Wow, thanks for the greetings and salutations...
Well, having only done 2 cruises in my 10-yr tenure (a la Neil Peart play on words there), I can safely say that was THE most enjoyable of the two. I've listened close to the sea-stories over the years and all the ones that were telling them felt the same way. Both of the cruises I've done were Mediterranean Cruises - Spain, Italy, France mostly, but we visited Malta for New Year's, and we hit Koper, Slovenia and Haifa, Israel, as well.
The Euro has ruined it for us tourists. Last cruise I did back in summer of '97 was great mostly because of the exchange rates to our dollar. The Euro has been accepted by a majority of the countries there and it standardized the exchange rate across the board.
Like most travelers I sampled the cuisine. While most flocked to the nearest safe havens of the Golden Arches or the Burger King crown, I searched the local venues for something true to the region I was visiting. The seafood in Koper, Slovenia was the freshest I've ever had. The calzone in Gaeta, Italy flowed over the plate it was so huge, and went well with Birra Moretti, a popular Italian Beer.
While in Gaeta we were offered tours to Rome, and I took part in the Vatican City tour, which consisted of the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Cathedral. Visiting those two places will make a believer of just about anyone - from the grandeur of St. Peter's to the beauty of the Sistine Chapel. Unbelievable. I was able to take pictures even though we were not supposed to... I just did as everyone else around me did, and played innocently dumb as I clicked the shutter.
Pompeii was interesting, as well, since it was excavated from all the ash that Mt. Vesuvius covered it with. We were able to scale Mt. Vesuvius all the way to the mouth of the volcano, since it is inactive. Mt. Etna, in Sicily, was another story, however. We went as far as the gondola took us, and played it safe from there.
Barcelona, Spain, was another highlight, as it was as busy as I remembered it 7 years ago... right down to the Peep Show at the foot of the Rambla. I think that was the only time I decided to go American again and hang at the Hard Rock Cafe for a much-needed steak break.
I visited as many music shops and CD stores as I could. The djembe was very popular - every other store sold them. The Virgin Mega Store in Nice, France was a memorable visit. I've never been surrounded by so much entertainment before in my life. I had been searching for an uncoded DVD of Eros Ramazzotti's Roma Live since I started the cruise and Virgin had it!!! That DVD carried me through the rest of the cruise. Though Vinnie wasn't on the drum throne, he has recorded various albums of his, as Eros likes to record in LA.
5/8 I hear ya on the music keeping me sane. My trusty old 700mhz Sony Vaio laptop provided me with umpteen hundred tracks in shuffle mode to keep my 12-hr shifts lively while we were out to sea. And Clint, the Shellback is the only thing that eludes me so far...
During our visit to Villafranche, France, we were visited by The Honorable Donald Rumsfeld. He was there for 30 minutes, but it took us all of two weeks to prepare the ship for his cameo.
I've run off a little too much here, but am very glad to be back in your company once again.
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