We got up and grabbed breakfast here and there. Nothing fancy. Coffee, yogurt, bread.
We had a ship’s excursion to remote mountain for a 4 X 4 ride to the top,
The views were spectacular and while other participants didn’t enjoy the ride, we really did. We visited a town that had been abandoned during the Spanish Civil War that began to be rebuilt in 1998.
Four families now live in the village and all of the restored homes are rented for vacationers and hikers. At the top you could see all the way across the sea to the north coast of Africa.
On the way down we went to another local town for some local cheese, ham, wine and a local specialty – fried eggplant with syrup on it. It was really quite good. After our tour we made our way back to the port and the ship.
Interestingly as global warming has occurred they have begun to raise avocados and mangos and supply most of Europe with both.
We lounged from around 4-6 when it was time for dinner. We headed to Club Orange for a delightful first course of coconut crusted shrimp on a salad. Mains were roasted fennel halibut for Janice and prime rib for Kevin. After dinner we headed to the main show by a self proclaimed nerdist. His act centered around his ability to solve the rubic’s cube even solving one behind his back after looking at all the sides. The groups we wanted to hear weren’t playing until later so we called it a night.
During the night we will pass through the narrow straits of Gibraltar and arrive at Cadiz, Spain. We have no plans this time. Last time we did a bicycle tour of the port city.
The ride into Alicante was gentle and we awoke at 6 about an hour before the pilot boarded the ship to guide us into port.
We had arranged a tour with Spain Day Tours that met at 8:15, 15 minutes after we were due to be cleared to go ashore and only an hour after the restaurants opened for breakfast. (Lido buffet was open earlier but we generally avoid that.) We ordered breakfast to be delivered to our cabin and enjoyed a great breakfast while getting ready for the day.
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We met our guide at 8:15 and at 8:30 all participants arrived and we were off to begin with a walking tour of Alicante including downtown, the old cloister and the main church
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After we made our way back to the van/bus for a 1.5 hour ride to Guadalest, a village of 200 with St. Jose’s castle. We walked through the village grabbed some local lunch before returning to Alicante.
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Upon our return we visited the Castle of St. Barbara. For those who might have seen Janice’s Facebook post about pacemakers. The top of the castle has been used to mount a number of antennas that might cause disruptions to pacemakers.
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Here is the stadium for bull fighting and our ship as seen from the top of the castle
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We then return to the ship at 3:05, 25 minutes before the all aboard time. We spent some time out on the back deck before returning to change for dinner.
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After dinner we went the to the main show with a comedian who was likely the best we have ever heard on a ship and then stopped to listen to a set in the Rolling stone Rock Room.
The day began with us sleeping uncharacteristically late, 7:30 AM. The bed and pillows are quite comfortable and we find the gentle movement of the ship rocks us gently as we sleep. We lounged around our cabin and headed to breakfast at 8:30. We were quickly seated and offered coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice which is quite a treat. One of the best things about Holland is that there are beautiful arrangements of flowers everywhere. Here is one from breakfast.
We began with a fresh fruit plate.
Then a goat cheese frittata or Dungeness crab eggs Bennedict.
Holland shipped some of the Christmas decorations to Italy so that we could have some for the cruise. It is a beautiful touch and many more will show up after our cruise and they pick up more in Fort Lauderdale.
The morning was spent in craft classes (Janice) and walking the deck (Kevin). We had a lunch reservation in the Pinnaccle so we will show a little more food. Starters were crab cakes and then Janice had a burger and Kevin a small filet.
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During the afternoon Janice enjoyed her audio book and walked around the ship while Kevin attended a meet and greet and spent time moving around the ship. We ended the afternoon at seaview pool enjoying the sunset at 4:40 before preparing for dinner.
Monday was the first “dressy” night which means no jeans, button shirts and fancier entrees. Thankfully a tux is no longer required.
Shrimp and Crab Louie appetizer for both
Lamp chops for Kevin and Ravioli for Janice
The dining venue had been designed for cooking at the table and so there was an exhaust hood over our table
We ended the evening at the BB Kings Blues club.
Tomorrow is our first port day – Alicante, Spain and we have to meet our guide at 8:15.
The day began around 7 AM local time. We awoke and actually felt fantastic. The best after such travel and time change. The ability to sleep on the transatlantic flight and then staying away all day Saturday until going to bed for the night successfully fought of jet lag.
Kevin was sent down to get coffee. When we checked in the hotel asked us to pick an our in which we wanted breakfast. We chose 8-9 as the dining area is quite small. They also offered a transfer to the port for $5 Euro each. While we could walk it, the uneven cobblestone and lack of sidewalks at times makes using the service worth it. We got to pick our time – 10:30.
At 8 we went down to breakfast. Most of the guests were from the US and we think most are on our cruise. The first crisis was that the coffee machine that made Americano, Expresso and Cappuccino needed to be cleaned and restocked. It took 20 minutes and that was a long time to wait for other guests. The meal was a hybrid American Italian Continental buffet. There was pastry, meat, cheese, scrambled eggs, bacon and what looked like American hot dogs. There was yogurt and bread and fresh fruit and juice. Great service from the hotel staff and quite enjoyable.
After breakfast we headed back to the room to get ready for the day.
Our scheduled time for embarkation was 1PM. This is unusually late for a 4PM departure. I think the time was late because the Nieuw Statendam was just returning from drydock and if things were delayed the guests wouldn’t be waiting. We headed there early since we needed to check out by 11 anyway. The ship left drydock Saturday morning and arrived at our port around 10 PM last night. Often during drydock there is outside repair and inspections but also inside renovations and refreshing. Often the contractors stay on the ship and are fed by the crew. This drydock was the first since the ship launched in 2018. Remember it had a warm layup for 18+ months during covid. There was due to have carpet replaced, a spiral staircase removed. They also planned to add a library, expand the casino and some smoke free space. (the casino is the only interior space where smoking is allowed.) They were also scheduled to add Starlink antenna for new faster internet service. There was a lot of ADA adaptations to the ship. Automatic door openers, wider doors and ramps for wheelchairs to go onto balconies. They also lowered some counters as well. the whole, a lot of work to be completed.
We left the hotel in a full van for a quick ride to the port. The hotel offered a transfer for 5 euro each. The hotels ¼ mile from the port charged 10 -15. We arrived about 1045 and there was already 400 people checked in and waiting. We checked in within 10 minutes and were ushered to a waiting area for priority guests. Around 1120 we were welcomed onto the ship and were within the first 10 passengers to board. (Mostly because we ended up standing near the exit of the holding area because all seats were taken.)
Once on the ship we headed to our cabin for some pictures and to drop off the things we carried on. We leave all bags with the porters to be delivered to our cabin later. A few weeks ago we were given the opportunity to upgrade our cabin for a very nominal price and jumped at it because we knew the balcony would face the south for the crossing and would provide great views.
Here are pictures of our aft wrap cabin.
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The real draw of the cabin is explained best in pictures:
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Midafternoon we received our luggage in our cabin and participated in the “muster drill.” We went to a welcome aboard reception before heading to dinner in Club orange around 6. First course was shrimp and crab, second was smoked salmon chowder
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Janice had the haddock and Kevin had the Jindori Chicken. We skipped dessert and headed to our cabin where we headed to bed and slept in until 730 AM. The gentle rocking of the ship and the comfortable bed and pillows made for a restful night.
Our plane landed between 7:30 and 8:00 AM. We were some of the first passengers off and we began our journey to passport control. There was a line for people from the US and other EU friendly countries. We scanned our passports and then stepped into a “booth” where our picture was taken to confirm with our passport photos. We then had a very brief face to face with an officer which provided a stamp in the passport. The stamp is very important for Janice so she was pleased. I don’t think the combined process took even 5 minutes. By the time we used the restroom and arrived at baggage claim our bags were coming out, the first from our flight. By 8:30 we had our bags and made our way through customs. We had nothing to declare and walked through to the airport exit.
Outside of customs was the meeting place for limo service. We had arranged a shared shuttle to our hotel. Normally we would take public transportation but recognizing that we would have to change trains and negotiate stairs with luggage we opted for the shared shuttle which wasn’t much more than the train. Our pickup time was 10:30 which we scheduled not knowing how quickly we would done. We ended up waiting about an hour and a half. Our driver had already picked up another couple who spent the week in Rome and then there were two couples who had just arrived.
We had about an hour ride out of the city into the countryside before arriving in Civitavecchia. We have ended two cruises here and stopped once before. We were the last to be dropped off at our hotel the Hotel Traiano. Our room was ready and while simple, clean, comfortable and reasonable. We had two singles together as one larger bed. A private bath including a bidet. We dropped our luggage and went walking.
First we walked down the shore and visited the iconic statue in a park.
Our goal was to find a local bar we had lunch at before. It was local wine, chese and ham and was delicious. We knew the area it had been and we found it. Sadly it wasn’t open. We ended up at a family restaurant a block away and had a fantastic lunch.
First was seafood seven ways.
Janice had the homemade ravioli with shrimp and arugula.
Kevin had a homemade long pasta with “Fruits of the Sea”
We then made our way back to the hotel about a mile away and rested. At 5:00 we visited a local market for dinner. Some local wine, an apple, cheese and local salami. We enjoyed some of that at 6 while trying to tune in the big game. (no such luck) We went to bed finally at 7 and slept for 12 hours in total.
We left the house promptly at 9 and headed to Valet Connections about 2 miles from the airport. You leave your car in their warehouse and they move it to a remote lot. When you are due to return they return your car to the somewhat heated warehouse with no snow cover or frost. It is cheaper than all other parking options and knowing your car will be cleaned off and will start is a bonus.
20 minutes later after dropping off passengers at the Evans (North) Terminal we arrived at Delta. The bag drop was open in the parking garage and we quickly checked bags and headed to TSA. Between Clear and TSA precheck we were through security in under 5 minutes.
After gathering our items we headed to the Delta Sky lounge to relax for a bit before boarding. (Thanks for a credit card that grants us access) We ended up grabbing lunch in the lounge because our flight to Boston would include a snack and left at 12:45 arriving in Boston at 2:45. For this Flight we were in the comfort row at the exit with a flight attendant. The plane was full but our feet couldn’t reach the back of the row in front of us. We even had free wifi which Delta is rolling out fleet wide.
We touched down in Boston around 2:30. We then walked from our gate down the escalator, under the taxi way to the other part of our the A concourse where we rode back up and found gate 12 where we could catch a shuttle bus to the international terminal. Terminal A is the only terminal that doesn’t have a way to walk to concourse E without exiting the secure area and having to go through security again.
Security around the bus was significant as we walked down on the ramp and then boarded a school bus to literally ride around the entire airport behind all of the planes at gates. It is a totally different view than from the gate.
When we arrived at E we went up 2 escalators and oriented ourselves. We had seen our plane (Ita at gate E4) It was the only Ita plane there. None of the screens when we got off showed our flight. We discovered we were in the Delta section of E. For our flight to Rome we had the opportunity to “bid” on upgraded business class seats. Kevin loves nothing more than a game so he bid low and we won 72 hours before. Given that only half the seats in business had passengers Kevin then questioned if he could have gone lower.
Riding in business we were granted access to the partner lounge for Air France. We weren’t sure where it was and we saw the Delta lounge and knew that we could access it as they are codeshare partners. We headed in to one of the largest lounges that had more employees than passengers. They had the typical coffee bar and bar. Food was interesting. Boston Baked beans (really before an 8 hour flight!) Clam Chowder, mac and cheese and a Vegetarian Beet Reuben sandwich. (Plus more)
We tried to hydrate before heading to our gate. We arrived to find the Air France lounge at our gate. We had about a 15 minute wait before boarding began and we were the 3 & 4th passengers to board. We then found our seats and settled in the honeymoon configuration. It was an old Alitalia plane that was tired and had tech issues but the seats were great and the service fantastic.
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We were offered sparking wine while we waited for everyone to find their seats in economy. We then finished and pushed back 25 minutes early. While boarding we were presented our menus for both dinner and the wine list. They finished taking our orders shortly after take off.
First was a Campari spritz with nuts.
The first course was Prawns with potatoes.
The second pasta course was a white lasagna that was large enough for an entire meal. It was served with bread, butter, a white wine (of choice) and sparkling water.
The main course was veal with vegetables and potatoes or a baked cod. Kevin had the veal and expected something like veal parmigiana and instead it was more like pot roast or short ribs. The sauce was delicious but it was not lean, under seasoned inside and not tender. Janice ordered the cod which was perfect, a feat for serving in an airplane oven without overcooking.
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The final course was to be pastries or a cheese plate but we were both too full.
After we realized we should try to sleep as the cabin dimmed. We had been given a real pillow, small comforter, socks, slippers and an amenity kit that included a sleep mask. Getting the seat flat we began to sleep. It was about 8 PM our time and that was 1 AM Rome time.
About an hour before landing the crew began serving breakfast. No pictures but we had orange juice, sparkling water, coffee (choice of expresso, cappuccino, or americano – the Italians know coffee) warm pastries, bread, butter, yogurt (selection) and fresh fruit.
It is a strange Thanksgiving day for us. We gathered with family and friends for Thanksgiving on Sunday as we knew it made no sense to have the big meal on Thursday with us leaving Friday for two weeks of vacation.
We spent the day doing laundry, decorating the house and yard for Christmas and checking things off our list.
We will be up early tomorrow adjusting our bodies to the new time zone and preparing to head to the airport at 9
kevinmaxey 