FUN-travel: Venice to Venice Seabourn Cruise – Day 4 – Katakolon, Greece
October 11, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Venice to Venice Seabourn Cruise – Day 4 – Katakolon, Greece
Day 23 – Tuesday, October 8 – Seabourn Cruise Day 4 – Katakolon, Greece – still windy but warmer – high 60’s, overcast
What I LIKE
- 8:15 – wake up to UMR
- *8:30 – room service cappuccino
- 10:15 – breakfast
- WATCH – restaurant manager coming out of Veranda
- tell him I like really, really hot cappuccino
- he’s w/room service manager who says he’ll take care of it
- 11:00 – walk into town
- cute, only 5 blocks by 3 blocks
- & seaside street w/cafes & music
- get a deal on kids souvenirs!
- smart lady – it’s the end of the season here
- 1:00 – back to ship
- typical lunch
- 4:00 – sauna before
- 4:20 – complimentary massage from Seabourn (having sailed 20 + days)
- 4:45 – deep tissue massage I paid for
- 5:35 – total “Jello”
- 7:00 – happy hour
- 7:30 – main DR for 3 pea salad, seared seabass w/fingerling potatoes & thyme braised leeks – baked egg & asparagus gratin w/truffled mushrooms – vegetarian spring rolls (think food was better on last 2 seabourn cruises)
- **9:45 – Desserts under the Stars & Rock the Boat moved to The Club
- 10:15 – finally starts & good FUN!
- 11:30 – off to bed
WATCH – What Are The Chances!
What I DON’T LIKE
- *arrives lukewarm
- taxi to Olympia costs $80 Euro (train & bus only $10 Euro but leaves you there over 2 hrs)
- **doesn’t happen & pouring rain
FUN-fact – Katakolon is the gateway to Olympia, where the ancients Greeks flocked every four years for more than a millennium to celebrate the sacred games dedicated to Zeus. The stadium, built 4th century BC, was the world’s first and accommodated 45,000.
FUN-travel: Venice to Venice Seabourn Cruise – Day 3 – Corfu, Greece
October 10, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Venice to Venice Seabourn Cruise – Day 3 – Corfu, Greece
Day 22 – Monday, October 7 – Seabourn Cruise Day 3 – Corfu, Greece – still very cloudy & windy mixed w/rain – mid 60’s
What I LIKE
- 8:30 – wake up to UMR
- 8:40 – room service hot cappuccino
- 10:15 – breakfast
- 11:00 – shuttle bus to Corfu city center
- 11:20 – arrive for walk thru streets & into old town area
- took umbrella
- nice long walk back to pier terminal
- 1:30 – another nice lunch buffet – nice cheese selection, salads & hot options
- you can order a # of items – days specials cooked to order
- today seafood pasta is one option
- 2:30 – room R & R
- 5:15 – Sky bar deck 8 for Bailey’s & coffee (for mama)
- 6:30 – folkloric dance outside deck 7
- *7:00 – made reservations for Restaurant 2 on deck 7 (same as Veranda during the day)
- Thai menu tonight – Popia Pad, egg roll w/lobster, mint & mango coulis – chicken & beef satay w/peanut sauce – glass noodle salad w/lime coriander sauce, lemon grass shrimp w/green curry sauce – spicy beef stir fry w/green beens
- have dinner w/another nice Brit couple – his favorite quote, “I only eat in restaurants where I can see my car,” said by Ferrari owner
- 10:00 – finish & head down to see show on Deck 5 – staff members sing (pretty good)
What I DON’T LIKE
- internet costs $10.00 per hour
- pretty choppy, rough seas in middle of night – keep waking up
- starts to sprinkle (never thought it would be so rainy everywhere this time of year)
- more graffiti!
- ABF – another bloody fortress!
- there are only 2 dinner options on ship
- *you’re only aloud to eat here twice
Old & New Fortress
FUN-fact – Corfu is an island in the Ionian Sea and was considered the entryway to Venice because of its location. It was controlled by Venice from 1402 before a bunch of countries went back and forth for control over a 500 year period.
More FF – The old city became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007.More FF – Oktoberfest in Munich came to an end last night with 6.4 million people drinking 6.7 liter-sized steins of beer – more than twice the volume of an Olympic swimming pool.
FUN-travel: Venice to Venice Seabourn Cruise – Day 2 – At Sea
October 10, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Venice to Venice Seabourn Cruise – Day 2 – At Sea
Day 21 – Sunday, October 6 – Seabourn Cruise Day 2 – At Sea – cloudy, windy, not chilly – mid 60’s
What I LIKE
- *7:30 – wake up (it’s the thought that counts)
- 7:35 – order 2 really hot cappuccinos from room service
- 7:45 – arrive nice & hot
- 9:30 – breakfast in Veranda – nice fruit selection & typical breakfast choices
Trieste
- computer is running faster now
- 1:00 – lunch in Veranda restaurant – nice salads, jumbo shrimp cocktail
- 2:00 – room R & R
- 5:00 – Corfu & Katakolon lecture
- **6:45 – happy hour in Sky bar Deck 8
- 6:50 – happy hour @ The Club on Deck 6
- they have secret stash of 10 gin – martini up extra olives
- 7:30 – dinner @ Chief Engineer Lars table – truffled artichoke carpaccio w/foie gras , mustard crusted scallops on scallion potato risotto, crème brulle en parade – dark, milk & white chocolate
- sit next to lovely couple from Yorkshire, Peter & Cynthia – his favorite quote regarding work ethic of young people “they know the cost of everything & the value of nothing”
What I DON’T LIKE
Trieste
- *my love brings me luke warm coffee (restaurant not open so no hot cappuccino)
- **no bartender because captain’s welcome is tonight (BTDT – been there done that)
- move clock ahead & lose 1 hr
FUN-fact – As usual, we booked the least expensive cabin on our last cruise in South America. (You save an additional 5%) The balcony rooms don’t have balconies; just a sliding door with a railing on this ship (Seabourn Spirit), our room has a big picture window and is plenty big for us. Bathroom has double sinks and tub/shower, good closet space, a couch and 2 chairs. We are on deck 4 (out of 8) mid ship next to the stairs and elevator.
Trieste
FUN-travel: Trieste to Venice, Italy for 10 Day Seabourn Cruise
October 8, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Trieste to Venice, Italy for 10 Day Seabourn Cruise
Day 20 – Saturday, October 5 – Trieste to Venice, Italy for 10 Day Seabourn Cruise – gray overcast, gloomy skies – warmer, maybe 60 – turns misty & cooler in Venice
What I LIKE
UMR – usual morning routine
8:30 – to train
8:35 – arrive
9:18 – train on time & has 1st class
Trieste Roman Ruins
- 9:55 – starts pouring rain
- *11:26 – arrive St Lucia train station on time
- 11:40 – reservation for water taxi to ship terminal www.motoscafivenezia.it
- plenty of water taxi’s – costs the same $70 Euro – cash only
- 12:15 – arrives dock (wrong one)
- **12:20 – arrive correct one
- 12:35 – board ship
- easy check in
- Deck 6 – bar & lunch – different kinds of wraps – nice glass Stags Leap chardonnay & Koonunga Hill shiraz for Chris
- 2:00 – room ready & my bags are there!
- nice bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte champagne awaiting us
- 3:15 – safety drill – don’t have to carry life vest
- 3:45 – chris’ bag finally arrives (would have been freaking out if it was me)
- ***3:50 – scope out laundry room down the hall – 2 washers & dryers – free & empty!
- 4:00 – sail off
- +4:30 – get 1st load in (nice man shows me how to navigate the wash cycles)
- turns out he’s my next door ship mate from San Francisco!
Trieste Church
- 5:00 – get 2nd load in
- 5:30 – check laundry & one’s available – tell lady trying to use other washer to hold it for me & I will show her how to program it
- ++back to room for last load
- 6:15 – final load in & end of laundry fiasco!
- 7:30 – dinner in main dining room – join table w/2 Brit couples
- lively discussion on politics
- lamb chops & halibut (not the best)
- good wine!
What I DON’T LIKE
- feel sad & wish Cinzia lived closer
Cinzia & Me
- *station packed w/people
- water taxi chaos – not sure where or how to find ours
- **have to stand & wait for security to open
- ***3:55 – somebody already snagged both washers!
- +very difficult to figure out settings
- ++she lets someone else take the washer!
FUN-fact – Booking the water taxi from the St. Lucia station is the easiest but expensive. The other option is too walk a long way over bridge with steps to Piazzale Roma. It never occurred to us how difficult the logistics would be in Venice to get to the ship.
Not so FF – Man on cruise said he paid $180 Euro from airport and then another $180 Euro to get to ship terminal. OUCH!
More FF – Cinzia said the name Crisafulli means “the maker of jewelry.”
FUN-photos: South America – Seabourn Cruise 2013
April 19, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: South America – Seabourn Cruise 2013
We started the first part of our trip in Buenos Aires on January 30th. Our cruise departed from there on February 3rd and ended in Valparaiso on February 18th. Highlights included the Falkand Islands, the Scenic Beagle Channel and Glacier Alley, the Cockburn Channel and Strait of Magellan, the Amalia Glacier, and the Chilean Fjords. But the BEST was my surprise birthday party on the 12th (I didn’t know any of them before I got on the ship, so it was a real surprise) and I will see all of them again in our travels!
If you click on the first picture it will allow you to create a slide show. And it turns out they are in ascending order (in other words, the first is actually the last) Enjoy!