Europe 2015- Gibraltar Part Two- Colorful Caves and City Sights

Gibraltar was hot. Crack an egg on the asphalt and watch it sizzle, hot. Unfortunately, our tour included a great deal of outdoor walking in the direct sun. Ocean vistas are hard to appreciate, when sweat clouds your vision. Although the walk was long, it was mercifully downhill.

The walk ended at St. Michael's Caves.

The cool of the limestone caves was a huge treat after our walk. It was a little tricky to navigate the slippery cave floor, as I was jittery from the heat. Sensible walking shoes is a must!

Our tour of the cave was brief, about twenty minutes. The main entrance of the cave has been turned into a performance space for concerts and theatrical events. I would love to have seen a show here, it's so unusual. We learned that people have gotten lost in the cave and were never found. How very Goonies!

Our tour came to an end after the St. Michael's Caves. We didn't have to walk back up the hill to meet our bus, it came down to the caves and we made our return to the ship. We snapped this flag picture as we left "the rock".

The bus made a quick stop at Grand Casemates Square, the center of town and a shopping area. The kids had enough of Gibraltar, so Dan took them back to the ship, while I hopped off to explore the town.

I was giddy. The only other time that I've explored a foreign city alone, was two years ago, in London. Being alone, in a foreign city without my phone or passport, was probably stupid, but it was also exciting. The ship was leaving in less than an hour and it was a mile walk back, so I raced around, soaking in the atmosphere and snapping pictures.

It was the late afternoon and Grand Casemates Square was winding down for the day. The network of alleys behind the square are filled with clothing, jewelry and perfume shops, many with staff beckoning passerbys to come inside. There are dozens of cafes and bars. I can imagine taking my notebook, writing and drinking a latte at an outdoor cafe, as I observed life in the square. Grand Casemates Square is filled with so much action, energy and life.

I power-walked back to the ship, wishing that I had more time to explore Gibraltar.

And lastly, I think Dwayne Johnson needs to come here for a photo-op.

Europe 2015- Gibraltar Part One: Don't Feed the Monkeys!

Our first port stop was in the British territory of Gibraltar. Gibraltar is located right at the entrance of the Mediterranean, close to Spain and Morocco.

Explorer of the Seas had many family activities on the ship, but it lacked family friendly excursions. We booked a tour of Gibraltar that was specifically noted as family friendly and good for young children, but it proved to be a bit of a miss. I guess like anything, it depends on the individual family.

Our first look at Gibraltar as we pulled into port.

Port days are my favorite part of cruises. I love waking up in new cities and having an excursion booked. Here I am, bright and early, ready to go. Let's do this.

All of the excursions started with a gathering in the Palace Theatre. We were checked-in and given a colored sticker to note our excursion group and then we were led off of the ship and on to a bus. Royal Caribbean was very organized with every excursion. The process was super easy.

Our first stop was Bomb House Lane.

Bomb House Lane houses the Gibraltar Museum, a small space dedicated to the history of the country.

I love museums, but this part of our excursion frustrated me. The Gibraltar Museum is small, but had I visited alone, I could have easily spend a couple of hours here. Our tour guide breezed us through the exhibits in about 20-30 minutes. We were given a few fast facts, which I've since forgotten, but we were not given a chance to really explore the exhibits. The result: I looked at a bunch of artifacts, but didn't get the significance. Here are some pictures that we took, that are now virtually meaningless. I'm posting them to give readers an idea of what to expect, if they planning a visit.

A memorable part of the museum was the Moorish baths, an on-going archaeological dig site, that is right in the heart of the museum. I didn't expect to see something like this at the Gibraltar Museum.

Having visited Gibraltar before, Dan gave us plenty of warning about the Barbary Macaques that roam freely at our next stop, the rock. On his last visit, they were extremely aggressive. I'm fairly fearless when it comes to animal encounters, but I heeded the warning. Here is a Barbary Macaque skull that was at the museum. Look at those teeth!

To get to the "Top of the Rock" where the macaques live, we took an arial tram ride.

The views from the top were absolutely stunning. The coolest thing, is that from one spot, we could see two continents ( Europe and Africa) and three countries ( Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco). This was my first glimpse of Africa, very exciting. We could also see our cruise ship in the harbor.

So, those Barbary Macaques ( also know as Barbary Apes)...there was no shortage of warning signage regarding the primates. The warnings were more aggressive than the actual monkeys!

One thing is made very clear, the inmates are running the asylum. This is Barbary Ape territory, so keep those ice cream cones guarded!

Our first macaque sighting was two large adults that scampered on a roof, just feet above Dan, who was taking a scenery picture. This shot was taken seconds after the event, as we were yelling at Dan to "watch out".

Pretty soon, the macaques out-numbered us. Quite honestly, they were not aggressive at all. Dan noticed a big change from his last visit. They seem to be well-fed and cared for by the government of Gibraltar, and they were very calm as they moved among the tourists. Like with any animal, it's smart to maintain a distance and to be respectful. The ones with babies were being protective, but they never lashed out at tourists. I never felt in danger and I loved walking amongst the macaques.

The macaques reminded me of my cat, Nicolette. Every time we have a party, she just saunters around the house, like she doesn't even notice that a bunch of people are standing in her way. The macaques just didn't give a fig either!

Occasionally, a macaque likes to hitch a ride.

The people shouldn't have been so surprised to see a macaque on the road.

Or crossing butterflies.

If you're nervous about the macaques, you might want to skip the ruins of a battlement. The ruins offer many areas for the macaques to hide and although nothing happened to us, this could be a bad spot if a monkey got cornered or felt threatened.

A fun fact about the macaques; they are the only wild group of monkeys on the continent of Europe. They are thought to have come over from Africa, but no one is certain how they ended up in Gibraltar. There is a superstition that as long as the macaques remain in Gibraltar, Gibraltar with remain under British rule. During World War Two, Winston Churchill even had macaques brought over from Africa, to replenish the dwindling population on Gibraltar. Now, they are over-run with macaques and having to relocate them to zoos.

Europe 2015- Explorer of the Seas: Things to do on a Big Ship

Eat, drink, sleep, repeat... sums up cruising, right?

Although we were very preoccupied with those activities, there was actually plenty to on the Explorer of the Seas. Our thirteen night cruise, only included six days of port stops, so we had plenty of time to take advantage of all the ship had to offer.

First, here are a few shots taken around the boat. Admire that mega elevator.

The Royal Promenade on deck five was the place to shop for everything from Royal Caribbean souvenirs to expensive jewelry and handbags. They had a great Kate Spade collection, which I would have swooped up, if the exchange rate hadn't been killing us. I love me some Kate Spade. The Royal Promenade had multiple themed bars, including the Crown and Kettle Pub, which was always packed. I was happy that the Royal Promenade had a Starbucks Coffee and a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream store. Yummy creature comforts while on vacation,

One of the most aggressively promoted activities were the art auctions. Art auction invitations were delivered to our suite daily.

We took a look at the art gallery offerings one afternoon, when Felix was being naughty and his punishment was doing "boring adult things" with us. This backfired. The art was terrible and as we tried to appreciate it, we all felt like we were being punished. We were almost curious enough to attend an art auction, just to see who buys the stuff. We didn't see a single piece that we would hang in our home. It looked like modern office decor.

The ship has lots of "art" sprinkled throughout. There are cool things, like Annie Leibovitz prints and then there's this thing, that we kept calling the Tin-Foil Angel. It's huge, it's gaudy, and it's ugly.

And stuff like this...

It wasn't always "boring adult things" for the kids. Royal Caribbean boasts having one of the best kid's clubs on the seas, called Adventure Ocean. Adventure Ocean is for kids 3-17 and they split the kids into age groups for appropriate activities.

Felix was in the Aquanauts (ages 3-5) and Zoe was in the Explorers ( ages 6-8). The groups were in neighboring play areas and sometimes they combined age groups for activities. The actives were often themed, like Pirates or Superheroes and split into three hour sessions (morning, afternoon and evening). They played games (Zoe loved Gaga Ball), did crafts and watched movies. Face painting day was a big hit.

Adventure Ocean included a huge arcade. We are a competitive family with air hockey.

Here's the thing about our experience with the Adventure Ocean. When the kids went, they loved it. They had a great time, they were happy and they came back exhausted. They made friends, which they kept running into all over the ship. They loved the Adventure Ocean staff ( special shout-out to Splish-Splash Ash), who are all child-care specialists. Seriously, Adventure Ocean is awesome. However, the kids don't get to see Dan much and quickly we realized that they would rather spend time with daddy, than go to Adventure Ocean.

Without Adventure Ocean, we had to come up with an alternative way to expend their pent-up energy. We had them do laps on the upper deck running track. Not kidding.

We played shuffle board.

We checked out the helicopter landing pad.

Took a look at the wedding chapel.

People watched at the rock climbing wall.

Watched people attempting to surf on the Flow Rider.

Mini-golf!

There was even a basketball court.

However, one activity reigned supreme.

Swimming.

The Explorer of the Seas has ten saltwater pools and spas. The kids could have spent the entire vacation swimming, they loved it. Unfortunately, the weather at the very beginning and end of our cruise was very cold, but there were plenty of sunny days overall.

Here's a picture of me. I'm sunbathing, reading and thinking that pool/beach vacations are the best.

On hot sea-days, the pools were usually jammed and it was often difficult to find lounge chairs. As suite guests, there were a small section of lounge chairs reserved for us, but they were first come/ first serve and often filled. If you are traveling without children, there is an adults only pool area that always seemed less crowded. It was quiet too. Quiet spaces on cruise ships are hard to find.

In the evenings, there was always a MainStage performance, which included revue shows, musicals, comedians and vocalists. Most of the shows seemed to be geared towards adults, so we skipped them. We did however, go see an afternoon performance of the Ice Show.

Did I mention that Explorer of the Seas has an ice skating rink?

As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by our suite concierge, Denzil, who asked the kids if they wanted to participate in the show. They were hesitant, but in case they changed their minds, he seated us in the front row near an access area to the ice.

They hour long show was a tribute to the seasons and featured about fifteen ice skaters. It was impressive. Although the kids were too nervous to participate, they could have gone on a sled ride during the winter sequence. Dan and I wanted to go!

One of my favorite parts was a summer scene with a skater who also did tricks with a hula hoop. There was a lot of talent on the ice and they really seemed to enjoy performing. There were a few harrowing moments when one of the performers fell, twice, but he got up and kept on skating. He was clearly in pain, but a professional all the way. The ice show is not to be missed.

If you want to learn to ice skate, the rink is open at various times throughout the cruise for lessons and open skate. Among the other activities that we didn't do...the casino, bingo, crafts, lectures, towel animal demonstrations, tours of the ship, gym, spa, wine tastings, et... truly, there was something for everyone.

The in-room map provided hours of entertainment. It's like the maps on your individual TV screens in planes, impossible to not stare at them for updates.

The most amusing source of entertainment was provided by Henry and a woman from Jamaica.

Early in the cruise, Zoe and Felix, would say "hi" to Henry, when they passed him in the hall. One of the suite attendants caught on to this and she would come out of the room with a big, booming voice, "Who's disturbing Henry?". The giggles would ensue as she chased the kids down the hall for bothering Henry. It was hilarious. She was another Royal Caribbean employee who went out of their way to make our cruise memorable.

I will end on this picture, sometimes Dan and I were able to sneak on the patio for a romantic moment!

Next up, my favorite part of the cruise; shore excursions.