Author: Lmnei

Well, we are now back in Villafranche de Mer! Last time we were here we went to Eze which was quite the trip and as no excursions met our interest this time, we decided to spend the day partly on the ship and then take the tender to the town later in the day. So first thing – breakfast in the Dining Room! Then I worked on my posts on our balcony pictured here for a while, took another nap and then prepared to go ashore! On our trip ashore what did we find in the bay? One of HAL’s ships they sold during COVID to Fred Olson – the old Amsterdam. Except for the blue hull, it is now optimized to their colours and operational! So we arrived at the dock and started checking out Villafranche. It is built on the side of a hill and the first “level” had a sovenier shop and several restaurants. As it was Sunday several restaurants were closed. I wanted to get a t-shirt still and my fridge magnet and the little shop was just not doing it and it looked like there was another road of stores above the front street – albiet with a bunch of stairs going up! So we stopped for some gelato (which I did the whole transaction in French including what flavours were gluten free – impressive and thanks to Dorothy) and I then asked the gelato man if there was a way up to the next road above (almost all in French). We had to walk up and around – so be it – happy to go for a walk up a hill and sweat / perspire a little! So up we went and up we went – we realized after a while we had gone too far so down we walked and what had looked like an entrance to a restaurant was actually a lane to the road (lane) above the front street stores of Villafranche. Well, there was clothing and groceries but no souveniers… So I picked a fairly easy staircase to go down and ended up going to the original souvenier store, getting what I wanted (in French) and off we went back to the ship! As Andrew said I was hogging all the towels on the ship with my towel animals, I decided to take a picture of all of the ones our room steward had made for us so far, and let them go. He was very artistic – also had some extra time on his hands!

We are now back in Livorno, which is the port city for Florence and Pisa. REALLY a long time ago Livorno was created as Florence, which was a very populous city, needed a port. Now, with trucking and other way of getting goods like by air, it is not as important to them, but it is still a very important port for many of the smaller cities that surround the area. Today, we are taking a late booked Excursion to Lucca. I cannot remember who told me that if we could see Lucca we should. Perhaps it was Leah. Lucca is a completely walled city just north of Livorno. It was a very rich city during the fudal times and instead of being attacked, just paid off the people who wanted to fight it! Now people who live in Lucca are called “Inside” people and people who live outside of the walls are called “Outside” people or “Foreigners” as our tour guide was called. Lucca used to have 100 churches which many are gone, however a few beautiful ones exist still. Some were demolished due to royalty wanting to build a palace and some naturally fell down. If you live in Lucca you are only allowed to have one car and it is very hard to park within the city. Most residents use bicyles – we saw a LOT of people on bicycles and not nice new ones – ratty ones as they are the number one thing that is stolen in the city! Often people pay more for their bike lock than for their bike. So the bus dropped us off outside of Lucca and we walked into the city. It was incredibly hot (about 30 degrees) this day and being in the sun between buildings without a lot of shade was pretty hard walking around. Like once when on the Canadian Prairies with my sister and parents when my mother wanted to visit yet another museum yet it was very hot, when we found out it was air conditioned and we almost ran into it, this was the case for the cathedral we visited – it was LOVELY inside! I personally was impressed with the accessibility of Lucca – the cathedral was ramped – all parts of it! Also many stores were ramped too. I now have a policy of pretty well only going into stores that have ramps and letting other stores see that I will patronize them and not theirs. Anyways, we walked for about 2 hours and I then hit the wall of heat. With about 15 minutes left in the tour I told the tour guide (as we were walking farther away from the meeting point for later one) that I needed to bow out of the tour and get a cold drink. So that is what Andrew and I did and while he had a beer I had my standard Coke Zero. Which brings me to a good point. Andrew learned not to tell me to get him a beer – there were about 20 in the fridge and I had to pick one for him! So he got the one with the purple label – how was I to choose? I do not drink beer! So we people watched, someone bought some hair goodies and a dress and we met up with the tour at the appointed time for the bus trip back to Livorno. Once back at Livorno, Andrew decided to rest and I took the ship’s bus into town – it was my last chance to get a shirt from Italy which I really wanted and had not paid attention earlier in our trip on getting one. The bus driver and I (I was the only one on the bus) ran into a demonstration so the 10 minute bus drive turned into 30 minutes! I got to see more of downtown than I wanted to however we finally made it to the drop off spot. Out I got and started walking around – there were curb cuts and ramps everywhere! I was impressed! However an Italy shirt was eluding me! I found a fridge magnet but no shirt… The lady at the HAL stop told me that the next bus would be there at 6pm so I was back in time however the bus was late and I think on Italian time. So we left at 6:20pm and we got back to the ship 20 minutes later! By the time I got to our room in the pointy part of the ship Andrew was a bit concerned as dinner normally is at 7pm. However we were dining in Canteletto tonight at 7:30pm so there was plenty of time for me to get ready… Off we went to the restaurant and had a wonderful meal in this specialty dining which was part of our cruise package! Even caught a sunset!

Well, we have come a full circle now and we are back at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, Italy! As we have already been and done Rome, we decided to take a different Excursion today – to Ostia Antica which is south of Rome and Civitavecchia and like other villages we have visited such as Pompei, Olympia and the Roman Ruins, is a large archeological site. It is close to the town of Ostia, and it was the harbour city of Ancient Rome. “Ostia” (plur. of “ostium”) is a derivation of “os”, the Latin word for “mouth” . At the mouth of the Tiber River, Ostia was Rome’s seaport, but due to silting, it now lies 3 kilometres from the sea. The site is noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, frescoes and mosaics. So, after visiting the 3 ruins listed above, when we went to the bus to transport us to the site, the tour guide told me that my walker was inappropriate to take into the grounds. Not surprising me after some of the things I have already gone through on this trip, I was luckily the HAL Excursions Manager heard what was said to me, and after I said to the guide that it is required for me to walk and please put it under the bus, the HAL manager followed up with the guide that it was okay, I will not slow the tour down (which was the REAL issue) and things like that cannot be said to guests of HAL. So off we went! I had a nap on the bus, so this begins when we got to Ostia Antica. Again, it was a HOT day, hovering around 29 degrees with no wind or breeze or puffs of air to speak of. In some ways, this site was not as impressive as Pompei, which showed more housing and historical items of where people worked, cooked, gathered etc. or Olympia with the huge structures – columns etc. but this site was very well laid out and well preserved. Overall, each site brings memories to mind as to how people lived. At the start it was more of how people were buried and then we progressed to where people stayed, the baths and finally to the theatre, which is used to this day for small events. The thing to remember about Ostia Antica is it was a meeting point – people would travel there to stay and trade with the merchants that came by sea. It was not really a “town” with a lot of permeant residents like other places we have been – other than those to support the infrastructure of the town. As this was only a 4.5 hour tour and we left early, we were back by 2pm! For me, spending 2 hours in the direct sun is enough! I enjoyed the bus ride back and took some pictures of that area of Italy. Andrew funny enough fell asleep! Then I had the brilliant idea of taking the shuttle into Civiavecchia to get a shirt – I still wanted to get a shirt from Italy. Well, we did it and walked A LOT as the shuttle service was a bit strange. It took you out of the secure zone, which is good however where you could enter the city (at least for me) was about 2/3’s of the way along the shuttle route! So one had to walk back and then up some long wide stairs to get into the city. Once there it was not really the “tourist” section other than McDonalds down and around the block – where we did not go! Happily it was fairly accessible – parking spots and ramps at the streets however just restaurants and regular stores – nothing selling t-shirts or fridge magnets – my other quest! We sat ina square where kids played pick up soccer while I had a drink and we then walked back to the shuttle area and came back to the ship and enjoyed the sail away from the balcony of our room!

I had been looking forward to this stop since coming through on the Nieuw Statendam. This port just had TOO MANY options! We wanted to see Pompeii so we did that on the last time we were here. This time we decided to go to Capri – an island off the coast of Naples. I also wanted to see Herculeum which like Pompeii was buried during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, however a girl has to have their priorities and it was my backup plan. We did not need a back up plan in the end. Just a side note, the difference between Herculeaum and Pompeii is that Pompeii was showed with pumice and ash on the 1st eruption of Mr. Vesuvius and that caused the 2nd floor of buildings to fall, only leaving the 1st floors as you saw in my pictures. Also Pompeii did not receive as much ash as Herculeum – so the destruction in Pompeii was greater as the couple of feet of ask in Herculeum (which was 5x the amount that Pompeii received) protected the buildings, people, frescos and PAPER so today they are better preserved. Pompeii is also a whole city where Herculeum is a smaller area. Now, lets go to Capri!
To get to Capri, similar to our ride to Corfu, one takes a hydrofoil type boat, however this was a tame hydrofoil boat compared the the rocket type we used to Corfu and back! It also seated about 200 people who all had to wear masks (good)! The journey was about 45 minutes and we had arrived. Instead of taking the ship tour, we had taken a trip through Viator which we have used previously. Much less money and we figured that saying the HAL tour was on the same boat as us coming back, the ship would not leave without us! There was the option to see the blue grotto or take a boat tour around the island however as we had earlier tickets back than the rest of the group (we were at 3:35pm where the rest of the tour was at 5:30 – when the Oosterdam was to depart) we just stuck with the Island tour. What an interesting experience – reminded me a bit of being on Okinawa, Japan with the narrow cars/busses that they used. In fact I saw a car very similar to the one I drove when in Japan. As the roads on Capri were built in the early days (1800’s) they are NARROW. Regular cars do not do well on the island at all. There is a lot of pulling out and letting people by that happens. So the first thing we did after landing on Capri and in the town of Capri which is by the water is travel by tourist bus to Ana Capri which is at the top of the island, on a steep switch backing road! I am glad we had a professional bus driver as that trip was nasty swaying one direction and then the other as we went around corners and avoided cars and did traffic circles. Nearing the top – we stopped for about 2 seconds for what the tour guide called the “Mama Mia” moment was a look back down from where we came. I noted it in the pictures. Then we passed some very posh hotels and we were at the almost top of the island in Ana Capri. We went for a walk past a lot of vendors selling very expensive goods to a lookout and then we were on our own. This was another HOT day! I got some nice souvenirs and after sitting in the shade with Andrew for a little bit and people watching, met the group for our lunch. Oh mama mia! The restaurant was up about 30 steps! But I was hungry! What was I to do? I went up the steps! I had left my walker on the ship and taken my crutches today but my arms were already getting sore! So options were pizza, spaghetti or ravioli – this is a group lunch. Great! So I said to the tour guide that I am gluten free and it was “no problemo!” about 10 minutes later I had a lovely bowl of pasta and tomatoes that were fresh off the vine! Oh, to walk into a pasta restaurant and say “senza glutine” in Canada and to get treatment like that is my dream some day. Then for desert they brought me both gelato AND an orange in case I could not have dairy. You can guess what I ate – when in Italy you have to have gelato! Now we took the tourist bus down to almost the bottom of the island where the village/town of Capri is. At this time, they were going to walk for 20 minutes to a church and graveyard and back and I was getting too hot so Andrew and I took a break and met the group when they got back. We sat under an umbrella on a patio and people watched again – right next to the funicular that brings people from the shore to this part of the town. No shopping was done by me here – the streets were lined with stores like Prada… My lemon slushie, despite costing 5 euros was just perfect for me! The one thing that I did want to get was a t-shirt saying Capri but we could not find any tshirt stores, that we not designer, anywhere we looked. Then it was time for our ferry ride so down to the docks we went and onto the vessel. We were lucky it was not as busy as the 1st boat of the day and I was able to obtain a “sleeping berth” which really was a table with four seats facing it so I could lie down for the crossing and give my arms and back a rest. Onto the ship we went (without shopping on the way – Naples has a great cruise ship terminal with stores in it that caught me last time but did not capture me this time) and had a lovely evening at dinner out at sea!

Oh what a day to SLEEP IN! There is a downside to our lovely suite at the front of the ship – it is at the FRONT OF THE SHIP! That is where the anchor is dropped and pulled up and it seems where they like to use the bow thrusters endlessly to get us into port! However TODAY is a day at sea and none of that will happen so we will get to sleep in! Wahoo! So what happens on a day at sea? Well, as I was not woken up by ship operations, I got to see the sunrise! Then back to bed! Just in time we showed up for breakfast in the dining room (closed at 9am and we got there at 8:50am) and as we had a full breakfast I figured the next time to eat would be trying out the English Tea service at 3pm. So I let them know that I would be participating so I could get some gluten free goodies… on the Nieuw Statendam I forgot to let them know and just got a sandwich and cookies – nothing new. So to work off breakfast and to keep my step count going we walked the decks and I took some pictures of the happenings there. All of a sudden it was Tea Time! (there might have been a nap in there somewhere too). Off we went and was I surprised! WOW! So much on offer to me! They asked if we wanted to share our table and I hesitantly said OK – I just did not want anyone taking my GF goodies! Then we checked out the shops on board – nothing that we needed (we are still trying to figure out how to spend our cruise credit as the Excursions we bought on the ship have both been cancelled now) and then the captain came on the PA system indicating we were about to go through the Messina Strait and we had taken on a pilot to assist us. Basically it is a narrow strip of water (but deep) between the island of Sicily and mainland Italy where the strong currents can be detrimental to craft passing through. Sounds like Active Pass in the Gulf Islands if you are a sail boat however does not bother BC Ferries. It did not have a turn like Active Pass does – it was just pretty narrow! The interesting thing was we were in our stateroom when this “announcement” happened and we have a window that is forwardish facing. I was lying on the bed working on my laptop and all of a sudden this man (not an employee) and his camera stood in front of the window taking pictures off the side of the ship! So I went out our cabin door and sure enough – they were letting guests onto the “balcony” in front of our cabin that normally the ships crew only go. So I went out too and explored and took some pictures! Then we went to dinner. This is going somewhere… eating dinner the captain came on the PA system AGAIN (this was the 3rd time today including his noon announcement) and said that we were passing the Stromboli volcano and it is currently erupting lava down the side of it. WELL, that is not something I am going to miss! So while Andrew waited for our dinner I wheeled up a deck and took some pictures and came back down all before dinner was served! Wow – what a day and a day at sea is supposed to be relaxing!

Well, this stop, Olympia is Deja Vue for us – been here before however this time I enjoyed it WAY more! After a very agressive bus drive to Olympia we arrived! There is something about going somewhere for the 2nd time that allows you to absorb more information as you already have the basic knowledge. So today’s Excursion is Olympia and the BEACH! Wahoo! It is hot, damn hot, REAL hot over here! So we made it to Olympia and we toured, Lynda went from shady tree to shady tree this time! Interesting development in the 3 years since we have been here – they have almost completed the “practice” area which they were just starting back in 2019. I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Then Andrew and I parted ways as I remembered from last time the nasty amount of stairs to go down to the village so I walked back up to the bus and let the group walk to the village via the over priced “tourist stop”. I should not have asked Andrew to get me a beverage and a fridge magnet (which I have been collecting) – 5 euros each! Normally we pay about 3 euros for a magnet and 3 for a drink. Nasty markup! So he was a bit frustrated when he got back to the bus where I was HOT as the bus driver sat for 30 minutes without the AC on in the sweltering bus arguing with his boss about his hours and not being paid enough money! Did you know I learned Greek overnight and now I am fluent? NOPE! The lovely power of Google Translate! Ha, ha! You might say I was a tiny bit frustrated with the situation. Anyways, lets go to the beach! Now, Andrew and I were sitting behind the bus driver on this trip. It was NOT a good place for me to sit. I could see the bus driver play with his cell phone apps while driving, talk on the phone without a headset, passing when there were double lines and in the 60km/h hour zones do around 100km/h. For those who know me will understand why this was a problem. I was doing okay until the lady sitting behind us started to get nervous too with the passing activity! I had not said anything about his driving at that point. However when the driver picked up his cell phone and at 100km/h and the bus was wavering on the road a bit while he tried to open an app I told the tour leader that was enough and pointed to the NO CELL PHONES sign above the driver. Needless to say the driver was upset not being able to use it. Not sure what made him more upset though – not being able to yell at his boss or his now lack of cell phone! Finally we arrived at the beach – oh so beautiful! It is just before beach time in Greece so not much was open but we had beach chairs, an umbrella and a drink (non alcoholic) to enjoy for the next 3 hours! YES, I tried to get into the ocean – almost burnt the bottoms of my feet getting there and back and it was just too cold for my overheated body! So we relaxed in the sun – me with my eyes closed of course and dreamt of a warm ocean! Our bus ride back to the ship was uneventful and we arrived safely. However as we drove through the port town of Katakolon, some things “jumped” out at me so as we had time before getting on the ship, I HAD to go shopping to release my stress! Andrew tagged along so I was good… Two new dresses later I am cured!

*NOTE* I posted May 23rd before May 22nd….*

Oh what a day! We signed up for an Excursion to Corfu, Greece which is just off shore – to have a tour of the island and to take a small boat and check out the colourful water and caves! I was really excited about this excursion as 1. Corfu is a Greek Island and so far these islands have been beautiful! 2. I love being on a small boat on the water and 3. We get to ride in a hydrofoil to Corfu which is a first time experience for us! Allons-y! So as this was a tender location, we were tendered oh so carefully to the shore – the Oosterdam has an elevator and I was pleased to be able to use it! Then we walked a ways to the hydrofoil boat location which was just arriving from Corfu – you could hear it coming – it sounded like a rocket on the ocean! All these people got off with luggage and the tour guide explained that for the residents of Sarande it is far simpler to fly into Corfu and take the hydrofoil than to fly into the main city in Albania as it is a 3-4 hour drive away, as long as there are no accidents on the highway. Ugh. The other thing she said was to prepare for the Albanians to want to get on the boat first and she was right – we were all ready to board and they all pushed their way through with their luggage to the front of the queue. No issues – there was room for everyone! So now, in the “rocket” (and it felt like it too” we were off and shortly out of the port we “lifted off” and flew across the water to Corfu. Just as we were getting ready to get (climb) out of the boat the tour guide casually said “You do all have your passports with you correct?”. Ah NOPE said about a dozen people including Andrew. I had mine as I could not find my drivers licence. All HAL had told us was that we needed government ID and our Ship Card. Not true as we were actually coming from a Non-EU country (right now – soon to be EU) to an EU Country – Greece so we needed passports! So they separated us and those with passports could enter Corfu. After some discussion and the fact that people had their passports in their in-room safes and did not want anyone going into them so the passports could be brought to them, we returned on the “rocket” to Sarande. I chose to stay with Andrew as it would have been difficult for me to go on a tour without his help. The Oosterdam was prepared for us to arrive back and offered the afternoon bus tour into the mountains if we wanted to go on it. We passed and just relaxed on our balcony. Then we made a very quick trip into Sarande just to get my fridge magnet and back! So that was our day – lots of tendering around however no Excursion! As we departed at 4:30pm, we spent a nice late afternoon on the balcony watching the world go by… or knitting!

*NOTE* I posted May 23rd before May 22nd….*

Our first excursion from the Oosterdam! Andrew and I have been to Dubrovnik previously in 2019. At that time we decided just to take Royal Caribbean’s shuttle to the old town and walk around ourselves. That being in November, the Old Town was all dressed up in Christmas decorations at the time and it was COLD, with the wind blowing! We did not stay long. This time it is 28 degrees C and we are going to take an Excursion that includes the Cable Car up Mt. Srd (really a tall hill) and down again, a walk around Old Town and then a visit within its walls. The interesting thing about going up the Cable Car was the view of the mountains (real ones) of neighbouring countries) that attacked Croatia in 1971. As you will see there also is Fort Imperial built at the top of the Cable Car – which Fort Imperial was built in the 1800’s by the French and Austrians to help protect the Croatians. Little did they know how important the fort would become in the first in 1971 when the Serbian-Montenegrin army launched a large attack against the fortress trying to capture Croatia. However the fortress withstood the punishment and now, Fort Imperial is home to a museum, which shows the defense of Dubrovnik during the Homeland War. Then we went down the Cable Car and walked around the outside of the Old Town and entered where most people tend to enter it – not at the hole in the wall that was later created but over the moat and drawbridge. We walked around the town, I purchased some goodies and then we took the HAL bus back to the ship late in the afternoon. Great day in Dubrovnik!

Breakfast in bed. Warm ocean breeze from balcony. Enough said.

Okay, perhaps I will say and show a LITTLE more! Went for a walk around the ship – dead calm sea. Worked on blog and a couple of other things and went for lunch and then to dinner. Beautiful sunset! Very relaxing day at sea. We needed the break!

I am going to keep this day light as it was probably our (my) worst travel day that I have ever had. Going from the St. Regis in a wheelchair accessible water taxi was cool and we got to see parts of Venice due to his route that I had never seen before but Andrew might have when out on our previous visit getting food. We got to the train station and boarded the train going to Trieste when we found out a whole lot of us were on the wrong train so we had to move trains. After that fiasco we were on our way. Very nice taxi driver in Trieste took us to the cruise ship terminal where we checked in for the Oosterdam and found out that we had to take yet another bus ride to the ship. At that point I could not get onto another tall bus so they brought an accessible van to transfer Andrew and I plus a security guard as we were now in transit (gone through customs) to the ship. Got to the ship and felt a sense of relief. Once in our stateroom, realized this was not the kind of room that we had booked so went for dinner and discussed it with a front desk person who disagreed with me that we originally had booked the room that I was talking about. There was one room left on the ship that was accessible and it was a suite one floor below the room that we had originally booked which HAL booted us from as they said they had to work on it but in reality it was put into the COVID ward on that floor. Went back to our room to get proof we had booked the original accessible room and there was a knock at the door and we were moved to the suite! No idea what happened. Blows my mind that a cruise ship with 500 passengers on it that can house 2000 would be that nit picky about moving people. On our hallway there are people in inside rooms – why not move them across the hall as a courtesy into balcony or even window cabins? Just blows my mind when a customer service opportunity is lost.