So Many Places And So Little Time

Veronica and I were discussing places that we might want to go to and see in 2013. As usual, our thoughts and conversation turned to the possiblity of another cruise.
I started doing a little research to see where various cruise lines would be going to that year...their itineraries and port of calls.
I ended up spending most of my time on the NCL, Norwegian Cruise Lines' web site.
As of this date all of the cruises that we have been on have been through NCL.
Eventually we will need to try other cruise lines in order to see other places in this world. But for right now, NCL has the trips that meet our wish list needs/wants.
Previously we had booked a 14 day Norway, Scotland, Ireland and Iceland cruise. This cruise departs in 260 days from now...on 9/16/2012. Here is the intinerary for that cruise:


14-Day Norway, Iceland, & Faroe Islands from Copenhagen

14-Day Norway, Iceland, & Faroe Islands from Copenhagen






Dates       Port

Day 1   Copenhagen, Denmark
Day 2  At Sea
Day 3   Bergen, Norway
Day 4  Alesund,Norway

Day 5  Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland 
Day 6  Thorshavn, Faroe Islands

Day 7 At Sea
Day 8 Reykjavik, Iceland

Day 9 At Sea
Day 10 At Sea 
Day 11  Glasgow(Greenock), Scotland

Day 12 Dublin, Ireland


Day 13 At Sea
Day 14 At Sea
Day 15 Copenhagen, Denmark


After much research and discussion, Veronica and I decided on doing "back to back" 1 week cruises on the NCL Jade. We chose to do an inside cabin to help keep the costs down.
By doing this we can go on more cruises and/or spend some of the money saved on things to do and goodies to bring home.
We found that the prices for these cruises were very reasonably priced, which also made our decision rather easy.
We will be departing in this 14 day cruise on Saturday10/12/13.
This cruise will leave out of Venice
and go to several of the Greek islands.
Here is the itinerary for the first 7 days of the journey:


7-Day Eastern Mediterranean, Greek Isles from Venice

7-Day Eastern Mediterranean, Greek Isles from Venice
DatesPort

Day 1     Venice, Italy

Day 2 At Sea
Day 3 Corfu, Greece

Day 4 Santorini, Greece
Day 5 Mykonos, Greece
Day 6 Olympia (Katakolon), Greece
Day 7 At Sea
Day 8 Venice, Italy




At the end of this week, the Jade will then return to Venice.
Because we are doing "back to back" cruises, Veronica and I will be staying in the same cabin for both legs of the journey. We can leave our clothes and luggage in our cabin at the end of the 1st leg but we must get off of the ship once it docks in Venice. This is the "turnover" port where the passengers from the first cruise will get off of the ship with their baggage, the ship is cleaned and prepared for the next voyage.
The ship pulls into Venice at 8AM.
We should be able to get off of the ship by 9AM.
Veronica and I will get off of the ship as soon as possible and utilize this day to visit Venice and see as many sites as we can.
We will have to return and be back on the Jade by approximately 4 PM before it leaves port. 
The Jade will then leave Venice at approximately 6PM and will cruise to several different countries and ports of call.

Here is the intinerary for the 2nd 7 days of our cruise:

7-Day Classic Mediterranean, Venice to Rome (Civitavecchia)


7-Day Classic Mediterranean, Venice to Rome (Civitavecchia)






Day      Port

Sat Venice, Italy

Sun Koper, Slovenia

Mon Split, Croatia

Tue Dubrovnik, Croatia

Wed At Sea

Thu Messina, Italy

Fri Naples, Italy

Sat Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy           






The NCL Jade is a pretty nice ship. It is very similar to the NCL Pearl, which we have been on twice....both times being cruises to Alaska.
For more information on the NCL Jade, please click here...   NCL Jade



 Nautical Cities - Cruise Ship Tickers

And The Winner Is...

Well another Christmas day has come and gone. Each tree bulb has been carefully packed away, the garland carefully enclosed in a Hefty Cinch sack, ornaments wrapped and put away and of course our new tree has been returned to its original box and has found a new home in our computer room.
And of course the multitude of Santa 'dolls" that lined several of the steps on our stairways, have been wrapped up better than yesterdays garbage in large plastic garbage bags and placed inside a couple of wardrobe boxes for safe keeping until next year.
And least we not forget the ever present signs of sparkling glitter that seems to adorn each and every Holiday item that one can imagine. I mean really...what is Christmas without glitter.
If you haven't gathered yet...I am NOT a fan of glitter.
This stuff keeps on giving throughout the entire year. 6 months from now I will still see the delightful sparkle of glitter on our floors or on our bed even after using our vacuum dozens of times.
I consider glitter the cockroach of the adornment world. They will always be around.
As far as giving gifts go....each year that I give Veronica gifts, there seems to be at least one gift that has that "WOW" factor...you know the one or ones that I am speaking about...the look of quizzical anticipation when initially tearing the wrapping paper off aka the "what the heck could it be moment", the one(s) that cause the eyes to get big , the jaw to drop and the mouth to open but no words come out and then the OMG followed by the tears.
The gift when opened by the givee brings that "YESSSSS!!!!" moment to the giver. The giver instantly knows that indeed we have a winner and that he/she has done good.
This years "YESSSSS!!!!" moment was better than in past years.
This years winning gift was a 6 point, queen sized cream/pink Hudson Bay wool blanket that I gave to Veronica. It brought about every action that was described above.
Besides the gift of love, what better gift could a person give another...the gifts of warmth and of bringing back loving memories of times gone by long ago.
With this gift I got it right. But it sure will put the pressure on me to get it right next year.
Oh yes.....next year. When all that was carefully wrapped, packaged and stored away will once again be brought out to see the light of day.
Oh yes....next year. When the next round of glitter invades our home and permeates every nook and cranny within these walls.


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