Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

[lovesthebeach2]

We were in Carrera Italy yesterday and docked next to the mountain that’s made of marble. We left late so we were able to faintly see the lights to the entrances were to mine the marble

 

This was the view from our balcony. 

[4js]

I have so enjoyed all of the input from the many people on this cruise. These pictures are absolutely amazing 

[BecAus]

Sorry, not much posting been going on. This leg is very port intensive.

I last posted we were in Malta on Friday June 28th. Saturday saw us in Catania, Sicily - although we had to tender at Siracusa, about 45 - 1 hour south. We took a RCI tour to look at Catania 

 

 

 

Sunday June 30th we were back in Naples. On our side trip a few weeks ago we went to Herculaneum.

Today we joined a private group from the ship and did a tour driving down the Amalfi Coast, stopped for lunch in Sorrento and then Pompeii. Stunning scenery!  It was a little warm at Pompeii unfortunately but still interesting but we glad to get back in the a/c van!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday July 1st we were docked in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome. As we did Rome for 3 days on our side trip we didn’t get off to go into Rome. We did have an excursion to the countryside booked with RCI but it was cancelled due to lack of interest, we were happy to have a rest day! This was the end of a mini leg so there was a changeover of ~ 1200 guests.

Most of the full WC’s had an included excursion here to the Colosseum - I mostly heard it was a good but long day. Sail away was supposed to be 8pm but the last of those guests returned at 8.45pm!  Lucky they were with Royal!

_______________________________
 

Tuesday July 2nd we were in Florence - well, the port of Carrara anyway which is about a 1h 45m drive from there!

We did an 11hr tour with a private group from the ship to Florence and Pisa. It was a good day but long and tiring!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday July 3rd was the tender port of Portofino, Italy.

We did a RCI tour to Genova which involved a tender ride from the ship (on a large local ferry), another ferry ride from Portofino across to Santa Margherita and then a coach ride to Genova.

Another very pretty place, all three were.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, 4th of July - Happy Independence Day! - we are in Ajaccio, Corsica - the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

It’s after 10am so I need to get out of my pj’s now so we can get off and wander around! Looks to be a beautiful day outside again.

 

Enjoy your Independence Day!

[sgmn]

5 hours ago, BecAus said:

Sorry, not much posting been going on. This leg is very port intensive.

I last posted we were in Malta on Friday June 28th. Saturday saw us in Catania, Sicily - although we had to tender at Siracusa, about 45 - 1 hour south. We took a RCI tour to look at Catania 

 

 

 

Sunday June 30th we were back in Naples. On our side trip a few weeks ago we went to Herculaneum.

Today we joined a private group from the ship and did a tour driving down the Amalfi Coast, stopped for lunch in Sorrento and then Pompeii. Stunning scenery!  It was a little warm at Pompeii unfortunately but still interesting but we glad to get back in the a/c van!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday July 1st we were docked in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome. As we did Rome for 3 days on our side trip we didn’t get off to go into Rome. We did have an excursion to the countryside booked with RCI but it was cancelled due to lack of interest, we were happy to have a rest day! This was the end of a mini leg so there was a changeover of ~ 1200 guests.

Most of the full WC’s had an included excursion here to the Colosseum - I mostly heard it was a good but long day. Sail away was supposed to be 8pm but the last of those guests returned at 8.45pm!  Lucky they were with Royal!

_______________________________
 

Tuesday July 2nd we were in Florence - well, the port of Carrara anyway which is about a 1h 45m drive from there!

We did an 11hr tour with a private group from the ship to Florence and Pisa. It was a good day but long and tiring!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday July 3rd was the tender port of Portofino, Italy.

We did a RCI tour to Genova which involved a tender ride from the ship (on a large local ferry), another ferry ride from Portofino across to Santa Margherita and then a coach ride to Genova.

Another very pretty place, all three were.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, 4th of July - Happy Independence Day! - we are in Ajaccio, Corsica - the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

It’s after 10am so I need to get out of my pj’s now so we can get off and wander around! Looks to be a beautiful day outside again.

 

Enjoy your Independence Day!

Thanks as always BecAus, looks like you've had a very busy few days visiting some great ports and cities.

I think the next segment has just three sea days in the 16 day segment.

 

[BecAus]

Thursday July 4th

Ajaccio, Corsica - birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte 

We were docked right in the centre of town 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BecAus]

Friday July 5th

Tendered at the Port of Cannes - large local ferries used to tender to shore

We took a RCI excursion to Monaco and Monte Carlo - traffic was terrible so it was a VERY long journey to get there (over 2hrs) likely our only chance to ever get there so it was good to go see it.

We arrived back to port ~ 1.5 hrs late though at 6.30pm - last tender scheduled for 7pm.

 

 

On the drive to Monaco - through Nice

 

The gardens on Rock of Monaco

 

Lots of references to Grace Kelly around 

 

The church where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier were married and later laid to rest

 

 

 

 

 

This lady was doing a photo shoot with her cat in front of the Palace - the pram in front is for the cat! They were visiting from Italy

 

The view looking from the Palace Square on Rock of Monaco across to Monte Carlo

 

The Palace

 

 

 

Statue of Princess Grace in the gardens 

 

The Opera House behind the Casino in Monte Carlo

 

Monte Carlo Casino outside and inside the foyer

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

@BecAusThanks for keeping this going!

 

@island lady when do you reboard?

[taznremmy]

15 minutes ago, ringers0815 said:

Hope you have a great time when you rejoin the cruise. We were on the ship from LA to Brisbane and I am still followig along!

I was on from Buenos Aires to LA in Jan., and can’t wait to re-board in Copenhagen.

 

 

[sgmn]

19 hours ago, island lady said:

 

In Barcelona on the 10th.  

 

Hope to meet you and Bucky on board.

Thinking this cruise will be different with so many long time cruisers on board. 

 

Hoping as a lowly Diamond we can get to use the Viking Crown lounge in the evenings, our favourite place for a pre dinner drink. Though, as a first for us, we've got first set dinner time, so probably our normal evening routine will be different this time round. 

 

You must be flying soon ?

 

Sue

Edited Sunday at 09:32 AM by sgmn

[BecAus]

Saturday 6th July

Tendered at the Port of Villefranche (Nice).

We did a tour with RCI to the village of Eze and Old Town Nice. 
It certainly wasn’t our best tour with RCI, 35 people was way too many for this type of walking tour! 
Eze was a lovely village up on a hill but ALOT of steps to get up there.

Old Town nice was nice too but just too big a group for the narrow alleys.

 

Villefranche

 

Villefranche

 

Villefranche

 

 

Eze

 

Eze

 

Eze

 

Nice - office building!

 

Nice

 

Nice

 

Nice

[Saab4444]

1 hour ago, BecAus said:

Saturday 6th July

Tendered at the Port of Villefranche (Nice).

We did a tour with RCI to the village of Eze and Old Town Nice. 
It certainly wasn’t our best tour with RCI, 35 people was way too many for this type of walking tour! 
Eze was a lovely village up on a hill but ALOT of steps to get up there.

Old Town nice was nice too but just too big a group for the narrow alleys.

 

Villefranche

 

Villefranche

 

Villefranche

 

 

Eze

 

Eze

 

Eze

 

Nice - office building!

 

Nice

 

Nice

 

Nice

Why did you go to Monte Carlo/Monaco from Cannes and not from Villefranche? Much easier..

[time4u2go]

For anyone that has been on the World Cruise the whole time, how are you feeling about the cruise at this point?  Are you loving every day of it?  Are you ready for it be over?  Is it what you expected?  Are there things that are better than you thought they'd be?  Things that are worse?  Any other thoughts on it as a whole?

[lovesthebeach2]

11 hours ago, time4u2go said:

For anyone that has been on the World Cruise the whole time, how are you feeling about the cruise at this point?  Are you loving every day of it?  Are you ready for it be over?  Is it what you expected?  Are there things that are better than you thought they'd be?  Things that are worse?  Any other thoughts on it as a whole?

We’re only on two segments, but I’ve asked many this question.
Most said they still love it , a few said they’re ready to go home. 

For me personally, I’m not sure I could do the whole thing even though I love it. I would miss my family and my home and I like my cooking much more than the food on the ship. We don’t eat in the MDR, the same menu items with a few new items. 
We went to Giovanni’s only once and although I love their menu, the chef here cooked things different than the other ships do, so we only went there once and no others. 
 

 

[BecAus]

21 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Why did you go to Monte Carlo/Monaco from Cannes and not from Villefranche? Much easier..

Not sure really, we’re from Aus so not familiar with the ports.

The private groups from the ship we were maybe going to join had it that way around (Monaco from Cannes) so I guess that’s why I did it that way.

I thought I’d read there was more to do from Nice and not a lot to do in Cannes

After going there, I agree, probably would have been easier from Villefranche : )

[BecAus]

Sunday July 7th

Today we were in Provence, France docked in the Port of Toulon

We did a tour with RCI that was quite enjoyable and interesting that went to 3 places:

 

 Sanary-Sur-Mer / Marseille/ LeCastellet. 
 

A lot of FWC’s were on this tour. We had a short port day with all aboard at 3.30pm so I think most people went with RCI if doing a full day out.

Tours met in the theatre at 7am and left the dock at 7.30am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[time4u2go]

9 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We’re only on two segments, but I’ve asked many this question.
Most said they still love it , a few said they’re ready to go home. 

For me personally, I’m not sure I could do the whole thing even though I love it. I would miss my family and my home and I like my cooking much more than the food on the ship. We don’t eat in the MDR, the same menu items with a few new items. 
We went to Giovanni’s only once and although I love their menu, the chef here cooked things different than the other ships do, so we only went there once and no others. 
 

 

Thank you!  You hit on two of the things that would keep me from ever doing such a cruise: Being away from family (including pets), and not being able to cook what I want when I want how I want. 

[BecAus]

Monday July 8th

We are docked in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Oasis is docked across from us here (our first time seeing an Oasis class ship as they don’t send those down our way!)

We did a 4hr private tour with a group from the ship to the village of Valldemossa and then a visit inside the Santa Maria Cathedral of Mallorca and photo stop at Bellver Castle which is now a museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oasis just backed out of the port right alongside of us - there was a lot of horn blowing / goodbye’s between the two ships which was pretty cool - we’re up on Dk 13 in the Viking Lounge watching!

Edited Monday at 04:15 PM by BecAus

[cruiselvr04]

10 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We’re only on two segments, but I’ve asked many this question.
Most said they still love it , a few said they’re ready to go home. 

For me personally, I’m not sure I could do the whole thing even though I love it. I would miss my family and my home and I like my cooking much more than the food on the ship. We don’t eat in the MDR, the same menu items with a few new items. 
We went to Giovanni’s only once and although I love their menu, the chef here cooked things different than the other ships do, so we only went there once and no others. 
 

 

We couldn’t do 9 months.  I think 4 months would be my limit.  We were away 2 months this year and we did great.  We have a dog and more than 4 months we would miss our kids and grands too much. The food doesn’t bother me.  I like all the choices on board, not having to cook, shop and clean up. I also think a port almost every day in this last part would be overwhelming. While I don’t want a lot of seas day, we need a few here and there to rest and catch our breath. I have noticed a few commenting that they have stayed on the ship some days instead of getting off in a port. 
 

We are hoping Royal will consider another world cruise but shorter, more like the other lines do. 

[BecAus]

4 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We are hoping Royal will consider another world cruise but shorter, more like the other lines do. 

From what I saw of Mr Bayley’s comments when asked about the WC on the recent President’s Cruise I think this is what they might do. He said the FWC was extremely complicated and massively expensive for the company! 
I believe he said they were talking about the possibility of another one but (IIRC) it would probably be shorter in length.

 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We couldn’t do 9 months.  I think 4 months would be my limit.  We were away 2 months this year and we did great.  We have a dog and more than 4 months we would miss our kids and grands too much. The food doesn’t bother me.  I like all the choices on board, not having to cook, shop and clean up. I also think a port almost every day in this last part would be overwhelming. While I don’t want a lot of seas day, we need a few here and there to rest and catch our breath. I have noticed a few commenting that they have stayed on the ship some days instead of getting off in a port. 
 

We are hoping Royal will consider another world cruise but shorter, more like the other lines do. 

I think the entire cruise would be overwhelming. Considering time away from home, over eating, over drinking, I just don't think it is for me, at least not at this stage in my life. And, honestly, all of these ports are starting to look the same to me. I think it is sensory overload of something like that.

[lovesthebeach2]

15 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I think the entire cruise would be overwhelming. Considering time away from home, over eating, over drinking, I just don't think it is for me, at least not at this stage in my life. And, honestly, all of these ports are starting to look the same to me. I think it is sensory overload of something like that.

We see many in the WJ just eating oatmeal for breakfast, which is what we usually eat and I see some just eating a sandwich for lunch. We just make a nice salad. 
These two segments have been very port intensive and we’ve stayed on for a few ports that we’ve been to on the past. But we’ve loved it and would probably do another one if it was limited to maybe 30 days 

[CSHS1979]

I'm back😉

HD said I could board tonight, but I'd have to bunk with John. 😱

Since hotel is paid for I've decided to stay at Continental

 

Much different than March 13, 2020

 

 

 

 

[sgmn]

2 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

I'm back😉

HD said I could board tonight, but I'd have to bunk with John. 😱

Since hotel is paid for I've decided to stay at Continental

 

 

I Love your top, colours are wonderful .

 

We are also in BCN today.  Arrived at 0930 after 3 hours sleep last night. Hotel is interesting 🤔 

Great day investigating the Gothic quarter and the Barcelona cathedral there. Walked up to the roof of the cathedral,  great views over the city .

 Watching Spanish v French euro match in a bar 

Edited Tuesday at 08:38 PM by sgmn

[sgmn]

On 7/8/2024 at 6:30 PM, cruiselvr04 said:

We have a dog and more than 4 months we would miss our kids and grands too much. 

Same, our border Collie is very needy and gets stressed when the suitcases come out. 

 I couldn't leave her (or the grandkids ) for more than a few weeks.

[cruiselvr04]

We’re doing a week in Barcelona next April. We’ve been before and I thought we’d be bored to stay that long between cruises but I’m finding there is a lot to do in the surrounding area. We’ve never taken the time to go outside the city so now looking forward to it.