Our final port in Italy was Olbia, Sardinia. It can be described as a place for suntanned celebrities who like to wine, dine and sail along the glossy coast. Sardinia remains a raw and wild playground with tugged coastal beauty with wind-chiseled cliffs and sandy beaches. Our time here was from 7am to 1:30pm, way too short for much more than a walkabout in town and perhaps a gelato along the way.
The Zuiderdam was docked and cleared early for the tour groups to go off. An easy tour was a one-hour tuk-tuk ride through the old town for $70. Can't say we ever saw one there. Moon Valley was a bus ride out of town to another city with scenic views for 5 hours and $80. Sardinian cookies were served. Wine tasting at Mancini Estate was 4 hours and $100, while Maddalena Archipelago was 5 hours by boat with a swim stop for $300.
Although we were the only cruise ship in town, there were two rather large car ferries, the Moby Tommy and the Aki. When we woke up this morning, we saw Daffy Duck, the Roadrunner, Wille E Coyote, The Tazmanian Devil, Bugs Bunny, Sylvester the Cat, and Tweedie Bird – all Looney Tune characters painted on the sides of their ships. Very amusing. Boy, did that bring back fun childhood memories….
Since there was no walking allowed in this working port, we had to take a 2-mile ride in a shuttle bus that was made for "little people" with very short legs. Good thing it was only a brief drive to Molo Brin in the marina area. A port girl had better maps but ran out by the time we got off at 9:30am. We did have the ship's map, but we could not figure out where the streets were according to that map. It was just easier to follow the crowd because this was a new stop for us.
There were some nice hotels down by the marina as well as a small park where a flywheel had been set up along with a merry-go-round. Obviously this is a vacation destination for many Italians living on the mainland. The central pedestrian street began across from the bus stop which was full of boutiques, cafes, and some historic buildings, but not much was opened that early. The mile and a half street had alleyways off of each side also filled with more stores and coffee shops.
What they didn't have was the throngs of people we saw in Naples two days ago. This town was quite the opposite, although their flags were at half-staff. Eventually we reached the end of the pedestrian strip, and the town became less touristy with pharmacies and clothing stores as well as book shops. There were not a whole lot of souvenir stores, but what we did notice is that they are famous for cork wood. Chunks of this wood were being sold as souvenirs. Of course, there were cork magnets, trivets, and even bracelets made with it. We tried to remember where we had seen cork products like this and it turned out it was in Portugal. We learned back on another cruise, that cork was getting hard to get, and the wineries worldwide began using the twist top caps in its place. They discovered that the corks were drying out and the wine would evaporate, and many bottles were lost because of that.
We had reached the railroad tracks on the other side of this hillside, and had we gone a bit further, we would have seen one of their famous churches, San Simplicio Cathedral. It was erected to honor Olbia's patron saint and was built over a necropolis. If we had the time, we would have hiked to the Parco Fausto Noce, a sprawling city park with trails, fountains, and sports areas. Maybe next time if we ever come back.
We turned around and backtracked. One of us was looking for a small souvenir from here before leaving Italy. Exploring the side streets, we came upon a very nice extremely small boutique selling clothing which included linen and silk scarves. Linen is a bit too warm for where we live, but the silk ones were just right. The price was good at 10 euro.
From there we crossed the street and located the second famous Church of San Paolo Apostolo, an 18th century church, also on top of a necropolis. It featured a granite bell tower, and a dome covered in colorful majolica ceramic tiles. We have never seen a dome quite like that before. Too bad it was locked up tight as it would have been nice to see the interior.
Some of the eateries were beginning to open up for business, but for us, it was way too early for lunch. All aboard was 1:30pm and the last shuttle back was 1pm. Leaving on the shuttle, we were not aware we had to go to a terminal building away from the ship and have our passports scanned, and also go through their xray. The bus let all of us off at one door, and when we came back out another exit, a different bus was waiting to take us back to the ship.
At least we did not have to repeat the xray onboard. One thing we did notice was that the winds were blowing strong by now, just as the Captain had mentioned. It seems that this area is notorious for strong winds and rough waters. We would find out later how rough it could get. All aboard was 1:30pm, but we did not leave until after 2pm. On our way out, we got a better look at the individual floats in the waters near the shoreline that were attached to ropes. Captain Frank told us at dinner that these were for both mussels and oysters. They sure must do well here because there were hundreds of them if not more. Later in the afternoon, all of the outside doors were roped off due to the high winds, just as the Captain predicted.
The second half of the day was filled with several events, beginning with HAL's Grand World Voyage Update and a Q&A session with the President of HAL, Beth Bodensteiner. Her talk consisted mostly about what she considered were improvements over previous grand cruises. The number one subject was the food, followed by the introduction of enhanced shore excursions partnering with the History Channel. Cha-ching $$$. When she was done with the promotions, she introduced a fellow HAL employee who spoke about more changes such as a major renovation of Half Moon Cay, their private island in the Caribbean. We think we heard him say that a section of this island will be used by Carnival ships. Once again….cha-ching $$$. All of the extra amenities will have charges attached. The other comment was that there will be no more "dark nights" in the World Stages fleetwide. No new ships are planned in the future and the Zaandam and Volendam will stay with the fleet.
Also Henk Mensink, our hotel manager will be completing this world cruise…..his final one. Christel his wife, joined him on the stage was given a beautiful bouquet of roses. They deserved the round of applause they got.
Finally the 2027 Grands were announced – one on the Volendam (full circumnavigation), and one on the Zaandam (Mostly New Zealand/ Australia). We are sure these itineraries are already posted by other bloggers. Overall, we felt that the reception Beth got was guardedly warm, judging by the clapping (or lack of) for her talk. Of course, our ship's population right now is about half the normal amount, so the applause may have matched that number.
There was the usual Q&A afterwards, but we only stayed for a short time. Truth be told, we had difficulty hearing the questions asked. One of the first questions was from an elderly lady asking if the dance hosts will ever return. Long story short, the answer was NO, they will not be back. We figured this talk will be repeated on our TV's later on, and we can listen to it tomorrow.
Then we had to get dressed for a President's Club Reception and Dinner in the Pinnacle Grill at 7pm. Our invitation suggested "dressy", however for everyone else on the ship, it was formal. Odd for a port day, we felt we better go formal, and most of the folks did the same. A reception was held in the Rolling Stones Lounge at 6pm where four new inductees got their special pins and the benefits attached for having achieved 1400 pure sea days.
Cocktails were served along with a three-tiered tower of canapies. The new President went to each booth of guests and introduced herself and chatted briefly with the 38 or so members. Then before we were escorted to dinner, a group photo was taken of all of us. Most times, they invite the members up for photos with the Captain and Hotel Manager, but this did not happen. No time we guess. And no one had their days announced, even though this is still done on other HAL ships.
Tina and her staff welcomed all of us into the flower-decorated center dining room where each of us had assigned seating with officers hosting most of the tables. We did not expect to be dining with the Captain and his wife, but we were. Good friends Martha and Bob, a single lady, and what should have been our buddy Don were our other tablemates. Unknown to us, Don had twisted his back, and opted out of dinner. He was missed.
We had our choice of starters which were lobster, spelt?, and caviar or foie gras crème Brulé with a bit of crunchy caramel candy on top of the foie gras. It melted in your melt. The second course was a classic Spanish lemon chicken soup….very tasty and served piping hot. The main entrees were a choice of beef tenderloin or poached turbot. We had the beef and it was even better than what they usually serve here if that is possible. Last was a dessert called de-constructed pavlova with mango sorbet and spring berries. Wines from New Zealand, South Africa, Willamette Valley, Spain, and Italy were served with each course. We don't do wine, but the others did enjoy the special vinos. The evening ended after 9pm and seemed to be enjoyed by all.
While we were dining in the Pinnacle Grill, there was a Cake Walk in all three lounges. Like we really needed more cake.
A shadow show was the entertainment of the evening by Carlo and Simona Truzzi. Now that was different for a change.
Tomorrow we will be in Barcelona with another busy day planned for us. Got to get our beauty rest.
Bill & Mary Ann
