Days 13, 14 & 15

Day 13 – Rome to Marrakech

We have been on a dead run for the last three days so we are sorry we have not been able to do the blog.

Getting to Marrakech was the worst travel day we have ever experienced.

The first thing that happened is when we got off the ship, we could not find our big suitcase.  The staff helped us and finally Barb realized that in our area there was another suitcase in the same color and style.  Our had yellow duct tape all over it and this one didn’t.  We called the person whose name was on the luggage tab and he was just arriving at his hotel in Rome.  He turned around and we met his at the airport.

Then we had to wait 5 hours in the waiting room of the terminal before we could check in which was 3 hours before boarding.  We were able to go to the American Express Lounge and have a nice complimentary meal and relax before the flight.

We flew into Casablanca and it took us about an hour and a very long walk to switch terminals to get to our gate.  The only problem was that Ed did not have his boarding pass and they would not let us in the new terminal.  A security policeman took Ed out of the terminal, in the rain to the next building to get a new boarding pass and he then went back to a waiting Barb!!

Then when we finally got to the gate to fly our last flight to Marrakech, Barb could not find her boarding pass.  All was ok as they looked it up and let here on the plane; however, we had to leave the waiting area, walk to a bus, and then climb up a large staircase to get on the plane and it was pouring rain!!

We arrived in Marrakech at a little past midnight and a driver was waiting for us to take us to our hotel – The Dar Ankia and it is a beautiful Reaid.  That means that it is in a rectangle form with rooms around a large open area / central courtyard, complete with t pool.

Our room was great, small but very nice. And we finally got to bed about 2:00am.

Day 14 – Marrakech

We slept in until 9:00am and then went up to the roof top at the hotel and was served an amazing breakfast.  One of the best ever.  Following breakfast, we were met at the hotel later in the morning by our guide with a Tuk-Tuk which is a scooter with room for 4 passengers

So, for the next 3 hours we explored the old city of Marrakech and it was an amazing time.

Dinner tonight was in the hotels roof-top dining room and we had an excellent dinner.

 

Day 15 – Marrakech

Totay was a day to just wander the old city and all of the amazing streets.  We first started off by going to one of the original palaces and touring it.  The Bahia Palace was built in the 19^th century and was the greatest palace of it time.  The King had 4 wives and 24 concubines!  There is a 2-acre garden in the center of the palace.

Then we started walking the narrow streets.  The first street that we walked down took us an hour just to walk the length with little shops selling everything on either side.  When you see the videos, you will realize how tiny the streets are. 

Later on, we went to a restaurant close to the hotel and have a chicken gyro type sandwich and it was very good.

Tomorrow we are up at 6:00am, breakfast at 7:00am and then we leave by car to the airport at 7:30am.  Words cannot describe the experience we have had over the last several days.  It was an experience unlike any we have ever had and we wish everyone could experience this part of the world – its sights, sounds and culture!!

As we will be travelling all day tomorrow, there might be a blog entry.

So, good night from Marrakech, Morrocco

Instead of trying to sort througgh the humdred or so pictures that we have taken, we made a couple of videos so that you could enjoy the sights and soungs of Marrakech.

 

Day 12 - Friday, October 11, 2024

 Today we are in Naples a city that while we have been here before we have not spent a lot of time here.

We had hired a private guide so we took a taxi 30 minutes to the meeting place. 

She was a few minutes late because of traffic which was a nightmare.

Every port we visited had too many people out in the streets.

For the next couple of hours we explored the old city and it was a wonderful tour.  Lots of very little streets and so much history.

At one point we wend underground and saw an excavation from centuries ago and it was an amazing site to visit.

At the end of our tour, we took a taxi to the Presidential Palace; however, we first went to a recommended pizza place and had a Margarita Pizza as Naples is where it was first developed.

Then we took about a 2-hour tour of the Palace which had been hit by many, many bombs during Worl War II and fully restored.

Finally at 3: oopm we took a cab back to the ship.  They had some shops right before boarding the ship and it was amazing that Barb found a scarf!

We wend up to the Ocenview Café and had some snacks and then back to our cabin to rest a bit and get ready for the evening, our last evening on the ship.

Dinner, of course was in Blu and

Then it was on to the show which tonight was a production number by the cast called Life.

We then came back to the cabin and packed for disembarkation.

Tomorrow we will be met by a driver to take us to the airport where we will board a Royal Air Moroc plane to Casablanca, change planes which will take us to Marrakesh, Morrocco.

We will get in quite late so the blog tomorrow will be combined with then next day,

The blog for today with today's pictures is not completede - we will complete it while we are at the airport tomorrow.

 

Day 11 - Thursday, October 10, 2024

 Our second day at sea and the second to last day of our cruise.

We slept in and then were up on the top deck relaxing in the sun.  The only problem was that it was very windy but it ok.

At noon we went into the Ocenview Café for lunch and today was their extravagant day with chocolate fountains, extra special deserts and an entire mound of shrimp and lots more new choices.

Then it was back up in the sun before going back to our room to get ready for the evening.

We left the room early so that we could explore the shops and just relax people watching as tonight was Evening Chic. 

The show tonight is a singer from London with a show of music and comedy.  He was very good.

Dinner tonight was

The casino

Tomorrow our last day and the Port of Naples.

We have been to Naples a couple of times, but don’t really fell like we have seen it so we have hired a guide to take us on the sights.  Should be fun.

Night for now.

                                             These shrimp were really good!

                                                            Out for the evening

Day 9 – 10

We docked at a town call La Spezia which is quite aways from Florence where we planned to stay overnight.

We had to hurry off the ship as our first train was at 8:32am.

It was raining when we got off the ship and walked to the shuttle bus off the port, about 20 minutes. 

Then at the taxi stand with 3 other couples, we couldn’t get a cab to the train stations.  Finally one came and we all shared one van to the train station.

On the taxi ride we met two guys who had been together for over 20 years and lived in Cancun and we ended up sitting with them on both trains to Florence. 

Then we had to transfer trains in Pisa for the remaining train trip to Florence.  The problem was that it was 7-minute window.  We and 8 others literally ran down the planform down stairs and underground to the next set of tracks.  As we jumped onto the train, the doors closed, we all laughed and we now could relax on a nice 1-hour trip to Florence.

At Florence, we took a taxi to our hotel, the Arte” Boutique Hotel and it was everything we expected and more.  The hotel was originally a palace for a rich member of the aristocracy in the 1400’s.  Then it was a home to several rich families.  Since 2019 it has this boutique hotel of 13 rooms.   We had an upgraded room that had an amazing over the main Cathedral in Florance, El Duomo.

When we arrived it was drizzling and it continued throughout the day. 

We had a fine 2-hour walking tour that took us to the major sights in the city and after that we went back to the hotel.

While we were on the ship, one of the couples that we ate with gave us the name of their favorite restaurant in Naples and we made reservations for lunch and it was wonderful.

As it typical in Europe, the good restaurants are small and the owner is always there to greet you.  This restaurant was no different and the owner stopped by at our table several times.   We had to go there for lunch as the only available time for dinner was 11:30pm!!

After we finished dinner, the rain had stopped so we walked around, had some gelato, and then finally went to bed.

On Wednesday, we had an amazing breakfast as I am sure the picture swill show will show and then went to the El Duomo Cathedral to go inside.  We had a line pass, so we skipped ahead of what seemed like hundreds in line to get in.  the guide spent about ½ hour inside telling us all about the church.

This is the third largest church in the world, behind Rome and London.  It still has the largest dome in the world.  The original plans were destroyed in a fire and they still have not figured out how the architect built it.  One of things that made this Cathedral unique was it its exterior is all marble giving it a white exterior – truly magnificent. 

The original church was built in 4AD and was a church for the people and had no domination, rich or poor all were welcome.  The church as stand today began construction in 1296 and the building process lasted 72 years and finished in 1368.  At the time, it was that largest church in the world and still is the church of the people.  Even admission to see the church is free and the church is now a Catholic Church.

We then had time to ourselves to explore more of the church.

They have a clock inside that hs 1 at the bottom.  To the people then 1 was 1 hour after sunrise.  Someone climbs up to the clock every two weeks to reset the clock to keep time correctly - amazing.

Then we went walking for the next couple of hors and of course Barb found some beautiful scarves.

We then checked out of the hotel at noon and took a taxi to the train station.  This time we had 28 minutes to transfer trains in Pisa before getting back to this about 4:30pm

Then it was time to take a fast shower and get ready for the evening.

The show tonight was a production show by the cast of the ship and it was not that good and we had seen it several times in the past.

Then onto dinner in Blu where we shared the last couple of days stories with people we had met before.

Tomorrow is our second day at seas and we are looking forward to just relaxing in the sun (we hope)

Night on the way to our last stop, Naples.

                                                  Ready to go to Florence for overnight

                                              The two guys we met from Cancun

                                     The lunch menu that was recommended to us by people on the ship

Inside the restaurant

Igore the owner

Barb buying rings (4)

                                       Just the bedroom in the hotel 

                                                                El Duomo from our hotel room

                                                   Going out for our second day

                     The front door to the hotel.  At night the doors are closed and our key opens them

                                                            Breakfast at the hotel

 

                                                        The clock

                                                                  The main dome

 

A sandwich for lunch on the train back to the ship

                                           Going out for the evening

                                        Our room at the hotel - one of the best we have ever had

Day 8 – Monday, October 7, 2024

Today we are docked in our in the harbor at Santa Margherita and when we woke up it was raining and it rained all day!

The town is 22 miles southeast of Genoa and its part of the Italian Riviera.  It is a port for both tourism and fishing activities with about 10,000 people all who seem to live on the side of the hill leading down to the port.

We left the ship about 9:30am with raincoats on and an umbrella and took the tender into the town.  It was drizzling and stayed that was all day.

We had a self-guided walking tour that took into a plaza as port level with one of the two churches we visited.  Then we walked a long walk up a very winding road to beautiful church and restaurant at the top of the hill.   The bad news is that they had closed the restaurant that day.

Then we walked down the hill on very steep walkways into the center of the town, which is the port area.

We stopped at noon at a very nice little restaurant and it was warm inside so it was perfect.

We had a caprese salad and a great pizza.  We met the owner who bought us each a small sipping drink of Lemon Cello!!

Then we walked about the shops, ate one of their famous pastries and took the shuttle boat back to the ship to dry out and rest.

Tonight the entertainment was a flautist who was very good; however, we probably wouldn't go to see her again.

Dinner in Blu was good and while you sit at a different table for two each night, you are usually sitting next to another couple as we were this night and met an interesting couple from England.  We have met several couples that we have enjoyed talking to at dinner.

Then we went back to room to prepare for the next two days.  We plan on packing only one "beach" type bag for the overnight trip.

The ship is docked overnight in the City of Lasperxia, Italy and we will take the train into Florence and stay over night there.  I will not be taking my laptop so the next blog post will come in two days on Wednesday

                                                                         Time to go out for the day

Inside the first church we saw today

                                                      The path up - steeper than it looks!

 The Church at the top

                                                                The path down

The Celebrity Equinox

                                                              Walking down a one-way road

Caprese Salad

                                                         We each had a half pizza

                                                          Lemon Cello

                                                     The kitchen 

                                             and the owner of the restaurant

                                                    Every dog needs an umbrella!!

                                                  Going out for the evening

Ed had Sea Brerm - forgot to take a picture 

 

Day 7 – Sunday, October 6

We woke up to Nice, France, actually a port called Villefranche about 20 minutes away by taxi.

This is one of two ports that we have to use a tender to get ashore.  Fortunately, because we have cruised so much with Celebrity, we have priority.  That meant that we went to a meeting place and they put us on the next available tender.  A huge plus.

We walked up a hill and attended a church before going back down to the coast.

We took a cab into Nice another city on the French Riviera with a huge beach.

The walking tour was interesting and when we finished, we took a cab back to the port.

Where we docked is a very tiny port along the coast with virtually no straight streets.

We walked around a bit and then had a croissant and a glass of wine.

Then we took the ship’s tender back to the ship and relaxed for a bit before gong out for the night.

For the fact that we have cruised with Celebrity before like we have, we are eligible for free booze from 5pm – 7pm. We found out the first night that Kaula was no longer of the free list; however, we fond a bartender/waiter who was able to get us Barb’s favorite drink every night!!

Tonight’s entertainment was a production number with the singers and orchestra and it was very good; however, as are most of the performances, it was too loud for our taste.

Then dinner in Blu where Barb had Lamb and Ed had Tuna, both outstanding meals.

We skipped the casino tonight as were both tired and we wanted to be fresh tomorrow for more walking. 

Tomorrow is our second tender port to Santa Margherita, Italy, another place we have not been to.

Time to stop and go to bed – night-night

                                                            Going up to church

                                                       A huge market in Nice

A car show in one of the squares

                                                          The very long beach in Nice

                                        A lunch break and a little wine in the port of Villefranche

                                                            The harbor in Villefranche

                                                                   Going out for the evening

                                                                      Ed's Tuna

                                                            Barb's Lamb

Day 6 – Friday, October 5

Today we arrived in Marseille, France which the oldest port in France.    The town was founded by the Greeks in 600B.C. and is the oldest city in France.

Lots and lots of fishing boats line the Old Harbor which is protected by two forts at the entrance to the harbor.  Marseille is now a very large city of 860,000+ people.

We took the shuttle bus that the ship provided and it was a 20-minute ride into the edge of the Old Town.  Then it was another 20 minutes until we reached the harbor.

The harbor is filled with boats and the street making a “U” around the harbor is lined with more restaurants than we have ever see in one place. 

Once we were in the Old City, we took a break and had a couple of Croissants and tea.  Then we walked around most of the harbor, doubled back and walked the side streets.

Finally at about 1:00pm we ate at a small sidewalk café along the waterfront and had a dish that Marseille is famous for -Bouillabaisse this dish was originally made with fish parts that were not sold; however, today the dish is a little different and of course it was all fresh.  The picture should show the ingredients.

Then we walked to the shuttle and took it back to the ship.

Of course we had a snack and then got ready for the evening.

The show tonight was a sax player from Wales and he was outstanding and one of he best individual acts we have seen in a long time

Then we ate in Blue and Barb had Salmon and Ed had Braised Short Ribs

Finally we ended the evening in the Casino

Tomorrow our next port is Niece, France a port we have not been to.

Night-Night

Going out for the day

Taking a break in the morning
 

Lots and lots of restaurants along the waterfront

Now for lunch

Bouillabaisse

Gooing out for the evening