Our Amazing European Adventure! Navigator of the Seas & Norwegian Epic Review w/pics

[dodgersmom]

Loving this!

 

OK, I just booked the food tour for our last night in Rome. I am so beyond excited!

 

Can't wait to read the rest of the review!

 

Marcy

[nellydean]

Nice review, well done.

 

I was on the Navigator about 5 years ago in the Med, deck 7 portside right at the front, so we could see ahead and to the side of the balcony.

 

Glad you liked Rome, we've been on many land holidays all over Italy, it's our favourite European country - but I long to visit Bora Bora, Tahiti and Fiji, which are so far away from us :)

Edited July 4, 2013 by nellydean

[cjcruiser27]

Great review and photos, thanks for sharing. I am patiently waiting to get your review on the Epic!

[AFsouth]

Thanks for the review, the info is very helpful as we will be on Epic out of Roma next spring! :)

[Wriggler]

This is an amazing review. I've subscribed so I don't miss anything!! Gorgeous photos!!

 

Rome is one of my favourite cities and we'll be there for the third time in just over 2 weeks time!!

 

So looking forward to your review of Venice - hope you get to that bit before we leave.

 

Carol

Edited July 5, 2013 by Wriggler
Can spell, can't type! ;o)

[celebrity]

Loving this review. Sailing the Med for the first time in Sept.

Can't wait for more.

[nellydean]

Loving this review. Sailing the Med for the first time in Sept.

Can't wait for more.

 

Hear hear, very informative, without being over-indulgent, which some of these threads have been, one in particular I won't mention.

[A&L_Ont]

I am liking this review and subscribing. When our DS gets older this is one of the cruises I want to do. I am have been to Rome, but the rest in the family hasn't.

 

Please keep it coming.

Andrew

[ShellDil]

Loving this!

 

OK, I just booked the food tour for our last night in Rome. I am so beyond excited!

 

Can't wait to read the rest of the review!

 

Marcy

 

You will love the food tour! I just mentioned to my parents that someone booked it after reading my trip report and they were thrilled. They said that while we did some amazing things, the food tour was one of their absolute favorites! Have fun!:D

[ShellDil]

Nice review, well done.

 

I was on the Navigator about 5 years ago in the Med, deck 7 portside right at the front, so we could see ahead and to the side of the balcony.

 

Glad you liked Rome, we've been on many land holidays all over Italy, it's our favourite European country - but I long to visit Bora Bora, Tahiti and Fiji, which are so far away from us :)

 

Oh, I would so love to travel to the places you mention too! Once you get that travel bug it sure sticks doesn't it! I'm definitely hooked on Italy too though. I know I'll be back!

[ShellDil]

Great review and photos, thanks for sharing. I am patiently waiting to get your review on the Epic!

 

Thank you! We have a week on the Navigator and some time in Italy, but I'll get to the Epic, I promise! Hang on for the ride! :D

[ShellDil]

Thanks for the review, the info is very helpful as we will be on Epic out of Roma next spring! :)

 

Thank you! I know reading the reviews really helped me to plan too.

[ShellDil]

This is an amazing review. I've subscribed so I don't miss anything!! Gorgeous photos!!

 

Rome is one of my favourite cities and we'll be there for the third time in just over 2 weeks time!!

 

So looking forward to your review of Venice - hope you get to that bit before we leave.

 

Carol

 

Thank you! I'm hoping to get a bunch more days posted this weekend. I was hoping since it's a holiday weekend to have more time - no work - but it's not really turning out that way! I sure hope to get to Venice before you leave!

[ace1zoe2]

Enjoying your review. Thanks for taking the time to do it. I just finished up a 16 day Alaska cruise tour review and understand how time consuming it is to post a review with pictures!

 

Looking forward to the rest of your report, we'll be doing a European cruise October 2014... can't wait!

 

Thanks again. You're pictures are wonderful!

[ShellDil]

After sail away, Mimi, the kids and I went up to the Sky Bar on deck 12 at 5:30 to meet some friends I had met on cruise critic. This would be an informal gathering before our official Meet and Mingle scheduled for later in the cruise. Our roll call really took off and there were some of us who seemed to just chat away endlessly about our enthusiasm for our upcoming cruise. And now we were finally there! Before leaving we set up this little gathering hoping some of us would show up and of course, we had a great small gathering of the friends I had been “talking” with for nearly a year! It was so great to meet in person! Even our kids, or should I say – young adults – or teens, got along wonderfully. We were such a diverse group! We had representatives from the US, Ireland, England and Scotland to name a few! Throughout the week it was so great to bump into each other in the ship and chat as if we were long lost friends! And, yes – we are still in touch and I feel we will remain so. Another great benefit of cruise critic! New friends!

 

After chatting for at least an hour, we went to make our dinner plans. We had chosen My Time Dining, which worked very well for us, but tonight we wanted to try Chops. We made reservations and went back to our cabins to get ready. Normally I’m not a huge meat eater, but at steak restaurants, I’m all for it!

 

DH doesn’t eat steak at all, but found their seafood selections to be good. We all had the filet with various sauces. Since we were a larger party, 6 in all, they brought all of the side dishes and served them family style. They also brought out all of the sauces and let us choose which we wanted after the filet were brought to the table. We could pick more than one if we wanted. DH had the Barramundi fish and enjoyed it. We each had various appetizers and soups and salads.

 

 

I had their signature cucumber martini that I did find refreshing, but my dad didn’t like it. I was far too stuffed for dessert, but had a taste of someone’s crème brulee. It was good. And it was served flambéed.

 

 

We enjoyed Chops very much and found it to be as good as, if not better than any Steak House we’ve been to. Our server was delightful and very attentive. We were however overcharged, by quite a lot, for a bottle of wine. When brought to her attention she was very apologetic and corrected it immediately. I’m sure it was just an oversight. I would recommend Chops. Oh, I forgot to mention, DH is a chef, and is often a bit hard to please when out to eat. It’s not so much that he’s critical, and he’s definitely not a food snob, but he knows a bit too much about how food it prepared and what goes into food costs. Being in the business for a long time sometimes makes him a bit jaded. He really enjoyed his meal at Chops and thought the service was excellent.

 

After our meal, everyone went back to their cabins, but Alex and I went back out. He needed sunglasses – make a note, count the pairs of sunglasses this boy goes through on this trip! This would be pair number 2! I got him a pair before we left. That pair was left on the van we were in when we transferred from Rome to the ship. AGH! So, we found a decent, relatively inexpensive pair at the RCL souvenir shop. Then the two of us went to the arcade. It was a decent arcade! A good mix of games for the “old timers” like me! Meaning games from the 80s! Like Ms Pac Man, Millipede, Galaga….I’m a girl who grew up playing arcade games for sure! And then there were all the newer arcade games too. He and I had a lot of fun. A definite mother son bonding time! Of course he killed me in Air Hockey several times. I blame it on the camera hanging around my neck! He didn’t buy it, he just said I’m too slow, poor reaction time! Really?

 

 

After spending my limit of $10 on my Sea Pass card we decided to move on. By the way, I forgot to mention that we chose to NOT allow either kid to be able to charge on their Sea Pass cards – far too dangerous with the arcade!

 

[ShellDil]

We made our way down to the Promenade for the Sail Away Parade. We weren’t sure what to expect, but here we were. Staking out a spot, just like any other parade. We bumped into a new friend from cruise critic and we were set.

 

 

The parade was unique for sure! The crew was all dressed up, it was colorful, fun and odd all at the same time. You couldn’t help but smile and feel festive. At the end confetti was flying.

 

 

 

 

We gathered up a big handful and brought it back to the cabin and threw it all over Megan so she could have some “parade” too, since she missed it. As late as it was, Alex, Megan and I went up to deck 12 to see the stars…..there weren’t as many as we’d hoped.

 

Off to bed. Tomorrow….Sicily!

[sanwin]

Loving the review !!...subscribed ...I dont want to miss any....we go to Venice on Serenade in october so looking forward to hear what you did there

 

Sandra x

 

Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2

[belles25]

So excited to read the rest of this! We will be on this cruise in less than a month! :D

[ShellDil]

Monday, June 10, Sicily

I woke up early again! I love sitting out on the balcony. The sea is just beautiful! There are some islands in the haze.

 

 

We must be getting close to Sicily!

 

We don’t dock until 10 am though. I woke everyone up for breakfast at the Windjammer so we’d have time to eat before our tour. It was a bit of a crazy mad house there. I don’t know how many times I want to eat there for breakfast. Far too hectic for me! But have no fear. We all found something to eat and we found a table for six too!

 

Once we passed through the Straight of Messina, we docked. Sicily on one side and mainland Italy on the other! We’d later learn from our driver that the Straight is only 1.8 miles wide!

 

 

Today we’re going on a tour with fellow Cruise Critic members Catherine and Ger from Ireland! We’re meeting them at the Champagne Bar at 10:15. We’d met yesterday at our informal gathering, but we’d arranged a few months ago this meeting spot so we could walk off the ship together to find our guide from Sicily Life. Today we’re going to Mt Etna and more!

 

We did have a bit of wait to debark, but once we were off the ship, we found

our driver with no problem.

 

Antonio was his name and he was as friendly as could be! Catherine and I shared the front row seats with him. As we drove out of Messina and towards Mt Etna, Anthonio shared much of the island’s history and many interesting facts with us. Unfortunately the others in the van couldn’t really hear a word of our often very lively conversation! Megan, Keith and Alex slept for much of the ride.

 

We drive for maybe about two hours and shortly Mt Etna came into view. We could see the peaks and the wisps of smoke puffing out of the top. A reminder that this is indeed one of the most active volcanoes in the world! Antonio told us how these puffs indicate that by letting off steam that it’s a good thing. The pressure isn’t building up inside. They constantly are monitoring the activity and yes, we’re safe!

[cruisebabyyy]

Really enjoying this review, I dream of going on this type of trip someday!

[ShellDil]

On our way up to the Mt, we made a stop at a local honey farm. I admit we got a little laugh when we arrived because when I thought of farm, I actually expected a farm. Not a bee farm. Silly….it was a wonderful stop though! They produce mainly honey, but also various other products such as olive oil and wines. We got to sample many little tidbits. One of my favorites was a sweet garlic clove! Many flavors of olives, olive oils with all sorts of infusions of flavors, wines, different pastes that when you add water turns into delicious pasta sauces and of course many different varieties of honey. We made a few purchases here – never felt any pressure to buy. As a matter of fact, last night we had pasta (bought in Rome!) with the sauce made from the paste from the shop in Italy! Delicious!

One of the hives at the bee farm

 

The honey production

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll make a short mention here, that it’s when you learn that no matter where you are, and when you stop to always use the restrooms! This has been a questions I’ve often seen posted on the ports of call boards - about restrooms in Europe. While I didn’t find any particularly awful ones – sometimes they’re not always nearby. I had the most difficult time convincing my daughter to go when available, if you know what I mean! Usually in restaurants or places the guides took us, we found very clean WC’s! Don’t wait until you’re at the top of the Acropolis let’s say to have to go!

 

Anyway…moving on. After our lovely stop we drove ahead towards Mt Etna. The views were spectacular. I kept thinking how it was such an amazing thing that something so devastating could produce a landscape that was so beautiful! Of course the volcanic soil was so rich. The terrain was so unique! The farther up we drove the more fascinating it was!

 

 

Antonio pointed out old lava flows and various species of vegetation. He explained how the landscape changes dramatically around here during the hours of darkness and how he has witnessed foxes, rabbits, owls and even lynx cats up here after nightfall.

 

[ShellDil]

We drove past hordes of tourists to our first stop on the Mt, we visited the highest restaurant in Sicily, not to eat, but to view photos taken by the owner in 1983 as the Volcano erupted. The owner looked on helplessly as the molten lava flowed towards him. He decided that he would be better off killed in the inferno than live without his livelihood. The range of pictures telling the story of how the lava flowed towards him within the space of one hour was both intriguing and fearsome. Moments before the owner was to meet certain death, the army arrived in a helicopter and scooped him to safety. The restaurant has since been rebuilt and there are pictures on the wall of both this eruption as well as prior eruptions. The only remaining piece of the restaurant from the 1983 eruption is a jukebox. And the songs are still there, from the 1980s!

 

 

 

After our bit of reality check – viewing the danger that this huge mountain can cause, which is such a contrast of the people casually climbing all over it. Not to mention that in the winter, it’s a ski resort!

 

We went to the Silvestri Crater. I have never seen anything like this! We’ve been to volcano’s before. We’ve been to Costa Rica, seen the perfectly shaped conical Arenal volcano. Peered into the Poas volcano’s crater, but nothing can really prepare you for walking IN a volcano’s inactive crater! It was like walking on the moon!

 

It was getting very busy by now and we I heard a guide tell her coach load of about 50 people that they were to be back in 15 minutes. Wow, 15 minutes? You couldn’t possibly explore this area in only 15 minutes! Thank goodness we were on our own private tour! We were on our own time.

 

 

The black basalt under foot was uneven and quickly filled our shoes. However, Keith and Alex were eyeing that crater. Before you could blink they practically ran down the steep hill!

 

[C2CMH]

Once we were done exploring the ship, we found DH and went to the Muster Drill. It was pretty painless. Afterwards, we went back to our super balcony, opened our wine and had our own little Sail Away party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were now cruising the Mediterranean Sea!

 

 

Hi, Thanks for the great review with pics....brings back lots of memories of our Europe cruise. We will be sailing on Navigator in February and from the pic you have posted of all of you on the balcony, it looks like you were able to open the divider between the cabins, is this correct? Thanks again.

[ShellDil]

There they were right at the bottom waving!

You really can't get t true perspective of the size of the crater from the pictures. It's big!

 

If you look close you can see them far off on the other side climbing back up - yes, again they chose the hard way up!

 

 

Now, there was a ring around the top you could walk around, or a sloped path you could use to walk down, or like them, just go down the steep way! Boys! Megan and I walked down the sloped way, we were standing in the middle of the crater before long! Amazing! The walk up wasn’t bad and the views from all around the ring were outstanding! And my parents walked around the ring. Something for everyone!

 

Here's Megan at the bottom - I think she's pretending to walk on the moon.

 

 

I feel so lucky to have been able to be there! It was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities! To walk into a once active volcano crater!

 

But our day in Sicily wasn't over yet! We still weren't even to lunch time!

[ShellDil]

Hi, Thanks for the great review with pics....brings back lots of memories of our Europe cruise. We will be sailing on Navigator in February and from the pic you have posted of all of you on the balcony, it looks like you were able to open the divider between the cabins, is this correct? Thanks again.

 

Hi, our cabin steward opened the divider between our balcony and our kids. We didn't have the divider opened between the kid's and my parents opened though. That would have been HUGE! But I think my parents enjoyed getting away from us when they could!:rolleyes: