We're back from Jewel

jbond · July 18, 2006

We're back from our Jewel cruise. Sorry that it took so long to post, but we've been incredibly busy.

We had a great time. The weather was very cooperative and we didn't see any rain. It was a little on the cool side a few times, but not damp.

The ship was really nice. The food was about average, same as the last few cruises, but it did have some highlights. The osso bucco was excellent and the lamb shanks were almost as good as home made. We had one of the best meals ever in Portofinos. In London it was the Queen's Official Birthday and we not only got to see the Trooping of the Colour, an RAF fly over, but we also saw HRH herself. Pretty neat. Nobody does weddings, funerals and birthdays like the Brits. We had some good food in England, pretty expensive by California standards, but really tasty.

Prices generally were high, but in Norway they made your eyes water. A glass of beer cost $9, a small regular coffee was $4.50 and no refills. In Norway we bought a reindeer skin rug. It was about the only bargain we saw.

The D-Day Beaches were fantastic. Nothing like I imagined. They were so peaceful and isolated. The tide had just gone out, so they were very clean. It was hard to remember that these were at one time the scene of such major conflict. A trip to the American Cemetery in Collville made you realize the cost of victory. One thing I learned was that almost 30,000 French civilians died in the month of June 1944 during the Battle of Normandy.

The fjords were spectacular. I went on this cruise expecting to compare them to Alaska, but it's nothing like Alaska. It was quite a surprise for me. We have never seen so many waterfalls, they're a dime a dozen. We went on several ferries. They just drive the coach on and then you can get off the coach or just stay put. Really interesting.

Even though we lived in England for over 30 years, we had never visited Ireland or Scotland. So this was our first time. We enjoyed both.

Between the four of us we took around 700 photos. I've cut out a lot, but still have a 116 page album with an average of around 3 1/2 photos per page. I'll get round to posting it to webshots later this week.

jacketwatch · July 18, 2006

:cool: Looking forward to seeing the pics, esp. the fjords. I have heard how spectacular they are. I would love to see the D-Day beaches too. Actually Princess has a cruise to the Pacific islands when WW II battles took, place, i.e. Midway, Guam and many others. I wouldlike to see them one day. Cheers. :cool: Larry