Emerald Princess Rome to Barcelona September 26 -October 3 2015 in photos and video

[Bimmer09]

Today was an excursion day that we had been looking forward to. We were going to Florence to visit the art galleries: L'accademia and Uffizi. We would be in the port of Livorno from 7 am to 7 pm and take a bus the 75 miles to the city.

 

Tour muster was in Michelangelo MDR at 7 a.m so when we hung out our breakfast list for Room Service at bedtime we asked that it be delivered at 6 a.m even though the door card says 6.30 is the earliest. It would be delivered at 6 on the dot with no missing items. Hooray!

 

Carol's lox and bagels and my hash browns, ham and bacon (fuel for a long day) arrived and was devoured as if by a band of starving jackals.

Carol's phone alarm went off at 5 a.m and I sprang out of bed, into the shower and was up on deck promptly, camera bag in tow as I love coming into (and out of) a new port.

Here's the long quiet corridor that greets us each day

 

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It's dark outside

 

 

The Promenade deck was all mine

 

 

 

There's a smoking section by the aft doors starboard. No chairs though, which many complained about.

 

Armed with a coffee from the buffet I met the day before returning to the cabin for breakfast.

[Bimmer09]

After breakfast I noticed some bright lights and engine noise outside our balcony.

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A precautionary tug was attached to our stern

 



 



 

 

[jtagphillycruiser]

On the edge of my seat/sofa waiting for Florence. I can't wait Norris!

 

Joanne

[Bimmer09]

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Even in the dark I was already falling in love with this working harbor.

 

 

 

Alas I had to leave my post and we both had to go check in for the buses in the MDR. We arrived near the end which translated into getting on the last bus which translated into 33 people on a 48 seater-SCORE!! This would allow me a seat to myself, it turned out, which enabled me to take photos from the window with my big camera

 

The assembled excursioneers

 

 

See you on the bus?

[Bimmer09]

On the edge of my seat/sofa waiting for Florence. I can't wait Norris!

 

Joanne

 

Oh dear, Joanne,

 

As we were about to get on the bus Carol noticed a Diamonds International on the harbor. It was a 24 hour one. "Wow! a D.I" she cried and we decided to not go to Florence and shop our brains out instead.

 

Maybe next time we will go to Florence although I heard there's nothing much to see there.

 

Norris

[donswife]

Oh dear, Joanne,

 

As we were about to get on the bus Carol noticed a Diamonds International on the harbor. It was a 24 hour one. "Wow! a D.I" she cried and we decided to not go to Florence and shop our brains out instead.

 

Maybe next time we will go to Florence although I heard there's nothing much to see there.

 

Norris

 

That one almost made me snort, but I didn't want to frighten the sleeping ridgeback. Too funny. Do you have a free charm bracelet to show for it? :D

[MisterMet]

Wow! What a review. We did the Rome to Barcelona route(Naples instead of Tunis) and loved every minute of it. We spent 8 days prior in Venice, Florence, and Rome and your pictures of the Pantheon are especially remarkable. It took us 90 minutes just to scroll through the pictures! We're going to go back over it so we can read all of your insightful information. We did our own review (Emerald=Excellent) and it truly pales in comparison. Your review is truly what cruise critic is for: to entertain and inform. We look forward to reading the rest. Very, very well done!

[Bimmer09]

Q. Why do I bother taking photos through bus windows when I know they are not likely to come out well?

 

A. It's that or no photos of interesting places that I might never see again and may forget. It's always worth a shot.

 

The dock area is vast and busy with ships. A free shuttle is needed if you want to leave the ship and travel to the dock gates.

 

Our guide is Paula and our driver Maurizio.Paula has that wild shock of long thick

hair and a good command of English. I am on the wrong side to take some of the pics so shoot across the bus.I'll soon move into an empty row of seats

 

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In about 10 minutes we are free of the dock and heading towards the highway to Florence (Firenze)

I finally get to see Tuscany !!

[Bimmer09]

Wow! What a review. We did the Rome to Barcelona route(Naples instead of Tunis) and loved every minute of it. We spent 8 days prior in Venice, Florence, and Rome and your pictures of the Pantheon are especially remarkable. It took us 90 minutes just to scroll through the pictures! We're going to go back over it so we can read all of your insightful information. We did our own review (Emerald=Excellent) and it truly pales in comparison. Your review is truly what cruise critic is for: to entertain and inform. We look forward to reading the rest. Very, very well done!

 

Really there's no finer compliment you could pay me than that in red above.

 

This review only has pertinence to (a) people who haven't sailed the Emerald but plan to (b) people unfamiliar with the Princess Product © people unfamiliar or very familiar with these amazing ports (d) There is no d.

 

Getting feedback is the impetus to keep going besides wanting to have a record for Carol and me-but I could take my sweet time doing that. Knowing that people are checking in each day or once a week helps to keep me on the computer until I have to reach for the Advil or get out of the house for a while (just spent 3 hours at the movies).

 

If you read it from the start I hope it reads fast-that's always the goal as we all have lives to lead!

 

I'm glad you joined us and showed yourself with a comment. Much appreciated!

 

Norris

 

[jtagphillycruiser]

Hehe....Diamonds International vs. Florence .....hmmmm I don't think so!! But, I sorta remember seeing some beautiful jewelry stores near Ponte Vecchio. I can't wait for this segment of your travel journal.

 

Joanne

[Bimmer09]

While I like the famous buildings we see wherever we travel I am also interested in the anonymous buildings that lead to and surround them. The next 35 or so pics are just that-what you see along the way, the ordinary and the mundane: the fields and hills, the apartment buildings with the laundry hanging from the balcony, the little shops, the garages with people pumping gas, the people waiting for a train to work or riding their scooters in traffic as a big city awakens.

 

It's one of the reasons I wake up at 5 a.m and walk the streets of Venice or Rome or Berlin or San Francisco. It's not all Basilicas and renowned galleries.

 

The sun has just come up and I am in a beautiful luxury coach. I have clean clothes, I smell good (fittingly Armani cologne) I have cameras with full batteries, my stomach is digesting hash browns, ham and bacon. Life is good.

 

Across the aisle is Carol and I know what today means to her. She is way more into art than I am and spent a week in Florence in her 20's. She has done all the research, listened to Rick Steves and I know she is excited. When we first talked of visiting Florence my immediate image was not Michelangelo's David (Dave)

but of sitting at a sidewalk cafe with a double espresso and an ashtray, people watching . Call me a Philistine, call me a taxi. I'm just honest and I knew wherever we went there would be crowds.

 

Solar power makes such good sense in Italy

 

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Looks like it could be a nice day

 

 

A romantic hill town in the distance

 

 

Rustic farmhouse

 

 

 

More Tuscany to follow

[Bimmer09]

Fertile farmland, very meaningful to me having been born in Northern Ireland which is like a big vegetable garden, starts to give way to homes and towns along the way.

 

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A Hilton Hotel

 

 

A traffic circle or roundabout as we call them in the UK

 

 

In the suburbs of Firenze

 

[Bimmer09]

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The wheels on the bus go round and round...and each revolution takes us closer to Florence as we know it.

[Bimmer09]

Hehe....Diamonds International vs. Florence .....hmmmm I don't think so!! But, I sorta remember seeing some beautiful jewelry stores near Ponte Vecchio. I can't wait for this segment of your travel journal.

 

Joanne

 

Joanne, sorry but I had to mess with you!

 

It looks like we'll be in the Uffizi etc tomorrow, Monday.

 

I think I have photos of most of the jewelry stores on Ponte Vecchio as it happens.

 

Norris

[cherrybear]

I've come out of Lurkerville so I can tell you how much I'm enjoying your review. For now we're unable to travel to Europe so I'm going vicariously through you. Lovely photos and review, thank you. Cherry

[Bimmer09]

I've come out of Lurkerville so I can tell you how much I'm enjoying your review. For now we're unable to travel to Europe so I'm going vicariously through you. Lovely photos and review, thank you. Cherry

 

Happy to see you aboard cherrybear!

 

All lurkers welcome.

 

Thanks for the compliments on the review.

 

Norris

[SOLIVITA LADY]

Bimmer, I don't just check once a day, I check many times a day to see what you may have posted. Thanks again for a wonderful review and amazing pictures. Forget Diamonds International, you are the gem!

 

Jackie

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD

[Bimmer09]

FLORENCE

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Crossing the Arno River

 

 



 



 



 

[Bimmer09]

Bimmer, I don't just check once a day, I check many times a day to see what you may have posted. Thanks again for a wonderful review and amazing pictures. Forget Diamonds International, you are the gem!

 

Jackie

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD

 

Good morning Jackie!

 

Happy to see you are still following along.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

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Then the bus wheels stopped turning....

 

[azdmelani]

It costs nothing.

 

Served during cruise 3.30 to 4.30 in da Vinci MDR and Sanctuary

 

Norris

 

Elite members can request to their cabin in the afternoon too :)

[jtagphillycruiser]

These pictures are making my Monday. Thank you.....thank you!!!

 

Joanne

[azdmelani]

Ricky Jay had the crowd rolling in the aisles-either that or the sea was rougher than I thought. He's loud, full of manic energy and armed to the teeth with quick original jokes. His show was about 45 minutes.

 

Off to Da Vinci afterwards for our 2nd visit there. At 9.15 the room had thinned out. A table for two ONLY is what you ask for when you don't want to share.

 

This was the table next to us after the diners left. It remained like this for 10 minutes before a busboy cleaned it and re-set it. Not what I would have expected.

 

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Anything to drink sir?

Yes, I have a bottle of Pinot Grigio stored here.

 

5 minutes later....

 

Here we are sir.

No-that's my bottle of red.... (doh!)

 

** Note to wine drinkers. The Princess wineglasses are cheap rubbish-small bowls,thick heavy glass. They use the same glass for red as they do for white. They are by Luigi Bormioli and at retail cost $20 a dozen.

You can ask for Reidel stemware on Princess and they have it in the MDRs. What a difference it makes to enjoying the wine. They also have aerators in Crown Grill (the tall Vinturi ones) but when I asked for an aerator in Da Vinci the waiter thought I wanted a window open or something.

It was Italian night and the waiters were dressed in red and white hooped tee shirts with a little black neck scarf. A nice touch but a subtle one and I didn't think I was back in Italy (Salerno) for a moment. Regular readers might remember my Song of Norway tales from the mid 80s when Italian Night on RCCL meant a strolling band in the dining room playing Neapolitan songs on trumpets and accordions and the head waiters dressed as Italian Policemen. Much more festive. The Singing waiter Hector, on the Caribbean Princess when we sailed her brought a flavor of that back to me by singing O Sole Mio and Time to Say Goodbye.

[YOUTUBE]D1qK69I48mw[/YOUTUBE]

 

More low-key tonight. They weren't even pushing sales of Limoncello which is an opportunity lost.

 

On to the food.

What soup do you have tonight?

We have an out-of-focus Minestrone sir

Ok, I'll have a bowl of that.

 

Minestrone

 

 

Carol's Prosciutto with the melon hiding at the back of the plate

 

My veal Saltimboca-always a favorite

 

Carol had a very out of focus Fettucini Alfredo in a parmesan basket. The only miss on this otherwise delicious dish was that the edible basket was stale rather than crunchy.

 

We decided to give Da Vinci a miss for dinner in future and try Michelangelo instead. The staff just seemed a little sloppy in DV, like their minds were elsewhere.

 

It might be down to the Maitre d' who was the Invisible Man on this cruise. Oh I saw him each day in his shorts and Hawaiian shirt having a smoke and a drink up at Tradewinds but only once near a dining room-standing at the entrance to Da Vinci with a faraway look in his eyes. He was (probably still is) Mario Propato.

 

Let's have Hector sing another song on the CB

 

[YOUTUBE]RYA9Ih7VNBM[/YOUTUBE]

 

Norris

 

Was Da Vinci the one on 5? If so i could not agree more. Once we went to the MDR on 6 we had a much improved dining experience.

[Bimmer09]

Was Da Vinci the one on 5? If so i could not agree more. Once we went to the MDR on 6 we had a much improved dining experience.

 

Michelangelo is on deck 5.

da Vinci (anytime) and Botticelli (traditional) are deck 6

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Elite members can request to their cabin in the afternoon too :)

 

Indeed.

 

Norris