Suzila

We were on a Mediterranean cruise in October which started out in Barcelona. We left the US on a Wednesday night (we're on the west coast), arrived in Barcelona on Thursday night, and our first tour was on Friday morning. Next time we go we'll give it one more extra day to catch our breath and not be so jet-lagged. We stayed in Barcelona for 3 nights before the cruise and at the Hotel Royal Ramblas right on Las Ramblas. It's a 4 star hotel, very nice, quite reasonable, and they serve a full breakfast. The only problem with Barcelona is that no one ever sleeps there so it's quite a noisy city. If you book that hotel online, you get the free breakfast...here's the url: http://www.royalramblashotel.com/en/home/ We booked our own tours in Barcelona, just do a search on Google. The first day we had an all-day tour and it took us around to all the highlights. We loved it. The next day we did a half-day walking tour...it was just as good, but a lot of walking. We were on NCL, and we stopped in Naples and Palma. We took tours from the ship. In Naples we went to Sorrento and to Pompeii...I'd definitely do those places again. Both really nice to see, and highlights of the trip. Palma was not a spectacular stop...but the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma is worth seeing. The rest of it I could take or leave. We did see Rome and took an all-day tour (9 hours) via the ship's excursion. We like doing that through the ship the first time we visit anywhere. It gives us a taste of 'everything' important to see and we don't have to worry about not getting back to the ship on time. Next time we go, we'll do it all on our own.

Hi Cheryl! Good to see you too! Yes, I've been winning a lot of nice things...a $100 american express card came this week, a $100 gas card, and a $25 gas card too. Won James Patterson's new book, "I, Alex Cross", which I've been wanting to read, but Ray gave me a Kindle for the holidays, so now I want to read on that, rather than in book form! LOL! Also, won a really nice trip for my oldest son for the Richard Petty Driving Experience, for two people, but he explained to the sponsor that his wife is pregnant and won't be able to drive. They are allowing him to split the trip up...so he and his wife will be flying here to so. Calif, use the airfare, the hotel, the rental car, but my youngest son will do the driving experience with him. A 30 lap, 8 hour class. Both of them have done it before through a win, and they loved it, so they're looking forward to it. Won a bunch of other nice things, so, yes, my hobby is going strong. I have 10 months before our trip, so will wait to see if anyone else answers my questions, but I'm getting antsy now to get started with planning. Bill, thanks for your answer as to how long it takes to get to London by train. That helps knowing that.

Hi all, Haven't been here for awhile. "Life' has gotten in the way of my being online a lot. All is well, have some nice things happening with us...our oldest son and daughter-in-law are expecting our first grandchild in February, and our youngest son and daughter-in-law just informed us they are expecting in August. Needless to say, we'll be busy in 2010. In addition, Ray and I are planning a Mediterranean cruise on the NCL Jade in October with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. They have never been on a cruise, and I have never been to Europe, hubby has been on many cruises, and was stationed in Europe for 4 years while in the Air Force, but never combined the two! So, it will be a new experience for all of us. As usual, the planning will be up to me. Since I haven't been to Europe, I need some assistance from all you seasoned travelers. Here's what we are hoping to do: The cruise leaves on Sunday 10/3, from Barcelona and comes back on 10/10 to Barcelona. I'd like to leave the Los Angeles area on Thursday 9/30 so we have a day to see Barcelona. Everyone we've spoken to says Barcelona is a must-see. The itinerary is as follows: Barcelona Monte Carlo Florence/Pisa Rome Naples Palma Barcelona. After the cruise we want to get on a train and go to Paris. How long does that take to get from Barcelona to Paris by train? We'd like to spend two nights in Paris. Then go to London by train. How long does it take to get to London from Paris by train? We will be visiting Ray's brother living in Sussex...they haven't seen each other for 40 years. We'll probably rent a car and drive to Sussex. So, my questions are: which books would you recommend I get to research all this? Which websites should I be looking at? When should I seriously be looking at booking airfare? Which hotels would you recommend (in Barcelona, Paris and London)...not super-expensive...just nice, and clean. As you can see, I have no idea where to start. Hopefully some of you can point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. Hope all of you are well, and had a wonderful holiday. Happy New Year to you all.

We haven't done a galley tour for awhile, but have done many of them in the past and were never charged for it. In fact, it usually happens on a 'sea day'...usually just another activity...something to do on a day when you're not getting off the ship. We've done NCL, Princess, Carnival and RCL in the past. I've always found them very interesting. My son was in a culinary program in college and I've been able to tour a university's facilities too...much like a cruise ship's galley. They have to feed thousands of college students...of course, not as gourmet. One thing that does 'bother' me about seeing a galley tour...you would not believe, until you actually see it for yourself, how they cook with high fat butter, full fat heavy cream, etc. It hurts my arteries just thinking about it. Anyway, if you have the chance, yes, definitely do a galley tour. I have trouble getting everything on the table at the same time when we have a dinner party for more than 4 people! Ha ha! They make it look soooo easy.

I always take a power strip (never enough electrical outlets in the cabins for me), some sort of knitting or crocheting, a travel clock (that can't be unusual, can it?) , a good book, and my iPod. MUST have my music. I also always have a small pad of paper with me so i can write down where each picture was taken. I hate getting home, downloading all my pics and I can't remember where I was. If we are on a tour, I like to write down what the tour guide said about the place, so i can include that in my picture gallery. Yes, I learned shorthand years ago and can still use it.

I booked a cruise last November for repositioning from Vancouver down to L.A. on Norwegian Star. Ray and I were on this ship last year for their Mexican cruise and liked it so much we thought we'd try the repositioning, for something different. My son's in-laws will be traveling with us...we've become reeally good friends with them. Anyway, we booked an outside cabin for both rooms. Months ago our agent came back to us and said he's upgraded us both to balconies. Yay! Should be fun. Last week I paid the final tab for the trip, and the agent said...guess what? $232 less per cabin AND you now have mini-suites! WoW! I'm excited! But I still don't expect to spend a lot of time in the cabin, I never do, but it will be nice to stretch out a bit. Another fun thing that happened: went out to lunch with a very good friend last week and we've been trying for the longest time to get she and her hubby to go cruising with us. They've never been on a cruise. So, at lunch she tells me she booked the NCL Star for repositioning! They'll be on the ship with us. They've never been on a cruise, never been to Vancouver AND never been to San Fran! (California natives, you know you can't rush into this sightseeing stuff...ha ha! ) They know the in-laws, and everyone likes everyone else, so I'm expecting this to be a really fun cruise. Now I really can't wait! (and, on top of all that, we bought a NEW suitcase! WooHoo!)

We don't have any cruise plans for 2010 yet, but I'm sure there will be one. We'd like to do a family cruise again, but haven't started planning anything at this time. For the past few years we have done the weekend SuperBowl cruise and had a blast with that, so we'll probably do that again. Then we always got to Vegas for a week February/March to visit our son and daughter-in-law and then to see the NASCAR race while we're there.

Yes, they have lots of Bingo, and yes, they had trivia. I'm on medication where I can't spend time just sitting in the sun, so I also do a lot of the inside activities. It's not like NCL has nothing to do, but just not as many 'planned' things as Carnival does. More time for me to read my book, knit, etc. Hubby likes to play in Carnival's ping pong tournaments and there were none on NCL. There were two ping pong tables, but no planned activity for them. For any of you thinking about another NCL cruise, I can definitely recommend NCL Pride of America in Hawaii. We hope to do that one again someday. It was a totally different experience for us. We'd been to Hawaii many times, but never on a cruise. You more or less just use the ship as your hotel (more so than on any other cruise). The staff was mostly American and soooo easy to talk to. Of course, many people have complained that the service isn't the same as on any other cruise where the staff is international...it's 'different', but not bad. We had no problems at all with the service. And we loved seeing Hawaii in a different way. It was so relaxing not having to fly from island to island.