Cruise

We checked out of our hotel in Barcelona and headed for the cruise terminal expecting to join the line up of the more than 3,000 people waiting to join the cruise. To our surprise it was the most seamless embarkation we have had. Our taxi was met by staff with a trolley who took our luggage. We had checked in on line so after going through the obligatory scanning procedures we were at the desk and checked in and on board in 10 minutes. When we got to our room our luggage was being delivered.


We can not fault the service. We had already booked our dining room table on line which is on our key card. So when we go to the dining room we are shown directly to our table (109) and the menu has a great range. We have had barramundi, rib fillet – all the food is good. (To good) They even have frozen soups - pina colada, daquirie etc. The breakfast in the Di Vinci Dining Room is equally good.



Ian found the gym straight away and has been a couple of times already while I have done the laundry and shopped.

Yesterday we visited Monte Carlo. We did a guided walking tour to the Royal Palace, the St Nicholas Cathedral where Prince Rainer and Princess Grace are interred, and had free time in Monaco and Monte Carlo. From the Palace square we had beautiful views over the Port of Fontvielle and Monte Carlo with the vast array of very expensive boats. Casino Square has the luxurious Hotel de Paris, Café de Paris and of course the legendry Casino where I went in and bought some chips for souveniers. One highlight of the tour was some photos I took of Princess Caroline walking down the street towards us - no one else had seen her. They were setting up the race track and stands for the race in a week so there was a lot of scaffolding etc in a lot of the photos.

Today another early morning to visit Florence to the Piazza del Duomo to visit the superb cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the 4th largest church in the world. Next was the Piazza Della Signoria with the Plazzo Vecchio with a copy of Michelangelo’s “David”. We then visited Acedemia to see the original David but we weren’t allowed to take photos. (Except for one big Australian that everyone knows took one) It is very impressive as were his unfinished works. We also stopped at Ponte Vecchio - the famous 14th century covered bridge spans the Amo and is home to Florence’s medieval gold and silver guilds. Then on to visit the Field of Dreams and the Leaning Tower.



Tomorrow is Rome.



I will only be doing a blog every 2-3 days with only a few photos as wi-fi is very expensive on board - $0.75 per minute. Also we are up at 5.30am and not back until late so it is hard to get the time.