Does the Nautica feature great onboard shopping?

[Harters]

3 hours ago, clo said:

Was I c oliver or cath oliver?

Certainly remember your name from years back.  Pretty sure you were Cath not C. 

Edited March 19 by Harters

[DrHemlock]

14 hours ago, fille_canadienne said:

what's different about Vista, shopping wise? 

Don't know.  I meant simply that we've cruised on all of O's ships except Vista so I couldn't comment on their shopping.  But you're right; it was not exactly clear.

[MEFIowa]

17 hours ago, clo said:

... I find out so much about an area and the people through their food. And frequently really have fun with those locals....

I've found that sitting down for a meal hardly compares to actually walking around and engaging locals in the neighborhood.

 

In Istanbul last Nov for 15TL (about 55 cents) we took the #38 bus 4 miles to the old walls of Constantinople. Then we walked back about 2.5 miles along a wonderful neighborhood route in Rick Steves' guide. We were the only tourists out. As we saw sights and stopped into shops.

 

In Puerto Plata in Nov 2022 I walked about a mile deep into the barrior. Into shops and along neighborhood streets. A young girl popped her head out of a house as I walked by. I don't Spanish but she started counting in English. So I counted back in Spanish. We both could count to 8. Her grandmother came out and invited me in. I shook the girl's hand. And we laughed.

 

In Paraguay in Apr-May 2022 I would get up at 0445 and go walking around the cities I was staying at. Met a young man herding cattle on his motorcycle in Humaita. And in very broken Spanish I'd ask to take pictures of families sitting outside drinking their morning mate. In Asuncion walked out to the Paraguay River and sat amongst some fishermen watching them cast. Listened to a drunk sleep it off in Plaza Italia at 0515 under the Italian flag-colored lights.

[basor]

4 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

I've found that sitting down for a meal hardly compares to actually walking around and engaging locals in the neighborhood.

 

In Istanbul last Nov for 15TL (about 55 cents) we took the #38 bus 4 miles to the old walls of Constantinople. Then we walked back about 2.5 miles along a wonderful neighborhood route in Rick Steves' guide. We were the only tourists out. As we saw sights and stopped into shops.

 

In Puerto Plata in Nov 2022 I walked about a mile deep into the barrior. Into shops and along neighborhood streets. A young girl popped her head out of a house as I walked by. I don't Spanish but she started counting in English. So I counted back in Spanish. We both could count to 8. Her grandmother came out and invited me in. I shook the girl's hand. And we laughed.

 

In Paraguay in Apr-May 2022 I would get up at 0445 and go walking around the cities I was staying at. Met a young man herding cattle on his motorcycle in Humaita. And in very broken Spanish I'd ask to take pictures of families sitting outside drinking their morning mate. In Asuncion walked out to the Paraguay River and sat amongst some fishermen watching them cast. Listened to a drunk sleep it off in Plaza Italia at 0515 under the Italian flag-colored lights.

Perhaps they too walked to the restaurant to enjoy their meal.....and thus spent time in the neighborhood.....some do not find it necessary to give a detailed itinerary of their time spent in a city but to simply state that they enjoy eating in local restaurants . 

[Harters]

1 hour ago, basor said:

Perhaps they too walked to the restaurant to enjoy their meal.....and thus spent time in the neighborhood.

Exactly. It's part of the whole experience for us. I have in mind our forthcoming visit to Cadiz. I've worked out a walking tour round the city centre using gpsmycity.com. We'll stop for a coffee somewhere. And our walk ends near the Plaza de Flores. That immediate area has quite a number of seafood related restaurants and cafes where we intend to search out pescaito frito - the local speciality of fried fish. 

[clo]

7 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

I've found that sitting down for a meal hardly compares to actually walking around and engaging locals in the neighborhood.

 

In Istanbul last Nov for 15TL (about 55 cents) we took the #38 bus 4 miles to the old walls of Constantinople. Then we walked back about 2.5 miles along a wonderful neighborhood route in Rick Steves' guide. We were the only tourists out. As we saw sights and stopped into shops.

 

In Puerto Plata in Nov 2022 I walked about a mile deep into the barrior. Into shops and along neighborhood streets. A young girl popped her head out of a house as I walked by. I don't Spanish but she started counting in English. So I counted back in Spanish. We both could count to 8. Her grandmother came out and invited me in. I shook the girl's hand. And we laughed.

 

In Paraguay in Apr-May 2022 I would get up at 0445 and go walking around the cities I was staying at. Met a young man herding cattle on his motorcycle in Humaita. And in very broken Spanish I'd ask to take pictures of families sitting outside drinking their morning mate. In Asuncion walked out to the Paraguay River and sat amongst some fishermen watching them cast. Listened to a drunk sleep it off in Plaza Italia at 0515 under the Italian flag-colored lights.

Where is that heart emoji when I need it. Every anecdote here is wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

 

[pinotlover]

For us, part of the traveling experience is trying and exploring the vast array of authentic local cuisine, along with the wines or beers, we find along the way. Heavy emphasis on authentic. 🙄Along with the people that rarely get off the ship, the number of people that will only eat ship food never ceases to amaze me. Vastly different strokes for different folks. 

[clo]

6 hours ago, basor said:

Perhaps they too walked to the restaurant to enjoy their meal.....and thus spent time in the neighborhood.....some do not find it necessary to give a detailed itinerary of their time spent in a city but to simply state that they enjoy eating in local restaurants . 

Since most cruises are sea AND land I think those observations are terrific. To each their own.

[clo]

31 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

people that will only eat ship food never ceases to amaze me.

Nor me. When we were starting in Rio, we had lunch on land and boarded the ship later. Mmm.

[MEFIowa]

14 hours ago, pinotlover said:

For us, part of the traveling experience is trying and exploring the vast array of authentic local cuisine, along with the wines or beers, we find along the way. Heavy emphasis on authentic. 🙄Along with the people that rarely get off the ship, the number of people that will only eat ship food never ceases to amaze me. Vastly different strokes for different folks. 

Yet time isn't fungible like money... So when you get say 8 hours in a port, your time is limited.

 

For us, we're doing excursions and walking ports extensively. So, when we ported in Kotor, we're off the ship first thing and climbing the narrow steps up to the top to see the view from the St. John's Fortress. And when we came back down we walked the walled city and then hit some local stores to buy local beer, hard liquor and wine. I think we had to be back at 2:30 PM for a 3 pm departure.

 

We only had a partial day to get to and from Rome off of Riviera. We met the driver at the gangplank as the first two off the ship in November. And we were back by 4:30 pm (drivers have to worry about rush hour traffic). We SKIPPED the lunch they wanted us to have, so that we could explore the Pyramid of Cestius and the Protestant Cemetary that were near the restaurant. I won't forget that Pyramid or the graves. I'd struggle today to even remember what I ate, if we had had lunch, but the pictures I took at the cemetery are priceless: "The English poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley are buried there." [And we toured the Colosseum, Vatican, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Pantheon!]