Travel Maven Blog ...... David Molyneaux posts from TheTravelMavens.com

Post-cruise, How 2 people vacationed on the Amalfi Coast and were the only Americans in town

MINORI, ITALY

Lemons, grapes and vegetables fill the terraced slopes behind the town of Minori, Italy (Photos by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)

A week into our off-season trip to the ancient Amalfi Coast beach town of Minori, my wife and I heard whispers from a doorstep as we walked along a cobbled lane.

“Here come the Americans,” (or something close to that), said one woman to another in Italian. We were making our usual late afternoon shopping jaunt to buy fresh bread, a sack of delightful baby artichokes, a big scoop from a barrel of ripe broccoli rabe, fresh pasta, and a bottle of local wine for dinner.

Unlike the summer vacation season when Amalfi’s seaside resorts, restaurants and streets often are packed with travelers, February was quiet and residential. We were the only Americans in town. We were met with welcoming smiles.

Most vacation travelers tend to follow the sun, perhaps heading to the Caribbean in winter or the Mediterranean in summer. Sometimes a holiday destination offers a different vibe when you move in a direction opposite from the crowd; off-season time is all the better when you rent an apartment and live among the locals.

Our Minori, Italy, seaside apartment, first building in the center.

 

People-to-people travel to Havana, food and music, Hemingway, and talking about life

Cruising Cuba for the first time, exploring cities and seacoast: Second blog by David G. Molyneaux (first, cars and artists)

Nacional Hotel, Havana, Cuba (Photo by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)

Havana

If you are traveling to Cuba, not so much to rest on vacation as to experience the island’s people and culture, your best bet is to choose an expedition by one of the more reputable outfits known for its guides and lecturers.

Your trip may — or may not — be the most cushy, and your beach time surely will be limited. But you will gain some understanding about today’s Cuba, a country on the Caribbean's largest island that has been closed to most U.S. citizens for more than half a century.

Besides, you are the traveler Cuba is hoping to entice as the country rebuilds its way into a prime travel destination.

Less than one hour by plane from Miami

Tourism already is the Cuban economy’s number one industry, and that's before the onslaught of American travelers anticipated during the months to come, many on cruise ships that now have received government permits through October 2017.

If your expedition is like mine, you will encounter some Cuban government propaganda and some extra paperwork to get into the country, then honest, optimistic feelings from the people who live there. The dozens of folks I talked with all hope that Americans will arrive with some interest in their lives, some money to spend, and no plans to take over their country.

My Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic tour to Cuba — three nights in Havana at the venerable, impressive but outdated Nacional Hotel and seven nights cruising on the cozy 150-foot Panorama II — was described in brochures and communications as a people-to-people tour, as spelled out in a contract with the Cuban government.

That’s what we did. We met, listened to and/or watched talented Cubans speak, entertain and show off their homes, businesses and artistic creations. Local experts, learned lecturers, and outstanding photographers led us to fascinating people, artists and artwork, musicians, and glimpses of life only an hour's plane ride south of Miami.

We met Cubans from all walks of life.

Best of new big cruise ships: Anthem and Escape

Norwegian, Royal Caribbean take different tacks on eating, drinking, entertainment

Tandem racing and free-fall waterslides or floating in a glass tube that feels like sky diving? Craft beers and tasty bites in a warehouse style sing-along keg room or a clubby pub bar? Oodles of outdoor dining choices or drinks mixed and served by robots? 

Waterslides on Norwegian Escape

In the heavyweight bout for the world’s best new big cruise ship in 2015, the winner will be in the eye of the beholder, because two competitive cruise lines each have taken a different tack to show who owns the hippest ship -- Miami’s 4,248-passenger Norwegian Escape or New York’s 4,180-passenger Anthem of the Seas.

No other competitor in the category of contemporary, mass-marketed cruise ships belongs in the ring with these two behemoths, though Carnival’s Vista and Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas currently are bulking up in European shipyards, five months away from entering the fray among 2016’s new ships.

Humming ‘1492’ as a Windstar Mediterranean cruise memory

Star Pride notes from the Mediterranean Sea

Two weeks off the Star Pride in the Mediterranean between Barcelona and Rome's port of Civitavecchia, and still I am humming the theme from "1492: Conquest of Paradise." 

Officers of Star Pride slowly raise the flag of Windstar Cruises at daily sail-aways, to the music of ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise’

The stirring sounds by Greek composer Vangelis play at the end of each day at sail-away, on all Windstar ships.

The music is upbeat, proud, and commanding, a moment to remember.

Several passengers told me they get goose bumps when they hear “1492.”

On the three sailing yachts, passengers make certain to be on deck for the daily sail-away pageantry as the sails are raised.

So what does Windstar do on the Star Pride, the first of three power yachts to join the fleet?

Two officers raise the Windstar flag as the ship pulls out of each port harbor or from its anchorage.

New Disney parade shines with Fantasyland characters

I am a sucker for a big, colorful parade with lots of music, especially if Disney builds it.

On my way to an appointment recently at Disney World near Orlando, I arrived early so I could see the newest of the daily shows in the Magic Kingdom -- the Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade.

The Princess Garden rolls down Main Street

As usual, the Disney extravaganza was spectacular. 

Applause for cruise lines’ new non-smoking policies

Starting with cruises this weekend, there will be no smoking in any of the piano bars on the ships of Carnival Cruise Lines.

That’s great news for all the piano bar lovers who can’t stand the heavy haze of second-hand cigarette smoke. I thank you, Carnival, and so do most of the piano players.

The piano bar on Carnival Magic, above, has been smoke-free since the May inaugural

The new non-smoking rules announced this week by Carnival -- and by  Princess and Holland America -- go far beyond the piano bars.

My guess is that the cruise lines will hear applause from around the world from non-smokers, including many of us who have serious allergies and are concerned about the negative health impact of second-hand smoke.