If all these still fail to entice you, dahlings, then a fabulous Mediterranean cruise on those world-renowned Royal Caribbean’s humongous floating islands or spectacular ships might just lure you and travelers of all avocations once and for all.
As the long hot summer began in Europe, Cosmo Manille’s royalty among travel agencies, Arpan Air Inc. (Baron Travel’s sister company) invited eight of us journalists and a TV celebrity for a fabulous seven- day cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s breathtaking Grandeur of the Seas.
The cruise saw us docking at some of the Mediterranean’s most alluring ports. The trip was co-sponsored by one of the world’s most efficient airlines, Germany’s pride, joy and flag carrier Lufthansa, no less, dahlings.
At the now brilliantly organized NAIA airport (kudos to that dedicated gent of know-how, Edgardo Manda, NAIA’s well-respected GM), Lufthansa’s passenger sales and marketing manager, cyber-smart beauty Jeanette See saw to it that our groupie breezed through check-in counters and customs without fuss until we boarded Lufthansa’s long-range big bird.
Jeanette S. even made sure that all members of our pack were seated close to one another. This made it so much easier for us to circulate and chat during the one-hour stop at Bangkok and during the 10-hour- 15 minutes direct flight to Germany’s bustling modern and huge Frankfurt airport.
Here we waited for two hours at Lufthansa’s well- designed business and first class lounge which connected our flight to Rome where we were to board our ship, the Grandeur of the Seas. The ship was docked at Rome’s oldest port, Civitavecchia.
Before leaving, we spent a night at the "Eternal City" of Rome, the capital of the Catholic religion. Our gang for almost two weeks included Jeanette S., naturellement; that super head turner with brains and breeding, Arpan Air Inc.’s president and CEO and Baron Travel Marilen Yaptangco; vivacious workasonic bachelorette, Arpan Air and also Baron Travel’s SVP and COO, Joy Abrogar; host and producer of The Probe Team and CheChe Lazaro Presents (one of the most popular travel TV shows), CheChe Lazaro; CheChe’s producer, Jennifer Lopez-lookalike Melanie Lozano; IDEAZ Plus GM and freelance travel columnist Bob Zozobrado; PEOPLE Asia magazine’s executive editor Philip Cu-Unjieng; ace Philippine STAR and PEOPLE Asia photographer Alex Van Hagen and moi; and the cameraman and soundman of Che- Che Lazaro Presents, Denor Alindogan and Bernie Castil.
Our groupie wasted no time (apres dropping our gear at our hotel and feasting on a yummy lunch at a typical outdoor resto hosted by Arpan Air Inc. which had us gasping for breath from being stuffed) walking off the calories and jumping on a subway train to explore the sights, sounds and aroma of beautiful Rome.
First stop was the Vatican where some of our pack wanted to attend Mass officiated by Pope John Paul II, no less. Philip C., Alex V.H. and moi decided to walk a good 40 minutes around the city instead. We crossed the famous Tiber river to our destination, the fabi Piazza Navona, definitely my favorite piazza in Rome.
It was Jeanette’s turn to host dinner at one of Rome’s up-scale popular restos, the Romantica. We headed off the next day to Civitavecchia. Apres a quick lunch, we were on the way to the Ostia Excavations in Ostia Antica.
After exploring part of the excavated city of Ostia Antica (which was once at the mouth of the Tiber river), the trade center of Rome, we drove off for the port of Civitavecchia. The awesome sight of the Grandeur of the Seas left us all agog.
My adrenaline shot up as I entered the ship. We passed smoothly through the formalities of immigrations in a matter of minutes and finally settled in our spacious cabins. Each had a private balcony. I took a deep breath in mine and told myself, "This will definitely be the start of a fantastic cruise!"
It was the beginning of eight days of discovering some of the most eye-catching places and interesting islands of the blue Mediterranean.
We all got together for our first dinner aboard the Wind-jammer at the ninth floor of this 10-storey floating masterpiece.
We next enjoyed a musical show at the second floor’s Palladium Theater which has a sitting capacity of 1,300, would you believe? Performing were the South-American group, Los Pampas Gauchos and the professional Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers. There are always two sittings for the shows. The first show is held after meals at the more formal dining room, the Great Gatsby at 7:30 p.m. while the second is held after the second sitting for meals at 9:30 p.m. Yes, dahlings, the ship usually has 2,400 passengers on every cruise.
Other activities for the night included Jazz Jam Session from 10:30 to midnight; the Latin Fiesta at the panoramic circular Viking Crown Lounge at Deck 11 from 10:30 to 11:45; the Singles Get-together Party at the South Pacific Lounge on Deck 6 from 11 p.m., until you drop; and the Calypso Dance Night on Deck 4, from 11:30 to 12:30 a.m.; plus other activities till the break of dawn.
Moi passed these up to dash back to the cabin where moi sat in the balcony watching the clear sky with its millions of twinkling stars and a real bright full moon. Before hitting the sack, I realized that this summer experience was Royal Caribbean’s way of showing its passengers what luxury cruising is all about.
Day two was spent all day at sea, dahlings. The biggest social event of the trip was the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party. Since we belonged to the first sitting, our introduction to our Captain took place at 5:30 p.m. Passengers were requested to don formal attire – gowns for the ladies and black-tie for men. But before you freak out, palanggas, the ship has a rental shop for this type of dressing.
The 11 of us arrived punctually at 11 p.m. in full Filipino force. Many eyes turned toward our exotic-looking gals who were better dressed than most of the others I saw on board. We had the usual souvenir photo taken with Capitan Carlos Pedercini, an Argentinean from Chile.
We then enjoyed cocktails in the Singing In The Rain lounge where the Captain introduced the hotshots who run the ship. The lone Filipino, Mang Vicente’s (one of the master chefs) introduction elicited the loudest applause and shouts from our groupie, natch!
Then followed dining at its finest at the Great Gatsby’s main dining room. The sumptuous dinner offered choices among five aperitifs; two salads; two soups; and six glorious main course. If you think we would pass up the dessert, no way, Jose! Most of our groupie attacked the four dessert choices. As for moi, I just nibbled here and there.
If you want to order everything you see on the menu, that’s perfectly all right. In fact, your waiter will be more than happy to serve it all for you. Aiming to please, dahlings, has always been the Royal Caribbean’guiding motto.
Apres dinner, we had to rush to the Palladium Theater to watch the Star of the Night featuring international comedian and singing sensation Judy Kolba. This world-class performer left the audience rolling on the isles from laughter. Wow! What a woman! What a show!
More action came with the Battle of the Sexes where the audience determined which gender is smarter. In another part of the ship, a ’70s-style Disco Inferno gave its participants dance fever. The Dance Jam Session, meanwhile, took place from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
There was even more action at midnight until 1 a.m. with the to-die-for Chocolate Buffet held at the main dining room. A buffet table groaned under the weight of unimaginable choices of chocolates and cakes, pastries, candies and dips.
Oh, yes. Tthe ship has four movie houses which screen movies from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. If you miss one, don’t worry – there are four channels to choose from in your cabin’s TV set. Now, what else can you ask for?
At 11 a.m. the next day, our gorgeous ship docked at Katakolan, a small eye-catching seaside village belonging to Greece’s largest peninsula, the Peloponnese.
We went ashore and jumped into an air-conditioned bus that took us where it all began – the island’s most important landmark, Ancient Olympia.
Archeologists claim that this is where the first Olympiad took place in 776 B.C. To get there, we drove through a lush 5,000-acre green valley where the archeological site is found. Here you’ll find the landmark which is the "kick-off point" of today’s Olympic games, where the famous Olympic flame is lit and carried by different runners to the hosting city. By the way, Athens, Greece will appropriately host the games in 2004.
Our guide explained that it was a German archeologist who discovered the site (where all the action took place 2,800 years ago) in 1865. In those days, the games were held for 12 gods, among whom Zeus was the strongest. In the beginning, there was only one held at the stadium, the oldest in Greece. The games had a strict religious flavor. Being crowned with an olive twig was the highest honor a victor could receive.
All the Greek provinces and colonies participated in the games. It was decreed that all wars had to stop before, during, and after the games which took place during the summer months of July and August during a full moon.
Since there were no hotels at the time, spectators by the thousands slept and camped in the open. Over the years, other sports like wrestling, discus throwing, chariot racing, jumping, plus, plus, took place.
In the Gymnasium, young Greek men had to exercise naked, a rule at the time. The athletes would put oil and dust on their bodies while boxing and wrestling. After competing, they would bath and masseurs would rub perfumed oil all over their bodies.
We then went to the site of the original Stadium, which was built during the fourth century B.C. The field is 172 meters long and has a capacity of more than 40,000 spectators. After the Temple of Zeus, we proceeded to the super interesting Olympia Archeological Museum, where we found gorgeous archeological treasures around the site. Needless to say, dahlings, our first stop will always be memorable since we actually set foot on where the first Olympiad was held.
Back in the ship at 6 p.m., we were all set for the endless happenings going aboard the Grandeur of the Seas.
Apres a yummy dinner as usual, we hurried to the Palladium Theater to watch a musical review ala Las Vegas. From there, we dashed to the poolside where a beautiful full moon added to a fun party dubbed as the Greek Toga-Toga night. The swinging Stingrays made the passengers rock and boogie until way past dawn. Getting into the action was always game CheChe L. who even put on a Greek toga.
The following day, moi was awakened by Alex Van H. "Quick," he said as he motioned me to rush to the balcony. "Come and look at this!" The sight that greeted me was absolutely awesome – we were sailing close to shore by the gorgeous Greek island of Santorini. On the island’s right side are cliffs atop which were clusters of white-washed villages perched by the edges. It was definitely a postcard-perfect sight.
Santorini’s spectacular crescent shape came to be in 1450 B.C. when this volcanic island erupted.Now composed of three main islands, it is best known for fantastic beaches and cliff-situated homes. Santorini is considered to be the most beautiful of all the Greek islands.
Our ship dropped anchor outside Skala which is 890 feet below the small town of Fira, the island’s capital. We began our trip up, up, up the zigzagging road headed for Akrotiri, seven miles away from Fira. It is considered as the most impressive archeological site around the island.
Our guide, a strong forceful woman who spoke like a Shakespearean stage actress, explained to us that excavations began in 1866 yielded Minoan pots. Recently unearthed is the entire ancient city of Akrotiri which has been well-preserved under tons of volcanic-ash for 3,500 years.
Our guide then toured us to part of the ancient city which will take another century to entirely excavate. In some walls of homes, they have found painted pictures of antelopes and children boxing wearing boxing gloves. These were said to have been painted centuries before Christ’s birth. Other finds include the world’s oldest water closet toilets and water drainages. These show us how advanced the people of the island were at 36 B.C.
Then, off we went to the Antorion and Boutari Wineries, producer of two of the most popular wines in the island. We sampled the red Bapehi the Sautorissi white wine and the Vinisanto dessert wine while nibbling on cheese, bread, olives and tomatoes. We soaked in the gorgeous view of the black sand beaches shoreline below and the white-washed cliff-side villages in the horizon. This is really the only way to enjoy your wine, dahlings
It was time to breeze around Fira. We window shopped and ate Greek delights. We experimented on dishes we never heard of. And believe me, between CheChe, Alex and Melanie, we couldn’t get enough of them! Philip couldn’t pass up the maussaka even if he is allergic to eggplant. Marilen, Joy and Jeanette settled for a simple salad plate.
On our way back to the ship, we opted for the cable car while other passengers took the donkey train down the steep 600 steps. (To be continued)