Day 4 – Naples (Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri)

Wow, what a long day! Dry, hot and tiring. But good. There were so many of these excursions booked that the tour operators alternated/swapped the morning and afternoons between Capri and Pompeii to keep the crowds down. We had the morning in Capri, then lunch and shopping in Sorrento and finally a tour of Pompeii. We had a nice guide, Guilia (pronounced like Julia), who did a good job of keeping us together and making it interesting for all the various ages on this tour. Children (including Jamie) were tired by the end. Actually, EVERYONE was tired by the end of the day. We met in the morning at 7:30 and returned to the ship at 6pm with a 20-minute security line. We went straight to dinner in our shorts (horror!) but they are being quite flexible with dress code due to the length of the shore excursions.

The most memorable thing is how many types of transportation that we took on this tour – plus the logistics required to get us from place to place. We met in the morning at 7:30 for the tour. The first leg of the trip, we took the “fast ferry” from Naples to Capri. On this particular tour, they give you a coupon for Gelato plus give you one hour of free time in Capri (down in the port area). Instead, we bought our own tickets to take the Funicular up to the view spot (and shopping) and then returned to the port area for the ice cream.

Then we took a tour boat ride around to the south side of the Island. This was a highlight for us and most of our fellow tourists. We backed into a cave/grotto, boated through a narrow arch and the tour guides told us that if the married couples kissed under the arch, we would stay married forever. We had Jamie take picture of Jim and I kissing during this part!! Then we had the return boat ride to the port at Naples and onto another fast ferry to Sorrento.
Lunch was at what appeared at first to be a tourist trap in Sorrento by the water. However the food was GREAT – even Jamie liked the penne pasta with the fresh red/tomato sauce. Each table got a huge 1L bottle of wine J Ours was very empty by the end of lunch!!! Then after the pasta course, we had a buffet that included some antipasto, fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, etc. Wow, was it good! Then we took a smaller bus up to the town center of Sorrento. Very nice, interesting tourist shops. Then we loaded onto a big bus, heading to our last stops at the cameo factory and Pompeii. At this point, we were all tired and hot; the best thing about the cameo factory was the bathroom (Guilia called the bathrooms “smiling rooms” because everyone comes out smiling). Then on to Pompeii.

Pompeii was more excavated than Ann remembered, and dusty, dry… but still fascinating. We took lots of pictures of the shops, houses, frescoes, etc. During this period, a variety of materials were used for building construction - natural stone walls, cut stones in patterns, plus bricks. It’s hard to imagine the event. From what we learned, it wasn’t the lava from Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the town. Instead, the fumes/gases killed the people, then tons of ashes covered it up (multiple feet deep), the city was buried and preserved!!!

We finally got back to the cruise port around 6pm but stood in line for 25 minutes to board the ship. So, we dropped our bags and went straight to dinner. This night’s show was “On the Nose” which received bad reviews from previous cruisers. So instead, Ann booked an 8pm Ladies massage and facial with Nan for the evening. The leg portion of the massage was very relaxing after all the walking. Of course Ann bought the facial products to take home – hopefully we’ll get VAT back on these since they are so expensive!

Friday - Day Three – Palermo

This morning, we hit the workout room at the Vista Spa. They’ve expanded the workout area to the front windows overlooking the bridge and added a lot of work-out machines (treadmills, elliptical trainers, etc.). We used our workout routine that we got from our trainers at home, so we felt pretty proud of ourselves for actually using the workout clothes we packed. (and now, updating/writing this post-cruise, I’m a bit embarrassed to say that this was the only time we did a work-out, we were soooo hot and tired after the heat and walking on most excursions that all we wanted to do was sit in the pool afterwards!!)

Altogether with our three generations, we did the Palermo for Kids excursion. Started off on the bus with a mini-city tour and finally arrived at the area where we would see the Sicilian palace. Very disappointing site after visiting the Palacio Real in Madrid. It was not very well decorated or preserved, all the windows were open and it was hot inside. The palace seemed very small, with only about 5 different rooms open to the public. One room was set up with tables for the children to do crafts. Then, they served us all gelato and finally we walked to the small “theatre” next door and saw a puppet show. Candidly, this excursion was not so great. The puppet show in Italian was funny when the puppets started sword fighting – the music would get going and the swords would be clanking and the puppets bounced up and down then all of sudden, one of the puppets would swack at the other a little harder than before and WHAM, the losing puppet would fly off to the back of the stage and land in a heap, dead. It got lots of laughs the first 3 or 4 times, but on the 14th or 15th fight, it was a bit repetitive. For the parents it was interesting because of the political undertones - this show would be banned in the US because the knights kept killing everyone, plus the theme appeared to be the Christians vs. Muslims where the Christians always won. So, if you are going on this cruise later, I think your time will be better spent on a different tour.

So, comments on dinners on the ship… Service is good as always. We are sitting with a nice family from northern California (near Napa and Sacramento). The servers are being flexible with arrival times and clothing because of the long shore excursions. Our servers are Fernando and Beethoven, and the maître de is Stepane from Marseille. From reading the Disney Boards, we know that we can ask for special food, especially if it is cuisine that is native to the chefs on board. We ordered Indian food for a future meal based on the recommendations from previous cruisers.

Tonight, Mike Super was on the big stage at the Walt Disney Theatre. Ann talked with the theatre managers before the show to try to have our tablemate Irene selected from the audience to be levitated on stage, but Mike chose someone else. Irene saw Mike on the ship one of the following days and chatted with him - he said he didn’t select her because she had a dress on and he didn’t want her “flashing” on the stage. Instead, we got a special treat when Mike selected Jim to go onstage for the Voodoo doll routine. Jim sat down on a chair on stage. Mike had a voodoo doll and asked Jim very seriously, “do you believe in voodoo” and Jim of course replies “no.” So Mike proceeds to poke pins in the voodoo doll’s shoulders (Jim said he felt something, not sure what), burn its hands and then ultimately poke the doll in the bum. For the burning of the hands, Jim had to put his hands straight out in front of his body and when Mike asked, did you feel it burning? Jim replied no, and then Mike said, then why are there black marks on your palms? Sure enough, when Jim opened up his fists, there were black “charcoal” markings on his palms! Mike asks again “do you believe” and Jim says “no…” So for the finale, Mike pokes the voodoo doll in the bum and Jim nearly jumps off the stage because he got shocked in the bum by the chair! Ouch! It got some laughs and Jim’s a believer in something, we’re not sure what?!?

Thursday - Day Two – at Sea

Our first day on the ship was at Sea. Time to relax, enjoy the ship, see Mickey, etc. For us it was “Palo plus” day. Weeks before boarding we were able to book Palo brunch for our 4 adults and also a high tea for Ann and Nan in the afternoon. So, we dropped Jamie at the Oceaneer Club and headed to champagne brunch. The food and service were great as always. Our waitress, Zita from Hungary was the same server that we had on the previous cruise and we all recognized each other. For Ann, the best food was the king crab legs with a brandy sauce (like a creamy, smooth thousand island) and the Tilapia (fish). Ann of course ordered more courses and food than anyone, took several bites of each then gave the rest to Jim to finish. Dad and Nan had eaten at Palo on the first night so they knew ALL the servers and were very popular!

High tea wasn’t really what Ann expected. For some reason, I thought it would be some sort of structured event, in reality, it was just like a restaurant meal, only the drink was tea and the food courses were little canapés and pastries.

Jim and Jamie spent the afternoon poolside. Then tonight was Formal Night for dinner. Yesterday, Jamie got to show off her Belle Princess dress and today she was Sleeping Beauty (Aurora). My favorite is Belle, though - with her hair up in the half-up half-down bun and the fancy yellow dress, she looks just like Belle (just a mother’s “objective” opinion?!?).

A side note about drinks – they make a heck of a Patron Anejo margarita at Signals (the adult bar at the pool). We also ordered the premium wine package, but we never order anything off of the wine menu, instead we get the credit/discount and just order what we want (like Mumm’s champagne and the Chateauneuf-de-Pape Chablis) from the regular wine menu.

For the evening show, on this sea night, we saw the Golden Mickeys – it has changed since our previous cruise, with some acrobatics and new musical numbers. Then we saw Mike Super in the Rockin-D Bar (adults only). He did a show similar to the one we saw on the Panama Cruise. Ann was ready with the video, but we still were amazed by the illusions! This time, we were on the front row and Jim volunteered his wedding ring for the trick with the brandy snifter – Mike took three rings from the audience and linked them altogether in a chain, then de-linked them and the original rings were returned to their owners. Of course, Mike played up to the camera that I had – he is a good comedian as well as magician. The best trick was one we also remember, where he takes a bev-nap and makes it into a flower and levitates it!!! I have it on film but still can’t figure it out!!! Mike says he will have a show on US television in the fall so watch out for him – what a good entertainer!!!

** Note after our return ** I’ve read some other blogs from cruisers on the July 18th cruise. Many of them kept track of each of the meals, what was on the menu, which shows were which nights, etc. Wow! To me, one of the great features of a Disney cruise is the quality and availability of good food, and the Broadway type shows each evening. So, unless it was something so exceptional, I probably won’t write about it here in this blog. Overall, my rating of the food for this cruise was somewhat lower than what I remember from the Panama cruise, but still very, very good. The menus contained a number of destination specific items – local “specialties” from the ports we visited.

Wednesday – Let the Magic Begin! We spent the day in Barcelona and boarded the ship…

We got up around 8:30 to shower and pack and still get a little sightseeing done in Barcelona. We had a quick donut/pastry while walking down Las Ramblas toward the Palau Guell – it’s one of the most famous examples of Gaudi architecture/design. Unfortunately, when we arrived it was closed for renovation until October. So instead, we re-visited the Gaudi house on the Manzana de Discordia that Ann had loved during her previous visit to Barcelona. We ended up taking a 7 Euro cab ride up Las Ramblas because on the map it seemed like it was so far, but in actuality it was only a couple blocks past the restaurant from the night before... We took lots of pictures at the Gaudi house, and the upper floors were open for visitors (including the rooftop) so we got to see almost the entire house. Jim would like to build a similar property in La Jolla (ha ha).


This was all we had time for before boarding the ship. We ended up with the same taxi driver as my folks (Boppa and Nana) and the taxi driver said that they had more luggage than we did!!! Boarding the ship was fairly easy this time compared to the Panama cruise. We walked right up to the counter around 2pm and worked our way onto the ship. Only problem is, when we embarked and went to our cabin, we had the room directly across from the laundry room – cabin 6588. Oh my gosh! It was horrible. I can’t believe that our travel agency (and Ann) let this issue slip by us. The laundry is loud, hot and open 7x24, so people are outside in the hallway late at night talking. We did not unpack, but instead went straight to Guest Services, where Ann begged for a different cabin. We called the travel agency to see if they could help. Thank goodness for Ann’s cell phone, because Andrew from Guest Services called around 4pm to let us know that we had lucked out (the ship is full) and were reassigned to a cabin 5 doors down the hallway, still on deck 6. Coincidentally, the same cabin we sailed for our Panama cruise. Sigh of relief!!!

We had dinner in Animator’s Palate for our first evening meal. Disney has two dinner seatings, at 6 and 8:30 pm. Diners rotate through 3 different themed restaurants, with assigned tables and the wait staff travels with the diners. We have the early seating, so we have dinner first, then see the evening shows afterward. We’re seated at a window table for 8 with a nice family from Northern California. They are the first of many cruisers from California that we met on the ship. The first night’s show was a welcome aboard variety show, it was fun. There were some musical numbers, plus a preview act from a magician (illusionist), Mike Super who we recognized from our Panama cruise. More on Mike later!

Tuesday – The PRADO!!! (July 17th)

Tuesday we woke up a tiny bit earlier, had an 8:00 a.m. wake up call because we had to pack and check out before leaving for the day’s activities. We had a nice American breakfast at a little place we had spied the day before (La Taberna de Benja’s) and by the time we left, the place was packed with locals. Another recommendation for future travelers. Then we hopped into a cab to head over to the Prado. They were much more efficient with the ticket and check-in process than the Palacio. The museum was a bit smaller than I expected but had multiple masterpiece paintings that I had studied in various art history courses. Of course a large portion of the collection focused on Spanish painters like Goya and Velazquez. In some ways this was good, because it was do-able to see the highlights of the collection in about 2 hours. That’s about my and Jamie’s limit (her attention span and my feet!).

We headed to lunch at another restaurant recommended by our airport friends, but in this case I think we went to the wrong location?!? The restaurant they recommended was Casa Parrondo - we ended up at Casa Parrondo III – I think there must be multiple locations for this restaurant; what we wanted were Tapas but there weren’t any on the menu. Instead we got a seafood dish that was like a fancy, expensive cioppino. It was good but we were a bit disappointed because we were in the mood for a nice light tapas meal

Then off to the airport. The hotel said “no worries, just arrive an hour before your flight” so we arrived 2 hours before, just in case. And thank goodness we did. Three terminals, two airlines and 4 gates later, we finally took off around 7:30 pm. Air Europa had cancelled our original flight, they re-booked us on Spanair and then their flight was delayed and changed gates multiple times. Hey, but the good news was that all our luggage was accepted weight wise (we came in at 58.5 Kilos with a total limit of 60 Kilos = 20 Kilos per person x 3 people). Success! (at packing) We arrived in Barcelona, drove in the taxi up Las Ramblas to our hotel. Dad and Nan were standing on their balcony, greeting us as we walked up to the hotel. We were glad to see them and heard stories about their previous days in Barcelona. Nan loved it, Dad thinks there are too many people. And at the airport, Nan fell victim to the worst that Barcelona has to offer – pick pocketing. She lost about $500 in cash, her driver’s license, cell phone and credit cards. There were 6 other victims in line in front of her at the police station at the airport…

And FINALLY we had Tapas! We walked to a place recommended by our hotel, Tapelas, where “the locals” eat. It’s just north of Placa Catalunya. We got very late start and were finally seated for dinner at 10:30 – Jamie had some sort of second wind while we were walking there, but then she crashed HARD at the restaurant, laying down and sleeping through the entire meal. Woke up in time to get ice cream on the way back to the hotel… come to think of it, it might have been a strategic move on her part (chuckle). This same night, we’re walking along to the Tapas place and we hear “Ann?” – of course, the small world that it is, Brad Jolson, a colleague of Ann’s from Fair Isaac was walking down the street. He has been on assignment in Tokyo – so it was absolutely one of those wild coincidences to see him in a place where neither of us lives. It’s always amazing to see folks we know in distant locales. Brad was with his wife Diana, they had been to a work meeting somewhere else in Europe and decided to extend their trip to Barcelona. SMALL WORLD!

Monday in Madrid… on European Time

This was our only full day in Madrid. We quickly fell into a European schedule, waking up around 9am and taking until about 11am to get ourselves and Jamie up and out of the room. First stop, the Palacio Real (the Royal Palace). We were able to walk from the hotel, it was great that our guessing about the “prime” location of the hotel was correct so we could walk to almost everything. The Palacio is no longer the official residence of the royal family but serves as the site for most major occasions of state (signing of the agreement to join the EU etc.), The palace was build in the 1700s and has an Italian/baroque feel. Lots of murals, tapestries, beautiful furniture and clocks galore. We mis-timed our arrival and ended up waiting in a line for about 40 minutes to enter, then another 30 minutes until the English language tour started. The line was single threaded through one cashier, finally when we were at the front of the line they had another employee start selling tickets, after that the line cleared out fairly quickly. Obviously they’re not too worried about making money?!? Jamie asked all the “obvious” questions – like when in the King’s bedroom/chambers, Jamie asks “where is the bed?!?). Apparently at one point, the King died in the bed in the official bedroom so his son the new King made that original bedroom into a conversation room and moved the royal bedroom somewhere else. And then several rooms in the Queen’s chambers were joined together to create a dining/party room with a large table (with leaves) that seats up to 150! So, the palace visit took a while longer than we expected so we had to decide between the Parque de Retiro (a Madrid version of Central Park) or the Parque de Attraciones (an amusement park). We let Jamie decide so we took the metro to the Parque de Attraciones. It was actually really fun. With a coupon, adults were 21 Euros to enter. The park was like a 6-Flags but maybe a little nicer. But the safety was a little more lax than in the US – fewer restrictions on height, fewer belts, and a VERY fast set of bumper cars. Jim and Jamie drove (I rode with her) and Jim crashed into us and I swear, I got whiplash?!? After that I had Jamie drive in circles to avoid cars – she did well, she’s had plenty of practice, driving golf carts with us on Sundays.

So, we spent about 5 hours in the park, headed back on the metro to clean up for our 9pm dinner reservation. Our airport friends recommended Casa Lucio (on Calle de la Cava Baja). Boy what a difference from the meal the evening before!! Outstanding garlic prawns appetizer, a local specialty (fried eggs over French fries) and a filet steak that rivals Ruth’s Chris. The steak was served on a sizzling platter, so seared on the bottom. To cook to taste, you would lay down the slices of steak onto the platter and they would cook more because the platter was so hot. We were asking so many questions and were complimentary to the waiter that he took us into the kitchen for a quick tour!!! Small kitchen, VERY old wood burning/charcoal stove/oven. Fascinating. We loved this restaurant and recommend it highly. We headed back to the hotel, shopped a tiny bit on the way at the tourist shops still open at 11:30pm!!! We almost bought a replica sword with a gold hilt and cross with other engravings – 172 Euros but 60 Euros to ship home. We just couldn’t figure out where we would hang/display it when we got it back to our house!?! So, another late night but a great day overall.

“Barra” Bar Zarra (Sunday)

SOOO Sorry for the long delays in posting. Once we got out to sea, Ann couldn't get the T-Mobile card to work... So we kept writing but never posting. We'll catch up and do some pictures over the next few nights and this weekend...

So, more on Madrid!

Well, the Plaza Major was festive and nice with shops, artists, cafes… In our hunger quest we searched and searched for the “perfect” restaurant since we didn’t have any recommendations from our trusty guidebooks. So, first criteria was “are there any people there” and second was “do they have something Jamie will eat?” So, when one gentleman showed us the menu book with pictures of the food and we spied spaghetti and pizza, we said OK (the place was Bar Zarra). We should have read the fine print?!? BEWARE when there are pictures with no prices. Just when I’m thinking I’m such an experienced world traveler, about ready for the Amazing Race, along comes an experience to humble me/us. We sat down to a nice pitcher of Sangria (the highlight of the meal) and ordered some boiled shrimp as an appetizer then split a paella for one plus a local potato dish. Jamie ended up with the spaghetti, with the noodles and sauce “separado.” Oh, plus one beer for Jim. So, reading the signs around the Plaza about the paella for two for 15 Euros and pizza for 7 Euros, I was guessing our bill would be around 40 Euros… Surprise, surprise, the bill came and it was 100 Euros and some change – gasp! I insisted that he had brought us the wrong bill – after all, it had about 10 items on it and I swear we didn’t eat that much. But oops, out comes the menu with the prices – three tiers of prices to be exact. One for bar service/standing, one for inside and the last, highest tier for the outside Plaza seating. The bread (that we didn’t order) was 4.8, the butter that we did order was 1.6, the paella for one was 16 – after we’d seen all the signs for a lower price for a portion for two people?!? I convinced him to remove the bread from the bill (a moral victory) and gulped as I paid 95 Euros for the most mediocre meal I’ve ever had… Jamie kept asking – Mom why do you keep saying “oh my gosh, oh my gosh…” She was so worried that wouldn’t be able to afford to go on the Mickey boat after all L SOOO the lesson is, ALWAYS check the menu for prices. ALWAYS.

Well the sticker shock kept me from going crazy at the shops, and what does a depressed girl need?!? That’s right, chocolate! We had spied a Chocolateria on the way to the Plaza and it ended up being a spot that was recommended in our Lonely Planet guide (Chocolateria de San Gines). They served a very simple menu of churros (large and small) that you dip into a coffee cup full of rich, dark, warm chocolate. After H#$% I had found HEAVEN!!! The hours of the place were 7pm to 6am and apparently it’s a favorite of after-clubbers. Reminded me a lot of a Spanish Café du Monde (my beignet favorite in my home town of New Orleans).

So, after the chocolate and attitude fix, we headed to the hotel and were in bed by 9pm… More to come…