June 1-15,2024. Italy, Croatia, Montenegro Cruise

Our cruise left on the 3rd so we had 3 nights in our AirBnb in the Civitavechia, Italy which is a medium sized coastal town. I’m glad we booked here instead of Rome because it’s much quieter and despite all the cruise ships, there’s still a lot less people. We walked the mile and a half walk every day from our apartment to the city center. Then spent the day wandering around, having lunch and fake shopping.

The food has been fantastic . We usually eat out one meal each day and then we walk to the Supermarket to either cook something or have a prepared salad. We also happened to be in town on a Sunday so I was able to go to Mass at the Cathedral here which was built in 1774. Another Beautiful Church.

Next day, we packed up and headed out for a walk to the Cruise Port. Our scheduled arrival time was 1 o’clock, but we got there at 10:30 and they let us on the ship right away. We dropped off our bags and went exploring.

Our room 7036 is on the 7th floor towards the front of the ship. The buffet is on the 10th floor towards the back of the ship. We have been getting lots of steps in to explore every part of the ship.

We had a nice dinner and went to the show which tonight was an Aretha Franklin Medley. It was great. Then we went to the casino for a bit and then bedtime for me.

Next day got off the ship, walked about 25 minutes to the train station, hopped on the train to Pisa Centrale (20 minute train ride,)and then another 25 minute walk to see The Leaning Tower. The entire trip costs us 10 bucks. The cruise wanted to charge us $115.00 EACH!!! And we would have been trapped there for 5 hours!! Our way was way better for us and the way we like to travel.

Did the same thing heading back and then dinner and a show. The show tonight was all Rock songs with dancers and acrobats. It was pretty entertaining. We participated in the Trivia contest afterwards and then a little gambling in the casino.

Woke up in Portofino, Italy. A beautiful Coastal Town with huge Yachts all around. The ship had to anchor out and they were running tenders all day. Tendering is when you take the life boats from the ship to the dock and we were forewarned last night to pack a little patience in your pocket and boy they weren’t kidding. It was pretty ridiculous the amount of time it took for us to get off the ship, onto the tender and into the port. It was so bad that we decided to just stay in the boat and just come back. From the looks of the Coastal Town, it was small and completely crammed with people. We really enjoyed the boat ride over as we had seats on the upper deck and didn’t really want to chance it because the downstairs of these lifeboats were crammed with over a hundred people. Plus the waves and the rocking of the boat was something we wouldn’t enjoy if we got stuck down there on the way back. The views going to the port were phenomenal. 20 minute boat ride with spectacular views.

We got back to the ship and enjoyed the pool and the sun and had the most amazing Greek Salad with Gyro meat for lunch and Baclava for dessert. The show tonight was some guy singing Opera. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it was awesome. He was really entertaining and fun.

After the show, we had some dinner and plunked a few at the casino. The next day was a Sea Day. Pretty much played around the pool. Did a few activities, one being deal or no deal. Didn’t win, not a cent but it still was fun.

We had an amazing sunset tonight with a sailboat going by in the middle of nowhere.

Next day we got an early start and were off the ship by 9:30. Our plan was to walk to the train and ride the train to Pompei to go exploring. We are starting to get pretty familiar with the trains here. However there was no WiFi anywhere in Naples so we were basing everything on photos I took and saved from like 3 days ago. We did manage to find the station and get to Pompei but took us a while to find the actual ruins and the Italians in this area are just not willing to give you a free map even though everywhere you look are signs that literally say “FREE MAP!!”

We managed finally to find the entrance after passing lots of other cool sites in the City.

We entered and purchased the Express Ticket for $18 each and off we went.First thing we see is the giant Amphitheater where Pink Floyd performed and released their dVD in 1971. I’ve seen that DVD many many times in my twenties. I’m a big Pink Floyd Fan so this was pretty cool for me to see. They dedicated two of the underground tunnels to Pink Floyd and were playing the video. I could’ve turned around and exited and that alone would have been worth the 18 dollars.

We continued on to the Ruins. Pretty intense the way everything was just frozen in time when the Volcano erupted and covered the entire city.

We headed back to the ship the same way we came. Again we paid $36 for the tickets and $12 for the train tickets plus a $10 fine for buying the ticket on the train. That $58 for both of us and the cruise wanted to charge $135 EACH!! I’m so happy that Greg and I are on the same page regarding how we cruise and how we explore.

Another great sunset and another show.

Woke up in the morning in Sicily. We’ve been without WiFi for theee days now so our main o he tube was to find some WiFi. We headed off the ship to the terminal which usually always has internet. This one however did not. So we traveled to McDonalds cause they usually have WiFi as well. Another issue here as well. They want you to sign up with an email address or Facebook or Google or a phone number etc. but then they want you to go to whichever you used and get the code to continue. We can’t get the code cause we have no internet. It’s pretty ridiculous. So next we saw a small coffee shop which had WiFi as long as you buy something which was fine. We had some coffee and Greg had a sweet cream croissant. We checked our email and social media and texts and were on our way.

We then went up and up to a cathedral which was going to have some kind of noon acrobatics show. It was straight up a mountain to get to this place and when we finally got there, there was a cost of 5 euros and we had just spent our last 10 euros at the coffee shop. So down down down the mountain we went. Getting Euros in Italy is not as easy as it seems. The last time I wanted to exchange 100 US dollars, the bank wanted to give me 60 Euros. That’s nuts. Enza our guide was able to get me 86 euros but she is no longer with us. Most places take credit cards but not the church with the show.

We were able to find another coffee bar with WiFi so checked up on things before heading back to the boat.

We headed back and laid out a bit by the pool. The normal evenings activities which included a Tina Turner show, a game show, some gambling and bed for me. Greg stayed up and went to a late night show.

Next day we woke up in the country of Croatia. We walked 2.5 miles to the Old City of Dubrovnik. This is the area where they film Game of Thrones. Greg and I are probably the only two people in the world who haven’t seen that show yet. Anyway I was a really cool area to walk around in. Probably the highlight of this cruise thus far.

Another long walk back to the boat for a late lunch. The buffet here on this ship is so amazing. They change it every single day. But they always have the salad bar and the grill bar so I basically get that every day for lunch a “BA Salad,” with grilled chicken and then for dinner I usually find some kind of meat or fish that I wouldn’t normally find at a Restaurant. Tonight they had Oxtails and they also had beef short ribs which are two of my favorites!! Lucky me.

Another great sunset and another great show. A juggler tonight. He was hysterical. So funny that we went back for the second show to watch his performance again.

Woke up this morning in Montenegro, surrounded by mountains.

After breakfast we took the tender boat over to the town of Kotor. It was about a half hour boat ride. They pack the boats to capacity. Not an inch of space for anyone. It’s weird how they do it, but I guess there must be a reason for it.

This town is known as the cat town so we were excited to be able to see some cats. It was very similar to the last port but narrower streets and allys. Lots and lots of people. There were three other cruise ships in. Big ones.

When we arrived back I joined the corn hole tournament. The activity director and her staff on this crew are excellent. There’s so much to do. I joined in on a game show as well, my category was “That’s a lot of Balls,” I had to name as many kinds of balls as I could in under a minute. Clearly as a retired gym teacher, I was not losing this game!! I won a pack of playing cards.

We awoke the next day back in Croatia in a town called Splir. These last three ports have been amazing. I love towns that are closed to traffic, like tombstone, only a zillion times bigger and older.

This port was great because all the action was within walking distance to the ship. No trains, buses or boats necessary. They even had free WiFi right across the street at the Ticket Station.

Woke up in Ravenna and had an early morning bus ride to Bologna. We are spending one more night here in Italy before flying back to NY in the morning. Our AirBnB is adorable and smack in the middle of the city. It’s also spotless and the cleanest place we’ve ever been in.

We dropped off our bags and headed out. Such a great city!

And that’s pretty much it, Our Season Finale!! Taking my usual break from Blogging and Traveling as we head back to the states tomorrow and back to Raquette Lake soon after.

Thanks for following along on our Journey. See you again in October when we hit the road again.

I put together some quick clips of the cruise for those interested, I’ll post the YouTube below.