Horvath Travels: 2023 Rome to Lisbon Cruise

Bon voyage from Rome

Although our Oceania Sirena cruise begins in Rome, Lady Adventurer and I do not manage to visit the ancient and historic part of the city. That’s okay; we’ve been here before. We are more interested in getting onto our little ship to begin eating and drinking. You may have heard this here, but Oceania Cruise Line is unsurpassed for food quality, service, luxury, and well, what else is there? Oh yeah. The itinerary.

We book these cruises based entirely on their itineraries. This one promises to be especially good: multiple areas in Italy, France, Spain, Monoco, and Morocco that we had yet to visit.

Did I mention the heat? It’s extremely hot in Rome, as it surely will be for a good part of this trip. Thanks, Global Warming. Rome wasn’t already hot enough as it was.

Here's the plan

Isle of Capri, Italy

Capri is a small island, located off the shore of Southern Italy near Naples. It’s the famous home of the Roman Caesar Tiberius and of the rich and famous today. If you want to get there the same way we did, here’s what you do:

1) Eat an early brekkie, just like everyone else on the Serena.
2) Go to the Sirena Lounge to exchange tickets with current ones, and then wait for our number to be called.
3) Take the tender (the Serena is anchored) to shore in Sorrento.
4) Once in Sorrento, meet the tour guide and walk over to the ferry to Capri.
5) Ride the nice, air-conditioned ferry to the island.
6) When the large door folds down, storm the beach as in D-Day, then walk over to the mini-bus.
7) Take the mini-bus up, up, past Capri (the town of), and up further to Anacapri (Anacapri means the hilltop town above Capri).
8) Take the one-butt-per-chair chairlift up to the highest point on the island, Monte Solaro. Once there, enjoy beautiful views of exactly half the island, with the rest shrouded in clouds. Did I mention that Capri is a very vertical place?
9) Do everything in reverse to get back to the ship, except also take a funicular ride along the way.

Isle of Capri

In order to escape some of the heat and crowded places, we took our good ‘ole time having lunch at an authentic-seeming eatery. Capri was scenic and fun, but it was also extremely hot and ridiculously crowded.

At the top of Isle of Capri

Sardinia, Italy

If the king of Russia is the Czar, and the queen is the Czarina, what do you call their kids? Czardines.

Sardinia is the second largest, after Sicily, island in the Mediterranean. It’s located West of the mainland boot. The ancient Greeks thought it was shaped like a foot or sandal, so they named it accordingly. The name is not influenced by, nor does it have anything to do with (notwithstanding any jokes) sardines, the fish. Here, I thought we’d be doing some fine dining on the little guys.

Just like Rome and Capri, Sardinia is beastly hot. But it helps that it’s not crowded. In fact, the population is around one-sixth that of Sicily. Yet the pastoral countryside is incredibly serene. We make our way to Gallura, the area in the Northwest part of the island. We walk around the towns of Aggius and Tempio, where we had a little lunch with wine.

Sardinia - there's a party goin' on!

Livorno, Italy

This is not to be confused with Livonia, Michigan. It’s a different locale, altogether. This here Livorno would be the gateway to Pisa, Tuscany, Florence, and Cinque Terre. We’d had our hearts set on the latter, but the tour was canceled due to rain. It seems that part of the getting around was to be by boat, and the storms have been coming and going. So much so, that our ship was rocking and rolling whilst sailing here last night. So much so that we step off the Serena to just walk around the town of Livorno, and we’re chased back in by another sudden rainstorm. Guess it’s going to be a stay-on-the-ship day.

Some people don’t like these storms at sea, but I think they’re swell.

Bastia, Corsica, France

Once again, high winds and storms prevent us from doing what we’d arranged. In this case, the ship doesn’t land at all, so we get an unplanned day at sea. It would have been nice to see Corsica, but staying at sea is relaxing and restful. C’est le vie.

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Been here a couple of times, including a year and a half ago. It’s pretty cool to see the casino, the royal part, and the stunning harbor area. Not to mention, you get to hobnob with the billionaires. This time around, Lady A. and I take a walk all the way around the harbor in order to admire all the yachts. Later, I venture out once again and make my way up to the botanical garden.

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Aix-En-Provence, France

What a nice little side trip this is. From the port of La Seyne Sur Mer (Toulon), we drive through stunningly beautiful countryside to arrive at this typical French town. It’s ‘market day’, so there are booths with vendors galore. It’s fun to walk around and explore. The fine weather sure helps.

Aix-En-Provence

Palma De Mallorca, Spain

Palma is the city, and Mallorca is the island. (Mallorca is also the name of a popular Spanish Restaurant in Cleveland, but I digress.) It’s another island in the Mediterranean, this time part of Spain. Lady Adventurer chooses a panoramic tour that includes lunch and some nice sights, Dan chooses a hike to ‘Beautiful Banyalbufar.’

Debbie absolutely loves her tour of castles, especially Es Mirador de na Foradad, which serves her some great food and wine.

Mallorca

Dan thinks his ‘Hike to Beautiful Banyalbufar’ (he still can’t manage to say that out loud), is a highlight as well. Stony paths and trails, some alongside stone walls, are fantastic through the dry forested hills high above the sea. With only the guide and two other intrepid hikers, it’s a hike to remember.

Mallorca hike

Barcelona, Spain

We had forgotten how wonderful this beautiful city can be. Good thing we have a relaxing day to enjoy it. Close to the cruise terminal is the statue of Christopher Columbus that marks the beginning point of La Rambla, the main tourist drag through town. We walk for miles and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells. Some of these include cathedrals and a lively food market.

About 500 of the approximately 600 passengers departed this morning, as the first half of our cruise concludes here. Now a bunch of new folks embark for the remaining portion. Among them are several Cruise Critic acquaintances that we now meet in person. We’re also now friends with a handful of the through-cruisers like ourselves. Now, it’s time to form a new team trivia team.

Barcelona!

Barcelona - La Rambla

Alicante, Spain

Some people don’t like storms at sea, but… Oh, never mind. Yes, we skip yet another port due to bad weather. We are not too overly devastated.

Andalusian Villages, Spain

The good ship Sirena makes Motril its home port for the day. Nearby is Granada with its famous Alhambra palace. Also nearby is Malaga, another similar port. Having had the pleasure of visiting the Alhambra in the past, and exploring Malaga just a year and a half ago, we choose to visit a couple of Andalusian villages.

Motril, Granada, and Malaga are all part of Andalusia. The region also includes the justifiably famous Costa del Sol. The hilltop villages of Andalusia, we gather, are incredible as well. Nearly all of the buildings and homes are whitewashed, and many of the villages are perched up at the top of the hills that overlook the coast. We learn that they’re as quaint to walk through as they are to view from afar.

In fact, all of the surrounding scenery is great. We stop to walk through Colmenar, Alfarnete, and Alfarnetejo (which we believe may mean ‘Alfarnete Heights’). We stop at an olive oil production facility and sample some of their product, and then have lunch at a local home. The lady of the house and her 94-year-old mother were gracious hosts, and they had a lovely home. The entire lunch was special, including the homemade chorizo.

Alfarnetejo in Andalucia

lunch in Andalucia village

Arrecife, Lanzarote Island, Canary Islands, Spain

It takes two days to sail through the Strait of Gibraltar and over to the Canary Islands. Did you know? There are no canaries in the Canary Islands. It's the same with the Virgin Islands. No canaries.

Lanzarote Island is our first port in the Canaries. We’d been aware that the Canary Islands were volcanic, but we had no idea they were ‘this’ volcanic. It appears that the entire island is parched and covered with relatively recent lava flows. The only things that grow here are planted palm trees, grapes (for wine), and various lichens. That’s it. It’s not unlike the Big Island of Hawaii but with even more lava and less actual soil. And like the Big Island, it’s all pretty awesome.

There are nine of us on this private tour. We cruise critics are all pretty familiar with each other now. We explore some caves associated with a huge lava tube – one artistically improved and the other one deep down under, in near darkness. Later, we make our way to Timanfaya National Park and the Fire Mountains. It’s somewhat similar to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, except (as I say) even more lava-y. It’s all pretty cool. Or should I say, hot?

Lanzarote Island

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife Island, Canary Islands, Spain

Our second Canary Island Port is Santa Cruz on the Island of Tenerife. Here, things are much different. Although there are volcanoes galore here as well (including one humongous one in the center of the island) everything is very green; much less stark. Tenerife is the largest of the Canaries, and it’s also probably the most visited. Small wonder; it’s pretty spectacular.

Tenerife has also suffered some devastating wildfires in recent weeks. They’re only now getting under control. We are not traveling to that part of the island (we’re going East, rather than North from the port), and we don’t see any fire damage. What we do see is wonderful scenery.

Tenerife Island

After a walking tour of the charming high town of La Laguna, a UNESCO world heritage site, we drive a spectacular winding mountain mountain road to the coastal village of Taganana (rhymes with banana, which they grow here). It’s all peachy. Or, should I say, banana-y. And the wine sample is pretty good as well.

Tenerife Island

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria Island, Canary Islands, Spain

Gran Canaria is our third and final Canary Islands stop. I will mention the name of our private tour director because he is truly the best: Sergiu Iacob of Epic Tours. To our group of five travelers, he talks a great deal about photography, but even the non-photographers learn a lot.

Pico de Bandama, a stunning volcanic caldera, is our first stop. Here we experienced breathtaking 360-degree panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. Next, it is on to Arucas, where we marvel at a magnificent church crafted entirely by hand from volcanic rock. We also briefly enjoy the charming and picturesque narrow streets of Arucas. Our third stop is Valle de Agaete, where we have the chance to visit a working coffee plantation. They grow all kinds of tropical fruit trees as well as the coffee trees, so the plantation tour is as interesting as the tasting. The final stop is at Puerto de Sardina, a quaint fisherman's harbor and beach that offers picturesque views of the ocean.

Gran Canaria

Now, we sail towards Morocco. What is the best of the Canary Islands, you ask? I would say Tenerife, even though Gran Canaria was also quite grand.

Lady A. and Danny Boy (yours truly) both have some kind of sinus infection. I hasten to add that it’s not Covid-19; we test clean. We’re getting by by using Flonase, but our current health is less than optimal.

Tangier, Morocco

We have yet another fantastic small group (six people) tour here. This time it’s Ali of Ali Tours. Once again, I would highly recommend him.

We stop at several parks overlooking the sea. The city is beautiful and surprisingly green. The parks are great. Ali even buys us breakfast (not that we needed any more food, but this was a cultural experience) at one place perched on some rocks above the Strait of Gibraltar. As the morning fog lifts, we can eventually see the coast of Spain across the Strait. Unfortunately, we never get to spot the Rock of Gibraltar.

Tangier, Morocco (Ali, our guide)

We tour the Caves of Hercules and do a walking tour of the Kasbah, which is the ancient walled city fortress, now used for housing and shopping. We meet all kinds of people along the way. They’re mostly friends and acquaintances of Ali. And they’re all wonderfully friendly. Without exception, each person we meet in Morocco is warm and caring. They seem to love Americans best of all. What a great place. We will have to come back someday.

Tangier, Morocco

Lisbon, Portugal

It’s been a few years, but Lisbon is almost like a second home to me. Been here several times, most recently alongside the Lady Adventurer. The Sirena passes by much of the beautiful city as it approaches its berth. We have an afternoon to explore before tomorrow’s disembarkation.

We follow our Cruise Critic friends Susie, Bob, Joe, and Carol up the hill to the castle. The way isn’t too steep, but it’s uphill all the way. And it’s all cobblestones, uneven ones at that. And it’s a little confusing. No problem, however. Susie has her google maps app going. We visit a historical museum, explore the castle, and mostly enjoy the spectacular views. What a great city. And a great way to end this trip.