Our Magical "It's All Part of the Adventure" London + 10-Night Med Cruise - July 2018 - Completed!

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 10 (Continued)

After lunch, Frederick wanted to take us to a true medieval village up in the hills. Saint-Paul de Vence.

He dropped us off at a charming square before entering the walled area.

An interesting thumb sculpture inside the courtyard of the hotel.

The first order of the day was Gelato!

We climbed up to the top of the hill and working our way down.

Beware the self cleaning toilets: A funny side story, but unfortunately no pictures. We used the toilets at Saint-Paul. But, these were not our usual pay toilets. For 50 cents euro, you entered, basically a steel box. We noticed that the bathroom floor was really wet. There were 3 lights beside the door: green was good to go, yellow was cannot use and red was do not enter. Anyway, after using the toilet, you unlocked the door and exited. However, you couldn’t let anybody come in after you because once the door shut, it self-cleaned and sanitized itself. DD almost got a shower if it hadn’t been for our quick thinking on figuring this out. ​

What a fun little place. It was so charming and quaint. It was the quintessential provincial French village and I loved walking through it.

Afterwards we drove back through Nice. An amusing statute by the waterfront. It’s actually flat, but gives the illusion of being 3D.

To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 10 (Continued)

Before we got back to port, Frederick took us to an overlook that housed an old battery as defense of the harbor.

It had killer of views of, wait for it,

The Magic!!!

After a wonderful day, Frederick dropped us back at port at about 4:30 PM. Our passports and KTTW cards were checked at the terminal. DCL was waiting for us with cold towels and ice cold water again.

We were surprised to see our security friend with his dog in Villefranche. We don’t know if he came with the ship or drove from Marseille, but there he was. He let DNM walk his dog.

We then got on the tender back to the ship.

We were back on board by about 5:00 PM.

Tonight was the night that DD and I had been waiting for and most excited about. It was our first time at Rapunzel’s Royal Table. Tangled is one of DD’s favorite movies.

The first night’s show is a surprise birthday party for Rapunzel. The Thugs greet you at the door and mingle amongst the tables before they start their little show.

The décor of the restaurant is adorable and totally reminiscent of the movie. The details are what set Disney apart. Everything from the table number and the napkin

To the bread bowl and the design on the plates.

To the chairs, ceilings and hanging lanterns.

We instantly fell in love with the place.

The show started while we ordered.

To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 10 (Continued)

It was time to order.

DD ordered Rapunzel’s Tower Tea. It had jasmine white tea, orange passion juice and raspberry puree. They brought it to the table on a little fry pan. It was so cute. Then they dropped a little ball of cotton candy that instantly dissolved. It got glowing reviews from DD. (Pascal not included)

I ordered the Green and White Asparagus Spears for an appetizer.

Baby Romaine Leaves.

And Oven Roasted Tom Turkey Breast.

Then came dessert.

I ordered the Blueberry Streusel Cake

DD ordered Atilla’s Sublime Cupcake. According to her, it really was sublime!

We thought the inside of the restaurant was cute, this was on the outside.

Twice Charmed was being shown again tonight at 7:30 PM. We lingered over dessert and didn’t leave Rapunzel’s until about 7:40 PM, so we didn’t see the show.

DD wanted to get a picture with Goofy in his French outfit. Then we ran up and saw Minnie, Mickey and Daisy, all in their French attire.

We went back to our stateroom to change into more comfortable clothes and found this.

We then headed out to catch John Kimmons in Fathoms. He was a comedian/ventriloquist.

The show was meh, nothing spectacular. Afterwards we passed by the D-Lounge where DNJ, DT and DNM were doing Karaoke. We stopped and cheered them on before heading back to our room and bed. We had another full port day tomorrow.

I loved Villefranche! The French coast was beautiful and I had always wanted to see Monaco. The small village of Saint-Paul de Vence was so charming. Alas, we are leaving France and moving on to Italia! Au Revoir!

Next: Buongiorno Italy!

 

[Disneyfriend]

We really didn't spend that much time in Monaco, so for your itinerary, I wouldn't worry about spending any time there. It was cool to drive through, but we didn't take the time to tour the palace, casino or aquarium.

Thanks for your response. I loved your pictures of St Paul de Vence! Just great pictures throughout!

 

[lilsonicfan]

really enjoying your trip report so far - thanks so much for sharing. the pics of la sagrada familia are so beautiful!

 

[FSU Girl]

The Tangled restaurant is so cute. I can't wait to experience it. I hated the original restaurant and was really happy to hear they were replacing it. The decor is perfect and the food looks good too.

 

[buteraa]

What an awesome trip report! Excited to hear about Italy.

 

[ksack]

Thank you so much for these tips! We currently use the Frio and I was nervous about traveling with his insulin, so I'll definitely be showing DH these products!

I am curious about how DCL worked with you regarding carb counting for meals?

Please keep up with the great trip report!

Speaking of traveling with a diabetic, traveling with insulin is always a tricky business. When DD traveled to Europe last year, her insulin got too warm and by the time she got home, it had all gone bad. Knowing that we were going to be about 24 hours before I could refrigerate the insulin we brought, I used the following hack.

First, I bought a MedAngel. The device, with an app on your phone and bluetooth, will show you what temperature the insulin is and if it is in a safe range.

Next, I bought a Hydroflask food container. They are supposed to keep things cool for at least 24 hours.

I cut some small pieces of small bubble wrap to protect the vials from breaking and used reuseable ice cubes to keep them cool.

For the most part it worked really well. By the time we finally got into our room in London, the insulin was in the 70's, but in range. The refrigerator never got cooler than 50 degrees, but it kept the insulin cool enough. When we arrived in Barcelona, I couldn't access the fridge, so I just put a ziplock baggie full of ice in the container and it kept the insulin cool during the day until I could open the fridge.

While touring, we carried a bottle of insulin with us in a FRIO pack.

In addition, I had no problem going through US security with the flask. In London, we waited until after we were security to put the insulin and a baggie of ice into the container.

Overall, I was pleased with the performance of the MedAngel and using the Hydroflask. I will definitely use it again when traveling.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Thank you so much for these tips! We currently use the Frio and I was nervous about traveling with his insulin, so I'll definitely be showing DH these products!

I am curious about how DCL worked with you regarding carb counting for meals?

Please keep up with the great trip report!

DCL won't, and they don't help with carb counting at all. In fact, don't even tell DCL about the diabetes, they will just push the sugar free, no sugar added foods that actually have more carbs than the regular foods. Besides, the servers don't understand diabetes at all, let alone the difference between type 1 and 2.

If you don't already have one, I recommend getting the Calorie King book. They used to sell a smaller travel size, don't know if they still do. You might be able to download a copy to your phone to use offline in the restaurants. That might help if you aren't yet comfortable counting carbs outside the packages and scales.

 

[ukintheus]

Just got through all of your trip report so far. Such a great trip, love reading all about it so far.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Just got through all of your trip report so far. Such a great trip, love reading all about it so far.

Thank you for reading. I really enjoy your trip reports too!

 

[ksack]

DCL won't, and they don't help with carb counting at all. In fact, don't even tell DCL about the diabetes, they will just push the sugar free, no sugar added foods that actually have more carbs than the regular foods. Besides, the servers don't understand diabetes at all, let alone the difference between type 1 and 2.

If you don't already have one, I recommend getting the Calorie King book. They used to sell a smaller travel size, don't know if they still do. You might be able to download a copy to your phone to use offline in the restaurants. That might help if you aren't yet comfortable counting carbs outside the packages and scales.

I’ll have to check, we may still have our book at home... currently we use the app on our phones, so we may have to invest in their WiFi... hmm...

They can push all they want, I’m a tough momma and know how to push back... We limit him to a certain extent, but only to help him make better choices so it’s more of a habit when he’s an adult...

Thanks again for the tips!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 11 – Genoa, Italy
Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Our plan today was a private tour with Prestige Rent to Portofino and Santa Margherita. Our tour was set to start at 8:00 AM so we met at 7:30 AM to get off of the ship. Today we would be getting off port side, midship, deck 3.

As usual, I was up at about 6:00 AM. I caught this beautiful sunrise over Genoa.

After getting dressed, we headed up to Cabanas for breakfast. We sat outside again. The views were just too interesting to pass up.

At 7:45 AM we were exiting the ship into the port terminal. The terminal was huge.

I was able to get my picture of the back of the ship and Goofy!

Our driver, Giovanni, found us and we were off. We had a nice big travel minivan for the 7 of us and the wheelchair.

Giovanni was wonderful and knowledgeable and we loved listening to his Italian accent all day!

Unfortunately, there were a couple of accidents on the main roads out of town and we got stuck in the tunnel for about 30 minutes.

We drove along the coast, marveling at all of the expensive chateaus and yachts.

We passed through the town of Rapallo. We would eventually stop there towards the end of our tour.

We stopped at an overlook for some pictures of the coast.

We reached the very narrow (barely 2 cars wide) road to Portofino. We had some very close calls and had to honk our horn before going around a turn to let other cars know we were there. But it was worth it!

Our driver dropped us off at the top of a street and we walked down into Portofino.

There are 2 ways to get to Portofino, the very narrow road we took, or by ferry coming from the other side. Fortunately, we beat all of the other excursions to Porfofino and it felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Portofino is not really that big. We walked down to the waterfront, where my DH slipped on the very slippery algae covered rocks. He was fine, just skinned up his knee a bit. While I tended his knee, my DD was getting the quintessential postcard picture of Portofino!

To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 11 (Continued)

Portofino was beautiful and the water was crystal clear. They had some interesting statues around the waterfront.

Yes, those are meerkats.

We walked around the small harbor.

When our time was up, we walked back up the hill to meet Giovanni. We were just in time too as a ferry had just arrived with tour groups.

We stopped for Gelato at this cute little parlor just below the parking lot.

We then drove to Santa Margherita.

Giovanni dropped us off on the waterfront near the Christopher Columbus statue. (It seems like all the cities we’ve visited so far have had a Columbus statue)

Giovanni recommended a restaurant for lunch, Santa Lucia.

It was simply fabulous, from the time we walked up to the time we were finished, we were treated like family. The owner of the restaurant served us himself and prided himself on his homemade pasta, pesto, tiramisu, and panna cotta. To start, we had fresh Prosciutto and Melona. It was the freshest, sweetest cantaloupe I have ever eaten! I ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese while everybody else ordered the specialty, pasta and pesto.

My favorite wine is Pinot Grigio. My favorite Pinot Grigio is Santa Margherita. It was really cool drinking my favorite wine in the place where it is made!

I had Panna Cotta with chocolate sauce. It was fabulous!

To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 11 (Continued)

After the fabulous lunch, we ventured out to explore the city. There was a carousel in the park across the street.

Our mission was to find the local pesto and olive oil. The little markets are fascinating.

While walking through town, we noticed the paintings on the walls of the buildings. It reminded me of Bavaria and the Tyrolean style buildings.

I loved this miniature utility truck.

We passed this church.

We made it back to the Christopher Columbus statue. He is pointing west to the New World.

Giovanni then took us to Rapallo. There was an old Italian fort that he thought we might find interesting.

We walked around town for a bit.

We passed this market with the enticing window.

There was this gazebo near the waterfront with a beautifully painted ceiling.

Unfortunately, because of the construction, we couldn't get over to it with the wheelchair.

We made our way back to the waterfront to meet Giovanni.

DD really wanted to get her feet into the Mediterranean. As there was a beach very close to our drop off point, she took off her shoes and walked down to the water. She said it felt like a mix of the Atlantic and the Pacific, whatever that means . Fortunately, there was a water faucet that she could use to rinse her feet off afterwards.

To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 11 (Continued)

Giovanni picked us up and we headed back to the ship.

The port terminal was beautiful.

Once again, DCL had ice cold washcloths and ice cold fruit infused water waiting for us. We got back onboard at about 4:30 PM.

It had been a very long day, but we were looking forward to tonight.

Dinner was back in Lumiere’s. Ater that wonderful lunch we had in Santa Margherita, none of us were really that hungry. It was the French menu tonight.

DD ordered the Princess Delight (non-alcoholic) drink.

She also ordered the Escargot. No thank you. But she loves them! As she says, Es car got to get more!

I ordered the Iced Lobster and Jumbo Shrimp along with the Leak and Potato Soup (sorry not picture).

For the main entrée, I had the Chateau Briand Roasted Filet Steak. It was melt in your mouth marvelous!

For dessert I had the Strawberry Shortcake Sundae.

After dinner we went back to our stateroom and found this.

We changed clothes and took some pictures of us leaving Genoa. Ciao Bella!

We saw Mickey and Goofy in their Italian attire.

However, the thing I was looking forward to the most tonight was Susan Egan. I loved Susan Egan as Meg in Hercules. I never had the pleasure of watching her play the original Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway.

Her concert was amazing! She talked about how she got started in musical theater and sang a medley of songs from Disney’s other princesses. Just to prove what a consummate performer she is, she was in the middle of belting out Moana’s “How Far I’ll Go” when all of the sudden the mic goes dead and we hear “Bright Star, Bright Star” over the PA system. After the announcement, she asked if she should continue with the song, she only had 8 more bars to go and continue to the next thing. We all yelled finish the song. Her personal accompanist picked up where they left off and finished the song strong! Brava!!!

She told the story about how Disney wouldn’t initially let her audition for the part of Meg; saying that Belle was too innocent and she wouldn’t fit. Well, she told them, I play “Belle, but I am “Meg.” They let her audition and the rest is history. She tells how she was so excited to get her own song to belt out like all of the other Disney females before her. But, what did they give her: a 50’s Do Wop with a gospel quintet for backup vocals. My favorite part of the show was when she sang “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” live to the actual movie clip from “Hercules” with her vocal backup. DD’s favorite part was when Susan sang the new song “How Does A Moment Last Forever” from the live action version of Beauty and the Beast that Emma Watson sang. It gave us chills!

We enjoyed the show very much and couldn’t wait to see her again later on the cruise.

That pretty much wrapped up our day. We had an early excursion time in the morning so we headed to bed.

I absolutely loved Portofino for its quaintness and quiet beauty. I am glad I was able to see it without too many people around. Santa Margherita and Rapallo were wonderful cities to walk through and admire the extraordinary buildings and narrow alley ways.

Next: How I came up with the title to my trip report.

 

[buteraa]

What a great trip report!

 

[Disneyfriend]

I especially loved your report on Genoa. As you undoubtedly know, there's just not a lot of info out that about that port - certainly not on Disney, since it's a new port for them. Our itinerary stops there next summer, and I've been trying to figure out which way to go: either a private tour around Genoa itself, or a private tour to the same places you visited. I know I want it to be a shorter day, because of how port intensive the week will be. Genoa will be our half way point, and seems like the natural day to pick a 5-6 (max) hour excursion.

It sounds like you were very happy with your choice! Pictures are gorgeous.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I especially loved your report on Genoa. As you undoubtedly know, there's just not a lot of info out that about that port - certainly not on Disney, since it's a new port for them. Our itinerary stops there next summer, and I've been trying to figure out which way to go: either a private tour around Genoa itself, or a private tour to the same places you visited. I know I want it to be a shorter day, because of how port intensive the week will be. Genoa will be our half way point, and seems like the natural day to pick a 5-6 (max) hour excursion.

It sounds like you were very happy with your choice! Pictures are gorgeous.

I know what you mean. We had no information on Genoa either. When researching tour companies we found Prestige Rent. They can customize a shorter tour for you. Just keep in mind that the places you might want to visit are not close to the port. If you wanted to shorten your visit a little, I would recommend only visiting a couple of towns. Have fun planning and thanks for reading!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 12 – Livorno, Italy
Wednesday, July 11, 2018

The plan today was to visit Florence and Pisa. We were taking the Florence and Pisa Tour (LV06) through DCL. Our neighbors had previously been to Florence so they went to another city in Tuscany today.

I was up a little before 6 to watch us come in to Livorno. But, we were already docking by the time I got up.

Livorno is a very industrious port, so there wasn’t any real scenery today. We had breakfast at Cabanas and then headed down to the Walt Disney Theater at 7:30 AM to meet our tour. We were given the number “4” sticker. I miss the character stickers.

I remembered to take a picture of our door.

We were then walked out to our tour bus where we met our guide for the day, Lucia, or Santa Lucia, as she preferred. The tour was operated by Trumpy Tours.

I guess I kind of knew how the day was going to go when the first thing we did was stop for a bathroom and coffee break 15 minutes after leaving the port. Really? Fortunately, we were the first of many buses to stop there. Unfortunately, we weren’t the first one out. They were all headed to the same place.

Lucia prepared our tour by handing out photos of our meeting places, places we would see, food we might want to order and some Italian words we may need to know. She also pointed out several places where we might want to shop.

On the way to Florence we passed beautiful fields full of sun flowers. Lucia stated that they were late blooming this year.

When we reached Florence the driver took us up the hill for the dramatic view of the Duomo and Florence. I was really looking forward to seeing it and getting some great photos. We drove right by without stopping.

The bus parked and let us off by the Arno river. We had to walk to the Santa Croce Basilica and the plaza in front of it. Now if we had the time, this would have been a great church to visit as Michelangelo is buried there.

The leather store next to it was to be our meeting point, which she repeated numerous times. Of course, the owners of the leather store were more than happy to let us use their bathrooms and offer us a 20% discount off of their products.

We were given a few minutes to go to the bathroom and “shop” before we made our way towards the center of Florence. It was very busy as all of the tour groups were meeting in this plaza. There were only 1 of 2 ships in Livorno today, but I don't know how many were coming from La Spezia.

Along the walk, Lucia kept pointing to street signs that were “altered” by a Swiss artist named Clet. He uses stickers to alter the signs. Instead of fining the artist, Florence will eventually remove the signs and then sell them on Ebay.

Lucia, also kept pointing out small details on the buildings, like hitches to tie horses too, or secret doors (which she never explained why they were secret).

To be continued. . .