Lisbon ~ Portugal

Taking this one back to last September on our Costa Pacifica cruise with bro and sis . . . sometimes things get away from me . . . but here goes!

 

(downtown Lisbon)

 Our stop in Portugal was short . . . but definitely sweet!!  We disembarked to warm, sunny, beautiful weather waiting for us.  We had signed up for a Jeep off road excursion prior to disembarking and were quickly corralled to our awaiting vehicles.  Our specific Jeep was a nice shade of mustard yellow with open sides to allow the fresh air (and plenty of dirt and dust) to penetrate our minds and bodies. 

The scenery was simply fantastic!  After about a 20 minute drive to get out of the city we were met with great coastal views!  It really reminded me of our family's annual (or sometimes bi-annual) drive up the California coast to our favorite camping spot in Northern California.  We made several stops throughout the day in little villages as well as scenic, photo opportunistic locations.  The craziest thing of the day was the experience of riding in this "off road vehicle" on the freeway as we were making our way back to the port.  Completely unsafe!  The sides and back of the Jeep were open to air, there were no seat belts and we were sitting on benches in the back.  Imagine having six adults in the back of a pickup (with just a roof over the back) on bench seating riding down Highway 99 in the good ol'USA . . . would NEVER be allowed!!  But alas! There we were cruising down the highway, dust covered and stinking from a day of fun and adventure! Ha!

Cruising Costa . . . ummm, quite a different experience . . . .

This last September (yes, I know . . I am extremely late on this post and the ones to follow) my brother and his wife came out to Europe for a little visit with us.  We all decided that since our last cruise was so fabulous another cruise would be the best way to see a good amount of Europe in small amount of time.  Our grave mistake??  We booked a European owned cruise line (Italy specifically) instead of a cruise line based out of the United States.  We set sail on the Costa Pacifica bound for France, United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain and Italy . . . the stops were fabulous but the cruise itself, not so much.

The first thing I noticed about the ship was that the interior was not quite as roomy.  It seems as if the walls were a little closer to one another, the ceilings a little lower and the furniture a little more cluttered.  The great promenade of the Royal Caribbean ship was long gone and replaced with a small piano, stairs, and a bar.  The outdoor activities were limited to several pools and hot tubs . . no mini golf, ping pong, basketball, etc. The food was decent . . . we ate when we were hungry . . not really something I looked forward to each night.  I have the say the cruise director was pretty amazing . . . she spoke at least 5 languages fluently and would have to say the same announcement five times in five different languages!  She didn't miss a beat!  The biggest disappointment of the ship, however, was the entertainment!  It consisted of the same group of thong-clad dancers and two singers every single night!!  We kept trying . . and kept being disappointed.  Night after night we left from the shows early . . . they were terrible!

Overall we were happy to spend quality time with family even if it wasn't on the best ship in the seas.  We were also able to meet a pretty cool couple from Austria as they sat at our table every night.  We enjoyed Santiago de Compostela with Biannca and Klaus as well as some intense matches of table tennis, aggravation and foosball. I can say that I will never again cruise with Costa . . . and it makes me a little nervous to cruise with other European companies as well.