groryjm

And for Lunch a we stoped at a quay side cocktail bar called Rebus. Ihad an Americano with my Pesto Lasagna and my gastrognome a Spritz with Fritto misti and a focachia with chees for the table.

Included with the Aquarium is a bio sphere and a panaramic veiwing pod called Bigo. Also both fun little extras

They really do a great job of the grass on the ship. After breakfast on the balcony.... .... we headed to the Genoa Aquarium passing a pirate ship along the way. It was well worth the visit.

The show tonight was Elisium and a new one for me. We had tied to watch it a couple of times before on cruises we had been on since the pandemic but due to the cast being isolated for covid or exceptionally high seas are previous opportunities had been cancelled. I certainly enjoyed this one and the cast were excellent. We ende the evening with dinner at Tuscan. With food being so plentifull we oppted for just the one course and my Tuna was excelent.

A quick dash from the helipad back to the room to change and sample the platter that Mudit our excellent butler had left for us, oh and a dubonnet cocktail for me and a Cava for my Gastrognome.

We had a second helipad sail away invite form Livorno so we headed to the secret door to the helipad for another helipad event, this one from Captains Club. The light was great and view also Bye bye Livorno

@Bo1953I wish the bar in our suite was as extensive 🙃 but saddly all we have is Camparri, Tanqeray Ten, Veuve Clicqout and citrus provided by the ship and the wine we brought on board, We are allowed 2 bottles per person and between 4 of us in 2 suites we brought a bottle of Cava we were given in Spain , two botltles of Lillet and a bottle of Dubonet….. technically al wine 😉

The tour was only the morning so on our return we headed to the OVC for a bite. It was Mexican day and again the food and variety was good. It seems it is the evening when the amount of choice seems to have declined. We ate on the back open deck but took desert back to the room. At home I try to walk at least 2 miles a day so I nipped up top after lunch to do my walk Then a quick game while we enjoyed a favourite pastime of watching the ships manoeuvre in the port

Early up and a quick Eggs Beni on the balcony before heading off on our tour to Pisa. The coach trip was about 40 mins and once there we transferred to the petit trains to take us to the cathedral and tower, it was a little damp but there was still quite a crowd. And almost every other tourist was doing that pose where one holds the tower up. I most definitely did not. This was a celebrity tour I booked for all four of us to join and a good way to burn some OBC

For pre dinner I made a Diana’s bitter and as I had no simple syrup improvised with sugar... It was good We opted tonight for Luminae and while the food and service were good I will have to add that having first had this set of 14 menus back in 2015 it hasn’t changed a great deal since, Repeatedly cruising the menu does start to get a little familiar. That said the specialities are also unchanged in 8 or nine years so the food being good is fine but the sameness of the menus is a getting us jaded. Cunard on our last cruise while also excellent would I suspect also be a bit tiresome on a constant repeat. Which do I prefer? I am still undecided , but will give a few more days to give an breakdown. Not to forget the bourbon and peaches and the ultrviolet We ended our evening with another episode of Bluestone 42, a calvados from Cranston at Michaels, a boulavadier from Joe ath the WCB and truffles in our room form Mudit our buttler Oh and our JimJams arrived 😎😎😎😎😎😎 along with a CC invite to the helipad tomorow and the daily ... along with a warning on what to do if you have CVOVID!!!!!

Being a lazy day we were back at the ship for lunch at the Porch and spent a happy afternoon watching a film in the suite and ships being brought passed our veranda by tug

So today was a lazy day in Livorno. The Offspring and her GF hot footed it to Florence on a Celebrity train transfer but we just took the free shuttle to down town. The shuttle is a mere 10 mins and runs constantly through out the day. We walked for 5mins to the market after a lie in and spent a happy hour perusing the stalls. Finishing our self guided tour with an espresso and panini. Are we predictable……

A quick pre dinner drinkie while dressing before we headed to the World class bar. The ubiquitous Joe with another of his creations. Very nice but the smoke flavour was a touch to much. The view from the LCG is always good and the food just what we wanted at this point in our cruise. Oh and Joes recipie from yesterdays creation…..

After a lovely morning in Villefranche we headed back to the ship and grabbed a late lunch in the Ocean view. The food in the OVC for lunch has been very good from the look we’ve had over the last few days though this is our first taste and while not the same as eating at a good French restaurant was certainly up the quality I would expect. Burger....... Or a bite of apple pie? What better way to spend a lazy afternoon than on the balcony with a Lillet and soda while taking in the view

After a nice lie-in we grabbed a coffee on our balcony. This was courtesy of the fabulous Lavaza machine in the suite which makes better coffee than the illy Coffee machine we had on Queen Victoria last October. When took a tender into Villefranche and had a leisurely stroll through the town rather than fight the crowds heading to Nice by train. The town is small but quite picturesque and with the gentle sun it made for a very pleasant mornings site seeing and shopping...... ......followed by a Ricard and coffee on the waterfront.

After Michaels my daughter and Gastrgnome head back to their rooms while my daughters Girlfriend and I headed for the Martini bar. This was their first time on a cruise so they wanted to try the cocktails available. We sampled six between us and none quite fitted Kit's taste. Needless to say we did not finish them all. At my suggestion we moved on to the less crowded and in my opinion better World Class bar. Joe spoke at length to them to ascertain their likes and then produced an off menu drink that was absolutely to their taste. He christened it the Joetini …. 30ml crème de cacoa white 40ml apple sour 15ml lemon juice 45ml vodka Shaken with ice and double strained into a chilled Nick and Nora garnished with a grate of Chocolate To their delight it not only tasted great but looked good in a Nick and Nora and NO ice crystals on the surface because it had be properly strained. OK so I may be a bit of a cocktail snob but it is my passion and I like seeing drinks made well. For me he made something a bit different and as he is developing it at the moment didn’t divulge the full recipe. It was negroni like but made with a clear spirit over a large cube of ice and served with a red wine and strawberry infused Campari foam on the top, garnished with an expressed orange zest. The colours in my photo are a bit out as the pink of the foam does not come through. Drunk through the foam it is delicious and when stirred the profile subtly alters and while still delicious takes on a new character

A little pre dinner drinkie while we dressed, a Dubonet cocktail in honour of our late Queen..... then down to Murano for dinner. An excellent meal again with the usual OTT service we have come to expect from Murano and very much on a par with Cunard’s service. The sole however, although excellent, did not quite match that of Cunard’s Queens Grill but the cheese board exceeded, in variety and quality, the one we experienced on Queen Victoria in October. Our sommelier was Alex who we had got to know in Tuscan Grill over the last few years and she catered admirably with our eccentric tastes. It is so nice to be remembered by crew😎 A brief interlude for the sunset... I do love sunsets at sea We then retired to Michaels for a night cap form the exuberant Cranston I do love the tiny salts at Murano but was very srprised that they were not ready on the table but we had to request them

@voyager1964 This is the card from yesterdays lunch

Yes premium

Reflection today in the Med... With vpn

Vilefrench we will let you know tomorrow. Genoa we've booked tickets for the aquarium, dome and sky lift

L'hippodrome I believe. I'll check the receipt this evening

When in Marseille what else can one eat but Bouillabaisse de Marseilles so we chose one of the many restaurants and stopped for a vermouth (Noilly Prat is produced shere so what else could we get) followed by an amazing lunch

We walked down to the gangway at about 10.30 and grabbed the shuttle to the city. it costs about $15 pp but there is I gather a free shuttle about 15 mins walk from the ship. The bus dropped us at the 'Cathédrale de la Major' and we walked the half a mile into the fish market and old town. While at the market we caught a local group called La Farigoule Fanfare from the Ecole Centrale de Marseille who were putting on a stellar set https://youtu.be/s315hDoNezc 00058.MTS

A lovely nights sleep being gently rocked,ly in and a late(ish) breakfast on our deck.......the perfect start to a cruise The breakfast broom service menue seems as good as ever in suites and while Luminae may not be quite as good as Cunards Queens grill the room service breakfast here is better.