I am awake at five am and I crawl around the cabin looking for something that will make me presentable. The laptop in my bag and I am down to deck five and sitting at a table at 5:30. The Coffee bar doesn’t even open until 6 and the staff here are getting things set up.
Once open I order a Cappuccino. This ship has the new china like the Crown
had in August, they also serve their coffee drinks in better to go cups that
don’t require a sleeve and have the little spout that opens and closes for
easier transport.
I have a great signal here in the public areas, but pretty
much non existent in the cabin. Seems to
be a trend on the four different ships we have been on this year. But the signal in the public area of the
atrium is very good and since it is so early there are not many people on
it.
Bernie comes down around 7 am and we order another round of
drinks and watch the ship come to life.
The crew this morning in the coffee bar seem to be just waking up too
and not really with it. Bernie gets his
tea but no milk, I sit waiting for my Chai Latte for a long time and finally
remind the lady and she says Oh yeah right away.
We do miss the International Café and really wish they would
have put one in on this ship. They do
put small Danishes/muffins out in the morning (small sandwiches in the
afternoon) but you have to look up across the bar and thru a plastic covering
and ask them to serve you one to get it.
It had rained heavily last night and early this morning but
it looks like it is going to clear up.
We head up to the Horizon Court for a light bite to eat
before heading ashore. It is quiet as we
waited until around 8:30 to go up and most are off already. This is my first time up here for breakfast
so far and the layout is great with drinks, pastries and breads located
separately (normally where dessert is served later). I get a croissant, a bit of scrambled eggs, a
sausage and some muselix.
We head ashore around ten am and it is a short distance from
the ship to the center of town. There is
a small desk as soon as you exit that hands out simple maps of the area. There is a bigger Tourist Office outside the
port across the street.
There is an audio recording to identify the areas we are
seeing that is played first in French, English then Spanish, but is hard to
hear at times. I will add that the
weather turned out very nice and quite warm and muggy but being on the top deck
of the bus in an open area did provide some cool breezes and a few potential
slaps from the palms lining the street.
So a light jacket may be necessary if coming here in October. But we did see quite a few people swimming in
the ocean.
In town we travel along Av du 1er Consul past the Place De
Gaulle – large square with a statue of Napoleon and his four brothers – we
walked there later.
Back along the coast along Boulevard Pascal Rosini we drive
by a large cemetery – Cimentiere Marin -- that the commentary said held 47,000!
Beautiful homes and stunning beaches line the route.
We turn around at Iles Sanguinaires – Sanguinary Islands and
then drive back along mostly the same route until we get right back into town
where we go past the Citadel.
Back in town we just walk around for a bit, check out the
main square, the Citadel, the Cathedral of Assumption (which closes at 11:30
for lunch and we are shooed out).
The
main square has a small market set up and we glance at the items for sale, and
sample some nougat which is made here but not something we normally would eat.
Walking around we see a couple who look very familiar. Bernie says he thinks they were on our South
America trip with us and so we say hi and yup Lahlanee and Paul from
Hawaii! We remember then and we
especially remember what great dancers they are. They love cruising too and we totally
understand their love too.
We wanted to stop and eat here but we don’t have much time
left, it is 12:45 and all aboard is 1:30.
So we walk towards the ship and wish we were here longer. I would of much preferred a full day here
than Cannes (but then again we didn’t leave the area of Cannes and should
of).
Once back on board we drop off our stuff and head to
Sabatinis for Alfredos Pizzaria. We
order a bottle of Chianti and two pizzas.
They are both GREAT! Service was
a little lacking but nothing horrible just a rush came at once and there are
only two waiters. But they really can’t
spare any more servers from the Horizon Court cause it is crazy busy. Plus heck where am I am going to go… so we
relax and enjoy the meal. Alfredos was
open from 11:30 to 1:30.
Sail away should be a nice one so we are up on the top decks
to watch the sail away. We see Jim and
Bonnie who have just gotten back from a ship’s excursion that they really
liked.
The Princess Grapevine Wine Tasting is today at 3 and we
wanted to do it but I am having a hard time staying awake so we decide to have
a nap and sleep from 3 to 5, but we needed it.
There was a lot going on today to. British Style Pub Lunch in Bayou Café,
Matinee Movie Spy, Line Dance Class, Zumba, Bingo, Afternoon Tea, The Avengers
Movie at MUTS, The Sound of Music Pop Choir Rehersals.
Tonight features Mediterranean Buffet in Horizon Court,
Piano with Valeriy Myrnyy in Wheelhouse, The Art of Rome – highlights and must
sees in the Eternal City of Rome, The Sound of Music on MUTS, Runway at Sea
Fashion Show, Best of the Beatles with DJ TinTin, Ballroom Dancing with pre
recorded music in Wheelhouse, Showtime the Confusionist Sean Alexander 8:30 and
10:30, Pub Night Trivia, ye Olde Pub Night at 9:30, Who Sang What Series: Best
of Britain Edition. Lots of things.
Tonight we are aiming to go to the dining room for the first
time this cruise. People are reporting
that Anytime Dining is experiencing long waits, but I am not surprised with
everyone off the ship till early evening then once back on board showering and
then heading to dinner means many show up around the same time. Tonight with an earlier departure we are
hoping for a good experience.
Today’s Drink of the Day is the Negroni – Gin, Campari,
Sweet Vermouth for $8.25
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