Our cruise was made up of two separate cruises, The Spring Transatlantic, and The Riviera Romance. The First part ended on may 14th, with the second part starting the same day.  Since this is our first sea day it is our first opportunity to “Meet and Greet” the new comers.  I have reserved the Crow’s Nest (Captain Corner) for this meeting.  I will be amazed at how many show up since they will be leaving on the 21st.  Hopefully we can meet some of them privately soon after they board.

The Reality

The best laid plans……humm.  When planning a function onboard a cruise ship, and you are not paying for the use of their facilities, it is best sometimes to add to your planning a caveat that at least one little detail is not going to fall into place….but if you persevere, most times you will find success.

Such was the case with our cruise critic meeting on the 18th.  This was billed as a “Meet and Greet” for the Riviera Romancers, who had boarded on the 14th in Civitavecchia. Normally a meet and greet is held the first day at sea, which usually comes very close to embarkation.  But ours came within three days of disembarkation for most of those on both segments of the 21 day “Quest of the Mediterranean Sun”.  Not the best time, but I had no other choice.

I had not been too happy with the Captain’s Corner of the Crow’s nest venue as there was too much going on in the other areas of the Crow’s Nest to cause distractions.  So I decided to change to the Hudson Room for our 18 May Meet and Greet, since that room was now available. I kept the schedule to the 1:30 – 2:30 PM time slot thinking that this would not conflict with other scheduled events.  Well guess what folks?  The hotel department had already scheduled Mariner’s luncheons for 1 PM.  This meant that since Barbara and I had a formal invitation to attend that luncheon, we would not be able to attend. (to get our gift of a commemorative  tile, etc..)  It was too late to change anything as the Beverage Manager had already distributed invitations to our group.  I was perturbed, and started thinking that all this planning  had just been a waste of time.

The meeting did get off to a slow start yet as the minutes ticked away, more and more people started showing up, and most were from the Riviera Romancers in the beginning, and then die hard cruise critic folks from the Spring Transatlantic came in with their show of support. The beverage staff started showing up with trays of Mimosas and Bloody Marys’ and kept them coming throughout the meeting. Then the Hotel Manager, Mark Pells,  arrived with his impressive and entertaining “stand up routine” and my fears just faded away.  Of the many subjects he covered and questions answered, I think the most important was to allay our fears of our impending visit to Tunis.  We had just witnessed first hand how the ship handled our change of port on the 15th, and his words just seemed to reinforce our confidence in the Noordam’s crew to meet every challenge in regard to the safety of their guests.

Thanks to Barbara Cummings for these two Cruise Critic Meeting photos

Scott was followed by the cruise director, Drew Smith, who was unfortunately, left with too little time and little to add. In numbers, I think we tallied around 30, but in the character of those in attendance it was a was much more than numbers, it was the sharing that they brought to the meeting.  As it turned out, I think this was one of the best cruise critic meetings I have been a privilege to be a part of since the Amsterdam 64 day cruise in the fall of 2007.

My final words for those contemplating organizing cruise critic meetings on future cruises are;  be prepared for surprises and venue changes, cultivate a relationship with the Event and Beverage managers at day one, the 10 Am time slot is the best, and finally and most important, stay away from the Crow’s nest, and book one of the private rooms early, and stand your ground on that booking.

Most cruise lines know and value the power of the  “word of mouth” and the HAL folks both on ship and shore are staunch believers of the importance of opinions expressed in the threads and postings on CruiseCritic.com.

Oh, and one other thing – never go it alone – team up with another member of your thread, or as in my case, someone to give you wise counsel and support.  For me that was my wife; Barbara, she was the best.

Thanks for coming along with us on this adventure, and thanks for your kind, encouraging words of comment that you leave on our postings and in your email messages.

We wish you “Fair Winds and Following Seas”

Jack and Barbara.

One of my favorite photos Barbara took of me!

As far back as I can remember, Barbara has always documented important events in the life of this family by keeping personal notes and journals. When we started taking this cruising life seriously, she has faithfully kept a daily journal on each cruise. I am always amazed by how beautiful and precise her handwriting is, no matter if she is using a solid surface or riding in a bouncy tour bus, compared to mine which is illegible under the best of circumstances.

Since we chose to do different things when we were in port on the 14^th of May, I was unable to blog about her experience, until she gave me permission to use her journal to write the following.

It is so easy to get used to life onboard a cruise ship, especially one as lovely as the ms Noordam. In the mornings Jack is up “before the crack of dawn” so he is well into his day by the time he wakes me at 7 AM with my mug of fresh coffee and a glass of “fresh squeezed” orange juice. However this morning was different as I had to be in the Ocean Bar at 7:45 for Alan’s tour of the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, so Jack woke me at 5:45 am to see that we had already docked early in Civitavecchia. While I am gone Jack will stay here enjoying the port on his own.

My group met in the Ocean bar at 7:45 AM to board our bus.  Allan and Alan shepherded us today, because Kathryn has lost her voice. Alan’s buses were late arriving and did not appear on the dock until 8:20. I sat in the farthest back right window seat. This is perfect because it affords me the best unobstructed view of the passing scenery. Our bus, #3, was driven by Salvatore, and we pulled out of the terminal area at 8:40, almost a half hour late. Our bus was made up of 44 passengers and we listened as Alberto (our guide for the trip to Rome) talked about Italy and Rome during the hour drive. Our route took us between the mountains and the coastline passing through countryside with lush fields of artichokes, wheat, hay, grapes and olive trees.

A couple of noteworthy tidbits Alberto shared with us as we traveled along the Autostrada, was that wine, which costs 1.60 Euros a liter is more expensive than gasoline which costs ($9 gal), and how Rome was founded by the Etruscans

In his pre-cruise excursion offerings, Alan described our tour today as “a coach transfer from the pier in Civitavecchia to Rome and into Vatican City…the Vatican Museum…the Sistine Chapel….St. Peter’s Basilica….Papa Rex Restaurant (for lunch)……to the Basilica of St Paul Outside the walls. This is one of four churches that are the great ancient major basilicas of Rome: the basilicas of St. John Lateran, St Mary Major, St Peter’s, and St Paul’s Outside.”

Upon arrival at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, Alberto handed us over to Francesca, who would be our guide until we boarded our bus back to Civitavecchia. She handed out “Whisper” headsets that would enable everyone to hear her inside quite churches, etc. We started our walking at approximately 10 AM with Francesca in the lead, holding her blue scarf held high on a pole above her head; we followed as she explained the magnificent details of St. Paul’s.

Re-boarding our bus, Salvatore skillfully maneuvered his bus through traffic as we drove by the Tiber River, past Roman temples, and the Jewish Quarter and Vatican City to the Papa Rex Restaurant for “a huge Italian feast with plenty of good Italian wine! During lunch you will be entertained (Operatic Tenor and accordion) and you are welcome to join in!”

Upon entering Papa Rex’s we were each photographed with a Swiss guard and I was only too happy to “fork over” the five Euros for mine. It is a treasure. At our table, I enjoyed the company of Carol & Leo, Jerry, and a couple from Aloha, Oregon, all a part of Alan’s group. Each table was set with a good red house wine, bottle of water, and waiters filled our champagne glasses with Spumonte. I was careful not to drink too much, as next on our schedule was the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel. As at previous “luncheons” Alan had done it again with his offering of endless wine.

My antipasto plate had a variety of vegetables, of which I felt the fried onion was the best. The white cheese was formed in the shape of hard boiled eggs. The bread baskets on each table were filled with seasoned pita bread and rustic bread slices.

The pasta plate had two kinds: one with marinara sauce and the other green pesto, and as is the custom in Italian eateries, shredded parmesan cheese was available in a bowl.

For our main course a tasty thin slice of veal was served with potatoes and vegetables.

All of this was topped off with a slab of ice cream.

After this “huge Italian Feast” we waddled to our buses for the ride to the Vatican Museum. Francesca explained how lucky we are to be here on a Saturday instead of a weekday with far worse traffic and crowds. In the museum she led us through some of the main halls of the museum with good explanations of what we were seeing.

For me the piece-de resistance was The Sistine Chapel with its beautiful famous ceiling fresco paintings by the master; Michelangelo.  In  1968 we had not been able to visit the Sistine Chapel when we were in Rome.  This time I was even ready with binoculars to see the high ceiling details better. We tried to keep up with Francesca, but it was hard to follow in the thick crowds, even with her blue scarf held high on a pole over her head.

Next she took us through St Peter’s Basilica and I once again enjoyed seeing Michelangelo’s “Pieta”. (Jack and I had visited here in 1969 when the Pieta was not protected by bullet proof glass, and we were able to observe this magnificent work of art much more closely.)

I learned a couple of more things about religious history; that St. Peter’s Basilica is over the body of Peter, who was crucified upside down. His request was to be different from the Savior Jesus Christ, and that Paul is buried under the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. He was not crucified by the Romans because he was a Roman citizen, so he got be beheaded. All burials were outside the walls of Rome at that time.

(Not a spare minute for shopping today. Luckily we returned to Rome at the end of the cruise, and I could buy a book with good Sistine Chapel photos. No matter where we are, I always enjoy the interaction with sidewalk salesmen; my latest prize was a pretty Rome scarf for one Euro ($1.50).

It was hot and we were tired, but Francesca managed to get all of us back onto the bus by 3:25.

It was a satisfying day that I had longed to experience, and even though I was tired, I was able to enjoy the pretty country side as Salvatore drove us back to the pier. Since we were running late he backed the bus in as far as possible, shortening our walk to the gangway. We all appreciated his thoughtfulness so much. It was 4:30, and we were scheduled to sail at 5 PM, and I suppose the Captain was getting a bit antsy. Jack was watching anxiously from the Promenade deck to welcome me home and to tell me about his day in Civitavecchia. The market had sweet smelling strawberries. He and Connie enjoyed authentic pizza and beer.

After enjoying a glass of chilled wine, which we kept in our stateroom refrigerator, we dressed for dinner and struck out for our “evening exercise” to the dining room, some two football fields aft.

Joining our table-mates and sharing the events of the day had become another “ritual” that we would miss upon our return to “normal” lives, however this evening I continued my culinary journey with an Italian Prosciutto Ham and Cantaloupe appetizer, Tortellini Soup, Chicken with cornbread and sausage stuffing, bread, Tiramisu, and Cappuccino. MMM – so yummy and superbly served by our ever attentive dining room stewards; Suteyama (Sute), Putra, and Rezky.

When we returned to our room, we found, as usual, our bed had been turned down, and the bed contained a very nice new Holland America gift bag with Navy trim and a pocket – for Mariners, which was guarded by a Lobster towel animal. On our coffee table was a plate of candies from the Captain and Hotel manager, given in appreciation for Collector’s Voyagers continuing onboard.

Today was also a “change-over day, when new passengers boarded the ship for the next “seven day leg” of the cruise, aptly named “Riviera Romance”, and some crew members, having fulfilled their current contract, will be traveling home to be with their loved ones.

Barbara had booked an excursion with Alan and will spend the day in Rome visiting the Sistine Chapel and other parts of the Vatican.  I plan to stay on the ship, with a possible visit to the port, have “my port” beer, a pizza and just hang out.

Barbara has given me permission to post her journal entry for May 14th and her visit to Rome.It is extensive and deserves its own page so I will post it next.

Background at a Glance, provided by the ship:

“Just 45 miles (2 hour drive in traffic) from the Italian capital, Civitavecchia is the powerful maritime engine that fuels Rome’s Lazio region.  Evidence of an ancient port settlement proves people lived at the strategic site even before human history was first recorded.

During the roman era, the harbor was known as centumcellae (‘100 warehouses’) – a rather impressive facility for the era. Emperor Traiano (98-117) ordered it to be rebuilt and expanded in 107 AD.  Monumental buildings and statues reflected economic importance to the Empire, but most of the original architecture was lost in later years.

Tiny Civitavecchia’s contemporary harbor is fairly busy with shipping traffic.  Italian rail service connects the port with inland destinations (one hour and 10 minutes). Cargo service connects directly to the piers, but the passenger rail station is a 20-minute walk from the pier along a pleasant shop and café lined seafront promenade.”

Some More Photographic Memories:

http://cid-eb1ef3fb2b0e0434.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=play&resid=EB1EF3FB2B0E0434!338

Our early arrival alongside the cruise terminal caught a lot of folks sleeping – not me – since we were docked starboard side to, I was on our verandah with a front row seat of the incoming cruise ship traffic.  I was amazed at the number arriving that day. In our previous ports we were pretty much the only cruise vessel in port.

It occurred to me later as I watched our ship being replenished by truck after truck after truck, that for the cruise industry that sails the Western Mediterranean, Civitavecchia must be sitting in the “Cat Bird” seat as a resupply port,  and this industry contributes significantly to the economy of the Lazio Region.

Several weeks before we began this grand adventure, Barbara and I became good friends through Cruise Critic, with Connie Palmer from Corvallis, Oregon and Cathy Palmer of Pullman, WA.  They were also sailing “with Alan”, so met them face-to-face in the lobby of the Hampton Inn near SeaTac the evening before we flew to Ft Lauderdale.  They both  became very much like family.  Now I must tell you that much to our surprise,  these ladies are not related, but how they came to have the same last name is a curious story, however to learn that story, you must become their friends as we did!

Both Connie and I wanted to go into the port and just hang out and find a pizza and beer restaurant.  Cathy had other commitments on board so around 10 AM Connie and I found the “free” shuttle bus to the shore side “Promenade” in town.  It was a short ride and we soon found our selves immersed  amongst Saturday morning shoppers in the local street markets. One of the stalls had these luscious looking strawberries and I was tempted to buy the lot and take them back to our stateroom.

By now our tummies were calling out for “pizza & beer” so we found a non-descript doorway on the “people street” with a very small red sign indicating this could be just the “place”.  Although the place was deserted, the owner assured us we could get what we came for and presented us with two menus.  For me, the pizza, the beer and the company of a good friend made it a great day.

After wandering through more of the street markets (see last three photos in link) we decided it was time to “find our bus back to the ship”.  It was a bit confusing at the pickup point because the other ships in port had contracted for their own shuttles.  We were surprised as we were looking for the one we rode in on had been replaced by a different bus.  When we found the correct one, it was fairly packed but the driver did manage to squeeze us onboard with me sitting in the drop seat normally reserved for a tour guide.

After hearing how crowded it was in Rome, I was glad I made the decision to stay “in town’.

Since we were scheduled to sail at 5 PM, I started to get a little anxious around 4:30, as I watched for Barbara’s bus from the Promenade deck and they were still gone.  I will leave the ending to this bit of drama for the next post

We are just going to go ashore and walk around and see what happens.

Welcome to Palermo

Quoted from the Noordam’s daily “Explorer” Program:
”This capital city of Sicily is fast, brash, loud and exciting.  The distinct and unique style of the city can’t be experienced anywhere else! Nearly 3000 years old, Palermo holds a  mix of architectural styles pointing to the wave upon wave of invaders who have claimed the city as their own.  The locals bear the same  varied resemblance.  Simply put, there’s no one  style or people in this urban melting pot with it’s colorful history. Here, the  Sicilian fusion of all things foreign – art, architecture, culture and lifestyle – exists at its most extreme: elegant Baroque check by jowl with Arabic cupolas, high fashion shops competing with Byzantine street markets and Vespas parked around Spanish Palazzi.”

The Photograph Memories

http://cid-eb1ef3fb2b0e0434.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=play&resid=EB1EF3FB2B0E0434!194

The Reality

As I have written here before – I love early morning arrivals in port; The first views of the city from afar, the racing of the pilot boat as it comes along side and roar of its powerful engine as it speed back to port, the inner harbor with all its industry and then shouts of the dock workers as they retrieve the first and sequent lines that will hold us fast to our berth during our visit.

As the captain, eased the Noordam along side our berth, my mind returned to that incident at sea several days ago when we lost all power to the Azipods. The closer we came to the front doorstep of the city, the more I wondered “When will our forward progress cease?”  “What evasive action does the captain have at his command if we lose power now?”I will never tire of this arrival evolution, it is so exciting

As soon as we were cleared by the port authorities, Barbara and I headed to one of the two gangways that had been deployed by our competent deck crew – one for departing tours and one for “the rest of us”.  Once we had breached the “main gate” so to speak, we made our way through a gauntlet of friendly taxi, and private tour drivers offering their services for the day.  Not for us we mimed, as this was purely a walking day.

I find such joy in exploring new port cities on foot, as around every corner there is always something going on that is exciting and amazing.  A case in point: suicide crosswalks!  These are marked crosswalks in the middle of the block  on a busy street with absolutely no traffic control! Pedestrians risking life and limb here seem to be doing so without concern, just a part of the traffic ballet going on around life in a vibrant city such as Palermo.  We opted to cross the streets at controlled intersections, and even then  one had to have their head on a swivel, as it seemed that the traffic lights were merely a “suggestion” to drivers in a hurry, and everyone was in a “break-neck” hurry.

Just about everything mentioned above in the “Welcome” we experienced.  What an amazing city.

We finally found the “market street” and were fascinated by the juxtaposition of religious building “cheek by jowl” in the narrow pedestrian market streets. The two pictured in the referenced photographs were almost directly across from each other, magnificently presenting their interiors to the masses, while in the street outside, a fishmonger and  green grocers hawk the days fresh offerings.

We wandered these streets feeling almost invisible to the locals, though we played our “tourist” part in this human drama.  After about an hour of this, my tummy started to let me  know that I needed to eat soon, so we settled into a small sidewalk café/restaurant and tried to order something to eat, not realizing again that “the no food until noon rule applied here as well”!  So we settled on a couple cups of cappuccino, while holding our ground (table) at this prime people watching spot.

Finally, our table was “made up” which meant covering the metal table with a fancy table cloth and adding a flatware setup. (for this extravagance we were charged two extra euros) Menus were provided and thankfully the items were in three languages, one of which was English.  I was hungry for pizza, but I could not find one that included pepperoni, so I settled on one that included sliced salami with cheese and sauce, while Barbara ordered a plate listed as “Norma”.  Since I was very thirsty I ordered a “Large” beer and a glass of white wine for Barbara.   (See photos)

As we returned to the ship, hot tired and dusty, we passed by two members of our intrepid deck department, touching up the paint on the starboard side, pointing out the unavoidable fact that these beautiful vessels are like living with a high maintenance woman – they require touchups 24/7.

Next: My visit to the port of Rome, while Barbara fiddled at the Vatican.

For our second visit to the port of Barcelona we had booked an 8 hour excursion outside of the city to Girona for a sightseeing tour through Girona’s historical city center. We would visit the old Jewish quarter, which is one of the best preserved Jewish quarters in Europe, Saint Felix Church, The Cathedral with its Tapestry of Creation and walk the paths around the old roman city walls with it’s fantastic views of the city below.

Above is a view of the Barcelona from the stern of the Noordam. In most ports and where possible, the captain preferred docking with the bow headed out of the harbor.  Reminds me of my driver training with the phone company (PNB) “Back-in on arrival, pull-out on departure”. 

The picture of the mother seagull and her three offspring were taken from our verandah – a first baby seagull siting for me.

The pictures on SkyDrive below, show more of the scenes of our arrival, and our visit to Figures and Girona.

Photos of our day: http://cid-eb1ef3fb2b0e0434.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=play&resid=EB1EF3FB2B0E0434!311

The Actuality

In his weekly email offering of June 8th, here is how Alan described our day:
“Again, our same fantastic guides who had met us in Barcelona a week earlier, were there to take us on another excursion.  Today our tour took us to Figueres, Spain.  We had a nice ride through the Spanish countryside going to Figueres.  Figueres was home to the famous Spanish artist, Salvador Dali.  We had a tour of the very interesting (and unusual) Dali Theatre and Museum.  Afterward we had some free time before we re-boarded our coaches for our drive back to Girona.  Here we had a walking tour through the old walled city including the cathedral and the Jewish Quarter.  After a tour of the Jewish Museum and some free time, we returned back to Barcelona.”

As you can see, Alan added a trip to Figures and a visit to the Dali museum. (see photos).

The two hour drive to Figures was interesting as we got to see more of the Spanish countryside.  Upon arrival there at around noon, we were  told that we would have some time to kill, possibly get something to eat, as our museum reservations were for 1 PM.  Since there was a courtyard café adjacent to the museum, we settled into comfy chairs at a table and ordered food, and were joined by our cruise critic friends Cathy and Connie Palmer .   I had a monstrous American style cheeseburger, fries and a couple of beers. he ladies were less adventurous and settled on an order of fries.The service was great, fast and the burger was okay.

Let me say that I am not a fan of the type of paintings by Salvador Dali, nor was I particularly thrilled to visit the museum, but others, including Barbara, were overjoyed that Alan added  the attraction.  I guess I will always be a “Norman Rockwell” kind of guy.  One of Dali’s more famous works is a huge rendition of the full figured backside of a nude woman, which if seen from a distance, turns into a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.

I really enjoyed our visit to Girona.  The narrow streets and alley-ways always seemed to present a surprise in some of the simplest scenes; a window with it’s security bars, or an open doorway to a small courtyard and aged stone walls.  Here are two of my favorites:

These were take in the old Jewish quarter of Girona.

When we arrived back in Barcelona, we were given the option of leaving the bus near “Las Ramblas” or continuing back to the ship.  We were tired, and Barbara wanted to do her shopping in the terminal at our pier so we headed home.

As we departed Barcelona that evening, a golden moon was just rising out of the sea as it began it’s  journey through the night sky, what a romantic ending  to our experiences in this beautiful Catalonian City.

Next: Palermo, Sicily

Prior to boarding the ship we had booked a shore excursion through the ship to visit Provence and do some wine tasting.  However…HAL surprised us thru “door mail” that “due to lack of interest, this excursions has been cancelled, and your shipboard account credited with the refund”. Bummer!

The Reality

Cannes is a tender port, as I guess the port authority has never felt the need for a cruise terminal and pier, and they would probably have to acquire some very high priced waterfront property to accomplish the need…so… Cannes is a “Tender port”.

Since receiving our cancellation notice, and it looked like it was going to be a great day weather-wise, we decided to bide our time, wait until all the excursions had gone ashore and avoid the rush.  HAL has developed a very efficient method of organizing “tender parties” – Tender Tickets!  Anyone or any party of people wishing to go ashore must assemble at a designated location on the ship and request tender tickets, which is a hard plastic “reusable” card with a number emblazoned on it.  Once you, or your party receive your tickets, you sit cooling your heels until your number is called.  When Barbara and I arrived to fetch our tickets, they were calling # 4, and we were assigned # 9 – a wait of about 30 minutes, as several of the ships tenders were in operation.  I know the deck department coxswains and line handlers must love this evolution as it gives them and chance to hone their small boat handling skills.

Once we got ashore and left the tender docking area, it was just a short walk to where the taxi’s and buses were, and to our delight a tourist train, like the ones you see in all the amusement parks.  A very efficient way to move people around.  Since it was leaving shortly, and the price didn’t seem too outrageous (5 euros – I think) we decided – why not?   As it turned out it was the bargain de jour.

The train was equipped with headsets and speakers so as we rode along a recorded voice would point out various landmarks in this fairytale land that hosts the annual “Cannes Film Festival”.  Definitely not for those with limited travel funds, however it did give us, from the comfort of our ride, a great overview of the city attractions, and confirmed our feelings that walking this route would have been exhausting.

Once we “de-trained”  we headed for the back streets, looking for the daily markets – all centers of population in Europe and the Mediterranean have some sort of daily market, and they are not too hard to find.  To our (Barbara’s) disappointment the central market was closed that day for some media function so we had to be content with the street markets, which was just fine with me.

As the morning “walk” progressed we began looking for a place to eat, and lo and behold, we found a pedestrian street (alley) with several cafes that advertised their daily fare on chalk boards near the entrance  to the kitchen/dining room/toilets area.  We settled on one and were told that they don’t open until 12 Noon!.  So we continued our wandering until 12 Noon! 

The café we settled on had a choice of two dishes for their daily special – fish and veal liver.  I settled on the fish and Barbara, of course, chose the liver.  My plate consisted of this huge mound of cooked spinach, topped by a slab of fish, which upon inspection had a bit of slime between the flesh and the skin, some very tasty potatoes, and a mound of creamed sweet potatoes  – or something. Barbara had the same veggies, with her cut of veal liver.   I enjoyed the bread and wine!

Seated at the table next to us (inches apart) were two French business women, who knew exactly what to order and I was the entertainment for their meal, as they watched me pick through what ever I could salvage from my plate.  I can’t remember what we paid for our lunch, but I am sure it was substantial.

After some souvenir shopping we decided to head back to the pier and catch the next tender “home”.  As we approached the Noordam, the harbor police/patrol arrived and were escorting a very large private sailing vessel away from our ship.  Apparently the skippers ego got the best of him and our bridge crew called in the police to have him removed from the area.

More of our experience in pictures:

http://cid-eb1ef3fb2b0e0434.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=play&resid=EB1EF3FB2B0E0434!291

As you look through the pictures, # 12 will give you some idea of the outrageousness of Cannes.  The opulence of the mega yachts that crammed the harbor and anchorage area, makes on wonder why we spend our hard earned money going to theaters to watch movies.

Next: I will write about our second visit to Barcelona.

We were to visit Santa Margherita where we will spend the day onboard a private charter boat to tour the world-famous Cinque Terre or the rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera, stopping in the town of Portofino, where we will be treated to an Italian lunch with wine.

The Reality

As the Noordam approached the bay just off the town of Santa Margherita, and our anchorage there, the skies were filled with black clouds and the seas were running quite high. Tor, Judy, and I were witnessing our arrival with some consternation from our comfortable perches in the Observation Lounge.  We knew this was a tender port and we were scheduled to spend a lot of time on the water – but these waters? Wow – worry, worry.  Then we noticed an almost 180 degree shift in direction of the Noordam and it seemed as though we were headed back out to sea, for what, we wondered.  Just when the speculations started spreading, our good Captain, John Scott, came on the ship-wide address system to inform us that due to “heavy” weather in the bay and a forecast that didn’t sound so great, we were aborting our visit the the area and heading for Genoa, just up the coast. – WHAT? 

All cruise ship captains are well aware that loading their aging charges onto tenders with 2 meter waves thrashing them about, does no make for safe conditions and even from our location we could see the “2 meter” waves crashing on the beach.  This was going to be an exciting day, as Genoa, our alternate, was unknown and had not been thoroughly  “researched” by Barbara.

The following is a link to some pictures I took during our day there.  As you will notice, the weather did turn out great for our visit, although we did have some doubts, as we proceeded off the ship and into some pretty windy conditions.

Genoa: https://cid-eb1ef3fb2b0e0434.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=play&resid=EB1EF3FB2B0E0434!249 

We decided that we would just explore Genoa on foot, so we struck out along the main thoroughfare that paralleled the harbor area.  As we proceeded to that part of the port where the original port warehouses were, we passed by many itinerant vendors that had set up their portable stalls along the waterfront promenade.  Most of these individuals were obviously not indigenous to the area as the color of their skin belied the fact that they had probably originated on the African continent.  Umbrellas and sunglasses seemed to be the product de jour and they could be gone in a minute if it looked like the local police were  interested in their activity.

As we passed by the aquarium, there were extremely long queues of local families, as it was Sunday and the aquarium seemed to be the main local attraction.  The wind was still blowing quite hard and as I was lollygagging along, the wind ripped my coveted Prinsendam Grand Antarctic Voyage Cap from my head sending it spinning toward a waterway.  To my amazement, a young Italian lad was in hot pursuit. After capture he proudly handed me my hat and continued on his way with his mom and dad. This incident sort of set the tone for the day, as we felt so good being among these friendly people.

As we continued our “stroll” with no defined destination in mind, we found ourselves at the entrance to the “Porto Antico de Genova” old port warehouses, which had been restored and modernized to house various public venues.  In the photo on the right is the old port building I am referring to.   I took this photo as we sailed into the harbor.  The the right of this building is a modern structure of roughly the same size.  As we walked down the narrow space between the two we noticed banners for “La Fiera del Gusto” – “Food & Wine Selection”. Not knowing what to expect and after strolling through a “gem” market, we were advised that the venue we were looking for was on the third floor or “Magazzini del Cotone – Modulo 8”.  There our eyes and taste buds were treated to all these booths that were offering samples of their wares.  I am not sure how many cheese, meat, bread (crackers) and sauces we tried that day but it was a substantial number.

Before partaking, we noticed two young women who were manning a counter advertising a wine and cheese tasting “class”.  One of the women spoke excellent English and advised that we needed reservations and payment of 5 euros each for the next class, so we signed up – wow what a surprise. Along with the reservation we were presented with a nice wine glass and a small bag to hang around our neck to carry it in.  I’m sure that sight must have caused some polite giggles from the locals.

At the appointed time we entered a private room where there were several tables set with three wine glasses at each place.  For the next hour we were regaled, in Italian, on the virtues of the three wines and three cheese samples that were placed in front of us.  Now please understand that we don’t feel uncomfortable with the language, but we were completely out of place here!  Later we found the booth that was selling bottles of the three wines, and the one we liked the most had a price tag of 25 euros (about $38)!  No we did  not buy a bottle.  Before we left the area, we found a Gelato shop that just happened to have “no sugar” added selections.  They were so good I ate two!.

Barbara was interested is seeing some of the local religious edifices so we left the port area and headed in to the old part of the city. I have included some of those scenes in my link above.  Two of those pictures, one of what looks like a silver statue is actually a street performer (A La Barcelona), and a picture of a restaurant sign for what is obviously translated as the “Three Crows”.  Why did I find this so “photo-worthy”?because we have a family of crows who seemingly own our little corner of the world at home.

Strolling can be hard work, especially when one realizes how far you are from the comfort of your floating accommodation’s. By now the sun was blazing and our bodies were on the verge of failing, but we somehow made it back.

Next: Our return to Barcelona – I think

Although neither did I ask for nor did I expect to receive remuneration resulting from my complaint, we did receive two Customer Care Kits which contained 1 Travel Discount Coupon for a “10% discount on any published fare anywhere Continental Airline flies”, and 1 Continental Currency  “for a choice of a premium beverage or $15 USD off onboard duty free purchases of $75 USD or more.”  I don’t know if we will ever fly Continental again but I will  keep these coupons with my travel documents, just in case.

So you see boys and girls, it does pay to let business know when your are dissatisfied.

Here are some pictures I took during our visit to Palermo Sicily: http://cid-eb1ef3fb2b0e0434.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=play&resid=EB1EF3FB2B0E0434!194 

As you will see in the photos, I have a thing for Pilot Boats

The Schedule

We are scheduled for a 9:50 AM departure from “Rome Fiumicino Airport” with a three and a half stopover at Newark’s International Airport with a travel time of 9 hours & 40 minutes. Then it’s on to SeaTac with a travel time of six hours.

We have opted to stay at the Larkspur Landing hotel, rather that driving home that evening. Monday should be a leisurely drive home.

The Reality/Nightmare

Our day began around 5 am Rome time, which is 9 hours ahead of “home” time.  We were to “muster” in the lobby by 6:16 for a 6:30 departure to the airport, and there is where the wheels started to come off the travel wagon.  According to the last words from our travel agent, “the people that I paid to handle your luggage will make sure it gets on the shuttle bus to the airport”.  Somewhere along the line some of us missed the message and found the room where our luggage was stored and started claiming our own and moving it to lobby – pure mayhem!  I should have realized then that this was not a good omen for the long day.

Finally we, except two,  got our selves and our luggage on the bus and headed out for the “short” ride to the airport.  Some of us felt that the driver must have been paid by the hour, as we did an awful lot to direction changes, for such a short distance.  Another last word from our TA was “Make sure you have one Euro to pay for the luggage cart at the airport”.  As we arrived at the drop-off point (some distance from the entry doors) we noticed an absence of luggage carts, and the Italian lady, who was to get us through this phase, was clueless as to “luggage carts”!  Now I must explain something here: Barbara and I are still traveling with luggage that we used back in 04” which consists of one with wheels and  three that are WITHOUT wheels, plus two carry-ons – apiece. Everyone else has upgraded to these “eighteen wheelers”.

So there we are, planning our next painful move when we see in the distance (50 meters) two airport workers bringing the lost luggage carts through a locked gate – bingo – we are saved.  WRONG – One lady did manage to snag one and as Barbara went for one she was admonished with a loud, unmistakable spoken in Italian _NO!!! What the  ….. I thought, I’ll pay you 5 euros for a cart…but it was not to  be, so we resigned ourselves to lugging, shooshing and kicking our “wheel-less ones” along on what turned out to be a very long trail. Thanks to our good friends and table mates, Tor and Judy they were able to stack one on top of their wheeled luggage and help us through.

First stop:  Check in – with security – what?  Yes, (Italian Lady) you must first join the never ending line, show your passport to the nice security people, get a paper stamp on everything and proceed to the next “never ending line” and check in your luggage.

Second stop:  By now Tor and Judy have moved far ahead and we are back to kicking our luggage along.   Something you have to get used to in the Mediterranean countries is the fact that they are a very social people and never miss a chance to “chat-up” a co-worker or anyone else who manages to be waling by, as a part of their “social” day, while a customer stands cooling their heels.  And you dare not make a fuss, since there are a couple of guys (in the airport) standing around fingering the triggers of their automatic weapons!

Third stop: “Now that I have your luggage checked in, you must go and pay for that “extra” bag in another line since I can not take payment here”   Well we knew there would be a change for a third bag and we had checked four.  The extra  charge was $50 and we were happy to pay (charged) it just to get moving on to the……

Fourth stop: “Sir”, the beautiful young Italian security worker says, “That line is for lades only, the line for men is over there” Say What? I only verbalized that “I did not know” – remembering the guys in uniform with the trigger fingers.  I did have a strange thought though – why were there three other lines with men and women in them?  I guess they were short on beautiful young Italian women that day, to man the other three lines.  After completely unpacking my carry-on and disrobing, and forgetting to remove my watch, euros and cell phone, I felt “spit out” the other side, while Barbara,who is usually their target de jour is standing all dressed and lucking smug while I try to put myself back together.

Fifth stop: Our boarding pass plainly states we are to proceed to gate G08, which we do, however when we get there, there is some doubt amongst those in our group that this is not the correct gate.   So we troop over to gate C12, only to be told that th e reader board – which is back a mile or so, says gate G08.  So back we go, confirm what the reader board says and wait – at G08 and our departure is now blazing away on the overhead departure monitor. I think  that the airport authorities must have a thing against Continental/United, because there are  only 12 chairs for passengers  waiting at gate G08 and it is right next to the entrance to the concessions.  As more and more passengers showed up for the boarding process, the line kept plugging up the access to the concessions and we were yelled at for that.  Good grief what a mess.  For an international airport, we were not impressed.

Finally after an hour delay, which turned out to be two hours, we we in the air.  Now our only worry is; will the three hours we have to get through the Newark Airport security and customs fiasco be enough.  The flight was pleasant enough with food and beverages being served during the 9 hour flight.  The entertainment system needed some tweaking as it was showing it’s age, but we did land safely and with three hours to lay over.

Newark International  was no cake walk as we were once again subjected to long walks and long lines through customs and security.  There should be such and outrage in this country and amongst world air travelers against what a small segment of scumbags have perpetrated on society in their own interests.  I am just sick of what we have to go through to travel these days.

Finally we are on the last 5 hour leg of our trip to Seattle, only to find we are being “waterboarded” with incessant and anal ads to purchase Direct TV during the next five hours, as just inches from our faces was this small screen pushing commercials, and there seemed to be no way to turn the dam thing off!!!   In between all this “crap” was a message from the the president of the airlines telling us how important it was to him that our flying experience be enjoyable – ya, right!  As of this date he has not had the decency to answer my email.

It was such a good feeling  to finally be walking toward baggage claim at SeaTac and knowing that our 24 hour ordeal was finally coming to an end.  The rest was a cakewalk.

After spending a restful night of sleep at the Larkspur, we loaded into our car and I must say the drive home was like being on a magic carpet ride.

All in all it was still worth the wonderful cruise we had and all the new friends we made.  We hope to see you all again on some wonderful floating hotel on the “bounding main”.

Next: I do intend to finish my reports on the “missing” ports.  In the meantime, I have posted some pictures of Tunisia at http://cid-eb1ef3fb2b0e0434.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=play&resid=EB1EF3FB2B0E0434!222

We took an 8 hour tour with a Holland America group. At no time did we feel any fear or danger.  The Tunisian people, especially our tour guides  thanked us profusely for trusting to come to their country and of course for spending money in their much needed economy.  We found nothing but friendly and welcoming people, the salesmen in the Medina and Souks were pushy but not to the point where we felt threatened.  At times we  had to say no several times but we could not blame them, as this is their livelihood and their culture.  We probably spent more $$ than we normally would in a port but we felt if it was helping them, then what did it matter.  We had budgeted money for each port so we did not overspend, and since this is our next to the last port, there was extra for the Tunisians.

Our guide talked freely about what has been going on in  his country and was very candid in his manner, and positive for their future.

At no time did we see any demonstrations or fear on the face of those we met.  Lives seemed to be going on at  a normal pace and the streets and  highways were crowded with cars.  I think our visit reinforced my feeling about the American media and how they can exploit a country for their own gain.

IF you were worried, you needn’t have been.  We would love to see more of this poor country.

I will write more later.

Jack