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| Look at us looking all cute in France |
We thoroughly enjoyed our 12 nights at sea with our friends the Chillihead Beach Bums! With this being their first cruise we were excited to show them all a cruise has to offer.
Our trip began in Barcelona where we boarded our boat. Once we set sail, our first stop was Nice, France. We explored the French Riviera and Monaco – talk about money!! I have never seen such large yachts! #lifegoals
I had no idea Monaco was it’s own country, so I learned something new. Did you know that?
Pisa/Florence, Italy was our next stop. We took the day to see the leaning tower of Pisa, of course! Surprise, surprise, it was leaning.
Rome was next and we decided to do an all day tour of Rome and the Vatican. Keith was just in awe of Vatican City as he grew up Catholic. Our tour was a skip the line tour and it was by far worth the extra money as those lines are LONG. As morbid as this is, the most interesting thing to me was seeing the dead priests they have laying inside the temple. It was so interesting seeing how they have preserved the bodies to honor them.
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| The Amalfi Coast |
The Amalfi Coast is beautiful and was next on our stops. I have been there before so I was excited to go back. We did a tour of the whole coast which was great as we were able to see so many cities versus just staying in one. Ravello is still one of my favorites as it is such a cute town with a spectacular view. The roads are long and winding but we managed to snake our way through the hills and enjoy a lovely lunch with wine.
Croatia was our least favorite stop as we weren’t sure what to expect – I had heard it was beautiful but we just didn’t see it there. Split is a very touristy area and we just didn’t really see it for what the rest of Croatia probably possesses. We did a tour of the area but after it was over we headed back to the ship for lunch. We just weren’t feeling it.
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| St. Marks Basilica |
Venice was the one stop we all were looking forward to. The ship stayed overnight so we spent two days there instead of the typical 1. We did a ton of walking all up and down the streets. The best tour we did was a food and wine tour that took us to obscure places tourists wouldn’t have visited. We loved it! Venice really is a great city to just get lost in – you can find so many cool buildings and streets. Keith and I really want to go back there for at least a week next time. The food we found for dinner was ok but I think we would have rather stayed up till the wee hours of the night and gone to a more local stop, but we were all starving by 5pm… Seems the locals eat more around 10pm. Next time! The next day Keith and I ventured off on our own for a local walking tour of hidden places – our tour guide was amazing and we found ourselves still finding more hidden places to eat and shop. If you haven’t been, go! It’s a city worth visiting!
Montenegro was our last stop and it was probably our biggest surprise. We didn’t know what to expect as none of us had really ever heard of it before. It was amazing! We took a boat tour where we swam and ate and just enjoyed the very salty water of the Adriatic Sea. Floating was so easy but it was chilly. The views were amazing! We did venture into the town for a bit for some gelato and cocktails. It started poring on us so we eventually made our way back to the boat. It was a great day!
As always, Royal Caribbean was a spectacular way to travel and they never disappoint. The crew we interacted with was amazing and took great care of us. Keith and I ended up booking 2 more cruises for 2019 and 2020. Looking forward to those trips.