Liberty of the Sea Med Cruise Review with photo's Hopefully !

[crafty sue]

 

Hi a few people have been saying that there isn't many Liberty of the Seas Med Cruise Reviews on here so I thought I might have a go at my first review - yes my First so be gentle with me.

 

Where to start - well I am Sue and my Husband of 35 years is John and this would be our 3rd cruise - our second with RC. Our first was 3 years ago on Grandeur (god bless her) and we got the bug.

 

We live in Yorkshire in the UK, so thought last year we better try P & O from Southampton, it was a nice cruise but the weather was rubbish.

 

This year it was back to RC and the Liberty- and to say we were very excited was an understatement, We were Gold - yeeeeh - yes I know as we found out it doesn't really count for that much but nice to have.

 

I spent months on these boards researching ports -devouring any pictures of well... any R.C. ships !

 

This is us.

 

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(now this is where we find out if my being a photo bucket virgin works )

 

 

I will post this to see if it works - now have you all got your fingers crossed.. here goes

Edited June 12, 2013 by crafty sue

[crafty sue]

So did it work ? yesssss - but now how do I get back on to do the review - bear with me reader - think this is the only way ?

 

oh well I will try it and see what happens.

 

DAY ONE

 

We had a flight from the UK from Leeds Bradford airport on cruise day the 19th of May at 9.45 am so stayed the night before at an airport Hotel The Britannia - got a really good deal of £49 for a night in a double room and 8 days parking... bargain ! They arrange a Taxi to the airport which is only 5 min away for £7 each way and they arrange for the taxi back when you return.

 

The flight with Jet2 was all part of the Fly Cruise package I think it was about £60 return per person which is really good value, and we had the safety of if there were any problems RC would look after us.

 

We flew on time, and landed at about 1pm in Barcelona. We were quickly off the airplane, and walked the long way from the gate to immigration. This is where the delay started only 2 immigration officers for about 4 flights worth of people and no set queues and if you know us British we love a good Queue !! 40 min later we got to the front of the mass of people and was waved through without them even looking at my terrible passport photo ! - We then collected our luggage which wasn't too long coming, and went through to the exit where the RC reps were waiting and a large trolly for all our luggage - we waved goodbye to it hoping to see it again sometime soon in our Cabins.

 

The reps then got us together about 20 or so passengers and took us to a waiting coach to take us to another part of the airport to do our check in and get our sea passes. This was done very quickly and we were soon on another coach to go to the port.

 

We were soon there and were scanned as we entered the cruise terminal by the port security - not R.C. !

 

In the terminal there are duty free shops and this is where we bought our 2 bottles of wine to take on board for about 5 euros a bottle and it tasted very nice too thank you very much - if we had known we could have bought more because we were not scanned again as we went on board we just had to have our photo taken to go with the seapasses. - Oh there was a table half way up the gangway with a sign saying something about not allowing any spirits etc but everyone just walked passed it.

 

By this time it was about 3pm so we went straight to our cabin Balcony 6318 it was an E1 - but very central just around the corner from the lifts on deck 6. It was just as we thought except..... What no Sofa ?????? no it had just a chair and it wasn't a sofa bed type chair just a comfy armchair. I wondered if that was because the cabin was interconnecting and the door was along that wall. I asked our cabin steward Jose about it be he didn't seem to understand what I was asking so I gave up on that one. We were quite peckish by now having last eaten a breakfast bar on the flight. So we headed here ( fingers crossed again for photo opportunity )

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Had a couple of brownies and some other type of cakes and the first taste of the infamous coffee - wasn't impressed with the coffee so made some tea - oh dear the new teabags might be organic but they don't do what it says on the pack - i.e. make tea unless you add at least two to your cup... thank goodness I had brought some Yorkshire teabags with me and when my cases arrive ( more later on that one) I will at least get a decent cuppa.

Edited June 12, 2013 by crafty sue

[shoppgirl]

I am looking forward to reading your review!! This is the med cruise I would love to take! Please post away!!

 

You may just convince me to change my Allure cruise to the Liberty in the Med!

[paget]

Count me in....looking forward to your review. We are thinking of doing this cruise next summer!

 

Maria

[IrishLassie]

Looking forward to the rest of your review & pictures.

We have been to your part of the world as my DH's cousin lives in York but had lived in Hull a few years back. LOVE that part of the UK, and can't wait to go back at some point.

Will keep checking for the rest of your review, so hope you can find it again!! :D

[crafty sue]

Yes I know the woman in the picture looks really fed up - I think she had tried the Tea !

now were where we? - oh yes we had a little snack as we were having dinner at 7pm sitting we went along to the Michaelangelo dinning room to check out our table.

 

We had asked for a table of 8 - we love meeting new people and thought that would be good for us... we had been allocated table 104 a table for 6 near the window.

 

We had a little wander to get our bearings then headed back to the cabin to unpack... well I say unpack... only one case waiting outside... oh dear. Anyway it was only 5pm ish so still time. Our steward Jose had introduced himself earlier and I had asked him to empty the fridge so we could put our wine in and would it be possible to have an ice bucket and wine glasses. He had emptied the fridge onto the dresser! - no ice bucket but wine glasses and corkscrew was waiting for us.

 

I phoned guest services and asked about the case, she said that they are still delivering cases and if I hadn't got it by 8pm ! - to phone them back. Now here was the problem, I had put some of my stuff in with John's in each case so that if one got lost at least we would have some clean underwear ( my big dread no clean knickers ! )

 

The case that had turned up had our toiletries in it so at least we could smell nice - but the other case had my makeup in aghhhh !

 

Anyway John decided to get showered and shaved then by then the case might have turned up and I could the same.

 

he showered ok - good shower with proper door no flappy curtain. I heard Jose outside the cabin so asked him if he could track down the missing case. he did ask me I had been a naughty girl ! No I hadn't honest I said. Anyway he went off to find said case - and then John said " We have a problem" - "the sink won't empty" - we tried and tried and he was right "The Sink Didn't empty" - Jose turns up with missing case and I show him the problem. " I will get maintenance" he says - so he comes back with a very nice man in overals - who says " I need Tools"! - now a this point reader John is stood wrapped in just a towel. I was stood in the clothes I travelled in - with no chance of using the bathroom as the lovely man from maintenance came back with his tools and started to take the sink apart.

 

Now I didn't get to the age I am without having the brain to make a plan. Now the Plan I came up with was whilst the man was in the Bathroom, I stood in the corner put on clean underwear and whisked a top out of the top of the case and touched up my makeup and left them to it fixing whatever they were fixing. Then went off to dinner.

 

I will tell you all about that tomorrow - but there is a really good programme coming on the telly I want to watch and if I don't get the remote off of John I have no chance. Speak to you all tomorrow.

 

Please ask questions about the cruise, I have all the compasses and the trip shedules next to me here on my sofa ! ( yes I have a sofa unlike cabin 6318 !)

[crafty sue]

Looking forward to the rest of your review & pictures.

We have been to your part of the world as my DH's cousin lives in York but had lived in Hull a few years back. LOVE that part of the UK, and can't wait to go back at some point.

Will keep checking for the rest of your review, so hope you can find it again!! :D

 

 

What a small world it really is - my DD and SIL lives in York - please do come and visit our part of the world.. we need all the visitors we can get :D

[Lotus Girl]

Thanks for posting your review. We are sailing Liberty on Sunday (16th June) so I will subscribe to your thread so that I don't miss anything before getting on board (we leave for Barcelona on Friday all being well with flights from the UK due to the French air problems just now). The info about the wine is very useful indeed after security so I know that I can get some wine to take on board and not need to run the streets of Barcelona looking for a shop to purchase some :D

[Realtor at Sea]

Love your review so far and also your wonderful sense of humor!

[Zhane's mum]

I started to read your review to find some Liberty tips for our cruise in October and so far I have found out some invaluable info about Leeds Bradford airport hotel & parking and lolled quite a bit. Now I'm going to watch Love & Marriage which I Sky plussed (I'm guessing that's what you are watching??) :D

[crafty sue]

Hiya I'm back - well I came back a few minutes ago but shut down c.c. by mistake - yes you will find I am it bit like that

 

Hi Lotusgirl - will try and get it done before you shoot off to join Liberty on Sunday and I hope you get your flights sorted. Yes the wine is very reasonable in the cruise terminal we bought a white and a rose of the Torres brand.

 

Hi Zane'smum - no I was watching The Apprentice - what a surprise two fired this week ( sorry spoiler).

 

Now before I deleted myself I was telling you we were off to dinner. 7pm seating table for 6 near the window in a sidebit on the right - that is the only way I can explain it.

 

The dining room is beautiful

 

picture coming - fingers crossed

 

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We met our waiting staff a lovely Romanian was our waiter he was called Marian - and his assistant was from Nicaragua and she was called Shayling - now can I ask have you seen the film Father of the Bride with Steve Martin ? - now just imagine their wedding planner Fronk ! - yes got it - Marion spoke like him, in fact I think I called him Fronk at some point and my husband John nearly choked on his drink !.

 

He gave us our menus and we waited for our table mates - and we waited and waited and then ordered our starters - Having a problem remembering exactly which day we ordered what - but I think John had the Royal Shrimp cocktail and I had the Scallop Gratin - at about 7.30 our table mates arrived - two lovely retired ladies from Maryland - one who's case still hadn't arrived - are you detecting a theme to the luggage situation on a ship this size ? - anyway we were then 4 - and that was the way it stayed all week. The only good thing was that one of the ladies memory wasn't too good and she asked the same questions each night so the conversation flowed well !

 

The Scallop gratin was lovely except I had a job at first finding any scallop I thought they would be about and inch wide - these were the size of a shirt button ! and served in a dish I think you would serve snails or simlar in, but saying that they were very tasty.

 

For Main John had the Strip steak -in the UK this would be slices of beef so we were very surprised and delighted when this arrived

 

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and it was so tender it cut like fudge. I cannot for the life of me remember what I had - perhaps it will come to me - if it does I will tell you honest.

 

We realised at this point that our Maryland ladies were very slow at choosing their food so made the decision not to wait for them, which I know it is usual to all wait until everyone has been served before you tuck in but if we had waited we would have been there until next sitting. !

 

When it came to deserts - Marion our waiter explain he had Sherberts ! - I think we would call them sorbets ! - but I loved his accent so asked him all about his Sherberts ! then asked him about the Baileys Creme Brule you see I love Creme Brule but not keen on Baileys so he brought me one to try and a chocolate type cake as well. This became a theme Fronk.. sorry Marion wanted me to try all his deserts ! Think John had the Lemon meringue pie which is is favourite desert .

 

Oh I forgot to say we booked the Wine and Dine package before we left the UK so had paid for it before the cruise. Can't remember what we paid but it worked out quite well.

 

There was a good choice of wines and was delighted they had everyone in stock, which wasn't the case last time we cruised RC. That first night we drank the full bottle but after that we saved some for the next night. The 5 bottles was just enough for the 7 night cruise.

 

We then bid the ladies and Marion and Shayling a goodnight and went for a wander before bed. Hoping that we wouldn't find a man in the Bathroom when we went back.

 

 

Now please don't shoot the messenger here - We are smokers trying to give it up and on the e-cig - we are down to 1 or 2 a day from a 30 a day habit . Fingers crossed we are nearly there with it. so I was surprised when we noticed a smell of smoke and realised that you could smoke inside at Bolero's and at the Hoof and Claw pub as well as the casino.

 

I really thought that being in European waters they would adopt the no smoking inside policy but no - they didn't !

 

We went to the Cafe Promenade and got some hot water - at night there were papercups with lids and thermal cardboard ( yer right I had burnt fingers by the time we got them back to the cabin) also some cold water with ice and went back to our cabin to make a cup of YORKSHIRE tea !

 

We also ordered our breakfast on the card behind the door and hung it on the handle outside. Thought we would have a lazy morning the next day. It was only when I got to bed that John asked the question "what time have you ordered Breakfast?" - errr I can't remember was my reply I think it was about 8.30 or could have been 9.30 ! - I will tell you tomorrow what time it arrived.

 

Night Night - time for tea and bed for us Speak tomorrow hopefully If I can suss out how to.

[Sisley]

We're leaving in 20 days on that same cruise. I'm so happy that you decided to write a review! And such a delightful one too!

[miamichic]

Great review! Can't wait to read more!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[drarill]

Great review!! Thanks for sharing!:):)

[crafty sue]

Morning everyone or Afternoon or Evening everyone depend where in the world you are reading this... it blows my mind that this is world wide so I hope you understand the way I write if you don't please ask I won't be offended honest.

 

I thought I would start today with a few things I had forgotten to tell you about yesterday.

 

Lets start with Muster Drill - bit tip get there just before 4.30 because it is on deck and they line you up in 6's and I was against the wall under the loud speaker - I couldn't believe how painful that alarm is and as I am only 5 foot 2 inches tall I couldn't actually see the demonstration at all !

 

We also went to guest services to book a trip for Villefrance which was Day 3 port and whilst we were there we bought tickets for the shuttle boat which was to run from Toulon into the town at 16$ each. We also asked about the trip we had booked in Civitavecchia because usually if you pre book trips before you sail your tickets are in your stateroom when you board but ours wasn't there so she re issued them for us.

 

Another tip is read your Cruise Compass we missed a Dreamworks parade the first night because we didn't !

 

Right Day 2 or is it Day 1 ? who knows - anyway

 

We slept really well and were woken at 8.am by a phone call from room service our breakfast was on it's way - so I have ordered it for 8.30am then !

 

We had cleared a space on the dresser for the trays and got a couple of Euro's out for a tip. I just think it is nice to give them a couple of coins everytime don't know if you get better service but I just like to appreciate the staff if they do a good job.

 

Now you may have read about the terrible orange juice you get in the Windjammer unless you buy the premium and that it was the cheap stuff you got in room service - Wrong ! every morning we got glasses of delicious real orange juice at no extra charge I just ordered the regular. I also ordered tea for 2 that first morning - so you get a thermal pot and 2 teabags ! Good job for Yorkshire Teabags - no I don't have shares in the company ..he he,..

 

We also ordered a fruit plate, scrambled eggs, toast and pastries - we found this was too much breakfast and adjusted during the week to less. The Eggs were very tasty and came with what they called a hash brown but I would call it a potato rostie and a grilled tomato .

 

It was a lovely day out on the balcony drinking our tea not rushing - why would we it's cruise time.

 

We finally got ready - I got to have the shower I missed the night before and no there wasn't a man in the bathroom thank goodness. We got our things together and went ashore. You don't actually dock in Toulon you dock across the bay and Royal had put on a boat to shuttle you across as I said earlier at a cost. I am sure there is a local way of getting there but I am all for the easy option.

 

There seemed to be quite a queue but I remember the girl at Guest Relations saying if you have a ticket you don't have to queue on the dock so I went upto the table on the dock side and I was right they were taking payments so she told us to go right ahead and get on the shuttle.

 

This is the ship from the shuttle - here goes with another picture

 

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The crew were testing the lifeboats I think you can see that on this photo.

 

We were soon docking on the marina of Toulon it is really pretty and I was pleased we opted to do our own thing today. We walked along the harbour looking at the beautiful boats and then cut through and crossed the main road and was in the predestrian area where the local market was going on. Oh the smells of all that fresh fruit and veg was wonderful.

 

We walked a bit more then went down a side street to a street cafe and ordered two white coffees- they were delicious - I had missed my coffee on the ship, I know you can buy Starbucks but why should you have to pay to get a decent drink hey ? It was only 6 Euros and worth every penny

 

We then wandered back down the way we came and found a shopping centre now how can I tell you where it is - if you walk back towards the marina on the street where the market is - as the area widens look to your left and it is tucked away down there - there is a big supermarket in the centre it is a Carre fore which is a European big brand one.

 

We went in and bought some orange juice in a large carton and a small sport top bottle of water just big enough to fit in my handbag

 

We then headed back to the tender area on the marina and there was a very long line to go back to the ship but we all got on the boats hold a lot of people.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your review/trip report.

 

Keith

[crafty sue]

Once back on board we decided we were hungry so went to the Cafe Promenade and had a delicious tuna mayo sandwich and had a couple of brownies and some other cake - you may sense a theme here I like Cake, I love chocolate so Brownies are my must have if the are available cake. I managed to make us a half decent cup of tea by using 3 tea bags per cup and bashed the hell out of them.

 

We then had a wander around the ship as it was quite empty and found this guy

 

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he is outside the cafe promenade and isn't bolted down so people love to move him around and children love to sit on him.

 

He has a friend up on deck 6 - here he is

 

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maybe this is a better view

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he was really useful as we knew if we found him we were just around the corner from our cabin.

 

We also found this lady

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she was hanging around outside the nightclub.

 

And a little bit of England - allegedly !

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A bit about the "English Pub" - they sell beers from all over the world - but they only had Boddingtons in a can ! - to those friends over the pond Boddingtons is Bitter beer - not Lager and a lot of Brits like a pint of bitter - not a chance in this pub. We had a can of Boddingtons and a half of Coke and the bill was about $10 Come on RC get some British beer on Draft - you would sell more.

 

I know you have all seen this but here's our photo of the car on the promenade

 

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We were thirsty at this point so went upto the Windjammer our first visit ! - honestly this ship is so big I don't think we got to see every bit of it in the week.

 

We got ourselves a glass each of the free lemonade and noticed for those that like it that ice tea seemed to be available at all times. I checked out the cakes in there and there was a good selection but just had a cookie each as tonight was formal night and the dress I planned to wear was a tad tight to start with so didn't want to eat too much ! ha ha .

 

More later about Formal night - but have to go now and do a bit of housework - I may have given up working but as they say A Womans work is never done ! - so true - speak later

[little britain]

Thanks for posting your review. We are sailing Liberty on Sunday (16th June) so I will subscribe to your thread so that I don't miss anything before getting on board (we leave for Barcelona on Friday all being well with flights from the UK due to the French air problems just now). The info about the wine is very useful indeed after security so I know that I can get some wine to take on board and not need to run the streets of Barcelona looking for a shop to purchase some :D

As you are staying in Barcelona there are many little supermarkets where you can find the finest wine to take on board.... There is one at the top of Ramblas near Place Catalunya. This fine vintage cost €1.23!

 

Edited June 13, 2013 by little britain

[drummerdavebmth]

Great review and photo's....I'll be following this closely as we're doing this cruise in September :cool:

[crafty sue]

Hi done my bit of cleaning now to Formal night. We had our Meet and Mingle early evening I think about 5pm in the Oliver and Twist - our Roll Call was over 40 people but when we turned up there was well.... us two - great I thought I least I might win the two bottles of champers on the table. In the end there were about 16 of us turn up - it could have been the timing, some people still out on trips or getting dolled up for Formal night.

 

We were given a little talk from some guy - I forget who he was who told us how they get the look of the ships and how they can change things like the show sets etc. We had tea uggh ! or coffee or orange juice and a choice of CAKE "! I only had one brownie honest ! They then did the raffle and as there were enough prizes for all we could choose our prize - no I didn't win the Champers I got a book about Liberty which is very nice and John got a tub of paperclips and rubber bands ( I kid you not !) We were all given a notebook and pen on a string to hang around our necks and then said goodbye and headed back to get ready for formal night.

 

This is me - the dress was a little tight but I knew that anyway so you only get the top half !

 

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Our table mates the lovely Maryland ladies were only about 15 min late tonight so we thought we would get to eat together but no - we had our starters and they were still choosing !. Again I cannot remember exactly what we ate - but forgive me if I get them in the wrong order. I know I had a seafood cocktail which had shrimp and lobster in it and it was fab. Think we had the duck which was really well cooked - but I must say they don't do many vegetables. But what they do give you are cooked well. unlike when we were on the Grandeur we had to ask for them to be actually cooked ! we couldn't cut the carrots they were that hard !

 

I think this was the dessert baked alaska - well it was on one of the nights anyway

 

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We knew we would miss the captains meet and greet as that was at 8pm til 9pm - but we managed to make it to the promenade about 8.30 ish and grabbed the odd glass of free champers - Result ! - then Captain Kjetil Gjerstad -( I didn't remember his name but got it from cruise compass ! ) desended on a moving bridge down you might spot him on this photo if you have really good eyesite

 

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there was the live orchestra playing and the atmosphere was really good

 

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He told us that there were over 1000 Americans on board and over 500 Brits and also lots of Canadians - Norwegians - Irish and Japanese to name just a few also a lot of Spanish which figures as it now sails out of Barcelona. He also told us that the Head Chef was Scottish - so that explains why the veg was cooked to our liking !

 

The Cruise Director was Rich Edwards and he was a hoot - he is from Trinidad and Tobago and was very good at his job.

 

I forgot to say that they did a display of the kitchen staff in the main dining room but we could only hear it as they did it on the staircase and we were the deck above and in the alcove.

 

We had booked for the 11pm In the Air show so went to sit in Boleros for a quick ciggie - we asked if we could share a table with a couple who turned out to be Norwegian and his English was quite good - well it was at first but he had the drinks package which was a Really Really good deal if you are from Norway as they pay mega bucks for drinks there and he was making the most of it ! ha ha - the more he drank the more confused his English was and his daughter came to translate. We bid them goodbye and made our way to the theater for the In the Air show - although we had booked nobody checked and we walked straight in and got really good seats just near the back with a ledge in front of us so a clear view of the stage.

 

What a fantastic show it is only about 40 min or so long but all you could hear from the audience was Wow ! It isn't just people flying around in amazing shapes on the stage there is fantastic singing and dancing - a really talented team.

 

We then went to the pub for a drink where we met again our Norwegian friends - they had quite a few more drinks by then and were hilarious - by the end of the night we were invited to go stay with our new best friends in their guest house in the mountains - unfortunately we never saw them again the whole cruise - wether it was the drink we don't know it was quite a mystery.

 

It was then Tea and bed for us for tomorrow was The French Riviera well Villefrance and we had booked to go to Nice and Eze - or nice and easy as they say - for the afternoon trip. Back soon

Edited June 13, 2013 by crafty sue

[crafty sue]

Coffee in Hand and I am back...

We ordered breakfast again for the morning in the cabin I chose 9am - I know I did the phone call came at 8.15am - this time we had cereal and the lovely orange juice and toast I also ordered 4 tea and 2 coffee - so we got the same size pot but 4 tea bags - now that doesn't work - I hoped for a bigger pot - we ordered the coffee to have when we had eaten and got dressed. It was stewed by the time we had it and not that hot but hey you have to try.

 

We put on the TV now this is a bit of an annoyance to me - they have lots of channels including cnn - but not British new channel there was a french new channel and I think a Spanish one - the only "British" channel was BBC Entertainment, oh yes the programmes were English but it was the Polish version - yes Polish - so you got all the adverts and programme info in Polish then English tv programmes - very strange. There seem to run lots of episodes of Allo allo - Graham Norton and Come Dine with me. To get news we watched a bit of Cnn but wasn't really what we wanted.

 

I got a message on the interactive TV channel - I got really excited - who was sending me a message ? - it was from the spa - I had "Won" a "Free" Consultation for acupuncture ! - now read that correctly - it was a Consultation not a treatment - so it really reads Come and let us brain wash you for an hour and try and sell you some treatments - no thanks but nice to be thought of not !

 

As our trip wasn't until the afternoon and it was a lovely day - we wandered around the upper decks the pools looked lovely but we didn't indulge. The Adult Only area looks really nice too. We then went back down to the Cafe Promenade - and no reader I didn't have a brownie why would I when they had white chocolate doughnuts ! - they seem to disappear at about 11am and the sandwiches and brownies come out.

 

As our trip wasn't until 2pm we had another walk around and took some photo's shall I show you them? oh go on then but I don't look my best in them

 

This is in the Sphinx lounge

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This is John having a boogie in the Catacombs nightclub - I know he is on his own but there is no way I would let him loose when people are around - but if you look above him when you dance you appear on a screen - nightmare !

 

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John is a drummer so when we came across these he had to didn't he ?

 

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Will finish here for a few minutes we have to go and put our oven glass door back on - like you do hey ?

[crafty sue]

Well that was easier than I thought - oven sorted... where was I ?

 

Oh yes - well it was time for lunch before our trip - so we headed for the Windjammer for our first lunch in there. There was lots of choices and we got a table quite easily but maybe because we were in port. John had a piece of pizza and some fries and I went for a Hot Dog - It was ok, but I liked fried onion with mine and they only had Sauerkraut ???

 

Waiters were walking around with coffee pots and lemonade and water - it seemed strange but they had changed the drinks stations so you had to ask for hot water or coffee no help yourself - maybe someone had burnt themselves ? who knows.

 

Anyway I checked out the cakes - good choice - had a piece of almond cake - only one honest.

 

We then went back to our stateroom to get our stuff together for the trip.

 

This was a tender port so we went down early thinking we might have a problem getting an elevator - but I can honestly say during the whole cruise we never had any problems at all.

 

We had to meet in the theatre and were given a sticker and then escorted down to deck 1 via the stairs ! - along the crew corridor and a fast past I did say hey slow down but he kept moving

 

We got on a tender straight away and were whisked to the port - now if I had my choice again I would have stayed in Villefranche - it looked so pretty.

 

We had chosen to do Nice and Eze as the week we were there it was the Canne Film Festival and the Monoco Grand prix - and I hate crowds so decided against it and talking to people who went to Monoco it was a good decision they were herded like cattle.

 

We went to our coach and met our tour guide - she quickly walked us up to our coach and we were on our way. Now I know she was French but her accent was quite difficult to understand and some people at the back of the coach asked her to speak up as you could not understand or hear her too well.

 

on our seats was a little radio thing with an earpiece which we were to use in Nice and Eze more about that later.

 

We drove along the beautiful road to Nice - here is the view

 

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we stopped to take this - and then was on our way to Nice - it is very very pretty. we drove around whist she told us about the famous hotels - I think she was on commission because she kept repeating herself about how wonderful they are and we should come back and stay one day !

 

We then drove to a flower market area where we were to put on our earpiece radio things. Even at full volume I could not make out a word she was saying. She walked us down the market and all we heard was something like this "Over there..shhhhuuukk.. Shoes" " on the right . shhukkkk Flowers " - and it hurt my ears so we just followed her and gave up on the comentary. A lot of the other passengers did the same.

 

She then told us we have 30 min free time the toilets were over to the right and be back at the coach in time. Bye bye. !

 

We all went to the Loo - yes all the coach full nearly. It is 50 cents to have a wee wee in france and the Man on the door was not amused at many cruise passengers offering him 20 euro notes ! and we were all in together men and women ! - what an experience.

 

We then went and found a cafe for some real coffee - delicious and guess what only 6 Euros ! - it became a joke that I was a cheap date everytime we went ashore John spent 6 Euros on me !

 

We looked a a few shops bought some paper napkins with the advert for Fanny on them - well you had to didn't you and then back to the coach to to to Eze - now we had already decided I was not going to wear that head set again. My ear was really hurting.

 

So when we got to Eze which is beautiful but very steep we let her lead people up the hill and we hung about in the square and had two beers - yes you guessed it they cost 6 euros !

 

I spotted this

 

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they are 10 a penny in the Riviera !

 

We then went back to the coach when they crowd came down the hill.... apparantly it was very steep and they couldn't understand a word she was saying - I think we had the best deal on that trip.

 

We then went along the Princess Grace road - here's the proof

 

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And here is the lovely Liberty in the Sun

 

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This is the view across the Bay in Nice - I want to go back and spend a few days in the area it is so pretty

 

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I can say this trip was interesting to see the area but the guide wasn't up to par - there was another coach doing the same trip and they had a fantastic guide - just luck of the draw.

 

when we got back to Villefranche there was a market going on - as I say I wish we had stayed there.

 

Now it is lunch time and John wants some cheese on toast so will do some more later today.

[sanwin]

great review so far Sue .....we were on this same cruise in 2011 on Liberty and loved it ! I agree about Villefranche we just loved it and would happily go back there. We are on Serenade later this year and Im disapointed that we are going to Cannes I would loved to back to Villefranche.

Looking forward to the rest of your review...I have subscribed so run everytime I get an update alert !!!...lol

Sandra x

 

Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2

[onlyonetrevorfrancis]

Hi Sue, we were on the same cruise and loving your review :)

 

Villefranche, what a place..... we enjoyed getting the train to Monaco/Monte Carlo but like yourselves wished we had spent more time there.

 

Thanks again for your great review!

[crafty sue]

Hello there - had lunch but no cake ! we do have cake as it was our son's 30th at the weekend - too tempting.

 

Now tonight was Casual night so we got ready casually and had a glass of our wine that we brought on - it was very drinkable.

 

We were on time for dinner but our Maryland ladies didn't turn up till about 7.45pm - didn't bother us they are on holiday too - but felt sorry for Fronk - sorry Marion he worked so hard recommending various food - again cannot remember exactly what we had but I know I had Lamb one night and it was lovely but I wish I had ordered it medium not well done because it was just a little over - and I know one of my starters was a Caprese salad with tomato's and mozzorella - excuse spelling and that was lovely.

 

I think they have cut out a course in the dining room, correct me if I am wrong but i think there used to be a soup course as well as the starters ? maybe I dreamed it.

 

Marion told John his favourite desert was on Meringue so he ordered two ! greedy but very nice.

 

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We got talking to Marion and he told us his wife works on board too and they were trying to get enough days off to go home for a week as working in Europe it would be easier for them. I hope he managed it as he deserved a break - they all work so hard to make sure we have a good time.

 

We hadn't any shows booked tonight but there was plenty going on - Latin music in Boleros - David Curtis in the Piano bar etc - but we had a wander around the shops it really is like being in a small town, and took some getting used to.

 

As I said earlier we are smokers trying to give up but couldn't resist the bargain in the shops 65$ for 400 ciggies - plus tax of course ! There was also a watch event but didn't buy I have more watches than wrists.

 

We were wacked so went to cafe promenade and got the hot water for tea and retired to our cabin - and found this guy - one of several throughout the cruise

 

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WEDNESDAY 22ND MAY 8.30AM -

 

Breakfast on it's way - yes an hour earlier than ordered - John was doubting my ordering skills at this point of the cruise.

 

It was a lovely day and we had docked in La Spezia - not tendered as they used to a really nice dock with a free - yes free shuttle off the dock,

 

So after getting ready we went ashore at about 11.30 ish - now a word to the wise the shops in Italy tend to close around 12.30 - 1pm - and reopen at around 3.30 - 4pm! - so if you want to shop go earlier !

 

Got on the FREE shuttle off the dock - were there were tourist info people who gave you a good map and you could either walk along the marina and then cross the road into the or cross where they drop you - but we walked along the marina front way.

 

You walk past a park area into a predestrian area - it really is a pretty town - but shame about the Graffiti

 

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We were hungry so we cut through a side street to an area that had a green news stand that is only how I can describe it and found a wine bar/bistro place that looked clean and fresh with a few tables down the side of the shop. I ordered a couple of sandwiches not really knowing what was in them but it looked like cheese - they were in Focaccia bread and I also ordered 2 coffees - now when they arrived they had hearts drawn in the white froth - John said this is going to be expensive. Guess what it was all delicious and cost - yes you guessed it 6 Euros - for the lot - if you can find it when you go enjoy - the square is on the right as you walk up the street.

 

The shops were slowly closing we we wandered around a bit more until our feet were hurting and took a rest in this park opposite the marina - Lovely Italian buildings

 

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It was then that I decided that I had to have some Italian Icecream and there was a little cafe near where the shuttle buses picked up - this is when I realised as well that not everyone speaks English - we are so lazy we really should try to learn some of the language - I am ok with French but Italian -not a chance. but I tried to order two tubs of two scoops of icecream "dooohay" that one and "Doohay" that one seeee !

 

we got them and they were very refreshing

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My son did ask why we sat at a petrol station to eat them - but it wasn't it just looked like it !

 

Then it was quickly on the shuttle and back to the ship for a Smart Casual/70's dinner !