Vegas April 2025 - taking 21 yr old nephew

Below is the trip report I posted months ago on TA. I want to post here for posterity to look back on later. especially since we will be taking his younger brother in 3 yrs. So without further ado - Andrew's first time to Vegas. Trip started on a slight down point that our Bell limo driver that Paris host arranged didn't remeber to have Drew's name at Airport luggage claim; as limo was a surprise for him. And we asked him to drive the strip to show the Newb. Only clarification question he asked was did we want to stop at a dispensary. No thanks, just drive the strip. Only part of the strip he drove was MGM to Paris (so at least avoiding the back entrance). We had expected more but kid was so excited he had no clue what he missed. Since we landed at 10p, diamond check in was closed but were very quickly checked into our 2 comped rooms and one paid room, back down to center bar to toast the start of Vacation. Taught the newb a little on video poker and all 5 of us played for a little while, I got four 2's but no ace kicker and was the family winner here (a bit of a theme this trip). SIL & I went up to bed, guys wandered a bit before the older men drifted to bed around 1am. Nephew decided to wander a little on his own. Newb got around quite a bit solo as he checked out WSOP, made it over to Linq Promenade & Caesar's Palace before going to bed.

Friday- typical Juice's, we were up ready to gamble early. We'd just told others to be ready for today's activity to walk over together at 11:30am. Slotted around Paris with Mr Juice with my biggest win being $550 on a classic Buffalo Gold had TITO up to $900 in the morning. ACTIVITY FRI - Drew's one request was a day club so we had reserved a bungalow at Drais Day Club. We are not pool people so we had actually counted; this was Mr Juice's 30th trip and my 15th - and our first time in a pool aside from a quick walk thru. Cabana with plunge pool was awesome even if we didn't recognize half the music. 6 waters, 18 beers, 12 shots worth of vodka & 12 shots of rum each with plenty tonic and diet pepsi mixers plus a lunch platter more than made up for the $500 spend. The funniest part of the afternoon was we shared the plunge pool with a Bachelorette party. A pair of guys moved in on two of the Bachelorettes and one came up to me in the plunge pool at one point informing me "this is a private pool" (aka I needed to leave) and I told him, yes it's a private pool for the two bungalows. He asked "what's a bungalow?" So I pointed to the girls & our cabanas. Dude then actually tried to throw the girls under the bus saying "sorry they told me to come over and tell you" the girls started laughing because um, no they didn't! We had been dancing & partying together earlier. He must have been sufficiently embarrassed as he soon was nowhere to be seen.

After almost 5 hrs of sun & fun, back to Paris to change and agreed to walk over to Ellis Island for BIL to play 3/2 BJ with Mr Juice & his son as that's the only gambling he'll do aside from video poker. SIL & I sat right by table in the front yard enjoying a beer & video poker before all BIL decided to eat dinner. And we ended up leaving BIL to continue to play as we went back to Paris. SIL up to bed. Us on slots with Newb watching. He has no interest in slots, but laughed when Mr Juice was losing on Autumn Moon again and I hit for $300 on Huff & Even More Puff saying Uncle Juice, it seems like Aunt Kati is better at this than you. 😆 I then went to bed and let the boys go find a $5 three card poker game at Cromwell. Saturday again we told others to be ready to wander around by 1p. We slotted solo morning with Mr Juice being the morning winner with a $1000 major win on the same Huff & Puff I had won at previously. We had a late morning breakfast with SIL &BIL after they worked out (how is Mr Juice related to these healthy people?!) and letting the newb sleep in. SAT ACTIVITY- we were doing a bar crawl poker game. We stopped by the WSOP pop up store for a deck of cards. Drew wanted to see MGM & Excalibur for some reason (two our least favorites) but as hosts we agreed so first bar was in MGM after a long hot walk with stories of SIL & Mr Juice's first trip to Vegas with their parents walking from Trop to Riviera so Drew kept calling it the grandparents memorial walk LOL (they are still alive and waiting to hear stories of this trip). Funny quote from this walk, a Thunder Down Under gentleman offer to let me out my cigarette out on his nipple for a picture. What?! Second bar was Hershey Bar in NYNY. SIL asked if we could play skee ball in the arcade. I won this family challenge! 3rd bar was Chandelier Bar at Cosmo where the guys had Verbena for a bonus card. I stuck to a lemon drop. So far I had a 7, 8 & Ace not feeling confident as two others already had a pair. 4th bar was supposed to be Petrossian at Bellagio but was too crowded so just a drink at the Sports Book where I pulled a second Ace. Back to Paris to change for dinner, poker game to be continued...

We had said we'd treat them to one nice dinner so we walked over to Bugsy & Meyer at Flamingo where we were seated at a table in the Count Room speakeasy of the restaurant. Delish cocktails & steaks. Cocktail waitress comped us each a glass of champagne to toast Drew's 21st. $100 off with Diamond celebration dinner and thankfully host comped all but tip for the rest. Final bar for poker hand was dessert of a Frozen Baileys at O'Sheas where FUNcle Juice and BIL told stories of Mr Juice's bachelor party beer pong. I pulled a third Ace and won this family challenge as well. 3 for 3! Girls off to bed, BIL off to Ellis Island for more poker, FUNcle and Newb over to PH for craps & 3 card poker. Fun quote of their walk back to Paris was a porn slapper offering my nephew a trip to the strip club by asking "You ever F*ck a midget?" Ah, the kids really got a Vegas experience now LOL. Sunday- more morning slots for us, lunch with everyone at Beer Park and down to Fremont to show him downtown. They played some Fortune Cup Derby, saw the "entertainment" of people in the circles, Vegas Vicky, etc. Then after getting back we split up for them to have dinner at Ole Red while we gambled. Met up for the bar car at sunset on the Highroller and walked over to watch a Bellagio fountains show at night so he'd have the full Vegas experience. We were there at 930, learned the next morning just 2 hours prior to the shooting which freaked out his mom a bit. Again, BIL off to Ellis, SIL off to bed, Drew, Funcle and I off to Cromwell & Flamingo for Miss Stud & three card poker. Eventually I went off to bed followed closely by Mr Juice when he realized he was "too drunk for tables". Kid stayed up again, hope he had fun solo. Monday - told to have their suitcases ready to move to our room by 1030. But at 10 SIL & BIL were ready and hungry. They knock on Drew's door to see if he's ready. He cracks the door blearlt eyed making his mom asking "are you not alone in there?" LOL "No mom, the rooms just a bit trashed, you said 1030am it's only 10." Aah, to be 21 again. They waiting in our room and he packed & was a ready in 20 mins. Clearly a dude. Cab to Venetian for brunch at Grand Luxe Cafe, see the canal shops, buy some souvenirs and a quick wander thru Wynn. Two hours split before collecting bags for them to leave for airport. I asked Drew in the elevator "well I hope you had a great, memorable first trip to Vegas", the sly devilish grin on his face as he said "oh yeah!" was worth it. Safely in a cab to the airport we joked we could now be the full on degenerate gamblers we all know we are without playing host. We hit a Miss Stud table for $5 in Paris where I finally caught some cards and doubled up. Stopped at Ski Lodge in Cosmo (yum! And 80s nostalgia music), played a new Wonder Four revolution game in Cosmo that Mr Juice had won $400 on the previous morning. This time I hit for $900 - biggest win for me of the trip. Tuesday cab to Resorts World to gamble the north end since we just played tourist the day before. Pre Fixe lunch for a second trip at Delmonico because OMG always want the lobster bisque; don't care if it's 108 outside. Mr Juice was having a winning day, I was holding my own. Wednesday slotted around center strip for the morning. Had brunch at Cheri Rooftop at Paris. This is a fabulous new addition to Paris eateries (especially since it failed as a nightclub/lounge after the pandemic). Just a great use of space with beautiful view. I'll be doing a review/pics of it this weekend but I recommend. Cabbed to Southpoint. Meh. One & done for us. Last full night but after 6 nights and the tables at Cromwell & Paris taking my money I was ready for an early night. Went up to bed at 10p. Mr Juice stayed down for another hour. He had been winning a bit here and there. I felt I had been losing all day, but in reality went to bed with half a days bank roll. Thursday -Final morning- slot around Bellagio, Cosmo and PH and I was down to my last $60 without having to hit the ATM for todays bankroll when I hit a minor & mini on Ghangis Khan at 10 cents cashing out for over $600. Thank you Ghangis! Back to Paris for last 2 hrs. Lost another $200 at Miss Stud, sat at Buffalo Strike as final game and won cashed out at $550. My Juice had almost two days bankroll. Home with about 25% of trips total gambling budget - especially for 7 days (our longest trip ever) seems enough of a win. No handpays this trip but Mr Juice had two majors, I had one. He had one machine for a grand and I had the $900 so we each had our exciting moments. Final thoughts - I had never been there on a Saturday and was worried about just how crowded it would be. Reports say Vegas is down about 15%. I would say it has to be more, as Friday & Saturday were less crowded than mid week in October. Just my observation. It was actually busier Monday - Wednesday because of conventions (starbucks people arrived Monday and were everywhere). But this did mean $5 tables are back! It's been a few trips since it was an easy find. And they were still to be found at night on the weekend? Wow. As for the heat, thank God this is our one and only time going in the summer. This Chicago girl was melting. No day under 105. It was even 100 at night walking around. Ugh. Only time under 100 was mornings before 9am. Back to spring and fall trips as thankfully other nephews 21st is in November (and he's already said - you're taking me too right?! Obviously can't take his brother and skip him.) We have 3 yrs for our livers to recover and the trip will be for his 21st & my 50th. 😯 It was a great trip. And I am glad we did it up right for the kid. He loved it.

2025 Travel Plans

This year is a 2x Vegas year (happens most odd numbered years) but putting a bit of a spin on each. In early June we will head to Vegas with nephew for his 21st. There was a joke when he was 6 rolling nothing but double 6's that when he turned 21 Uncle J would be taking him to Vegas. That kid has remembered and reminded us every year since, "X year's til I'm 21 and you take me to Vegas" LOL 15 years later and it's coming to fruition. He and his parents will come Thurs night flight to Monday morning with plans of a cabana pool party at Cromwell as the big splurge, a nice dinner- Bugsy's perhaps?, a roll on the high roller and perhaps golf. then we'll stick around town until Thursday to do our usual solo stuff. The trip in October for Mr Juice's birthday we have added two nights at Zion National Park at the front end to give us our annual nature adventure. Got a cabin inside the park and have a few hikes planned already. And lastly, it's been 3 yrs since my best friend and I did girls trip to Oregon...time for another adventure! Last trip was to Astoria, a place she's always wanted to go to, this trip is mine - Acadia National Park. Have lodging booked and waaaay too many hikes planned, just hoping for flight prices to go down before booking. But I have been looking forward to this for years. can't wait! What's funny is that because of timing on when she & I want/could go and Jeff's birthday- there's only like 10 days between when she & I get back from Acadia NPS before Jeff and I arrive in Zion NPS. Oh well! last year I took two whole weeks off at once for the cruise, work shouldn't mind me taking a Mon/Tues off with Barb, work 7 days and then take another 6 off right? Right?!

Vegas Oct 2024

Same as last time, about to erase my note and double checked. Had not posted here yet. And so for looks back here is my Trip Advisor Trip Report from our 2024 October trip. 2024 October SUNDAY- Arrived early at 9am on United flight from Chicago. We have a Giverny petite suite room reserved from Mr. Juice's host but know it's way too early to check in when we arrived at Paris at 9:45. Drop bags with bell hop and hop on slots. We get into our room around 1pm and it's lovely, only complaint is the TV that pops up from a credenza doesn't rotate so you can't watch it from the living room area but oh well. Our view this trip was s/w of the Paris X so just looking east to the mountains, no sphere. We are both Diamond plus this year so we have 8 drinks on our cards instead of four and make the mistake the first day of getting strong choices (french martinis for me and old fashions for Mr Juice). On slots we stick to rum & diets and beer. We have Linner? (Lunch/dinner) at Cafe Americana in Paris around 3. And due to cocktails; forget to have another meal before stumbling to bed. No big wins, just a few little ones that make us feel we can slap $200 each on a $10 Miss stud table that goes quickly. But a fun first night. Monday- Awake early as usual on first day but a little dragging due to liver not used to mass consumptions of booze, we head over to Cosmo with a coffee, then Bellagio conservatory. Beautiful as always.

A cocktail waitress brings me a water that brings me back to life and finally my stomach rumbles from 17 hours without food. We move on to CP for the only real plan for the day; Brasserie B by Bobby Flay for brunch with my Diamond celebration meal. I have the Croque Madame with gruyere cheese, a fried egg and bacumel sauce and it's heaven. As are the potato chips with Roquefort cheese sauce we share. We slot around and then uber to Sam's Town as a 'new to me' try this year. Was not particularly impressed. I laughed at the animatronic animals in the waterfall area. The lush area is nice but then they make it fake and cheesy. Reminding me of my youth in a Chucky Cheese. Where's a wack-a-mole to make the nostalgia complete? We uber back after just 2 hours. Have a quick dinner around 4 at Cafe Hollywood in PH. Sadly we ran thru our daily budget early and decided to take out extra but happy we did as that evening in Paris we had our biggest slot wins. I won $700 on what? I don't even remember. Ghangis khan perhaps? Thanks cocktails for the brain fog. Then Mr Juice won $600 on a Buffalo Strike. Flush with cash we decided to hit a table again. Again no luck and there goes $400 of our winnings. But we head to bed with the 'extra' we took out so we're happy we're actually not worse for wear. Tuesday we catch an Uber bright & early to Resorts World slotting a little with just a doughnut as we have lunch plans. Holding our own here we then check out Fountain Bleu for the first time. Pretty and a nice addition. We're sad we're a few days too late for tier match. Lose a hundred and head to Encore. We enjoy some morning cocktails while playing around Wynncore again with no notable wins but not really losing. As it's now 11am so we venture over to Venetian to tier match and our lunch plans. But sadly as we walk to Delmonico there is a sign that they are closed for a private event. As the place is crawling with conventioners we are not surprised. But sad as I had lobster bisque memories crashing down trying to now switch modes of where eat in the walk back. We ended up eating Bobby's Burgers at Harrah's. Then grabbed a frozen Baileys at O'Sheas and played Miss Stud for $5 right out in Linq. An afternoon nap was required if we were going to make our energy & money last for the implosion of the Trop at 230am. 3-4 hrs nap set us up for the night. Dinner slice of Pizza in NYNY late night at 11pm? We played there & MGM Grand waiting for 2am. We thought we had found a decent spot by the Brooklyn bridge but when we left MGM to go back to it, we were informed cops had cleared that area and we had 15 mins to walk out of cleared zone so either MGM parking garage or corner outside Eataly. We decided we didn't want to hoof it all the way to the garage so we were fairly close to the front line of blocked area at Eataly but sadly the MGM ad screen was in the way of most of the building. The fireworks and drone show was cool though.

Wednesday- we decide with dinner reservations that our other meal today should be breakfast as we tend to only eat twice a day in Vegas. Something small. So I suggest Nosh at Horseshoe near the poker room. What a mistake. Two egg, sausage & cheese english muffins that are worse than a microwaved jimmy dean sandwich a coffee & pop came to $67 after tip. The biggest win of the trip came today when hubs asked if I wanted one of our free drinks from Le Center bar but I said I wanted a Lemon Drop in a real glass with sugar rim instead of a to go cup so why don't we play some video poker there? Soon after our drinks arrive, he hits 4 aces with a 4 kicker for a grand. Nice! Few hand later he gets another 4 aces no kicker for $200. Woohoo! He's very happy I wanted that lemon drop. We pack an overnight bag (as we're double booked) and headover to see if we can check into Cosmo at 1pm for our first ever stay here. I request a fountain view but they're unavailable. I ask for Boulevard tower but forget to ask strip view so we end up facing the Bellagio spa tower. The room is OK. I find the living room dark but we like the light control near the bed and ability to smoke on the balcony. The Japanese soaking tub is just awkward for someone who loves bathes. It's more for two people to sit on the little seats then for one to stretch out for a relaxing soak. Oh well, thankfully my Paris room has a nice soaking tub. We slot thru Cosmo, Bellagio & Caesar's before our dinner reservations at Amalfi for Mr Juice's $100 Diamond celebration. It's our 4th visit but we tried a new appetizer this time - blue crab & eggplant meatballs. Delish! Just wish there were 4 instead of 3. I had lobster cavatelli which is a new addition to the menu since last year. Hubs had red snapper with calabrian red pepper pesto. We share mushroom polenta. Then I made the mistake of us both ordering tiramisu. Should have only ordered one to share. He made it thru his barely and I could only finish half.

Thursday- In the morning I went to the desk as my free play & RC had not been added at check in. Used some RC at starbucks. Used free play with no success but did win $200 on a dancing drums power trio and MrJ won $200 on Tarzan. Checked out on the TV and back over to Paris. And year two of 'parade of clones' is commencing as all the 21/22 yr olds who bought a fall break pkg are staying there. Thousands of girls in bikinis & mesh cover ups and alpaca hair cut bro's in their swim shorts & cuban white linen button ups. We had many a laughs at their overheard conversations. Ah to be young again! (Although my dad would've never given me his credit card for a trip to Vegas!) Since our plans for lunch at Delmonico earlier in the week had been thwarted, I checked open table and there were spots so I suggested we leave the thousands of youngins crowding the walk ways behind and have lunch. Pre Fixe menu $50pp of Lobster Bisque, I had a pasta dish, Juice had the hot honey chicken & waffles. And for dessert I had trio of sorbet while J had Banana cream pie. We walk back & score another frozen Baileys but avoid the pull of the table. Day 5 of drinking & extra walking was hitting me so I head to the room late afternoon for a 90 min nap. Evening gamble at Bellagio slots then over to CP for Mr Juice's birthday present- tix to see Garth Brooks. It's been 27 yrs since we last saw him but both really loved this show. All his hits, funny stories and a few classics of other artists. Plus one was Trisha Yearwood for a duet and a song of hers. I will say drink prices inside Colosseum was nuts! We should have both got a $16 beer if we had known that my rum & coke and his Jack & ginger would cost $77!! 😳 but they put about 3 shots in each, so there's that. I only made it to midnight with a "dinner' of peanut butter crackers from the sundries shop heading back to the room as Mr Juice stayed down to enjoy two hours solo for the last night.

Friday- we've never done 6 days before together in Vegas, only 4 or 5 and I am ready for home. I would say we'll never do this long again, but as our plan for next June is 4 days with nephew for his 21st then a few days on our own it appears this might have been a glimpse at what's to come. We get a morning breakfast at Americano. Then stick to just PH, Cosmo & Paris before we head to the airport at 2pm. Mr juice stayed almost even all day and I only lost half the days budget so we headed home with more than the "extra" we took out on night two. So definitely not a winning trip, but able to put the extra back into savings and immediately pay off the credit card charges when we got home. Bill after back end comps was mostly just tips and maybe a little extra. Plus about $150 in ubers & taxis. Overall a wonderful trip with many laughs and memories- just not any great big wins (except for the few semi-big mentioned), no handpays or table wins. No upcoming travel plans except for next June's trip for the promise made YEARS ago for the 21s B day trip for the nephew where his parents may or may not join in. But as Mr J made Diamond by Thursday but not plus and I am still not Diamond we may visit our locals for a afternoon 5x multiplier or weekend here and there. Hope all of you with upcoming 2024 trips have fun & luck!

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