So we are now on the Splendor sailing from Rome to Miami.

In a Uber on the way to Saint Paul De Vence. Storm coming in and they cancelled our tour so we are doing it on our own.

Yesterday we were on a tour to a small town (portovendre) not sure of the spelling. Went by boat with Mark and Cheron and Jim and Jan.

Then on shore we broke away from the guide and did our own thing. Mark and Cheron joined us. Jim and Jan went on the tour.

Cute little place a UNESCO world heritage site. We walked up
the town, went up a lot of steps to a church and viewed the old fort.

Then had a great cup of coffee and then on the boat back to the ship.

Having a great time on the Splendor. Last night we ate with JIm and Pat and Jim and Jan. we special ordered rack of lamb, roasted potatoes and carrots and peas. It was yummy.

I am having a reaction to wine even with my "magic wands" guess I am going to have to "give it up" So last night I had bright red cheeks so "hid" them when we took a picture. Will post that picture when we get on the bus this morning. I use the phone and always good interent with Tmobile so easy to post a picture from the bus.

Food overall has been good and staff have been excellent. I have one of my favorite waiters here Meldin, Be back with the picture about to leave for a tour of three medievial villages with Mark and Cheron.

Cheron, Mark and Ngaire in one of the hilltop villages.

What's been happening on the Splendor since Barcelona?

Great weather everywhere so that has been nice. Seas a "little" rocky one night but nothing big. Enjoying the ship, the tours, dinners and lunches and playing games in the afternoon. 62 people in the group. So nice to see so many that I have not seen in a while and nice to meet people we have not met before.

I will post some pictures with some of our advenures. A picture tells the story. We have had some great tours on this trip.

Highlights of the cruise

Nice:
St. Paul De Vence - one of my favorite places to visit. The tour was cancelled as it was in the afternoon and we had a storm heading our way and had to leave early. So we got a Uber from the ship to St. Paul and then a Uber back again. It is quite a long way. A taxi was $150 one way and Uber was $50 one way. There was very light rain, more a light drizzle than a rain. However, that meant that many of the shops were closed. Off season and a little rain. Few people were there which actually made it very pleasant. We investigated areas we had not been before.

Palamos, Spain:
We visited three Medieval Villlages. This tour suprised some of the most well kept Medieval Villages I have ever seen. We went early in the morning and there were no people around. Would not have been the same experience if the towns were crowded. They are famous for pottery here and there were some beautiful stores a delight to visit.








Cappuccino was yummy.

Barcelona
They had tours for those staying on board the crossing. We really enjoyed this tour, a little drive around town then we went to the Cable Car for a beautiful view of Barcelona. Then we visited a shopping town separated into various areas of spain. We had free time here to wander this delightful area. Again not busy at all. We saw a video presentation of all the festivals of Spain that was interesting. It was a delightful experience. Never done these things before and been in Barcelona so many times.

Wonderful Thanksgiving last night. . Linda and Mary Ellen decorated the table and we had the Captains table with 12 people. Hard to talk at a big table BUT so nice to be gathered together. The turkey was good and it was a very sizeable portion. They also had lamb rack so i ordered that a slice of turkey to keep with tradition. Pictures below.







Dave, Joan, Mark, Ngaire, Cheron, Mary Ellen, Linda, Chris and Jim

Missing and Jim and Jan not sure why they did not come out with the others, and of course Ken who took the picture.

VEAL CHOPS AT SETTE MARI - absolutely fantastic!! We have all the chefs pins.

Santa Cruz De La Palma Canary Islands

Walked into town, cobblestone streets. It was just very lightly raining for a short while and then it stopped. Had a black sand beach. We purchased a moisturizer cream we heard good things about. Couple of pictures below.

So today was SUNDAY and a sea day. which means the fantastic buffet that Regent does for lunch. So much food to pick from hard to know what to try.

What is as good as the food are the beautiful chocolate sculptures.

So we are on our fourth day at sea and we are enjoying incredibly calm seas. A little rocking last night but nothing to worry aout we have been blessed with good weather on this cruise.

We had our KLT lunch today and it went very well. Noise level got high as everyone started talking. The private luncheons are really a nice way for people who do not know each other to get together. Food was good and we had our favorite waiter Melden as part of the service team. We were so busy eating and talking Ken did not take any pictures.

Two more ports - St. Marteen and San Juan. We decided to turn in our tour tickets we were in both ports earlier this year.

More calm sea days. This must be one of the calmest crossing ever. Played games each day to pass the time which was a lot of fun.

In St Maarten now. Docked next to two huge ships. Decided to not go ashore today. We were here recently and the traffic was incredible. Lovely day for those going on tour.

Only three days left the time has just flown by. Going to the Grandeur Christening on December 10 - 13. Then on December 31st leave for New Zealand and not back until Feb 23rd.

Ngaire, glad to hear of your smooth crossing on Splendor. Those of us on Grandeur are having a bit more of a rough time of it. Just passed through one weather front last night with 12 foot swells and 40+ knot winds. Captain Luciano says we are going to cross a second front tonight and to expect more of the same. Lunch wasn’t very crowded today. Ha ha.

We will try to get her to you in one piece for the christening.

Ngaire,
You mentioned going to the Christening Dec 10 - 13. Are you staying on for the sailing?
Jim

Yes Jim, we will be the 3 day Christening cruise as will Clay and Brooke. Usually dinners are always pre-organized but we can still get together during the cruise. See you soon!!

We disembark today.

Been a great cruise with calm seas, great friends and met some wonderful new people I hope we will see again. Norbet, the GM and one of my favourite waiters, Melden and his helper Joseph have all been amazing. Food has been good, consumed more lobster than ever before. Sorry we did not take a lot of pictures. We stayed onboard on several port days as we did these ports on a Carribean cruise earlier this year.

On December 10th we come back to Miami for the Chistening of the Grandeur followed by a 3 day cruise to get acquainted with the ship. Then on December 29 we leave for NZ with time with family before we embark on the Explorer for three cruises back to back. The Auckland to Sydney cruise. Sydney to Singapore cruise. Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise. Longest time we have ever been on a ship.

We had not intended to do the Sydney to Singapore cruise. But to stay on board cut out 2 long distance flights with the associated jet lag and we got a ton of miles back. Seemed the sensible thing to do. The two hosted cruises have a lot of guests but the cruise I added that was not hosted and it is a small number of guests. So it will be interesting to see how we like this additional cruise. We really enjoy our hosted dinners, meeting new people and seeing old friends. This cruise will be totally different for us not hosting every night. We may love it and be like a regular guest or we may miss having the dinners with old friends and meeting new people.