Mebert

Thank you all for your sympathy. mercedes, It's a good idea to let the cruise lines arrange the air. When all is said and done it may seem more expensive but the assurances and transfers make it seem more worthwhile. Rat, How long is your ride in the private car? That is really, really steep.

Gregswife, You're too much.

Pepsicat, to Cruise Crazies.

Ronnie 1, Welcome to CruiseCrazies! Post often and let us hear from you.

Suzila, Those are beautiful colors from a nice vantage point.

rob352, to Cruise Crazies.

I'm going to be taking a bus arranged by Carnival Cruise Lines from the Rome airport to the port at Civitaecchia to catch the Carnival Freedom. They are charging $150 round trip for a little over one hour ride. That's $300 roundtrip for two people. That's more than I paid for a whole day on the cruise ship with food and entertainment included. Where's the justice? Where are the transfer bargains? Sorry folks, I'm just letting off a little steam. That price is really outrageous.

nightshade, Bon Voyage and have a great cruise. May you have smooth sailing.[/size]

SMB, It just goes to show that despite all the negative things that are happening in the world there are still millions of good and caring people who we never hear about. Many of them are right here on our board. cruisetarp, I don't know how people get the notion that New Yorkers are cold and uncaring. Whenever I need help or ask for directions in someplace like Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, or Staten Island there are usually a crowd of people who form and want to tell me how to get to where I'm going. One can easily get lost in those boroughs and need all the help one can get. mercedes, You're welcome. I've read your contribution in another thread and perhaps you're too modest to put it here. You're such a wonderful parent.

Jason, Thanks for the article. I hope this new initiative helps to keep our ports safe and that it doesn't drive up the cost of cruising too much.

Suzila, That is such a warm story. What a lifesaver you are. Who knows where or what that young man would be without your families kind intervention. That was a major decision for the family and you all had to participate to make it work. A natural family that's happy is a wonderful gift, but a family that's mutually chosen is an extraordinary gift.

Porkchop, Welcome to CruiseCrazies! Post often and let us hear from you.

ddrogal, Welcome to CruiseCrazies! Post often and let us hear from you.

urnice, Welcome to CruiseCrazies! Post often and let us hear from you.

mderaba, Welcome to CruiseCrazies! Post often and let us hear from you.

Thanks for the words of encouragement everybody. I don't know which is worse, 250 days or 25 days. To me it seems the 25 days is longer and 2 days even longer than the 25. Everybody, please say your prayers for me to get to the port on time. I'm leaving JFK and connecting in Amsterdam to a flight to Rome. I have not planned a day's stay in Rome. I'm going right to the ship from the airport. I don't want another fisasco like I had traveling to Seattle, WA and Juno AK because of a changed flight schedule.

mamaj, to Cruise Crazies.

cruisin gramma, to Cruise Crazies.

jayray, to Cruise Crazies.

eagle_forest, Congratulations on your booking. I hope you have a great time. I wish I could book the the cruise with you.

hazelson, That was a great story. By that mini survey in your step-son's class it looks like you two share a very special relationship. It's great that you can be there for him since he's had so much adversity in his life. It seems that you are both fortunate to have each other. He seems like a very caring young person to take care of his sister the way he does and I know that he's lucky to have you based on the posts I've read from you over the years.

As many of you may know, New York City recently had a minor icy rain storm that coated the streets and sidewalks with an annoying icy coat of about 4 inches, Just enough to be inconvenient. The dependable snow ploughs of the Department of Sanitation were out in force which was not the problem. The problem was the ploughs piled up the icy mess against the parked cars. My car had a massive solid piece of ice against the drivers side from front to tail that was approximately two feet high and two feet deep. Wind drifts from the night before had assured that some snow also went under the car. My snow shovel was worthless against ice and seemed as if it were going to fall apart if I pursued trying to break the ice so I left the car in its parked space for another day and took the inconvenient public transportation home. The next day I toolk the public transportation back to the city and got to the car and noticed that the solid mass of ice seemed like a major barrier that's set up to prevent cars from going into certain areas. It was even harder and I thought I would have to leave the car another few days until we had a thaw. I spotted another driver who had a very sturdy shovel that was really breaking the ice even though he had to use some extreme effort. I whispered a little prayer and said that I hoped to be able to buy one of those shovels from the hardware store the next day since I was wedged into the parking space on a Sunday. I approached the man who was trying to chiesel his way out of the ice that he was in and said "They really did a job on us with those ploughs didn't they?" He said, "They sure did. I've been out here for a long time trying to get my car out of here." I said, "You're lucky to have such a sturdy shovel. At least you can break up that ice. I'll have to wait and buy one of those tomorrow." He replied, "You can use this shovel when I'm finished digging my car out." I said, "I'll help you to shovel the snow from your car to the middle of the street so the cars and buses can smash it down." It took us about a half an hour to dig his car out of the ice. He was able to manuveur his car out after a shifting forward and back. Then it was my turn. When he saw how deep the ice was and how high it was I thought he would change his mind but he said, "Come on let's do yours now." It took us about an hour to chop through the ice and get the ice from under the car to free it so that I could drive but we finally did it. I thanked him profusely and he thanked me. I told him that I had said a prayer and prayed that I would be able to get my car out so that I could drive it back home. I said, "Sometimes for no reason at all God sends angels our way to help us out." He said, "It was the Lord that made that moment happen." Here were were, two strangers who had some hard work to do to get our cars out of a solid block of ice. One had a sturdy shovel and the other a flimsy snow shovel. Between the two of us we were able to accomplish much in a shorter amout of time than if we were doing it alone. I know that I would not have gotten my car out of the ice that day without his time and help.

I have been really frustrated with trying to open packages with my bear hands. It seems that packages today require chain saws, pliers, mallots, chisels, dynamite, or atomic bombs to get them open. The shrink wrap has no little string to pull to open the packages easily. CD's and DVD's have so many levels of wrapping that I have to take a nap after the struggle so that I can enjoy the music or the movie. Many times there are no instructions on how to open them. What has happened to the packaging today? Do manufacturers want us to get to the product or are the products supposed to stay in the package and we docorate our homes with unattainable items. There is some packaging that one gets open but it opens in such a way that one cannot use the package to store the remaining product. Do others have as much trouble as I do with today's packaging?

The photos have been really incredible. It was like taking a virtual cruise around the world.

Sunbeam, Welcome back! I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and look forward to seeing your review and photos.