Cruising the French Riviera

We just returned from a fabulous cruise in the Mediterranean on Azamara Club Cruises.  In case you have never heard of this wonderful little cruise line, it is owned by Royal Caribbean and is a boutique line.  What they do is they have longer stays, more overnights and night touring in their ports of call.  If you have ever been cruising and wished that you could have gone out that evening and enjoyed the city lights, or the theater, or an event, then this is the cruise line for you.  It sails with only about 700 passengers, so for a cruise ship, it is considered small.  However, it has all of the amenities of a larger ship and in addition, includes many other things that make it feel more like a club, such as complimentary drinks. 

We were in Marseilles from noon on day one until 6 PM the next day.  That gave us time to explore the port on the first afternoon. 

Then the next day, we booked a boat ride to a nearby island (20 minute ride) and explored some amazing scenery on a hike.  It was so beautiful!  It was like we found a hidden gem.  We were practically there by ourselves.  That is the beauty of being on a smaller ship!

When we were in Cannes, France, they were setting up for the Cannes Film Festival, which will be from May 15-26, 2013.  We found the red carpet going up to the Grand Auditorium.  We took a picture on the red carpet.  I know that it will be hard for you to tell us apart from the movie stars that will be there next week!  We had fun doing this.

In Monte Carlo, we rode along where they are going to be having the Grand Prix at the end of this month.  They were putting up the guard rails and signage.   Lots of enormous yachts were in the harbor awaiting the event.  Because they had overnight stays in port, we were able to go to the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo at night.  It was fun to mingle with the rich and famous for one night.  Then we were back to our ship.  It was hard to go to bed because the view from our balcony on the ship was calling to us!  The ship was docked right downtown.  We could see the castle where the Prince of Monaco lives, a giant yacht that we heard was owned by somebody who was related to the royal family and the Grand Casino all lit up at night.

It was while we were sitting out on the balcony the last night that my husband and I really "got it".  We truly understood what the Azamara Experience of longer stays, more overnights and night touring really meant.  It meant moments like this.....

Give us a call if this looks good to you!