Advertisement
Published: November 13th 2022
This cruise is the replacement for a 2022 cruise which would have celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary, delayed due to Covid, and follows on from our visit to Adrian, Vanessa, Sophie and Isaac in the USA.
Wednesday12 Apr 2023 Last day in Gambrills with the family.
Kids off to school by 8:30am with a final goodbye. Its been a great time with them seeing them in person and watching the family interactions. We said goodbye to Vanessa at 9:30am as Adrian was driving us to BWI Thurgood Marshall Amtrak station on his way to work - about 25 minutes.
The North East Regional 174 Amtrak service was due to leave at carriage....or the next....or the next. The Conductor indicated there were seats in the front carriage - and that carriage was almost empty. Muscling the two large suitcases through 3 carriage aisles was not fun but we finally got to there and had our choice of seats.
The journey took about 2 hours 50 minutes and we arrived Moynihan Penn Station Manhattan at 1:45pm. Nice countryside viewed from the train but the overarching impression was one of age and decay of infrastructure
that lined the rail line all the way to New York. Most of it had been poorly maintained and lot of it abandoned.
On arrival at Penn Station, we were surprised at how narrow the platforms were. In a lot of places, two people with suitcases could not pass each other !! And the platforms were long. We had to walk the length of the platform (a good 200 metres) to arrive at an elevator to get us up into Moynihan Hall, the street level entry. This area has obviously been recently refurbished compared to the platform area that did not appear to have been touched in many years.
At street level, found a taxi rank and accepted an Uber ride from a gent in a very flash black Suburban. I knew the estimated fare in a yellow NYC cab would be in the order of USD$30-$35. This bloke offered a "discounted" from of $40, down from $50 - so deal done, plenty of room for luggage and very comfortable 30 minute ride to the hotel. Traffic in NYC streets was chaotic - narrow, construction going on everywhere, delivery vans double parked.
Hotel is the Hilton Garden
Inn, 206 East 52nd Street, Manhattan. Definitely 3 star with adequate but the usual small New York hotel room. It is clean however and the hotel is well located for restaurants - so we do not have to stray far -
www.hilton.com/en/hotels/nycmegi-hilton-garden-inn-new-york-manhattan-midtown-east/ Afternoon spent settling in, getting some supplies (e.g. milk for the coffee machine instead of the dreaded powdered creamer they supply), having a late lunch and making a reservation for dinner at a nearby Lebanese place - Yara -
yaranyc.com Yara turned out to be a very popular and good Lebanese restaurant, which we enjoyed. On our last visit to New York, we visited another Lebanese place Naya - which is just up the road from us, but it is only doing takeaways during refurbishment. So Lebanese fare is obviously our favourite here !
Back to the hotel and turned in about 10pm.
Thursday 13 Apr 23 Woke at 5:30am - 21 degrees already and ahigh of 31 degrees forecast.
Couple of room complaints - noisy fan in the air conditioner, coffee machine is not working. blackout curtains do not cover the window.
Coffee machine fixed - other two remain outstanding
!!
On the move at 10am for a late breakfast at Pret a Manger - one of our standby breakfast / lunch spots wherever we travel. Hotel breakfast was USD$21.95 each - did not think it represented value for money so looked elsewhere. Found a better place as we started our walking - will try that tomorrow morning.
Long day traversing the city in search of items needed for boarding the ship, makeup and clothing. We are on 52nd street and we ended up down at 12th street.
21,393 steps equating to 16.7 km for the day !! And managed a Subway ride from 14th Street to 50th Street - a kind lady assisted us with directions and how to work the ticket machine. USD$3 per single trip.
Our impression of the city is that it is aging dramatically and is quite unkempt with rubbish and rubbish bags lining the streets, dirty sidewalks and gutters and shabby facades. Construction and refurbishment going on everywhere.
Temperatures maxed out at 32 degrees - not a great deal of humidity but still hot walking around.
Back to the hotel at 5pm and then retired to our nearby
Japanese restaurant - Gu - for USD$6 Happy Hour drinks (Roz a NZ Sauvignon Blanc Brancot and I got an Argentinian Malbec). Stayed there for dinner and enjoyed a salmon poke bowl and a Katsu Curry (about USD$18 each - which we thought was good value in terms of the portions and quality.
www.gujapanese.com Shirts for Roz forgotten in the day's purchases - so a post dinner gallop back to Loft and two linen shirts (both 40%!o(MISSING)ff) purchased. Gentle stroll back to the hotel arriving about 8pm - footsore and somewhat weary (not sure if the latter was the two glasses of Malbec though).
A good day out seeing a lot of the inner city and the crowds therein. The number of languages being heard has been phenomenal - Spanish, French, Japanese, Hebrew, Greek and the wide variety of American were among the few that I could identify (some of the identification was from behaviours - particularly the Jewish community. (Watching the interaction between elderly Jewish men and women was a floor show!!) Huge diversity in nationalities. We reckon if we don't catch covid from today's outing, we are not likely to get it anywhere !! Very
few masks being worn - mainly the elderly when they are worn.
I ask readers (who might be still with us) to be patient with me with some of the memories and statements made in this blog. The blog is to primarily prompt us to remember our journey and to be able to hark back (when we are old and frail) about the good times we had on the road over the years. I have difficulty remembering what I had for breakfast let alone what happened on Day 18 of the 50 we will be away this this time.
According to Accuweather records, today's 32 degrees on 13 April has beaten the previous record of 31 degrees which occurred on the same day in 1977. The minimum of 19 degrees was trumped in 1874 by a -4 degrees on the same day.
Bed at 10pm - still 29 degrees outside.
Friday 14 Apr 23 Big sleep in today !! Woke at 6:30am - over 8 hours - very unusual. 22 degrees outside - revised high of 31 degrees expected today (up from 29). Another revised forecast for tomorrow - low of 16 overnight and high
of 18 with afternoon showers. Hope that does not spoil the 4pm sailout of NY harbour. Have been looking forward to passing the Statue of Liberty and getting a good photo as we pass by.
Late out of the blocks and did not leave the hotel until 10:30am. Breakfast at nearby Fresh & Co and then a gallop to the corner of 59th Street and 8th Avenue - Columbus Circle. Entered the 59th Street Subway station and took the A Train up to 190th Street Station - about 22 minutes for the subway ride. Quite crowded initially on the subway but numbers decreased as we headed to the Upper West Side. USD $3 each for a one trip ticket.
190th Street is located at the southern entrance to Fort Tryon Park which leads to our destination for today - the Met Museum Cloisters.
Fort Tryon is a 27 hectare park situated on a ridgeline on the west of Manhattan, bordering on the Hudson River. During the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Fort Washington was fought at the site of the park on November 16, 1776. After a British victory, the fort was named Fort Tryon after
the last British Governor of the Province of New York.
The walk through the par from the station is very pleasant and, despite a lack of clear signage, your way is made to the Cloisters.
The Cloisters is located in the midst of Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River. The museum opened to the public in 1938 and was designed by architect Charles Collens to resemble a French Romanesque abbey -
www.metmuseum.org/visit/plan-your-visit/met-cloisters. It contains a large collection of medieval artworks shown in the architectural settings of French monasteries and abbeys. Its buildings are centered around four cloisters—the Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem, Bonnefont and Trie—that were acquired by American sculptor and art dealer George Grey Barnard in France before 1913, and moved to New York.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated the area for the park, the building and much of the collection.
Entry for Seniors is USD$22 - General Entry is USD$30.
Allow at least 2 hours to visit all of the galleries and cloister gardens. Unfortunately, the public is not allowed up the Tower.
The exhibition is certainly worth the effort of getting there.
For the return journey, we took
the M4 bus from outside the entrance to the Museum - USD$3 each single trip. We travelled from 190th Street right down to 49th Street - a journey that took almost 2 hours but it gave us a different view of New York from one end to the other.
Happy hour at Gu (again) and our penchant for Asian food overtook us. We were going to look for something different - a burger or some Greek - but decided to stay where we were, repeat the wine order and have dinner. Ro's dinner of Shrimp and Mango Salad and Soft Shell Crab was particularly nice. Our waiter on the three nights, we went to Gu, Lydia, was Chinese lady (yes - Chinese in a Japanese restaurant) was great and she looked after us on each occasion.
Back to the hotel by 7:30pm to pack. Renee called and we had a good chat for about an hour.
Adrian is heading to the UK for a week of conferencing in Cheltenham.
Internet Connections. Will update the blog as best I can before departure but
for a week, from tomorrow our time (your Saturday night 15 April) until your Sunday night (23 April), communications might be intermittent. My reading of internet reliability on board this ship at sea and in the Atlantic indicates connections are at best very slow and at worst not available. We have 500 minutes of internet available but slow connections chew that up very quickly. So apologies in advance if blog posting appear slow in that period. On Sunday 23 April, we arrive in Lisbon so that may improve connections.
Forecast for tomorrow is 17 degrees up to 19 with last afternoon showers expected.
The Atlantic crossing is expected to be relatively smooth - time will tell !!
We lave the hotel at 10am and hope to be on board by 11am. Norwegian Gem sails at 4pm.
Bed by 10pm.
Saturday 15 Apr 23 – Depart New York Up at 6am – last day in Dodge City and boarding Norwegian Gem .
Slightly better outside temperatures – top of 21 expected and showers later in the day.
Had bought fruit, yoghurt, cereal and milk to have breakfast in the room rather than a dash down the street on the last day.
Packed and ready to leave
by 9am.
Caught an Uber (Suburban) at 9:30am which took us directly to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal – about AUD$45 (plus tip…..of course). Large bags checked in at the door (“tipping optional” the sign said – but you got the feeling that your bag just might go to the bottom of the pile or into the Hudson River if a tip was not offered. Some rough looking dudes handling the baggage and “appreciated” the $5 I handed over).
Lines to check in relatively short and we were onboard within an hour of arriving at the Terminal. Of course, they could not find our Cruise Cards and had to reprint ….!! All good though with a minimum of fuss.
Every second person in the queue had an Aussie accent and the bloke on the door (also and Australian) said there were a lot on this cruise.
Onboard Day 1 chaos with luggage and people blocking walkways – another young Aussie crewperson at the reception point pointing us in the right direction. 12:30pm and a light lunch in the Irish Bar. A Prosecco an and a Malbec had to celebrate the start of the cruise. Cabins opened for
occupation at 2:15pm.
Our Cabin Steward is Rinesh from Mauritius.
We are in Cabin 9564, Midships on the Port side of Deck 9. Roz is a bit disappointed with cabin space and it is narrower and smaller than most Balconies that we have had. We had considered upgrading to a Club Balcony which is larger but it had a bath / shower combination which required you to step over the bath edge. One of us may have had difficulty with the big step and we chose not to take the upgrade. Someone now thinks she could put up with the step !!!!
Cabin stewards not seen all day – but they are busy getting cabins ready and moving luggage. They must hate changeover days !!
Safe does not work, one light not working, no coffee machine, no 240VAC outlet in the room (Still waiting to hear about coffee machines in cabin, Roz can’t use her Aussie 240VAC hair dryer (Roz is pleased …..), Cabin Steward fixed the safe on Sunday, pointed out to the blind old man that the “light” was a speaker – suitably chastised….).
Went topside to watch the sail out of New
York Harbour. Food portions and quality were excellent.
No NZ Sauvignon Blanc in the price range (we have an unlimited package for drinks up to USD$15 per glass) but an excellent Argentinian Malbec worked well as did an Italian Pinot Grigio.
Went to a lounge after dinner and listened to a Brit lady with a guitar – very pleasant entertainment.
Back to the cabin and in bed by 10:30pm
We were in a thick fog from when we left New York Harbour and the fog horn blasted out every couple of minutes until the wee hours. Slight rolling movement in the ship but seas are only slight.
Sunday 16 Apr 23 – At Sea Woke at 5:45am (or what I thought was 5:45 – actually we had a time change and it was really 6:45am). We must have missed the memo.
First opportunity to get back to walking routine and went for a 12 lap gallop around the Deck 7 Promenade. 1 lap – 668 yards, 3 laps 2004 yards, 2.6 laps 1 mile. All of that converted to about 7.6km.
The ship is in very good condition – probably the best
of any ship we have been on. No sign of rust or wear anywhere. Carpets, furniture, walls, banisters, fixtures are all in pristine condition.
Also back into morning routine with Sleeping Beauty – I got 2 travel mugs of coffee, toast and jam from the buffet and took them back to the cabin to get us through the wake up, get showered, get dressed, do hair and make up process to get to breakfast ……of course that was me slowing everything down – hair and makeup are the killers…….
Each cruise has an online forum called Cruise Critic Roll Call. For this ship, it is the
Norwegian Gem Cruise Critic Roll Call and people go onto the forum to make contact and usually arrange private tours in ports to avoid the expensive Ship’s Tours. We have joined with some people for the Malaga port tour to Granada and the Alhambra and another one in Cannes to Nice, through this forum. The group gathered at 10:30am to meet and greet each other, have a chat and then have a lunch together. Good way to meet people early in the cruise.
Met Gail and Louise – from Melbourne !
An afternoon of reading, crosswords, snoozing and catching up on this blog.
Nobody is dressing up for any of the dining rooms so it is all very relaxed.
Dinner tonight in the French restaurant –
Le Bistro. This was a very pleasant dining experience. So much so that we have cancelled the Italian restaurant later in the cruise and rebooked
Le Bistro.
Service and quality of food was excellent. Photo included of a piece of dessert art. I had a poached pear something but what the chef did to present the dish was amazing !!
So far, the food in the dining rooms, buffet and specialty dining has been very good.
Following dinner, we went to the 9pm show in the Stardust Theatre featuring a female vocalist in a tribute to Freddie Mercury. She was very good. Equally good was the Norwegian Gem Band. These in house bands on board cruise ships are invariably very professional and provide excellent back up to the visiting artists.
Back to the cabin – and a surprise from our Cabin Steward – the coffee machine has arrived 😊. Stacks of sachets of coffee bags and it makes
a great brew – much better than the offerings in the buffet. It will make morning coffees so much easier.
Another one hour forward on our clocks tonight and the Captain advises we have several more before we arrive in Europe. Made it a late night – not getting to bed until after midnight !
Monday 17 Apr 23 – At Sea Woke at 6am and got out on Deck 7 for my walk. 15 laps this time equating to 9.2km. First opportunity to get a decent dawn photo – it was too overcast yesterday.
The weather this morning is great – just TShirt and shorts for the walk with virtually no wind across the deck. Seas overnight and this morning are up compared to yesterday. There is a bit of rocking and rolling going on but nothing too exciting.
We are on an Easterly heading (as would be expected) and travelling at a stately 18 knots. As at midday today, about 1500 nautical miles to sail to Porta del Garda in the Azores as our first landfall. I think we have another 4 days at sea before reaching Porta del Garda.
Late start
(why not ?) and just toast with coffee after the walk before heading for an early lunch at 11:30am. Repaired to the Spinnaker Lounge – Deck 13 Forward with a spectacular view of the sea ahead of us for some reading, crosswords and blog updating.
Dinner in Magenta Main Dining Room with a couple from San Diego – Ken and Sarah. Pleasant chat and company.
After dinner entertainment was Blazing Boots – energetic boot scootin’, foot tapping country music production show. Vocalists weren’t all that flash but the dancers were certainly well up to the task. Good entertainment.
Bed by 10pm.
Tuesday 18 Apr 23 – At Sea Up at 5:45am and 18 laps (12,250 steps) of the Promenade Deck 7 – equates to 10km. Good walk and a beautiful morning at sea although the sea state has certainly increased and the rolling of the ship is very noticeable. Felt like I was walking uphill at times.
So glad we got a balcony. We are sleeping with the door open all night and that is making our breathing so much easier. Had to close the door on the first night because the fog horn
on the ship was going until all hours. The day started well with a great sunrise but we ran into a patch of fog again at about 9am for an hour or so and the fog horn started again.
Dining in the steak specialty dining room tonight – Cagneys.
Not a great deal happening today.
Found the trivia venue for a 2:30pm session. Very quick witted host from Bosnia and lots of laughs from the players.
Movie and reading in the cabin and then off to Cagneys for dinner.
Good service from Roy (from Bali in Indonesia) and food. We saw food for the Brazilian Churrascaria going out and decided it was just too much of a meat-fest for us. It is meat carved from a skewer at your table. Will change that booking to the Asian restaurant later in the cruise.
Retired to the cocktail bar for music and a drink - both of us imbibed in a “Rum Cake” cocktail – Captain Morgan Rum Crème de Cacao, Chambord and cream. Delicious !!!
Another adjustment tonight of an hour forward. Bed at the new time of 10pm.
17,300 steps for the
day.
Wednesday 19 Apr 23 – At Sea Body clock said 5am but the adjusted time was 6am. Up for the walk. Only did 10 laps this morning – a bit footsore from the hard deck and 10 km yesterday.
Seas continued to be a bit up last night with regular rolling, but no pitching yet.
Latish breakfast at 9:30 am where we met Gail and Louise with their husbands, Andrew and Dennis. Stayed for a chat and then went back to organize the washing.
Laundry bag day – all you can stuff it with for USD$29 washed and folded and returned tomorrow. There are no guest laundries onboard this ship.
Improved our Trivia score !! Today we hit 6 out of 20 – only got 5 yesterday.
Movie this afternoon – Where the Crawdad’s Sing.
Dinner in the Grand Pacific Dining Room.
Clocks advanced by another hour tonight as we near Europe.
Bed at 10pm.
Thursday 20 Apr 23 – At Sea Up at 6am adjusted time (the 5am body clock still working !). A little warmer on the outside decks. No walk this morning to rest
the slightly blistered left foot so that I am not in discomfort when we start our shore visits.
We arrive in Ponta Delgada in the Azores tomorrow morning, have another sea day and then there are 7 ports in a row each day until we reach Civitavecchia on the 8
th day – 30 April. That is going to be a busy time.
Still overcast and cloudy – 15 degrees with a light wind. Sailing at 17 knots slightly south of East but about to have a course correction that will take us North East toward Ponta del Garda.
Went up for an early coffee while Roz was still dozing and met a young couple – Mike and Amanda – from Nebraska. Mike is a farmer – grain and cattle – and they have 8 kids aged 2-21 !!! Mike was a widower (4 kids in the first marriage) and 4 more with Amanda. Interesting half hour with them.
Laundry back – washed and folded – as advertised.
We met Mike and Amanda again at lunch – and spent 3 hours chatting until 3:30pm. Very religious couple who wear their faith on their hearts and are
not shy in sharing their views – without bible bashing. Another good discussion.
Dinner in the Asian restaurant – Orchid Garden – and shared the table with a couple of very interesting blokes. Maurice from San Antonio, Texas and Fernando from San Diego, California – both of them lawyers. Both well travelled and forthright with their views on a range of issues, including politics (both Democrats !!). Nice asian fare by the way and we will go to the Teppanyaki restaurant later in the cruise based on Maurice’s recommendation.
Norwegian Gem singers and band presented some Broadway classics in the Spinnaker Lounge. Enjoyable music but we did not think the singers came from the top drawer, unfortunately. It was still an enjoyable evening.
Bed at 10:30pm – the seas are less large.
Friday 21 Apr 23 – Ponta Delgada Up at 6am and arrived at the Pilot station at 7am off Ponta Delgada where the Pilot duly boarded and guided the vessel into port. Roz and I visited this port on our very first cruise back in 2008 on Emerald Princess, but heading in the opposite direction from Rome to Fort Lauderdale. We certainly did
not expect to visit this place again.
Light rain and overcast, unfortunately, to start the day. But it did improve and we ended up seeing some sunshine by late morning. Range of temperatures from 14 – 17 degrees.
Ashore at 9am and walked the cobbled streets of the city. We were in search of a particularly good linen shop that we had visited in 2008 but, alas, it could not be found. There were others in other streets but the range was not as good. Obviously the advent of Covid and the lesser need for fine linens has affected the number of outlets.
A light lunch at a local café where the two ladies operating the place were running from one end to the other at a frenetic pace. We are obviously not in America any more – a ham and cheese sandwich was exactly that – one slice of cheese, one slice of ham – and on a dry bun !! Visiting Yanks must think their throats are cut 😊
Roz tells me the flowers in the city are great. They are certainly very colourful. A few photos attached.
Back on board at 1:30pm
– there were not a lot of streets in Ponta Delgada. Streets are generally cobbled and narrow with pedestrians and cars battling for space. But it all seems to work.
Farewell at the pier from a local band – as it was 14 years ago !! the guys must be aging (as are some others).
Dinner in the magenta Main Dining Room – by ourselves tonight despite telling the Maitre’D that we were willing to share. Must not have impressed him enough to allocate company for the evening.
After dinner entertainment was the young lady , Hannah Stearne, who presented the tribute to Freddie Mercury earlier in the cruise. This show was “This is Me” and her vocal ability was as impressive as it was in the last show. Very powerful performance.
Clocks forward yet another hour tonight. Bed at the new time of 11:30pm.
Saturday 22 Apr 23 – At Sea Last sea day for this cruise !! All the rest are visits to ports until we disembark next Saturday 30 April.
A clearer but cool day outside. The seas have been a little active overnight with a couple of largish rolls
in the night hours. Seems calm enough today though. Sailing due East at about 22 knots.
Lunch today in the Garden Café buffet. Met Keryn and Garth from Tasmania and we traded cruising and future travel plans.
They also wanted to get a transfer from the ship to their hotel in Rome so I have provided them with the booking we have with Civitavecchia Shuttle Express. Ours is a shared ride so if they do book, we may see them again at the end of the cruise.
On the way out of lunch, Alfie from the Philippines took our eye. He was the “Washy Washy Happy Happy “ crew member at the entrance to the buffet making sure everyone got a squirt of disinfectant for their hands before coming in to lunch. His pineapple sunglasses made him look the part – could not pass him by without a photo with Roz.
The walk this morning was curtailed somewhat with the decks closed due to the ocean swells. Had to gallop around the inside of the ship – not the same and not as productive.
Afternoon Trivia was as entertaining as usual. The host is a
Bosnian by the name of Emir – very quick witted, very funny and a heavy accent to go with it all. Trivia is a very popular activity to pass the time. 20 questions and teams are formed. Some of the answers are incredibly funny.
Dinner back at
Le Bistro – the French themed Specialty dining venue. We enjoyed it so much last time, we booked again- and enjoyed it for a second time. The food is really well thought out and is tasty. Roz had the Lobster Thermidor – we have not had one of those for years so it was splash out time !! The report was that it was great .
We have one more Specialty dining booking up our sleeves (Cagney Steak House on the night after Barcelona) – so we might even hit Le Bistro again.
Met an American couple at the next table from Cincinnati – travelling with their two children but left them back in the cabin on this occasion on the basis they would probably not enjoy French cuisine. Escargot for entrée confirmed the thought !! While chatting with them (who have always wanted to visit Australia – which Americans
don’t want to do that !!??) an Australian couple for Perth (Sharon and Max) joined the conversation and a long after dinner chat ensued. We were eventually gently moved on by restaurant staff after about an hour so that the next bookings could get their dinner.
The vestiges of “cruiser’s cough” starting to make an appearance among passengers after our 8
th day at sea – not unusual at this juncture of a cruise. It is a dry cough with people clearing their throats often. No reports of Covid at this stage though. Roz has the start of the cough so elected to go straight back to the cabin and have an early night. She did a Covid test to be sure – and proved negative.
I went to the production show in the Stardust Theatre – Broadway Swing. It was excellent, particularly from the dance team. They are very energetic and good at their trade. Even the vocalists went up a notch and produced a good rounded performance.
Bed at 10:30pm
Sunday 23 Apr 23 – Lisbon Up at 6:15am – much warmer out on deck – around 15 degrees – as we approached Lisbon.
A bright and sunny day forecast and in fact.
Apologies for all of the sunrise shots at sea – but I never tire of them – so peaceful and serene.
Good walk before getting Roz up and up to breakfast by 9am as we were going alongside.
Ashore just after 10am – and it is crowded, being a Sunday. There is one more cruise ship in port with us – MSC Fantasia – 138,000 tonnes (we are 94,000) and up to 3,900 passengers (we have 2,300 capacity). So the combination of two cruise ships and the local population having a Sunday out and about made the city very busy. Not all shops were open but most were.
I had researched a walking tour to see a number of sights in the city (we have been here twice before) and managed to get to most of them, although not in the order I had carefully planned. The city is very hilly straight off the main street – Rua Augusta – with many sets of steps up and down the hillsides – our aching quads !!
Entered the city through the impressive Arco da Rua Augusta and
went left and right of the main street, taking in the sights, sounds and smells.
The city offers so many great looking patisseries with fantastic looking pastries. We held off until lunch in one of the cafes and succumbed to a Portuguese Tart each. And it was a good one with excellent pastry. Some we have tasted elsewhere have been limp and soft – this one had it nailed.
We were hoping to visit the Lisbon Cathedral on the way back to the ship but it looks like it is currently under renovation. It has been a good visit though to Lisbon – with great weather.
Now 4pm – we sail South at 4:30 pm for Cadiz, arriving there at 10am tomorrow morning.
Tired from the walking so decided just to go to Deck 12 buffet – not a good idea for dinner. Just adequate – lesson learnt – dining rooms from now on.
Back to the room and watched two movies in a row. Enjoyed the movies (
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris with Lesley Manville and
Here Today with Billy Crystal) but again bad idea in terms of timing. Clocks forward another hour tonight
so did not get to bed until after midnight.
Monday 24 Apr 23 – Cadiz Woke very late due to late night – 6:45am.
Relatively calm night at sea with minimal rocking and rolling.
Warmer and forecast of 26 degrees - phone this afternoon says we have hit 28 degrees.
Off the ship at 10am and headed into the City. The dock is right alongside the city so not far to go. Had downloaded a suggested walking tour and pretty much stuck to the highlights of the walk, plus some.
Cadiz impresses as a well maintained, clean and tidy place with lots of small parks or plazas. Most of the construction is three to four stories located on long cobbled streets. Some of the laneways are narrow whereas others are quite broad. Minimal cars in most streets. Places we managed to visit were the Central Markets, Cadiz Cathedral, Museum of the Cathedral, Castillo de Santa Catalina and the streets and laneways of the CBD. Quite a bit of walking again but we did enjoy seeing what we managed to see.
The Cathedral is quite magnificent in terms of size and fittings. Again, you
get the feeling that if the Catholic Church could / would sell its cathedrals and what is in them, it could feed the starving of the world for the next 100 years !!
The entry ticket to the Cathedral also includes access to the Tower. This is a steep, spiral, ramped pathway to the top which is probably 100 metres (upward) end to end. Quite a push to get to the top but the views are so worth it. Seniors entry price 6 Euro each.
BTW – Hop On/Hop Off Bus price in this port is 24.99 Euro each. Chose not to use the bus though.
Lunch in a laneway adjacent to the Central Market – very pleasant - with a glass of local white wine – very presentable.
Back on board by 5pm. A long walking day in moderately hot conditions. Beautiful weather again.
Have volunteered to run an ANZAC Day service tomorrow. The ship arrives at 6am – Dawn is not until after 7:30am so a lot of the tours (including ours) will be gone by then. 6pm in the Spinnaker Lounge.
Dinner in Magenta Dining Room – on our own. But
that’s OK – Roz is in the grips of Cruiser’s Cough – a dry asthmatic, spasmodic cough. I know the feeling because I have a milder version of it now and have suffered the worst of it in the past. We can hear the incidence of the affliction increasing around the ship as the days go on and is symptomatic of the air conditioning and the number of days into the voyage. Happens around the one week mark on most cruises and you can hear the coughing and barking at dinner and at the shows.
To bed at 10pm after watching the Elvis movie.
Tuesday 25 Apr 23 – Malaga – ANZAC Day Not a good night of sleep for either of us. Roz has been coughing badly all night keeping herself and me awake. I am contributing too. Had enough at 3am and got up to make a cup of tea for both of us, hoping the hot brew would ease the coughing. It did a bit but not much.
Alongside at 6am without a bump to wake us up.
Roz’s condition is such that it would not be pleasant for those who we
were due to join on our tour to Granada to see the Alhambra. This is the one tour that Roz really wanted to do but to have a coughing old woman in the back seat for an hour and a half to two hours would be unfair. Roz made the decision not to go – very disappointing but pragmatic.
I went down to the dock at 6:45am to let the tour operator know we were not going – ours was going to be the first tour off the ship due to the driving distance to Granada.
I had heard some Aussies were going to gather on the pool deck to see the sunrise and have a casual Dawn Service. Dawn happened at 7:30am but no one else appeared – I think they may have heard the announcements about the 6pm service. So, I just waited for the first rays of sunshine and played the Last Post and Rouse on my phone for myself. Beautiful start to the day.
Roz came to the surface around 9:30am and I suggested a slow breakfast and run into Malaga just to get off the ship. Done and dusted and we took
the Hop On Hop Off Bus (25 Euro each) on a circuit to see the countryside and suburbs of Malaga t0 save the walking. Distance to the city area would have been a good 3km – too much walking for Roz today.
Stopped at the CBD stop after on circuit at about 11:30am and wandered aimlessly, not having done any research or planning for Malaga city itself (we weren’t going to be there!!). Impression is a very clean and modern city area with great older buildings in a good state of repair. Many top end shops, cafes, bars and retail at street level with 3-4 stories of residential above.
Had a really nice Spanish lunch in a laneway – they do great salads and this was no exception with an Iberian ham and cheese platter. A glass each of local wine and lunch was had.
Back on the HOHO bus at 2:30pm – we anticipated a rush later in the day to arrive by the 4:30pm back on board time.
So, for an unplanned day, we enjoyed the outing. Weather was again perfect with deep blue skies – top of 28 degrees.
To the cabin
and doing some rehearsals for tonight’s ANZAC commemoration service.
6pm – moment of truth !! About 200 assorted Australians, New Zealanders and others have gathered in the Spinnaker Lounge for the service. Delivered an address, recited the Ode, Last Post and the Rouse played. Done and dusted in about 20-25 minutes. Apparently well received - handshakes from blokes, hugs and kisses from some of the ladies !! Waylaid on the way to dinner and at dinner by some who had attended the service. Glad it went over well.
Dinner in Magenta Dining Room.
After dinner drink in the Champagne Bar listening to some music and then bed at 10:30pm.
Wednesday 26 Apr 23 – Palma de Mallorca Very smooth sailing overnight and warm conditions. Unable to walk on Deck 7 – crew were cleaning the Promenade Deck with industrial rotary cleaners. A gallop around the inside instead.
A quiet morning and lunch aboard before arriving at Palma de Mallorca at 3pm. The city was some way from the port and we got hit 15 Euro each for the shuttle bus – but better to b e sure of the ride to and from than
to be waiting for taxis if they are busy.
The marina on the way from the port was incredibly full of very expensive yachts and motor vessels – some of the huge. Cannot even begin to estimate the value of all the boats we saw – must be many hundreds of millions, if not billions.
That was an inkling of what was to come in the township – talk about Pose Paradise and money !!!! It felt like the Gold Coast on steroids. The clothing, the cafes, the restaurants, the cars (did I mention the boats?), the hairdos, the gold chains, the white shoes, the makeup…….. and on it went. This was obviously a rich person’s playground. The price tags on clothing and in the restaurants matched the location.
We walked a few of the main streets in the CBD and tried to get to see the very imposing Cathedral located on the marina – but our late arrival meant we were too late to get entry. However, a palace right across the street, as one has in Mallorca, was still open. Free entry for Europeans – 6 Euros each for the bumpkins from Australia.
The
early parts were built by the Moors in the early centuries but by the 1200s, Spanish princes and Kings defeated them and then occupied the palace. These Kings set about rebuilding and remodelling the palace, turning it into a nice AirBnB for themselves, by the seaside.
Mallorca is obviously a relatively new town with buildings reflecting the older three to four story residential living above retail shops below – but all of the construction is relatively new, as against what we have seen elsewhere. High end retail outlets everywhere
Coffee and a sticky bun ended our wander around Palma de Mallorca and got back onboard by about 7:30pm for the 10pm departure.
A scratch dinner in the Irish Pub on board and an early night to watch a movie before lights out at 10pm.
15,611 Steps today
Thursday 27 Apr 23 – Barcelona Up at 7am, finding ourselves alongside in Barcelona. Roz had another bad night coughing between 3:30 and 5am. Hope she improves.
Another very smooth cruising night with no noticeable movement in the water.
Ashire at about 9am using a shuttle bus (4.50 Euro each return) – these buses have
been free on our previous visits – times are a changing !!
Helped a solo American lady who was on her first visit to Barcelona to find La Rambla and start her walking at the market place, La Boquera. She wanted to do her own thing – so having oriented her, we let her sail off into the sunset.
Roz and I did not have any particular agenda in Barcelona – it being our 6
th visit over the years. We have seen most of the tourist places on our previous visits – Sagrada Familia, a Goudi tour, Castell de Montjuic, Park Guell etc – and we only have about 5 hours ashore anyway.
Barcelona is certainly one of our favourite places and we had little difficulty navigating our way around La Rambla, the Gothic section and laneways nearby. We found the oldest patisserie in Barcelona (La Colmena) –and resisted the urge to try any of the delicious looking pastries and meringues. They are just so good looking and full of calories (which we do not need).
The mandatory visit to La Boquera did not disappoint. This marketplace is so alive with people, colour and fragrant smells
from fruit, fish, meats of all kinds and spices.
Lunch at a Café 365 in one of the laneways – again a staple from our previous visits. We looked for an found a vegetarian restaurant (Vegetalia) we had also frequented, just to see if it was still in business. It has been 4 years since we were last here.
We found our favourite café – Moka Café – which is located alongside the hotel we usually stayed in when in Barcelona (Citadines). Both are located right on La Rambla in about the middle, so they are very convenient. Moka made the best Sangrias – and still does ! We ended our day with a sangria each before heading back to the bus and back onboard.
We set sail at 5pm and we are headed to Cannes on the French Riviera tomorrow, arriving there at 9am. We have booked a tour with a group of about 8 others from Cannes to Nice and the village of Eze. That should take all day. Hopefully all will be well with Roz and she will be up to taking the tour – looks good at this stage anyway.
Dinner in
Magenta Dining Room.-
The seas are as smooth as glass here in the Mediterranean so far.
17,153 steps today
Friday 28 Apr 23 – Cannes Up at 6am with the noise of the tender boats being put in the water – we have the row of tenders on the deck below ours. Looks like another great day.
There is no wharf in Cannes and tenders are required to transport everyone to the port.
Met up with a private tour group:
- Jason and Amanda from Hawaii
- Robin and Mary from Vancouver
- Annette and Renata from New York
Jean Francois is our driver and guide for the day in a 9 seater Renault Trafic van – he was a former teacher. Now in his mid 60s and semi retired.
Everyone got an early tender and we managed to get away quickly from the Cannes port area and headed for Nice – about 40 minutes away on the highway.
The morning markets in Nice were in full swing by the time we got there. Apparently they run every day except Mondays. The colour and fragrances were evident in
this extensive display of flowers, fruit, vegetables, oils, lavender and craft work. Very crowded with a mixture of locals and tourists.
A short walk out on the Promenade des Anglais with a look at the pebble beach. A little cool but plenty of swimmers and sunbakers already out on the. beach
Parking is at a premium with the large parking station with about 5 levels down underground and below sea level pretty full for 10am in the morning.
Back on the road for the scenic drive along the coast to Monaco. Our guide has already made the comment that he thought the day’s program was a bit ambitious for the amount of driving required. He is a private contractor for Italy day tours and was doing what was asked of him, but he would have suggested a shorter driving day, to give us more time in locations. Good advice I think.
Monaco was as expected – money, fashion, expensive cars – and preparation for the Grand Prix which happens at the end of May. The lack of parking was again obvious with a carpark that appears to have been gouged out of rock and down about
7 levels – multiple stairs, escalators and lifts to get to the surface.
The views from the top where the commercial area and Place were located were spectacular. Did not see any identifiable rich and famous, or the Prince and family, but there were certainly many tourists. The Palace was guarded by young lads who looked too young to be in uniform (don’t they all ??). The stories of Princess Grace and Prince Ranier were told and retold throughout the visit with many locations having photos of Grace Kelly doing something with someone.
A quick lunch in one of the laneways and then on to the village of Eze.
Eze is set on the side of a mountain and while very picturesque, you would need to be a mountain goat to live there. Only a pedestrian path leads to the top of the town where the remains of an old castle are dotted with cactus gardens. It is quite a climb – Seven euro to gain entry to the top of the hill – but the views from there are spectacular and worth the climb.
Last tender back to the ship was at 5pm and our
guide was getting nervous about the time he would need to drive the hour or so back to the Cannes port so we had to get going.
Don’t know what he was worried about – we arrived at the port at 4:50pm – more than enough time to get the last tender !!
Dinner in Magenta dining room again and an early night to start packing. We have to have our cases out for collection tomorrow evening and with a full day in Florence , we will not have a lot of time.
11,920 Steps for the day
Saturday 29 Apr 23 – Livorno Up at 6am and the ship was maneuvering into the wharf at Livorno in Italy. Today we take a bus shuttle into Florence for the day.
Apologies to all who choose to read the blog that I have been slow in publishing. With a port each day of late, it is hard to keep up. The conversion of photos from large size to a smaller size takes some time to process and then to upload. Will have to catch up on the photos when we arrive in Rome, I think.
Overcast with the prospect of late afternoon rain and high of 18 degrees forecast.
Shuttle from ship to centre of Livorno – 7 Euro each return. Tour bus left for Florence at 9:45am and we managed to get the front two seats on the top deck of a double decker bus !! Great view. Young Italian lady, Giadi, as the coordinating guide and Michael was the driver (more about Michael later – thus he is named now !).
Trip to Florence took 1.5 hours in moderate traffic and we were dropped near Florence railway station for easy reference for the pick up. Arrived Florence about 11:15am and we were given 5 hours to do our own thing or start the visit with a one hour tour with Giadi to orient those who had not visited Florence before. Warning – be back by 4:15pm - or find your own way back to the ship.
Met Anh, a young Vietnamese lady from Virginia USA who did not stop for breath the whole way to Florence – at least it passed the time. She was a nice lady.
We have been to Florence a number of times in
the past so we felt comfortable finding our own way around. We started visiting the fresh food market – not as spectacular as La Boquera in Barcelona but still a substantial facility right in the middle of the city. These European places have it all over Australia with the placement of good fresh food markets.
Close to lunch so we observed one deli outlet and decided there were good offerings sitting up to a bench and having a toasted fennel stuffed pork, cheese and tomato ciabatta sandwich, washed down with a prosecco and a Montepulciano red wine - when in Italy…….19 Euro. And it was good.
Outside into the streets and there was a plethora of leather stalls, in particular, run by Indians. Where to start, if you wanted to buy – we didn’t have the need. Others at the end of the day reported goods bought at bartered prices. Who knows if the prices were good but they seemed happy.
Into the city proper with the intention of visiting the Duomo – no chance !! The prospective visitors line ran across the piazza and down the laneway. We would have spent half our time there waiting
in line. Content with taking photos of the outside shell.
The number of people in Florence today is many more than we have seen on previous visits. It is a Saturday, it is school holidays, four cruise ships were in and the place was heaving in the streets and cafes. It was difficult to move around, having to walk around people stopped on footpaths and in the streets.
Obligatory visit to the Ponte Vecchio bridge with its many jewellery outlets and on to the other side of the river to half way decent coffee shop for a much needed caffeine top up and a good piece of apple pie.
Back into the city proper and a Falconeri shop found – and they just happened to have a jacket that fitted Roz !!. Actually it was a good fit and looked nice – so that has joined the baggage for the homeward journey. Roz had purchased a Falconeri jacket in Taormina in Sicily a number of years ago and has had a lot of wear from it – this one looks in the same class.
More laneway travels investigating and entering before the time was up to
start the journey back to the station. We had a short spell of early rain and everyone was dashing for their brollies – quite a sight in the crowded streets.
Everyone was on time and we got away at 4:15pm, arriving back at the ship shortly after 5:30pm – a good run.
Quick change and on to our “Last Supper” at the Le Bistrot French restaurant – the last of our included specialty dining package. We have enjoyed the food in this restaurant and have visited it 3 times during the voyage, trying different parts of the menu each time. Escargot was not one of the items tried.
Saw our Melbourne friends Gail, Louise, Andrew and Dennis on the way back to the cabin from dinner – everyone promising eternal friendship, run of the house accommodation and visits to vineyards in our respective States (their offer was better than ours living close to the Yarra Valley).
Final packing of the large suitcases and putting them into the corridor by 9pm for our had working Cabin Steward, Rinesh from Mauritius, to add to the pile for movement to the wharf tomorrow morning.
Rinesh has been a
very good steward for this journey. Nothing and no request has been too much trouble for him and he has been very polite and willing to have a chat. Some of them are sullen and do the minimum. Rinesh has been great.
Norwegian Gem is due to arrive in Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) at 6am tomorrow and we have booked a 7:30am departure. We are catching a share shuttle with another couple we have met (Keryn and Garth) to share the cost – 70 Euro each – direct from ship to hotel. We figure that is worth every penny rather than taking a port shuttle to the Civitavecchia railway station and then a taxi or the like from Roma Termini to our hotel. Plus, I checked the port schedule and there are at least 4 other cruise ships arriving in Civitavecchia tomorrow morning. Transport and shuttles will be at a premium.
We have enjoyed our first Norwegian cruise. The ship is in good condition and the crew have been great – very polite, communicative and helpful. The food has been good and the open bar concept for drunks up to USD$15 has been brilliant. Drawbacks have been
a lack of information on ports and the arrangements when going ashore, no enrichment lectures or afternoon movies in the theatre – but I guess these are first world problems. We have enjoyed ourselves and would sail with Norwegian again.
Phase 3 of the holiday about to begin – Italy. A new Blog will start tomorrow.
Apologies again that I have not caught up on the photos yet. I will endeavour to finish off the cruise photos while we are in Rome and to publish them.
4pm - Sunday 30 Apr 23 Now located in the NH Collection Vittorio Veneto Hotel in Rome
NOTE 1 - I was told this morning's upload did not do so correctly. Trying again now. to upload the last of this cruise blog. New blog starting shortly.
NOTE 2 - All of the cruise photos have now been uploaded
Advertisement
Tot: 0.224s; Tpl: 0.025s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0385s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
Julie kibsgaard
non-member comment
Cruising
Roz & Jim, Have enjoyed the stories & photos from the States…the cruising part looks great…enjoy your time. Julie & Peter 🤗