Category: 2023 Europe

The last sunset from the ship as we sailed out of Livorno and toward Rome and the end of the cruise. and the end of a fantastic holiday, home Sunday..

This morning we docked into Livorno, and went on our longest excursion to date. First of all a trip to Florence (Firenze) a stunning city. The tour guide was telling us all about Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello. It felt like we were in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie. What an amazing place. Florence is definitely a place to return to and explore some more. After lunch we headed back towards Read more…

Got delivered a bottle of Champagne this afternoon. Think Mandy will be a bit sozzled later..

This morning we docked in Naples. From the start of the Cruise we had picked this day as a “stay-on-board” day. We wanted to experience the ship with fewer people on board. We have a looong excursion tomorrow in Florence and Pisa.

Today we docked at Messina in Sicily. and took an excursion to Taormina. it was an hour on the coach to get there but it was worth it, a beautiful town in the hills on the east coast of Sicily. This place could well be worth a visit on its own. It was a lovely day. especially when we broke off from the tour and did our own thing. Small Read more…

This trip has converted Mandy to Espresso Macchiato, so we’re now on the lookout for some espresso cups..

Nothing to report for today as it was a sea day so just lots of eating and drinking. I did get my photo with the Captain today Tomorrow Messina, Sicily .

Today we docked at the port of Katakolo. This was our first organised excursion. This was a visit to Olympia. It was a 30 minute coach trip to the site then a walk around the runs with a guide. it was fantastic learning about the Greek mythology. After a walk around the ruins we had a visit to the museum. Great day and it got to about 31 degrees. back Read more…

Sunset over the old fort in Corfu as we sail away..

Arrived in Greece this morning, the ship docked so once again no tender involved. You can leave straight out using the gangway. when you come back in you go through a mini security screening like you get at the airports. Corfu is another historical town occupied over the years by the Byzentines, the Venetians, and of course the British. Mandy didn’t choose to walk up to the top of the Read more…

Awoke this morning coming into Dubrovnik. This was a deep port so no Tender needed. Had a quick breakfast then headed off the ship to a waiting shuttle to take us the 20 minutes into the old town. We bought a ticket to allow us to walk the walls of the old city about 2 kms the views from up there were amazing and it’s easy to see why it Read more…

Yesterday was a sea day so we took advantage of all the food and drink available and relaxed. in the evening we went to a show, dancers, singers, acrobats etc. Mandy loved it. This morning we docked at Kotor in Montenegro had a look around the medieval walled town then went to climb the hills to the Fortress. I only made it halfway. Mandy didn’t even try.. Strange thing about Read more…

This morning we checked out of the hotel then made our way back to the airport to catch a shuttle to the port. it’s a 75 minute trip from Rome Check in was a breeze and before we knew it we were boarding. Had a quick lunch and now back in our room waiting for the luggage to show up. Luggage arrived and we were able to get changed and Read more…

Well today was a filler day, we originally booked a day here to make sure we got on the cruise in case of missed/cancelled flights etc. we had booked a hop-on hop-off tour bus to take us around. We went around some of the main touristy hot spots in the city, some of them were pretty amazing like the Colosseum. A pretty exhausting day it was about 32 degrees and Read more…

This last day in Portugal we went out into the sticks a bit more, to see what a rural Portugal looked like. And to be honest it just looked like a drier New Zealand, the day was overcast so not so hot especially when we got a bit higher into the hills. Once we came back home we relaxed a bit. I watch a bit of the ODI between England Read more…