Hi Gang. We went to Naples, Sorrento and Capri. In Naples we saw Vesuvius the volcano and the town it mummified Pompeii. In Sorrento we had lunch and boarded shuttle craft to the island of Capri. Capri was a long hike up a vertical road the funicular was out of order. The only real disappointment for this trip has been that at 1 in the morning that night we went thru the strait between Sicily (Messina) and the boot toe of Italy. On the side of the shore there was an active volcanic that was red with lava and smoke. We heard about it the next day from other passengers. There is a lot to do on a cruise ship and we missed the announcements. Tomorrow the Cretians at Crete. Hi Family, Mom here—lazy day at sea today—sea is rather rough today with high winds, no bathing in the sun today. Be sure to ask your Dad what it is to be a smuggler –he has a sea tale to tell. Have to admit I was an accomplice—See you soon—Love Mom Explaination to the pics, if we get them sent 1) boy who was mummified in the volcano, 2) Capri
Hi Gang. We went to Naples, Sorrento and Capri. In Naples we saw Vesuvius the volcano and the town it mummified Pompeii. In Sorrento we had lunch and boarded shuttle craft to the island of Capri. Capri was a long hike up a vertical road the funicular was out of order. The only real disappointment for this trip has been that at 1 in the morning that night we went thru the strait between Sicily (Messina) and the boot toe of Italy. On the side of the shore there was an active volcanic that was red with lava and smoke. We heard about it the next day from other passengers. There is a lot to do on a cruise ship and we missed the announcements. Tomorrow the Cretians at Crete. Hi Family, Mom here—lazy day at sea today—sea is rather rough today with high winds, no bathing in the sun today. Be sure to ask your Dad what it is to be a smuggler –he has a sea tale to tell. Have to admit I was an accomplice—See you soon—Love Mom Explaination to the pics, if we get them sent 1) boy who was mummified in the volcano, 2) Capri
Dear Family,We are presently docked in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome and will be disembarking in about an hour. It is 7:45 a.m., here and 10:45 pm the prior day for you. We have had a smooth sail again thru the Med. We sailed by Corsica, on our port side last eve and Sardinia on our starboard. We saw more dolphins while eating our dinner again. For some reason, that is quite a thrill. We have 8-½ hrs to spend in Rome today, and we’re doing a general tour with some free time to roam on our own. This is the only port of call that is a revisit for us. The weather is mild, which is a blessing. I’ll give a full report on our return. Love to you all, Anne….Hi gang, Corsica the birthplace of Napoleon. He was derided because he was born on an island of France but not the mainland. It now makes sense to me why conquests in Italy were first on his or France’s agenda. At least 3 cruise ships are lining up behind us. We have traveled 4848 miles from Miami.
5-1-07
Dear Family,We are now in the Mediterranean Sea, having entered thru the Straits of Gibraltar last nite around midnight. We saw “The Rock” and watched it pass from the deck of our room. It was a night to converse with our neighbors, since they were doing the same. Another highlight of yesterday was having dinner in the Italian Restaurant with a window seat, and seeing Dolphins jumping out of the water right in front of us. Our waiter said that that was a sign of good luck, and if we saw any more to call him over.Today we sea the Mediterranean which I thought would be very blue, but right now it has 7 ft waves and looks like the Green Pacific with small mountains off in the distance. We see more traffic on the water, freighters, and large ferries, and of course sail boats. We have another full 2 days at sea before we reach Rome. This trip is sailing by, excuse the pun. I will attempt to send some pics, today. I’ll try this over to Dad now to get the male point of view. Miss all of you, think of you often, Love Mom, (Anne)Hi Gang ….read a book about the Compass and development of navigation. We have broadway type shows with a mix of vaudeville and singers. Crew and passengers are from 60 countries. Met teacher and nurse who went around the Cape horn waves35 feet and winds at 85. Cabin balcony was darkened by the waves around them. They said our trip now was hardly noticeable. Our waves right now are high but not breaking. Saw a sailboat with only a storm jib (front sail) and no main or sail aft on. It wasn’t much bigger than mine. Thought the skipper was sleeping but hardly advisable in this shipping channel. Saw communists with banners flying out of cars in funchal Portugal. An election is forthcoming.and our guide was outspoken where she stood. Love Dad {Jack}
Hi Family, Just got the news that the 580 freeway is down. Rather scary to hear that when we are in the Atlantic. No report of causalities. Hope that is true.
This morning we arrived in Funchal. A beautiful island with a history dating back to the 1400’s. Lots of bananas, grapes and a little fishing. We took a tour with a wine and cheese tasting in the middle of the bus ride. We saw the highest cliff in Europe and the second highest cliff in the world. The next three days we’re back at sea, next port is Rome on Thursday. We are finally starting to know are way around the ship. We have been to all but three of the restaurants for dinner. We’ve met a number of people from across the U.S., and Europe. The weather has been exceptionally smooth. I haven’t used any anti-vertigo patches for two days now. I have a daily date with a scrabble group when we are at sea. We have formed a tight group to counter the “Bridge Players”, who like to throw us out of the card room 20 mins before they are scheduled to play. We have learned to stand our ground!!!
That has been the only negative for me this trip—your Dad has a bigger complaint, the cost of a drink is unreal. So he is developing a taste for beer. I will attempt to attach some photos. The blogg is too hard to do with the time restraint we and the money it costs to use it all the time. So I will turn this over to Dad so he can work around these problems and get this off to all of you.
Love you all, Mom, (Anne)
Hi GangThe most interesting thing about cruising the Atlantic is the color of the water….a pretty bright blue like the pacific ocean. We are now about where you can take a compass bearing and be looking over the water to the north and south poles…no land masses in between. I got a book from the ship’s library about compasses, technology evolution. Saw 2 stage presentations in the ship’s massive theatre and 2 very good movies on the satellite tv in our room.
Starting off after a long flight–staying one night in The Raddison Hotel then off to the post of Miami to board the beautiful “Jewel”
We have a great room on the 11th deck
Sailing away watching Miami Beach and civiliaztion disappear
Come and follow us through our first cruise. We’ll be flying out of SFO and head to Miami. From there we’ll be boarding the Norwegian Jewel and head out into the Atlantic for a six day crossing and then through the Straits of Gibraltar with the ending destination of Athens and a few ports of call in between. We’ll enjoy having you follow us along.
