke was the draw after that but I was losing steam and needed to type my blog. 

Tomorrow is a day at sea - so everybody can decide for themselves how busy they want to be!!

Day 7, Corfu, Greece

JP and I have finally found the optimal temperature in our room.  Not too hot, not too cold, just right!!  And we both slept through the night!

So we awoke at 6:30 am and happily moved onto our Verandah to chat with our two friends while we sailed into Corfu!  We are in for some pretty amazing scenery and another hot day!

After breakfast we headed off the ship and decided to take the hop on hop off bus for 19 € each. This will give us the flexibility of choice to bail early if any one of us needs to return to the ship. The bus took us to Mouse Island first - which we elected not to visit. Our mission was to get to the Old Fortress which we learned was not going to be open after noon due to the heat wave. 

So we hopped off at the Old Fortress and paid our 6 € to enter. I wasn’t sure I was going to get to the top given the problems I have been having with my knee but I was going to give it the college try!  The grade to the top was nice and gradual and it was a lovely climb to the viewpoint!

DG used her selfie stick to take this of the group. 

There were views from every direction at the top!

We then descended to the cafe and indulged in a frappe!  Corfu is known for having this tasty iced coffee drink and DG treated me to one with cream and sugar!! (I am sure my family is shocked to hear I had a coffee!)

We then descended all the way to sea level and walked through the old town. We all found something to buy!!  Specialty food items, clothing, soap….we had fun!

The old town had beautiful sights. 

DG captured this wonderful photo without a single person in it!

We made our way to the far side of the old town and picked up a hop on hop off bus that took us back to the cruise port.  

Once back at the ship I had a shower to clean up from the sweat that was dripping everywhere and had soaked all my clothes. We then went up to the lido buffet and had lunch at about 2:30. From there we went and cooled down in the Retreat pool. We watched a ail away from deck 18 at 4 pm. 

We then dressed in white for dinner and enjoyed dinner with Michael as server and Hector as the assistant at table 616. Princess Alice had a few activities that capture our attention. Michael Jackson music Trivia at 8 pm followed by the game show Majority Rules at 9 pm. We had heaps of fun and laughter!!

Trying to prepare for Messina Italy tomorrow now. No solid plans but some thoughts on what we would like to do!!

Day 6 Kotor, Montenegro

You may have noticed that my blogs have not been published daily as is usually the case. I have been relying on a SIM card and that hasn’t allowed me to access data today in Montenegro or yesterday at sea. Fingers crossed we can post the backlog of days tomorrow in Corfu. 

The sail in to Kotor, Montenegro is stunningly beautiful as you twist and turn your way through fjords. We were awake around 5:45 am to watch the scenery pass by our stateroom. It is lovely to have an adjoining Verandah with ME and DG so we can share the experience and binoculars together!

Early morning views entering the Bay of Kotor. 

Once again we went to the buffet early for breakfast to try to get a relatively early tender. We were rewarded with very few tourists inside the walls of the old city as we all took many photographs!!

Again the day was extremely hot and we were thankful for the shade of these wonderful cobblestone streets. The walls were built by the Venetians in the 1500’s to help fortify the city and they are said to have cost a lot. The price was worth it if they walls are still standing 5 centuries later!

My knee is giving me troubles on earnest. When I head out for the day I put on voltaren, wrap it with a tensor bandage, take an Advil, and use my hiking pole as a cane and I still have pain in my knee when I walk.  I am disappointed that walking has become an issue with such a wonderful trip where we have any

ports that involve lots of walking. 

When we returned to the ship we had lunch on the Lido and then went to the retreat pool for some cooling down time in the water, then reading in recliners. 

All aboard was at 4:30 pm and sail away began at 5 pm. The stunning scenery made us want to sit and appreciate the view from our verandahs so we were a bit late getting to supper. Supper was tasty. 

We then headed to the production show Rock Opera and it was a top notch performance. Amazing technical set, costumes, lighting, singing and dancing. It was first rate!!

This pumpkin had to retire to her room so that I could finish the blog and get to sleep. It has been a busy day!!  

Day 5, At Sea

On our first day at sea we tried breakfast in the dining room. We had a lot of great servers and realized there are a lot of wonderful staff and it might be in our best interest to move to a different table for dinner. It would allow JP to have greater confidence that was she was being served food that was indeed gluten free!!  Jessica was a great assistant we had at breakfast who remembered serving us on the first day AND she remembered JP was gluten free!!

We then went to the Princess Theatre to hear port enrichment lecturer Karen speak about Kotor, Montenegro (where we will visit tomorrow) and Corfu, Greece. She is part od the entertainment team and shares her knowledge of the ports - and does not try to sell you an excursion. Her job is to provide information. I found her lecture really helpful in preparing us for the next two ports where we don’t really have firm plans in place!

We then went up to deck 16 trying to find professional photographers to take a picture of us - but that was a bust so DG and ME went to to listen to an Effy jewelry presentation to try to win diamond earrings. I believe they compared it to a time share sales pitch and no, they didn’t win!

I went with JP to see an art auction.  Holy crow they have a lot of staff work those shows.  The first piece they tried to auction off at $170,000!  There were no buyers.  But it was interesting to see how the whole art auction was executed and later on more reasonably priced paintings. It didn’t look like there were many people seriously bidding - but we left after about 30 minutes. 

We then joined our friends at Gigi’s pizza. They stood in line for about 20 minutes to get a seat. JP had a GF pizza, I had regular and the others had calzones. 

JP and I went to the Santorini Calder talk - it was interesting and I would like to have heard it before we visited Santorini!  We each did our own things after that. JP went to a merengue class and had LOTS of fun!  DG found her little piece of heaven on deck 18 in the sun away from the crowds and cooled off in the shower on deck next to her when she got too hot. ME and I each returned to our staterooms to have a nap!!

Formal night dinner was lovely. We had dinner in a new section with great service. We posed for a few formal pictures and then went to see the production show “Spotlight”. Great singing and dancing. 

We are now tucked into bed, ready for a n early start tomorrow but at least we have a time change in our favour tonight!

Day 4 Continued (Santorini)

DG and JP captured some wonderful photos while we were busy returning to the ship. 

It was beginning to feel oppressively hot by this time (noon). We were dripping with sweat and I have this knee that is unreliable so ME and I felt it was prudent to get to the bus pick up point for the ride back to Fira. 

That ride was about a 25 minute drive and provided a glimpse into the less affluent side of Santorini. 

Once in Fira we had to decide how to get down the 300 metre embankment to the port - walk or cable car. We learned that a taxi was not an option so this port would not be appropriate for those with mobility challenges. 

We opted for the cable car. The line at the top of the hill turned out to be a 50 minute wait before we got to the cable car. We were fortunate enough to have somebody offer to give us their cable car tickets as they had decided to walk down. So we saved ourselves 5 Euros each! 

Our cable car view of the Enchanted Princess ship as we were descending!

I perhaps didn’t mention the third way a person can descend to the port. It is by donkey!!  And I recall JP saying this morning, “There is no *#!%*# way I am going to ride a donkey. And yet here is a photo JP took as she and DG were clambering up on a donkey to ride it down the path!!! Desperate times call for desperate measures!! The smiles and laughter from the two of them retelling the story of the riding the donkey down the path were priceless! 

Donkey traffic jam photo courtesy of JP!!

A refreshing dip in the pool and a shower was very much in order. I then tried to upload half of this blog while I still had wifi. 

We then went for supper at 5:40. The meal was good but we seemed to struggle with our waiter and his assistant following through with our requests so we may try a new location tomorrow night. 

We went to a comedian magician tonight who was more focussed more on the comedy than on the magician part of the act!  After the long hot day in Santorini ME and I did fall asleep during the show so perhaps that is an unfair assessment of the entertainment!!

I am struggling to keep my eyes open now - so will sign off for the evening - but what a glorious day it was with my three friends. 

Day 4, Santorini, Greece

Wow!!  What a day!  We set alarms good and early with a plan to meet for breakfast at 6:15 am. We wanted to be in line for tenders as soon as they opened at 7 am. And so we were. We learned some others around us had arrived at 6 am to queue up for the tenders. We arrived at the embarkation station at 7 am and were given numbers in the 360’s and we ended up catching the fourth tender offered at 7:40. Not too bad!!

Tenders were large sized and offered by the port authority (ie not the same friendly staff on board that Princess would offer). Santorini looks stunning.  The town of Fira is atop a steep outcropping and you ascend the 200 to 300 metres a variety of ways. You can take a cable car up, ride a donkey up or walk up. 

We carried out our plan to ride the “Fast line to Oia” - something that couldn’t be booked in advance but you have to trust is an option when your get to the dock. This involved 1: From Fira port to Oia Fort by speedboat (not too speedy, just right!). 2: from Oia port to Oia Downton by shuttle bus. 3.  Leisure time in Oia. 4.  Every hour on the hour shuttle back to Fira town.   All this for 30 Euros - and it was a pretty saving from the organized tours on the ship. 

Oia (pronounced ee-ya) is an exquisite town with beautiful white buildings and blue roofs high above the Aegean Sea! DG and JP are both artists who appreciate photography so they particularly loved the Oia. We all did!!

I had three criteria for a stop - restaurant with food or drink, shade (it was somewhere around 35 C) and a view!  Mezza provided this in spades!!

After our wonderful refreshing stop - we headed out in search of more blue roofs. We found some along with more people and more heat. 

ME and I decided we wanted to try to catch the noon bus back to Fira Town so we hustled down and JP and DG decided to take a bit more time. 

Day 3, Embarkation

We awoke this morning and had another fabulous breakfast at Hotel Fresh. DG and I decided we needed one essential each if we were to board the ship without luggage so just in case we went shopping! DG bought sandals and I bought underwear!!

We raced back to the hotel to check out and hop into our cab reserved for 9:45 AM!  We arrived at the port about 10:15 am. We wanted to arrive early to try to track down our missing luggage. The latest information we had from the luggage tracing department was that the luggage would be delivered directly to our ship. After texting with our travel agent, LC, she had reached out to Princess to advise them of the situation and they suggested we arrive early to increase the odds that we tracked down our luggage!

But I am getting ahead of myself. Today we are embarking on an exciting 14 day Mediterranean Cruise!  This has been a year in the planning - and is intended to celebrate many years of friendship - stemming from meeting at the University of Waterloo.  Okay so I fell into the group by virtue of the fact that I married a Waterloo Alumnus 31 years ago - but I am sure glad I met these wonderful women!

This is our itinerary. 

Princess has refined their check in process to be a smooth operation!  We had checked in, received our medallion app and were onboard by 11:30 am.  In the course of that 75 minutes, I checked in with Cristos - lost luggage manager, three times. He assured me he had received an email regarding our lost luggage (no doubt from LC) and the bags would be delivered to our stateroom before we departed.   So we put our faith in Cristos and boarded. 

We walked to our staterooms on deck 11 and they were ready!  Well done Princess!! We dropped our carry on bags and went to the Capri dining room for lunch.   We all had the beef medallions and they were delicious!

We of course checked in at the muster station, watched the safety video and in JP’s case, tried on her life jacket!!

We then went to the retreat pool on deck 17 at the front of the ship. Never have I been on a cruise ship where I actually spent so much time on in the pool and on a deck chair!  It was about 38 C and a wonderful to moderate your body temperature!!  We made friends too - two sisters from Idaho.

At 4 pm DG decided she wanted to return to the stateroom to see if our luggage had been delivered. She returned to the pool deck with a smile!!!  The luggage has been returned!!  Hallelujah!

We all returned to our staterooms and unpacked our luggage and before you knew it- we had a dinner reservation at 5:40 in the Amalfi Dining room to attend. I had the chilled soup -  it was like a virgin pina coloda in a bowl!!!

After dinner were up on decks 16 and 17 as we sailed away - sporting our new shirts that DG surprised us with!

If you read closely, the shirt caption reads “Oh ship! It’s a girls trip!”  The shirts brought lots of smiles and much interaction with other guests. 

Then we watched a Michael Buble concert on the big screen over the pool. We then made our way to the Princess Live Theatre where there was a fun trivia game called Mind Duel with the cruise staff. 

And so we are packing for an early departure in Santorini tomorrow morning. We have been advised that this is a tender port, there is no shade and we are to be  joined by many ships. We are packing for a day that might allow time on a beach and hopefully a boat ride. We shall see!!

Day 2 Athens,Greece

Well today we awoke at 6:30 - okay so I had really been awake since 2 am ;)!  We had a delicious breakfast included with our room at Hotel Fresh - the hi-light being freshly squeezed orange juice!

Then we started on our 20 minute walk to the Acropolis of Athena as we had 9 am tickets. Well who would have thought that half of Athens was also in line for tickets!!  It was a tolerable 30 degrees Celsius at 8:15 am when we set out on our walk. 

We had 65 metres elevation to gain along with our walk to the ticket gate. We were dripping with sweat by the time we got to the gate. 

Wikipedia states the following:  “The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a Rocky outcrop above the city of Athena, and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon.”

We had our own brush with fame watching travel expert, Rick Steves filming at Acropolis. 

The Acropolis was amazing!  And hot.  And crowded. If only we had time to linger and read more of the history as we were seeing the sites - but staff would prompt you to keep moving.  Oh the history on this site!!  The buildings on the site were coordinated for construction around 429 BC.  The Parthenon and other buildings were seriously damaged during the 1687 by the Venetians during the Morean War when gunpowder being stored by Turkish rulers in the Parthenon was hit by by Venetian bombardment and exploded. 

After about 90 minutes on the site we had to leave and seek shade, water bottles offered by the Red Cross and finally air conditioning at the Acropolis Museum!

The air conditioning offered respite from the heat and we spent about three hours there. What a stunning building!!

And then my knee started paining me a lot. I am awaiting a full knee replacement so pain in my knee and limping is nothing new but this pain was noteworthy. So ME and I took a taxi back to the hotel and JP and DG slowly shopped and walked back to the hotel. 

After Advil, Voltaren, a swim, elevation and then a tensor bandage application to my knee, it felt better. Fingers crossed it lasts. 

And the saga of the lost luggage continues.  Air Canada tells us that our luggage will be returned to the port tomorrow. Not our hotel, as promised. We will see if it finds us. 

DG and I wanted to buy a couple of cool clothes in case we don’t get reunited with our luggage - so we revisited a little shop. We then had a lovely Greek dinner along a pedestrian walkway. 

Tomorrow we check out of the hotel and board the Enchanted Princess!!

Day 1 Athens, Greece

Trying to upload a wonderful post. Maybe third time’s a charm?  I am lucky enough to go to Europe with three girlfriends for a vacation on The Mediterranean Sea. DG and I flew from the west. JP and ME flew from central Canada. We all let in YYZ to fly together to Athens, Greece. 

DG and I walked directly from our gate in Toronto to our next gate to meet our friends and they were already in line to board our next flight. It was so much fun to meet them and exchange hugs. We had arranged to sit in four aisle seats where we could visit back and forth for the flight. Upon touchdown on Athens, not surprisingly DG and I did not have luggage at the carousel. In fact we didn’t really wait much at the carousel because we have both purchased air tags connected to our phones to track our luggage. That app told us the luggage was sitting back in Toronto. We had a very cheerful desk agent who processed all our information to report our delayed baggage.  I felt I packed my carry ok very well anticipating my luggage might not show up - so I am good for a few days. 

We took a taxi from the airport to Fresh Hotel. Taxis are supposed to be government regulated and cost anywhere from 40 to 55 euros to get downtown. ME expected it to cost 45. The ride cost 60. We should have negotiated our price up front but I did pay the requested 60 euros. Lesson learned. 

Our hotel lobby was cool with air conditioning and that was appreciated because it was 38 Celsius. Our rooms were not ready so we dropped the bags we had and walked to Thanasis for traditional Greek food. It was tasty and not too expensive. 

We wandered through the markets for a couple of hours but I was starting to fade with the 9 hour time zone change and not having slept on the plane so I welcomed the return to the hotel to have a nap!  After a one hour nap we all went up to the rooftop pool where you could plunge in and cool down.  We can see the Acropolis from our roof top pool and restaurant!

A typical Greek road with a view of the Acropolis atop the hill!

After two hours enjoying the pool we ate supper in the adjoining restaurant. The peach and green salad was delicious - the spaghetti was okay. 

After supper we walked to the grocery store to pick up a few essentials like sunscreen!  Tomorrow we have tickets to the Acropolis at 9 am so we are all ready for a good night of sleep!

Day 16 Disembarkation

NCL has good systems to get you to leave the ship in a timely manner. They wanted us off by 8:30 am as independent walk offs (carrying our own luggage) and we were in line at 8:30 am to exit!!  The dining room offered an abbreviated menu to ensure to make sure you were in and out quickly. 

When we left the ship we saw a very long lineup for taxis. So we pulled out the business card of the taxi driver who drove us from the Sky Lagoon and asked him to pick us up. He texted that he would pick us up at 10 am. Perfect. So we sauntered over to the little beach and played with rocks and sand for an hour. 

And in that time I lost my passport. Say what?  How could that be??  I had it when we left the ship?  And now it isn’t in my tiny purse I wear on my body?  So I was scrambling looking through my carry on luggage. And in that time P started looking around the big rocks where I was sitting - and he found my black passport in between black rocks!!  Thank you P!!  You might just have built up enough good will to get invited on another cruise!!!

So our 50 minute taxi ride cost to the Keflavik airport cost 25,000 Krone - after discount - about $250 CAD. I tried to book shuttles by bus and that would have cost about $200 for the family. 

And then we arrived at KEF - and amazingly busy airport - like crazy busy. No seats to be found so people sit on the floor everywhere. Everybody waited for Icelandic air to open - and that was a two hour wait. We played games on the floor. We stood in one of many lines for a service agent to check us through to our final destination. Lines everywhere. Chairs nowhere. And when you line up for you gate - it is a long queue- that you walk through to final board - a bus??  Not a plane?  No the bus ferried is out to a plane on the tarmac. And finally about 6 hours later we got to sit down in our seats on the plane. I have never seen anything like it at an airport. One staffer said this is what it is always like - in high season!

So we flew to Toronto without issue and then connected home. Many hours later and are looking forward to our beds!!

What a wonderful vacation!  We really loved having JG and P with us to explore Brugge, Amsterdam, Norway and Iceland!!  Until next time!

Day 15 Reykjavík

Today is our final full day of the cruise and we arrived in Reykjavík, Iceland where passengers were allowed to disembark by 8 am. 

We had a plan that allowed a more leisurely pace as we were getting picked up at the port at 11 am. So we squeezed in a game of trivia where we were the winners!!  It was still a tough game - but far fewer competitors when the ship is in port!!  JG is the proud owner of a new deck of NCL playing cards as a result!

We headed off the ship at 10 am and the wind was howling!  It was about 6 degrees Celsius at that time (with a high of 11 forecast). I added my puffy down coat to my fleece, raincoat, toque and gloves and I was quite comfortable!

We wandered around the port. JG enjoyed looking at the rocks and sand, J returned to the ship to grab his bathing suit in case we ran short on time. We had a two stage plan today. We were being picked up by Arctic Adventures to go snorkel in dry suits in the Silfra Fissure today. This is the place where two continental plates meet. The North American plate on one side and the Eurasian plate on the other. And there is a skinny little section where people can snorkel, see amazingly clear water and touch both plates at the same time.  It is one of the top 5 activities to do in the world according to Tripadvisor. So we booked it!  Months ago. This was the wish of the geologist JG in the family!

It was a pretty amazing opportunity, though today, it required patience. Another tour group had 60 snorkellers ahead of us - always in groups of 6 with a guide, so we just had to wait our turn. Kind of like summitting Mount Everest!  Meno from Italy was our snorkelling guide and he made sure we were comfortable in our gear (dry suits to fend off the Arctic waters that are somewhere between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius). Amazingly the sun came out , and while we were waiting our turn we were comfortably warm in our dry suits. 

After the 40 minute experience (your face, feet and hands felt cold) we were treated to some hot chocolate. Our driver from Norway, Gunn, was kind enough to drive us to Sky Lagoon - phase two off our excursion today (just for our family - not for any of the other 8 people on the bus!). Because of the long wait at the Silfra Fissure we were about an hour late for our ticket time at the geothermal hotspring. What a wonderful way to warm up after the chilly arctic water experience!

The hotsprings were fabulous and a hi light for P in particular. 

We caught a cab back to the ship and had a late supper - about 7 pm tonight. 

Then we had to do the sad but necessary task of packing out bags. We are disembarking around 8:30 am tomorrow and killing time at the airport till our 5 pm flight!!  All good things must come to an end!

Day 14 At Sea

It is starting to feel like the vacation is winding down!  We had to present ourselves to Iceland immigration this morning. They had some officers who had boarded the ship yesterday. Today we had to go up to the Observation Deck with our passports to clear customs. 

After breakfast, we then went to play a game of trivia!  We didn’t do too poorly - but we had some laughs!

And then we headed up for our reservation at the Escape Room. And the fun little surprise was that the two extra people in our group with us were the 18 and 19 year old brother and sister who had been on our hike and bike tour in Alesund, Norway! We paid an extra $15 surcharge per person to participate and we had heaps of fun!  We figured out how to crack the code and escape from the room in 29 minutes!!! (We had 16 minutes to spare!)

After lunch, the captain announced that an iceberg could be viewed starboard side of the ship. We headed up to the 8th deck and spotted the iceberg (sporting our coats as it was 2 degrees Celsius and windy)!

Supper was as lovely as ever. Then we enjoyed a movie in our stateroom!  Tomorrow is our last full day in the cruise in Reykjavík. 

Day 13 Akureyri, Iceland

Day 13 Akureyri, Iceland

 

Okay third time entering this information for my blog – let us hope I don’t lose it in cyberspace this time! Writing this as if it were July 3, 2023 and when did actually visit Akureyri, Iceland.

 

We booked an independent tour with Iceland Everywhere Tours (EIT).  It was a full day tour runningfrom 9 am till 5 pm.  Originally we were to depart at 5:30 pm today so the schedule would have been tight – but as NCL revised our itinerary we are missing Isafjordur as a port and staying in Akureyri until 4 am on July 4.  Isafjordur is a smaller port and they were trying to dredge the harbour to accommodate for larger ships like the Norwegian Prima.  This work was originally to be complete in October 2022 but has been delayed.  It may be done by the middle of July – but not soon enough for our cruise.

 

Our excursion was a tour on a mini-bus, a Mercedes Benz with 19 passenger seats.  Siggi, our driver, said they intentionally leave a couple of seats empty to move around.  I also think it gave some breathing room because these were TI-NY seats!  JG and J each chose a single seat so they had an acceptable amount of room, but P and I shared a double seat and there was lots of rubbing of shoulders!  The whole mini-bus seemed much narrower than a North American vehicle, to reflect the narrower size of roads in Iceland.

 

There were many mini-buses and a number of larger buses from the cruise ship that visited just about all of our destinations today.  With three cruise ships in port – there were many tours running.  Our tour was essentially to visit Godafoss and Myvatn.  Foss means waterfall in Iceland.  Godafoss was like a mini Niagara Falls.

 Our second stop was at Skutustaoagigar – it is an area of Myvatn Lake with a high concentration of pseudo craters.  Here it was particularly windy and 5 Celsius.  Good thing we are Canadians who know how to dress in layers as we were well prepared for this weather!  This is where we chose to eat lunch.  Each person had to buy their own lunch.  J had the best one – smoked trout on pumpernickel bread.  The pumpernickel bread was cooked in a geothermal hot spring for 24 hours.  It was delicious!

 

After this was my favourite stop – Hofdi Nature Park.  Hofdi had a small parking lot so the large size coaches couldn’t stop here and it was a quieter experience!

 We then visited Gonguleidir in Dimmuborgir – a lava field.  The rocks looked very much like trolls and the Icelandic people believe that there are 13 prankster trolls (Yule Lads) that are associated with Christmas.  J like this area best as it has amazing landscape architecture that feels like the badlands of Alberta, but in magma rather than in Sandstone.

 

Our last two stops were at geothermal hot springs.  JG and P liked the hot spring best where they climbed below ground to put their feet in hot springs.  The temperature was about 40 degrees Celsius and absolutely beautiful!

Our very last stop was at Namafjall Hverir – a high temperature geothermal area with fumaroles and mud pots that smelled strongly (stunk one might say) of sulphur).

 

We returned back to the port about 5:20 pm – just in time to race to our room, change clothes and go for dinner for our 5:30 pm reservation!  Dinner was its usual amazing service and food.  And three of us were all very tired – and went to bed at 9 pm.  One of us face timed his girlfriend and then went to bed!

Day 12 At Sea

Today we are crossing the Atlantic Ocean as we head towards Iceland. We can feel more movement on the ship - but not a huge amount. We are safely located centrally low on the ship on deck 5 so our rooms are about as stable as one can be on a ship!  You feel more motion at either extreme end of the ship. 

J had a Behind the Scenes tour on the ship this morning. He was in a small group of 15 guests who had the opportunity to visit one of the kitchens, the laundry, the engine control room,  the backstage of Prima Theatre, I-95 (the main corridor for crew operations), the crew recreation area and the Bridge. J especially liked the engine control room and the bridge!  I thought it was a perfect gift for his 60th birthday and it was. 

We expected it would be crowded in the Indulge Food Hall today so we arrived 15 or 20 minutes early and every single table inside was taken- except for one!  So we scooped the one table right beside the door that opened with a blast of cold air when people ventured outside. The Prima ship has loads more seating areas outside - which is perfect for hot destinations - but crossing the Atlantic to Iceland is a frosty experience so the ship doesn’t staff those tables on days like today. The Indulge food hall is fun to eat at - you place your order on tablets at the tables and your food gets delivered from one of 11 food stations. If you are still a little hungry, you order some more!!

After lunch JG really wanted to go sit in the Infinity pool so he talked his brother P to join him!!  I tagged along to be the official photographer!

Note the absence of people on deck!!

After the swim JG used my laptop to organize photos, the boys played games and read and I had a sleep. 

We went down for supper to the Commodore Room at our usual time of 5:30. So far every night we are lucky enough to get placed at a window. 

After supper we played a game of Splendour, then headed to bed. J and JG hope to get up at 5 am as we enter the fjord tomorrow so they want to get a good night sleep and watch as we enter the fjord. And OH - the sun doesn’t set tonight!!

Day 11 Alesund, Norway

Fabulous birthday for JG today. A hike and bike in Alesund, Norway!

The company we used for our hike and e-bike tour was Uteguiden. If I had been savvy enough in booking this excursion I would have booked them directly with Uteguiden.com - but Viator commands a large presence on Google and we ended up booking the trip with Viator. Ultimately we were really happy with today’s trip. Antona was our guide. He was French and Canadian but grew up in the Philippines. Another family of four from Southern California was on the trip with us. We were all fitted with e-bikes (Cannondale brand) and the battery operated just like mine at home so I was comfortable with it.

We cycled for about 15 minutes to a nearby island where we locked up our bikes and began the hike to Sukkertoppen. The elevation gain was about 300 metres of vertical though maybe 60 had been gained while climbing with the e-bikes. The trail had sections that were very steep with large rocks in it - often placed as stepping stones. For me it took one hour and 10 minutes to climb to the top and of course I was the slowest. What an amazing 360 degree view at the top. We are a delicious lunch of bagel sandwiches, cinnamon buns and berry smoothies at the top. It  was 15 Celsius today with blue sky. Absolutely gorgeous for hiking!  The descent took me about 50 minutes and I made full use of my poles to steady myself and my knee which is scheduled for a full knee replacement within the next year. 

Once back at the bikes we cycled around the island - so probably another 30 minutes of cycling for fun!! And the power boost was appreciated on all the climbs!

We returned to the city and our starting point four hours later. The whole tour was from 11 am till 3 pm - perfect time to enjoy the day and not be rushed at the start or finish. Our all aboard time was 4:30 pm. 

We returned to our stateroom to see chocolate truffles delivered courtesy of the Maître’D, Moises Lequerica. J and I had talked to him last night to tell him how much we were enjoying the food, staff and itinerary in this cruise and that it was our first Norwegian Cruise Line trip!  He asked for our room number and the chocolates showed up today!!

JG also had chocolate truffles delivered to him today to celebrate his birthday!  After our delicious supper in the Commodore Room tonight, P and I went up to Indulge Food Hall and bought him a special Red Velvet cake and wished him happy birthday!

Then JG asked that we watch the movie “Catch me if you Can” for his birthday so we did that too!!

Tonight we get an extra hour of sleep and we have a sea day tomorrow!  My weary bones will appreciate that!