Odyssey - Europe 9/19/24-10/5/24 - LIVE 🚞🚌🚢 ✈️🚐

[Denversail]

I went back and forth on the idea of doing a “live” review. I thought it is a lot of work, this is a vacation of a life time, do I really want to spend it like this? Hell yes I do!

 

I will be traveling with my sister @jules5280 and her husband for the first part of the trip. I’ll then branch off solo for 5 days. I will be visiting Rome, Naples, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Ephuses, Crete, Venice, and Milan.

 

We are about 2 1/2 weeks out. I unfortunately dropped my IPAD about a week ago. 😞 At first I thought it was fine, it just cracked the glass but nope. I then saw the lightening bolts on the screen. It moves by itself sometimes. If I have it unlocked it will randomly start my music. I’ve had to stop writing this a few times when it just starts moving the cursor and deleting words.

 

I’m not one of those weak thinking people that think tech is after me. Please don’t you worry! It has been a rough year where every aspect of my life has changed dramatically. My anxiety has shot through the roof. But it is fine ! I mean truly!  Anyways… if you are one of those that drools while reading about others mishaps you are in the right place! The only way to describe this trip is chaos unleashed. 

 

Edited September 4 by Denversail

[scubaslayer]

You are getting an early start for this one. I can't wait to read the shenanigans. My next cruise isn't until summer but I will continue to live vicariously through others.

[Denversail]

6 minutes ago, scubaslayer said:

You are getting an early start for this one. I can't wait to read the shenanigans. My next cruise isn't until summer but I will continue to live vicariously through others.

I saw others on the NCL board posting like 70 days out. This is nothing! I have a ton of drama to report. Don’t you worry! 

[Denversail]

This trip was planned out early. I booked refundable business class tickets on Lufthansa in Jan of this year. I think around early summer they canceled my flight and gave me “alternatives”. I decided to cancel and rebook non-refundable flights with Air Canada. My sister and her husband are booked in economy plus on United. I wanted to fly Business so opted for Air Canada. What happens next is just bad luck. 

[Denversail]

That is right. The airline I booked my comfy business lay down seats on might go on strike. I’m sure you are thinking that couldn’t possibly coincide with my trip? You’d have to have really bad luck for that to happen. We have an airline strike imminent when i fly, national transport strike when I need a taxi, and rail strike when and where I need a train. Yikes! 

[Denversail]

For full disclosure I should also admit I have a terrible sense of direction. I do try but it doesn’t seem to work out. I realized about a month ago I hadn’t booked the correct train stations. I’m already lost and i’m not even there yet. 😬

Edited September 4 by Denversail

[perfect match]

Well, you’re off to quite the start! I can’t wait to see what happens next!

 

I’ll be here for the next few days, but then will probably disappear for the next week because DH and I will be sailing on Wonder Of The Seas. By the thin we get home, your adventure will be just about to begin! Perfect timing!

[Denversail]

As soon as I realized about a week ago that Air Canada pilots entered a cooling off period that ends Sept 17th I booked a backup. To get equivalent flights would have cost me about 12K. That is twice what I paid for my Air Canada tickets so that wasn't going to happen. I decided I would book refundable economy tickets on United. These were about 1/2 the cost of my business class tickets. I really hope not to have to use my economy tickets. That would be a miserable way to start my trip. 

 

People keep asking if I bought insurance. I did buy insurance in a strange sort of way. When I bought my insurance the tickets, I had were refundable so I didn't bother to cover my flight. I obviously changed this later to non-refundable. I spaced updating my insurance coverage. Not that it would help me in this scenario. Air Canada will either cancel my flight or they won't. If they cancel, I'll get a refund and take the United flight. 

 

I sense rough seas ahead.....

[TxStacey]

We will be on Odyssey the week before you.  Can't wait!  Our group flies into Milan next Thursday and will spend 2 nights in Lake Como before taking the train to the port on Saturday.  We get on the ship on Sunday!!

[Denversail]

2 minutes ago, TxStacey said:

We will be on Odyssey the week before you.  Can't wait!  Our group flies into Milan next Thursday and will spend 2 nights in Lake Como before taking the train to the port on Saturday.  We get on the ship on Sunday!!

Lake Como will be one of my stops after the cruise. Enjoy your vacation!

[RedSails1968]

Love your reviews! I may have said YAY! when I saw your name. 

[Thisguylikestocruise]

I’ll be on this cruise also! Looking forward to a cruise that’s different than the Caribbean. 

[julies5280]

Yea!! I am so glad you are doing this for our trip!  Can’t believe we are finally here. This time in two weeks we will be in the air. 

looking forward to tons of fun ~ Jules and Dakota kid (my hubby)

 

Edited September 5 by julies5280

[Denversail]

I’m so glad @julies5280 and Dakota Kid are going to join us on this live. Just a little back story if you haven’t seen my prior lives I have a tendency to assign the actors character names hence.. Dakota Kid for Jules husband. 
 

Im super happy to be back on here. My IPAD was giving me ghostly fits. I finally got fed up around noon today and had Apple deliver me a new one. It is a nice delivery service they offer for only $9.99. I’m no where near an Apple Store so I appreciate the cheap expedited option. It was definitely an expensive two second mistake. I had my IPAD in my lap horribly balanced and I shifted my hip slightly to reach into my pocket. It of course was open when this happened. It fell about two feet to the concrete on the open side. At first I thought it would be fine, it was just a couple cracks but nope it was much more. Yep I murdered my IPAD.
 

Anyways what I’m trying to say is that I’m back and plan to post some details of our itinerary tonight. Hopefully @julies5280 will pop in and add any details I miss. Thanks for joining us on our journey through Europe. 

[Denversail]

I did read that Air Canada made a 30% increase offer which I think isn’t enough. They only plan to give an immediate 20% increase. I think they are going to have to do better than this to avoid a strike. 
 

I’m glad I booked a backup flight but would be super bummed to have to take it. I guess we will just wait and see what happens. We are exactly two weeks out. 🎉🎉🎉🎉
 

 

[Denversail]

My mother who some of you might recall as the infamous Dupable, has been trying to get me to let her track my phone. She has also been trying to convince me for the last several months to cancel the post-cruise part of my trip. I should add that every vacation I’ve ever taken that didn’t include her in her opinion I should cancel. I think I’ve hinted at some of her stalker tendencies in some prior reviews but I should just say it. In her elder years she has turned into a nosy stalker type. You know the kind that pays extra attention to the neighbors. I don’t want her directing that weird ***** on me. 

[Denversail]

Our travel plans start on Sept. 19th. @julies5280 and Dakota Kid will be flying Economy Plus on United and I’ll be flying in United upgrade Economy or Air Canada Business Class. All options have us arriving early morning Sept 20th at Rome (FCO). We will not fly together even though we are leaving from the same location. 
 

We plan to take a taxi from the airport to our hotel. We booked a two bedroom with Hotel Smeraldo for our first two nights in Italy. This location is very close to the Patheon. We are hoping this is a good central location to get around for our two days in Rome.
 

We have tickets for the Vatican and Coliseum on Saturday, Sept 20th. I think @julies5280 has booked us a few dinner reservations. We have George’s taxi booked to take us from the hotel to port Sunday morning.

 

 

[Denversail]

Our hotel room in Rome will be our only shared accommodation so we will see how it goes. I have a solo balcony cabin on the cruise and will proceed solo when we disembark from the cruise. 
 

I think it has been almost 20 years since my sister and I have cruised together. The last vacation I think we took together was in Tennessee at least 13 years ago? I’m not totally sure on the timeline.

 

It looks like the price of the hotel before fees is about E$960 for two bedroom and two nights.

[julies5280]

2 hours ago, Denversail said:

 We have George’s taxi booked to take us from the hotel to port Sunday morning.

 

 

We are actually just taking a car service to the port on Sunday.  George's Taxi is our private tour in Athens.

[Thisguylikestocruise]

Hope everyone has a fantastic cruise. This is a special trip for my wife and I. We spent our honeymoon in Rome 13 years ago and she’s been begging me to return. We’re staying in the same hotel as last time, going on this cruise and exploring Tuscany after. So much has happened over the last 13 years, feels like a lifetime ago. 

[Denversail]

12 hours ago, julies5280 said:

We are actually just taking a car service to the port on Sunday.  George's Taxi is our private tour in Athens.

What service are we using?

[julies5280]

18 minutes ago, Denversail said:

What service are we using?

Executive Rent - scheduled through Viator

[Denversail]

I was on Odyssey this past February. It is a nice ship and I enjoyed my last cruise on her. I’m not looking forward to the long hike to my stateroom but not anything I can do about that. We both have ocean balconies. I don’t think our cabins are right next to each other but close.
 

I have the drink package of course. We didn’t book any specialty dining but might do a few lunches. We plan to just eat in the MDR and the other free options mainly. We did book a sushi making class. I’ve never done one before sounded different. It is a bummer they do it so early. I’m not sure how appealing sushi will be in the morning.
 

We will board her on sunday, Sept. 22nd. I think @julies5280 has us scheduled to get there around noon. 
 

[Denversail]

Cruise Itinerary:

 

Sunday 5 pm - Sail Away - Civitavecchia, Italy

Monday 7 am - 6 pm - Naples, Italy

Tuesday - Seaday 

Wednesday 6 am - 7 pm - Athens, Greece

Thursday 8 am - 8 pm - Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey

Friday 7 am - 8 pm - Santorini, Greece

Saturday 8 am - 8 pm - Mykonos, Greece

Sunday 7 am - 3 pm - Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece

Monday - Seaday

Tuesday 5 am - Disembark - Civitavecchia, Italy

[DelMom18a]

Looks amazing!  Thanks for taking us along!