RayColey

I was googling "Cruise Vacations" and CC popped up; I was looking for information on the various cruise lines, and found lots of info plus, eventually, a really nice bunch of people. Since joining, I have met up with a half dozen of them, and they are all wonderful people. Really glad I found CC.

It looks like the navigator took the wrong channel into port, perhaps?

I would go back to Lisbon in a New York minute. Fascinating city, loads of history, beautiful cityscapes, a great blend of old and new, friendly people and great food. Right now my keys reside on a Portugal key fob. Returning there is on my bucket list.

Every so often, we arrive at a port that turns out to be much, much better than we had thought it would be. Sometimes we don't know anything about that port beforehand (shame on us!) and sometimes we think we know almost everything about it. Then we arrive and - Zowie! We're knocked over. For example, I had researched Venice before cruising there, but I was bowled over by how beautiful and fascinating it turned out to be. What's your choice for a port that exceeded expectations?

Caught this story on the news this morning - they said three fatalities and a number of injured. Apparently the running aground occurred at night, but don't they have accurate electronic mapping? How could they get far enough off course to run aground. I would imagine that the Captain is in a lot of trouble...

We have done the luau, the Hana Road and Haleakula. We've also done luaus on Oahu, and the Maui one was better. Plan to get there a tad bit early, to look over the uncovering of the pig. For the Hana Road, rent a car. The road is simply not well-designed for a bus, and you're likely to get motion sickness with the side-to-side motion of the bus. There's nothing much in Hana itself, but there is a nice waterfall on the road, plus a few other picturesque spots. There are places to pull over and park for a spell also. Haleakula is best done in the morning. For the adventuresome among you, they have a tour that includes a bus ride up and a bicycle ride down. Don't let the bike speed up too much, or you'll wear out the brake pads and zoom into town at 70! Also, take time to walk through town a bit. It's a pleasant walk.

We have always liked the coffee on the RCI cruises, whether north american or european. A tad stronger in the Mediterranean, but I suspect that the europeans still find it weak. Good for us, though...

Congrats on that booking. One sympathetic Dock Dance coming up from the Shore!

OK, Cheryl, I'm on board.

I usually go to the parties, Yuki usually skips them. Once in a while the entertainer turns out to be pretty good!

Hi Lyn! Great to have you aboard. We're all here to answer questions, share experiences and get to know each other better. Try out the Daily Dock (under Forums), where a number of us get together on a regular basis and share our on-board and land-based activities with each other!

We took Enchantment out of Baltimore last year. She's an older ship, one of those which were "stretched" in order to add cabins. Don't expect all of the attractions that the Radiance or Oasis class ships have, but the staterooms were clean and tidy, the service was right up there to RCI standards and the entertainment was superb. The food was good without being exquisite. When we were sailing, the seas were rough out in the Atlantic. If there is some weather predicted, staterooms amidships are to be preferred.

One question that wasn't answered about Santorini was the port question. We were there a number of years ago and we tendered. I doubt that the island has gotten any larger since then. We donkeyed up and funiculared down, hired a car to go to Oia, where we could wander about the little streets without bumping elbows with the other 798 tourists. I'd like to add Kusadsi and Istanbul to the list of favorite ports. Kusadasi, with so many biblical/historical places nearby, and Istanbul, where you can get lost in splendor (and with fabulous shopping, too!). and then there's Malta, with its incredible harbor. Wow! Beyond those, I'll add a vote for Barcelona, Venice and Copenhagen. If you are on a river tour, Prague is hard to beat. The Danube tours can give you a triple treat with Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. The Rhine cruise wouldn't even have to stop to be breathtaking, with all the castles on the hills overlooking the river, but I thought that Heidelberg was pretty special. Obviously, one could go on and on about various ports in europe. They are all pretty special, in their own way.

John, I've been to Helsinki, Inverness and Liverpool. It's been a over a decade, so some things may have changed. Helsinki is a fairly lively city, many parks and lovely shopping areas. It's pretty easy to get around, transportation is good; if it were me, I'd see what the cruise line recommends on their excursions, then simply go ashore, get a map and go to some of those places on my own. Jackie will enjoy the shopping there. Specialties are Rya rugs and scandinavian ceramics. Inverness didn't have a lot going on when we were there. We thoroughly enjoyed hiring a car and driving out to Loch Ness, though. The gorse and the heather were blooming on the hillsides at the time. It was quite lovely. If you have a chance to hear the scottish harps, that would be special. Scotland is the home of the double-strung harps - quite brilliant and lovely sound. Liverpool is a working-class city and, IMHO, best avoided. When we were there it was a jumping-off place for Ireland. However, the town of Chester is nearby, and that place is a lovely midieval town with half-timbered homes, inns and pubs, great shopping for antiques, and a well-preserved section of Hadrian's wall and other Roman ruins. Take your camera!! Hope this helps...

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Thank you all for the well-wishes! Take care, and keep the posts up!!!

Thank you, Shari. We shall certainly enjoy this cruise -- we're both pretty exhausted from the summer's activities and stresses, so we'll spend a lot of time just chilling out (with three sea days, this should be easy!) We'll also be thinking of you and Marc, and holding you in our prayers.

I've sailed on only five ships, ranging from steerage to balconies, 150 passengers to 2600, and covering three seas; my favorite (and Yuki's, too) was the Renaissance VII going from Greece through the islands to Turkey. The ship was (relatively) small, less than 1000 passengers, the service excellent and friendly, and the port excursions were all well-thought out, no "here, take a kayak and amuse yourself" junk. There simply weren't any minuses!

In general, I believe most people would say "One cruise more than you'll ever take is enough." That said, Yuki and I love variety. And I guess nobody's taken a look at my signature over the last week....