Costa Firenze Postcard #3 - Sea Day

The ship is so much busier than our cruise last January, it's great to see it full of people all enjoying what it has to offer. Along with ourselves, a lot of Spanish passengers embarked yesterday and the second sitting in the MDR was quite chaotic as you would imagine, the downside for us is our table with the waiters serving us were also looking after a large family group of 19 all on one extended table. They were very hard work for our waiters and as a consequence we received very poor service. It took over an hour for Nicole to get her first vegan course by which time I had eaten 2 of mine. Not a great start and our waiters were very apologetic, they said if we would like to move to first sitting then they would do their utmost to give us some proper service. Unfortunately they are only playing the hand they have been dealt with and really should only have been looking after the large family group and nobody else. Wanting to give them a second chance we spoke with the restaurant manager and got moved to first sitting. Fingers crossed tonight will be a big improvement. What did come as a surprise last night was Nicole was handed a vegan breakfast menu to choose from. Now that is a first and Nicole was delighted with the selection. I will go into more detail about this when we get home with photos and details in the Cruising With my Vegan Wife section of the blog.

We both slept really well but were awake fairly early so decided to go for breakfast as soon as the MDR opened. Stopping off enroute for a view over the ships wake. Nicole's breakfast surpassed expectations and for some bizarre reason the portions were way too much. They even brought me 4 fried eggs instead of 2 so rather than waste them I managed to find room for them. Both feeling rather full we walked a few circuits of the jogging track before finding a couple of sunbeds.

It was nice to see the lido pool roof open too, the last cruise it was closed the whole time. It looks completely different when open and almost looks like a different ship altogether.

The water slides are extremely popular which is great because last time we were onboard they were closed completely the whole time. For lunch, Nicole had sushi while I went to the buffet for a salad and some grilled chicken.

The afternoon was very lazy spending a couple of hours on the sunbeds before the heat got too much and we retired to the Lounge Bar Della Moda for some shade and a few drinks. It's been a perfect sea day.

Time to go find out if our MDR experience will have improved......

Costa Firenze Postcard #2 - Barcelona & Embarkation

Our morning consisted of breakfast at the hotel which was really good, there was even plenty for Nicole to eat as well which was a result. We had to check out at midday so went for a walk along La Ramblas down to the marina. Although it was 10:00 in the morning it was still reasonably busy but not too busy.

We walked past the Columbus Monument and took note he was pointing towards the ship.

A big circular walk brought us back to the hotel where we had a quick shower and packed our cases ready for embarkation. With 4 hours to kill we took a stroll up Rambla De Catalunya and sat for a while in one of the bars and watched the world go by where some Padron Peppers & Gambas helped pass the time. At 4:00 we were back at the hotel for pickup by taxi to take us to the cruise terminal. We had an embarkation slot of 4:30 but were there a good 15 minutes before. Embarkation was slick and quick and we were onboard in about 20 minutes after all the paperwork was checked. Our cases arrived before muster and Nicole had us unpacked in record time.

Muster was the same as last time but this time in just 2 languages, Spanish followed by English. We made our way to the Lounge Bar Della Moda to find seats for sailaway at 7:00. It was a great choice and not half as busy as we were expecting.

Tomorrow is a sea day so I will try and post a little more than today, embarkation day is always a bit of a rush.

Costa Firenze Postcard #1 - The Journey to Barcelona & Pre Cruise

This morning started with a 15 minute walk to the end of our street to the bus stop where we caught the 4:17am Airport Shuttle to Bristol Airport. Costing just £7 return and with a journey time of just 30 minutes it was a real no brainer. The airport was a different ball game, with long queues for security it took the shine off our great start. It's the first time for me flying out of Bristol and the airport was extremely busy, I can't say I was too impressed with the experience but it was a nice not to have to drive to Heathrow or Gatwick.

Our Easyjet flight departed on time and it was lovely to see out over our local area as we took off. We acquired masks for the flight because Spanish law states on all in coming flights passengers should wear them, however we were in the minority, with only around 10% actually putting them on, even after being reminded to by the flight attendants over the PA. If I was to say it was full of hen party and stag do's then you will get the picture. On arrival at Barcelona we then had to navigate the Covid Pass screening which took a good 30 minutes followed by passport control which was another 30 minutes. We eventually arrived at the baggage carousel to find ours was the last case. Sat there all alone on a stationary carousel. Our taxi to the hotel was not without jeopardy too but we did arrive early and in one piece. Our hotel (H10 Universitat) came as part of the package is nicely located and within easy walking distance to most things and will be comfortable enough for just the one night.

After checking in at our hotel we set off to get our antigen test done for boarding. It was a 30 minute walk in really hot sunshine but within an hour of the test we both received a negative test results so will be able to board tomorrow with everyone else. Is it €80 well spent or just ticking boxes?

For lunch we used the Happy Cow app so Nicole could eat something vegan, we selected a place called CactusCat which was a really great choice. Catalonian vegan tapas which I thoroughly enjoyed too. Back to the hotel for a quick shower before setting off again for vegan gelato at Parallelo which was recommended by the CactusCat owner. It didn't disappoint and it was well worth the 20 minutes walk. The fact there was a queue out in the street which should give you some indication of how popular and good it was. By early evening we were both feeling pretty jaded so finished our day off with a couple of drinks on the hotels rooftop bar. Tomorrow, our boarding time is 4:30 so will try and find something to do until then and thankfully it won't be such an early start.

Costa Firenze Western Mediterranean Preamble

We have done variations of this itinerary a few times and this time it appealed to us for a few reasons, those being the weather, the ship, my birthday and the short flight from our local airport of Bristol to Barcelona where we will stop for one night prior to embarking.

This cruise all came about following the impact of the ever-shifting sands that Covid has produced with regard to travel. We have moved, cancelled, and rebooked just about every trip we had planned and one such cancellation provided us with an opportunity to take this 7-night cruise around the western Mediterranean and reunite with Costa Firenze.

Since we started cruising, we have only ever sailed on four ships more than once, Celebrity Silhouette, Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Eclipse & Norwegian Epic. Never though, have we sailed on the same ship, back to back in the same year with a return home in between. As a recap, our last cruise was back in January for Nicole's birthday, when we flew to Dubai and cruised on Costa Firenza and now for my birthday, we will rejoin her in the Mediterranean for my birthday so it will interesting to compare the two experiences.

Our itinerary is as follows:

Date	Location	Arrival	Departure
Saturday, July 16, 2022	Barcelona, Spain		7:00 PM
Sunday, July 17, 2022	At Sea
Monday, July 18, 2022	Cagliari, Sardinia	7:00 AM	5:00 PM
Tuesday, July 19, 2022	Palermo, Sicily	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
Wednesday, July 20, 2022	Civitavecchia, Italy	8:30 AM	7:30 PM
Thursday, July 21, 2022	Genoa, Italy	9:00 AM	7:00 PM
Friday, July 22, 2022	Marseilles, France	9:00 AM	7:00PM
Saturday, July 23, 2022	Barcelona, Spain	9:00 AM

As luck would have it, the same cabin was available that we had last time so being as its location suited us really well, we decided to book it again. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

To get on board in Barcelona, we need a negative result from an antigen test within 48 hours of boarding, it should be simple enough to get done and something we will arrange when we get to Barcelona. What is giving us a bit of anxiety is COVID infections continue to rise in the UK and we could find ourselves in the position where we leave the UK negative and then test positive in Barcelona. This current spike is all down to the Omicron BA.5 variant that is now dominant in the UK. It’s particularly good at immune escape, causing a sharp increase in reinfections in people in spite of vaccines and natural immunity, particularly over the past few weeks. Just what we need on the run-in to our little trip.

If it all goes to plan, you will hear from us again from Barcelona with news of a negative test result, so fingers crossed that everything goes to plan. 😁

Costa Firenze Postcard #10 - Dubai & Disembarking

What an evening our last one onboard turned out to be, I received a comment on the blog saying the next 2 cruises were being reported as cancelled on a Facebook group. This puzzled us because they were still embarking passengers all afternoon so when we went for pre dinner drinks we asked our barman if he had heard anything and he told us it was true but said it was confidential. 5 minutes after that 2 British lady's came and sat close by and said they had just boarded but were told the cruise was cancelled. It was too late to notify them earlier so Costa had taken them onboard while other arrangements could be made to get them home.

The MDR was deserted, only a handful of tables were being used and it felt really odd. Halfway through our meal there was an announcement over the address system confirming to all what we already knew.

Everyone would be disembarked on the 22nd with no potential start to cruising again until the 4th February. We finished our meal enjoying the full attention of our two waiters and at the end we had a photo taken with them but on their phone. That was a first for us as it's normally the other way around.

After saying our goodbyes we went back to Bella Bar to have a nightcap and say goodbye to them too. Weirdly enough, they also took a photo of us all on their phone! Twice in one night. The ship was now very deserted so we made our way back to the cabin for a few hours sleep. Our alarm went off at 5:00am and we were dressed and packed by 5:45. We were self disembarking so carried our own cases off, using the lift for the first time to get to deck 0. Our transfer was outside the cruise terminal already and we left at 6:00 for the 30 minute drive to Dubai Airport T1 and our BA flight back to the UK.

I have to say, the Verifly app worked like a dream at DXB, check in was swift without the need to show any documents.

That's it from me on this trip and I hope you have enjoyed following us along on this latest adventure.

The latest drone show video is now been uploaded and is at the bottom of postcard #3

Costa Firenze Postcard #9 - Dubai, UAE

So we have reached our last full day onboard the ship, we delayed the packing first thing, not even getting the cases out from under the bed. We wanted to keep the cabin uncluttered for as long as possible and my chief packer insisting she could manage it in around 30 minutes. Who am I to argue.

It was very windy last night and we assume that because of that, there wasn't a drone show or any fireworks. We had fingers crossed the winds would drop and we can see it on our last night but it has still been very windy again today, albeit with scattered clouds and a decent amount of sunshine.

After trying various locations around the ship we eventually found a couple of beds in one of the alcoves on the prom deck. It ticked all the boxes, out of the wind but in the sun. They are just like little beach house's and provide you with your own space. I am not sure if there is normally a fee for them but today there wasn't and they were spot on for our needs.

I also managed to check in for our flights which was a very tedious process. We were again encouraged to use the Verifly app which wanted pdf vaccination certificates along with a pdf PLF. I was backwards and forwards from apps to websites for well over an hour but in the end I achieved my goal. I'm relatively savvy when it comes to things like this and just wonder how those older and less knowledgeable get by. Lunch today more or less followed yesterday's routine with Nicole having a sushi lunchbox and me having something from the buffet. We investigated sunbeds on the upper decks but there was no shelter from the wind so we moved back down to the prom deck. If anything, I would say that the wind was actually stronger in the afternoon. By 4:00 it had turned decidedly chilly so we made for the atrium for a couple of drinks before going back to the cabin to pack. The winds have continued all day and are very chilly, even the large Ferris wheel hasn't moved today so there is very little chance of seeing the drone show again.

Tonight we will eat in the MDR and bid farewell to our two servers and finish off in Bella Bar for a last nightcap (or two). Very early start in the morning as we are being picked up from the cruise terminal at 6:30.

Costa Firenze Postcard #8 - Dubai, UAE

First and foremost, we have arrived back in Dubai and our next 2 days will be spent onboard because we are not going to be taking any excursions. We intend to make full use of the ship's amenities and hopefully there will be some sunshine to go with it. We found Carnival Spirit waiting for us at the port but not connected to the terminal by an air bridge so not back in service yet.

So, to last night and dinner at the speciality restaurant called Hot Pot. Each table has a heated 2 part pot in the centre. Each part is filled with a broth of your choice, there are 4 options to choose from, meat, fish, vegetable & Asian consommé. Nicole selected the vegetarian option while I chose the Asian. You then select what you want to cook in your broth, options are mixed meat platter, fish & seafood platter and mixed vegetable platter. Your broth is brought to your table in a hot flask and poured into your section of the pot which then has the heat turned on underneath. It is then up to you to cook your platter.

Recommended cooking times were 4 minutes for meat and 3 minutes for vegetables. When cooked you take them out of the pot and can either put them in a bowl as a soup using the broth as well or onto the plate and add some hot sauces and toppings. It was very tasty and a fun thing to do and Nicole enjoyed hers immensely.

We also discovered a birthday cake when we got back to the cabin, a nice surprise and great if had been dairy free. Nicole sliced it up and has shared it with our crew family.

Back to today, after a leisurely breakfast in the MDR (it's the best place for Nicole's vegan options) we sat on our balcony and watched some of the passengers disembarking along with a continuous stream of crew coming and going from ship to terminal which we thought was for booster jabs but it turned out to be one of their 3 day PCR tests.

The ship felt much quieter this morning, because of dress codes ashore, we couldn't make out if people were going to the airport or taking an excursion. The weather has been overcast all day but still lovely and warm so we have sat out up on deck relaxing in between eating and drinking and a game of crazy golf.

We did sit and watch Carnival Spirit leave port heading off for where ever. So sad to see her without any passengers. Last full day onboard tomorrow so starting to think about the dreaded packing.

Having checked the weather forecast, it doesn't look as if it is going to be much better than today. Saturday is supposed to be good but we won't be here to see it.