August 28, 2010 Pirates of the Barbary Coast - 11 nights in the Mediterranean

[CustardTart]

Welcome IrishCowboy! Are you going on this cruise?

Ok, we have another tentative schedule:

Day 1 Barcelona, Spain...

Day 2 At Sea..

Day 3 Valletta, Malta... Walking Tour On Our Own

Day 4 Tunis, Tunisia.... Medina and Carthage

Day 5 Naples, Italy.... Mt. Vesuvius by 4x4, Hike, Wine Tasting & Pompeii or Amalfi Coast Drive and the Ruins of Pompeii

Day 6 Civitavecchia.... Italian Countryside and Olive Oil

Day 7 At Sea.

Day 8 La Spezia, Italy.. Portofino and Santa Margherita or Cinque Terre Scenic Boat Tour

Day 9 Ajaccio, Corsica.. ???? Still looking ????

Day 10 Villefranche.. On Our Own in Villefranche

Day 11 At Sea......

Day 12 Barcelona, Spain...

Looks good!

The Mt. Vesuvius trip sounds great - and it would be so much fun to do an excursion together methinks!!!

 

[eva]

Happy Thanksgiving!!!​

Thanks so much Karen. Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK? I know Canada does in early October.

 

[eva]

Looks good!

The Mt. Vesuvius trip sounds great - and it would be so much fun to do an excursion together methinks!!!

I have a feeling that excursion is going to win. But we have been talking about the Amalfi coast for a long time. I'm pretty keen on the Portofino and Santa Margherita excursion too. But I've been wanting to see Cinque Terre too. The nice thing about that excursion is that it is only 4 hours. We are thinking that it would be nice to make some of our excursions ony half days. Then we can enjoy the ship a bit when everyone else is on shore. That is one reason that we chose the Medina and Carthage excursion. It is only 4 hours too. I'm afraid if we aren't careful, we will wear ourselves out by the end of the cruise. So we are going to take it easy at most ports and save the full day events for the ones we really want to go on.

 

[CustardTart]

I have a feeling that excursion is going to win. But we have been talking about the Amalfi coast for a long time. I'm pretty keen on the Portofino and Santa Margherita excursion too. But I've been wanting to see Cinque Terre too. The nice thing about that excursion is that it is only 4 hours. We are thinking that it would be nice to make some of our excursions ony half days. Then we can enjoy the ship a bit when everyone else is on shore. That is one reason that we chose the Medina and Carthage excursion. It is only 4 hours too. I'm afraid if we aren't careful, we will wear ourselves out by the end of the cruise. So we are going to take it easy at most ports and save the full day events for the ones we really want to go on.

I really like the Mt. Vesuvius by 4x4, Hike, Wine Tasting & Pompeii - it's so different, it just jumped out at me!!! I went to Pompeii as a an 11 year old and I still remember certain details - looking forward to revisiting...

I had another look at the Portofino/Santa Margherita excursion and now I'm not so sure as the Pizza Party doesn't appeal whatsoever. I have to steer clear of wheat and all that temptation can't be a good thing... SO, back to the drawing board unless I just resign myself to eat toppings only...

Anyway, I'll keep going back and checking the Port Adventures section as they may add excursions as the months go by...

 

[eva]

Well, we are starting to narrow things a bit. We have decided that the Bardo Museum, Medina, Carthage & Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia sounds pretty good. So we may be on that excursion together. In Naples we are pretty sure that we will be doing the excursion with the Amalfi Coast. In La Spezia we may do Cinque Terre on our own. There is a train and ferry from the port to each of the towns. We still can't seem to decide on what to do in Corsica. The Sweet Corsica excursion might be fun. Steve is not taking this very serious yet, since there is so much time till the cruise. But I am sure he will have an opinion as we get closer.

 

[eva]

I'm sure this will change here and there, but here is ANOTHER tentative schedule:

Day 1 Barcelona, Spain

Day 2 At Sea

Day 3 Valletta, Malta.... Walking Tour On Our Own

Day 4 Tunis, Tunisia.... Bardo Museum, Medina, Carthage & Sidi Bou Said ($90)

Day 5 Naples, Italy.... Amalfi Coast Drive and the Ruins of Pompeii ($179)

Day 6 Civitavecchia.... Italian Countryside and Olive Oil ($59)

Day 7 At Sea

Day 8 La Spezia, Italy.... Cinque Terre Scenic Boat Tour ($129)

Day 9 Ajaccio, Corsica.... Sweet Corsica ($89)

Day 10 Villefranche.... Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese ($85)

Day 11 At Sea

Day 12 Barcelona, Spain

The prices in () are per person. So total for two people will be $1,262 in excursions. Plus we will need about $150-200 for the day in Malta. We are thinking that we may exchange a couple of excursions for a day on our own.

 

[CustardTart]

...So total for two people will be $1,262 in excursions. Plus we will need about $150-200 for the day in Malta. We are thinking that we may exchange a couple of excursions for a day on our own.

It's not cheap, that's for sure... We've just cancelled our 3 nights prior to the cruise in Barcelona - too expensive when there are excursions to be paid for!

Here's our not-so tweaked schedule:
Day 1 Barcelona, Spain...
Day 2 At Sea..
Day 3 Valletta, Malta... Day at The Westin Dragonara Resort, Malta booked privately...
Day 4 Tunis, Tunisia.... Bardo Museum, Medina, Carthage & Sidi Bou Said. $90 x 2...
Day 5 Naples, Italy.... Mt. Vesuvius by 4x4, Hike, Wine Tasting & Pompeii. $179 x 2...
Day 6 Civitavecchia.... Private tour of Rome...
Day 7 At Sea.
Day 8 La Spezia, Italy.. Portofino and Santa Margherita.$125 x 2. Decided to stick with this despite the pizza! I've always wanted to see Portofino and it sounds a lovely tour...
Day 9 Ajaccio, Corsica.. Independent lunch and wine tasting.
Day 10 Villefranche.. Independent lunch and wine tasting.
Day 11 At Sea......
Day 12 Barcelona, Spain...

OMG what a total!!! Around €1000 minimum plus DCL excursions at $790...

Right, I'm off to hunt around the house for all the discarded Euros I can find - no one's piggy bank is secure!!!

 

[eva]

It's not cheap, that's for sure... We've just cancelled our 3 nights prior to the cruise in Barcelona - too expensive when there are excursions to be paid for!

Here's our not-so tweaked schedule:
Day 1 Barcelona, Spain...
Day 2 At Sea..
Day 3 Valletta, Malta... Day at The Westin Dragonara Resort, Malta booked privately...
Day 4 Tunis, Tunisia.... Bardo Museum, Medina, Carthage & Sidi Bou Said. $90 x 2...
Day 5 Naples, Italy.... Mt. Vesuvius by 4x4, Hike, Wine Tasting & Pompeii. $179 x 2...
Day 6 Civitavecchia.... Private tour of Rome...
Day 7 At Sea.
Day 8 La Spezia, Italy.. Portofino and Santa Margherita.$125 x 2. Decided to stick with this despite the pizza! I've always wanted to see Portofino and it sounds a lovely tour...
Day 9 Ajaccio, Corsica.. Independent lunch and wine tasting.
Day 10 Villefranche.. Independent lunch and wine tasting.
Day 11 At Sea......
Day 12 Barcelona, Spain...

OMG what a total!!! Around €1000 minimum plus DCL excursions at $790...

Right, I'm off to hunt around the house for all the discarded Euros I can find - no one's piggy bank is secure!!!

Sounds good. We are still up in the air on the Cinque Terre boat tour. We might opt for the Portofino tour too. And the last two excursions in Corsica and Villefranche are just our favorites out of the list. We may opt for something on our own there. If you find a good winery tour in Corsica, let me know.

 

[CustardTart]

Good morning!!! And it is a good morning - the sun is shining and, for the first time this week, my back isn't killing me!!!

Anyway, just wanted to say how much I'm looking forward to this cruise!!!

35 years ago (I was aged 11) my crazy family and I did an overland trip to Cyprus for my Aunt's wedding. We passed through Germany, Austria, the then Yugoslavia and Greece on the outward stretch but the return leg of the trip involved travelling through Italy and France. So the day in Rome will also be a trip down memory lane - or should I say Via Memoria???

Sounds good. We are still up in the air on the Cinque Terre boat tour. We might opt for the Portofino tour too. And the last two excursions in Corsica and Villefranche are just our favorites out of the list. We may opt for something on our own there. If you find a good winery tour in Corsica, let me know.

Will do!!! I'm still hunting, TBH. I have a couple of ideas - I need to get Sophie (the business French guru) to email the potential wineries and see if we can set up a tasting...

 

[eva]

Good morning!!! And it is a good morning - the sun is shining and, for the first time this week, my back isn't killing me!!!

So glad to hear that you are feeling better. Strange, I pulled a muscle in my back this week and today is the first day that I don't need any painkillers.

Anyway, just wanted to say how much I'm looking forward to this cruise!!!

35 years ago (I was aged 11) my crazy family and I did an overland trip to Cyprus for my Aunt's wedding. We passed through Germany, Austria, the then Yugoslavia and Greece on the outward stretch but the return leg of the trip involved travelling through Italy and France. So the day in Rome will also be a trip down memory lane - or should I say Via Memoria???

That trip sounds wonderful! We loved Rome on our ABD trip last year. But since we were just there, we have decided to try the only excursion that is outside of Rome. I think that we enjoyed the Italian countryside even more than the city. On our trip we spent time in Tuscany and Umbria. They were both wonderful. So we are hoping that the Italian Countryside and Olive Oil will give us a bit of that.

Will do!!! I'm still hunting, TBH. I have a couple of ideas - I need to get Sophie (the business French guru) to email the potential wineries and see if we can set up a tasting...

I would love to do a tasting at a winery in Corsica. That is the main reason that we were looking at the Sweet Corsica tour. But if we could find another option that just had the wine tasting and lunch, we would probably opt for that. I did some searches of wineries in Corsica and it seems that the majority are more than two hours from port. But I willl keep looking.

 

[CustardTart]

I'm sure we can organise something independently in Corsica. It's such a tiny island!

Anyway, I'm a bit today. I had a phone call from the police today and have been requested to appear as a witness in a trial tomorrow !!!! This is something that's been going on since August 2008 and I cannot remember anything about the incident or what the guy looked like - nothing!!! Worse of all, Richard's away. He's currently on an overnight flight to South Africa so I'm home alone. He's working there tomorrow (in meetings and unavailable) and then flying back tomorrow evening so he can be back in the London office on Wednesday morning. I won't see him until Wednesday evening and I'm very sad...

Oh well, at least it'll be all over soon...

 

[eva]

Anyway, I'm a bit today. I had a phone call from the police today and have been requested to appear as a witness in a trial tomorrow !!!! This is something that's been going on since August 2008 and I cannot remember anything about the incident or what the guy looked like - nothing!!! Worse of all, Richard's away. He's currently on an overnight flight to South Africa so I'm home alone. He's working there tomorrow (in meetings and unavailable) and then flying back tomorrow evening so he can be back in the London office on Wednesday morning. I won't see him until Wednesday evening and I'm very sad...

Oh well, at least it'll be all over soon...

That is very strange. Have the police been talking to you since the incident? Did you have any idea that they might be calling you soon? I can't believe they are only giving you one day notice. By the time that you read this, it will probably be over. How did it go? Were you just a witness or did someone commit a crime against you? I sure understand about forgetting most everything after a year. I was attacked in our home almost 25 years ago. Luckily he was caught and went to trial in about a month. I bet I would have forgotten most everything after a year. Funny, I don't even remember his name anymore. Let me know how it went.

Sure stinks that Richard is out of town when all this happens!

 

[CustardTart]

This is concerning an incident that happened almost 18 months ago, Eva! I saw (and spoke with) a man in my back garden who had allegedly robbed our next door neighbour earlier that day. I was required to make a statement at the time and then had to attend an ID line-up in November time. Suffice to say, I couldn't ID the guy - I am hopeless with faces!!! Anyway, I was told that I might be required as a witness but assumed (see, one should never assume - a$s out of u and me and all that...) as my statement was pretty pointless, I would get called. The trial was postponed 3 times and I was notified a month ago that it should be starting this week. You only get a call the afternoon before whether you're required so I was a bit miffed to get the call at 5.30 yesterday - when I'd already assumed (that word again!) safety...

But the main thing is it's OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it wasn't too bad - lots of waiting around but we had a little room and I had a book so all was good there.

I was called 3rd and spent about 15 minutes in the witness box. I did the whole "I swear by Almighty God" thing - very Law & Order!!! I hadn't focused on how it would actually feel beforehand so was surprised at how nervous I became!! My mouth went very dry at one point. But the prosecution lawyer guided me through it and I recounted my version of events. Well, my statement's version of events - I can hardly remember a thing!!!

It was a little tricky when the defence lawyer tried to trip me up about the lenses of this guy's glasses being thick-rimmed or thick. I'd actually meant thick (they were like the bottoms of bottles) but the stoopid policeman had written thick-rimmed and the even stoopider witness (hello!!!) hadn't spotted it and signed the statement without realising!!! Fortunately he allowed me to backtrack and state that I must've meant thick-rimmed if that's what I said - for a moment there, I thought I was going down for perjury!!!

Oooh I'm just so pleased it's finished with. Am actually quite exhausted right now, from the tension I guess - so relaxing with a cuppa coffee...

 

[eva]

This is concerning an incident that happened almost 18 months ago, Eva! I saw (and spoke with) a man in my back garden who had allegedly robbed our next door neighbour earlier that day. I was required to make a statement at the time and then had to attend an ID line-up in November time. Suffice to say, I couldn't ID the guy - I am hopeless with faces!!! Anyway, I was told that I might be required as a witness but assumed (see, one should never assume - a$s out of u and me and all that...) as my statement was pretty pointless, I would get called. The trial was postponed 3 times and I was notified a month ago that it should be starting this week. You only get a call the afternoon before whether you're required so I was a bit miffed to get the call at 5.30 yesterday - when I'd already assumed (that word again!) safety...

But the main thing is it's OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it wasn't too bad - lots of waiting around but we had a little room and I had a book so all was good there.

I was called 3rd and spent about 15 minutes in the witness box. I did the whole "I swear by Almighty God" thing - very Law & Order!!! I hadn't focused on how it would actually feel beforehand so was surprised at how nervous I became!! My mouth went very dry at one point. But the prosecution lawyer guided me through it and I recounted my version of events. Well, my statement's version of events - I can hardly remember a thing!!!

It was a little tricky when the defence lawyer tried to trip me up about the lenses of this guy's glasses being thick-rimmed or thick. I'd actually meant thick (they were like the bottoms of bottles) but the stoopid policeman had written thick-rimmed and the even stoopider witness (hello!!!) hadn't spotted it and signed the statement without realising!!! Fortunately he allowed me to backtrack and state that I must've meant thick-rimmed if that's what I said - for a moment there, I thought I was going down for perjury!!!

Oooh I'm just so pleased it's finished with. Am actually quite exhausted right now, from the tension I guess - so relaxing with a cuppa coffee...

How awful! I'm glad it is over.

 

[CustardTart]

How awful! I'm glad it is over.

So true. And I am especially glad that my lovely eldest son, Matty is here to take care of me tonight...

On a positive uplifting note, I'm off to St. Paul's Cathedral tomorrow evening for a Breast Cancer Care Carol Concert. There'll be readings by Jeremy Irons and John Hurt amongst others - cannot wait...

Happy Christmas...

 

[eva]

So true. And I am especially glad that my lovely eldest son, Matty is here to take care of me tonight...

On a positive uplifting note, I'm off to St. Paul's Cathedral tomorrow evening for a Breast Cancer Care Carol Concert. There'll be readings by Jeremy Irons and John Hurt amongst others - cannot wait...

Happy Christmas...

The concert sounds wonderful. It will be like the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT. We've been twice. I just love it! We saw Phylicia Rashad (Cosby Show) and James Earl Jones. Jeremy Irons has a fabulous speaking voice. You know he did the voice of Scar in the Lion King. Very Cool!

 

[eva]

Thought I better give us a bump. We were nearly on page 4!

 

[CustardTart]

And a *bump* from me too...

Anyone else looking to join this happy band of cruisers???

I've been MIA lately - distracted by all the Christmas preparations I guess..? It's snowy here today and the Med in August seems very far away...

 

[eva]

I've been MIA lately - distracted by all the Christmas preparations I guess..? It's snowy here today and the Med in August seems very far away...

It does seem far off. I keep trying to get Steve interested in looking at excursions and such. But he keeps saying that there is plenty of time to do that later. Maybe he will be more interested in January. But I have a feeling that it may be later in March before he really gets too interested. He is going on a mission trip with our church to the Dominican Republic the end of February. He is pretty wrapped up with that right now.

I wonder if all the DISers going on this cruise are thinking the same thing. I'm really surprised that no one has joined in. Maybe this particular sailing is not too popular. I know that there are still plenty of staterooms open.

 

[CustardTart]

Well, it's the last pre-Christmas push now!!! I think I've got everything sorted but who knows?? I feel slightly frazzled as we're off to the Alps on December 27th for a week in a ski chalet!!!! I'm not a skier but the rest of the family love it so I'm looking forward to spending time in the snow with them...

Hey Eva, have you seen that ABD have linked up with our cruise? What do you think?? I haven't told Richard about it yet but I wondered if it was something you'd recommend???

And on that note, I'd better sort those last-minute Christmas cards that are staring at me!!!