Civitavecchia, Italy - Disembark Royal Caribbean Mariner Day 13

This is the final day and relaxing isn't so much on the mind. It's a chore to make sure we've collected everything. We eat breakfast and make it last as we don't have a flight to catch today.  The staff knows you're leaving and that they won't be gettng any more tips.  The service level provided is visibly less. We disembark, collect our luggage, and then look for the transportation.

The port has a shuttle bus that is about a five minute ride to the port gate. People are agitated in the heat and are fighting to get on the shuttle. The AC unit in the bus is set low because Italians don't believe in AC.  Handicapped and senior folks are making the bus ride even more onerous.

It's about a 15 minute walk from the port gate to the rail station. The queue is long because we are joined by many other cruisers headed to Rome. The man behind the ticket counter spends about 10 minutes talking to some women with their big boob cleavage exposed.  I tell the wife she needs to do the same if she wants to get respectful service. When we get up, we ask a question which he impatiently answers and dismisses us immediately. We don't even spend 1 minute with this guy.

The train is packed and we stand the entire 90 minutes to Roma Termini.  It's warm. The AC does not feel like its working.  Luckily some of the window locks have been disabled so we get some good airflow.
 

At Sea - Royal Caribbean Mariner Day 12

Last full day on the ship. Evening.  Overall the evening shows took a preciptious drop in quality with this cruise.

57 year old Russian juggling team. The guy was a bit creepy.

During this 13 day cruise, there were 2 performances by the ship's dancer.  On this last night, they had two dance numbers so this one didn't count as one.  The dancers also seem to be getting thicker.

Last dinner

Shrimp Cocktail

NY Strip Steak. Very ordinary. I swear Europeans don't know how to cook a good steak.

On the other hand, this banana parfait was tremendous. 

Another good chocolate dessert. Royal Caribbean knows how to do chocolate well.

Chania, Crete - RC Mariner Day 11

So this was the end of the port of calls. This was early afternoon as the ship headed out of Chania and photos of the Crete shoreline were taken sailing out.

Lunch

Turkey Wrap. Ordinary. 

Warm rum cake with coffee ice cream

Dinner

Flounder or halibut?

Chocolate with Coffee Ice Cream

Chania, Crete

The walk to the lighthouse is a lot longer than it appears

Old City

On the way up to get a overview of the Old City

This was in the old city. The fish eat you...

Rhodes, Greece - RC Mariner Day 10

Mushroom pastry. Flaky crust with a cream of mushroom tasting inside.

Giant Shrimp. Good but lacking unique character

Savarin, Chocolate, Cheescake. The chocolate was intensely good. The savarin sponge tasted stale. The cheesecake was average.

Old Town Rhodes, Greece - Part 2

Returning to Old Town

Palace of the Grand Master

Palace

Gate of St Antoniou

Mosque

Inside the Mosque

Colossus of Rhodes, Greece

This was a must visit site. I needed to see where the Colossus of Rhodes may have stood. So we exited through a gate in Old Town and headed down a long narrow strip of land to the Deer.

Windmill

The Castle Lighthouse

Seeing this current configuration, it is impossible the Colossus straddled this spot as popularly depicted. Maybe it was possible under a different configuration.

Turning around to head back to Old Town

Old Town Rhodes, Greece - Part 1

Old Town

Aerial view of part of Old Town

Possibly the most famous of the gates: Panagais. Certainly the most scenic

Church of Virgin of Burgh

Archeological Museum

Seahorse

Temple of Athena

Kusadasi, Turkey - Royal Caribbean Mariner Day 9

Dinner - Formal Night

Duck. A beautiful presentation but slightly gamey bland with a hint of tin.

Fried Shrimp. A welcome comforting appetizer but ordinary.

Veal Shank. The photograph does nothing to show how huge the shank was. Royal Caribbean has done a much better job on other ships with fork tender shank. This was moderately tender and then the salt failed to permeate deep into the shank.

Strawberry Napoleon. The crust and topping were flaky. The filling was tepid.

Irish Cheesecake. I believe it was supposed to contain Bailey's but I didn't taste it. This was airier than a standard cheesecake and would have preferred it over the Irish.