Just Two Rolling Stones…

This year is going out with a travel “bang!”

We­ just spent 7 days in North Carolina to see the fall colors, followed with a few days in New Jersey to see the in-laws and even a day drive into Pennsylvania to see an old friend of Lisa’s. Two weeks later we’re all packed for our next travel hijinks!

This next adventure is a different kind of trip for us i.e., a cruise! We’ve done 3 cruises in our lifetime. One many years ago that cruised around Greece, another cruise to Mexico, and a third cruise to Alaska. Our experience has been mixed. The early Greek cruise was great and we had a good time. The Mexico cruise was tarnished by the most awful weather. And the 3^rd was with our son and daughter-in-law and it was fun.

I could be quoted saying that I wasn’t going to look at cruising again seriously until I felt I had to. Well, that time is now. My adventure trip days are over, sadly, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up traveling, I hope. I feel like there is still so much of the world left to see!

This particular cruise we’re doing is from Viking Cruises. This is our first trip with them. We’ve done a lot of research and it would appear that Viking is considered a “cut above” the rest, so we’re anxious to find out if Viking lives up to the hype.

The original cruise itinerary we signed up for was supposed to take us to Israel and Jerusalem. Of course, as soon as we booked the cruise, the war in Israel broke out! Murphy strikes again! So, Viking adjusted the itinerary. Instead of Jerusalem and Israel, they added Malta and more time in Cyprus. We knew nothing about Malta, but having looked into it now, it should be interesting! Our new itinerary is as follows:

Athens; Mykonos, Rhodes, Cyprus, Crete, Malta, Naples, and Rome. All in 15 days.

We bracketed this cruise by arriving in Athens two days early, to help get our clocks adjusted before the cruise, and with two additional days added to Rome at the end, as Mike and Denise, the friends we are traveling with, have never been there before and we love Rome, so why not two more days?

I am hoping this turns out to be a really good experience. There are some advantages to doing a cruise. One is that you never have to pack and repack your clothes. Your suite follows you. Viking has the added benefit that there are no kids! Adults only! Viking ships are smaller than the usual mega-cruise boats you see all the time. With only 900+ passengers (includes 1 crew member for every 3 passengers!), the boat feels spacious with lots of places to hang out on your own, should you wish. Plus, the food onboard is somewhat legendary from what we can tell. Everything is “all inclusive”, including tips. You can upgrade and get a drinking package that will give you better quality wine and spirits, but both people in the cabin have to buy it, so if one person is a teetotaler, it’s not worth it. The restaurants get rave reviews, and there are a number of restaurants to choose from.

Our travel party will have a very special day on the 23^rd of this month. You see, that happens to be our 49^th wedding anniversary (Mike, who is traveling with us, was my best man), it also happens to be Mike’s birthday, and lastly, it’s friggin’ Thanksgiving day! LOL! We have to wait till we get onboard to beg for a seat at one of the specialty restaurants for that day. Hopefully they can scare up a table for us!

We are due back from the cruise on 12/02, but will just have time to catch our breath before heading to Sedona to spend a week with Lisa’s brother’s family and sister. Finally, on December 23rd, we may get to rest. Christmas will be easy this year, just us and my cousin Amber and husband, Tobias. No cooking this year, but we will be ordering some pre-made food locally!

I’ll try to post more from the Greek isles!

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