We Want to See the Whole World

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this but we continued to ask for Zandro and Ferdinand’s section at dinner throughout the cruise. They were fantastic and we said our goodbyes at that last night in MDR. Zandro is being promoted and we totally understand why! At breakfast on debarkation day we sat outside of the Windjammer buffet and ran into Ferdinand one last time. He said his crew card lets him on any ship owned by Royal to take a look at it (symphony of seas and a pullmanter ship were in port. He said he could go on either) Symphony basking in the sun: Debarkation was by far the easiest we’ve ever had. Our number was called half an hour early and we walked off the ship. Did you think we were done? Nope not yet. For our hotel post cruise I think I cancelled and booked about 3 different hotels. I just couldn’t make up my mind. Again I decided to splurge a little and took a friend’s advice and booked us at Albergo del Senato using a promo code from their website and...

When the bus dropped us off back at port we set out to explore the town. We went up into residential areas...school kids were walking home, men were standing on the corners having a smoke and chatting, corner veggie stands with people picking up veggies for the night’ dinner... It wasn't really a cold day, but it was quite windy.  I was in jeans and a jacket for most of it. We stumbled (literally stumbled) into Galleria Umberto, the world's oldest shopping mall, and our jaws dropped at the sheer beauty and architecture of it. signs on the non tourist streets of Naples: We were growing hungry again so headed back to the shopping area to find that classic Naples pizza for me. We tried 2 different places, but both were disappointing to be honest. We made our way back to the ship and were going to check out Castle Nuovo, erected in 1279, but decided to just walk around the exterior. back at the ship: I can't quite put it in...

The following day was a sea day and the wind was high and the water was the choppiest I’ve ever felt. I took 2 motion sickness pills and tried to sleep the afternoon away. My notes: Woke up 9:30. Left cabin at 11 and went to next cruise desk. Offering$600 OBC but Nate was still sleeping. I better not get in trouble and book something without him! Choppy and windy. Top deck closed all day. Barely anyone walking around. Nausea bags on all the stairwells. Took a nap to ease the queeze plus 2 motion sickness pills. I checked out our photos in the gallery The rest of my notes that night: Cherries jubilee watery and not good A few guys in t shirts at dinner and overall casual even though was supposed to be formal night. Started packing :( Set clocks back an hour tonight.  I struggled for months over what to plan for Naples...I went back and forth several times. I asked my roll call if anyone was interested in a Joe Bananas Limo excursion to Pompeii and Amalf...

September 24, 2018 found us in Athens, Greece. We woke up with the sunrise as I had planned a DIY day for us. We walked off the ship, through the terminal, and straight to the waiting taxis. Don’t worry there’s plenty (as seen on right hand side of photo above)! Our taxi driver was Cris and these are the notes from the taxi ride: All houses made of cement and inside marble Most of the country’s population is split between Athens & Piraeus June - August busy season Most corrupt place in world according to him 45 euro to Acropolis Tourism is the main industry During the drive Cris tried to heavily push us to use him as a guide for the day and we just kept declining. He seemed to get angry about it. We stopped at this viewing point that he said was halfway to Athens He finally dropped us off less than a block from the entrance to the Acropolis   Immediately after the entrance are several artifacts on display. The history there truly co...