It’s hard to believe it’s been almost two months since returning home from our Mediterranean cruise. Or that it’s taking me this long to report back on each of the stops! #badblogger I think I subconsciously drag them out so I don’t have to admit to myself the trip is over. Which is probably why I tend to save my very favorite spots for the final posts, too. (In fact, I never even blogged about our days in Cinque Terre from our Italy trip two years ago…and it’s one of my favorite places we’ve ever been!)
Not to say Cartagena wasn’t a good stop…let’s be honest, any stop on a Princess cruise is going to leave you awestruck. But what I’ve learned about cruising, is so much of your experience in each port has to do with the excursion you select, or your preparedness for the city.
And in our case with Cartagena, we neither booked an excursion, or read-up on the city before arriving. #badtravelers It was only the first official stop on the cruise, but our fourth day of the trip, so I think jet lag had set in, and we were ready for an easy day.
So instead of a delicious tapas food tour or exploring the Roman Theatre (which I would totally do if we ever returned), we decided to forgo agendas, and let the itinerary unfold on it’s own. Many of the cruise ports are far from the actual cities, but fortunately, the ship docked in the heart of Cartagena’s marina, so we were able to wander aimlessly on foot.
The city dates back to 100 A.D., and thanks to its Mediterranean location, it’s been inhabited by many different cultures, who have all left their mark during the tumultuous history. And even more interesting, is to see these ancient Roman and Spanish buildings surrounded by palm trees.
We spent the day lurking in doors, eating a huge lunch surrounded by exuberant locals, and dipping our toes in the cold Mediterranean waters…then returned to the Royal Princess for a nap by the pool. It was our first time experiencing the ship while at port, and we loved the feeling of having it to ourselves! Have you ever skipped a port, and spent the entire day on the deserted cruise ship?
GORGEOUS PICTURES!!!! I love your trip recaps! And you are darling in that pineapple tee and tassel skirt!
What a beautiful place! You look adorable as always!
We cruise quite often, so we end up going to a lot of places we've been several times before. We'll usually get off the ship and walk a bit, grab some food or a drink, and then go back to the ship to hang by the pool and enjoy the beautiful scenery. It's so wonderful to be on the ship when then crowds are gone! Those are some of the best pool/relaxing days. One time we sailed from Puerto Rico on a 7-day and had a stop every single day, no sea days. By the time we got to about day 4 or 5, we were so exhausted that we totally skipped Barbados and just got a bucket of beers by the pool all day, and it was wonderful!
Enjoyed your trip recap, as always! Some of my favorite posts.
Gorgeous!!!! I love the ship to yourself feeling! We didn't do any excursions on our second Caribbean cruise and after 30 minutes off ship at our second stop, we got back on and enjoyed the pool deck to ourselves. Wonderful!
I find on a vacation that I don't want to do too much or I go home tired instead of relaxed, refreshed.
I wanted to give the Baby Foot Exfoliator a try. Where do you buy it?
It's on amazon….here's a link:
http://bit.ly/2b5JNVa
Awesome!! Hey, I have a little question for you. A few months back you told us about these inserts called 'Say Hello to Longer Legs'. Ever since then I decided to also try them out recently and got the 1.5 inch ones. I just wanted to thank you for sharing that!! Do you still use them? (For example on trips like these or daily still?) 😉 Love ya!
Yay, I'm thrilled you liked them, Mandy! I haven't worn them lately, but only bc most of my shoes are open, like sandals. But I'll be putting them in my boots and booties as soon as it cools off!! xo