Magical Mystery Tour

[dolphingirl47]

In the terminal building, we saw a poster from City Sightseeing advertising amongst others a Mount Vesuvius tour. This is where we wanted to head. Our orginal plan had been to take the train to Herculaneum, but the bus option seemed easier. Of course, when we got to the shuttle bus, which would take us to the ticket office at the first stop, we found out that the Mount Vesuvius route was only operated during the summer months and then only on certain days of the week. We still decided to run with it. This was a wise decission as we never found the train station.

We decided to do the Panoramic tour first. Pretty much as soon as we left, we took to the hills and had some fantastic views. We just completed the tour without ever getting off the bus. Everything around us was so pretty.

When we got back to the first stop, we waited for the bus that did the tour of the lower parts of the city. This was the complete opposite of the first tour. The traffic in Naples is manic and takes some getting used to. And there was me thinking that Paris and Dubai was bad. We realized very quickly that there is only one rule when it comes to traffic in Naples and that is that there are no rules.

We nearly did the full loop of this tour, but decided to get off a few stops early to get some lunch. Naples is the place where pizza was invented so I really wanted to have some pizza. We found a little restaurant that was only too happy to oblige. I had a pizza with tomato, ham, olives and cheese and DH had a Quatro Stagione pizza. The pizzas where huge and very tasty. We washed them down with some nice Italian beer. I had hoped to also get some Gelato (Italian icecream), but this was not to be that day.

After lunch, we headed back to the ship. It is quite an experience to have some scooters heading straight at you on a zebra crossing and you have no idea if they will stop. Let's just say, I was glad when I got back to the ship in one piece.

If we are ever ending up in Naples again, I would either do a shore excursion or arrange a private tour to somewhere like the Amalfi coast, Capri or Pompeii/ Herculaneum. I most certainly would not try to negotiate Naples on my own again.

When we got back on the ship, we had a nap. Between my early morning and the port intensive itinerary, we were pretty tired. That evening, they were showing Disney Nature's Oceans in the Walt Disney Theatre and I had every intention to go and watch this, but by the time I woke up again, the film was halfway through.

We headed up to deck 10 to get some fresh air. I got some more photos. Soon it was time for dinner.

Dinner that night was the rotational menu at Animator's Palate. The menu is one of my favourites, but we have never taken to the "show". The two couples we were sitting with were on their first Disney cruise so it was interesting to see what their reaction would be. They were not too impressed either.

The food was lovely again though. I had the Polenta, Mushroom and Tomato starter, followed by a cheese soup. For my main course, I had the Lemon and Thyme-marinated Chicken Breast with Sour Cream Mashed Pototatoes and Roasted Root Vegetables with Mustard and Onion Sauce. Dessert was Sweet Temptations again, which consisted of Orange and Cranberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Sable and Chocolate Fudge Cake.

After dinner, we headed straight to bed, where we found a towel stingray.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I will respond to questions and comments tomorrow. I just quickly wanted to get the next installment posted before having a reasonably early night as I am on early shifts at them moment.

Corinna

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Yeah another update - thank you.

Did you take any photos of the navigators???

Hot stone treatment - been wondering if it was any good or not - think might have a go when my beauty salon have it half price - elemis

 

[disney_princess_85]

Just dropping by to say I'm still enjoying your report!

 

[mandymouse]

Another fun-filled day Corinna, with lovely pics too That hot stone massage sounds like bliss, I would really like to try one, I may give it a go next time

I look forward to your next update

 

[Pinky166]

Another fab update.

 

[PJB71]

Oh Corrina, I am so loving reading your report, and your pics are fab

 

[Feebs]

Thanks for the great update Corinna - the spa treatment sounds fab

 

[dolphingirl47]

Really loving your report - thank you

You said about the rainforest spa ... I get the impression you could use this the whole cruise? if this is correct how much did you pay (if you do not mind me asking) and also what does the rainforest spa entail?



PS Love the dress you bought - very pretty - oh and love your hair

The Rainforest Room is part of the spa and is my little spot of paradise. In the main room there are 4 heated tile loungers that face a fountain. On the other side of the room is a heated bench. Also in the main room are a Tropical Rain Shower, a Fog Shower and a shower with massage jets. Then there are three siderooms. The first is a aromatherapy steam room, which is way too hot for me. The so called mild steam room, I can tolerate in short bursts, but it is still pretty hot. I love the mild sauna, which has mosaic benches and foot rests and is a very comfortable temperature. What I love most of all though are the heated tile loungers. You can either get a day pass or a length of cruise pass. Our couple's length of cruise pass was around $250, but that was money well spend.

Fantastic photos from Malta and Tunisia .... definitely inspiring me to do a Med cruise at some point.

I would definitely recommend it.

Yeah another update - thank you.

Did you take any photos of the navigators???

Hot stone treatment - been wondering if it was any good or not - think might have a go when my beauty salon have it half price - elemis

I do not have any photos of the Navigators, but I have the full set of Navigators right here and I have a scanner. When I have some more time, I have to see if I can scan them and post them here.

The hot stone massage was heavenly. I am actually trying to find somewhere round here that offers it.

Corinna

 

[PJB71]

The Rainforest Room is part of the spa and is my little spot of paradise. In the main room there are 4 heated tile loungers that face a fountain. On the other side of the room is a heated bench. Also in the main room are a Tropical Rain Shower, a Fog Shower and a shower with massage jets. Then there are three siderooms. The first is a aromatherapy steam room, which is way too hot for me. The so called mild steam room, I can tolerate in short bursts, but it is still pretty hot. I love the mild sauna, which has mosaic benches and foot rests and is a very comfortable temperature. What I love most of all though are the heated tile loungers. You can either get a day pass or a length of cruise pass. Our couple's length of cruise pass was around $250, but that was money well spend.



I would definitely recommend it.



I do not have any photos of the Navigators, but I have the full set of Navigators right here and I have a scanner. When I have some more time, I have to see if I can scan them and post them here.

The hot stone massage was heavenly. I am actually trying to find somewhere round here that offers it.

Corinna

Hi Corrina

I have a friend that does alternative therapies(but i'm sure she dosnt do hot stone) I could ask her if she could recommend anyone if you like as your not too far away from me?

 

[dolphingirl47]

Hi Corrina

I have a friend that does alternative therapies(but i'm sure she dosnt do hot stone) I could ask her if she could recommend anyone if you like as your not too far away from me?

That would be wonderful.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 10
We had a fairly early start in the morning. When we got up, we were already docked at Civitavechia, the port for Rome. It is really a bit naughty to call it Port of Rome, as even by highspeed train, Rome is an hour away. We went to Lumieres for some breakfast and then we made our way to the station. There was supposed to be a shuttle bus that would take us from the ship to the entrance of the port, but we did not see any evidence of this nor did we see a bus stop for it. So we just started walking. The Magic was docked the furthest away from the port entrance. There were two other ships in port. One of them ended their cruise at the port. With no proper facilities at the port, there was a certain amount of chaos around that ship. Civitavechia is essentially a container port that also allows cruise ships to dock. They do not even have a terminal building, but they were getting ready for check in for the Holland America ship in a tent! The walk was not very pretty, but after about 20 minutes, we got to the entrance of the port. One of our table mates had shown us some directions to the station with photos the previous evening, but this did not match up with what we found when we got there. Still, we found the station easily enough.

When we got to the station, the line for the ticket counters was out of this world. So we decided to negotiate the ticket machines, which we managed to do without too much trouble. We opted for the highspeed train and as it was only a couple of Euros more expensive, we treated ourselves to first class. We ended up having a compartment to ourselves and the train was very comfortable. It took just under an hour to get to Rome.

When we arrived at the main station in Rome, they had tourist information staff walking around the station. We approached one of them to ask where the stop for the Hop On Hop Off busses is. We had every intention to use City Sightseeing again. However, they are building an extension to the Metro and therefore the Hop On Hop Off buses are no longer allowed to stop near the station because of the building site. As there are at least 15 different companies that operate Hop On Hop Off buses in rome, she was not quite sure were their closest stop for them would be. However, she offered to take us to the ticket office of another company, which was nearby. She showed us their leaflet and it looked good, so we took her up on that offer. Once we had our tickets, she directed us to the right bus stop for our bus. While we were in line for the bus, various vendors tried to sell us fake designer goods and cheap hats. Fortunately we were on the bus before too long.

We stayed on the bus for the first two stops, but decided to get off at the Colloseum to take some photos. We then walked from there to the next stop. When we got to that stop we did not have to wait long until the bus came.

 

[dolphingirl47]

One of my favourite books is Angels and Demons by Dan Brown and I wanted to see as many of the landmarks from that book as possible. So the next stop was for the Pantheon, where the story started to unfold. This was easier said than done. We got off at a stop that was nmaed Pantheon/ Piazza Navona, but was not particularly close to either. We managed to find the general direction, but I did not realise that I was close to the Pantheon until I was stood right in front of it. It was worth the effort though. I did however notice one inaccuracy in the book. According to the book, the artist Raphael was not originally buried in the Pantheon, but supposedly the body was transferred their years later. However, on the information table near his tomb it clearly states that his body was taken to the Pantheon straight after his death. Shame on Dan Brown!

I never found Piazza Navona. This time we had a bit of a longer wait. It was a hot day and it was too hot for DHs liking. So we completed the route and when we got back to the original stop, he got off and headed back to the ship. I decided to stay on for a second go around and this time round I would get off near a few more landmarks from Angels and Demons. I got some nice shots of the Castel Sant'Angelo from the bus on the way to St. Peter's Square.

I got off the bus at St. Peter's Square and took some more photos. I managed to find the West Ponente plaque that is featured in the novel. It is quite ironic really. There are loads of thos plagues dotted around St.Peter's Square and they are all in pristine condition. Only the West Ponente plaque is looking a bit rough round the edges.

I would have loved to actually have a look inside St. Peter's Basillika, but the lines to get tickets were very long. I hear afterwards that there was a group having a private audience with the pope that day and even if you had a ticket, people had to stand in line for the security check for up to three hours. So I decided to pass on this for now. I also would have loved to see the Sistine Chapel, but did not want to commit myself to a timed ticket beforehand. Again, this will wait until a future visit.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Once I had taken enough photos of St.Peter's Square, I got back on the bus. The bus went right past my next destination, Piazza del Popolo, but the bus stop was actually a fair walk away. I managed to find it without too much trouble, but the street that I had to take was a little seedy. When I got to Piazza del Popolo, there was not just one church as I had expected, but three of them. Once of them looked closed and was surrounded by scaffolding. The second church was open, but not the one I wanted. Fortunately the third church was Santa Maria del Popolo, which features prominently in Angels and Demons. Unfortunately the Chigi Chapel that plays a role in the book is currently being restored and a lot of it is hidden behind scaffolding and and tarpaulin. However, what I did see looked really interesting and it is completely different in style from the rest of the church.

I did not fancy going back the way I came. I had a look at the map and the main road that was leading away from the square seemed to intersect with the road on which the bus stop was located. I had walked a while and still had not come across it. So I decided than rather than backtracking to see if I could find it, I would push on to the next bus stop as this seemed to be located on a fairly major road. Well, I never found this either. What I did find was a Lush shop. I did not even know that there was one in Rome. I try to visit as many different Lush shops as I can so that was a bonus.

In the end I ended up somewhere near the Colloseum. I decided to get a taxi to take me back to the station. That way I had missed out on one more landmark from the book (Santa Maria della Vittoria Basilica), which was near the final bus stop, but again, that can be done at a later date.

I got back to the station at about 17:30 and realized that there was a 17:39 train. I decided that I should easily make this and got my ticket. This was only EUR4.50 and a real bargain. I did make the train, but I had to run for it. Whereas in the morning we had arrived on one of the main platforms, the train that evening departed from the far end of the station. Just as I got on the train, the doors closed. The journey back was nowhere near as smooth as in the morning. We were parked at some small station for ages. Still, I had good company. Three of the DVC staff, including our new guide, were on the train as well and I ended up chatting to them. When we got back to Civitavechia, it was nearly 19:30.

I walked from the station to the port entrance and got in line for the port shuttle bus. There were loads of other people waiting, but no bus. In the end, shortly after 20:00 a bus showed and we were told that this would be the last bus. By then there were enough people to fill two buses, but somehow we managed to get everybody on. This really was not very well organized by the port. All on board was not until 21:30 so it seems a bit strange that the last bus goes at 20:00.

Anyway, I was back in our cabin at 20:20, just in time to drop off my stuff and collect DH for dinner. Unfortunately he was not there. I decided to head up to Parrot Cay, where we were having dinner that night, to see if he was there. He was not, but there were some complete strangers sat at our table. Apparently one party from the early dinner seating did not arrive until nearly 8. They were moved on fairly swiftly and a the table was reset in record time.

When our table mates had arrived and there was still no sign of DH, I started to get worried. I decided I better go and look for him as I was not entirely sure if he would remember where we were for dinner that night. I headed back to the cabin to see if he had left me a note, but nothing. I saw our stateroom host, who had seen DH an hour before. So at least I knew that he was on the ship. In the end I found him in the Rainforest Room, fast asleep on a tile lounger. I decided to leave him there.

I headed back to Parrot Cay for my dinner. That night we had the Master Chef menu. I had Spicy Tomato, Olive and Basil Bruschetta followed by Succotash Soup. For my main course, I had the Fillet Mignon. This normally came with Lobster Medallions, but I had it without the lobster and it was lovely. For dessert, I could not make up my mind so I had both the Triple Chocolate Terrine
and Caramelized Apple Cheesecake on an Oreo Cookie Crust, which were both very nice.

Once I finished my dinner, I went back to our cabin, where I found both DH and this towel fish.

 

[mandymouse]

What a great day Corinna. How cool to find the places that were in Angels and Demons (I'm a big fan of the movie). Once again fab photos too

I look forward to your next update

 

[disney_princess_85]

Rome looks lovely!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 11

I was absolutely convinced that I would not get off the ship that day. La Spezia is a tender port and to say that I am not too keen on that process is the understatement of the year. From what I had read beforehand, there was nothing there that particularly tempted me either.

We had a leisurely start to the day and a bit of a lie in. We went to Lumieres for breakfast. Instead of my usual Eggs Benedict, I opted for the Dulce de Leche stuffed Belgium Waffles with watermelon, which was very nice.

If you wanted to go ashore before 10:30 and if you were not on an excursion, you had to go to the Buena Vista Theatre to get your tender ticket. I figured that I might as well keep DH company and at least have a look at the tender boats. There was always the option of going back upstairs if I did not like what I saw.

I was very impressed with how this was organized. At the entrance to the theatre they checked if our party was complete and if we had our photo ID and room cards. We were then given our tender tickets and were asked to sit down. About 5 minutes later, we moved down to deck 1. There our tender tickets were collected and our room key was swiped and we got on the tender boats. The tender boats were rather nice. They were very big and stable. I think that they are normally used for excursions. So I decided to give it a go. La Spezia looked very pretty as well in the distance.

When we got off the tender boat, there was a little road train parked. We decided to get on that. This took us along a route through the hills with a great view to the town centre. The last trip back to the port was at 14:00 and we did not make that in the end. The stop in the town centre was more than half way to the train station, which is where we ultimately were headed.

 

[dolphingirl47]

La Spezia is a pretty little town with some nice shops. On our way to the station, we finally came across a cafe that sold Gelato. It was still morning, but I can eat icecream at any time of day and night. I had lusted after Pistacchio and Straciatella, but they had no Straciatella at the time. So Amarena made a worthy substitute.

With our icecream cones in our hands, we headed for the station. DH wanted to have a look at the Cinqueterre National Park. They actually have their own little information and ticket office at the station. A day ticket for the train was about EUR8 per person. We had a little wait for the train as we had just missed one, but we were quite happy to sit and just watch the world go by.

When our train arrived, we decided to go to the furthest of the Cinqueterre, a little town called Monterosso. I had hoped for a scenic train ride, but we mainly went through tunnels and only get quick glimpses of the stunning landscape when we pulled into the stations on the way.

The views from the station in Monterosso where absolutely stunning and I had to stop to take some photos. Monterosso is a pretty little town, but it was very obvious that the season had not started. It is also meant to have the prettiest beach in the Cinqueterre. However, if you expected a sandy beach you would be disappointed. The beach is actually shingle. DH of course could not resist the urge to get at least his feet wet. So he waded into the Med, which was apparently even colder than in Tunisia.

After DH was safely on dry land again, we decided to get back on the train to head to Riomaggiore. Riomaggiore is the Cinqueterre village that is closest to La Spezia. On the way to Monterosso, I had spotted a viewing area that looked very promising. I wanted to see if we could find it.

 

[dolphingirl47]

When we left the station, we had to go through a tunnel to get to the village itself. In the tunnel, they had gorgeous mosaic than covered the whole length of the tunnel. Unfortunately the light was not good enough to take photos.

Once we had come to the end of the tunnel, we went onwards and upwards. The whole village seemed to consist of stairs, very steep and uneven stairs with handrails being the exception rather than the norm. Access to most of the houses is by stairs only. We were rewarded for our climb by a bench with a glorious view.

Of course, what goes up, has to come down again. I have no head for heights, but I am usually OK going up. Coming down is a different matter. I was terrified going back down. I saw a lemon tree on the way down, but it did not even occur to me to take a photo.

When we were back on level ground, we decided that we were both hungry. Next to the station was a little restaurant and we decided to check if they would do some pasta. I had some spaghetti with some tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. It was really simply, but one of the tastiest meals I ever had. DH had a pasta with monkfish and courgette, which he also really enjoyed. After lunch, I treated myself to a Limoncello, which tradionally comes from the area of Sorrento and the Amalfi coast, but is also produced in the Cinqueterre.

Once we finished our meal, we headed across the road to the station. Shortly afterwards our train arrived and we headed back to La Spezia. We had only just missed the last departure of the road train.

We walked through the town centre and I decided to get some dessert. I went back to the same little cafe that we had stopped at in the morning and got another cone of Gelato. This time round they had Straciatella so I had that and Pistacchio. We slowly walked through the town centre. There were loads of interesting little shops, but as it was Siesta time, they were closed. When we got to the end of the high street, we crossed a pretty little park and we were back at the port. While we were waiting for the tender boat, we spotted this building with Secret Mickeys on top.

When we got to the dock, they checked our ID, room keys and bags. They had a table with iced water set up, which was a nice touch.

We did not have to wait long for the tender boat to arrive, but once we got on, there was a bit of a wait until we left. While we waited for the boat to leave, I got the closest to feeling seasick that I did all cruise. The boat did move a little, but the floating dock seemed to move in the opposite direction. This really upset my sense of balance.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Once we were on our way, the water was very flat and I was fine. I took a series of photos of the Magic as we approached her.

When we got back on the ship, they just swiped our room keys. We headed back upstairs to our cabin. This night was Pirate Night. I had booked our Palo dinner for that night. We were not too upset about this as neither of us is too keen on the Pirates In The Caribbean Menu. However, I had brought my Pirate costume and I wanted to wear it. I love the photo opportunities on Pirate Night, so I decided to get dressed up for this and the Pirate Trivia.

I managed to catch Pirate Mickey and Pirate Chip and Dale before Pirate Trivia started.

We had done the Pirate Trivia on our cruise last year and did rather well. So we decided to check if we can win again. We ordered a Virgin Pina Colada each and settled down. We were the only takers for this. So we had a target set that we needed to get at least 17 out of 25 to get our prize. In the end we got 21 out of 25. We got Winner medals to go with the winner baseball caps that we had received last year.

As we had breezed through the quiz, I actually still managed to catch Pirate Minnie and Captain Jack Sparrow. If the quiz had run to the advertised length, I would have missed them.

Once I had my photo taken with them, I went back to the Promenade Lounge to finish my drink. Once that was done, we went back to the cabin to get our swim stuff and headed for the Rainforest Room.

I got a few funny looks by people that I ran into on my way to the changing rooms as I had brought my Cocktail Dress. I wanted to get showered in the spa and it was just easier to then get changed into my dress for Palo straight away. This also gave me some valuable extra relaxation time. We started off in the Mild Sauna and when DH went to use the steam rooms, I settled down on a heated tile lounger.

Once I was showered and changed afterwards, I quickly went to the cabin to drop off my Pirate costume and put on my jewellery. There was one character that was still on my wishlist for that day and that was my favourite character (well joined favourite with Figment) Stitch. Fortunately I managed to get photos with Stitch and one of the photos that was taken then is probably my favourite photo from this cruise.

I had arranged to meet DH in front of Palo 5 minutes ahead of our reservation time. We were both there a bit early and they were not ready for us. We were seated soon afterwards though. We had a table by the window near to the private room, which was not in use that evening. Palo has been one of the highlights of our previous cruises and I had been looking really forward to this. Well, this time it did not quite live up to expectations.

Our server was OK, but no more than that. Maybe our expectations were really high as the servers we previously had at Palo had been spectacular. Indeed, the server that we had on the Wonder 2 years ago had transferred to the Magic when we cruised last year. He recognized us straight away and came over to say "hi". This time round he was helping out in the main dining rooms as they were short staffed and was on our rotation. Again he recognized us straight away. He came to our table to say "hi" and did so most evenings. He definitely helped making this cruise special for me.

Well our server at Palo this time was the exact opposite. Unlike our previous servers at Palo, he did not seem interested in us at all. He became even less interested when he realised that we were not going to order any wine. The irony was that before we sat down, I had every intention to order some wine, but could have done with a recommedation as I was not familiar with any of those available. As this was not forthcoming and our server stayed out of sight for ages, I just gave up.

Soon after sitting down, another server brought out the breads and dips and an Antipasti platter. I always love this. The dips are Tapenade, Aioli and Roasted Red Pepper. The Antipasti platter consisted of cured beef, Parma ham, Parmesan cheese

and Olives.



For our starters, I had Polenta with Portobello Mushroom and a Roasted Shallot Sauce. Our server recommended with when we had our first Palo dinner in 2008 and I have loved this ever since. This was every bit as good as I remembered and I could only just stop myself from licking the plate clean. DH had some jumbo shrimp, which were one of the specials, which he also enjoyed.

Once we had our starters, we got some Lemon Sorbet and our server brought out the dessert menu at the same time. The famous Palo Chocolate Souffle is cooked to order and therefore needs a little time. I had this once and did not really like it and DH is allergic to chocolate so we passed.

For our main courses I had the Beef Tenderloin with the red wine sauce and DH had the Rack of Lamb. We both loved the meat part of our meal. DH could not even figure out what the side dish was and did not like it at all. Mine came with baby carrots and asparagus tips, some green mush that I did not dare try and some potatoe gratin. I have had the potatoe gratin at Palo twice before and it was always gooey and full of flavour. This time round it was dry and bland.

Dessert was nice. Last year I had the Gelato and that was the plan for this time as well. Unfortunately the choices this time were Caramel Banana (which I am allergic to) and Passionfruit (which simply did not appeal to me). So I went for the Amaretto Chocolate Indulgence, which was yummy. DH had the Almond and Pineapple Ravioli, which he enjoyed. Our server also brought us a Chocolate Souffle. DH had the vanilla icecream that came with it and I had the Souffle. Well, I have to say I did not like it any better the second time around. I much prefered the Grand Manier Souffle at Lumieres. We finished the meal with a Limoncello. They are no longer serving the complimentary lemon drink after the meal.

Our server tried to convince us to book an additional dinner or brunch on one of the sea days, but we declined politely. I am not even sure if we will do dinner at Palo on our next cruise. I would love to do tea as we really enjoyed this in October and could not get this for this cruise. I am just not sure that I would be willing to give up the company of our table mates and regular servers and risk missing out on a theme night or special menu to go to Palo. I might just wait and see how we feel when we are on the ship and know when the theme nights and special menus fall.

From being seated to leaving Palo, it had taken a little over an hour. This was the quickest time we finished a dinner in all cruise. We decided to have a walk around deck 10 to walk off some of the food. The preparations for the Pirate Night Party were in full swing. We have always missed this as we were always too tired and I had every intention of making it this time. However, it was still an hour until it was scheduled to start and it was a chilly night. I knew if I went back to our cabin to put on something a bit warmer, I would not want to come out again. This is exactly what happened. The Pirate Night Party will have to wait for another cruise.

When we got back to our cabin, we found this towel monkey waiting for us: