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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