HWeb13

The ship is definitely small and amenities are limited, especially to the Oasis class. However, I feel like with the right expectations, you will enjoy it. We knew that the ship wouldn't have all the bells and whistles that we have experienced before. The entertainment options are limited but with a port-intensive cruise, we didn't really miss it. Park Cafe was ok. We mostly went there at night for pizza. We did take the kids once and it isn't a problem in the solarium. It is towards the back of the solarium and we just made sure we tried to keep the kids as quiet as we could while ordering so that we didn't disturb the peace in the solarium. The food was average. This was probably my biggest complaint(if I had one). I would never starve on the ship but I felt like it wasn't as good as past cruises. I was always able to find something edible. We ate in the MDR every night but we did take the kids to the windjammer for their supper a few times so I was able to sample the food up there and I thought the windjammer's food was pretty good. It was the MDR I was more disappointed with. The pool was great for my 4-year-old. There were quite a few other kids on board so he was able to make new friends and swim. My 2-year-old presented more of a problem since she isn't quite potty trained, she was only able to use the splash pad which is small. I think it would not have been such a big deal if her brother wasn't playing the big pool right next to the splash pad without her. Whenever they needed to blow off steam, we would take them up to deck 10 by the rock climbing wall. Usually, there weren't many people there and I felt like they could run around a little more. During the day the starlight lounge was usually empty so that was also a good spot to give them a little more freedom without disturbing other guests. It was a wonderful trip but I will admit that I am looking forwards to going on an Oasis-class ship instead soon.

Thank you. It really worked well to have the nanny so I didn't have two exhausted kids. Plus when we get to places such as Florence and Rome, they didn't care about some of the historical sites we visited and much preferred the pool and Adventure Ocran

We woke up this morning with a plan to get off the ship at around 8:30 and head to Monaco in the morning and back to Nice in the afternoon for a planned excursion. We were leaving the kids with Morgan to have fun at the pool today while we explored. We were docked at Ville-Franche-Sur Mer which is only about 10 minutes from Nice itself. We got on the tender boat without any type of line or wait. We were rewarded with a view of the extremely charming Ville-Franche-Sur Mer. We turned right out of the port and followed the road along the coast to the train station and purchased our tickets on the SNCF app to Monaco. We didn’t have any concrete plans or any paid tour in Monaco but I knew I wanted to see the f1 hairpin turn, the casino, and the prince’s palace. Everyone else must have had the same idea because as the train pulled up to the station, it was packed like sardines. We managed to all squeeze on but the ride was very unpleasant. We were standing in aisle with 100s of our closest friends all trying to carve out a little space to breath. This miserable ride lasted about 10-15 and then we pulled into the Monaco train station. We exited as quickly as possible (mostly just to get a little room to move) and headed out of the train station. Using google maps, we navigated to the casino and admired it from the outside. I have seen it many times in movies and wasn’t sure what to expect. There were uber-expensive cars parked in the front and it made for good pictures but other than looking at the façade, there wasn’t much else to do as the casino didn’t open until later in the day. We walked to the left of the casino and made our way down the steps to the famous Fairmont Hairpin turn. I am a huge Formula 1 fan so this was the highlight of my morning. I was hoping to spot Charles Leclerc, my favorite Formula 1 driver around Monaco. He is originally from Monaco and still lives here. No such luck though! Ha! It was starting to get warm out and we were not feeling up to walking to the prince’s palace so I got on the Monapass app and purchased bus tickets for all of us. There was an incoming bus just right around the corner from the hairpin turn that would take us to the bus stop at the base of the hill to the prince’s palace. We hopped on the bus and took a short ride to the next stop. The walk up the hill to the Prince’s palace offered some amazing views, however, it is quite the climb and wouldn’t recommend for people with mobility issues. My parents are in their 60s and in fair health and they were able to navigate it. At the top of the hill, we took pictures of the breathtaking scenery, purchased some souvenirs at one of the many shops, and then took pictures in front of the palace. At this point, we decided to head back to the train station by bus to catch a train to Nice for lunch and for our next adventure. Overall, Monaco was beautiful and I wouldn’t mind spending some more time there someday to truly explore it more in-depth. The train ride to Nice was more enjoyable than the train to Monaco. We were able to sit down. We arrived at the Rinquor station in Nice and walked towards our next destination. I had seen a tour by NiceCar that consisted of driving your own 3-wheeled vehicle around the area. I was intrigued and immediately booked it. But first, it was lunchtime. I can’t remember the name of the place we ate. It was a small Italian restaurant that had friendly service and tasty fare. (I know this isn’t helpful since I can’t remember the name). After we filled our bellies, we headed to the meet-up spot for our next excursion. When we arrived, we were greeted by our tour guide. We filled out our paperwork and were assigned one of the small cars we would be driving. Each car seats two people and you must have a valid driver's license to operate the vehicle (an international driver’s license is fine.) Our tour guide would be leading us around via motorcycle while we followed behind in the cars. This experience was so AWESOME! Hands down one of the best experiences of the trip. He led us outside of Nice up to Fort Alban, through Ville-Franche-Sur Mer, up to Eze, and along the breathtaking coast. It was so fun to be whipping around in our little cars. I think our max speed topped out at about 40 kpm. In Eze, we did stop at the perfumery and had a perfume-making demonstration. It was surprising and we weren’t expecting it but we got to take home a vial of our own crafted perfume. This was included in the price of the tour. It was so fun to drive through the tourist areas and see other tourists curious about our cars. Overall, a 10/10 experience. The tour started at 2 pm and was supposed to last 4 hours but we asked him to bring us back by 5 pm so we would be able to get back to the ship without cutting it too close. All aboard was 7 pm. At the end of the tour, we walked back to the train station and hopped on the two-minute train ride back to Ville-Franche-Sur Mer and were back on the ship by 5:30 pm. We got back on the ship and met up with Morgan and the kids on deck 9. They were swimming and enjoying their ice cream cones. This night, I was tired from the long day, so I took the kids to the windjammer to eat dinner and then we went back to the room to go to sleep early. The rest of the family did eat in the main dining room and then I think they went to bed shortly after as well. Port intense cruises like this one are not like the Caribbean when we stay our late. Our bodies were exhausted. The next day would be the port of Genoa and we had a fun food tour planned.

We woke up early the next morning so we could be on the first tender boat to the Port of Cannes. We had “The Key”, so we had priority tendering. We went to deck 5 and we were escorted down and got on the tender. To be honest, this was the only day we really needed this perk. I don’t know if I would pay for the key again, but it was on sale for 20$/day, and we were going to get the internet package anyways. The tender was smooth, and we arrived at the port. The plan was to walk to the train station and take the train to Nice for a tour of the old town of Nice. We did make a wrong turn along the way to the train station and so we cut it very close to getting on the 8:32 am train. We were almost running to the train station, and I wasn’t entirely sure we were on the right platform however we jumped on right as the doors were closing and thankfully the gambling paid off and we were on the right train. I quickly purchased our train tickets through the SNCF app while we were already sitting on the train as we didn’t have time to stop at the ticket kiosk prior to jumping on the train. The app is easy to use and that is what we continued to use for our train tickets while we were in the French Riviera. When we got to Nice, we turned left and bought tickets for the tram that runs through the city. We needed to get to Place Massena where our tour guide would meet us. The tram worked well for our family. If you take this, don’t forget to validate your ticket at the yellow machine. The tram was however crowded. We arrived at the meeting point in front of Fountaine Du Soleil. We were early so we let the kids run around the square and took in the beauty that was Nice. We booked our guided old town and castle hill walking tour through Nice Fun Tours. We had about 12 people in our group of all ages. Most were American but we did have a few Canadians and British on the tour as well. We started by walking through the historic old town. The guide had many stories and information about the old buildings and the history of the city. He grew up in Nice and was able to offer some interesting insight on what typical life is like for someone who lives in the area. We went through the flower market and the smell of all the fresh flowers was unreal. Next, we continued to wind through the narrow streets of the old town until we got to the beachfront. We continued down the beachfront until we got to castle hill. I was worried about this part of the trip as I had read there were a lot of stairs to the top and we had the kids and a stroller. However, our tour guide took us to the elevator to go up to the top of the hill. Castle Hill is the highest point in Nice and there is a lot to see at the top. While the castle is no longer standing, there are old ruins that you can still see. There are also amazing views of the city below. Our tour guide was patient and helped us take pictures of our group. Every day at noon, there is a cannon that goes off at castle hill to alert the town that it is the noon hour. Our tour guide stated this cannon fire had been ongoing for hundreds of years and was only suspended twice in the last century. Once during World War 2 and once during covid. The cannon was LOUD. The last thing we did on our tour was share a treat that our tour guide brought. His mother had made a traditional snack from the area that had onions and olives on it. I can’t remember what it was called but it was like a dense, savory pastry. It was yummy. Overall, the tour was great, and I would recommend it to anyone. Again, it was through Nice Fun Tours. After breaking away from the tour group, we went in search of lunch. At the top of castle hill, there is a small outdoor restaurant with tables and chairs, so we went there and ordered some lunch fare. I had a chicken panini and the kids had croque monsieur. In the distance, we could see a playground so after lunch we took the kids to the playground to burn off steam. They had the time of their lives. We stayed for about 45 minutes and then headed back to the elevator. Getting off the elevator, we headed back into the old town to buy some souvenirs and get tickets back on the tram to the train station. Initially, the kiosk for the tram wasn’t working on the side of the tracks we were on so we had to cross to the other side and get our tickets. Finally, we were on the tram. It was hot at this point and the kids were cranky. We did bring our carrier, so we strapped one to my back and put the other one in the stroller because his feet were hurting from walking. We got on the train back to Cannes. Luckily it wasn’t crowded, and it was air-conditioned. Hallelujah. In Cannes, we took our time, taking in the sights as we walked back to the port. Since we weren’t trying to catch a train this time, we were able to slow down and enjoy the scenery. Cannes is beautiful and I would have loved to see more. Rain was starting to come in and so we decided to head back to the ship. Security was a breeze and Royal Caribbean had cooled towels and water for us before we got back on the tender. The tender took us back to the ship right as the rain started. We went back to our room and took about an hour's nap. We woke up and went to the Windjammer to get the kids something to eat. Parker wanted to go to Adventure Ocean this evening, so we dropped him off and took Clara back to the room. Sean and I got ready for supper and Morgan met us in the room to watch Clara while Sean and I went to dinner in the main dining room. Dinner was a blur. We soon finished up and we were on the hunt for something to do. We decided to go check out We went up to the Viking Crown Lounge. They were having a 90’s themed night with music from back in my day. I tried the espresso martini tonight and it would be something I would be ordering for the rest of the trip. We also ordered our tried and true, chocolate martini. My parents, sister, husband, and I reminisced about what a wonderful day it had been in Nice and our plans for tomorrow. The next day we were going to Monaco in the morning and then back to Nice to drive Scoot Coupes around the coast.

Happy July 4th everyone. Picking up my trip report. This day was a sea day!IMG_9715.HEIC The next day was a sea day. I wish I could say I was up at sunrise to enjoy my coffee and smell the wonderful Mediterranean air, however, that was not the case. Our dark, interior room provided the ideal sleeping environment and the combined environment, and the jet lag caused us to sleep in until almost 11:00 am. I would have felt guilty if it was just me, but my husband and kids also slept in just as late. We slowly got up, dressed, and went to the windjammer for lunch. The kids ate the usual kid stuff: Fries, mac and cheese, and Sean and I found something to eat. I can’t recall as the days start to blend. We then got our swimsuits on and went to deck 9 to try to find a place to hang out on the pool deck. My biggest advice would be not to sleep in to 11:00 am if you want prime seating on the pool deck. All loungers were taken. We did find a corner table where we parked. My mom found us, and we took Clara to the splash pad and Parker to the pool. Now I knew the rules about the swim diapers in the main pool but evidently, my memory was not working well this day because Clara wanted to swim with her brother, so she initially started out in the big pool. The lifeguard came over and politely reminded me that no swim diapers were allowed. It wasn’t a big deal and rules are rules, so we put her back in the splash pad. She was not happy about it so there was a small tantrum, but she quickly got over it and climbed on the center splash pad area. The splash pad in the enchantment of the seas is very small. Just a large circle with a water feature in the center. Again, we knew when we booked the ship that it would not have all the bells and whistles of the larger ships we have been on before. She still had a blast. We then went and got soft serve which is located on deck 9 starboard side. This became a very popular place for my kids as the trip progressed. Next up: Nap time. We laid the kids down and Sean and I headed for the solarium while Morgan stayed with the kids. I brought my Kindle and was able to get some good old R&R. While the pool deck was a madhouse, the solarium was peaceful, and I had no trouble getting a lounger there. We spent about two hours there and then went back to the room to get ready for the evening. It was formal night, so we got our best duds on and went to Boleros for some pre-dinner drinks. The kids and grandma had fun dancing to the live music. Dinner that night was of the French Theme. I got the French onion soup, the roasted beef tenderloin, and the crème Brule. Very fitting considering we would be in the Port of Cannes the next day. The kids and Morgan came with us this night to eat. While the adult’s food was average at best, the kids loved all their selections: mac and cheese and chicken strips. Don’t forget about the chocolate chip cookie. The service in the dining room this night was rough. Our waiters did the best they could, but I believe they are short-staffed. We wanted to attend one of the shows that night but were unable to as the service was so long. After dinner, the kids went to bed, and we went to the starlight lounge and watched karaoke again. I had a chocolate martini, and we just enjoyed the show. I thought the entertainment staff was excellent at keeping everyone energized. The people on the cruise were all so supportive of those participating in karaoke. After that, we turned in for the night as tomorrow would be our first port day in Port of Cannes.

It has been a long weekend. I am back to continue my trip report. We woke up the next morning in Barcelona, albeit a little slow. It is hard to explain to a 2-year-old what jet lag is. She was wide awake at 3 am. We got around and headed downstairs to the lobby in the Adante Hotel. The rest of my family looked like they were dragging on energy as well. We went to the closes metro stop and purchased our tickets to Sagrada Familia. I had booked our timed entry tickets for 9 am. We arrived at the metro stop and made our way up the stairs where we were rewarded with a stunning view of the structure. We were shadowed by the massive church. We walked around the building to the entrance and were directed through security. I had downloaded the audio guide prior to arriving at the church but the rest of my family had yet to do this. There is wifi at the entrance to download the audio guide that comes with your ticket if you forget to do this prior as my family did. It was hot outside, even at 9 am and the kids were restless. We made our way into the church and admired the architecture. Architecture is not a huge passion to me, but this was impressive. The inside was beautiful. After about 30 minutes inside, the kids were starting to melt down, so we headed out to the back left. I think we were there for about an hour in total time. I know that much longer could be spent at the attraction, but an hour was long enough for my family. We then headed to a café right next to the church to get a coffee and pastry. My dad at this point wanted Mcdonald's (I know right?) so he headed there. We met back up by an outdoor table and finished our breakfast. We then hopped back on the metro to head back to the hotel to head to the cruise. out The metro is easy to use and efficient. We arrived back at the hotel. Check-out was at noon so it was now about 11:15. We had plenty of time to get packed and check out. There is a taxi stand right in front of the hotel, so we grabbed two taxis and away we went to the cruise port. The port was less than a 10-minute taxi ride from the hotel and soon we were handing our luggage off to the porters. We did purchase “The Key” mostly to get priority tendering as this cruise had 3 tender ports. At the terminal, however, it was not busy, and we did not need priority embarkation. We were immediately shuttled through check-in and were on the ship in about 10 minutes' time. We booked this 7-night cruise on Enchantment of the Seas as we were intrigued by some of the smaller ports such as Portofino. We knew Enchantment was older and smaller than Symphony, which was also doing a med cruise, but we wanted to go to Portofino and Genoa. I had been on Enchantment one other time and was familiar with the boat. We went immediately to the main dining room to have our Chops Grill Lunch which was included with our Key program. It was a nice lunch and the convenience of not having to fight embarkation crowds in the windjammer was a nice treat. After this, we headed to Boleros to have a welcome drink and wait for our rooms to be ready. My parents went to do their muster drill and my sister, the kids, and my husband relaxed and enjoyed knowing that we were about to get 7 days on the ship. Our rooms were ready at about 1:45. We were in an interior room on deck 8 aft. When we got to the room, the wrong keycards were by the door, so I immediately had to go to guest services to get this worked out. After she printed our new sign and sail cards, we could finally get to the room. Once inside, we unpacked a bit before heading to get Parker signed up for Adventure Ocean and to muster drill Signing up for Adventure Ocean was easy and painless. Parker loves Adventure Ocean and always asks to go. My 2-year-old isn’t old enough and we had our nanny so we didn’t sign her up. The muster drill went seamlessly. Again, it can’t be said enough how much nicer the muster drills are post covid. We then headed up to deck 9 to watch sail away. With a mojito in my hand and the music playing, we watched the ship pull away from Barcelona and start our sailing. We enjoyed relaxing, laughing, and dancing on the deck for a while and then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. Jet lag was starting to catch up to us and the kids were exhausted. My 2-year-old was nodding off while we were sitting on deck 9, so we decided to order them room service and then put them to bed. Our nanny came at about 7:50 and Sean and I headed to dinner in the main dining room. This night I had crab cakes, strip steak, and cheesecake. I know there have been endless threads on the new menus so I won’t go over that, but I will say that the food was “just ok” our entire trip. It wasn’t inedible and there were some good things, but overall, I could tell that it wasn’t up to par with previous cruises. That’s my only real comment on the food. After dinner, the jet lag hit me like a freight train, and I went straight to bed. My sister and husband went to karaoke. The next day would be a sea day and I was ready for a day of rest and relaxation.

No problem. I think I booked it through booking.com. We really enjoyed the hotel and it was definitely more affordable than some of the other places in the area.

We booked about 5-6 months before.

Our Level Airlines flight out of JFK took off at 11:45. Check in for our flight was somewhat slow. They only had two agents at check in initially and so it took about 30 minutes. There also were some issues with the seats that we booked. We did prepay to select our seats since we had the kids and somehow we ended up getting moved. Sean sat with Parker and I sat with Clara but we were 3 rows away from each other. Not that big of a deal but still annoying considering we paid money to pick the seats. By this time the kids were exhausted. I glanced up at the row Parker was sitting in and he was asleep before even taking off. Clara was not far behind. Prior to the trip I had purchased an inflatable footrest to convert Clara's seat into a bed. It worked like a charm. I was worried about the flight with Clara. She is our wild child. She never sits still and she also throws some epic temper tantrums. Evidently the exhaustion of the day caused her to pass right out for the next 5 hours. Dinner service was served about an hour into the flight. The options were your standard economy airline food: Chicken and rice, salad, a roll. Nothing to write home about but edible. After dinner service, I immediately passed out for the next 5 hours. I used a new inflatable travel pillow. It was fabulous. It actually made the economy seat bearable and I did get some good, quality sleep. I woke up to Clara getting restless with about 2 hours left in the flight. We read a book and played with stickers before the snack service arrived. Clara had a kids meal which consisted of a cheese sandwich, yogurt and fruit. Mine consisted of a breakfast bar and a ham and cheese sandwich. I feel like the kids meal was tastier, but again it was overall edible. Most importantly they had coffee. We arrived into Barcelona right on time at about 1 pm. We gathered our luggage and went to meet our driver. We used Welcome Pickups for our transportation to our hotel. The communication was great. Our driver used Whatsapp to communicate and it was a seamless process. Most of all, I was able to book this transportation with car seats for the kids. After a drive into the city, we arrived at Adante hotel. When researching hotels, we wanted something affordable, clean, within walking distance to Las Ramblas, close to public transportation, and fairly close to the cruise port. Adante was perfect for this. Our booking did not include breakfast but they do have breakfast available. Thereis also a pretty courtyard on the ground floor. When we checked in, our rooms were ready and we went up to drop luggage off. The room had three beds and was rather large for a European hotel. After that, we went up to the pool deck. This is where Adante shines. The infinity pool and the views from the deck were amazing. We could see most of Barcelona and could spot Sagrada Familia in the distance. The pool bar served all types of beverages but I got the Sangria. It was delicious and refreshing. The bartenders were a husband and wife couple. They were very friendly and offered us recommendations on what to see and do. I wish we had more time in the city to check out their recommendations. After we had enjoyed the pool deck for about an hour, we wanted to go out and explore. We also wanted to keep busy to beat jet lag. Our group of eight took off for Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is a central, pedestrian, tree lined street about a 5 minute walk from our hotel. It is a central tourist spot with many restaurants, cafes, and street vendors. We slowly strolled up the blvd looking at all the sights and trying to take in the vibe. Barcelona was so beautiful. When we got to the end of the street, we decided to continue to explore the neighborhood to the west of Las Ramblas and take our time walking back to our hotel. It was a Sunday and there were so many people out enjoying the good weather in the parks and in nearby restaurants. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in a grocery store and picked up bottles of wine to take onboard the cruise with us and picked up other essentials we needed for the trip. We also picked up some dinner for Morgan and the kids at Restaurante Bollywood. The restaurant was right next door to our hotel so it was convenient. Morgan said the food was fair, but the people working there were kind and it was convenient. We tucked the kids fed and tucked into bed and then Sean, my sister, my parents and I all headed for our dinner reservations. We ate at Bo de Boqueria which is right off the Las Ramblas. We had reservations as I had found good reviews online before we left. The food was delicious. We ordered tapas for the table and then split several dishes of paella. We split a pitcher of Sangria. Dinner was wonderful but we were exhausted. My dad was trying not to fall asleep at the table. We walked back to the hotel and fell asleep without any trouble.

We woke up and moved slowly this morning. We were tired from the night before. We grabbed the kids some fruit and yogurt from the Grab and G in the Hyatt lobby for breakfast. We packed up and dropped our luggage off at bell services to hold our luggage for the day until we were ready to leave for the airport later that evening. We met our friend Melissa down in the lobby. She would be accompanying us on our day which was nice to have a local present. Before we left the hotel for the day, I checked us all in for our flight that evening. We would be flying on Level airlines. After checking out of the hotel, we hit the pavement for Times Square. We were going to do the hop on hop off bus tour, but first we needed to grab some souvenirs. We all collect different things. My husband and I collect magnets. We had been to New York before so didn’t need another magnet. My sister collects Christmas ornaments and my mom collects spoons. My sister had also forgot toothpaste so she wanted to pick some of that up too. When we got close to times square, my sister ran into a CVS to grab the toothpaste and I headed into H&M. I was not prepared for the chilly New York weather. It was a high of 62 and my daughter had on a short sleeved shirt and I had on a tank top. I bought a sweater for Clara and a white overshirt for myself and headed back to joint my family. At that time, my son Parker was cold and so we headed to the souvenir shop and purchased him an NYC jacket while the rest of the family purchased their souvenirs. Finally we were ready to get on the Big Bus. We bought the Downtown(Red Loop) on the app and presented it to the Big Bus Tour operator and away we went. We were glad to have our newly purchased jackets as it was a little chilly sitting on top. It was nice that the Big Bus Tour had a special place to put the stroller. My kids loved looking at all the buildings. We got off at the Wall street stop and walked down the street to our chosen lunch spot, Liberty Bagels. I had found this place on google maps and it had great reviews. I had the Diablo sandwich and my husband had the Rueben. My kids loved….and I mean LOVED the rainbow bagel with cream cheese. I also tasted it and it was pretty great. After our bellies were full, we walked down to the battery. We got harbor views of the statue of liberty. There were a lot of street vendors around and the kids liked looking at all the new things to see. Following our stop at the battery, we walked to the 9/11 memorial. I had been here one other time, but it was my parents first time. It was somber and it was hard to explain what happened there to my 4 year old that had a lot of questions. If any parents know how to approach this, let me know. I did the best I could. We then passed by the Oculus which was impressive. We found the World Trade Center Big Bus Stop and hopped back on. There were no seats at the top at this time of day so we say below. It was definitely not as enjoyable. We were hot and a little tired. The kids were falling asleep. We stopped off at the Times Square stop and exited the bus. It was definitely time for coffee. We walked down 6th avenue and found a coffee shop to refuel. We also used the bathroom. We headed over to Rockefeller center and watched the roller skating for a few minutes and continued our journey up 5th avenue to central park. We walked through the central park zoo to the Billy Johnson Playground in central park to let the kids burn some steam off before the long flight later that evening. It was about 6pm and our flight did not leave until 11:45 that night. The kids loved the playground. There were a lot of slides and jungle gyms for them. At about 6:30, we decided to head back towards the hotel to get supper and grab out bags before we went to the airport. This is where having local friends helped. They took the subway and guided us. I am very comfortable taking public transportation but with the stroller and the kids, it was nice to have someone help us on the first day of vacation. I also think the NYC subway can be confusing. The escalator down to the metro line was broken, so we did have to carry Clara in her stroller down several flights of steps, which was not what I would call fun, but we made it and traveled to Grand Central Station. Grand Central Station is right next to our hotel. They also have a dining concourse with lots of food options for supper. We decided this would be a good spot to grab a bite to eat. We said goodbye to Melissa and sat down for some grub. We ate at Tartinery which specialized in Tartines (I didn’t know what these were prior to eating here.) They are small open faced sandwiches. Kind of like a flatbread. They were delicious. I had the ricotta and prosciutto and my husband had the chicken salad. The kids split a ham and cheese sandwich. After dinner, we headed up to the main concourse to admire the beauty of the building and then we headed back next door to collect our luggage and head to the airport. Our flight would take off from JFK. BY then, it was 8pm and the preflight anxiety started to kick in. I had drawn the short straw and would be sitting next to my daughter Clara on the flight while my husband would sit by our son Parker. We had booked seats neat the back that were in a 2-3-2 configuration. We chose seats that allowed us to have a window and an aisle. I say I drew the short straw because my daughter is not the best sleeper. In fact, she can be a terror. She cant get her body to relax and she does not sleep well outside of her bed. She is also only 2 and cannot yet regulate her emotions well……so needless to say I was worried how this was going to go. I think I will stop here for morning and continue with the flight in the next post. Let me know if there is anything you want to see from the trip or if you have questions.

September sounds like the perfect time for the Med. Not so hot.

I am so jealous you get to go to Venice. I definitely want to go back someday and look at Venice. I totally understand being excited and nervous. I feel like after the last few years, we don't take trips or vacation for granted.

Thanks. This is my first trip report but I have been an online looker for the last 10 years.

Hey everyone. Just got back from our recent trip on Enchantment of the Seas. It was a Western Med cruise out of Barcelona with stops in Cannes, Ville Franche Sur- Mer, Genoa, Portofino, Livorno, and ending in Rome. We spent a few days in NYC and post cruise in Rome, Paris and Normandy. This will be a long trip report with pictures. If you aren't interested in the pre and post cruise info, feel free to skip. “What if we took the kids with us to Europe.” Those were the words my husband asked me one spring day in 2022. We were in the process of booking our long awaited Mediterranean cruise. It had been postponed twice during the pandemic and rescheduled another time due to the fact my sister was pregnant and could no longer go. “Well I think that would be a little overwhelming.” I said honestly. The more I thought about it, the more realistic it seemed. We had been saving travel points through our chase credit cards and had the points for flights. We had already taken them on several trips domestically (Disney) and two Caribbean cruises. How much harder could an international trip to Europe be? So set in motion this trip. As I mentioned above, this trip was a casualty of Covid-19. We had been scheduled for a Med cruise (just my husband and I) from Barcelona to Venice in April of 2020. We all know what happened then and this was the first summer things had returned to somewhat normal where we felt like we could make this work. As the trip evolved, my parents decided they wanted to come join, then my sister, and now we were going to take my two year old and four year old…..also a partridge and a pear tree. If I was going to Europe with my children, I wanted to make sure I had the best of both worlds. I wanted them to enjoy the experience, but I also wanted to enjoy the experience. I wanted to see the historical sites of places like Florence and Rome…..while my kids….wanted to have time at the pool. It was at that moment, we decided we were going to bring a nanny. Now to most folks like me, taking a nanny to Europe sounds like something only rich people do, but I assure you that is not my family. We are straight up middle class. We used travel point, etc to supplement her plane tickets and hotel rooms. We used Air BNBs that had extra room as well. We made it work with less over head cost than you would think. (If you would like a post about this, let me know.) So this is how we got to this point: Travel day. 8 of us including my parents, my husband, sister, my kids….and now the nanny, Morgan….heading to the airport for our 2 week European adventure. We live in a small Midwest town where the closest airports is 150 miles away. So we loaded up in two vehicles and hit the road. We had a direct flight to LaGuardia in New York. We had made the decision months before that we were going to spend the night in New York and spend the day sightseeing before getting on our flight to Barcelona the next evening. Our Southwest flight left without any problems. I sat next to my son with our Nanny Morgan and my husband and sister sat next to my daughter. My parents had a row to themselves. The flight was uneventful. We had packed a lot of games and snacks for the flight and there were no major meltdowns or issues. My husband and sister had the party row. They had a glass of wine and beer on the flight while my row was the boring row. We had water and ginger ale. When we landed in New York, our driver met us and took us to our hotel. We stayed at Hyatt Grand Central using Hyatt point transferred from our Chase card. We had one standard room that my parents and sister stayed in and one Junior suite that had a separate bedroom with pullout sofa that the kids and Morgan stayed in. It was only for one night so I feel like we had enough space but if we were staying for longer, I would have booked a separate room for Morgan as there was only one bathroom that made getting ready in the morning a little hectic. We got to the hotel and freshened up. We were meeting family friends at a nearby restaurant for a late dinner. We went down to the Grab and Go at the hotel and got the kids and Morgan some supper that consisted of chicken strips and fries and we headed out. Walking through Manhattan at night is an experience. The energy was unbeatable. This was my parents first time to New York and they enjoyed the walk to the restaurant. We ate at The Smith on 2nd Ave. When we arrived we were greeted by family friends Melissa and Cole. They are both from the Midwest and moved to NYC over 10 years ago to work in fashion (They lead much more glamorous lives than we do.) I had the Pot of Mussels which was served with a chardonnay broth and tarragon fries. To drink, I had the basil lemon drop cocktail. My dad had the smith burger and my mom and sister both had the salmon. I believe my husband had a steak. Everything was really good and service was excellent. After dinner, we said our goodbyes and planned to meet up tomorrow for sight seeing. We walked back the Hyatt. The kids were asleep in our bed and Sean and I climbed in bed to rest after our long travel day. Next post will cover sight seeing day in New York and our flight to Barcelona with two kids under the age of 5.