A Luxury Lifestyle Cruise
A Luxury Lifestyle Cruise
As part of my Post-Covid travels, I recently went on an amazing Adriatic Cruise
Last week I wrote about finally being able to travel again as countries are opening up in a post-Covid world. It’s weird saying “post Covid” because it is still around, but it’s now something we have to live with and we can’t keep hiding for another two more years (or longer).
After a week in Amsterdam, we were off to Venice Italy for two nights with anticipation of the upcoming cruise to Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece.
For those that have never been to Venice, the airport is small, and since Venice is an island, the coolest way to get from the airport to our hotel was to take a water taxi (aka, a cool wooden speedboat). It feels like you are in a James Bond movie. I wanted to pull up the Bond movie theme song while we sped to our hotel, but I didn’t (but I did hum it in my head)
Once at the hotel, we ran into at least 25 couples that I knew. “Hi, Bob!” I heard around every corner, and while it is great to finally be able to travel, it’s even better to be able to see old friends, many of which I haven’t seen since my pre-Covid days.
We ventured into Venice, visited Murano Island to see them make the beautiful blown glass art and we had some great Italian food (and of course gelato!) and of course, we had to take a Gondola ride. It was my third time in Venice and I fell in love with this amazing island all over again.
It’s time to Cruise…
On our embarkation day, we all headed to the ship and since it was my first time on a Silversea cruise, I spent the first hour or two exploring the ship. It is a very nice ship (it’s one of a small fleet of luxury cruise lines) and the cabin was the nicest balcony cabin I have ever stayed in. It had a walk-in closet and a bathtub! Those are two things you never find on cruise lines.
We also had a butler, which was a really nice addition that I am not used to. He was great and made our cruise extra special. He was always close by to bring us food, drinks, ice, and things we didn’t even realize we needed until he showed up with them. He was very attentive, but maybe it was because my girlfriend was always hanging out naked in the cabin.
As we sailed away, the DJ kicked up the music, girls started taking their tops off and the party got started. The music was great and I was so happy to be sailing again. There was a guy playing bongos, a beautiful woman playing the violin, all to the music the DJ was playing.
This cruise takeover was put together by Claudia & Pepe, from Luxury Lifestyles Vacations (LLV). They specialize is small, luxury cruise lines where you can meet almost everyone on the cruise. This is a nice change from the big mega cruises we used to put on. Sometimes we would meet a really nice couple on day 1 and never see them again on the cruise. We liked the fact that there were only a few hundred people, we met almost everyone on board and made some great new friends we will be vacationing with again.
The days had a similar itinerary each day:
Get up and grab breakfast
Head into the port and explore or go on an excursion (often with others from the ship)
Come back on board for dinner and then a show
Then change into the theme night’s outfits and dance, dance, dance
Then people would head to the playrooms or off to cabins and suites for the after parties
Sleep
Rinse & repeat
The Ports
The ports on the Adriatic Coast are truly amazing and most people in the US have never been. As I said earlier, this was my third cruise to this area and I can’t wait to come back again. Most of the ports have buildings that go back 800-plus years. It’s like walking back in history.
This time I tried a few different destinations than I had in previous visits to this area. I went inland more, so I could see more of Croatia and it didn’t disappoint. I visited a nude beach just off Dubrovnik, but still had plenty of time to visit this beautiful city and walk through the old town.
For fans of Game of Thrones, these cities are represented throughout the series and are where many of the scenes were shot. The “stairs of shame” was a popular site people on our cruise were talking about, but you can see plenty more places they filmed here.
Better yet, GOT fans, they had a theme night centered around the series and it was the best theme night of the week. So many great outfits, costumes, and bodypainting.
Speaking of body painting, there were some very talented body painters and an amazing artist names Perego that did some really cool live painting sessions and a different type of body painting with glow paints. All in all, the talent on board was very good when it came to visual and musical professionals LLV brought on.
We walked a lot (a LOT!) in the ports visiting castles, fortresses, and palaces. It’s hard to fathom the age of the cities in this region, especially when the US is barely 200 years old. It is really great to be able to get out and see places like this, it gives you a very different perspective.
The Ship
The ship was really nice, especially the cabins. There were very nice restaurants and bars, my only complaint was that they needed a better selection of alcohol on board. For a 6-star ship, the choices were limited and decidedly not higher end. I spoke to the F&B manager and they are having difficulty sourcing higher quality brands in these smaller ports, which makes sense. He asked what my favorite brand was and he got it on board the next day (now THAT is service!).
I never visited the spa (too busy partying) but I heard good reviews from friends who did go. The pool area was very nice and overall, I would give the ship a good recommendation.
The Classes
I was surprised by how many classes were on board. There were sexologists, doctors, Tantra instructors, photographers, massage therapists, artists, and experts on many subjects that dealt with non-monogamy, polyamory, and just overall sexiness.
I really wanted to go to a few classes, but the ports drew me away and I only got to go to a couple of demonstrations that were more performance than instructional, but it was nice seeing so many different options.
The People
The one thing I learned a long time ago about these cruises is that the ports are nice (and this cruise had some of the best I have ever sailed to), and the ships are all nice too, but it’s the people that make these cruises.
This cruise was no different. I would sail with these people any day, on any cruise, to any port. Hell, I don’t even need ports, just give me this group of people and let’s go!
Living in Mexico, I have learned a lot more Spanish and I was happy to meet a lot of Spanish-speaking people so I could continue practicing (and learning). In fact, I learned several new Spanish words that you won’t learn in Duolingo.
The combination of hanging out with old friends and making some new friends, which I have no doubt will be in my life for years to come, is what these cruises are really about. You just don’t get that on a “vanilla” cruise.
What is the price of a cruise? What is the price of a life-long friend? Friendships are more valuable to me that any vacation. When you can have both, then THIS is where I want to be.
The Party
I already touched on the fact that the entertainment was great and interactive and very accessible to the guests. You go to meet and get to know them, almost like they were guests too.
Each night had some great (and sexy) theme nights and the people onboard came prepared (you should have seen how many suitcases per person came on board). We really looked forward to the nightly parties, especially the White Night, Masquerade Ball, and of course, the Game of Thrones night.
But what about playing? I knew you would ask, so here is the juicy stuff: There were lots of sexy playing n the playrooms every night and lots of private and semi-private parties going on in the cabins and suites. I’d say there was a very active play scene on board and very erotic energy that you could feel throughout the week.
It was a sad day when we pulled back into port. There were lots of hugs and kisses and phone numbers being exchanged. As we left the ship, we all disappeared into taxis, buses, trains, planes, and automobiles. People headed home, some went to Cap D’age, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, and Ireland to name a few.
More importantly, people were traveling again and the world is opening up. I hope you join us on one of our upcoming adventures, or at least, find your own adventure.
Life is short… Enjoy it while you can.
Bob
