We returned home yesterday after our two weeks in the Mediterranean. We traveled from Miami, through Heathrow ( another story entirely!) and went to Malta a couple of days before our October 1 small ship cruise started. We stayed in the Phoenician hotel, steps from the Valetta gate. Fabulous hotel and superb location! In speaking to others on our tour, this hotel was much preferred over the Marriott in St. Julian’s. We had dinner our first night in the hotel, and it was simply delicious. I had lobster pasta and hubby had chicken. Both wonderful. Also the breakfast buffet at this hotel was excellent. But if you want eggs, get in line early as there is usually only one chef each morning!
We walked around Valleta our first day there, wandering in and out of shops just to work off jet lag. For dinner we went to Haywharf, down on the docks in Valleta ( need reservations) and it was wonderful. We shared some starters and some small portions of different ravioli. With a bottle of wine, dinner was about 90€ which we thought was very reasonable.
The next day we ventured out to Gozo by the fast ferry to visit the megalithic site of Ggigantija. Easy to get ferry tickets and then an Uber on Gozo both ways. Very interesting site, which took about 45 minutes to see. We then took the ferry back over to Malta and relaxed the rest of the day. Our welcome dinner was that evening in our hotel. Since our group was about 150 people total, they do separate welcome dinners at each hotel. Our TD was Eddie, accompanied by Sidney. Some people lost their luggage so dress was varied at the dinner. Men, you don’t need a sport coat on this tour. Less than half of men wore one. More on dress codes later on.
Our first day of touring took us out away from Valletta to see another temple at Hagar Qim, which was also very interesting. We got a briefing of the history of Malta, which is really a mixture of so many cultures! Fascinating. Our night was free so hubby and I had made reservations before we came at 59 Republic, which was in central Valletta. Dinner and wine were fabulous! I enjoyed outstanding beef Wellington. Great place….go if you can.
The second day in Valletta was a morning tour of St. John’s Co- Cathedral in Valletta. I will not spoil it for you, but this was one of the most beautiful churches we have ever been in!! Every inch of the interior was decorated with beautiful paintings, tons and tons of gold leaf, and marble floors. We also went to an old Palazzo that has been owned by the same family for multiple generations. Beautiful. That afternoon we boarded our beautiful ship, Le Jacques Cartier. Seamless transfer and boarding, with our first night free on board. We enjoyed dinner in the dining room. Great food and service. Plus you can choose to have a more casual dinner on deck 3 most any night.
There was only one “ dressier” night on board which was the second night on the ship. many people dressed a bit nicer, but nothing too fancy. The TD’s all had formal wear on, but the people on tour were mush more casual. Even though the dining room policy says no shorts at dinner, many nights they were quite visible. No one got really dressed up. Men mostly in slacks and golf shirts, women all over the place, from casual dresses to slacks and tops every night. Our weather was perfect, never higher than low 80’s and no rain at all.
The tour itself was interesting in many ways, with just a few disappointments. All five of our Tauck TD’s were really great. The three stops in Sicily are Siracusa, Taormina, and Palermo. Depending on your excursion choices, you will see lots of beautiful little cities and towns, palazzos, and Greek/Roman ruins. Local guides varied from very interesting and conversational to drone on lectures. Nothing different than other tours, I guess.
Our one disappointment was the excursion to Mt. Etna. The description says the bus, gondola, and all terrain vehicle will take you up 10,000 ft. to see the volcanic craters. NOT….. once up at altitude, in order to actually see any real craters, you need to hike another 20 minutes, uphill, on slippery volcanic ash to see anything else than the smoke coming out of the top mountain. At altitude, that is difficult for many of us. About one third of our group stayed back or turned around part way through, just too difficult. If you choose this excursion, just be forewarned about this little detail that is not spelled out before hand. We had been to Taormina previously, and many on our ship did that and loved it.
Cannot speak to all the excursions on Sicily, but most people were pleased. We had a huge group lunch at a convent one day that was excellent and well executed. We enjoyed Sardinia enough, and chose to go to Nora, an ancient Roman town. Lots of ruins and well preserved mosaics. We loved Bonifacio, Corsica with the little cruise around the bay and then the short tour of town. We stayed a bit longer and had Corsican eggplant for lunch in town. Yum.
Hubby caught a cough and cold from another person on our bus two days earlier. She never covered her mouth when coughing, and had a drippy, gross runny nose. Ugh, some folks just don’t care about anyone else. So he started not to feel well the last 2-3 days in the ship. A few other people seemed to be nursing colds as well. We did hear that one person tested positive for Covid and they isolated the last two days. This caused us to skip Elba and just stay on board. We heard that there were many, many steps up to the village, and long walks to Napoleons house, so glad we made our decision. My hubby got to rest a bit. He tested negative.
I treated myself to a facial on the ship and it was lovely. The spa was very nice, so make appointments as soon as you board!!
We disembarked in Nice. Probably about 20% of people extended for a few days. We enjoyed walking around this beautiful city for a little shopping, and also went to the Chagall Museum, which was outstanding.
Flew home back through Heathrow. We made all the flights, but our bags did not. Luckily, we received them last night, all intact. Now we just deal with unpacking and my hubby now testing positive for Covid. I have a runny nose, but am negative. The joys of travel! However, this was a wonderful trip, with gorgeous weather, nice people, excellent service and some really lovely places. If you are planning this tour, go and enjoy. Any other questions, feel free to PM me.
