Cathy Pursell Bryant, Travel Consultant

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Cathy Pursell Bryant, Travel Consultant

Cathy is an outside travel consultant for
Around The World Travel Inc., a full service travel agency

25/04/2025

Today we said goodbye to Seabourn’s Ovation in Monte Carlo, Monaco. We had a driver pre-scheduled to take us to our hotel in NIce, which is where the airport is to fly home. We will spend two nights here before heading back to the good old 🇺🇸. We are planning to take the train back to Monte Carlo tomorrow (should be super easy, quick, and inexpensive) to explore and visit the infamous casino. Today we wandered the streets of Old Town in NIce which was so fun. They had one of their popular outdoor markets going on which was amazing to explore. We wandered to a wine and cheese bar and made dinner out of a charcuterie board for two . How much more perfect does it get?

24/04/2025

Our last stop today was adjusted from Ciotat, France (high winds there) to VIllefranche-sur-Mer in the French Riviera. Villefranche-sur-Mer is one of the most charming — if not the most charming — authentic French and Niçoise fishing village on the French Riviera, in the heart of the Côte d’Azur in the middle of Monaco and Nice. We strolled the cobblestone streets of Old Town, visited the ancient CItadel as well as St. Peter’s Chapel and then stopped by a marina side café for a snack and vino before heading back to the ship. Tonight is our last night aboard the Ovation… we will disembark in Monte Carlo, Monaco tomorrow and head to Nice, France for two nights before flying home. This cruise has surpassed my expectations and it’s hard to wrap my brain around the amount of territory we have covered in ten days. One sea day in a ten day cruise has allowed us to visit so many ports of call 🇪🇸 🇮🇹 🇫🇷 . This has been a dream!!

23/04/2025

Bonjour from Cannes in the glamorous French RIviera 🇫🇷! Most famous for its prestigious film festival, the city offers natural beauty, luxury and culture. We strolled along the iconic Boulevard de la Croisette taking in the palm tree lined promenade with some of the most luxurious shops, cafés and hotels in the world. I decided to browse Louis Vuitton - the stores are an experience all on their own. I was greeted by a security guard and then escorted by what seemed to be my own personal shopper. All I can say is WOW and AH-mazing!!

22/04/2025

Today was a FEAST for the senses! It was an absolutely gorgeous and magical port. Portovenere, Italy 🇮🇹 overlooks the Gulf of La Spezia, also known as the Gulf of Poets because of the numerous writers and artists that it attracted in the past and still today. Portovenere is the “gateway” to the five villages of Cinque Terre. This has led many travel experts to nickname Portovenere as Cinque Terre’s “Sixth Town”. The Ovation was in port today alongside Seabourn’s Sojourn. We knew we wanted to explore Cinque Terre on our own so we got up bright and early. We pre-ordered room service for breakfast which allowed us to be off the ship first thing to head to the ferry dock and purchase our tickets to visit the Cinque Terre VIllages. The tickets were €42 each round trip and we made our own schedule (you could get off the ferry in three different villages today). Funny enough the cruise line’s shore excursion was on the same ferry and we were able to listen to their narrated portion for the time we were onboard with them. We didn’t want to follow their same schedule though, as we were trying to minimize crowds. Their narration is a definite perk of doing the cruise line’s trip though if you like guided shore excursions.

I took what seemed like a million pictures 📷 today …I’ve tried to narrow them down for posting but that was difficult! On our return from CInque Terre we wandered the streets of Portovenere and had a leisurely lunch with a view of the harbor. It was an absolutely PERFETTO day in Italy today 🇮🇹

21/04/2025

Portoferraio is a historic town on the island of Elba in Italy. Old town is surrounded by a huge fortress and overlooks the port and marina where we are docked. The marina is lined with colored buildings adored with flowers, bustling piazzas, local boutiques and full of beautiful sailboats sitting right alongside the Ovation. Once again, we rented a car with our friends and drove around the island seeing a few wineries and their growing grapes, many many cyclists everywhere (quite impressive on these winding roads and hills) and ventured to another town on the island called Capoliveri. It is one of the liveliest and most characteristic towns in Elba sitting atop a large hill with impressive views. We decided to walk around, sightsee and grabbed lunch in a cute pizzeria. We made sure to stop and see a couple of sites of historic significance including Napoleon Bonaparte’s exile residence. €65 for the car rental, €5 each for the Napoleon Tour and a bit of Google = no expensive shore excursions needed!

I am really excited for tomorrow’s stop at Portovenere…I’ve heard so many great things about CInque Terre so we are going to grab a ferry and set out early 😎

20/04/2025

BONIFACIO, (Corsica), France 🇫🇷. Steps Steps Steps everywhere !! Steps to get up to the old town, steps to get DOWN into some shops and steps to get UP into some shops. What a cool and unique cruise ship stop! The pictures in this post are of the Upper City (Haute Ville), on the site of a citadel, located on the promontory overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The citadel was built in the 9th century with the foundation of the city. There was a little open air train which took you all around and up and down, but we chose to get our steps in and walked the entire area UP and DOWN. WHEW! Since it was Easter Sunday many (most) things were closed, although we saw plenty of locals dining before noon at the cafes with wine 🍷 in hand! It was my birthday today and Seabourn celebrated me with a decorated cabin, rose petal drawn bath, and celebratory dessert at Solis tonight for dinner! It was a lovely day…not sure what else girl could wish for ❤️

19/04/2025

Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia, was a very interesting city. 🇮🇹 Seabourn provided once again, a shuttle to get us into the heart of the downtown area. We had no set agenda for the day, but we immediately saw an open air tour bus that we thought would be fun... €15 each and we were on our way for the one hour tour around the city (narrated in your choice of six languages using a headset). The tour was very scenic and informative, and we were really glad we made the choice to do it. We saw so many interesting things such as the remnants of a Roman era amphitheatre, the fortress Castel di Castro, Poetto Beach full of wind surfers, the salt lagoons, and interestingly enough, pink flamingos! After the tour, we wandered the streets and dined at a lovely café which we found highly recommended online and had a traditional Sardian lunch.

Fun facts: Google says Cagliari holds one of the world‘s largest population of people over 100 years old. And there are two sheep for every human here 😂 and the sheep’s milk is the predominant source for making all of the cheese here. 🧀

Security was exceptionally tight coming back to the ship. It started with the polizia doing random inspections of our shuttle bus as well as the tour bus we had just gotten off of and then ended with three different security checkpoints to get back onboard. This is one of the biggest ports in the Mediterranean Sea, and includes military vessels and cargo so I can see the need for the extra layers of security!

Tomorrow we will be in Bonifacio, (Corsica) France and it is Easter Sunday. I am not really sure what to expect, but guessing most things will be closed. We will go with the flow and see what the day brings!

18/04/2025

We sailed out of Mahon, Menorca this morning at sunrise (spectacular!) and will spend today at sea. Today’s post is all things Seabourn 🛳️. The fact that the Ovation holds only 600 passengers is a major selling factor for me. We are in a V4 category suite on deck 9. The suites are generous in size and very nicely appointed. This bathroom definitely is the most spacious I’ve ever had on a ship. It has a walk in shower in addition to the bathtub, lush towels and even soft, fluffy bath mats. Ahhhhh!! The balcony is lovely (room service dinner on the verandah is on the agenda one night 😍) and the mini bar filled with our pre-selected choices is awesome. The public spaces are very nice, the service is superb and the shows have been entertaining. Being at sea always takes me back to my own days of cruise ship life but this level of luxury is a step above when i sailed the high seas! ✨🥂

17/04/2025

MENORCA, Spain on Seabourn’s Ovation…what a treat! We woke up and opened our drapes to the most gorgeous view! We are docked smack dab in the heart of the town and will be here overnight. This harbor is the largest natural harbor in the Mediterranean. It is beautiful! We walked around the old town area for a bit and then rented a car to drive around the island with new friends we met onboard. We drove to the port of Fornells, one of the most authentic ports in Menorca, located in a beautiful Mediterranean bay, full of white houses. We stopped to see Trepucó, one of the largest Talayotic settlements in Menorca. I can say for certain, this is one of the most beautuful cruise ports I’ve ever been in!

16/04/2025

The first stop today on our Mediterranean cruise was Palma de Mallorca, Spain. WOW! This city is beautiful and so vibrant…I can see why it is called the ‘pearl of the Mediterranean’. We toured the Catedral de Mallorca and got the audio headset to do our own walking tour. It was breathtakingly beautiful! While I did not come here to shop, the shopping here is outrageous! After visiting the Catedral, we then walked the old streets full of all of that shopping, sidewalk cafés, we took in the sites and of course, stopped for tapas and sangria. Seabourn offers its passengers a free shuttle to take them from the ship to the city area. They make it extremely easy and convenient to get back and forth. Next stop, Menorca

15/04/2025

BARCELONA, Spain 🇪🇸 What a great city! We’ve had a brief stay in the Gothic Quarter on our way to board the Seabourn Ovation today. The city is clean and beautiful and despite all the pick pocket warnings we received, I felt very safe walking, morning and night. We’ve walked miles discovering tapas 🌮, sangria 🍷, and cappuccino ☕️…taking in the beautiful architecture and sites.

Downside thus far: LOST LUGGAGE 😩. Good news though, I actually took forever packing to ensure I had all of my necessities and MORE in case this happened. Going on a ten day cruise with needed dress clothes for dinner takes this stress to a new level though! We are on our way to the airport now for SECOND time to see if it arrives before we board in two hours WIsh me luck🍀 !

Stay tuned for our first stop in Palma de Mallorca

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