OuR last time being away from Jeff

Hiiiii Looovies

It’s time for another cruise update,

I hope you are doing great and had an amazing and productive week.

So as I promised here comes the second part of our cruise trip.

For some of you who don’t live in vienna it was freezing and super cold in January. All geared up with thick jackets, gloves, hats and maybe some tights.

So I was kinda worried how the weather was during the trip. Especially while strolling around the City, off-board.

So I looked up the weather and got all packed up with everything I needed for my boy.

THE WEATHER WAS PERFECT!

You guys, I loved the weather. It was super sunny and warm enough to eat outdoor. We had around 20ish degree celsius. It was a perfect weather to stroll around the cities.

Our first Stop was Marseille.

On the cruise you have only 1 exit. They scan your IDs so they know you left the cruise. And on the mainland you have a security check to go through. After that you will find several taxis and shuttle busses to the city.

So we did breakfast on the cruise and went off board around 11 am. It was our first time going off board so I planned to take just the important stuff with me.

Diapers, wet tissue, some snacks and some extra clothes if ever he needed to change.

Because I also took the stroller with me I wanted to make sure the off and on boarding will be easy with a Kyle.

So while my parents got their stuff scanned I told them to take Kyle with them. So they can go through the security check together. While I arrange all our belongings and the stroller after they went through.

After the security check you should find yourself a ride to the city. We mostly took the Shuttle bus offered by the cruise itself. But it was always extra to pay.

So in Marseille we started at the Marseille Cathedral. From there we walked along the harbor. My parents stayed at the old port of Marseille.

So I decided to take the Hop on Hop off Bus to do a little trip around the city. We started at the Old harbor and went to notre dame de la garde.

AAAAAND DAMN, with a freaking stroller and a sleeping kyle in it I went all the way up!! and let me tell you for those who haven’t been there, there where I guess around ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND f*cking stairs! woooow. and yees up there I saw there was another way to go up, an much easier way *smh!!!!!

Anyway.. I went on with my bus trip to the old harbor again and from there I strolled back to my shuttle bus. Because it was sunday, everything was closed. I wasn’t able to find cute little cafés with delicious croissants.

so I decided to take Kyle on an late lunch - early dinner kinda date. we found a cute little garden with 6-8 different restaurants. We ate some linguini with scampis and for him of course some extra fries. After that we found a cookie bar where we got some nutella cookies.

Now being alone and going back on board I am not gonna lie, I was a little stressed. Taking Kyle out of the stroller and making sure he is not running away while I arrange our stuff, was super hectic for me. At the shuttle bus I had to make sure I put the bag into the compartment first. Then take Kyle out of the stroller. And while holding him with one hand I was trying to fold the stroller with the other hand. And that was a struggle.

Thank god he always managed to stay by my side and listen to what I asked him to do. As long as I was not taking too long.

So at the security check in, the guards would always tell me to go through the scan with Kyle sitting in the stroller. So going on board wasn’t too stressful. I just had to make sure the stroller was empty before going through.

And that was always the procedure.

On the cruise you will be ID again so they know you are back on board.

Our next stop was Barcelona. Since I have been there already my parents wanted to visit la sagrada familia. So we took the Taxi to the church then again the taxi to la rambla and from there we walked the whole street down to the pier. We took a quick break at la boqueria, of course and then we walked to the pier to get back to the cruise. And because it was off season there was no long queues in la boqueria and a perfect stroll on la rambla.

We skipped Palma de Mallorca, because we have been there already hehehe

then we were at Palermo, again we took the hop on hop off bus.

on the 5th day we were on sea the whole day.

then we were at Civitevecchia.

there we strolled around, because it was a pretty small town. We didn’t took the bus to rome because it would have been again a 3h drive and Kyle wasn’t feeling too good that day. So we decided to stay in the small town and enjoyed our last stop before going back home.

And with that loovies

Here my final 5 Tip for OFF BOARD

1. Get yourself a nice and compact city stroller. Use one with an easy handling and light weighted.
   

2. be ready and prepared for waiting times at the shuttle bus. The bus sometimes waits up to 20min until more people get in. Make sure to have enough snacks or toys for your toddler.
   

3. make a plan before going off board. What do you want to do or see in the city? With a child I always find it difficult to be super spontaneous. I don’t know if I’m the only one here. But I always need to know where I might find something to eat, or maybe a little park for Kyle to chill. Because the happier the baby the smoother will be the whole trip. And I didn’t want him to be super exhausted from the day trip.
   

4. you don’t have to go off board if you don’t feel that way. Kyle was super happy on board as well. Because I recognized after 3 stops Kyle wasn’t sleeping so good. Also not eating much because, well I think he was super tired from the city strolls and couldn’t recover so well.
   

5. Enjoy every minute and take as many pictures as you can. Your little nugget will never be this little again. Maybe Kyle won’t remember much from the cities he has been. But he for sure will cherish the moments with his grandparents and all the fun times on the board!

Until the next one ladies xx