Olbia

[QueSeraSera]

So I guess we will cancel our May cruise, depressing - we just got our silver box. But I've gotten a bit old somehow, taking immunosuppressants, so its just not time to cruise this spring ☹️. 

The antidote is picking out a 2021 cruise!  We're looking at Barcelona to Rome in June 2021 on the new Silver Moon.

The ports look great except my expectations for Monaco reduced based on what I've read here, but I've never heard of Olbia.  Anyone have any experience with that?  Or other thoughts about this particular cruise?  TIA

[BeeMinor]

Sounds quite similar to the cruise we are (hopefully!) taking this June. I haven't been to Sardinia before, but based on the research I've done into options our loose plan is to make Olbia a beach day; there doesn't seem to be much to do in town, although it may be worth a walk around. Assuming we actually make it I'll report back!

[Bucephalus53]

We did the Rome to Barcelona about four years ago on the Silver Spirit and loved it. It was the cruise that made us fall in love with SS.

Our cruise stopped in places like Portofino, Livorno, Monaco (which we found fascinating btw), Marseille, Palma and Mahon. Rome and Barcelona were amazing as you would expect. We added days on each end.

 

We are also booked for the London Cruise in May and still waiting to decide. 

[jpalbny]

20 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

The antidote is picking out a 2021 cruise!  We're looking at Barcelona to Rome in June 2021 on the new Silver Moon.

 

Come join us on the 5/28/21 sailing of Silver Shadow, Rome to Barcelona. We visit Alghero (not Olbia) on Sardinia; first time on that island for us, and first time on a SS vessel larger than Cloud or Wind.

[QueSeraSera]

Thanks for each reply above.  JP,  thanks and I will see if we can make the 5/28 date work, need to look into it and how it affects a potential school related job next year.  We would love to meet you both!  

[jpalbny]

We are also trying Silver Spirit in November, Barcelona to Lisbon. Will be lots of fun; hope to see you on board some time!

[Stumblefoot]

Just now, jpalbny said:

We are also trying Silver Spirit in November, Barcelona to Lisbon. Will be lots of fun; hope to see you on board some time!

This November, or 2021?

[jpalbny]

6 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

This November, or 2021?

 

2021 (just updated my signature to include). This November we are on Ponant.

Edited March 8, 2020 by jpalbny

[Bucephalus53]

JP, I’d like to read your reviews of your last two cruises. Am I missing the link to your blog in your sig?

nevermind. I found it on your profile. 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Bucephalus53

[spinnaker2]

Sardinia is magical.

[jpalbny]

1 hour ago, Bucephalus53 said:

JP, I’d like to read your reviews of your last two cruises. Am I missing the link to your blog in your sig?

nevermind. I found it on your profile. 

 

The links went dead recently - must be some kind of virus...

 

I tried fixing them earlier tonight when I updated my signature, and they didn't take. I think I fixed them now. (QSS, sorry for going OT).

Edited March 9, 2020 by jpalbny

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, jpalbny said:

This November we are on Ponant.

That’s what I thought.  Wondered if something had changed.

[Fletcher]

Olbia is in itself a nothing sort of place.  It is however the gateway to the Costa Smerelda, a stunningly beautiful promontory on the NW tip of Sardinia.  It became famous in the 1960s when resorts were developed by the Aga Khan.  These resorts, which include Pitrizza and Cala di Volpe (which featured in the Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me), are among the world's most expensive - summer rates start at around 2000 Euros a night and for that you get a pokey little room and a bathroom dating from the 1970s.  

 

Nearby are the Islas Maddelena and that is where to head for, either on an independent or a ships' excursion.   The islands are extremely beautiful and the main town is lovely.  One of the islands - Budelli - is privately owned and became famous when its pink beaches were used in the fantasy sequences of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1964 masterpiece The Red Desert.

[Fletcher]

Sorry, I meant the NE tip of Sardinia!  

 

There has to be some doubt about all Med cruises in 2020 . . . who knows about 2021?