Finally Feeling Better

After almost 2 weeks of dealing with some type of flu bug, I am finally feeling better.
Yesterday I started to get back into my workouts.
We were gone for most of last week. We went to Herndon for Veronica's work. While up there, we stopped by the Ikea store and bought some new furniture for Veronica's new and improved studio. We spent one full day putting the furniture together. Veronica spent 2 days straightening out her studio with the new furniture pieces in place.
Next time we go up to the Herndon area, we will stop by Ikea and pick up several more pieces of furniture.
I figure that it will take 2-3 more Ikea visits until she has everything that she needs for new studio furniture.
A couple of days ago we went ahead and purchased our plane tickets for our upcoming October flight into Venice and returning home from Rome. These flights are in conjunction with our 2 week NCL cruise.
I have been tracking the prices for these flights and took a chance of getting the tickets now rather than waiting to see if the prices went down. Since purchasing the tickets, the prices have actually gone up a bit.
We will be flying on Delta Airlines for this trip. Delta had good departure and arrival times both in Venice and upon our return home via Norfolk Airport.
We used our Delta Skymiles credit card because Delta doubles the rewards miles for each ticket purchased with our American Express Gold Delta Skymiles card.
We actually used a portion of our previously saved up rewards miles for our upcoming flights into Minneapolis, for our fishing trip to Eagle Lake in Ontario Canada.
By using some of our rewards miles, we only had to pay $15 for both of our plane tickets. Right now we still have enough rewards points accrued for another inexpensive domestic flight.
With the purchase of our plane tickets, I was able to provide NCL with our return home flight information so that I could get our transfer vouchers from where the NCL Jade will be docking in Rome to the airport where Veronica and I will be returning home from.
We also decided to splurge a little bit for seat upgrades on both of the long international portions of our flights.
With those upgrades come larger seats with more leg room and seats that actually recline a lot more than the regular seats.
This seat upgrade should allow us to relax more and be more comfortable while sitting and sleeping on our international flights.
We should land being more relaxed and well rested due to this seat upgrade.
I also ordered our individual soda passes for the entirety of our cruise.
I still need to contact  our pre-cruise hotel in Venice and arrange a private gondola ride with a singing gondolier. I figured that we will splurge for this experience and keep it private rather than sharing the gondola with other couples or families. We will only be doing this once in our lifetimes and decided to splurge a bit.
The only thing left for this cruise is for Veronica and I to browse through the many excursions that are being offered in each port of call to see if there are any we want to take.
Everything for this vacation is coming together and it won't be long until all plans have been made and completed.
Then it will be only a matter of time waiting for our departure date to arrive. Only 222 days until we finally hear those exciting words....BON VOYAGE!

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

	Copenhagen, Denmark Pack some comfortable shoes for Copenhagen truly is a wonderful, wonderful, fairytale of a "walking city." Many pedestrian thoroughfares are lined with Renaissance palaces, picture-perfect parks historic merchant houses, and charming canals and waterways.

Dates	Port

Day 1

Copenhagen, Denmark

Day 2

At Sea

Day 3

Bergen, Norway

Day 4  A

lesund,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

	Dates	Port
	Day 1	Venice, Italy
	Venice, Italy The romantic city built entirely on water awaits. Take a famed gondola ride, explore world-class shopping areas, delve into Italy's culinary delights or head out to the Doge's Palace, Piazza San Marco and St. Mark's Basilica or one of the many treasured museums.
	Day 2	At Sea
	At Sea
	Day 3	Corfu, Greece
	Corfu, Greece One of the lushest of the Greek Isles, Corfu is rimmed in dramatic blue waters and topped with tranquil hillside villages. A collection of quaint cafes in the town of Corfu feels very continental, but the island’s secluded coves and sandy beaches could only be found in the Greek Isles.
	Day 4	Santorini, Greece
	Santorini, Greece Whitewashed villages clinging to the sides of the sea cliffs have made the volcanic island of Santorini one of the most widely photographed places in the world. The island's charm and subtle mystery have even made it a target of speculation as the location of the lost city of Atlantis.
	Day 5	Mykonos, Greece
	Mykonos, Greece Mykonos is a classic Greek Island with whitewashed houses, blue-domed churches and windmills. Add a reputation for beautiful beaches and you'll understand why Mykonos is the most popular island in the Cyclades. Explore the island in a 4 x 4 or take a ferry to the tiny island of Delos.
	Day 6	Olympia (Katakolon), Greece
	Olympia (Katakolon), Greece Near Olympia, where the ancient Greeks flocked every four years to celebrate the ancient games dedicated to Zeus, Katakolon has a special feel. You'll find ruins of the Temple of Hera and remnants of what was once the first Olympic Stadium. In fact, historical landmarks can be seen where ever you turn.
	Day 7	At Sea
	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)

	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy Bask in the glory of the city that once was the capital of the world's most powerful empire. No visit to Rome is complete without a visit to the Colosseum that stands as a reminder of the gladiator days. But be sure to visit St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican and the Pantheon, too.

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