Oct 28 - at sea

Oct 28 - at sea

This morning the wind is much lighter and the seas are calm. The temperature is in the low 80's and I'm by the pool. Evelyn took a yoga class and when she came by here she looks like she had a good work out. We have two more days at sea before we reach Dubai.

We are currently in the Gulf of Aden not yet quite out of pirate territory. Although it as been mentioned before, it bears repeating. The level of security on the ship makes obvious just how seriously this threat is taken. Crew patrol the exterior deck areas 24/7wearing vests that indicate security. Although, we have seen NO evidence to indicate their need, their presents is comforting.

At 11am Evelyn and I played trivia and we lucked out for we played on a team that was smart and we won. It was nice to finally claim victory.

After lunch Evelyn decided to take a nap and I'm by the pool waiting for afternoon trivia, now that I'm on a roll. The weather has turned overcast and the winds are now blowing at a good pace.

We decided to attend Friday Sabbath services, more to see what other passengers are Jewish. It was a nice service conducted by a man from Brentwood, who I met last week by the pool. The ship's bakery makes a pretty good challah.

We then stopped in for a drink at the Suite cocktail party with a couple who play bridge and also attended the service. They live in West Palm Beach, but are transplants from Chicago.

Evelyn and I and Myrna and Don decided to have dinner in the Bistro. The Bistro is the buffet turned into a sit down resturant on sea days for dinner. They have a basic menu and allows you to be a little flexible with timing on dinning. You can go anytime from 6 to 11 pm, it is a change from strict second seating. We were going to go to the show after dinner, but Evelyn and I both have head colds so we went back to the cabin. I think we caught the cold on the bus to Petra, but with so many people around you never know. Hopefully we will recover quickly. At least with both of us under the weather at the same he can't blame me for infecting him...

Oct 29 - at sea

There are white caps on the water and the ship is rocking a bit more then usual. Evelyn has gone to the bridge lesson and I'm in the Tahitian Lounge writing the blog and reading.

The process is that I write the basic information and the Evelyn fills in the color, so the interesting details are coming from Evelyn, as is the correction of my spelling.

For trivia we added a lady from Whitter and she was a good player, but we still came in in the middle. It amazing how much useless information there is especially when you add the trivia from other country's. Like where did word "tulip" originate? Answer tomorrow..

We had lunch in the British Pub, which is set up in the Steakhouse. We all had fish and chips. It was ok. Next time I want to try the steak and Kinney pie.

Don and Myrna played bridge, Evelyn took a nap and I attended the port talk on Oman. Not much to see and the souk ( which is the general term for market ) is closed from 1pm to 4pm. We dock at 1pm and have to be on board by 6:30pm. The ship has informed the souk that we will be in port and hope that some shoppes will open up. The tours aren't much, and there is a "free" shuttle bus to take us to the old town. I don't know why we can't dock early, Dubai is only a short distance from Muscat.

Our cruise is now half finished.

We had drinks in the casino bar and tonight was karaoke night. Some of the singers were pretty good.

After dinner Evelyn and I made it an early night.

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Hal

Myrna doing the line dance

Evelyn and Hal at the Chef Table

Our table at cocktails before dinner on formal night

Oct 27 - at sea

Oct 27 - at sea

This morning we left the Red Sea and passed thru the straights that separates Eritrea and Yemen and entered the Gulf of Aden. We will turn east heading to Dubai, to the west of us is Somalia and the Horn of Africa. We now have a naval escort, a frigate from the Indian navy and it's supply ship. I'm not sure how long they will be with us.

Last evening Evelyn and I attended the Chef's Table. There were 11 passengers. We all met in the dinning room bar and were provide with white chef coats. We then entered the galley and were given specific instructions on washing our hands. We entered the galley on deck 5 where platting of the evenings offerings along with beverage service and room service are handled. Within a locked and barred office is the wine and spirits, along with the Head (Executive Chef) Chef's office.

All the menu's for both the passengers and crew are developed by Princess at their corporate office in Santa Clarita, Calif. This insures that the crew gets a balanced diet and the passengers get the best Princess has to offer and there is consistency between ships. Every Princess 7 day cruise for example has the same menu. This also enables better purchasing of provisions .

We were greeted by the Maitre'd Giuseppe Franchina and the Executive Chef Antonio Costantino. They explained how the food service functioned and we then toured the galley on deck 5 before going down a set of stairs within the galley to deck 4 where we had appetizers and champaign.

We then took the service elevator to deck 10 and the Steakhouse where on large oval table was set for us. The food was excellent as was the service and wine.

The menu consisted of 6 courses after the appetizers which were a shrimp with avocado and mango served in a martini glass, a Big Eye Tuna tartar served in a cone with red caviar and a mini cheese quiche with truffle oil and roasted tomato. The quiche was more like a soufflé with a roasted tomato center. The final appetizer was a potato crisp served with very nice caviar and sour cream. All were wonderful and accompanied a very nice Heidsieck & Co Monopole Blue Champagne. According to the Maitre'd it was the same champagne poured on the Titanic... Next, now seated were served a Porcini Risotto with Tiger Shrimp, followed by a Strawberry and Cracked Pepper Sorbet drizzles with some very good Vodka. Next was an entree of Lobster Thermidor and Roast Beef Tenderloin with all the trimmings, a warmed Brie served with a
Port reduction and Riesling soaked green Grapes completed the cheese course. Any description of the Amaretto Parfait served next would not do it justice. The parfait was now what Americans think of. More of a frozen desert somewhere between ice cream and mouse served with Vanilla soaked plumbs in the most delightful sugar moulded bowls worthy of a prize from the Food Channel. Finally coffee and truffles completed the meal.
The meal was paired with an Italian Pinot Griego, a California Merlot and a desert late harvest Riesling.

Each lady was give a rose, a princess cook book (we now have three) and a group picture. For myself I think I enjoyed the dinning experience more then on the Golden Princess which we took last year. The Chef's Table cost $95 per person and it last over three hours.

Today October 28th, the sun is shinning bright, but the is a steady breeze of about 15 knots and the ship is rocking a little.

Both of us worked out this morning. The gym is not crowded as most passengers seem to prefer walking the track above the pool. The wind is really blowing and they
have shut off deck 11 and one side of the promenade deck.

We played morning trivia and scored well, but I thought the questions were easy.
After lunch we played bridge and scored in the middle of the pack.

We had cocktails in our cabin, today we and D/M received two plate of appetizers and a big bowl of guacamole and chips. It is getting to be a bit much. After dinner we played name the face of a famous person and got a respectable 37 out of 50.

Both Evelyn and I are a little under the weather so tomorrow i' m going to just relax by the pool.

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Hal

Evelyn at Petra

My new best friend

Oct 24 - Safaga, Egypt

Oct 24 - Safaga, Egypt

This port is considered the "gateway" from the Red Sea for ships with tourists going to Luxor, The Valley of the kings and Karnak all on or very near the Nile. The drive is three and half hours each way. The city itself is not a tourist destination.

There was no shuttle into the town of Safaga and we were warned that the taxis were a negotiating process. We heard so many interesting stories about the ride to town. Our Australian friends had the best experience, they walked to the port gate, got a taxi for $5 per person. He took them to a shopping area and then to the Holiday Inn for lunch. He picked them back up at the hotel and took them back to the port gate. They still had not given him any money! When he dropped them at the gate he only asked for his original fee, but our friend gave him $50 for the day.

We spent the day by the pool and played bridge with Don and Myrna. Let's not forget lunch.

After dinner we watched the local Folkloric show which was very good. We saw a whirling dervish, who whirled for at least 20 minutes without stopping. It was an unbelievable performance. The belly dancers were not bad also. For those of you who have no idea of what a "whirling Dervish" is, it is a dancer that spins with layers of circular skirts that spin like disks at the waist of the dancer. They can spin continuously and raise a layer above their heads and other variations. AMAZING...

Later we played trivia and our team came in second.

The next 6 days are at sea, so I will be combining some of the days.

Oct 25 - at sea

Evelyn and I walked for excise this morning and then had a light breakfast. All of us are starting to watch what we eat. I truly believe the salt air and or the ships laundry shrinks my clothes.

There was a qualifying trivia game this morning to selected two men and two women to play in a game to find the smartest trivia player. We did not place high enough, thou Evelyn did very well.

After lunch we played duplicate bridge and Evelyn and I came in tied for first place. This is a step up from are usual low placement.

Tonight is a formal night and our whole table is meeting for cocktails and we (H/E and D/M) are providing the appetizers - they just keep coming every night.

This afternoon the weather turned a little overcast, but it is still warm and muggy, the seas are calm.

We had a great time at the Casino bar before dinner. We are very lucky that we have such interesting and nice table mates, that doesn't happen very often.

The best entree tonight was lobster, it must have been because it was formal night. After dinner the show was a movie song review with the ship's dancers and singers. It must have been good, because I only nodded off a couple of times.

Oct 26 - at sea in the Red Sea

We both slept in till 8am this morning and it felt good. After breakfast I listened to the Port Lecturer talk about Dubai. Evelyn went to the bridge lesson. We are now waiting for trivia to start. Our team consists our all bridge players which means we will come in last. We finished in the middle of the pack.

We are now having a discussion on whether to take a ship tour or use the hop-on hop-off bus in Dubai. It now seems that we will take a ships tour. We want to go to the top of the tallest building and if we take the ship's tour we won't have to wait in line. The ship' s tour is more cost and time effective. A friend of mine (Evelyn's) lives in Abu Dabi and sent a detailed list of what to see and where to go. fYI Abu Dabi is the Capitol city of the UAE and is about 2 house by car from Dubai. I'm disappointed that I will be unable to see her. She is pregnant and her doctor has restricted her travel.

I complained to Princess about the Petra tour and yesterday I received a letter of apology and a 30% discount on the price of the tour.

Seeing that we did so well yesterday I have agreed to play bridge this afternoon.
This evening Evelyn and I will be doing the Chef's Table.

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Hal

Before dinner on our anniversary

Treasury at Petra

Oct 23 -Aqaba, Jordan

Oct 23 -Aqaba, Jordan

Last night's dinner in the Sterling Steakhouse was very good, except for the steak. The service, appetizer, soup and desert were great, the steak just wasn't cooked correctly and I should have sent it back. We had a good bottle of wine and they had a special cake for our anniversary. The wine list has a good selection of domestic (Californian) and wines form Chili and other countries at reasonable prices. The ship also allows you to bring on one bottle per person. You could probably bring on a bottle at every port if you wanted to.
They also put balloons and a sign on our cabin door for our anniversary.

I've picked on everyone so I need to tell a story on myself. Today we needed to get up early (6am) to go to Petra. The travel clock that we brought has two alarms, well the second alarm woke me a 1:00 am and I got dressed before I looked at the clock which read 1:18 am. Evelyn was not happy.

Of the 630 passengers on the ship about 400 took the tour to Petra. We left at 8am and arrived in Wai Moses round 10am. We didn't have a very good guide. He didn't have the English skills to communicate with us, so we didn't get a lot of information. We walked in and out about 4 1/2 miles. It was down hill going it, but up coming out. The options were a carriage pulled by a donkey, a horse ride or donkey ride, or last but not least a camel. The weather was good, not too hot and a nice breeze was blowing. Petra is very impressive, but I like Ephesus better.

Petra wad built somewhere around 400BC and you can also see evidence of Roman repairs from around 100AD. All of the buildings and tombs are carved into the very sheer canyon walls. The Treasury and the theater were the most impressive in addition to a system for providing gravity delivered water through a simple aqueduct system. It's a good walk and you can go at your own pace. Dusty it is.. Because of the height of the canyon walls and in some areas how narrow the passage is, it provides natural shade and even cool breezes. It is well worth seeing. It is one of the 7 wonders of the world along with the Taj Mahal, The Pyramids, The Great Wall and 3 others I will have to look up.

We had lunch a hotel which was excellent, they had a whole roasted baby lamb.

After lunch we did some shopping and returned to the ship around 6pm.

For the next two days the dinning room is open seating because of the length of the tours, but we ate in the buffet and it was good. They had roast duck as good as what I make.

The bus from Aqaba to Petra is about 2 hours each way. Although Jordan has brought up the educational level of it's citizens to a mandatory 10th grade education there is still considerable poverty and a small middle class.

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Hal

Oct 21 - Suez Canal Passage

Oct 21 - Suez Canal Passage

After dinner we saw the show which was Thom Peterson, The Amazing Guy, who is both a comedian and magician. He was very entertaining and both Myrna and Don were part of the show. Evelyn will no longer set in the front row anymore, so our stage days are done. It's a two way issue, remember you cannot leave early when you sit in the first row and you just never know.

This morning we a woke with the ship in the Canal. We began our passage at 2:30am. It takes about 16 hours to reach the end. We are in a convoy with 22 ship, of which we are number 21. It appears that a lot of the ships in the convoy are container ships. So far I have only seen one cruise ship and I'm not sure about that one.

We are now anchored in Bitter Lake, it is 10:30 am. This is where the northbound convoy passes and the southbound convoy waits. Once all the northbound convoy is anchored in the lake the southbound ships create a new convoy and proceed south. Now we are first continuing south. The Canal and the lake are saltwater and we have seen a number of local small fishing boats. Mostly the land along the Canal is sand, with a number of security buildings and a small number of houses. Mostly sand. In some areas back from the Canal the vegetation is green, but mostly no color at all.

The Suez has a very different feel from the Panama. You can occasionally see villages in the distance and palms and vegetation.

It is much warmer today, but not hot. They are some clouds, but mostly blue sky.

As i mentioned above we weighed anchor at 11:30am and we are now number one in the convoy and will clear the Canal at about 3:15 pm.

Lake Bitter seems to also be a resort area, some beaches and nice housing along the shore line.

Flies are beginning to be a problem and there is a smell in the air somewhat like a stockyard. Maybe the two go together. Thankfully the smell didn't last long. The flies on the other hand drove us from the deck to one on the interior lounges.

We have decided to try the dinning room for lunch. Everyone liked the food in the dinning room, but I'm sure they have the same items in the buffet.

Evelyn and I are relaxing by the pool, which is saltwater, while Don and Myrna are playing bridge. While enjoying bridge I also like to do other things. We can play bridge every other day while at sea.

This southern half of the Canal is much more populated with real cities along the shore. The Suez Canal is the longest saltwater canal at sea level without the use of locks. It's approximately 190 kilometers long.

We have reached the City of Suez, at the south end of the canal, in the recorded time of 12 hours. We are just passing a beautiful mosque along the port.

We are now sailing in the Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea. Tomorrow we dock in Sharem El-Sheikh which is at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula.

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Hal

Ocean Princess

Hal at Ephesus library

Two cousins at Ephesus

Evelyn at Mary's House

Hal

Formal night

Don and Myrna at St. Michelle

Evelyn in Capri St. Michelle house kitchen

Oct 20th - At sea

Oct 20th - At sea

Last night there were two entertainment choices. The "Showtime" presentation was a duet that did all of the standard dutes you are familiar with. We skipped it and instead wast to a late night comedy show

The late night entertainment was Tom Briscoe who put on an adult comedy show. It was billed as separate from the regular shows. He was very funny and the lounge was full. He did a lot of husband and wife humor and there was something funny for everyone.

After we left Kusadasi we turned west to sail back towards the Suez Canal. We gained back an hour on the clock. At some point we will turn south towards Egypt and the canal.

Today the sea is calm and the sky is blue. It is around 8am and it is warm outside. Evelyn and I are going to the gym for some excise, thou we have been doing a lot of walking on tours.

There are a number of lecturers on board and I will attend the lecture on the Suez Canal this morning. We will play bridge this afternoon.

At 4pm there is an Anti Piracy Drill. We have received a set of instruction on precautions that will be in effect while we are in a "high alert status". More later.

I finished my workout and stepped on the scale, so I'm eating fruit for breakfast this morning. With unlimited food available you need to be careful and selective. As Scarlet said "tomorrow is another day" and there will be more food. The last two dinner I didn't have desert.

I took a walk around the ship, which given it's size doesn't take too long. The Ocean Princess weights 30,000 tons, which is about 1/3 the size of Princess' other ship. It only carries 680 passengers and a crew of about 350. There is one dinning room, with two seatings, a buffet which is open for breakfast and lunch, the dinning room is also open for lunch as open seating. The buffet changes to the Bistro in the evening for causal dinning. There is a grill on the pool deck which makes hamburgers and hot dogs and a pizza station that is open until 11pm. The are two specialty resturant, a steakhouse and an Italian ( they seem to alternate days). There is a charge ($20 and $25) per person for the specialty resturants.

There is a large pool and two whirlpools, a gym, and a spa. A nice size library, a card room and an Internet area (wireless is available though out the ship) with 10 computer stations. There is a charge for using the Internet with a number of packages (based on the number of minutes you purchase) available. Because we have platinum status we get 500 minutes free each.

Our cabin is a mini-suite which is a lot wider then the regular balcony cabin. We have lots of storage space, a bigger than queen bed, a 6 foot sofa, with a small coffee table and two arm chairs. The balcony has two chairs, two lounges and a table. As Don and Myrna are next to us we will open the door between the two balconies at some point.

Evelyn is happy because there are two coffee stations, one at each end of the ship, on different decks, where she can get her specialty coffee drinks. She purchased a coffee card which provides a discount. You can always get free coffee and tea, both hot and cold for free, but not the fancy "Starbucks" drinks or even espresso. There are two lounges in the front of the ship, one on deck 5 which is used for the nightly entertainment and one on deck 9 which has different attractions daily. The one on deck 9 has a wonderful view from the front of the ship. We must remember that we eat in the back of the ship and are entertained in the front of the ship. Our cabins are right in the middle on deck 8. There are a total of 11 decks, of which deck 4 to 11 are for passengers.

There is lots to do during the day and in the evening, trivia, pool games and demonstrations by the cruise staff and each bar area has a singer or group, in addition to the main evening show. There are also lots of places to just sit and do nothing if you want.

The lecture on the Suez Canal was well attended. It will be interesting going thru. The canal is 190 km long. Traffic is one way at a time. There are two southbound convoys and one northbound convoy each day. Somewhere in the middle they pass each other.

After lunch (I tried the hot dog from the grill - a one-time event - not that good) we play bridge and did much better this session. We are still only good beginner in bridge.

As we were finishing up at bridge the Anti Piracy Drill began. We had to go to our cabins and leave the door open so they could be sure where everyone was. The Captain came over the speakers and explain that this was a simulation of an attack and what action the ship would take. The lasted about 20 minutes.

After we all decided (Myrna and Evelyn) that we should walk a mile around the track which is on deck 10, about the pool area.

We are getting ready for cocktails, we have continued to receive a large plate of appetizer each evening. Myrna tried to get them to stop, but must not have communicated well (Don is happy they are still being sent).

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Hal

Oct 19th - Kusadasi, Turkey

Oct 19th - Kusadasi, Turkey

We docked in Kusadasi early and our tour began at 7:10am. Today we visit Ephesus, the ruins of the Roman provincial capital, the house of the Virgin Mary and then the Basilica of St. John. There were only 22 of us on the bus and we had a great guide. The best part of being on a small ship (600 passengers) is no large crowds. We started at Mary's house which the Vatican has recognized as the final resting place of the Virgin Mary. Ephesus was next and it was as impressive as the acropolis that we saw yesterday. This was a working city with shops, government offices, a 25,000 seat theater, a large library, common baths and a couple of the brothels. At the peak there were 250,000 souls residing in Ephesus. We then stopped at the Basilica of St. John which has the tomb of St. John the Apostle. In addition to writing the book of Revelations, John was also responsible for Mary during her time in Ephesus. It is believed he lived to be over one hundred.

Our last stop was a Turkish rug dealer, where we learned everything we ever wanted to know about Turkish rugs and we ended up buying a small rug to hang on the wall. We don't know if we got a good price but we bargained very hard. Traditional to shops of this kind, in this part of the world after the rug weaving demonstration you are served refreshments. Either chai, apple tea, Turkish coffee or local wine and a freshly baked soft roll filled with cheese. Delicious .....

Tomorrow is a sea day and we will get to sleep in which will be nice. We have late dinner seating at 8:15pm and the show at 10:15pm, so we are not getting to sleep very early and the getting up for the tours before dawn has taken some effort. We have thought about switching to early seating, but we are very happy with our table mates.

So far the service, in both the dinning room and our cabin has been very good. The food is ok, but nothing outstanding. Dinner take about 1 3/4 hours, but it seems the right pace.
The ship makes it easy now, you can order any wine by the bottle and have a glass or two and they keep it for you until the next night. The wine by the glass menu isn't inspiring.

It was cold this AM, but now it has warmed up to the high 60's. Evelyn went back to do more shopping ashore and I'm by the pool updating the blog and having a beer. Evelyn has returned and is having a snack. I had the pizza for lunch and it was very good. Well it's time to watch the crew cast off and sail out of the harbor of Kusadasi. More later...

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Hal

Oct 18 - Athens

Oct 18 - Athens

We booked a "Athens on Your Own" with the ship, where the bus from the ship drops us near the Acropolis and picks us up about 6 hours later.

Our first stop was the new Archaeological Museum (5 euros) which is a good starting point for our visit to Parthenon. When we left the Museum, Don and Myrna went on their own as they were here 30 years ago. Quote of the day from Myrna "I'm not paying 12 euros to see a pile of rubble".

Evelyn and I paid the 12 euros each and climbed to the top. It was a beautiful day, clear skies, and in the high 60's, no rain in sight. The view is 360 degrees of the City of Athens and the surrounding area. The ruins are beyond words, there is restoration going at most of the sites. There are areas where marble and other carved stone sections are stored waiting for fitting back into one on the temples. Quite a puzzle.

Here we started to see dogs sleeping along the pathways and in general almost anywhere. These dogs were all over 50 lbs. Some had collars and later we found out they have radio transmitters in them. Athens seems to have the unique situation of having many thousand (one article on the internet reported 15,000 of them before the 2004 summer Olympics) dogs that appear to be in good health, feed and just about everywhere.

After our climb down we walked the short distance to the old town of Plaka, a 19th century shopping district. We had lunch a a small cafe and then walked the shopping area buying some souvenirs.

Our guide on the bus spoke about the ongoing demonstrations, but we didn't any. When we talked to D/M they did see some on the taxi ride back to the ship.

Tomorrow we are in Turkey.

For the pass two evenings we both have gotten large plate of small bites. We are not sure why. but they are great.

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Hal

At the Jewish area of Rome

At the Spanish Steps

Evelyn at the market

Hal at the fish Market

Don and Myrna

Oct 16 - Sorrento

Oct 16 - Sorrento

Our tour to Capri was scheduled for 7:45am, so we had to be in the tour lounge by 7am. We ordered breakfast for 6:30am. We got to the lounge on time, but the Italian authorities were late in clearing the ship so we started late. This port is the only one where we will be using tenders and with the wind blowing at 30 knots it made for a bumpy ride to the dock. We met our guide, who either looked like Ben Kingsly or Howie Mendel depending on who you asked, at dockside. We boarded a catamaran to take the 25 minute ride to Capri. Even in the choppy water the ride was almost smooth.

There are 24 people on our tour, which made it very crowded on the small bus that we took to the town of Anacapri, which is the high point of the island. We visited the Villa San Michelle and after a short shopping break we boarded the bus for the ride to the town of Capri. We visited the Garden of Augustus and then had lunch at the Hotel La Residenza, which was one of the better tour lunches we have had. More shopping time and then we took the cable car to the Marina to take the boat back to Sorrento, where we caught the last tender to the ship.

The ship sailed at about 4:30pm heading to Athens. Tomorrow is a sea day and Athens is the next day.

This trip we did not try to sneak booze on board, but bought it from the ship. More expensive, but easier. So last night we had cocktails in Don and Myrna's cabin before dinner.

At dinner the missing couple showed up. They are from New Hamshirer, the husband was born in Ireland and the wife from England. They fit well with our group.

We decided to see the show which was Dan Hagger (singer/jokester). We sat in the front row which I knew was a mistake when I became part of his act as a member of the Jordanairs who were Elvis's backup singers. I got very good reviews for my performance.

Oct 17th - At Sea
At about 4am the winds reach about 50 mph and the ship was like a cork in the ocean. At some point the Captain got on the public address to assure everyone it would not go on forever although all the doors on decks that have access to walking areas like the promenade deck were not accessible until about 1:00 in the afternoon...

Not many people showed up for breakfast. By early afternoon things had calmed down.

Bridge has started with a lesson this morning and we played duplicate this afternoon. Being the first time it was a little disorganized.

Tonight is formal.

After dinner we watched the show called Stardust, a singing and dancing performance of oldies, but goodies. The songs were from the 40's Through Elvis. It was fun.

Tomorrow is Athens.

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Hal

Our hotel in Rome

Oct 15 - Heading to the ship

Oct 15 - Heading to the ship

We now know our phone is working. Last night we got a call from our alarm company saying there was a fault in the system (not alarm ringing), as we have not heard any more we are assuming there is no more problem.

We were picked up a little before 11am for the drive to Civitavecchia. We were told to allow 2+ hours and we were there in just over an hour. We were able to board immediately after checking in. The cabin is bigger then the suites on the larger Princess ships. Lots of space, queen bed, sofa, table and chairs, desk area and good closet space. The bathroom is ok with lots of storage and a tub/shower.

I don't think they were ready for new passengers yet. There were no robes and so of the information and normal first day items were missing. We were told they had stormy weather yesterday and were unable to complete some of these thing. The internet is unavailable at this time.

We had lunch with a couple from Austraila. We spent the afternoon unpacking. The good news was that all of the bags were delivered quickly. I feel a lot more organized. Basically we had everything we needed for Rome in one bag, so it's nice to be surprised by what you packed almost a week ago...

At 5pm will be the lifeboat drill and the we will go to the first cocktail party for the suite people.

Tomorrow is our first stop- Sorrento.

After the lifeboat drill we went to the Steakhouse where they have hors d'oeuvres for Elite, Platinum and Suite passengers. They have different theme each time with a special drink. It was a good place to watch the ship leave port.

We now have Internet service and good wireless in our cabin.

We have late seating for dinner (8:15pm) and are seating at a table of 8. One of our table mates is a couple from Canada, Don and Barbara. He had a large cattle ranch before retiring and she is a social worker who works with women. They seem like a nice couple. The other couple must have ate somewhere else.

We skipped the entertainment tonight. It is when they introduce the staff and officers and tell you what the entertainment is going to be during cruise. We will be surprised.

We have to up early tomorrow as we tender into Sorrento at 7am for our tour of Capri.

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Hal

Oct 14 - Rome

Oct 14 - Rome

Last night we walked back to the Spanish Steps (20 minutes) for dinner at a resturant that was recommend to Myrna. The name is Number 34 and I think over all we enjoyed the food, the service was a little iffy, but a good experience. The place was very busy and the seemed reasonable. With tip it was 120 euros for the four of us.

We took a taxi back to the hotel, I wasn't about to climb those steps again. We took a little walk around the Via Veneto to settle dinner and the went to the roof bar of our hotel for a drink.

This morning it was hard to get up (7am) must still be a little jet lagged. We are taking a walking food tour and Don and Myrna are going to the Vatican.

We left the hotel about 9:15am and caught a taxi to Piazza Testaccio were we were to meet for our food tour (www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com) - $120 for the both of us. The taxi ride was about 12 euros. Our guide, Kenny, was from the USA, Philly to be exact,and has been living in Rome for about four years. We made seven stops and tasted fresh mozzarella de bufala, a tomato selection, culatello and pecorino with truffles, tiramisu, a sit down pasta tasting ( three pastas, with wine), a "suppli alla genovese" (like a croquette) and then finished off with really good old school gelato. We also visited the non-catholic cemetery, the first grave was in 14bc. Both Keats and Shelly are buried here, and the old slaughter house. This was a great tour.

Tonight we had dinner at Nino by the Spanish Steps. This Resturant came highly recommended. Much more expensive then last night. The food was ok, I didn't order right.

I had the bean soup, a specialty, which was good, and a lamb stew which while tasty wasn't for me. Everyone else enjoyed their meal, but we agreed that we would not return. The cost with wine and service was 154 euros, but no desert or coffee. Frankly it's interesting how you order, what you are familiar with and what you expect can influence you judgement about a meal.
This particular establishment was highly recommended and thinking about the meal and the food tour earlier in the day. I found the pasta that was part of the tour to be a small piece of heaven.

Next trip to Rome will include some of the food tours recommendations, they are local, long standing and off the tourist path.

We walked to get gelato on the Via Veneto.

Tomorrow we board our ship. We have a car picking us up at 11am to take us to Civitavecchia.

Haven't really done any shopping although we did pick up a couple of bottles of good Italian red's to take on the ship.

P.S. The weather reports are no more accurate than at home. Today was supposed to be cloudy with showers. It was beautiful, blue and in the mid seventies. Goes to show you.

Sent from my iPad

Hal

Today, 10/11/11,we (Hal, Evelyn, Don and Myrna) are traveling to Rome.

Today, 10/11/11,we (Hal, Evelyn, Don and Myrna) are traveling to Rome to catch our ship, the Ocean Princess.
We are flying on Air New Zealand to London and then British Air to Rome. Our flight out of LAX is at 4:30pm. Don and Myrna book a van to pick us all up.

We are now waiting in the boarding area. As usual Evelyn and I are pushing the weight limit on our bags, but we made. In London we have to transfer from Terminal 1 to Terminal 5. We have done this before and it is very easy using the subway.

We boarded on time and takeoff was just ten minutes late, it looks like we will arrive about 40 minutes early.

We are flying premium economy - the seats are pods, the plane is a 777-300er. Take a look at the seats on the web. So far they seem quite comfortable.

We landed in London about 15 minutes early after we circled for about 20 minutes. Evelyn and I thought the flight was very good, but some of our group were unhappy with the seats.

We made it ok to Terminal 5, but had a surprise when we found out we were only allowed one bag each on BA. I though I looked it up on the BA's web site and it said 2 bags, anyway that cost us 35 pounds each bag. Should have gone business class.

I also got stop at security - I forgot I had water bottles in my carry on. They took everything out of my bag and even test for explosives.

We get into Rome about 6pm. We ended up arriving on time. Going from one EU country to another is easy. They just stamped our passports and picked up our bags and left the airport. We had a car waiting for us (90 euros) and it took about an hour to get to the Hotel Savoy.

We both have corner room, lots of space, bathroom completely updated.

We are one block off the Via Veneto, two blocks from Harry's Bar. Great location.

We walked up towards Harry's and then about three block to the right to LL Pomodorino for pizza, very good.

Everyone slept ok last night. It is a nine hour time change here.

We have had our breakfast and are about to catch the hop-on-hop-off bus.

We used the Ciao Roma bus because it was close to the hotel and we did get a small discount. It makes 12 stops as it goes around Rome. Easiest where to see the sights. We got off at the Trevino Fountain and then walked to the Spanish Steps. We then got back on the bus to go to the Jewish Quarter. We were told there are 17,000 Jews in Rome and 38,000 in all of Italy. We had lunch at a small cafe and walk around the Synagogue which was closed. We caught the bus back to the hotel to rest up before dinner.

The weather has been overcast, with some sun. The temp is in the middle 70s, but no rain so far.

Sent from my iPad

Hal

Today, 10/11/11,we (Hal, Evelyn, Don and Myrna) are traveling to Rome

Today, 10/11/11,we (Hal, Evelyn, Don and Myrna) are traveling to Rome to catch our ship, the Ocean Princess.
We are flying on Air New Zealand to London and then British Air to Rome. Our flight out of LAX is at 4:30pm. Don and Myrna book a van to pick us all up.

We are now waiting in the boarding area. As usual Evelyn and I are pushing the weight limit on our bags, but we made. In London we have to transfer from Terminal 1 to Terminal 5. We have done this before and it is very easy using the subway.

We boarded on time and takeoff was just ten minutes late, it looks like we will arrive about 40 minutes early.

We are flying premium economy - the seats are pods, the plane is a 777-300er. Take a look at the seats on the web. So far they seem quite comfortable.

We landed in London about 15 minutes early after we circled for about 20 minutes. Evelyn and I thought the flight was very good, but some of our group were unhappy with the seats.

We made it ok to Terminal 5, but had a surprise when we found out we were only allowed one bag each on BA. I though I looked it up on the BA's web site and it said 2 bags, anyway that cost us 35 pounds each bag. Should have gone business class.

I also got stop at security - I forgot I had water bottles in my carry on. They took everything out of my bag and even test for explosives.

We get into Rome about 6pm. We ended up arriving on time. Going from one EU country to another is easy. They just stamped our passports and picked up our bags and left the airport. We had a car waiting for us (90 euros) and it took about an hour to get to the Hotel Savoy.

We both have corner room, lots of space, bathroom completely updated.

We are one block off the Via Veneto, two blocks from Harry's Bar. Great location.

We walked up towards Harry's and then about three block to the right to LL Pomodorino for pizza, very good.

Everyone slept ok last night. It is a nine hour time change here.

We have had our breakfast and are about to catch the hop-on-hop-off bus.

We used the Ciao Roma bus because it was close to the hotel and we did get a small discount. It makes 12 stops as it goes around Rome. Easiest where to see the sights. We got off at the Trevino Fountain and then walked to the Spanish Steps. We then got back on the bus to go to the Jewish Quarter. We were told there are 17,000 Jews in Rome and 38,000 in all of Italy. We had lunch at a small cafe and walk around the Synagogue which was closed. We caught the bus back to the hotel to rest up before dinner.

The weather has been overcast, with some sun. The temp is in the middle 70s, but no rain so far.

Sent from my iPad

Hal