zebra

We wear jeans and tees, I generally wear long sleeves and Tony short for the entire trip and carry on the leather jacket if our arrival is at a cold destination. No room for extra clothes in our carryon - breakable purchases are carried in them so that we can handle with care.

Welcome romadrian - great to have you join us.

Cheryl.. you know we have only done one RCI cruise that was last year to Europe, Transatlantic on the Legend of the Seas - what a blast!!! We loved the ship and the people on board. I'd love to do another RCI cruise in the near future. I'm jealous :grin: :grin: :grin:

They would have to dock at Le Havre for Euro Disney and also make it an overnight stop for it to be feasible. Jeff, we went on the Disney Wonder - we (2 adults) made the booking 2 weeks in advance on the spur of the moment looking for a 4 day cruise over our anniversary, to celebrate, and leaving from close to home. Disney Wonder to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral was it. Then we thought uh oh... what a mistake! We had many reservations about this not being a smart move on our part, thinking...geared for kids...lots of noise....french fries for dinner etc etc. Well in true Disney fashion the cruise was fabulous. There's a seperate pool for adults only, they still played Bingo even though there is no Casino, the food, service, cabins were wonderful as was their private island. We weren't sorry we took the cruise - but seeing so many people are taking their children to Europe these days I'm sure this is why they predominently want a piece of that market.

Is anyone else interested in doing Athens on their own. It seems the taxi drivers are scam artists there and that the train is the best alternative. If you are interested here is great info. http://www.europeportreviews.com/Athens3.htm

Margerat, hope you have time when your company leaves to chat with us..we've missed you!

Suzila..what a great idea. My problem is that I take 500 pics and then can't tell the difference between Florence and Rome when i get home. Need to start some type of a journal, seeing I'm a scrapbooker!

Definitely - let's stay close to the hotel!!! That's why La Villa sounded so good to me. Is there anyone else who'd like to take on the task of finding the PERFECT place for dinner....so long as they serve Paella, I'm in!!!!

La Gavina was recommended by our hotel. Spanish recommendations or American recommendations .... that is the question? hehe

Here it is....... After an enjoyable few hours there, we hopped back on the bus back to Las Rambla in the hopes of finding a nice little cafe to enjoy a glass of wine. By total chance we found the La Villa Restaurant which is directly on Las Rambla across from the Le Meridien hotel. We sat outside and had a few glasses of very nice red wine. I spoke with the Manager, Luis to see if it would be possible for my group to have dinner there that night which he gratiously arranged. This man was the nicest guy! His english is not great but his warmth and willingness to please was without compare! He only charged us 8 Euro for 2 glasses of wine and 2 bottles of water. We returned later that night with the group of 14 and he gave us all complimentary Tapas before dinner, free sangria ( several pitchers) and presented us with platter after platter of desserts, again all on the house! The food was very good and reasonable at approximately 14 Euro per person for an entree. They have a varied menu and all ordered was excellent. Most had the seafood paella, which was presented tableside and served. We wanted for nothing and were treated like family. What's everyone's thoughts - only problem no website - we'll have to book it when we get there.

For those you didn't see the review on La Villa I'll try and find it again on the "other" board and let's see what everyone thinks - it is in an excellent location for all of us.

Gee Tonia...that's a difficult one - but I think the Italian one has the edge. Both are excellent.

Tonia....got this off the web - maybe our large party of 30 plus might be a problem?????? http://www.bcnrestaurantes.com/Eng/barcelo...LES-QUINZE-NITS

Oh my goodness this picture does not do Venice justice - the approach is spectacular! Tonia - just about everything on your list are the things we brought back!!! Except for the ham & cheese - how do we bring these through customs????? Also a must is all the pasta spices obtainable at a market alongside the road on the Amalfi Coast, they're a must, I wish I'd brought back 6 times the amount. We brought olive oil from Spain, France and Italy and have used it all with the exception on one bottle. It spoils you so much - the oil we get here doesn't even come close in taste.

Well our group is growing. I've been thinking of the dinner on the night of the 28th. I've heard that La Villa Restaurant on Las Ramblas is very good, outdoors & casual and not expensive BUT I don't know if they can handle such a large party. Last time our large group met at http://www.lagavina-rte.com/english/lagavina/lagavina.html which was fantastic - the only problem is that it will require a taxi drive there and back - as where most of us are staying is not close to Barceloneta (the sea). What's everyone's thoughts?

Yes - Pinot Grigio's are also great - I've just started drinking whites and really enjoying Pinot Grigio wines.

OK - you only have 3 ports that we did. Aruba - fabulous, Huatulco, very nice but we didn't do anything exotic, just sat at Senor Frog's and Cabo San Lucas we did a boat trip - lovely beaches there.

Dry Reds and Chianti's are my favorite. Tony is pretty much a beer or scotch whisky drinker.

Hey Joey, I'm gate crashing!!! We've done a similar cruise from San Francisco to FLL - 18 days - it was wonderful, we did it on the Ocean Princess. What is your itinerary?

Brenda & Yoel it's really great to have you join us over here on the CRAZY board. This is such a great group of people. Come and chat with us on the Roll Call board!!!

Our plans so far are: Barcelona - on our own Villefranche - on our own (probably train to Nice) Livorno/Tuscany - Jackie, Tony, Joey & David with Claudio Rome - Jackie, Tony, Gail, Paul, Joey & David with Claudio Naples - Jackie, Tony, Gail, Pail, Mary Ann & Tom with Salvatore Santorini - on our own (may rent a car) Athens - on our own (probably train) Dubrovnik - on our own Venice - on our own Yes Dubrovnik is a tiny walled city - totally walkable from where we get dropped off by tender - lots of stairs - hope you're fit :grin: You should be by the time we get there, you will have walked miles and miles in the previous ports :grin:

Welcome Rek, so glad you have joined this group of Crazies!

Yes I agree the Sun class and Vision class is a great size.

Oh how I wish there were more smaller ships and that more new smaller ships were being built. I guess this is a pipe dream - mega liners, more people per sailing is the way to go these days, it seems.

Kewel Joey! What a fabulous job, I l-o-v-e the pin, it looks pretty elegant. Do you want us to email the addresses to you? Hoping to chat with you all at 6-ish tomorrow - if I can get back home in time (will be out in the afternoon).