LIVE from Odyssey of the Seas Transatlantic April 21, 2024 thru May 5, 2024

[LooneyCruzer]

Moon over Malaga

 

[LooneyCruzer]

2 different sunset views last night

 

[GimmeOcean]

4 hours ago, LooneyCruzer said:

2 different sunset views last night

 

So sad I missed that dramatic sunset last night.

[Joe33472]

Say it ain't so, Joe....

 

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

58 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

Say it ain't so, Joe....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feel your pain. 😕

[Joe33472]

Cruise Compass Day 14.pdf

[Joe33472]

We're SO excited to be in Italy.   We arrived in port on time and cleared immigration quickly.   Passengers with excursions (I'd imagine especially those going to Pisa/Florence) were on their way very very early. 

 

 

There are a ton of port shuttles to take passengers to the cruise terminal. 

 

 

These busses look like organized tours and excursions. 

 

 

Most promising for us, the port has a taxi stand right outside the ship.  I thought that we'd have to take the shuttle and then search for a taxi.  Everything I read online suggested that we'd have to do the shuttle, so I'm hoping by the time we're ready that there is still a taxi available.  There are not a lot of taxis, but most people seem to be taking excursions or the free shuttle, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

 

 

Our plan is going to the train station and taking the train to Monterosso and spend a few hours there and then take train back to La Spezia and walking back through town. 

 

 

 

 

[LooneyCruzer]

What a great day in La Spezia. It started with a cool fog stuck on the edge of the mountains. 
We walked to the train also, Sat, 7:30 am, 55 degrees, just wonderful. No one was out and we saw walls of hanging rosemary, just fascinating.
The train to Cinque Terre was almost empty, hit Riomaggiore first, quaint town. Fun to walk on the edge of the cliff trails into town. Ate fresh croissants  

and pastries for breakfast and explored a bit. 
Easy on and off the trains to Vernazza. Wonderful views and tons of pictures. 
Train to Monterosso, lots of walking and choices to eat as the town was waking up. We had prosciutto and melon, fresh ravioli with carbonara sauce and gelato. Really could have used a nap. I can see the reason to go now as it was very crowded and can only imagine what it is like in the summer when the beaches are packed. 
Train back to La Spezia and walked to the Castello San Giorgio. Filled with old roman artifacts that were incredibly interesting. It was a really cool day with lots of steps, we hit 16,000+ today and so many were stair steps.

 

[Biker19]

48 minutes ago, LooneyCruzer said:

What a great day in La Spezia.

Be kind to the bandwidth challenged and limit the number of photos per post.

[FionaMG]

Fabulous pics @LooneyCruzer. I love Cinque Terre. 😍

[LooneyCruzer]

It was free to walk to the train station and 64 bucks (34 x2) for the all day train tickets pass for the 5  Cinque Terre cities, which includes the free bathroom privileges ( which paid for themselves) vs the individual train tickets. The ferry boat timetable just did not work for us and once we were at  Monterosso, we were too tired and worn out to walk all the way across again to the ferry. 

Edited May 4 by LooneyCruzer

[Sunshine3601]

On 5/2/2024 at 2:27 AM, LooneyCruzer said:

 

Malaga is such a lush and beautiful place.  Our trip to the cooking class was about 45 minutes up the mountains, past Colmenar, a quaint town nestled in the valleys, with very friendly people. And Toro, the local mascot. 

A bit more up the mountains, which are all classified as Preserve areas, meaning you must be a farmer or producer to live there. They get most everything from locals except staples from the grocery store.
Lush olive tree fields, cactus (grown just for the fruit), wine vineyards, almond trees, goats roaming free, just amazing.

La Rosilla is in Solano, where we were met and driven out to the house and were greeted warmly with conversation about us and daily life for them, wine, and incredible snacks, which tasted like a refined fig newton. We toured the area where they grew almond and olive trees on the hillsides and left with olive oil they produce themselves. Just an amazing fresh taste and feel, nothing like any store bought oils I have ever had.

Into the kitchen for cooking… starting with almonds toasted in olive oil and fresh rosemary, OMG, so simple but you couldn’t stop eating them. They grow all their own herbs and vegetables on the patio, with lemon and orange trees to grab fresh picked fruit. 

Next was prep for the Paella, onions, beans, asparagus from the backyard, peppers, lemons and 2 kinds of fresh mushrooms, with chicken and locally made chorizo. Then out to the patio to the burners and paella pans, learning cool techniques and tips for the best results. Layering the ingredients with such a heavenly smell, sigh.

While that cooked, we had fresh out of oven olive loaf bread with tapas of local pork loin, sausage, with quince jelly and cheeses.

Then onto the main course, the paella, which traditionally is only eaten in the noon meal, too heavy for the later evening meal. Such a rich flavor, nothing like I ever got when I tried to make it. 
We ended with an almond/orange slice of pie with lemon gelato, it was eaten so fast we forgot to get a picture. We were just stuffed and returned to the ship very satisfied. I would highly recommend this fun adventure for anyone wanting something different. 
http://www.larosilla.com/

 

Gorgeous photos.    Looks like an amazing day with some Wondeful food made with love.

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, LooneyCruzer said:

What a great day in La Spezia. It started with a cool fog stuck on the edge of the mountains. 
We walked to the train also, Sat, 7:30 am, 55 degrees, just wonderful. No one was out and we saw walls of hanging rosemary, just fascinating.
The train to Cinque Terre was almost empty, hit Riomaggiore first, quaint town. Fun to walk on the edge of the cliff trails into town. Ate fresh croissants  

and pastries for breakfast and explored a bit. 
Easy on and off the trains to Vernazza. Wonderful views and tons of pictures. 
Train to Monterosso, lots of walking and choices to eat as the town was waking up. We had prosciutto and melon, fresh ravioli with carbonara sauce and gelato. Really could have used a nap. I can see the reason to go now as it was very crowded and can only imagine what it is like in the summer when the beaches are packed. 
Train back to La Spezia and walked to the Castello San Giorgio. Filled with old roman artifacts that were incredibly interesting. It was a really cool day with lots of steps, we hit 16,000+ today and so many were stair steps.

 

Beautiful pictures, thanks!

[Joe33472]

Finally settled into our AirBnB in Rome from a long day of travel, grocery stores, much needed laundry, and quick walks to the Pantheon and Trevi fountain.  

 

We had a great day at Cinque Terre on Day 14 and didn't take that many pictures.   @LooneyCruzer provided an amazing collection of photos, just beautiful.   Even if we had taken pictures, ours wouldn't have been that great.    Although I've been to the Cinque Terre a few times before, this visit really reminded me of the beauty of the area, just stunning.    The weather was beautiful.  

 

Disembarkation today was a breeze, although the private car pickup area was a madhouse, likely due to the predicted train strike.   Not sure if there was an actual strike or how much service it disrupted.  

 

Thinking about our 14 days on the Odyssey, we had a wonderful experience and would definitely do another TA on Royal Caribbean.  Not sure if we'd do a spring break or holiday cruise on RCI, as I think that we fit into the demographics on this crossing perfectly and I think that helped with the overall experience.  Don't get me wrong, we like kids, but the level of kids on this cruise was perfect for us.  Some young ones, but not overwhelmed with kids and families.  

 

 

[LooneyCruzer]

First day in Rome. The ship departure was a circus. Internet service was spotty out by the taxis. We had a nice ride into the city and I am really impressed with Hotel Navona.  They are very friendly and had everything ready for us. Fed us breakfast while our room was being cleaned, then we went exploring around. It was super crowded everywhere you went. I cannot imagine trying to see Rome in the busy season. Lines for restaurants were very long way into the dinner hours.  
We went back to our hotel room and got unpacked. I splurged for a suite, which is huge compared to most hotel rooms here. We have a full size jacuzzi tub in the room. The bathroom is huge also. My firestick plugged right into the tv and worked great, as there were no english channels to watch. 
We went out for a small lunch which was ok. Such different interpretations of foccocia. 
There were crazy long lines for all the sights, so we just took pictures of things. 
For dinner we went to In Rome Cooking school and learned how to make pizza and gelato. It was really fun and i learned a few new things. The pizza was great and the gelato was so easy to make. Cannot wait to get home and try making different flavors. 
We were exhausted after the day in Cinque Terre and more walking on the cobblestone street. I would not want to drag my luggage over them very far, and lots of females were walking in high heels. ??? My wife was flabbergasted. So wear good shoes for such uneven and broken up streets. 
Returning to the hotel for a long soak in the tub and we slept great. 
Day 2, I got up at 7 to hit the laundromat for clean clothes. Most of them are a service, you leave them and return to pick them up, kinda pricy. I found a self service laundry and its really clean and easy with all new machines that are automated. 
Off to breakfast now and a day of exploring. 

Edited May 6 by LooneyCruzer

[LooneyCruzer]

We visited the Vatican today. If possible, please pay extra for a small group tour and guide (12 in our group). It was worth triple the cost to have a special experience. Public lines start building at 6am and by 8am they wrap around the building. It is a crazy, confusing thing to get inside. We saw so many people wait forever and get turned away by the guards for being in the wrong line or at the wrong time. They process about 30,000+ people a day and for holy weeks, about 40k. The guide noted that was the worst time to go because people stop and pray and such and you have to just wait on them. 
Skipping the line, getting in early, and having a guide who knows the guards was a godsend. She was so knowledgable and taught us so many unknown things about the Vatican and religious events i never knew or imagined. It was hours of unimaginable terror knowing where to go and rules to follow. So many people got chastised by the guards, yelled at for taking pictures in the wrong rooms, or were stuck because a group of 30 or 60 people blocked the way. Our guide knew all the tricks and order of things. Four hours, 21,000 steps and 852 pictures later and we only saw maybe 1/3 or the Vatican. She told us there is so much museum inside, if you stopped for 30 seconds to view each item or tapestry or painting, it would take 15 years to see it all. 
When we left at noon-ish, St Peters square was full of lines of people wrapped around and around to get in. Not sure how to describe how huge the place is. The letters in the words are 6 feet high(pic 1) zoom in.

For reference, we used 

https://www.getyourguide.com

and they were excellent!

 

Edited May 7 by LooneyCruzer

[LooneyCruzer]

Lots and lots of law enforcement in Rome, police, carboneri (military police), Roma guards, Vatican police, and the Swiss Army, who guard the Pope. They must be swiss, single, under 30, perfect character, not even a speeding ticket, and a devout catholic. After 2 years in swiss army, and 2 yrs special service (think seal teams) they can transfer to the Vatican. After 5 years they can marry someone. And we were assured they were the most dangerous and serious individuals we would ever encounter. Fully proficient with any weapon, including the halberd, and would instantly give their life to keep the Pope alive. 

[mapleleaves]

On 5/5/2024 at 10:54 AM, Joe33472 said:

Finally settled into our AirBnB in Rome from a long day of travel, grocery stores, much needed laundry, and quick walks to the Pantheon and Trevi fountain.    

 

 

Would you recommend this AirBnB ?

[Joe33472]

11 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Would you recommend this AirBnB ?

 

This is our very first AirBnB ever, so it's been interesting experience.   The location of this AirBnB is fantastic.  We're on Via di Pietra which connects the Pantheon to the Trevi fountain.  So, it's very central to the old historical sights.   We're 5 minutes from Trevi and 7 minutes from the Pantheon and about 15 minutes for Piazza Navona.  There are a ton of restaurants, shops, and gelato in both directions. 

 

The only issue we've had is that the pedestrian street outside is very loud and we're quiet people.  The apartment had great ratings on AirBnB and the host is a super host, but there were a few posts about the noise from the restaurants below, but I guess I underestimated how much noise.  I've walked this street many times before the pandemic, but things are way more busy now and the outside dining wasn't there before the pandemic.    It's a struggle with the noise. 

 

We are here for 2 weeks, and I told my girlfriend we could leave and go to a hotel or find some other lodging if the noise was too much for her, but she wants to stay because of the location.   We also have two bathrooms (makes getting ready really helpful) and tons of space, so a hotel room would definitely be more like the cruise ship. 

 

There are some issues with cleanliness of the apartment, but I find that in a lot of Italian hotels, so it's not surprising to me.   Having a full sized refrigerator is priceless. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RobInMN]

2 hours ago, LooneyCruzer said:

Not sure how to describe how huge the place is. The letters in the words are 6 feet high(pic 1) zoom in.

When we went in 2018, I zoomed in with my phone's camera. From 1 angle, you can see the line of people that I think are waiting to climb to the top of the dome.

 

But yes, photos just don't really do a good job of conveying the size. This is about the best I got: 

 

[RobInMN]

2 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

Would you recommend this AirBnB ?

 

2 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

 

This is our very first AirBnB ever, so it's been interesting experience.   The location of this AirBnB is fantastic.  We're on Via di Pietra which connects the Pantheon to the Trevi fountain.  So, it's very central to the old historical sights.   We're 5 minutes from Trevi and 7 minutes from the Pantheon and about 15 minutes for Piazza Navona.  There are a ton of restaurants, shops, and gelato in both directions. 

 

If you are staying for a number of days (a week?), I would totally recommend the AirBnB that we used. It was about 3 blocks from the Vatican's main entrance, and a couple blocks from a couple Metro stops. We took the Metro to everything, but it was very convenient. I figure 30m commute to just about anything we wanted to see. It had a full kitchen (but only used the fridge - bar sized), 2 bedrooms (only needed 1), and most importantly, a washer and a (condensing?) dryer (European dry - had to empty the water tray and re-run like 3 or 4 times). "Via Tolemaide Private Apartment" (by Cory). I just looked it up, and they've more than tripled their price, so maybe it's not as good of a deal as when we rented it.

 

 

 

[mapleleaves]

7 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

 "Via Tolemaide Private Apartment" (by Cory). I just looked it up, and they've more than tripled their price, so maybe it's not as good of a deal as when we rented it.

 

 

 

It's always nice to have multiple options to check out for future trips. Trip reports are a great resource for recommendations.  The Vatican area does not appeal though.  But thank you for posting this info; might be ideal for another CC member. 

[Ocean Boy]

7 hours ago, LooneyCruzer said:

Lots and lots of law enforcement in Rome, police, carboneri (military police), Roma guards, Vatican police, and the Swiss Army, who guard the Pope. They must be swiss, single, under 30, perfect character, not even a speeding ticket, and a devout catholic. After 2 years in swiss army, and 2 yrs special service (think seal teams) they can transfer to the Vatican. After 5 years they can marry someone. And we were assured they were the most dangerous and serious individuals we would ever encounter. Fully proficient with any weapon, including the halberd, and would instantly give their life to keep the Pope alive. 

Did you go up to the top of the dome?

[LooneyCruzer]

Hi, no we did not. The line was forever. We were going to do it another day, and it’s free since it is St Peters square, but you still have to go thru security to get in and rather not pursue that crazy mess again. 

[Coralc]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Did you go up to the top of the dome?

Gosh. We didn't go. there are 551 stairs to get up to the dome.