Well, the SHIP was in Valencia!

After having walked close to ten kilometers in Palma and followed it up by a 3+ hour long dinner and a late night playing Quest, we were pretty beat on Thursday.  We really did want to make sure we got into Old Town Valencia on the trip, but here is where the benefit of a back to back cruise really hit home.  We could take the day "off" from exploring for the day and plan on visiting Valencia on the next go around.  It was a very freeing feeling.

Dave and I decided, after sleeping in and having breakfast at Park Cafe (they have a bagel bar and little egg McMuffin type things as well as fresh fruits, yogurts and pastries), to just go out for a half hour or so and scout out where the public bus stop is, etc so we'd be ready for the next week.  The last (and only other) time we were at the ship's port in Valencia (when we boarded the Adventure of the Seas a year or so ago) the area was all set up for the Formula One race which would be going through there soon, which made it impossible to walk through some areas in the more direct routes, so we were not really oriented to the area at all.

There is a tourist information desk right in the cruise terminal.  All of the staff seemed very friendly and spoke excellent English.  They very nicely explained how to get to the public bus stop, and gave us an excellent map  of the city (with the full city on one side, and a close up view of old town on the other), and marked the walking route to the bus stop on the map for us.  They told us to either take the 4 and get of in front of the State Capitol building or the 19 and get off at the Cathedral.

We did a dry run and walked out to the bus stop.  It took less than 10 minutes, even going at a very leisurely rate.  Other things we noted that might be interesting to future tourists:
1. The Hop on Hop Off Bus stop was only a few feet from the public stop, right on the same road.
2. There is a free museum about the America's Cup along the wharf area, very near where you cross over to the street the bus picks up on (we stopped in briefly the following week and really enjoyed it)
3. There were bikes available for rent RIGHT  in front of the cruise terminal, at a cost of 10 Euros for 5 hours.  It looked like a great deal and we may well plan on that as an outing on a future trip
4. You could also rent little golf cart like things to take around from the same area.  I did not price those.
5. There are WONDERFUL, smooth, flat roads and walking surfaces in the area--excellent for rollerblades or skates (we may pack Marika's next time around).

Back on board we played mini golf, shuffle board and ping pong.  We swam a bit, and Rio perfected his ice cream cone filling skills.

After lunch at Windjammers, and more playing around onboard, Marika and I decided to walk to a nearby cafe for some horchata.  It is her favourite drink (a cold mixture of almond milk, vanilla and cinnamon) and you can pretty much only find it in Mexico and in the Valencia region of Spain.  I had made a point of looking at the menus of the coffee shops Dave and I passed that morning and had noted which one listed horchata.  Sadly ,once we were seated, we found out that the sign is not accurate and they no longer served horcahta.  So, we just had a soda and returned to the Legend, stopping for a photo of the ship along the way.

There were three ships docked in VERY close together and at 90 degree angles to one another.  It was fun to sit on the balcony and watch the tugs pull our neighbor out, getting extremely close a few times, while sipping wine.  I was also a munching a cupcake (my resistance finally broke down and I bought one; they are $2.75).  Wine and cupcakes, I am high class I tell ya!

It was the second formal night of the cruise, so after afternoon trivia (yes, we pretty much always go to trivia!) we got all dolled up for dinner, and then the second of the production shows featuring the Royal Caribbean Dancers and Singers.  

Dinner was fine, but overall it is probably my least favourite menu on of the week.  

We really enjoy the RCI dancers,singers and band in the show.  We were less crazy about the featured ballroom couple.  We have seen a few versions of this show over the years and usually like the ballroom couples, but this one was just not doing it for us.  They never really looked at each other and did not "feel" at all like a couple, and both Marika and I felt like the guy sent of a "jerk" vibe.  I can't really put my finger on why, but we both independently thought he came off as cocky and arrogant in a bad way--not in a fun and flirty on stage kind of way.  

Here is the best photo I was able to get during the show; it's from the Candyman scene.  No flashes are allowed (for good reason) so it was hard to capture:

Dave and I stayed up late dancing in the Viking Crown Lounge and the kids in Optix, all serenely happy that the next day would be a relaxing sea day.

--Hadley