A Last Minute Break

Veronica and I decided at the last minute to rent a cabin in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. We have been to this area several times in the past and have always enjoyed our stay. This time should be fun as well because they are celebrating Spring with an area wide festival. I am sure that we will be going to Dollywood  while we are there. We don't have any set plans while we are there. Just going to relax and enjoy ourselves.

A Change In 2015 Vacation Plans

Veronica and I were talking about how much we enjoyed last years vacation to Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and the Greek Isles that we would like to go back again.
I checked the various itineraries that Norwegian Cruise Line offered for 2015 and I could not find the same itinerary that we had last year.
The offered the same itinerary for this year but we weren't about to give up our 2 week vacation in Paris for this October.
I did find a similar itinerary and we decided to cancel our previously booked cruise for the following cruise which departs and returns at Venice. We also decided to fore go our aft balcony for a ocean view cabin that is in the aft portion of the ship, which will be same ship as last year...the NCL Jade. We enjoy being in the aft because of the engine and propeller noise helps us sleep and drowns out my once in a great while snoring.
Below is our itinerary for this new cruise:

Day	Land Tours And Cruise Ports	Arrive	Depart	Booked
Sat	Venice, Italy	----	6:00 pm	0
Sun	Dubrovnik, Croatia	2:00 pm	9:00 pm	0
Mon	At Sea	----	----	0
Tue	Athens (Piraeus), Greece	7:00 am	5:00 pm	0
Wed	Kusadasi, Turkey	8:00 am	5:00 pm	0
Thu	At Sea	----	----	0
Fri	Split, Croatia	11:00 am	6:00 pm	0
Sat	Venice, Italy	8:00 am	6:00 pm	0
Sun	At Sea	----	----	0
Mon	Corfu, Greece	8:00 am	3:30 pm	0
Tue	Santorini, Greece	1:30 pm	10:00 pm	0
Wed	Mykonos, Greece	8:00 am	6:00 pm	0
Thu	Olympia (Katakolon), Greece	9:00 am	6:00 pm	0
Fri	At Sea	----	----	0
Sat	Venice, Italy	8:00 am	----	0

We plan on spending a couple of nights in Venice prior to our cruise starting and we are planning on staying at the same hotel that we did last year. Along with the 2 days and nights prior to departure, our ship stops in Venice at the halfway point of the 2 week cruise. 

We plan on going into some building that we did not get to go into during our last visit along with plans on spending a whole day on the island of Burano. 

Last year we went on a ship excursion that included stops at both of the islands of Murano and Burano but unfortunately we were only on Murano for about 1 1/4 hours and Burano for about 35 minutes. We were really disappointed with the lack of time we had to spend on Burano. This time we plan on arranging or locating transportation services that would allow us to spend the whole day there prior to our cruise starting. This way we don't have to worry about getting back to the ship on time before it departs Venice. If for some reason we get back real late, we will only be late getting back to our hotel. 

We plan on trying to do the same excursion on the Greek Isle of Santorini as we did last year. That excursion was a trip to the town of Oia and then to Fira, when we enjoyed an evening meal as the sun was setting ...a really beautiful and photogenic sight. 

Like the last cruise we were on, this one should be equally as enjoyable. 

Our Charter Communications Saga Seems To Be Coming To An End

Upon returning home from a day of running errands, we walked into our house to finds that someone had called and left a message on our answering machine. The call turned out to be someone higher up in Charter Communications food chain. The message left for me mentioned their receipt of the Better Business Bureau written complaint that I had file on line at the BBB web site. My complaint had been approved by the BBB a couple of days ago and the BBB sent it to Charter Communications...I believe the corporate offices.
Yesterday evening this Charter Communications representative and I discussed the issues and the issues were resolved.
We will be getting our $50.00 refund and it will be applied to our next Charter Communications statement.
There was an additional issue that I discovered yesterday before talking to this Charter Communications representative.
Last week Veronica and I got up early so that we would be one of the first in line at our locale Charter office in order to turn in one type of table top box and get a different one.
We were 3rd in line and were able to get service at the counter in a very reasonable length of time once the doors opened.
When we were turning in our large box, we asked for a smaller one that had an HDMI hookup in the back of the much smaller units. We were told that they did not have any more of the smaller units but instead we could have a new DVR box "free". there was no mention that it would be free for only 12 months and then there would be a charge. The rep at the counter just said "free". The rep went into out account on her computer and switched out the equipment that we current had with this new "free" DVR. I just received my new Charter statement and lo and behold...I had been charged the usual $6.99 for my first DVR that we have had for a long time, the $19.99 DVR Service and then another $6.99 was charged for the supposedly "free" box.
I mentioned this to the Charter rep that I was talking to about the original issue. She told me that the box was "free" as far as us being charged for it for the first 12 months but after that we would incur a monthly $6.99 charge. This rep stated that we would get a credit for the $6.99 that we have paid on this extra DVR and it would be applied to our next Charter Communications statement.
This phone call conversation addressed and resolved all current issue with Charter Communications.
It is really a shame that I had to spend my valuable time trying to get Charter Communications to do the right thing...something that they could have easily handled much earlier.
Hopefully this will be our last issue dealing with Charter Communications.
I am currently looking into the possibilities of dumping Charter and going with either DirectTV and Dish. I know that DirectTV has a bundled package that includes Cable, Telephone and Internet.
I will check prices and compare those prices with services offered to what we currently have with Charter. Might keep the Charter internet service because they will be doubling up speed with no additional cost to its customers. But of course I have learned my lesson with Charter as far as "free" anything. I am sure that this doubling up of internet speed will cost us a bundle of money once the "free" runs out.