Recent MSC Cruise this area-FULL report:

[AlanF]

This is my trip report of a recent journey (March 15-22) on the MSC Fantasia. We had a group of 11 family members (4 rooms) and we split in numerous groups for shore excursions.

Forgive the length and the typos (spelling errors)

 

These are some notes that I bet can help if you are taking this cruise. We flew from Alabama to Genoa to board. We spent the nite in Genoa on the Saturday before the cruise.

 

Day 1-The F (Fantasia) arrives at 8 in Genoa. We boarded at 11 ish. The process has had the kinks removed apparently as it was very smooth and quick. It took maybe 30 minutes before you move to the room selling alcohol and excursion packages. (The young man that scanned our passports said you will have a great time but "watch your wallets in Naples ok?" -more on that later)

 

My 10 year old daughter and I walked to the Aquarium. It was a pretty day and the line to get in was rather large. It is a nice placed albeit packed. It is not in the same league as the massive one in Atlanta but very nice. After 90 minutes she was done and starving. The area around the port proper is a tad seedy so we hopped a cab to go eat. I thought at Ferrari Piazza where we had been Saturday nite. It looked like Times Square the nite before. But on Sunday-it was empty. Every store is closed. So the cabbie took us to a place nearby that can only be described as an Italian cafeteria. It was really perfect for my 10 year old. (Steam tables of pasta pesto and other pastas). The place was packed.

 

After emerging and figuring out where I had been dropped for my 8/10 Euro cab fare, we walked to Ferrari Piazza which was totally dead. But if you wander this area you will stumble on a delightful market in the area near the Church said to contain the ashes of John the Baptist. San Lorenzo Cathedral. This market is a delight with cheeses, pestos, and meats to sample. We even got flowers for the cabin on the F. You can also enter the Cathedral and see the interesting black and white mosaic tile and the shrine of the ashes. It is short stroll from there past many gelato shops to the port area. As you walk near the boat you pass a large grocery store. I picked up some cokes, a bottle of wine and some snacks. At 4:15 we entered the boat past the scanners with no problems. (I have the names of 2 great restaurants in Genoa -we ate at one Saturday nite--but both are closed Sundays)

 

Day 2-The F arrives at 11 in Naples. (I wish earlier). I never saw Naples as I hired a driver (Alberto of AP Tours http://www.aptours.it/Site/default.asp?Lang=EN ) on this day. 6 of us entered his Mercedes Van --he was waiting at the end of the gangplank for us. We drove to Pompeii for 2 hours which was enuff time there. (BTW: Lotsa tour guides there and you can hook up with a group easily as we did. We paid 6 Euros each to do. Otherwise you will get lost at Pompeii.) Alberto was delightful. We loved him. He wanted to take us to lunch at a special place but Monday and off season was tough as well as the short time so we went to Sorennto and had pizza and bought limoncello (49/53 San Ceasereo (sp) Way is where Mario Batali buys the limoncello served at his places.) After an hour there we drove the Amalfi Coast to Poistiano and back. Breathtaking. This was a great day. We returned to the boat at 6:15. The cost was 400 Euros for the 6 of us. I bore half as I had 3 slots in the car.

 

I will say my father in law (only 3 with him) walked to the pier and hired a cabbie to take him to Sorrento and back after a moment of haggling for 120 Euros. The cabbie even offered to stop at Pompeii. His group stayed at Sorennto for several hours.

 

Day 3-Palermo. On this day I paired with 2 16 year old children. We walked off the boat and to an information booth. The person there told us to reach the catacombs take the bus to here and switch buses, etc. It is tad out of the way. So I relented to the teenagers and asked a cabbie with great sideburns what the fare would be. He said 10 Euros so I agreed. But once in the cab he asked if we wanted him to drive us all over Palermo (He pointed to a book of sites Monreale etc) for 120 Euros. I said no. He said 80. I said NO. Then 70. He took 65.) I am unfamiliar with the concept of a meter off 3-4 hour cab tour but it works. (PS I talked to some folks on the F that did the same thing but took the 120 price!) The cabbie spoke no English but took us to the catacombs (creepy and sorta empty at 9:30 am-if you stay there more than a half hour you worry me), Monreale (be sure and stroll the block for cute shops and a cappuccino), and then all over Palermo (the Cathedral of Palermo and he wanted us to see the Teatro where a Godfather scene was filmed) until we really wanted to eat. He keep us for close to 4 hours. He would drop us off and say come back here so he trusted us. We would shop walk and go find him. We ate at a really great place Vinezia cafe (very near La Roma a small cafe). Palermo has the worst traffic I have ever seen and really dirty streets on La Roma the main street. But we had a fun day.

 

We then strolled back to the boat along La Roma with stops at a gourmet market and the ceramics store frequented by the Clintons which are both on Via Arari. (Tre Erre Ceramiche ceramic shop Via E. Arari, 49).

 

Day 3 Tunis This was a crazy day. The most exotic port for sure. You pull in to sounds of crazy music and camels parading by the boat. You only have 5 hours. We exited and talked to a cabbie. For 20 Euros each a van and small cab took the 11 of us on a tour. This was the only day we all stayed together. We were lucky because our cab was driven by a guy whose wife is employed at the US embassy. He took us to the souk for one hour with all the warnings, then to the ruins of Carthage, the Roman amphitheater and aqueducts, and the American cemetery. His comments on the history and current politics of the country were fascinating. His E-mail is alibenmeftah@ yahoo.fr (I put a space in before yahoo) If we had less folks or more time we would have seen the "blue houses" area but it was a good day. (And we had a 78 year old man and a 10 year girl so be warned: There are no public restrooms in Tunis. Ali bribed a spot for these 2 to use but it was not easy.)

 

Day 4 Palma Da Mallorca. The F pulls in late this day (1 pm) and what a gorgeous place. On this day (sorta unannounced) the F sold round trip shuttle bus rides to the town for 6 Euros. The bus ran from arrival to 9:30 pm. Almost everyone seemed to take this option as the buses rolled all day. The bus stops near the beautiful Cathedral and we toured it and walked the town. This is a gorgeous and huge resort town that I was mostly unfamiliar with. Just off the old town walls area (lower left as you face the Cathedral) are numerous VERY high end stores. (really too chilly in March to beach it) We had a great time and ate outside and strolled the town. At 5 ish we rode the bus back as some were tired and wanted to boat explore. At 7 my wife and I took the bus back to town (they never looked at the RT tickets) and had a fantastic meal at place I had read about. It was a packed tapas bar with locals and vacationing Germans. The food was super--one waiter spoke English and was a delight. Go to La Boveda (Calle Boteria 3, 971-714-863)! and try the A'oili (garlic mayonnaise) and various tapas with the 8 Euro house red bottle. We cabbed back to the F as it was after 11 (cab fare was 8 Euros as I recall). The F leaves at 12:30 am.

 

Day 5 Barcelona My 16 year old daughter and I did Barcelona. Once again, the F sells a shuttle to town for 10 Euros round trip. It drops you at the Christopher Columbus statue. (You can go up in it but we did not.) We bought subway tickets at the start of La Rambla and subway'd to the Sagrada Família. Easy ride. There was a huge line to go inside. It was odd because it is crammed into a busy city area with cranes and scaffolding all over it so it seems less impressive because you can not get prospective. You need to see from above. We opted to pass on going inside --my in-laws did that. We hopped a cab to Park Guile 6 Euros (Gaudi's famous park with the mosaic tile and famous steps) The park is a very cool place--great city views. We had a drink and watched the folks.

 

After that we cabbed back to the La Rambla to see the action. Very odd strip--everyone walks in the center. Birds, turtles, flowers for sale. I have never seen so many of those painted goofy street performers performing in my life--many were quite theatrical .

 

We entered the Boqueria (center of La Ramble) and it blew my mind as a big foodie guy. I went down every aisle. I have never seen a food pavilion like that--everything to eat was for sale. Eventually we hit a small stand at the back (maybe 6 seats) where i had a beer and the guy served us small fried fishes, pimentos, these great deviled egg looking things, and an eggplant dish.

 

After that we walked to the Picasso Museum. (we stopped on Ferrion?) and ate at one place (Miguel Ixtea) a lawyer here recommended. We had the sorta fried potatoes with this glob of hot looking pimento cheese (flavas) in the middle and one other tapas dish. Very good --

 

The Museum (we got my 10 year a Barcelona soccer jersey as we passed the big team store en route) was a nice setting but was mostly his early stuff. It seems more a celebration of his life. Interesting but I like the later and blue stuff better.

 

Then I had told my daughter about this huge shopping store there called La Cortez's Ingles --they have lots leather jackets so we walk back there --Catalunya place at the top of La Rambla. 2 stores near each other that are massive. I went to the sporting goods part--funny all the motorcycle and formula one stuff--jackets etc-- ( as well as fox hunting attire) there you never see here.

 

After that we went back to Boqueria to get wine and snacks/food for the boat--we had a cappucino and desserts. I actually almost bought a huge bottle of anchovies I tried--made it back with a small bottle. That place was incredible.

 

We detoured off the beaten path because I saw a store that sold those Catalunyan figurines of people well using the bathroom. They sell candies and such at Christmas of people well fertilizing to bring good fertilizer. The stores sell ceramic ones--very bizarre thing. They had ones of Obama Bush etc crapping--but all ceramic and expensive so I got the traditional little boy as a joke.

 

Day 6 Marseilles The boat pulls in to Marseilles at 7 am. Very early. We chose to just spent the day at Aix in Provence. And we had a super day there. Once again, cabs charged a flat 50 Euros and we packed 9 into 2 cabs. We left at 10 ish. It takes maybe 35 minutes.

The town was much much bigger than I pictured. They have a 50 cent shuttle that is fun to hop on. Until 1 a huge market with awesome Provence products is in the main square--Le Reichbleu (sp)--go there first and see plenty of dining potions and more pastry candy almond macaroon options than can be visited. It is a really bigger city then I would have thought. All sort of upscale shopping. By 3 ish, the town is parade of locals out for Saturday shopping/strolling. A bus can take you back for 5 Euros every 10 minutes. We walked that way but it gets kinda run down so opted for a cab (15 for bus and then you have to cab to boat so). There must be 25 lined up at the town base so we left at almost 5:30 or 6 after buying a few bottles of Rose from Provence. (Nicholas Wine store near H & M) Aix in Provence is a good choice. Those that hung around the port were not so thrilled.

 

The boat then returns to Genoa at 8 am. (Not much is open so not sure I would rush off) My family then took the 10:52 train to Rome for 5 nites. The boat deportation is slower (off by 9:20) but we had no problem in making the train and buying the tickets. Be sure and find out where the passports are being distributed the last day as it was in the disco for us and was the longest line of the trip. Get your passports and then go to your designated by color deportation area.

Boat tips:

1) You can bring some snacks and a few bottles of wine in each day and not be stopped. Keep them in your day bag to be scanned. That is not a problem. (Put a corkscrew in your luggage and a small pair of sport binoculars are fun to watch the boat maneuver)

 

2) We ate at the buffet for breakfast each am and that was great. Variety and huge American coffees. We ate lunch on board only the Tunis day (boat leaves at 1pm that day) and the Tex Mex place was very good. The food at the big seated dinner is sorta a B. The meat dishes tended to be overcooked--hard to serve 3,000. But fine-some courses were better. We enjoyed the family time. On the last nite we ate at the French restaurant and the food was super. The price was a bargain too. I wish we had done that twice.

 

3) I lost 15 Euros (25 cents at time) in the casino slots and never hit but a 4 winner once. Tight slots.

 

4) The rooms have a great satellite tv set up. I never watched but CNN was always on. The rooms were cleaned very well (one next to us had 3 teenage girls/2 mine--and they did a great job cleaning.)

 

5) I only saw snippets of the shows. My girls enjoyed. I went to cigar bar most nites to smoke and made pals there of cigar folks.

BTW: IF the midnite buffet is on 5 or 6-skip it (platters of small stuff). If on 14 (the big cafeteria area)-go. The big buffet deal is Barcelona nite and is rather wild. Lavish stuff (ice sculptures etc) and crazy food for not that many folks. Worth a look.

 

6) Formal nite--sportcoat for guys with tie is fine. Many were wearing sweatshirts and pools to be honest. I had the blue blazer and tie. I wore basically the same Gala nite-maybe a few more dressed up but a sport coat and tie is fine (in the upper dress bracket really).

 

7) re the wallets: I talked to maybe 30 folks on board. Mostly in the cigar room. A few in the casino one nite. We ate as a family and "excursioned" together. I met 5 folks that were the victims of petty crime--a wallet with 500 lbs stolen from a guy (Cornwall) in Naples and 4 in Barcelona (American-wallet, Norway-husband and wife someone threw bird crap on them and stole purse and wallet, Denmark-lady that someone cut purse with razor and ran). I can not imagine this but if the 30 I talked to are representative –wow how many wallets were taken. It must be astounding. So be careful.

8) The F excursions are 50 Euros or more per person. (Some had small kid breaks) If you have only 2—I’d maybe do one or two (100 Euros). But if you have a big group or much of sense of adventure, you can do much better on your own for cost and flexibility. Talk to a cabbie.

 

We had a fun time. And I can answer any questions if you have any.

[samavarcruiser]

This is my trip report of a recent journey (March 15-22) on the MSC Fantasia. We had a group of 11 family members (4 rooms) and we split in numerous groups for shore excursions.

 

Forgive the length and the typos (spelling errors)

 

These are some notes that I bet can help if you are taking this cruise. We flew from Alabama to Genoa to board. We spent the nite in Genoa on the Saturday before the cruise.

 

Day 1-The F (Fantasia) arrives at 8 in Genoa. We boarded at 11 ish. The process has had the kinks removed apparently as it was very smooth and quick. It took maybe 30 minutes before you move to the room selling alcohol and excursion packages. (The young man that scanned our passports said you will have a great time but "watch your wallets in Naples ok?" -more on that later)

 

My 10 year old daughter and I walked to the Aquarium. It was a pretty day and the line to get in was rather large. It is a nice placed albeit packed. It is not in the same league as the massive one in Atlanta but very nice. After 90 minutes she was done and starving. The area around the port proper is a tad seedy so we hopped a cab to go eat. I thought at Ferrari Piazza where we had been Saturday nite. It looked like Times Square the nite before. But on Sunday-it was empty. Every store is closed. So the cabbie took us to a place nearby that can only be described as an Italian cafeteria. It was really perfect for my 10 year old. (Steam tables of pasta pesto and other pastas). The place was packed.

 

After emerging and figuring out where I had been dropped for my 8/10 Euro cab fare, we walked to Ferrari Piazza which was totally dead. But if you wander this area you will stumble on a delightful market in the area near the Church said to contain the ashes of John the Baptist. San Lorenzo Cathedral. This market is a delight with cheeses, pestos, and meats to sample. We even got flowers for the cabin on the F. You can also enter the Cathedral and see the interesting black and white mosaic tile and the shrine of the ashes. It is short stroll from there past many gelato shops to the port area. As you walk near the boat you pass a large grocery store. I picked up some cokes, a bottle of wine and some snacks. At 4:15 we entered the boat past the scanners with no problems. (I have the names of 2 great restaurants in Genoa -we ate at one Saturday nite--but both are closed Sundays)

 

Day 2-The F arrives at 11 in Naples. (I wish earlier). I never saw Naples as I hired a driver (Alberto of AP Tours http://www.aptours.it/Site/default.asp?Lang=EN ) on this day. 6 of us entered his Mercedes Van --he was waiting at the end of the gangplank for us. We drove to Pompeii for 2 hours which was enuff time there. (BTW: Lotsa tour guides there and you can hook up with a group easily as we did. We paid 6 Euros each to do. Otherwise you will get lost at Pompeii.) Alberto was delightful. We loved him. He wanted to take us to lunch at a special place but Monday and off season was tough as well as the short time so we went to Sorennto and had pizza and bought limoncello (49/53 San Ceasereo (sp) Way is where Mario Batali buys the limoncello served at his places.) After an hour there we drove the AmalfiCoast to Poistiano and back. Breathtaking. This was a great day. We returned to the boat at 6:15. The cost was 400 Euros for the 6 of us. I bore half as I had 3 slots in the car.

 

I will say my father in law (only 3 with him) walked to the pier and hired a cabbie to take him to Sorrento and back after a moment of haggling for 120 Euros. The cabbie even offered to stop at Pompeii. His group stayed at Sorennto for several hours.

 

Day 3-Palermo. On this day I paired with 2 16 year old children. We walked off the boat and to an information booth. The person there told us to reach the catacombs take the bus to here and switch buses, etc. It is tad out of the way. So I relented to the teenagers and asked a cabbie with great sideburns what the fare would be. He said 10 Euros so I agreed. But once in the cab he asked if we wanted him to drive us all over Palermo (He pointed to a book of sites Monreale etc) for 120 Euros. I said no. He said 80. I said NO. Then 70. He took 65.) I am unfamiliar with the concept of a meter off 3-4 hour cab tour but it works. (PS I talked to some folks on the F that did the same thing but took the 120 price!) The cabbie spoke no English but took us to the catacombs (creepy and sorta empty at 9:30 am-if you stay there more than a half hour you worry me), Monreale (be sure and stroll the block for cute shops and a cappuccino), and then all over Palermo (the Cathedral of Palermo and he wanted us to see the Teatro where a Godfather scene was filmed) until we really wanted to eat. He keep us for close to 4 hours. He would drop us off and say come back here so he trusted us. We would shop walk and go find him. We ate at a really great place Vinezia cafe (very near La Roma a small cafe). Palermo has the worst traffic I have ever seen and really dirty streets on La Roma the main street. But we had a fun day.

 

We then strolled back to the boat along La Roma with stops at a gourmet market and the ceramics store frequented by the Clintons which are both on Via Arari. (Tre Erre Ceramiche ceramic shop Via E. Arari, 49).

 

Day 3 Tunis This was a crazy day. The most exotic port for sure. You pull in to sounds of crazy music and camels parading by the boat. You only have 5 hours. We exited and talked to a cabbie. For 20 Euros each a van and small cab took the 11 of us on a tour. This was the only day we all stayed together. We were lucky because our cab was driven by a guy whose wife is employed at the US embassy. He took us to the souk for one hour with all the warnings, then to the ruins of Carthage, the Roman amphitheater and aqueducts, and the American cemetery. His comments on the history and current politics of the country were fascinating. His E-mail is alibenmeftah@ yahoo.fr (I put a space in before yahoo) If we had less folks or more time we would have seen the "blue houses" area but it was a good day. (And we had a 78 year old man and a 10 year girl so be warned: There are no public restrooms in Tunis. Ali bribed a spot for these 2 to use but it was not easy.)

 

Day 4 Palma Da Mallorca. The F pulls in late this day (1 pm) and what a gorgeous place. On this day (sorta unannounced) the F sold round trip shuttle bus rides to the town for 6 Euros. The bus ran from arrival to 9:30 pm. Almost everyone seemed to take this option as the buses rolled all day. The bus stops near the beautiful Cathedral and we toured it and walked the town. This is a gorgeous and huge resort town that I was mostly unfamiliar with. Just off the old town walls area (lower left as you face the Cathedral) are numerous VERY high end stores. (really too chilly in March to beach it) We had a great time and ate outside and strolled the town. At 5 ish we rode the bus back as some were tired and wanted to boat explore. At 7 my wife and I took the bus back to town (they never looked at the RT tickets) and had a fantastic meal at place I had read about. It was a packed tapas bar with locals and vacationing Germans. The food was super--one waiter spoke English and was a delight. Go to La Boveda (Calle Boteria 3, 971-714-863)! and try the A'oili (garlic mayonnaise) and various tapas with the 8 Euro house red bottle. We cabbed back to the F as it was after 11 (cab fare was 8 Euros as I recall). The F leaves at 12:30 am.

 

Day 5 Barcelona My 16 year old daughter and I did Barcelona. Once again, the F sells a shuttle to town for 10 Euros round trip. It drops you at the Christopher Columbus statue. (You can go up in it but we did not.) We bought subway tickets at the start of La Rambla and subway'd to the Sagrada Família. Easy ride. There was a huge line to go inside. It was odd because it is crammed into a busy city area with cranes and scaffolding all over it so it seems less impressive because you can not get prospective. You need to see from above. We opted to pass on going inside --my in-laws did that. We hopped a cab to Park Guile 6 Euros (Gaudi's famous park with the mosaic tile and famous steps) The park is a very cool place--great city views. We had a drink and watched the folks.

 

After that we cabbed back to the La Rambla to see the action. Very odd strip--everyone walks in the center. Birds, turtles, flowers for sale. I have never seen so many of those painted goofy street performers performing in my life--many were quite theatrical .

 

We entered the Boqueria (center of La Ramble) and it blew my mind as a big foodie guy. I went down every aisle. I have never seen a food pavilion like that--everything to eat was for sale. Eventually we hit a small stand at the back (maybe 6 seats) where i had a beer and the guy served us small fried fishes, pimentos, these great deviled egg looking things, and an eggplant dish.

 

After that we walked to the PicassoMuseum. (we stopped on Ferrion?) and ate at one place (Miguel Ixtea) a lawyer here recommended. We had the sorta fried potatoes with this glob of hot looking pimento cheese (flavas) in the middle and one other tapas dish. Very good --

 

The Museum (we got my 10 year a Barcelona soccer jersey as we passed the big team store en route) was a nice setting but was mostly his early stuff. It seems more a celebration of his life. Interesting but I like the later and blue stuff better.

 

Then I had told my daughter about this huge shopping store there called La Cortez's Ingles --they have lots leather jackets so we walk back there --Catalunya place at the top of La Rambla. 2 stores near each other that are massive. I went to the sporting goods part--funny all the motorcycle and formula one stuff--jackets etc-- ( as well as fox hunting attire) there you never see here.

 

After that we went back to Boqueria to get wine and snacks/food for the boat--we had a cappucino and desserts. I actually almost bought a huge bottle of anchovies I tried--made it back with a small bottle. That place was incredible.

 

We detoured off the beaten path because I saw a store that sold those Catalunyan figurines of people well using the bathroom. They sell candies and such at Christmas of people well fertilizing to bring good fertilizer. The stores sell ceramic ones--very bizarre thing. They had ones of Obama Bush etc crapping--but all ceramic and expensive so I got the traditional little boy as a joke.

 

Day 6 Marseilles The boat pulls in to Marseilles at 7 am. Very early. We chose to just spent the day at Aix in Provence. And we had a super day there. Once again, cabs charged a flat 50 Euros and we packed 9 into 2 cabs. We left at 10 ish. It takes maybe 35 minutes.

The town was much much bigger than I pictured. They have a 50 cent shuttle that is fun to hop on. Until 1 a huge market with awesome Provence products is in the main square--Le Reichbleu (sp)--go there first and see plenty of dining potions and more pastry candy almond macaroon options than can be visited. It is a really bigger city then I would have thought. All sort of upscale shopping. By 3 ish, the town is parade of locals out for Saturday shopping/strolling. A bus can take you back for 5 Euros every 10 minutes. We walked that way but it gets kinda run down so opted for a cab (15 for bus and then you have to cab to boat so). There must be 25 lined up at the town base so we left at almost 5:30 or 6 after buying a few bottles of Rose from Provence. (Nicholas Wine store near H & M) Aix in Provence is a good choice. Those that hung around the port were not so thrilled.

 

The boat then returns to Genoa at 8 am. (Not much is open so not sure I would rush off) My family then took the 10:52 train to Rome for 5 nites. The boat deportation is slower (off by 9:20) but we had no problem in making the train and buying the tickets. Be sure and find out where the passports are being distributed the last day as it was in the disco for us and was the longest line of the trip. Get your passports and then go to your designated by color deportation area.

 

Boat tips:

1) You can bring some snacks and a few bottles of wine in each day and not be stopped. Keep them in your day bag to be scanned. That is not a problem. (Put a corkscrew in your luggage and a small pair of sport binoculars are fun to watch the boat maneuver)

 

2) We ate at the buffet for breakfast each am and that was great. Variety and huge American coffees. We ate lunch on board only the Tunis day (boat leaves at 1pm that day) and the Tex Mex place was very good. The food at the big seated dinner is sorta a B. The meat dishes tended to be overcooked--hard to serve 3,000. But fine-some courses were better. We enjoyed the family time. On the last nite we ate at the French restaurant and the food was super. The price was a bargain too. I wish we had done that twice.

 

3) I lost 15 Euros (25 cents at time) in the casino slots and never hit but a 4 winner once. Tight slots.

 

4) The rooms have a great satellite tv set up. I never watched but CNN was always on. The rooms were cleaned very well (one next to us had 3 teenage girls/2 mine--and they did a great job cleaning.)

 

5) I only saw snippets of the shows. My girls enjoyed. I went to cigar bar most nites to smoke and made pals there of cigar folks.

BTW: IF the midnite buffet is on 5 or 6-skip it (platters of small stuff). If on 14 (the big cafeteria area)-go. The big buffet deal is Barcelona nite and is rather wild. Lavish stuff (ice sculptures etc) and crazy food for not that many folks. Worth a look.

 

6) Formal nite--sportcoat for guys with tie is fine. Many were wearing sweatshirts and pools to be honest. I had the blue blazer and tie. I wore basically the same Gala nite-maybe a few more dressed up but a sport coat and tie is fine (in the upper dress bracket really).

 

7) re the wallets: I talked to maybe 30 folks on board. Mostly in the cigar room. A few in the casino one nite. We ate as a family and "excursioned" together. I met 5 folks that were the victims of petty crime--a wallet with 500 lbs stolen from a guy (Cornwall) in Naples and 4 in Barcelona (American-wallet, Norway-husband and wife someone threw bird crap on them and stole purse and wallet, Denmark-lady that someone cut purse with razor and ran). I can not imagine this but if the 30 I talked to are representative –wow how many wallets were taken. It must be astounding. So be careful.

 

8) The F excursions are 50 Euros or more per person. (Some had small kid breaks) If you have only 2—I’d maybe do one or two (100 Euros). But if you have a big group or much of sense of adventure, you can do much better on your own for cost and flexibility. Talk to a cabbie.

 

 

We had a fun time. And I can answer any questions if you have any.

 

Great review

Thnaks :)