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Mediterranean Romance 23rd July - 4th August

Jellifer

By Jellifer,
in Holland America Line

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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After that we met the rest of the group and took the bus back down to the main own of Capri, which is on the middle level of the island. We had lunch (included in the trip price) at a local restaurant which was being used by a number of different tour groups. Water and wine were included but soft drinks and other beverages had to be paid for. We were given bread and a spinach and ricotta Cannelloni to start and then veal and potatoes. They were happy to provide a veggie option too. A small slice of nutty chocolate cake/torte was provided for pudding but I wasn't a fan so decided to save the calories to splash out on a gelato later on. After lunch we went to a shop specialising in Limoncello, the local lemon liquor which was available to taste. There was no hard sell but a lot of people seemed to make purchases there. After that we were given free time to explore Capri

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We used a different boat line to get back, again the journey was 50mins but this line docked right next to our lovely ship so we were able to say goodbye to Fabio and walk straight back onboard. We enjoyed being on our balcony watching the last few stragglers make their way to the ship

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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I have heard another reviewer mention a city bus into town. Do you know if this is something different from what you took?

 

There were city buses as well - I think this was cheaper but we hadn't done enough research it know which bus to get so we wimped out and went with the HAL transfer. Hope this helps

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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Do you recall what types were available and at what price range? Thanks. Please, no flames - I just information.

They had a wide selection at the newsagents in the small shopping centre to the left of the town walls. I'm no expert but there were International brands and local ones. The ones we bought were €1.70 per pack

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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We were on the same great cruise, nice to read your review! We were on the 24-night Collector's voyage July 11 - August 4. Check out my photo review, if you haven't seen it.

 

Hi, your report is awesome! It is great to see what you got up to on the first segment of the cruise - Santorini looks stunning, definitely on my wish list one day. It's also fascinating to see 'my' cruise through the eyes of someone else on the same trip. I said at the time that we arrive at these ports and everybody goes away and does something different, it's great to see the different options available to see and do at each place.

 

Looking forward to the next instalment !

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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Our next stop was Civitavecchia, which is around 90mins from Rome. I had been to Rome before so we decided to stay on the ship and relax for the day. We had planned to sit by the pool but there was a huge storm in the morning so that plan was revised. By lunchtime the grey skies were gone and we were able to sit outside. It was great to have a day to ourselves to read and relax as the cruise is very port-intensive.

 

The next morning we arrived at the port of Livorno. This is the port closest to Florence so a lot of people decided to visit there but we didn't want an 11hr day so booked onto HAL's Lucca & Pisa excursion. We met our guide Paula and it took around 40mins to drive to Lucca.

 

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Lucca is another pretty, walled town. We had a guided tour of the city from a local guide - we walked a part of the city walls and then went down and further into the town. There was lots to see but as we were there early a lot of the shops weren't open yet (which is probably a good thing!)

 

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We had some free time to explore on our own and then met the rest of the group to get the bus to Pisa, which was another 40min drive away

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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We parked in the coach park at Pisa and followed the guide to walk to Piazza dei Miracoli (Miracle Square), which was about a 10min walk. There were lots of street traders trying to sell handbags or sunglasses but they didn't hassle us. It was very busy as we got closer to the action so we had to keep a close eye on where our group was headed. We met another local guide, Antonella, and she took us into Miracle Square and watched us gaze at the sights.

 

p><p>There are 3 buildings in the square - the Baptistery, the Cathedral and of course the Leaning Tower. It really does lean ! Entrance to the Baptistery and cathedral were included in our tour, unfortunately we didn

 

The Baptistery

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The Cathedral

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We had some free time after the tour but we would have liked longer. It really is an amazing place to be and we could have spent a lot longer soaking up the sights. We met up with Paula again at a cafe near the square and then made our way back to the coach. Journey time back to the ship was about 25mins. The port of Livorno is absolutely huge, it took us a while for the coach to get from the entrance to the ship. There is a modern looking terminal there that alleges to have free wifi but I couldn't get it to work.

 

A pretty sunset from that night

<a href=10517592_10152225287111205_8376630281651

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Laurino

Laurino

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Hi, your report is awesome! It is great to see what you got up to on the first segment of the cruise - Santorini looks stunning, definitely on my wish list one day. It's also fascinating to see 'my' cruise through the eyes of someone else on the same trip. I said at the time that we arrive at these ports and everybody goes away and does something different, it's great to see the different options available to see and do at each place. Looking forward to the next instalment !

 

Thank you! We haven't been to Capri yet, and we considered Lucca but only went to Pisa - nice to see your photos from there. Also interesting to read about HAL:s excursions, since we didn't take any. I'm waiting to see what you did in Monte Carlo and Marseille!

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Augie's mom

Augie's mom

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Thanks for such lovely pictures and commentary. We will be on the Med.Explorer with the Noordam Oct.8 and will be stopping at some of your stops so the advance photos are wonderful. We have a tour booked to Lucca and we can't wait. Thanks so much

Terri

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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Monaco !

 

Monaco was another tender port and we were due to arrive at 8am. Some great views as we got nearer to Monte Carlo

 

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I had booked an excursion through Viator that picked up at 8.30 so was conscious that we needed to be in the Queen's Lounge on deck 2 early enough to beat the tender ticket rush. We headed down there as soon as the Cruise Director said that tendering was starting and were prepared for a bit of a wait but there was no queue and we got tender ticket #1. Once again we enjoyed the tender process, it took around 10mins to get to the dock.

 

I had booked 'Small-Group Monaco and Eze Half-Day Tour' through Viator and the local provider was called 'Liven Up'. We were met as we got off the ship by a lovely French lady called Morgane. The tour was for 8 people in a small minibus and fortunately all 8 of us arrived on the same tender so there was no waiting around and we were ready to go. Mum & I got to sit in the front of the vehicle which gave me some great photo ops.

 

First of all we were headed to Eze, which is on the outskirts of Nice in the French Riviera. We stopped at a local perfumerie on the way and I expected a hard sell but actually the factory tour and explanation of their perfumes was excellent. We were able to try a lot of different scents and several of us purchased our favourites. Eze is a small village that started life as a fortified stronghold built on a steep hill. Morgane was able to drive up the steep and windy streets and leave us at the entrance to Eze but was not allowed to drive back again so showed us the steps to get back down. It was so tight on the roads there that vehicles actually had to reverse down as there was no space to turn around.

 

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There were some very exclusive looking hotels, nice shops, Art Galleries and restaurants and the scenery was great

 

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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After Eze we headed back towards Monaco. Morgane had some great commentary about the area and made sure to stop whenever we wanted to take pictures. She stopped the bus on another steep bend and we all got out to admire Monaco from above. It is only 2km square and so heavily built up that they are starting to build underground in some areas.

 

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We drove back down into Monte Carlo, enjoying listening to the commentary about Monaco - its Royal Family and its history

 

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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More Monte Carlo pics....

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10569102_10152225298241205_6376175592414049144_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10569102_10152225298241205_6376175592414049144_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10590497_10152225299291205_8069498107430714966_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10590497_10152225299291205_8069498107430714966_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10513357_10152225302511205_1166847893531806256_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10513357_10152225302511205_1166847893531806256_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10517446_10152225303256205_7670325929912598914_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10517446_10152225303256205_7670325929912598914_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10610557_10152225303816205_523798533728644898_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10610557_10152225303816205_523798533728644898_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]
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Jellifer

Jellifer

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Next, Morgane took us up to the Palace where Prince Albert of Monaco lives. I was very excited to see that we were driving on parts of the Formula One track to get there - you could even see the red & white curbs that they use on race weekend

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10378243_10152225304161205_6377065421604197716_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10378243_10152225304161205_6377065421604197716_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

This is the famous hairpin bend
[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10474241_10152225306341205_5013578949974050310_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10474241_10152225306341205_5013578949974050310_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10368408_10152225306846205_3834562090356458732_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10368408_10152225306846205_3834562090356458732_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

.... and the entrance to the tunnel

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Sadly we couldn't go quite as fast as Lewis Hamilton does so we had to make do with pretend racing car noises!

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10352893_10152225305271205_6906601028940327099_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10352893_10152225305271205_6906601028940327099_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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Morgane then dropped us off close the Palace, just in time to see the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at 11:55. The Palace looked a bit Disney to me... not quite real

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10522573_10152225308376205_3710118044225639760_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10522573_10152225308376205_3710118044225639760_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

The Guards are called the 'Carabiniers du Prince' and have a snazzy white uniform. There was a small procession as the guards were swapped over

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10341480_10152225308631205_3917440950968506938_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10341480_10152225308631205_3917440950968506938_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

[IMG][URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/user/jellifleur/media/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10563204_10152225309346205_3300364531204057220_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/jellifleur/Facebook/Cruising%20The%20Med%202014/10563204_10152225309346205_3300364531204057220_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG]

After that, we were given the option to get the bus back to the boat or to stay in Monte Carlo and make our own way back. There are a series of escalators & lifts to get you back to the port level. We decided to go back to the boat and relax after our busy day. I would definitely recommend Monaco and think that going by cruise ship would be a lot cheaper than stopping in a hotel on the principality itself as it seemed very expensive.
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Jellifer

Jellifer

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The next stop was Marseille and we had booked the 'Marseille Highlights' trip through HAL. Our first stop was Notre Dame De La Garde which is a Basilica that is set on top of a hill and can be seen from miles around. There were lots of steps to climb to get to the top but it was worth it as the views were great.

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Jellifer

Jellifer

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[quote name='Vict0riann']On the strength of your great report and pics, we have booked the Naples trip to Capri! I'm really looking forward to it... Not keen on Napoli either! We did enjoy the HAL shorex to Lucca and Pisa, too.[/QUOTE]

Hi Vict0riann, I'm sure you will LOVE Capri.... enjoy every minute ! x
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Vict0riann "Live from...." Rare

Vict0riann

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[quote name='Jellifer']Hi Vict0riann, I'm sure you will LOVE Capri.... enjoy every minute ! x[/QUOTE]

I do have one question about the "ski lift" thingy that takes you up the mountain - you said it doesn't stop, but just scoops you up. That's fine with me, I'm just worried about how you get off it - does it sort of dump you off? Does someone catch you? I think maybe I should get my DH to go before me and help me?
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Jellifer

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[quote name='Vict0riann']I do have one question about the "ski lift" thingy that takes you up the mountain - you said it doesn't stop, but just scoops you up. That's fine with me, I'm just worried about how you get off it - does it sort of dump you off? Does someone catch you? I think maybe I should get my DH to go before me and help me?[/QUOTE]

Don't worry - there is a guy at the top who will help you get off. It's probably still a good idea for hubby to go first though if it reassures you, although it may give him time to get a photo of your elegant dismount!
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Vict0riann "Live from...." Rare

Vict0riann

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[quote name='Jellifer']Don't worry - there is a guy at the top who will help you get off. It's probably still a good idea for hubby to go first though if it reassures you, although it may give him time to get a photo of your elegant dismount![/QUOTE]

Thanks for that, Jellifer, I can just imagine the picture. I don't think i'll tell him what you said!:D:D Oh, my!
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