Mediterranean Trip Part 3 The Cruise - Embarkation and Monaco If you wish to read all my rambling on our trip and have not read Part 1 and 2, you may want to read those parts first. (9/29) We enjoyed another wonderful breakfast at the hotel. Our driver picked us up at 11am and dropped us off at the terminal at 11:30. There was a nice waiting area but we didn’t have to wait that long - we were on the ship @noon. We ate lunch with CJ, went to the shore excursion desk to get 2 more shore excursions lined up and add CJ to the gondola ride excursion, and went to our room (interior first floor starboard forward). Conveniently, CJ’s room was on the floor above us, also starboard forward. After unpacking, we watched some flamenco dancers that had come on the ship for the afternoon, and walked around the ship. We ate dinner with CJ and went to the Welcome Back show. That show was the least inspiring Welcome Back show of any that I have seen so far. Most of the production shows on this cruise were shorter than those in the past, and CJ’s band played at none of them. In the past few years, the production shows on Carnival have gone from being backed by the band, to the band playing with taped music, to all taped music today. Live music is just more exciting. (9/30) We had breakfast at the buffet. Unlike the shows, the variety of food on Carnival ships is significantly better than a few years ago. One of my favorite things for breakfast were the huevos rancheros - chicken, salsa, and cheese on a nice soft taco covered with 2 fried eggs. Yummy! CJ was our tour guide for Monaco. This was the first of many places we visited that were built onto the side of a mountain. We walked to Fort Antoine (an 18th-century fortress rebuilt in 1953 after being destroyed in 1944), the cathedral, palace, casino, Japanese gardens, a shopping mall, and a grocery store (where we saw Pop Tarts on sale for over $10 a box). On the way back to the ship we stopped at one of the small places to get crepes. Yummy again! Dinner again in the main dining room. The appetizers on Carnival ships have always been the most appealing thing on the menu to me. This night my meal consisted of 5 appetizers (including 3 soups) and dessert. We watched the ship leave Monaco, made reservations for Friday at one of the costs-extra restaurants, and watched CJ’s band, along with the three guitar soloists. This was the first day on the ship for one of the soloists who was missing his luggage and guitar - lost in an airport somewhere. He borrowed someone else’s guitar and bought some clothes at one of the stops. The last we heard he still hadn’t recovered his stuff. One of the good things about the band not playing at the shows is that it is more prominently featured. In the past, the band played in a hallway near the casino, more like providing background music as you walked by than a concert. On this cruise, the band played in an area that had a stage, tables and chairs, bar service, and a dance floor. The band played three 45-minute sets to packed audiences. Because of the popularity of the band, I stopped going to the shows and sat at a table ahead of time so Dot and I could have seats to listen to the band.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 15:30:57 +0000
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