Showing posts sorted by relevance for query viking ocean. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query viking ocean. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday, February 20, 2009

Ice Skate to Mexico

The arrival of Mariner of the Seas to service the Mexican Riviera market could be the single greatest event in the history of Southern California. Do you think that statement might be a little too over-the-top?


You'll have to take a cruise to find out. Many people have formed their opinions about Royal Caribbean based on Baja cruises aboard Monarch of the Seas. Monarch's weekend escapes to Ensenada certainly earned big kudos, and the four night cruises to San Diego, Ensenada and Catalina surprised travelers with the rejuvenating effect. Monarch was a big step forward from Viking Serenade and previous short cruise offerings in Southern California, but people privileged to take a seven night cruise on Vision of the Seas discovered there really is a big difference between ships within the same line.
Vision of the Seas has always been a crowd pleaser, but most of the time, she would re-deploy to Alaska for the summer, when families were most likely to take Mexican Riviera cruises. As such, for many people, Monarch of the Seas was the face of Royal Caribbean.

This week, Mariner of the Seas arrives in Los Angeles, and the world will never be the same. Is that statement too bold?

You'll have to take a cruise to find out. Royal Caribbean includes lots of signature attractions on all of their ships, including fantastic lounges like the Viking Crown lounge surrounded in windows and perched high atop the ship and the nautically-themed Schooner Bar. They always have rock climbing walls and super health spas. Basically, Mariner of the Seas just expands on the concepts, with an ice skating rink (that's right, you can ice skate on your way to Mexico) and the Royal Promenade, reminiscent of a fashionable European street featuring a British pub, coffee house, shops and lounges. There's also mini-golf, Johnny Rockets and lots, lots more. It really must be experienced to appreciate, as photos and words don't do it justice.
Let me put it another way. Last week I enjoyed touring the beautiful Queen Mary 2, billed as the most elegant of the large ocean liners, and in my opinion, Mariner's Sound of Music Dining Room is superior to any of the restaurants on QM2, including the Queen's Grill, access to which is limited to people paying thousands of dollars to stay in suites. Mariner's Portofino and Chops specialty restaurants are both more beautiful than QM2's Todd English, IMHO. This is not to put down QM2, which is a wonderful ship that takes passengers on unique voyages with an undeniable air of sophistication. It's just that Mariner is that great.


And, of course, the entertainment includes very talented musicians, singers and dancers you've come to expect with Royal Caribbean. Don't be the last to discover Mariner of the Seas. In fact, call up your friends and family to invite them to join you on a Mexican Riviera cruise this summer. That's right, Mariner of the Seas will be here through the prime summer season!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Monarch of the Seas: February, 2006


Totally refurbished in June of 2003, Monarch of the Seas has been upgraded to include many of Royal Caribbean's latest innovations, including the soaring rock climbing wall, Boleros Cuban-themed nightclub and Jade Asian-Fusion Restaurant.

While onboard, you get a full cruise experience, and in a recent year, Monarch of the Seas won highest honors for guest satisfaction in Royal Caribbean's fleet. Because for many Southern Californians, Monarch is Royal Caribbean, this may not be that surprising, but if you have been on Vision of the Seas, which does the 7-Night Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles three fourths of the year and Alaska in the summer, you know these past guests aren't comparing Monarch to other Royal Caribbean ships, which speaks quite highly about how Royal Caribbean compares with other cruise ships in the area.

In addition to Vision Class, there is the jumbo sized Voyager Class that introduced us to ice skating rinks at sea, the largest Freedom Class that has everything Voyager has plus surfing onboard, and mid-sized Radiance Class, with glass elevators climbing multi-story glass walls to capitalize on remarkable views at sea. Monarch, like her sister Sovereign Class ships, is wonderful in her own right, and she is a great first cruise or renewal between longer cruises, but keep in mind that there is more to see next time.

Monarch does have a terrific crew, from room stewards to dining room staff to entertain-ment. A regular feature in Boleros nightclub is Dueling Pianos, with two performers sitting down at baby grand pianos in a battle for the audience's favor. Made famous at San Diego's Sing Sing, Dueling Pianos delivers lots of laughs along with some great tunes. At other times in the evening, a hot salsa band turns up the heat for dancers in Boleros, and they even teach passengers a few steps of cha cha, salsa and other dances.

Royal Caribbean's signature Viking Crown Lounge perched high above the ocean with commanding views is a great place to unwind in the daytime, but at night, when the disco cranks into full gear, it becomes a favorite place for partying. You don't want to miss the '70s party, with all the "special guest stars."

Many public areas, including the Windjammer buffet restaurant and the nautically-themed Schooner bar have new furnishings and polished appearances, but the ship has a few drawbacks. Her staterooms tend to be small, and this can feel somewhat claustrophobic for the interior rooms in particular. Many people make the conscious decision to only go in their cabin to change clothes or sleep, and as long as they stick to that agenda, they will be fine. That works for a short cruise. If you like a little down time in your room, however, get a window at a minimum, and upgrade to a Superior Ocean View or Junior Suite if possible. Another item I warn clients about is the pool area, which has astroturf instead of teak decking. You get used to it rather quickly, but for me it always makes a bad first impression.

Okay, did that last paragraph make you want to take this ship? I think maybe I over did it. This is a great ship for a quick trip.

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Back in Provence


Often, an ocean cruise begins with a sea day, allowing jetlagged passengers to adjust to the time zone as well as find their sea legs, if they boarded their ship on the day the arrived, as we had in Barcelona.

The other side of the coin is wanting to get the maximum time in ports to leverage long flights, which seems to be the trend for European cruises.  As usual with cruise line decisions, it caters to what passengers desire.

Lest I forget to point out the obvious at some point, late October gave us ideal weather throughout our Mediterranean cruise.

After a delicious buffet breakfast complete with made-to-order omelets with lots of bacon and fresh fruit, Julie and I debarked the ship on what promised to be a temperate day.  We found an awaiting taxi that took us to Marseille-Saint-Charles, the train station and bus depot where we caught a bus to Aix-en-Provence, as we had one other time on a similar Mediterranean itinerary.


Yes, we loved that 2018 cruise so much that the idea of repeating a few ports made it no less appealing.  The main change we made for our port in Marseille was taking the most direct route to the station rather than trying to save a few euro getting there, and our reward for more efficient transit through Marseille were nearly deserted streets when we arrived in Aix-en-Provence.


Since our prior visit, we had learned more about Paul Cezanne, the most prominent artist to call this lovely village his home town, including a wonderful day at the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia appreciating the works of Cezanne along with other impressionists including French artists Matisse and Van Gogh.

We considered taking a Cezanne tour to walk in his steps, but instead we again simply soaked up the ambiance of Provence.  Meandering through alleyways along the tiled walkways, appreciating the architecture, stopping for a coffee at a sidewalk café, window-shopping chic French fashion, buying a banana at the farmer's market and strolling inside churches can be quite relaxing.


In one cathedral, we had an unscripted treat when a man toting a guitar case wandered in and took a seat in front near the altar.  He began playing beautiful classical music, practicing for a performance scheduled after we would be cruising past the French Riviera to Italy.  It was a moving, religious experience, again revealing God's beauty to all with open hearts to experience it.

There's no mystery as to why Provincial French choose to live this type of life rather than hustle and bustle of increasingly generic cities.  We were happy to return to the region just a month after our Viking cruise through Provence, where we found we quite enjoyed being immersed in this culture.


Back in July, I began studying France, primarily focused on the French Revolution and subsequent age of Napoleon, a time that changed the world.  What soon became obvious is that different regions in France have their own beliefs and personalities, just as in the U.S.  For Provence, which had been its own kingdom long before it joined France, that is perhaps even more pronounced.


I'm not alone in saying I love that feel of Provence.  It's better than Paris to me, although certainly the city of the Eifel Tower has many treasures.

When we returned to the ship, we began a sail-away ritual of sitting out on the back deck with coffees or perhaps wine, beer or cocktail.


When I ordered a rum and Diet with a lime for Julie, the bartender rephrased, "A Cuba Libre with Coke Zero."  Then he laughed as he made the drink.  "Do you know what they call that in Cuba?"

An obvious guess by me was wrong.

"Ha Ha Ha," the bartender said, and then he clarified.  "There will never be freedom in Cuba."


The next day in Lucca, I began seeing Aperol Spritz listed on signs at sidewalk cafés, and that light orange drink became my usual order at the fantail as approaching sunsets on the Riviera seemed to make it quite appropriate.

Yes, it was already time to bid au revoir to lovely France, as the morning would find us in our third country in as many days.

On a Mediterranean cruise, you don't have time to become bored by a destination, and that's not a bad thing.
























Friday, August 17, 2007

Santorini: July, 2007


In the 2005 movie “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” a teenager named Lena rides a donkey up the steep hill to visit her grandparents in scenic Santorini.

The part of Lena is played by Alexis Bledel, who for several years played Rory Gilmore on one of our family’s favorite shows, “The Gilmore Girls,” which undoubtedly helped my youngest daughter Amy relate to her Greek vacation.

When Amy learned we would be visiting Santorini, she insisted she would ride the donkey up the hill. 

She enjoyed the ride up so much that she rode back down at the end of the day, and she thoroughly enjoyed every moment in between.

That’s the perfect attitude with which to approach a port: have specific objectives but flexibility, and always have great enthusiasm.

Her mother wasn’t as thrilled with the ride up, on which her donkey bashed into another donkey, cutting Julie’s leg.

My nephew Jered rode a donkey up, but after reaching the peak, he decided to head back to the ship to recover from many late nights of partying in the disco.

Most of us had decided to take the tram to the top.

On paper, Santorini seems to be a simple port to explore.

Either the tram or donkey would be four Euros. 

For us, it would essentially be a postcard port. 

We weren’t trying to learn any history but rather simply enjoy the amazing beauty of the blue domed buildings high above the deep blue sea.

In reality, the port was congested with too many tourists, most coming from cruise ships, making the line for either the tram or donkey rides long.

Rollie had the best idea: hike to the top.

He beat us all to the top by a half hour and got a great aerobic workout.

He said that he received several offers to ride donkeys on his way up, probably because some people didn’t enjoy the feeling of riding a wobbly creature into old guardrails next to sheer cliffs and got off before making it to the summit.

The tram itself was a quick ride, but the line took a terribly long time, with hundreds of people cutting in front of us until we finally reached a walled area where we could block them back from wall to wall.

Having our tenders delayed, also presumably due to port congestion, had me quite frustrated by the time I made it to the village.  I began to wonder if I should have paid $66 for a shore excursion that would have beat the crowds with an earlier tender, but then Santorini became wonderful.

On top is Fira, a quaint village of white-washed small shops lining cobblestone streets.

Our oldest daughter Gina stayed in that village with her Aunt Cheryl, who has health issues that limit her mobility.

They enjoyed lunch and some browsing before taking the tram back down.

Laszlo wasn’t there, having taken a Volcano Hot Springs Tour instead.

The rest of us hustled through this village to catch a bus to Oia (1.2 Euros each way), where we found what we expected: engaging architecture along breathtaking vistas.

After snapping lots of photos, we began looking for a restaurant and found one with the most amazing views, but there were no gyros, which Jay, Amy and my niece Kendra had been craving since I started bragging about the gyros I had in Heraklion with Gina and Rollie.


I wanted a gyro too, but the prices for the view restaurant felt as steep as the cliffs of Santorini, with a Diet Coke alone costing 4.7 Euros.


The four of us made an awkward retreat, leaving Jacque, Rollie, Kelsey and Julie to enjoy a meal with a spectacular view.

The four of us walked back toward the bus stop to where we had seen a gyro café.

We pointed to the sign to get the gyro combination plate for 5 Euros.

It looked like a soda and two gyros, but we assumed it was one cut in half to show both ends. Kendra chose another plate that had French fries, gyro and soda for the same price, which should have been a clue.

When we received our meals, Kendra had what she thought she ordered, while the rest of us had two large gyros and a soda each.

The food was terrific, but we couldn’t eat it all, so we gave some to a cat.

Our view wasn’t as spectacular as on the other side of Oia, but we could see lots of blue water.

After lunch, we caught the bus back to Fira, where we took a leisurely stroll browsing in shops.

Amy led a group onto the donkeys for the downhill ride, while Julie, Jay, Kendra and I sought the perfect cliffside taverna for some ouzo.

We settled into one with a spectacular view and shared the small bottle of ouzo, clinking glasses in Santorini like characters from some Hemmingway novel I never read.

The anise-flavored liquor is surprisingly good. I don’t like licorice, so I would think this drink would be appalling to me, but it is really quite excellent. It goes down smoothly.

Then again, I think it was the company more than anything.

We had some other drinks to help quench our thirst, but the ouzo stole the show.

From there, we continued our hike down the hill, giving us more perspective on Rollie’s climb up.

At the base, we found a little swimming area in the ocean next to another taverna.

It didn’t take any arm-twisting to get any of us in the water.

The cool, clear water felt amazing.

At a certain point, Jay and Kendra took a break.

We decided to buy some beer at the taverna to essentially pay for using their steps into the water, and Jay, in his wet bathing suit, plopped down on the padded seat.

The waiter came over, quite upset, telling Jay to get up. Holding the damp seat cushion with disgust, the waiter asked, “What can I do with this now?”

He then motioned for Jay and Kendra to be seated in the chairs with cushions removed and wasn’t much happier after taking the beer order

Back in the water, I looked down at my watch and saw it was 4:00.

“What time were we supposed to be back on board?”

I decided to head down to the tender loading area and discovered the last tender was at 4:15.

I ran back to the taverna, waving for the others to join me. They paid for the half-finished drinks and took off running. As we boarded the tender, the crew was loading up their signs, but we weren’t too late!

This, of course, was not the end of our day. We changed into formal clothes and enjoyed sugar-free mojitos at another scenic sail-away in the Crown Viking Lounge.

Another amazing family dinner in the dining room, exchanging stories. Formal portraits followed by our biggest Trivia loss of the trip. We were so bad that we won the booby prize for worst score. We will all cherish those plastic Royal Caribbean keychain tags, for they invigorated us to the point where we won at Trivia the next night (leatherette baggage tags)…but I’m getting ahead of myself again.

I have never been on a cruise so many days without a full production show with costumed singers and dancers. The cruise director announced this was the first show by a new cast that had boarded the ship only the day before. They were a talented bunch of performers, energetically performing songs from movies like “Footloose” and “Dirty Dancing,” but the chemistry wasn’t there yet. Still, we all enjoyed the show.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

TODAY ONLY DEAL!!!


If you are a Southern California resident looking for a last minute cruise for Spring Break, you simply cannot do better than this amazing trip on Radiance of the Seas.

Discover for yourself why Royal Caribbean's Radiance Class ships are my personal favorites. No, they aren't the biggest, but they have lots of great features that perfectly suit me and possibly you. There are great restaurants, from the terrific fried chicken and fish joint on the fantail of the ship where I love to grab lunch to the incredible spread at the buffet to the deluxe dining room. There are amazing nightclubs, including the signature Crown Viking Lounge perched high above the ship to the deluxe yacht club-like Schooner Bar to the African safari themed lounge with self-leveling pool tables. There's great entertainment, including a dedicated movie theater with stadium style seating, rock climbing wall and terrific live singing and dancing. The fact that this floating resort ever arrives at any ports is simply frosting on the cake.

This ten night voyage, however, includes great ports. Cabo San Lucas is always a favorite, and maybe you'll take a pirate ship to snorkel at Chilleno Bay. In Puerto Vallarta, go ziplining, and ride horses in the sand n Mazatlan. In addition to the big three of the standard Mexican Riviera cruise, you get Acapulco, the favorite port of many experienced cruisers. And that's not all. Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo lets you choose the modern side or the historic village side.

Don't waste a lot of time contemplating this one. It is on sale today! You can have a balcony for only $899 per person! Even with taxes added in, that's less than $100 a day for a world class cruise embarking from convenient San Diego. Ocean View is only $699 pp, but for a few dollars a day you can add those intimate moments like morning coffee or evening wine on a balcony. Third and fourth passenger rates are only $549 per person, subject to stateroom availability.

Rarely do you have the opportunity to book a true last minute bargain this close to a holiday that doesn't require expensive air fare. Don't miss it. Call me NOW!

Radiance of the Seas embarking April 2, 2010, for Ten Nights on the Mexican Riviera