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Mediterranean Cruise 2025
  • Karl Hoppe
  • Lori Hoppe

Mediterranean Cruise 2025

Karl and Lori going on a cruise to the Mediterranean with Ben and Lauren. Barcelona, Gibraltar, Marseille, Pisa/Florence, Naples, Sorrento. Read more
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  • Trip start
    June 4, 2025
    Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    And we're off!

    June 4 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Pretty smooth trip to the airport. We actually parked at a local hotel and took the hotel shuttle to the airport (through globalairportparking.com). First time trying that. Security was quick and had time to stretch and walk before boarding. See you on the other side of the pond!Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    First Barcelona stops

    June 5 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Ran out just to stay awake and keep moving before jet lag really got us. We learned more about the metro system, rode up to Sagrada Familia and then walked to Casa Mila. On our way we stopped to watch some locals playing bocce on a gravel playing area. Finally we took the metro back to our hotel and walked across the street for a lovely tapas dinner! We had a sangria made with cava, a local sparkling wine. We finally found an eggplant recipe that we liked! Also tried the local pickled anchovies, and they were honestly pretty good.Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    Anniversary and Barcelona Day 2

    June 6 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Started off the morning with a pastry and a coffee/tea, then did a dry run to know where we needed to go to meet the cruise ship on Saturday.

    We saw the Christopher Columbus statue, then we walked up La Rambla, the famous Barcelona street which, honestly, was quite touristy.

    We strolled through Mercat de la Boqueria, a food market. It was then off to a vermouth bar (Vermut i a la Gàbia) for our noon snack of tomato bread (assemble your own) and cod fritters.

    We then headed back over to the Arena. This arena was originally built for bull-fighting but is now a shopping mall. On the 4th floor, you can walk completely around the building on their outdoor terrace to get some wonderful views of the city.

    We then walked to Jube for our 2:30 p.m. lunch, where we had the meal of the day. For our starter, we both picked the soup. We didn't know what kind of soup it was when we ordered it, but it was a potato soup. For the main dish, Karl had fried fish, and Lori had pork with sweet potatoes. For dessert, we both picked the fruit salad.

    After lunch, we headed back to where the airport bus had dropped us off to wait for Ben and Lauren to arrive.    Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025
    Details of the tree-like support columns.

    Sagrada Familia

    June 6 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Ben & Lauren arrived around 4:45pm and we escorted them to the hotel so they could check in & drop off their bags. Then, it was back to the subway to travel to Basilica de la Sagrada Familia for our timed entry tickets. The size of the cathedral is amazing. A unique feature is that all the statues are on the outside. The inside also emphasizes creation and natural beauty, with the columns shaped like trees with branches that spread out supporting the towers and ceiling above. The inside is very open, with huge stained glass windows that splashed different colors of light all around the sanctuary. It was a beautiful time of the evening to be there with the setting sun shining through the stained glass.Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    Tapas in Barcelona

    June 6 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We then took the subway back to our hotel area. We dined at Milagros, a restaurant across the street from our hotel. We had tomato bread, spicy potatoes, fried meatballs, ham croquetas, sliced Iberian ham, crispy eggplant, and a few other small plates with cava Sangria. For dessert we had lemon sorbet with cava, crema catalana, and another caramelly custard that we can't remember the name of!Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    Get on Board

    June 7 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    On Saturday morning, we went to a nearby coffee shop for beverages and pastries. One of the nearby streets was getting set up for a market. We then checked out of the hotel and headed to La Rambla. Lori, Ben, and Lauren walked a small section of La Rambla while Karl watched our bags.

    We then hopped on a bus to be taken to the port where we boarded the Sun Princess. The rest of the day was spent exploring the ship. For lunch, we dined at Alfredo's (pizza). For dinner, we ate in one of the main dining rooms where we were assigned our table and servers, Budi and Anna. We confused Anna when Ben and Lauren switched seats due to Lauren's motion sickness. It stopped Anna in her tracks and caused Anna to give them "the look".

    Since Karl & Lori had an anniversary, our cabin steward had swans and roses (made of folded towels and washcloths) along with a real rose and rose petals on our bed. Karl, when telling Ben and Lauren about it,explained that we had geese and roses on our bed. We decided he needed to play more Wingspan if he can't tell the difference between geese and swans!    Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    At Sea

    June 8, Alboran Sea ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    We spent the day at sea. We played games, attended a talk on Gibralter, participated in Trivia, and relaxed after our travels. Our cabin steward moved the swan towel art to the small table in our room. (Also yes this is Karl, I have learned that geese are not lovely creatures and we should absolutely judge animals by their looks...)

    We also checked out many different areas of the ship. The Sun Princess has plenty of areas to get away from the crowds if you have the patience to explore.

    For dinner in the main dining room, we each had a starter plus shared a starter of escargot. When ordering her main dish, Lauren ordered the Classic Caeser Salad. After our server, Anna, gave her "the look", Lauren ordered Halibut (and Classic Caeser Salad).    Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    Gibraltar

    June 9 in Gibraltar ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Gibralter is a small British territory with an area of approximately 2.6 square miles. After docking in Gibralter, we disembarked from the ship shortly after 7 a.m. We walked to the nearest bus stop, where we showed the passes we had purchased online and rode the bus to the bus stop near the cable car station.

    The cable cars were already running, so we hopped in line and took the cable car to the top. At the top, we saw several monkeys. Since it was foggy, we didn't get as much of a view as we were hoping for. We stayed at the top for a while, enjoying what views we could get as some of the fog decreased and increased.

    We took the cable car back down and walked through the Alameda Botanical Gardens.

    Then it was back on the bus to Europa Point, where we saw Trinity Lighthouse. The sign claimed it was the southernmost tip of Europe.

    It was then back to the bus to get a ride to the City Center. We dined at the Royal Calpe, where Lauren and Lori feasted on fish and chips, and Ben and Karl feasted on Roast Turkey Yorkie. We then ambled along Main Street and then back to the ship.

    We pulled away from the dock at 4 p.m. We saw the 4:30 p.m. flight from Heathrow coming in to land at the airport, but we were too far away to see it actually land on the ground. (When planes land and take off, they have to close the road to Spain as it goes right through the airfield!)    Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    Dinner and then another day at sea

    June 10, Mediterranean Sea ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    After the day in Gibralter, we headed to dinner in the dining room. Lori ordered the Chicken Cordon Bleu. We had been at dinner for about an hour and were still waiting for our entrees. They had run out of Chicken Cordon Bleu, so it was Lori's fault that dinner ran long. We were just finishing up dinner when another table spotted dolphins leaping in the water by the ship.

    The next day was another day at sea. Not much to say, a little bit of pool, a little bit of Trivia, presentations about the ports of Marseille and LaSpezia. We had lunch at the Irish pub on board (in a booth like a hobbit hole). We played games in the Dome for a bit. Then we hit the show in the arena which was essentially a rock concert with the on board entertainers. Dinner and then sleep to be ready for Marseille in the morning!    Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    Marseilles, France

    June 11 in France ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We took the Princess Shuttle into town, as the port is about 4 miles from town. We bought tickets for Petit Train Marseille (a little train that tourists can ride). We took it up to the Notre Dame de la Garde, which is at the top of a large hill. A bicyclist hung on to the side of our train to hitch a ride for a little bit. We wandered through this moderately sized cathedral and enjoyed the views of the city and the port.

    We then returned on the train to Old Port. We walked to La Patissiere Des Marseille, where we each enjoyed a pastry.

    We then walked to Musee de Histoire de Marseille. The two attendants we met at the start of the museum claimed not to speak English, but were able to communicate through limited words and hand signals that the museum was free, set up our audio guides, explained no drinks allowed, explained all of our bags needed to be placed in a locker, and explained photos were allowed as long as no flash was used. The museum was huge. Marswille is old, with evidence of habitation from 600 B.C. We enjoyed wandering through and seeing the Greek and Roman artifacts, including the ruins in the courtyard.

    We then strolled around for food options. The crepe place we wanted to go to was closed. We found ice cream - Lori enjoyed raspberry (framboise), and Karl enjoyed lemon (citron).

    We then headed to the pick up point for the shuttle. Along the way, we enjoyed the artwork painted in the walkways. Karl found a crepe place and had a ham and cheese crepe and a salted caramel crepe.

    Cathedrale La Major was near where we needed to catch the shuttle back to the ship, so we ventured in for one last Marseille experience.

    .    Read more

  • Mediterranean Cruise 2025

    Last Day at Sea

    June 13, Tyrrhenian Sea ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    Our last sea day was spent playing lots of trivia. Lori enjoyed the one where the trivia hostess had redrawn popular movie posters. Lori actually did pretty good! Another trivia was Name that Sound. Ben would have won except he listened to Karl and changed his answer from microwave to elevator, and he listened to Lori and changed his answer from opening an envelope to shuffling cards. We also played board games.

    We enjoyed one last dinner in the dining room and had our picture taken with Anna and Budi, our 2 servers.    Read more

    Trip end
    June 17, 2025
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