NCL Mediterranean Cruise 2024

 

NORWEGIAN Cruise May 30th-June 8th 2024 aboard the Escape (Thurs to Sat) started and ended in Rome. Booked the Haven Spa suite deck 16 room 110 (forward port side). 

• Excursions Pompeii, Cannes & Florence and free hop on hop off in Majorca thru NCL. Viator for David statue in Florence and La Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. Park Guell booked thru park site.

Cruise route map

Embarkment day: arrived in port just before noon. Security and check in as a Haven guest took literally maybe 15 mins but port was not busy as it turns out 80% of ship had gotten on in Barcelona. We were escorted to Haven lounge for a cocktail and introduced to concierge Dilip. Then went to our stateroom where we met our first Butler Guil. Was a calm first day as much of the ship was off siteseeing their one day in Rome as only 20% of the ship got on in Rome. We explored the Haven Bar, Restaurant and Sun Deck as well as a little bit of the main ship. We were atop the sundeck as we departed port a little late at 530pm, had dinner and then went gambling in the ships Casino.  

Welcome champagne on our balcony Embarkment day 

Naples (10.5 hrs in port 630a -5p)- Pompeii /Sorento excursion. 745am meet & disembark, back to ship around 4pm. While Pompeii was cool to see, there had been a car accident on one road to Sorento so a 2 hr bus ride with 2 hrs in Sorento ended up being 4 hrs on bus and 30 mins to grab lunch in Sorento. Honestly wish we'd just skipped the town and went straight to Pompeii. Guide was also a bit lacking. But Haven dinner and winning at Let it Ride table in casino made up for a bit of a rocky start to the cruise.  

Walking a main 'street' in Pompeii only time in the entire trip with a light rain for about 20 mins

Cagliari Sardinia (7 hrs in port 9a to 4p)- on our own after a great breakfast in Haven, walked to Piazza Yenne (city center about a 15 min walk from port) to take about a billion stairs up the Saint Remy Bastion - one of Cagliari’s most monumental landmarks and forms part of the Sardinian capital’s ramparts, which date back to the Middle Ages. My favorite aside from the view was the jacaranda trees were in full bloom and we walked down a street lined with the 'purple rain' of the petals falling around us and the perfume of their blooms. We only stayed on shore about 3 hrs and missed the 'officers cocktail hour' in Haven lounge w/ Captain as we spent the afternoon up on the sundeck having cocktails and hot tub time. Got dressed for a specialty dinner at La Cucina. It was nice, had a bottle of wine. Food was good but nothing like the best in Rome. Another evening at the casino. Won a few 3 of a kinds at LIR table.

Atop the ramparts overlooking the town

City view from ship, top center is where we climbed. Purple lower left is tree lined street

Palma Majorca - (11hrs in port noon to 11pm) Saw on our own but with a free Hop On Hop Off bus from NCL reserved for 1pm. But with morning at sea, casino was open so we went for a few slots after breakfast with my winnings from night before. On shore, Went to the le Seu Cathedral (outside only), Royal Palace of Almudiana (right next to each other) where we paid just a few euros to wander thru. And walked the shoreline. Only spent about 2-3 hrs on shore as I had caught a cold the day we boarded the ship while in Rome. Bought extra travel pack tissues on shore. Took a nice nap. Dinner at Ocean One that night was disappointing as they seem overly pretentious without reason. Since casino was closed that night and there were no shows that night we just spent the evening having cocktails on the sundeck watching sunset nlenjoying the luxury of doing nothing.

Almudiana Palace to left, le Seu Cathedral to right

Ibiza-(11hrs in port 7a -6p) Just got off at port and walked around to Dalt Vila (old town up high hill). Gorgeous views. After walking back down the hill we had coffee & cokes at cafe and walked to main entrance to Dalt Vila that has two roman soldier stautes then a drawbridge called Portal de Ses Taules. Apparently we took the long way to the top missing this at the beginning. 😄 Back on ship early we had lunch in Haven restaurant for Lobster Bisque then went and did a waterslide and pina coladas. Such is cruise life I guess. Another nap. Specialty dinner at La Bistro where I tried duck for the first time. Not a fan but the wine, soup & sides were delish. It was a good meal. Most of the ship were enjoying their last night as they were disembarking in Barcelona so casino was hoping. More luck at LiR table.

Atop Ibiza

Hot from our hike up the hill but happy to adventure with my love 

Just in Port before our hike up

Barcelona- (12 hrs in port 5a -5p) Started day at far north end at Parc Guell with a cab from port. Bought general admin tickets for 930am when park opened. Spent about 45 mins. It's cute but fairly quick. Then took a long walk (thankfully all downhill) to La Sagrada Familia 2hr tour booked for 11am. I knew what the outside looked like but was totally awestruck and unprepared for the absolute beaty of the inside! It was my favorite part of our entire trip! We happen to be inside at noon when they play Ava Maria which, while not religious, totally enhanced the experience! Cannot recommend enough if you have the chance, go inside! We were also supposed to do a tower (elevator up and walk down) but with the cold wearing me out and my arthritis I was happy when Jeff suggested we skip it. Find me some cough medicine and return to ship. So we just took a cab to walk La Rambla 1 mile from start at north spot Placa de Catalunya to Columbus Monument where we caught a quick bus back to ship. Dinner of lobster tail at Haven Restaurant.  

Atop Barcelona in Park Guell 

The sheer beauty inside La Sagrada Familia 

 CANNES (9 hrs in port, 9a -6p tender port)- ship excursion 10am-430p 6.5 hrs to Monaco & back. Bus ride is little over an hour. Tour first took us to the famed Casino Royal but it was closed so could only see the lobby. Went next door to casino du Paris. And wandering the square a bit. Then onto 'Top of the rock' to view Cathedral & Palace. Inside the Cathedral saw where Grace Kelly & Price Rainier are buried. Outside is pretty and nearby terrace garden has nice views. We had ice cream and returned to bus back to ship. Nice Frace where we were docked seems like a very cute beach town. Kind of wish we had had an hour or two to walk atound it.

Monte Carlo Monaco 

Enjoying the French Rivera life 

FLORENCE - (36 hrs here from 6:30am Thurs to 7pm Friday) port is at Liverno, it's a 1 hour 40 min bus ride to Florence. Excursion 'Florence on your own' basically for bus transfer to and from ship with 5+hrs in city. Day 1 did Florence and next day Pisa.

Duomo views

In Florence after a pretty bus ride thru Tuscany, we wandered (OK got lost as GPS has a hard time connecting with the narrow streets and tall stone buildings) until we found the river and a view of pedestrian bridge Ponte Vecchio. Had a lovely lunch nearby before walking to find the Duomo so worried we were lost again when suddenly we came out of a narrow street to it looming before us. Beautiful! With just enough time to the walk the 10 mins to Galleria dell’Accademia, with a 1pm tour to see the statue of David. It's a small museum with only 4 rooms but once you do get to David, wow! This was Jeff's favorite of the whole trip. Loved it. Wandered back to meeting point for bus and had both a bottle of chianti and a bottle of water relaxing at Piazza before departure back to ship.

Seeing David! We got close up and walked all around him after this shot. Really a Masterpiece!

Fellow cruiser took this shot for us enjoying our Chianti in Florence outdoor cafe

Next day we went to Pisa for 2 hrs (because that's how long cabbie agreed to in a shared ride with 6 others). Honestly 30 mins in Pisa is enough to see it as it's nothing special. Spent another 30 mins wandering thr streets of town and then an hour drinking coffee at a cafe. Spent the rest of the day enjoying our last night aboard the ship enjoying the Haven pool & sundeck and then a specialty dinner at Cagney's. Typical Kati, we go to a Steakhouse and I get a fishermans plater.  

Pisa's claim to fame

The next day we took our time having breakfast and packing up until we were basically asked to vacate our room at 830 LOL. I had arranged a shared ride at 930 so we had to sit outside the port and wait for a bit as I honestly thought disembarkment and getting our bags would take longer than 15 mins.  

Our Haven penthouse balcony room 16110

Overall thoughts. OMG I now see why they joke once you go Haven you can never go back. We only got Haven as a bit of a fluke. When I booked the trip in Oct 2023 I had asked about the price. Lowest level Haven vs highest level in main ship was $5900 more. I did not feel it was worth that so I booked us Club Balcony room. 100 days out we got the email chamce to "bid" on a Haven room. I was willing to pay $2k more to be in Haven but not that $5900 they had told me month prior. So I placed semi strong bids for $1800. But I was curious after a week or two the chances of winning a bid. So I did a mock booking to see if the Haven was full yet. Several categories were sold out but two were still open and it seemed the price had gone down. So on a whim I called to asked our casino at sea with 20% off due to being Caesar's diamond members what is now would cost to be in lowest level Haven. Instead of the $5900 extra it would only cost $1550 extra. Less than I was bidding for just a chance! Screw that! Cancel bids and UPGRADE! Guaranteed baby! Girl math - I saved us $4350! 😆

Alone one afternoon in sundeck hot tub

Another day alone in Haven Pool

The food. Well we had many breakfasts, two lunches and five of nine dinners in the Haven restaurant. While the only "outside" food we had was four specialty dinners I do believe the Haven is best on the ship. We highly recommend the lobster deviled eggs appetizer at dinner. I loved the onion soup at dinner but we were both sad the lobster bisque is only a lunch offering.  

My lobster tail (I don't eat steak)

Seriously, the lobster deviled eggs. Get them!

One of Jeff's banana desserts

The drinks, specifically Haven Bar. Our bar staff was fantastic! Main bartender was also named Jeff. He mad me a signature drink when I asked him for something fruity & refreshing (contained strawberry puree, rum, Cointreau and more). But they made everything perfectly. Mimosas, old fashions, french martinis. You name it. We did go to a few others on the ship but just for simple stuff, beers, rum & cokes etc. And we're treated to free & strong drinks there too. 

Mimosas and Bloody Marys morning before Majorca 

Snacks & a butler!  We had two butlers as they switched halfway thru trip.  Both were awesome.  We had daily snacks delivered every afternoon of mini blts, chocolate cover strawberries etc.  After Barcelona Jeff asked our second butler Katerine if for our anniversary next day we could have late night snacks of BLTs and peanut butter cups (my fav) they deliver them as well as tons of candy & a cake!

Candy & cake for anniversary 

Example of daily snacks, sandwiches desserts and banana bread.

The atmosphere. The haven is away from the crowds. So if you are a person who needs a certain 'vibe' this may not be your ideal place. But since we hate crowds and are not big fans of people in general LOL it was great. Together we create our own vibe and atmosphere. We don't need to be clubbing. And if we wanted that we could have just left the enclave and gone to areas with that.

Haven on the Escape is forward so we were top floor many days. Our room itself was one floor above the bridge.

The sunsets!  We spent almost every evening having and after dinner cocktail and smoke up in the sundeck viewing sunset.  Probably the most relaxing part of the trip.  Almost meditative. 

I do not think we became "cruisers" as I know there are people who this is their main means of vacationing. I mean, we Vegas every year and people think we're nuts so I get it. There are a certain group like us and a certain group that cruise. We might mix in a cruise here or there in the next 20 years but as we're not beach or pool people it's a bit limiting. But one month back home and NCL has already sent me a mailing about a "free" cruise. It's been 5 years since we went to Atlantis and they still send me offers so maybe NCL will as well? I can see maybe an Alaskan cruise in 5 to 10 years. And if they ever allow a casino for the Hawaiian island cruise I'll jump on it.  

Our last night.  Dinner at Cagney's.

I kept calling this our 'trip of a lifetime' while spending a year planning it and it really was. Don't know if we'll ever make it back to Europe. And I know we are fortunate in that Jeff and I have gone both as adults and teens. I tried to soak in all the art, culture, food and sites as we hopped along the Mediterranean sites. It was amazing and I'm so glad we did it!

La Dolce Vita - Rome Trip

 As our 15th anniversary trip was a cruise starting and ending from Rome I'm going to post Rome separately and then one on the cruise itself as that's kind of how I planned it out and how my note are organized. But first the getting there.. if you have no interest in the travel day skip to bolded Monday.

We sold stock in order to fly biz class in lay flat seats as Jeff said he's too old to sit in economy going that far. United Polaris lounge at Chicago ORD was great for a lunch as a free perk of the tix. It was right next to our gate so we spent about two hour before walking directly onto plane. The pods in business class were wonderful. My dinner of squash ravioli with salad and roll was actually very tasty! 

Enjoying welcome champagne in our side by side pods with privacy drop down.

 Still, I find it very hard to sleep on planes. Even with the seat converting to a lay flat small bed. Got maybe 3 hours on 9 hr flight. Breakfast was kinda nasty. But whatever, Jeff felt it was worth it and the miles/ points we earned as members of their reward program and credit card holders for this has now paid for 2x tix for Vegas in October and 2x tix to OK for Christmas so I try to remind myself the high cost also includes those trips that would have cost us about 2k.  

Monday 

Arrival day 8am...Had prearranged pick up thru hotel. 45 min ride from Airport, we arrived at hotel just after 10am.  

View of Basilca from hotel rooftop after dinner

Mecenates Palace Hotel is just across from Basilca Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore. We couldn't check in until 3pm so we changed clothes in lobby bathroom, dropped bags with bellman and walked next door to check out the basilica. Beautiful but as a non-Catholic, non Christian it was just art to me. We decided then to grab a cab to Pantheon. Had not pre bought tix as was not sure if/when we'd come but it was just a 20 min line wait. Just spent about 30 mins wandering around the inside. Worth the 15 pp euro I believe it cost.  

Site of Ides of March

We then walked 20 mins from there to the site where Julis Caesar was assassinated and ended up having lunch on that square. First meal in Italy included a bottle of wine and carbonara for me, mussles & Linguine for Jeff. Tasted amazing! Lazy stroll back to hotel led us past Emanuele II Monument and the Colosseum LOL. Was great what history you come across just walking around. Everything seemed to be about a 20 min walk from our hotel just depending direction. Ended with getting a Mango gellato next door to our hotel. We were able to check in and take a 3 hour nap thanks to jetlag. Up and ready to explore again at 6pm.  

Happened to come across Colosseum!

We wandered from hotel 20 mins to the Spanish Steps then over to the Trevi Fountain. Could not believe how crowded it still was at 730 a night. We did not spend much time as I get claustrophobic being so surrounded. It was supposed to just be a 1 mile walk back to hotel but the hills and perhaps poor google maps it took us quite a while. We stopped at one one to rest on benches and discovered we were sitting looking at the Presidential Palace. Once back at hotel, we utilized the fantastic rooftop restaurant for a late dinner and a bottle of chianti as the sunset over the Basilca. 

At Trevi Fountain 

Tuesday 

 Cab stand across from hotel we grabbed a quick & cheap ride to Vatican City early morning for our Take Walks morning tour from 945a for 3 hr tour. Sat at cafe meeting point enjoying coffee before tour. Guide was amazing, art was gorgeous and St Peter's Basilca was my favorite. So huge! Sadly the one thing I wanted to see inside (Michaelango's Madonna della Pieta statue) was closed off for restoration. 

Jeff joked neither I or the Vatican burst into flames.  I must not be evil incarnate! 😆

 Afterward we walked over river and past Castle Sant'Angelo before grabbing a cab back to hotel for late 2pm lunch and another 3 hour nap as we continued to adjust to 7 hr time difference. That night we just stayed around as the tour had worn our legs out. Had a few cocktails up on the rooftop bar. Then had best dinner of the trip next door at "Meet Me Here" restaurant. Best bruchetta of our lives! Lemoncello spritz and Amatricana pasta after 9pm and off to bed.  

Wednesday 

Took a morning cab over to Piazzo Navarro to see the 3 fountains here (Neptune Fountain, Four Rivers & ??). Think this was our only long haul cab ride but didn't really care as it still was only 14 euro and we had plenty of walking to do the rest of the day. Sadly all 3 fountains were fenced off for repairs but you could peak at all of them at gaps but not quite what I anticipated. We then walked south to find La Bocca della Veritas (Mouth of Truth) but accidentally walked an extra block past to find ourselves at Circus Maximus. Decided to have breakfast of jam croissants and cappuccino overlooking it before backtracking the block. The wait at Mouth of truth was just 10 mins. No cabs at the nearby cab stand so started a long hot walk back when fortunately we snagged at cab at Emanuele Monument.

Mouth of Truth didn't bite my hand off

 Rested a little before our afternoon 3 hr tour: Colosseum/Forum/Palatine Hill Tour at 1pm. This was thru Viator. Another good guide but admittedly the Vatican guide was our best of whole trip. Loved the tour, but HOT! And only bathrooms are at start or end so I guess it's good I sweat so much so I could hold it for that long. Exhausted we just did a repeat of night before only earlier, two hours of cocktails on rooftop then dinner next door and early bedtime.  

My favorite view atop Palatine Hill

Thursday

I'd scheduled a 1030am shared shuttle pick up to take us to cruise port. While we had time, we did not have the energy to attempt seeing an uncrowded sunrise Trevi Fountain so instead we just had breakfast and morning coffee in our new favorite spot, our hotels rooftop. One hour ride to Civitavecchia cruise port.  

Seriously, mornings looking over Rome sipping coffee on the rooftop were the best.

9 Days later Saturday 

Hotel for night after cruise: Hotel Cilicia junior suite near Appian Way and half hour from Airport. We got off cruise and to hotel by 11am. Since we had late breakfast on cruise before departure we dropped bags and started the 15 min walk over to Church of Domine Quo Vadis site where Christ met Peter after resurrection. Across the street is the entrance to walk the Appian Way. I had thought the Catacombs of San Sebastián were this was as there were signs for Catacombs. We enjoyed the 20 min walk on the Appian Way and arrived at....a different set of Catacombs LOL. Oh well! Lucked out that there was a noon English tour starting in 5 mins and tix were available for like 7 euros. A very interesting 45 tour underground with even a Pope room where four Popes were entombed. This was the hottest day of our entire trip of 94 degrees (who know what the real feel humidity temp was!) So going into the coolness of the Catacombs of San Callisto was very welcome! 

The beauty of Appian way near the Catacombs, but the scent of the Cypress trees was almost magical 

 We could still not check in after our 30 min hot walk back and this hotel was in a residential neighborhood so we had to walk another 15 mins past to the closest open restaurant. No one spoke much english (understandable as it's not a tourist area) and we don't speak Italian so it was a funny moment trying to ask for menus but the one thing they understood; but first BEER, I'm so hot! 🥵 I pantomimed drinking and fanning myself. They understood the word beer and everyone laughed (including other patrons). But apparently drinking beer and having pasta at 2pm when most are getting their afternoon nap was odd and comical to them all the same as the place was almost empty and they said limited menu. Layed around and grabbed a dinner of pizza by the slice and ate it in our hotels courtyard. Wanted a cocktail and the hotel bartender (also didn't speak english) was very mystified by my order of rum & coke. He gave me a full glass of bacadi rum! And a coke can. Had to choke down some straight rum and kept making room to pour coke in. He sat outside to smoke and saw me do this so I thought a second one, maybe he'll get it now I wanted them mixed. Nope! LOL, second full glass of rum. 😆😳 early bedtime after that ready to return home after our two week adventure of a lifetime.  La Dolce Vita- the sweet life indeed!

I was obsessed with this hydrangea in our hotels courtyard 

Finally got my drink to a resonable mix LOL

Oct 2023 Vegas

 I was about to delete the note I had for both the AZ part & Vegas before writing up our Euro trip and saw I had blogged about AZ but not Vegas.  So to save for posterity to revisit the Vegas leg...here are the notes I wrote on the trip shortly after it happened.  Thankful that while I forgot to post it then that I at least wrote it as now 9 month later the detail certainly would be hazy.  

Monday -
Arrived in Vegas 1130, dropped off rental, taxi to Paris arriving just before 1230.  By the third slot I sat at - Buffalo Stike - I had won $500 on it and the trip was off to a good start.  We checked into room around 2pm. Mr. Juice's host had comped us a petite suite for the first time.  It was a beautiful LeMans room overlooking the new Sphere.  After 7 visits to Paris I finally had a room with a deep bathtub!  Which I utilized every.single.day.  Went across to Bellagio and proceeded to lose my winnings.  This was the theme all trip - every trip to Bellagio was a losing trip.  But after Mr Juice and I winning here last two trips figure it was payback time.  Looked at menu for Cafe Americano in Paris and thankfully they've changed up menu a bit so more than just brisket stuff.  Had a most delicious vegetarian pasta dish with zucchini, peas and a seriously tasty cream and pesto sauce.  Went to bed early from all the sunrise mornings at 10pm with a bit of bank roll left for both Hubs and I. 

Tuesday-
Up and ready to uber to Resorts World arriving 7am ish.  We like RW at this time as it's  empty, a nice soundtrack of 70's and 80's and attentive waitress service.  LOL we are just not fans of people.  And while we're just 45 and 52, I swear we're really old people in disguise.  We had a $25F&B credit that we used on Maple Bacon doughnuts as we were not that hungry. Unlike April's trip - this time was Mr Juice's turn to win decent at Wild Wild Buffalo (around $500) where as Chica Bonita kindly gave me a $300 win.  Only people here seemed to be convention folks.  After a few hours and a few cocktails we moved on to Wynn.  Nothing of note at Wynn (aside from their Mimosas still being fantastic) or at Venetian.  Decided on walk back to Paris to get for first time ever a frozen Baileys at O'Sheas.  Very tasty but don't think I could have more than one a trip.  Quick slice of Pizza for lunch and a nap were in order if we were going to make it to the rest of the day. 

Had dinner at Amalfi at Caesar's again (3rd visit) and still spectacular.  Tried a lemonada cocktail (has mint too, like a lemon mojito) that was very good.  Got our tried & true ap of the prawns and focacia bread.  Hubs got John Dore fish (he kindly shared a bite), I got arugula & ricotta stuffed pasta (he had my last two as I was so full!).  No room for tarimissu this time.  But I mentioned to waiter that Bobby should bottle the red pepper pesto as we could eat it by the spoonful.  He went to the kitchen and wrote down the ingredients!   Even before this, he had been our best server yet.  20 years at Bobby's (Mesa previously).  Good suggestions, comments, humor.  The recipe was just *chef kiss* on top.  Slotted around Paris rest of night.  Had played one session of Mississippi Stud before dinner at $10 a hand, both losing our $200 buy in but it last a little and entertaining dealer Jamal made it at least fun.  Made it to 11:30 haha.  Ended night with Mr Juice out of his bankroll, me a few hundreds left.

Wednesday-
We hadn't hit Cosmo yet so I handed Mr Juice $160 and me $140 to start the day there around 7am instead of starting the day at the ATM.  Cosmo after 2 hrs up $300 for me.  Hubs up $100.  Cocktail service OK.  Over to Bellagio to lose $200 each. Decided to grab Uber from Paris to today's new item - the Mob Museum.  But we took it to Downtown Grand to play a little and have lunch first.  No Miss Stud table so slots it is!  Hubs took his bankroll out for the day at noon and started his streak.  After an hour he was up $400 earning $100 each from a diamond Buffalo, Chica Bonita and Ghangis Khan.  I was down $100.  We decided to grab lunch from the cafe there.  Only one waitress on the floor and one in restaurant.  These poor ladies were working an overload.

Mob Museum...um interesting but way more reading than actual items.  We felt it was worth the hour plus but not really the price tag personally.  And being from Chicago we laughed at how they seems to make it seem the Chicago gansters were the murderers, Vegas was more the skimmers and bootleggers.  Yet many of the Vegas gangster were *from* Chicago outfit.  Stopped in the speakeasy for cocktail.  I had the Marlow which was the tastiest burbon drink I've ever had.  Will have to recreate in our Basement home bar.  There was a Prohibition photo that we also decided needs to be in our Vegas themed bar. 

Back at Paris, Mr Juice realized the mistake of the trip.  He hadn't cashed his $500 tito from DT Grand! For a man with over 20 trips, this is such a rookie move.  $75 cab ride to have the cabbie wait as he ran in to cash it, took over an hour so I just rested my eyes in the room.  I finally hit the ATM for today's bankroll for me at 4pm. Hubs continued his streak of earning $100 or more at each machine, while I'd cash either even or down at each. 

Had dinner at new Guy's Sports Kitchen in walkway to Horseshoe. Was just alright, not bad, not good. Seated next to spanish Vloggers with full on tripod, hope I'm not on camera as I have perpetual Resting B Face LOL.  Waiter saw Hubs license and told us he was from Schaumburg and as fellow Chicagoland suburbs dude he insisted on gaving us two new sugar scull napkins.  Adding those to home bar as Vegas mementos. 

In Horseshoe there was a $5 Mississippi Stud table at 8pm. What?! Awesome!  Took about 90 mins but hubs lost $300 buy in.  I left with just a few reds of my $200.  Like $40 maybe? Back to Paris for hubs continuing to win while I continue to lose.  Made it to midnight like the wild and crazy kids we are LOL.  Me with a few hundred left, hubs with entire daily bankroll and then some.

Thursday-
Hubs up early to lose some off his lucky ticket, over to Planet Hollywood for more of the same.  Ready to Cab to check out M Resort for first time ever by 8am as we decided to skip south strip this trip.  Cab line attendant asked "are you sure? It's like 9 miles down strip?"  Now we know why. Yes LV blvd traffic but confident cabbie long hauled us using traffic as excuse as he went all over the damn place whenever traffic backed up.  Took forever and cost $60.  Uber back was way more direct (expressway almost entire way) and only $25.  So walking into casino we said "OK you win the cab ride here, I'll win can ride back"  My first game Ghangis Khan I won $200 so he joked I won both.  I slowly lost on that $300 TITO over then next two hours playing games not in Paris.  He was down $500 when he asked to switch a hundred dollar bill as he only had one old one left that machines were not taking and he had a *feeling* on some pirate dollar storm game.  I left to go lose $50 on rich little piggies came back just as he hit the ball bonus.  Standing watching, a 'Super Grand Chance' ball landed.  While he didn't win the grand, it came up as $2500.  We were both like, does that say what I think it says?! $1 bet and he wins that hand pay! Awesome!  No ATM stops for us today! Back to Paris with plans to go up to safe to deposit some funds finally. 

$10 Miss Stud table at Paris at noon.  This is when the 'Attack of the Clones' sightings started.  Last two October trips were unseasonably cold, and 2020 was deserted.  And I don't remember this phenomenon before.  Those of you that go in the summer I'm sure this is a normal occurrence but OMG, every single girl in her 20s came out.  All with long hair parted in the center.  All in bikini tops and a sheer wrap mini skirt.  Heels optional.  All 20s men, board short swim suit and semi sheer cuban style white short sleeve button up.  Never seen so many people look so similar.  Had to be over 100 clones.  We were ammused.  Hope they had fun whatever pool parties they were off to.  I won a little at this table watching the two hour parade of clones.  Hubs lost $300.  Had early dinner at 4pm at Beer Park as we had only had booze with fruit or vegetables for breakfast and lunch LOL.  Just aps of a Pretzel with beer cheese, wings and loaded tots.  I had a nice Heffeweizen.  But basically $100 for 2 beers, 3 aps and tip? Oh well. Warm sunshine and decent views. Spent the night slotting around Paris & PH.  The lack of sleep and my losing streak were catching up so I told hubs I was making it an early night, I was asleep by 10:15.  He told me he was going to have a drunken late night solo with his winnings.  But he insisted I wake him early so we could hit Bellagio Conservatory when it's empty.  Ok, Have fun baby.  I woke to go to the bathroom at 215am to find him just having come up and snacking before sleep. 

Friday-
I awoke at 515 after getting 7 hrs of sleep after 7 days of 5-6 hours.  So wonderfully refreshing! But knowing he had been asleep just 3 hrs, I closed the bathroom double doors and took an hour long soak in the bath.  My arthritic knees and hips were so thankful.  He awoke right after I got out so were wandering the Conservatory alone except for the gardeners at 645am. He informed me at one point he decided to come up to get more smokes and raided some of the safe.  LOL, it was his winnings and today is his birthday- glad you had a grand solo session for the last night but sorry to hear your streak ended.  It's because of tables, I joke.  If he had just kept to slots where he had done so well.  We donated another $200 hundred each to Bellagio.  Had emails from Cosmo if we came back they'd give us free play so off we went for an hour, a breakfast cocktail and some Platinum Buffalo & Tarzan.  Still salty they took out the last Britney machine.  No Walking Dead machine anywhere for Hubs (PH & Cosmo had them in April).  Back to room to pack 10am. 

Checked out in Diamond check-in.  They added me to the room and this time it was my losing that got all our food & drinks comped, only had to pay tips. Last trip in April we were flipped, I was the big winner and Mr. Juice the big loser. Dropped bags with bellman and back at it.  Mr Juice started his streak again and I continued mine towards the bottom.  But he drained a decent amount chasing the maxed out Major on Autumn Moon- which had been maxed out our entire trip.  We joked when we come next October it will still not have been won.  Last game of the trip, hour on Buffalo Stike as it had been my luckiest game this trip.  He on my left got super bonus and major jackpot. Lady on my right got super bonus.  I was down to like $30,  told the Buffalo I had visited its mythical homeland of Monument Valley and we only had 15 mins before leaving for airport so please let me bookend the trip with first win and last win on this specific machine.  Boom, three coins with maxi jackpot at $190 four minutes later.  Bonus took me to cash out at 3pm at $300.  Off to airport.  We'll see how point shake out but for first time ever I am 1k away from Diamond plus (hubs has been for last 3 yrs).  So probably will hit our local Harrahs before year end.  Home by midnight Chicagoland time. 

Overall thoughts...yes traffic is bad but not as horrible as I imagined. F1 stuff looks ugly but didn't really impact us as we take bridge over from Cromwell or walkway from Cosmo so we're never right in front of Bellagio.  Strip seemed a little less crowded than April. Much fewer kids and dogs this trip.  Sphere is nice view when not getting strip on east side. Strike of culinary workers started Thursday but it's just picket lines for attention to help their bargaining (Go Union Go!) Not a walk out so didn't effect us.  I was winning first half, hubs won second half so can't say anywhere was tight as it's just a crap shoot (pun intended although we didn't play craps).  Glad we tried a few new spots and hit our favorite.  But glad we got out as weekend was getting busy.  Saturday & Sunday to be spent getting massage and lots of naps before back to the grind to earn that Vegas money.  

Oct 2023 Wild West Northern Arizona Adventure

 Below is my trip report from Trip Advisor with added pictures and a little extra blog rambling.  It was just the 3 days we spent in Az before annual Bday time in Vegas which I'll do as a separate post.

FRI - Flew American into Pheonix. Landed about 11:30am. In our rental car and headed immediately north towards today's stop before Flagstaff for the night. We stopped in Winslow Az to stand on Corner (Eagles song Take it Easy). 

This is almost all the town has going for it aside, from La Postada Hotel & Gardens. (Old Fred Harvey hotel that Mary Colter designed and called her "Masterpiece" we stopped here for a quick 10 min walk around & bathroom break). There is also the meteor crator nearby but it closes at 5p during 'winter hours' and we passed it too late. Personally I don't think this town is worth a visit unless passing through but Mr. Juice requested and it was only an hour out of the way so why not? Drove on to Flag and got dinner at Diners, Drive Ins and Dives spot - Fat Olives.  

Saturday- My typical problem on Pacific Standard Time, I was awake first day at 345am. But we were aware this would happen and were back on the road at 445am to hit a spot we missed in 2019's visit to the south rim - the East Entrance views. So we arrived rim side with enough light to enjoy Navajo Point and then a beautiful sunrise at the Desert View Watchtower. Then onto Cameron Trading Post for breakfast which was good. Now onto Monument Valley.

We drove onto Forrest Gump Point for the obligatory photo stop. Our photos are hilarious but I did need an ap to erase other bystanders from the photos. I had bought a Bubba Gump hat and fake beard just for this LOL.  My brother thought they had a props stand on the side of the road.  Nope we are the only ones there with props.  Then a wander around Gouldings movie museum and grounds, and then onto the View Hotel to check in before our tour.

Our Monument Valley sunset tour with MV Safari was fantastic. A nearly 4 hours back country tour, a fantastic Navajo guide who also gave great photo suggestions or took them for us, and ended at the Mittens for the last 15 mins before sunset at the golden hour. I cannot say enough about how well this tour exceeded expectations and I'm so glad we opted to do it.  We enjoyed dinner at the hotel (Navajo taco) and star gazing from our balcony before early bedtime.  We saw what we think was a desert fox or bob cat feet from our first floor balcony. The below image is from sunrise from our room.  I have so many photos from the tour but nothing beats this sunrise!

Sunday - Up for watching sunrise over the buttes from our balcony and then back on the road. We arrived at Antelope Canyon X for a 940am tour. The slot canyon (from a couple who have never done one before) was awesome!  This was the one this from this day I had considered cutting from our itinerary but in the end I thought screw it!  I don't know we'll ever have the opportunity for another slot canyon, our joints are not gonna get better, etc.  And like the MV tour, so glad we decided to spend the money as it was so awesome.  

Stopped at Horseshoe Bend next. While it's pretty, unless you're a professional photog it is really just a 30 min stop hopefully on the way to something else as it's not worth a special visit otherwise in our opinion.

As we headed on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon we passed by Vermillion Cliffs, and over the historical bridge over the Colorado River in Marble Canyon. Beautiful drive! There is one part right before you drop into the valley before the river that I wish I had filmed or had my camera out for fast enough but at least I have the experience in my memory as the end of Marble Canyon is crazy cool.  We started our visit to the North Rim by driving to furthest viewpoint- Cape Royal Trail & Angels Window, then backtracking to Point Imperial for another view, (highest in park - it was windy and chilly with a possible storm in coming). 

We somehow missed all rain, though the ground at lodge was wet. Feared no sunset with cloud cover, but they broke just in time as we were doing the Bright Angel Trail for a fantastic sunset! Followed by beer at Rough Rider Saloon then dinner at lodge. I highly recommend the Supai Pablano Chicken. More star gazing and checking into cabin.

Up well before sun again, more star gazing. Got coffee as soon as Rough Rider opened at 530 and enjoyed morning twilight on the lodge patio, then did the overlook jutting over the canyon before deciding to go to a little spot just off the parking lot (right behind visitor info booth) for a wonderful and private view of the sunrise on benchs sipping the last of our coffee. Packed up, checked out and now on to Vegas by 645am! Stopped in Jacobs Lake for cookies for breakfast.

Reading my 'travel plan' blog entry for this trip I can say we stuck to it 9 months after initial plan almost completely and it was nearly perfect.  Only issue was perhaps too much driving for Jeff on day 3.  If there had been buses in the North Rim like in the south so he didn't have to do the last 2 hrs around the viewpoints after 3 hours of earlier driving he would have been a happier camper.  In that plan I talked about hoping to upgrade from outside the park to a cabin I can tell anyone that stumbles across this that checking daily for cancelations works! 3 weeks before the trip I scored a room in the motel.  Then a week later I scored a western cabin.  And canceling both our out of park reservations and from the NPS motel to upgrade to western cabin was easy.  I loved our cabin.  And it turns out while we found a beautiful spot for sunrise, our cabin actually faced it.  We could have just sat on that porch LOL.  

Final thoughts.  I need to just accept that some things in life I am willing to pay for.  And experiences are far an away *the* thing.  The two tours were not exactly cheap. Neither was the room at The View or Grand Canyon.  But those four expenses are what made this 3 day side trip before Vegas a wonderful vacation.  I know we are privileged to be able to do them.  I know much of the trip could have been enjoyed on the cheap but those two tours? Only way to see what we saw.  Keeping that in mind as we start planning the Mediterranean Cruise excursions.  There are reasons why some things are once in a life time.  One, they are expensive.  But two they ARE special.  And memories to last a lifetime.  I think I will forever smile when I think back on this trip as the beauty of the southwest really was something.

Oct 2022 Vegas trip report

For someone who uses this simply as a personal diary for travel and home improvements, I sure suck at remembering to use it. Thankfully, for Vegas I can just copy & paste my trip report from Trip Advisor and just add some pics. So now that I've written our 2023 plans in another post, I saw Vegas Oct 2023 was missing so here it is almost 4 months after the fact for any Vegas junkies that come across here. Monday- Unremarkable flight ORD to LAS landed 935AM and cab to Paris. Drop bags and slot played for 90 mins before grabbing brunch at Hexx. Hubs loved his Cinnamon roll waffle, I just had basic egg & bacon breakfast. Service was a bit lagging but they were very busy as it appeared a lot of convention people were arriving that day to stay at Paris. Tried to check in afterwards at Diamond check in a little after noon but our End of hall room wasn't ready yet. Told we'd get a text. Didn't by four but we stopped back then and it was ready. Side note on our room...this is our 6th stay at Paris and second time in this exact room (1625P) but the first time ever with the 'sewer smell' in the bathroom others complain about sometimes when reviewing the hotel. It seemed to come from the tub drain. If the drain was closed the smell went away. But housekeeping kept opening the drain when they cleaned and we had no paper to leave them a note. So once a day the bathroom would smell but it was livable 20 mins after closing drain so didn't bother complaining as room was comped without resort fees.

We finished day one playing around the nearby casinos and dinner at Giada in Cromwell. While it was a good meal (lobster ravioli was small enough to leave room for hazelnut crunch cake), it was not as good as our first visit. Maybe in part as we were seated facing the bar with no windows in sight. I wasn't going to pay extra for a winodw seat but last time there was at least natural light and open feel. This spot felt cramped and dark. Oh well. My best win of the day came when I threw a $20 in a Buffalo Gold low rolling at 60 cents a spin as I was just trying to make it last as I ordered a drink having just sat down next to Mr. Juice. Went to bonus and won $640. I kept saying 'why was I only betting 60 cents Tuesday - South trip Aria to MB. Typical of our first full day we did the south side MLife casinos and lost almost everywhere on everything from 7am to noon. Uber back to Paris down almost $4-500 each for the day. We triend Bobby's Burgers for lunch - bacon bleu cheese burgers hit the spot. Slowed the cash bleed at center casinos staying about even and at 6pm grabbed a cab down to Neon Boneyard. The 645 time slot was great as the sun had just set but tix explanation was confusing as they said with Brilliance show it was 90 min (45 for tour, 45 for Brilliance) what they did not however say was that Brilliance took place at 8 so we had about 30 mins to just sit and wait. And the Brilliance show was just sort of meh. They could knock it down to 20-30 mins and do more often like every half hour. But the tour itself was great. Loved seeing all the old signs, particularly Fitzgerald which was my first Vegas hotel stay. And places like Aladdin that Mr Juice had told me about but disappeared before my first visit. Uner back to Paris with a late dinner at 930 at Cafe Americano. Played for another hour or so after dinner before heading to bed just before midnight.

Wednesday- North strip. We Ubered to Resorts World where we played 3 or 4 games ending both up on a Wild Wild Buffalo runs. Moved on to Wynn where Hubs gained $1000 of a mix of Tall Towers Wonder Four and Drangon Link. I had small gains on things like Miss Kitty and Huff n More Puff. Cocktail ser vice from one hard working young lady working the entire floor had me needing breakfast after 3 mimosas by the time we moved on to Venetian. Ate biscuits & gravy for our first ever visit to Grand Luxe Cafe. See why it's recommended by many. It's classically good grub, wide menu and fast, attentive service. Lost $1-200 of our winnings so moved on to say goodbye to Mirage. Ended up even play here thanks to Monopoly cheaters edition after losing $100 on WOZ Munchkinland. Crossed back to Harrahs but only to walk in AC as we were now on the hunt for Mississippi Stud table. Finally landed in Flamingo at (gasp) a $5 table. It was about noon or 1pm. We had heard $5 were no more on strip but we occasionally saw them here, paris & PH. Took a little time to lose my $200 buy in but enjoyed. I believe Mr J didn't lose it all or might have ended up a little ahead as I remember going to cage. Played another MS table later for $5 but that was at PH before 4pm and lost just $100 in an hour before moving on. Where is my traditional progressive 4OAK?

Dinner that night at Amalfi in Ceasars. This was a second visit as well but it was just as fabulous as last time. Seriously- get the focacia and prawns as an appetizer. Use the bread to sop up the sauce on the prawns. So effin good. And get the red pepper pesto for your fish. If there is one thing Flay knows, it's sauces. And our waitress was wonderful. Slotted in Bellagio, saw a fountain show, back to home base. Tired I went up to bed at 11pm with a little of my daily bankroll left leaving hubs down to go on a hot streak, including a $750 winning flush hand at a table. Thursday- Happy Birthday Mr Juice! As he was up later I was up & ready to go before him so I went to casino floor & lost my remaining previous days $140 before 7am. He came down and regaled me with tales of his various wins once I left him. Informed me we didn't need to hit the ATM for todays bankroll just yet as he handed over $700 to me. We played in Cosmo & Bellagio before the afternoon moving on to our double booked room at Delano.

Delano- checked in online, grabbed physical keys and up to the room by 2pm. Eh. It was decent with the extra powder room & living room as a suite but the room itself was unimpressive compared to the basic rooms we've had at Bellagio & Wynn. And it was too hot to us Chicago pale folk to bother with laying out at the pool. We took a quick 10 min stroll thru the pool complex but it all seemed so cramped together compared to sun getaways we've taken to Mexico & Caribbean so we agree - we continue to not be 'pool people' in Vegas. Pool/beach time is for more layed back locales for us. Vegas is for gambling so back at it. We double booked the room as I had a $100RC and $90FP offer. Quickly lost the freeplay. Skybar is closed Thursdays (what?) And RC couldn't be used at Foundation Room. D'oh! We changed for dinner and enjoyed the view of dusk turing to night for dinner up on 63rd floor. Terrace view of strip was great. Food was hubs choice so he enjoyed his bone in ribeye. I just had a salad & crab cakes as I don't like steak. Decent meal, intimate dining room and nice service. Afterward we played a bit more at MB & Luxor but agreed we just don't enjoy south strip (Luxor was WAY too loud and filled with 20 something frat bros...God when did I get old? LOL) so I reminded hubs we didn't have to stay. Packed quickly the backpack we brought after getting out of our fancy dinner clothes and cab back to Paris. Where I proceeded to win $1100 on Autumn Moon in the champagne slots in 30 mins. So glad we came back! Handed back the $700 hubs had given me that morning with my own stash full as well from a good day. Lost $200 on MS table at $10 but went to bed with $800 and last day dreams of going home up money if I could have a repeat of some of those wins. Friday- hubs won a dragon link major (Happy & Prosperous indeed!) before I got downstairs at 7am. We headed over to Bellagio with plans to use my $100RC at Sadell's but played a little first (I had seen online there were no reservations availablefor breakfast but we foolishly thought maybe we could just walk up. We were both up and saw the line for breakfast was HUGE and didn't want to wait as we were not even that hungry. Went back to slots and Mr J won second major of the day! $750 on a Buffalo Chief. But walking back to Paris he pulled the jinx out...talking about what we could do if we came home up. Thus ended our hot streak. We stopped for breakfast sandwiches at Bobby Burgers yum! I love a fried egg on top of almost anything. Went up to the room and packed. Checked out in Diamond room where the host was nice enough to comp off $200 of our charges. Used our rewards points to take off another $250 leaving us with a bill of just over $200. And then proceeded to lose at everything for the next 4 hrs. Didn't matter that we chased it by betting higher. Only win I had in that time was one last run at the tables where I was still in search of my 4th 4OAK ever. Instead I left the table just up $130. But come time to leave for airport at 3pm, we still left with 50% of our entire trips bankroll. So not bad but not the daydreaming we had at 8am walking the shops at Bellagio. I made Diamond and Mr Juice made Diamond Plus for next year. We are thinking we will once again skip a spring trip and instead go to Tahoe/Reno again but bring his parents as it will probably be the last opportunity to take them and the minimal walking is better for them in their late 70s. But we'll be back for the annual October trip as there is no where else Hubs would want to spend his birthday. Everyone with upcoming trips - enjoy how ever you Vegas! And never, jinx when you're up with talk of plans 😆

Oh and I forgot, aside from his second major, before the jinx before we left Bellagio we decided to turn our Mlife reward credits into free play. I had $50FP plus a $50 of mine own in a Ghangis khan dragon link. Playing $2.50 a spin/ 10cent denom (what we call Bridgering a hundred) I won just under a handpay at $1149 on the fifth spin of a bonus round. And not on Balls. There were 8 -2x Khan symbols in the middle. Those two wins - one for me, one for him, is what prompted the conversation of 'should we hit the Bahamas again in January?'

2023 Travel Plans

Another year, more dreams of adventure await! We planned in reverse this year. We had talked before about a specific idea but dismissed it as 'maybe when we're retired'. Then in December I said screw it, let's do it this October. So this October we are doing what I've titled our Wild West adventure and it includes yet another bit of movie site travel (see Oregon trip). We will land in Pheonix and day one is for Jeff...he want to stand on a corner in Winslow Arizona. If this doesn't get you singing an Eagles song then move along youngin'. I'm actually laughing because it's even a bit before our time. it's his mom's favorite band. But a good song none the less. We'll also stop to see a meteor creator nearby before we spend the night in Flagstaff. Really this is just a travel day with two stops thrown in. The next two days is the adventure! We are headed the next morning to Monument Valley for 24 hrs. If you're like 'what's that?' Google that shit. Iconic West. Trust me, you have seen images. The issue is that it's far from most everything thus why we need a travel day. We'll stop at Forrest Gump point where he decides he's tired of running before heading into the park itself.

We've reserved a room at The View Hotel which is the only hotel in the Navajo land of the park. All rooms have a balcony facing the buttes for sunrise. If you've read my Grand Canyon or Yosemite posts, you know I find sunrise in beautiful spaces magical! And we're going to book a 3 hr sunset Navajo guided backcountry tour. So excited for this day! Then after Sunrise, we'll head off for Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon X for late morning/early afternoon tours before turing south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We really enjoyed South Rim in 2018 for sunset & sunrise. We should get to the park about 3pm which *should* give us just enough time to drive to 3 viewpoints and see sunset from the lodge & have dinner there. We hope to stay in the park at a Pioneer cabin but have a room booked 18 miles north in case we can't get one of these coveted spots. Then sunrise and drive to Vegas for annual Birthday trip.

In June, for my girls trip I'm visiting one of my best friends in Georgia. She's been teaching at Georgia Southern for like 15 years and I've never been. (Honestly because she comes up here like twice a year). But I said we have to do 24 hrs in Savannah. I did 5 hrs in Savannah in 2010 and fell in love with the town so I'm excited for a full day. I'm looking at historic Marshall House for a hotel, and possibly doing a sunset river cruise and or carriage ride, cemeteries and squares & parks galore. And the food! Should be so fun.

And finally the first up trip will be just Vegas in April. It has nothing exceptional planned but the story on how it came to be is somewhat comical to me. We originally thought in spring we'd take his parents on a junket to Reno/Tahoe (ages 79 & 76) as it is little walking compared to Vegas for their mobility issues. Jeff got his free flight offer but I didn't so we couldn't do that. We explained to his parents and they joked while it would have been nice getting them a free flight and room, it still saved them thousands by not taking them gambling. We then changing topics to my SIL's upcoming 25th wedding anniversary. I said if I were them I'd want to do a European vacation. Jeff reminded me I said I wanted that for our 10th or 15th. Our 15th will be next year in 2024 and he gets offers from Norwegian Cruise line due to his status with Caesar's. well, we went home, looked at the offers and I was like "OMG it would only cost us $3,000 more than we spend to go to Vegas to do a 7 day cruise from Barcelona to Rome with 6 ports? Gambling at night on the ship while we cruise and day excursions at each port? We need to keep your status up this year so we can do it!" So 2x Vegas this year it is! All so we have a very discounted European Cruise next year. I don't actually like the idea of a cruise because of being stuck on a boat, but this one you're cruising at night and every morning you're at shore at a port from like 7am to 6pm. And how else can you see France, Spain, and Italy in such a short time for such a low price? Very excited to do this if it comes to fruition. So not only is 2023 planned but 2024 is in the works!