Live from Celebrity Ascent Rome to Barcelona August 10, 2024.

[Stem to Stern]

With the sea a bit angrier today, have you experienced any creaking or popping in your stateroom?  Thank you for your wonderful report, pics, and videos.

[hawkesbaynz]

The weather seems unsettled in the Med today. Our friends dropped their labrador off yesterday (our four year olds sister) and flew to Menorca this am. The flight was delayed due to a storm.

 

We will need the cruise on Ascent in a fortnight. Appears Penny sleeps on the bed (trained Winnie to not come upstairs) and barks at every person, or early morning car passing by. Have added an extra big walk to my usual two big walks a day to wear her out.

 

Food looks great on the cruise. We actually never go to the Med so early in September due to the heat/crowds/kids but the itinerary was good.

 

 

[Stockjock]

2 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

With the sea a bit angrier today, have you experienced any creaking or popping in your stateroom?  Thank you for your wonderful report, pics, and videos.

We really didn’t hear any unusual noises, it was surprisingly quiet despite the rough seas. Once we got out into the hallway, I did hear some popping type of noises.

[2aprilbabies]

On 8/11/2024 at 1:38 AM, Stockjock said:

Well, I’m sorry you didn’t like it. I had my girlfriend standing outside. We hadn’t been in the room yet, and I just wanted to put something out quickly.
 

Here’s one where I just discussed the infinite veranda situation. Maybe you like it maybe you don’t.

 

Celebrity Cruises Infinite Veranda Discussion Ascent August 10, 2024. 
https://youtu.be/cwx31ginhBs

This was actually very helpful to me.  I am looking at a similar sailing for next summer and your video made me decide I do not want an Infinite Veranda.  I do love the way it looks in the room, but I am not a fan of the heat situation that it causes.

[2aprilbabies]

Thank you for the very detailed review. I am reconsidering the Mediterranean altogether based on it.  I was in Spain last month and it was incredibly hot. While I enjoyed my time there, the heat was a big negative to the trip.  My husband will be on the trip next summer (Spain was work-related) and he isn't a fan of the heat. I think the oppressive temps would ruin it for him.  Perhaps we should look at a Northern European cruise instead. 

[Stockjock]

11 minutes ago, 2aprilbabies said:

Thank you for the very detailed review. I am reconsidering the Mediterranean altogether based on it.  I was in Spain last month and it was incredibly hot. While I enjoyed my time there, the heat was a big negative to the trip.  My husband will be on the trip next summer (Spain was work-related) and he isn't a fan of the heat. I think the oppressive temps would ruin it for him.  Perhaps we should look at a Northern European cruise instead. 

You never know what the weather‘s going to be but this time of year it’s generally going to be hot in southern Europe. I think that if you’re going somewhere around July or August, a cooler climate might be a better choice. Maybe people who are very used to the warm weather would be OK with it.

[mauimary]

On 8/10/2024 at 10:38 PM, Stockjock said:

Well, I’m sorry you didn’t like it. I had my girlfriend standing outside. We hadn’t been in the room yet, and I just wanted to put something out quickly.
 

Here’s one where I just discussed the infinite veranda situation. Maybe you like it maybe you don’t.

 

Celebrity Cruises Infinite Veranda Discussion Ascent August 10, 2024. 
https://youtu.be/cwx31ginhBs

Late to the party. Just reading this today. What I like about your video is you tell it like it is. We are one of the few that don’t hate the IV. We had one on deck 7. It’s doable if you don’t expect it to be a veranda. 

[cruisetonowhere10]

8 hours ago, Stockjock said:

The first stop was Riomaggiore which involved the most hillclimbing. The second step was Manarola which also involved a lot of hill climbing. The final stop was Monterosso de Mare where we had far away the most time and there were not a lot of hills involved.

 

We are not sure who the tour operator was. At first my girlfriend thought it was Italy tours, then she wasn’t sure, and then she snapped at me when I asked if she thought it was or wasn’t.

I very much enjoy your interjection of personal anecdotes…the little things we all deal with 😂

[cruisetonowhere10]

27 minutes ago, mauimary said:

Late to the party. Just reading this today. What I like about your video is you tell it like it is. We are one of the few that don’t hate the IV. We had one on deck 7. It’s doable if you don’t expect it to be a veranda. 

We liked it…deck 7 on Edge.  Alaska so the weather was cool (we question whether we would want it in hot weather) but in cool it was 100% awesome!  We slept with it open every night…listening to the ocean, cool breeze..

[Stockjock]

Second to the last dinner tonight. They assured us it has 0 calories.
 

 

[Stockjock]

One thing I will say about the infinite veranda is that when the weather is not too hot, it’s nice to sit in front of it and have breakfast and coffee. As I mentioned before, my girlfriend prefers it, but I prefer a traditional balcony. But I can see some benefits, again, especially if the weather is not ridiculously warm.

 

A funny thing is that she likes a veranda, but didn’t usually go out on it very often at all. So for someone like her, maybe this is a good option. It also does make the room feel larger since the balcony area is included in the overall size of the room and extends all the way out to the outer edge.

Edited August 16 by Stockjock

[Stockjock]

We are in Palma today, and this is our last stop before we return to Barcelona tomorrow morning, and then the long flight back to Southern California.  Normally, we would spend a few days in Barcelona, but we go there a lot and we have somewhat limited time, so we’ll just take a taxi from the ship directly to the airport.
 

As you can see, we have three ships in port today, including MSC Seaview, Mein Schiff 2, and of course, Celebrity Ascent.

 

The weather is nice and it’s comfortable. It’s not oppressively hot, there may be a little bit of rain, but I don’t think very much. So the last couple of days have been a nice break from the oppressive heat and humidity that we had the first days of the cruise, as well as a few nights pre-cruise in Rome that was pretty ridiculously hot as well. 
 

I booked an excursion on Viator called “Tapas Tour” for today.  It wasn’t very expensive, so the way it works is the tour is self-guided and we show up at a restaurant sometime from 1 o’clock or later here in Palma. I think the price includes one or two tapas at each tapas bar, and it’s probably pretty basic stuff.  Then there are four different, tapas bars that you go to and it includes a little bit of tapas and a glass of wine or sangria or something like that.
 

The ship leaves at 6:00 PM so we don’t have a lot of time, but at least it gets us off the ship and it’s something that sounded interesting and kind of fun.  I think we will have to take a taxi to the first tapas bar, and then we can probably walk from there.  Allegedly, the four tapas bars are within walking distance of each other, but we’ll see once we do it.

 

As a side note, they just did an announcement for Oscar, Oscar, Oscar. Does anyone know what that means? I was assuming maybe a medical emergency or something similar.
 

 

Edited August 16 by Stockjock

[Boatharbour]

20 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

We are in Palma today, and this is our last stop before we return to Barcelona tomorrow morning, and then the long flight back to Southern California.  Normally, we would spend a few days in Barcelona, but we go there a lot and we have somewhat limited time, so we’ll just take a taxi from the ship directly to the airport.
 

As you can see, we have three ships in port today, including MSC Seaview, Mein Schiff 2, and of course, Celebrity Ascent.

 

The weather is nice and it’s comfortable. It’s not oppressively hot, there may be a little bit of rain, but I don’t think very much. So the last couple of days have been a nice break from the oppressive heat and humidity that we had the first days of the cruise, as well as a few nights pre-cruise in Rome that was pretty ridiculously hot as well. 
 

I booked an excursion on Viator called “Tapas Tour” for today.  It wasn’t very expensive, so the way it works is the tour is self-guided and we show up at a restaurant sometime from 1 o’clock or later here in Palma. I think the price includes one or two tapas at each tapas bar, and it’s probably pretty basic stuff.  Then there are four different, tapas bars that you go to and it includes a little bit of tapas and a glass of wine or sangria or something like that.
 

The ship leaves at 6:00 PM so we don’t have a lot of time, but at least it gets us off the ship and it’s something that sounded interesting and kind of fun.  I think we will have to take a taxi to the first tapas bar, and then we can probably walk from there.  Allegedly, the four tapas bars are within walking distance of each other, but we’ll see once we do it.

 

As a side note, they just did an announcement for Oscar, Oscar, Oscar. Does anyone know what that means? I was assuming maybe a medical emergency or something similar.
 

 

Oscar, Oscar Oscar means Man overboard. 

[Stockjock]

Lazy morning, killing time by the infinite veranda/window. Again, it’s not bad on a day like today.

[Stockjock]

For anyone visiting Palma who is interested in the tapas tour that I booked on Viator, I just got this message on WhatsApp that tells me a little bit more about it. Originally, I think that we stopped at four tapas bars, but now I think they’ve increased it to five. But it sounds pretty interesting and it was very reasonably priced. 
 

Once we get back, I’ll share some thoughts about the tour and the quality of the food and drinks.

TOUR-TAPAS-PALMA.pdf

[Stockjock]

Here are some photos from the Palma Viator Tapas Tour that I mentioned. I thought it was very inexpensive at $109 USD for two people.
 

We had to take a taxi into the main part of town, as it is not walkable to get there at least, and they can only take you so far, because there are pedestrian only areas, where vehicles are not allowed. But it wasn’t a terribly long walk to the first tapas bar, once the taxi dropped us off.

 

Once you hit the first tapas bar, everything else pretty much runs in a logical order, and all of the tapas bars are close to each other.
 

I thought the first tapas bar was probably the best one. We spent time at four of five tapas bars and we barely made it to the fifth, but we were running out of time so we didn’t have a chance to eat the tapas there, we just barely sipped the sangria and it was fine.

 

But I think it’s really a good tour and I think the price is reasonable, as you are getting drinks in five different tapas bars, as well as food.  So for a little over $50 a person I don’t really see how you can beat that. Plus it gives you an opportunity to walk around Palma a little bit.  
 

Remember that this tour is self-guided, so no one’s going to meet you. You simply show up at the first one and then go to the rest of them at your own pace. The terrain is mostly flat and the distances are pretty tightly bunched, so I think that most people can handle this without too much difficulty.

 

I think that Palma is a really beautiful place and I could see myself wanting to spend some time here. When we visited years ago, we did a cave tour which was interesting, but the city itself is more interesting so I think that you should probably avoid the cave type of things and just go into the city and check it out. I think the tour I mentioned is a good option, for those who drink.

 

Here are some photos.

 

 

Edited August 16 by Stockjock

[Stockjock]

Last dinner on the ship. The prime rib was delicious.

 

As I mentioned, this is my third Celebrity cruise in the last year, and the last two were a little disappointing in terms of the food quality, but on Ascent it’s been extremely good. No complaints whatsoever, except for the weird mahi-mahi with the barbecue sauce on it. But other than that, it’s been excellent.

Edited August 16 by Stockjock

[hcat]

Still enjoying this outstanding review. We loved Ascent and think you do too!   

 

Great sense of style,  very  happy smiles!

 

Edited August 16 by hcat

[Stockjock]

Getting ready for bed on our last night and looking toward what I think is a full moon, or close to it, off the back of the ship.
 

Yeah, it was a good experience, I’m shocked. I have no criticisms. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I’ve been a reviewer for Amazon since 2008 with their Vine program, so I’d like to think that I am pretty good at picking out things that need improvement. I really can’t think of much in this case. 

[hawkesbaynz]

Glad you had an enjoyable last day. We have booked a tapas tour in Barcelona the night we join the Ascent in a fortnight. Happy the food was good too.

[hcat]

curious.. what is an Amazon  reviewer with Vine?

[Stockjock]

5 hours ago, hcat said:

curious.. what is an Amazon  reviewer with Vine?

Amazon has a program called Vine where it’s invitation only and they invite customers to review products which the reviewer can keep. I believe I have over 50,000 items that I can select from.  There is no suggestion or pressure to provide a favorable review, they are supposed to be honest reviews. The good, the bad, and the ugly about the products in question.
 

The bad news is that these items used to be nontaxable in the USA and now I have to pay tax on most things. Also, even though there are many more items than there used to be that I can choose from, I would say the quality of the items tends to be off-brand and it used to be more high ticket, well-known brands. But I’ve been doing it for 16 years and I don’t think too many people have been reviewers for that long. 

Edited August 17 by Stockjock

[Stockjock]

Last breakfast on the ship on disembarkation day. We decided to do the sit down breakfast in the cosmopolitan restaurant, and I think that’s the right call because it’s almost deserted. I’m guessing that the buffet is kind of a madhouse right now.
 

 

[chemmo]

Safe journey home, thank you for a vicarious holiday, I have thoroughly enjoyed your cruise!

[hcat]

 Enjoyed your review.. we sometimes  visit Cosmopolitan for sit down breakfast..  nice menu, good service and hot food. Also nice for lunch..but  too busy for dinner. 

 

 Hope you have a  smooth trip home..What's up next?

 

thanks for Vine info.. interesting.. sometimes reviews do make a difference.  We stay away from any item that is noted as "frequently returned"