Costa Cruise Ship Wreck

Veronica and I have talked about going on a Costa Cruise and more specifically the Costa Concordia with its itinerary was a distinct possibility sometime in the future, but with this incident, I think we will pass and use other cruise lines to see the world.
I am not sure how such a thing could happen other than negligence. These ships have all kinds of instruments and modern technology to keep the ship safe and for this ship to end up so close to shore, run aground and end up with a 165 foot gash in its hull is beyond me.
Here is a link to a USA article about this incident...  Captain Arrested In Cruise Ship Wreck 
Here is a video discussing the Costa Concordia wreck:

Followup On My Doctors Visit MRI Results

I am kind of behind on this blog entry. Life is full of "stuff" and sometimes you kind of get caught up in it all. Besides "stuff", I also had a cold for a little bit which also accounts for this late blog entry.
This last Tuesday I went to my doctor who had ordered an MRI for my problematic right knee. I had the MRI done about 10 days or so ago.
The doctor spent a solid 5 minutes flipping up the MRI sheets onto the light box. Each sheet had a good number of MRI pictures on them. After looking at each sheet he put them in 1 of 2 piles. I got the impression that 1 pile was the "good" pile and the second was the "bad" pile.
Upon looking them all over, he flipped a sheet on the light box and started to show me a few things that were wrong with my knee.
The doctor showed me where I had a torn meniscus on both the lateral and medial sides of my right knee.
Not exactly what I wanted to hear but kind of what I expected to hear. I had been down this road about 30 years ago when I lived in Lawrence, KS.
The good news was that there was no "water" or liquid on my knee that needed to be drained out and that because I was still able to move about with minimal pain, there is no rush to have my knee scoped out at this time.
The doctor told me that when I have had enough of my knee kind of doing its own thing, being unstable and at times seeming like it is going to completely go out from under me, to give him a call and he would schedule me for surgery.
So right now I am kind of in a holding pattern on the surgery thing.
Because it is still cold enough outside, I have been riding my recumbent bike for about 20 miles in the garage.
Other than a little tightening in my knee pit area, my knee has not started to revolt against me...at least not yet.
The real test will be when it warms up and I try to go for those long walks that I enjoy in the warmer weather.
I will buy me a knee sleeve to help give the knee a little additional stability and see how it does. If I start having a lot of issues with it during these walks, I will then get the surgery done but I am hoping that it will hold up until after we return from our 14 day cruise that is in September.
I am sure that there will be lots of walking during the ports of call that we will be visiting and the worse case scenario would be for my knee to really act up or give out during this adventure.
Only time will tell how and when I will have the surgery done, but for now I will just keep on pedaling on my recumbent bike on a trip to wherever my imagination decides to take me. 

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