Cruising the Mediterranean

 

Cruising the Mediterranean.  A few words about my cruise.  I’ve been  ~35 cruises in my last 15 years.  This cruise is amongst the top 3.  The ship was the RCL Vision of the Sea.  Not a new mega ship but a craft that was christened in 1998, rather old by today's standards.  However it just spent 3-4 month being updated and returned to service in February.  It was beautiful and spacious and the staff were fantastic.  Usually I can think of one crew member that deserves special mention as I respond to the post-departure survey.  Today I have made a list of 5 various crew members  who will receive my accolades.

We left Barcelona and have called on the following ports:  Villefranche(Nice-Cannes), Toulon(Aix-Provence ), Ajaccio Corsica, Portofino Italy, Civitavecchia (Rome), Palermo Sicily and finally departing in Barcelona 8 days later.  I was off the ship at every stop.  Taking formal excursions to Cannes and Aix-Provence as they were new to me.   I like Nice , Cannes was hot and crowed and basically a shopping center.  Same thoughts of Aix-Provence.  I would probably not return to any of these areas.   Nice could have some possibilities, but not in the summer.  Actually the season for the coast of France is the winter, not the summer.  Corsica is an interesting island in the Med off the coast of France.  It might have further possibilities.  My favorite was Portofino.  A beautiful inlet on the upper coast of Italy.  A small harbor where we had to anchor about a mile offshore and tender.  We walked along the mountain road which hugged the mountain for 5 km to Santa Margarita, a neighbor and larger port.  The walk along the mountain cliffs with the ocean below was breathtaking.  It was quite hot in the middle of the day but we made it in an hour and a half.   Had a snack in Santa Margarita and took the ferry back to Portofino.

Got off the ship in Civitavecchia and had lunch.  Did not go to Rome as it is a hour’s train ride in each direction and quite frankly after 3-4 visits there over my lifetime I don't find Rome appealing.  Its basically a large, unkept chaotic city.  Some interesting ruins to see once in you lifetime.  Essentially been there, done that!  Finally the last port of call is Palermo Italy.  I was looking forward to visiting the sites where the Godfather III was filmed and possibly the gravesite of Lucky Luciano who was deported there after the second world war, but learned that Luciano was buried in the Bronx.

Cruising the Med is much different than the Caribbean.  The water has a bluer hue and is calm.  The land is usually mountainous and seems to come right out of the water.  Most areas are not as lush as the Caribbean but that adds to the visual spectacle.  If you like the life on a cruise ship, you must invest the time and fly to the Mediterranean for a week or two on one of the many boats that make their summer there.

I've spent the last 3 weeks with my good friends and long time travel companions Sandra and John Lopez.  They are departing Europe and flying home upon embarkation as they have been away for 2 months.  I have another 3 weeks in country and will keep you updated later

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