Review of Adriatic Cruise Sept 23-Oct 4

[snookie1]

I was so addicted to this forum for the year before my cruise; I know how much I enjoyed reading reviews from others; I hope my review is useful to some.

Our cruise began in Venice. My husband and I did the "Secret Venice" ship's tour, which I was a little disappointed in. I had done a LOT of research prior to this cruise. Our tour consisted of a walk through the "back alleys" of Venice. Our guide pointed out lots of interesting buildings that I had read about; the trouble was, I knew all the interesting works of art that were inside them, and we did not go into any of the buildings. I knew this before hand, of course, but I had hoped to go back to the most interesting ones after the tour was finished. But there was no way we were going to find our way back through those alleys; we'd have gotten lost for sure and missed our sailing! Others who took the tour (and did not do the research I did) really enjoyed it. Sail away was beautiful, just as predicted.

 

Koper was our next port of call. We had arranged with 6 others to take a Rourndabout private tour to Ljubljana and Lake Bled. Our guide was Matthew, and he was excellent. He drove about an hour, asking us if we had any preferences or "must sees", and was happy to provide the experiences we were looking for. I found him most knowledgable about the history of Slovenia, and his pride in his homeland was evident. Unfortunately, once we crossed the mountains away from Koper itself, it started raining, and it rained steadily the rest of the day. Of course, that made it cooler than the 73degrees that had been predicted, so we were pretty uncomfortable. Fortunately, I had a sweatshirt; a few in our group wore shorts and short sleeves, and they froze. Of course, I had an umbrella and rain jacket back on the ship! We did take a pletna boat across the lake to the island with the church; climbed up all 99 steps which did warm me up some!. And Ljubljana was gorgeous; I would love to go back in good weather. We got some nice glass souvenirs there. Matthew was feeling bad for us (he was just as wet as we were!), but he continued to take us where he thought we might enjoy. He took us to a castle built into a cave; there is a legend that goes with that and we all enjoyed it. We stopped at a little café and had some of the cream cake that is a specialty in Slovenia; it was GREAT! Then he took us to a friend of his in the countryside who owns a B&B. This friend set out platters of his home made prosciutto, fruit, cheese, homemade bread and wine they make there. It was perfect!

 

Next was Ravenna. My husband and I had been there on another trip, so we elected to take the ship's tour to Bologna, which basically just took you there and back. We were a little disappointed in Bologna. Too cosmopolitan. Too much traffic. Unfortunately, I had injured my knee a week prior to this trip, so walking was painful for me, especially going down stairs. But I wanted to see everything! So we tried to rest a lot. There were some interesting churches with beautiful sculptures and artwork; don't miss the terra cotta figures in the Cathedral of St Peitro. They do have some great chocolate too!

 

Next was Split. We did it on our own, taking a Split Tour Bus we caught at the pier, which included a drive into the city (not really worth it -- the traffic is awful, and all we saw were some sport stadiums and drove a bit into Marjan Park) as well as a guided tour of Diocletian's Palace. We felt that was good, since it helped us to appreciate what we were seeing. I was surprised-- Split was very tropical! Palm trees along the shore and beautiful turquoise water with white sailboats -- it was gorgeous!

 

Kotor was next. Do get up early and watch the sail-in; we did fine off our balcony; able to see the 2 islands and with the sun casting shadows on the mountains, it was just beautiful. We elected to do the Old Town on our own. It is very walkable, and has some interesting sights. I had hoped to at least climb to the church half way to the top of the walls, but given the problems with my knee, we had to forgo that. We stopped at a café and had some cake and tea; my, were they good!

 

The next day was Dubrovnik. We took a panoramic taxi tour; it cost about $75 and he took us up Mount Srd. My knuckles were white the entire time! The road is steep with lots of switch-backs, and really only wide enough for one vehicle, though the traffic is 2-way. Every time you meet another car one or the other of you have to back up into these small pockets they have every so often. But the views were incredible. We learned a lot about the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991 from the taxi driver, and saw a lot of the damage it caused. Then we entered Old Town, and walked the walls -- only half-way, again the knee. It was so beautiful, though. Funny to see laundry hanging out along the walk! The bougenvilla (sp?) were in full bloom; it was gorgeous. But very hot up there -- do remember your hat and water! There is a nice shopping area on the Stradun (main street), and lots of cafes. We had pizza and local wine at one -- it was delicious! (FYI -- when they say "rockets" on the pizza, that is arugla lettuce. Surprisingly good). Also, try the sugared almonds from the green market in the center square. Yummy!

 

After our Sea Day (which we sure needed, given the port-intensive itinerary), Valletta, Malta was our next stop. Another beautiful sail-in, with the early sun shining on the sandstone buildings and fort. We did this city on our own, and found it very walkable. Our favorite attraction was St John's Co-Cathedral. It was extremely ornate, with barely a square inch devoid of decoration! We also went to the Grand Master's Palace. The state rooms were beautiful and interesting. We had audio-guides that really did a good job of explaining what we were seeing. The armory is also included in that tour, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. They have an extensive collection of armor and weapons from the middle ages, particularly those used in the siege of 1565 (do read that book, by the way -- entitled "The Siege of Malta -- 1565" and written by a soldier who actually fought in that war). I was amazed that they decorated their armor! We had a little lunch -- a club sandwich and some regional wine -- at a little café; very good, and people-watching was fun.

 

The next day we took the ship's tour "Lovely Taormina" from Catania. It is a good thing, because those who took tours in Catania got cancelled, since the center of the city was closed to vehicular traffic due to a NATO summit at the town hall. Taormina was a pretty little town on the eastern slope of Mt Etna, and it had an interesting Greek theater built in the 2nd C BC. They have really good ice cream there, too!

 

We chose to do Naples on our own, as we had previously been to Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, and Capri. We walked, probably 8 miles that day. I had maps and lists and knew exactly what we wanted to see. My expectations were exceeded. Yes, the city is "dirty", with graffiti everywhere, and terrible traffic. But there are gems to be found if you know where to look. Gesu Nuovo is very plain outside, and extremely ornate inside. A gorgeous ceiling. Right across the street is St Chiara's ; very spacious, dark, and more plain, but still beautiful. We got turned around but eventually found the one place that was at the top of my list of "must sees": the Chapel of San Servo. The big attraction here is a marble statue entitled "Veiled Christ". It is carved out of marble. The figure of Christ is covered in an almost transparent shroud; the cloth drapes and flows and it is too amazing to describe. Also of interest to us was "Disillusion", another sculpture with intricate rope netting carved out of marble. And downstairs were 2 skeletons with intact vascular systems. Then we also wanted to visit Via San Gregoiro Armeno -- a narrow street lined with artisan workshops and displays of nativity scenes. After a little lunch at a café (pizza and local wine again -- do we sense a pattern here??), we found our way to Il Duomo -- the cathedral. Absolutely beautiful. Then it was about 3/4 mile to the Archeological Museum. Really amazing statuary from the 1st and 2nd C BC. The artifacts from Pompeii were incredible, especially the mosaics. Needless to say, we did take a taxi back to the ship. It could have been walked, but my poor back and legs were rebelling!

 

After our final night on the ship, we docked in Civitaveccia. We did 2 nights post-cruise in Rome, through Celebrity, staying at the Leonardo DiVinci Hotel. The hotel was clean and had a fair breakfast. It was fairly close to the Vatican, and we did walk to the Pantheon from there, but everything was really quite a hike. We had arranged a private tour from All Around Italy Tours. We met Fabrizio around 11:30. We had previously seen all the usual sights, and wanted to see something new. So we chose their Castelli Romani tour. Fabrizio drove us around the Roman countryside. We wound our way down the Apian Way to the San Sebastian Catacombs. Had an interesting tour there, then drove on to Fascati and saw some lovely villas and gorgeous views of Rome. Then to a cute little town called Nemi -- they have the most delicious custard tart of sorts topped with tiny, sweet strawberries -- that is what this town is known for. Yummy! Then we passed a town where they were decorating the streets for a grape festival -- looked to be quite a celebration! We also visited the Castel Gondolfo, the summer residence of the pope. It is high on a hillside, overlooking a beautiful lake. On the way back to Rome we stopped at Quo Vadis church: were Peter stopped when he was fleeing Rome and persecution and Jesus appeared to him and told him to go back to Rome. (There is a movie by that name. I am going to have to see it). And Fabrizio, always trying to show us something we might not see on our own, took us to "The Keyhole" -- a small hole in a door of an archway celebrating the Knights of Malta. You look through it and the dome of St Peter's, many miles away, is perfectly framed. It is pretty amazing. That night we had dinner in a little Italian Ristorante.

The next day we walked to the Vatican, along with thousands of others (unbeknownst to us, there was a synod starting that day), then to the pantheon, then took a taxi back to St Peters for Mass. Lots of walking again, but so much to see! Again we had dinner in a little Ristorante -- homemade pasta that melted in your mouth. Best I've ever had.

 

As far as the ship goes, this was our first cruise on Celebrity. We have been on Carnival. Princess, and Viking River cruises before. In comparison, I do like the décor on Celebrity. It is what I might call "understated elegance". The food was great. We did eat at the Tuscan Grille one night, and that meal was fabulous. The staff was so gracious and willing to please. Corazon, our room steward, kept things clean and always had the towels and ice bucket we'd requested. Tasha was our waitress in the MDR; she and her assistant Adina were very attentive and both had a great sense of humor. Tasha's recommendations each night were right-on. We did not purchase any drink package; we do not drink enough to make it worth it for us. Be forewarned: the drinks are expensive. The small bottle of Beringer's White Zifindel was $35! We did find the music rather loud in the atrium; we had to shout to be heard at the Guest Relations desk nearby. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening entertainment. Our only real negative was dealing with the Celebrity office. We booked our cruise through a travel agent, and 2 months prior to sailing we gave her a list of 14 querries; she immediately forwarded that list to her Celebrity rep. After 6 weeks and no answers, our TA again e-mailed her rep, who answered only one of our questions, and it was "I don't know". A week later one more question was answered (she just said she would pass our requests on to the hotel -- she couldn't have done that before??). Then, when we came home from our trip there was a message on our answering machine saying our TA just got our voucher for priority boarding. All in all, that made the last few weeks very stressful.

 

I hope I have not put you all to sleep. I think Celebrity was a good choice for us this time; the itinerary was what we were looking for. The ship experience was wonderful. Although, as my husband said, it did feel like there was a class system -- elite members had so many perks that we sometimes felt like "second-class" citizens. Would I cruise Celebrity again? I would really have to think about it; the pre-cruise stress was significant and did not have to be. I know others might disagree. It was definitely a cruise I will remember!!!

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[NYAS]

Thank you for your review. We are doing the same itinerary on the Constellation next May, so I especially appreciated the preview of the ports we'll be visiting and I'm now researching.

[sunshine nana]

Thanks for the nice review. We were on the same cruise. You were lucky in your guide for Koper. We were with the same tour company, but our guide did not have the correct insurance papers and we left over an hour late. We did not go out to the island and there was no visit to a B and B. At least we were warm and dry, unlike 4 in our group.

We also had great food and service in the MDR and loved the new (to us) ports of Kotor and Split. Just one note I would add for others on this itinerary: We visited the Lacaris War Rooms in Valletta and the war museum in Catania. Both were great for WWII history.I have written more details in the Italy port section and other Med ports section.

[Texed]

Snook,

 

Thanks for posting. :)

[cruza]

Great review, thanks!

Edited October 19, 2014 by cruza

[theopup]

Very interesting reading. We have not done a European cruise yet, however are going to Italy for 10 days with some friends, so your comments were very informative.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Hi SNOOKIE1,

 

Thank you for your lovely Trip Report.

 

Sounds like you & Hubby had a great cruise / vacation.

 

I have bookmarked this post as this Itinerary is on my Bucket List for Europe in the next few years (looks like you & I have similar tastes in travel as we also have a Viking River Cruise on our list as well)

 

Lol, soooo many choices. Only so much money, lol

 

Cheers!

Edited October 19, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB