Traveling Solo: "I love it when we're cruisin' together..." ♫

The Stardust Theater

Our Titanic Picture :)

My journey aboard the Norwegian Jade marks my second time freestyle cruising and my sixth cruise overall! I’ve always loved cruises and I always will, but after traveling the world, the experience was (ironically) somewhat less luxurious. It was wonderful sleeping seven nights in a row in the same comfortable bed and eating to my heart’s content, but there were far too many lazy travelers aboard, the likes of which I just haven’t really interacted with on my trip. You have a lot of overweight people who bump you in the buffet line and get angry if you accidentally cut them. You have a lot of tourists content to observe a place from the comfort of their tour bus, with no sense of adventure or desire to really know a place. You also have a lot of old, slow-moving people and though it’s not their fault, it’s super frustrating to get stuck behind them. So cruise passengers (except Mom, Stacy, and Kamal of course) are probably not my favorite people, but it was still a great trip!

Sailing away from Venice/Sunset in the Adriatic

Cruisin'

The Food: Yes!!! It was pretty much available 24/7 and depending on the time and what you felt like, you had your choice of buffets, dining rooms, and room service. I ate a lot! I don’t think I ever felt hungry on our weeklong cruise either! Our first dinner on board was probably my favorite:

Seafood Delight!

I loved it even after the four appetizers I had to start! (Cruise buddies, I missed you on this one!) To celebrate my birthday, we had teppanyaki in one of their fancy restaurants and to celebrate Stacy’s birthday, we went to the steakhouse. Hers was definitely the better pick with amazing appetizers (jumbo shrimp cocktail, crab cakes, oysters, and lobster bisque) and a giant 10oz filet mignon that no one finished but me. I admit, I sometimes ate so much it hurt to move, but I did make it to the gym a couple times :)

SO much food!!!

Entertainment: When not eating, the four of us gamblers probably spent most of our time depositing in the casino and I’ve discovered a new game: Three card poker! It’s so fun! Stacy got three Jacks in one of the hands – a 30:1 payout!!! We took part in a super fun blackjack tournament too where Stacy made it to the final table. Another Californian ended up winning, but the nice man bought drinks for the final table + me. Everybody wins :) Apart from relaxing on deck and the occasional bingo game or line-dancing class, we really enjoyed the shipboard entertainment. Norwegian’s lineup of magicians, contortionists, violinists, and impressionists were great!

Blackjack tournament winner David and our Pina Coladas :)

Ports of Call: 4

Dubrovnik!

Dubrovnik, Croatia: Our first port of call and where I turned 26 :) We spent the day wandering the old town and the old walls (an actual attraction you pay 70 kronor for for the privilege). You walk approximately 2 kilometers on the old walls of the city seeing some pretty stunning views over Dubrovnik. We ended the day having a drink and watching sunset at Café Buza, a bar cut into a cliff face. Dubrovnik really reminded me a lot of Kotor in Montenegro and is worth a daytrip if you happen to be in the area. I think it was a great place to spend my birthday :)

The Acropolis

Piraeus (Athens), Greece: Piraeus is not the most exciting port and the “thing to do” is take a trip into Athens. We ended up on a tour of Athens and the Acropolis and not one of us paid attention to the guide. I actually fell asleep en route to the ruins. Oops. I think we were all very hot and tired and in that state, it’s hard to listen with any real interest to boring historical names and dates. The highlight of our day in Greece was getting to try some of the famous Greek foods: Kebabs, Gyros, and Spanakopita! I’m pretty sure Athens/Pireaus isn’t the best of Greece but I hope to one day get back to see the Greek Isles – they are supposed to be amazing!

Greek food, yum!

Izmir, Turkey: The “thing to do” from the port of Izmir is to visit the ancient city of Ephesus. We ended up on a tour for people with walking difficulties so it was great because the bus drove us exactly where we needed to be to take a photo….Unfortunately, I didn’t realize we wouldn’t actually be seeing the most spectacular sight of Ephesus – the Library of Celsus! It kinda sucks that we missed this highlight in our tour, but we did get to see ruins. They also took us to Kusadasi, a nearby port city, and a fancy carpet store in town. In exchange for letting them try to sell us carpets, we received free wine, sodas, and the Turkish version of a cheese quesadilla. Good deal :) Before getting back on the bus, we got dondurma (Turkish ice cream) from a traditional vendor. He kept messing with Mom and pulling the cone out of her hand or pretending to drop the ice cream. Mom would scream and we would laugh :) Stacy didn’t react as hysterically as Mom did so he soon gave up on her and just gave her the ice cream :) Our last stop on the tour was one for us tourists to buy overpriced souvenirs; luckily, we had gotten ours earlier in an alley in Kusadasi.

Scenes from Ephesus, Izmir, and Kusadasi

Split, Dubrovnik: The ship dropped anchor in the ocean so we had to take tender boats in to the port. Once we got in, we wandered through a souvenir market before arriving at Diocletian’s Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We made Mom climb the steps of St. Duje’s Cathedral’s belltower and had a really nice view over the town. I was on the hunt for a post office to send off postcards and Stacy and Kamal were hunting for a beer recommended to them by a friend. I found my post office, we found lunch of pizza, soparnik (dough filled with veggies), and moussaka, and then after checking about a dozen bars, we found the elusive Lasko beer. Turns out, it is neither Croatian nor particularly good. :)

Our cruise seemed to fly by and before I knew it, we were docking in Venice again, catching a ride to the airport, and off to Madrid!