Cool Girl & Crazy Mom do the Med-Venice: A (very delayed) review of a Serenade voyage

[crusinpeg]

[quote name='Canadian Tyler']I'm really enjoying your review and love long reviews that I can read over many days. It's no fun when it's over as quick as it started! You're doing a great job.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

I agree even though we were on this cruise with you and know how it turns out..reading about it bit by bit in detail is like savoring a novel...everyday a new chapter...you're doing a great job!!

[kirian]

[quote name='crusinpeg']I agree even though we were on this cruise with you and know how it turns out..reading about it bit by bit in detail is like savoring a novel...everyday a new chapter...you're doing a great job!![/QUOTE]

Thanks Peggy! I'm glad you're enjoying reliving our wonderful adventure. You and Ernie are sure to have several special shout-outs and mentions along the way :eek::p

[windjamming]

[quote name='kirian']Sorry Long_shot :( I really don't mean to keep folks waiting. I truly wish I could just sit at my computer all day and type up my review, but sadly, if I want to cruise in the future, I have to work at my "real" job as well :D

I should have the next installment up shortly. Hopefully you can hang in there with me ;)[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Canadian Tyler']I'm really enjoying your review and love long reviews that I can read over many days. It's no fun when it's over as quick as it started! You're doing a great job.
[/QUOTE]

Count me in as another fan of reviews that span over many days. And purely for selfish reasons.

(1) Truth be told, I'm still carrying around some "Italy" weight from last August, so I NEED to be burning some calories, especially while the weather's nice outside. (Stay with me here) If your review was written in all one long shot, I'd be sitting on my butt inside, probably with some chips, and perhaps even a glass of wine. And that would be sad.

(2) it's cool to come home from my alleged workouts and read a new installment of a fun review!

[kirian]

[quote name='windjamming']Count me in as another fan of reviews that span over many days. And purely for selfish reasons.

(1) Truth be told, I'm still carrying around some "Italy" weight from last August, so I NEED to be burning some calories, especially while the weather's nice outside. (Stay with me here) If your review was written in all one long shot, I'd be sitting on my butt inside, probably with some chips, and perhaps even a glass of wine. And that would be sad.

(2) it's cool to come home from my alleged workouts and read a new installment of a fun review![/QUOTE]

Windjamming - you just brought a huge... I'm talking mega-sized... smile to my face, with your post!!!! Partially because I am humbled that you are following along on this longggggggg journey, but mainly because of the similiarities between what you [I][COLOR="Purple"]would[/COLOR][/I] be doing if I wrote everything in one long post, and what I am actually doing (typically) when I [I][COLOR="purple"]am[/COLOR][/I] writing a post... that is, eating chips and drinking wine.....Haha!!!! You and I really need to cruise together one day. I have no doubt whatsoever we would hit it off like two peas in a pod :D

[COLOR="Purple"]...........[/COLOR]

OK folks, barring some major emergency, we should get through Day One tomorrow (finally!) and maybe, just maybe, find out what Cannes has in store for us. Trust me, you want to stick around... I mean, where else will you ever read about two people so fascinated by a mini-street sweeper if you don't stay with the story????

Nighty-nite!
Melissa aka Cool Girl :cool:

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

[quote name='kirian']

[COLOR=DarkOrchid](Oh look ^, it's my journal under my knife... you didn't think I had a photographic memory after all this time, did you???)[/COLOR]
[/quote]



that's such a good idea...I think I might try that for our upcoming cruise as well! This way at least I won't get all the shows mixed up again:D"



[quote name='kirian']


BTW - there was this VERY weird fella staring at me throughout lunch.... can you say "creepy"?!


[IMG]http://i61.tinypic.com/1235xs6.jpg[/IMG][/quote]

:eek:Yikes -- I didn't notice this guy...and we ate there OFTEN....where on earth was he (she? it?):confused: located at? oh -- never mind-- just saw that you can see the steps to the counter in the back....odd, really never saw this thing.

...can't wait for your Cannes report to start....

Stef

[kirian]

[B]So, when last we met our fearless travelers, they were headed off to the much anticipated Sail Away party organized on our Roll Call. Let's get back to our story....[/B]

..........

I had been looking forward to the Sail Away party for months (seriously!). We had an amazing roll call and I just couldn’t wait to finally meet everyone face-to-face. If you are booked on a cruise and haven’t signed up for your roll call, go do it right now!

No seriously, I know it’s difficult to rip yourself away from this enthralling review, but go... Don’t dilly dally while you’re though there, we don’t have all day to wait for you. Just sign up, say hi and tell everyone there you will back with them shortly.

……


[B]Oh good, you’re back. We were about to move on without you and that would have been a sad “bless your heart” moment. Ok everyone, now that “[I]Cruise-Critic-member-who-shall-remain-nameless-as-we-don’t-want-to-embarrass-you[/I]” has rejoined us, let’s get to the party!!![/B]

……


Wow – what a turnout! I would say we had about 50-70 people show up. Now, I know some sail away parties are way bigger, but I thought this was a great number and it gave us all a chance to make the rounds and formally introduce ourselves.

Karl (RelaxKarl) had been keeping a list on our roll call of all the folk's CC names and real names. Sarah (NSGirl) did an awesome job of pre-making nametags for everyone that had our CC name, real name and hometown on them. These were great! Thank you both for your hard work!!!

This was also the time when people would start getting nicknames that would stick with them throughout the cruise (Elaine….aka Hop-Along.. I’m referring to you specifically. Poor Elaine broke her foot shortly before the cruise but she was such a trooper. She hobbled along in her plastic boot the entire trip and never complained). We also noticed that the rumors going around our roll call previously were true…. There was an unusually high number of very tall people in our group (which just made the munchkin look even shorter than usual).

The Sky Bar was packed with Mardi Gras bead-wearing folks and it was awesome! The few cruisers who [I]thought[/I] they would have the bar all to themselves for a while were awfully surprised when we descended, but they played along. I think I even gave some of them strands of beads so they wouldn’t feel left out.


[IMG]http://i59.tinypic.com/iep6k5.jpg[/IMG]


Also, as a side note, earlier in the day, I had stopped by the front desk to let them know a bunch of us were planning to be at the Sky Bar at 3p… just in case they wanted to have an extra bartender on duty. I don’t know if this was necessary, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to at least give them a heads up. It may have worked as I think there were about 3 bartenders on duty and we never had to wait long for drinks.

BTW – this was the fru-fru drink CM & I decided to get (I heard read on CC from other people how yummy this was, so I just couldn't resist)

[IMG]http://i58.tinypic.com/sblwk5.jpg[/IMG]

And here's it's description... can you say, YUM!?

[IMG]http://i58.tinypic.com/15d1enn.jpg[/IMG]


Sadly, Muster Drill time came all too soon and we had to end the fun for this all important safety drill…. We were packed in like sardines on the deck (fortunately, I don’t think we had anyone trying to hide in their cabin, so it went by relatively fast, since we didn’t have to wait for anyone to be ferreted out… seriously people, just go to the drill and get it over with. You can spare 15-20 minutes out of your 12night cruise)


[IMG]http://i61.tinypic.com/2m6pqhc.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR="Purple"]Lined up for muster drill as far as the eye could see in both directions[/COLOR]


During the muster, we were stuck next to… err, I mean, had the pleasure of standing next to our neighbors, Peggy and Ernie. These two would be trouble…. I just knew it (as a reminder, Ernie is the one that called me by name outside of Sagrada Familia and freaked CM out). Seriously though, we hit it off right away. It was all we could do to stop talking long enough to get through the 3 minute safety drill.

Muster drill completed, Peggy, Ernie, Crazy Mom and I headed off to the very windy helipad for the actual sail away from Barcelona where we were joined by Lynn & Karl (2 of our fellow, and wonderful, roll callers).

Adéu Barcelona!!!

.......

[NS Girl]

Thanks for including me in the review. This was such a great group with people helping to plan different events. I am living this review. Any one who feels it is taking too long can read every third page or so. All the wonderful memories are flooding back and enjoying savouring every moment.

[LauraStrick]

Awesome, Melissa!!!! Like Peggy, remembering our fantastic times together. Thank you for doing this. Makes me miss you all so much! We had such a terrific bunch!!!

[windjamming]

[quote name='kirian']Windjamming - you just brought a huge... I'm talking mega-sized... smile to my face, with your post!!!! Partially because I am humbled that you are following along on this longggggggg journey, but mainly because of the similiarities between what you [I][COLOR="Purple"]would[/COLOR][/I] be doing if I wrote everything in one long post, and what I am actually doing (typically) when I [I][COLOR="purple"]am[/COLOR][/I] writing a post... that is, eating chips and drinking wine.....Haha!!!! You and I really need to cruise together one day. I have no doubt whatsoever we would hit it off like two peas in a pod :D
[/QUOTE]

Oh, totally! Two peas in a pod ... jazzed up, of course!! You crack me up!! Can't wait to read today's installment!!

[kirian]

[quote name='NS Girl']Thanks for including me in the review. This was such a great group with people helping to plan different events. I am living this review. Any one who feels it is taking too long can read every third page or so. All the wonderful memories are flooding back and enjoying savouring every moment.[/QUOTE]

Of course I would include you, Sarah! CM and I had such a wonderful time with you and your family. You were all so sweet - hopefully we can have the pleasure of cruising with you again one day!

[quote name='LauraStrick']Awesome, Melissa!!!! Like Peggy, remembering our fantastic times together. Thank you for doing this. Makes me miss you all so much! We had such a terrific bunch!!![/QUOTE]

We really did have an amazing bunch, didn't we! I'm still waiting to meet my future husband though... you better not have married him off at a destination wedding without me :D (for those of you that are still following along when we get to Ravenna, this will make more sense to you... so stay tuned... we should be at Ravenna by Christmas....lol:eek::cool:)

[kirian]

After sailing away from Barcelona, we headed back to our room to unpack, untangle my hair after the trip to the windy helipad (probably ripping out half of it in the process... if you have long hair you will totally understand), and get ready for dinner (we had a late seating (8:30p) so there was still plenty of time).

We strolled around the ship, which was finally coming to life now that everyone was aboard and most folks were settled. I noticed for the first time the new kiosks that had been installed (I assume during the renovations). These were great!

I'm so sorry, but it seems I didn't take a photo of these, so for those who don’t know what I am referring to, they are large (about 45” or so) touchscreen TVs. I believe that there was one near each bank of elevators. When they were working (because like any computer, they had their moments…lol!) you could use them to view the dinner menu for the evening, see what was happening around the ship at that time (or in the near future) or just find out where the heck you were in relation to where you actually wanted to be.

........

Oh, we haven’t had a disclaimer in quite some time, so let’s rectify that straightaway….

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][B]Disclaimer #12[/B][/COLOR]: I get seasick. OK, I’ve never been “technically” sick, but I definitely have been queasy. The worst for me is when the ship is in only slightly rough seas. You know, the kind that still have a rhythm to the ups and downs? Those are the worst. I would actually rather be in rougher seas where there isn’t quite the exact cadence to the waves. But, just how my total and complete hatred of flying isn’t going to keep me from traveling, my non-cooperative stomach isn’t going to keep me from cruising! Less-drowsy Dramamine to the rescue. I have learned that if I just take a small dose (such as ½ tablet the night before boarding, ½ table the day of boarding and maybe ½ table the second day), I’m basically fine. If we hit a patch of slightly rougher waves, I can usually just pop another ½ and I’m fine until we get through it (and fortunately, the Captains are usually fantastic about giving the passengers plenty of notice if they expect to encounter rough seas ahead).

I am very lucky that I don’t have to take large doses or take it very often since the less-drowsy stuff is still sort of sleep inducing and I don’t go on cruises to sleep!

True story – first cruise I ever took, I didn’t know the motion would bother me, so I didn’t have motion sickness drugs. Well, we hit a HUGE storm in the Mediterranean…. I’m talking plates crashing, seasick bags along every rail for the taking…. Just terrible seas. I sent my then-husband (it was our honeymoon) to the front desk to get me something. He comes back with a little envelope that had no writing on it, but contained 2 pills. I assume that’s a dose, so I take them both…. And sleep for 14 hours straight!!!! I later found out the “correct” dose was 1 tablet every 8-10 hours. Talk about a lesson learned. Now I always bring my own Less-Drowsy Dramamine.

.......

[B]Back to the review….[/B]

So, Dramamine in my system, I’m feeling good as we head off to dinner. We were at a 6 top with two other lovely couples (although only one of the couples showed up the first night). Our tablemates for the first evening were Jenny & Andrew from a small town just north of London. They were so much fun and had the best stories.

Our servers… well, they were a different story. The Assist Waiter was Dennis and he was sweet enough (a little spacey sometimes, but sweet). Our Head Waiter, Cleevdan was… cold. I guess that’s the best way to describe him. He was super-professional, almost to he point of snobbiness and kind of abrupt. The Dining Room Manager must have been aware of Cleevdan’s current attitude since he seemed to make a point of dropping by our table and informing us that Cleevdan’s fiancé (also a crew member) had just left the ship that morning as her current contract was up and that was why Cleevdan was moody. Ok, I’m one to give the benefit of the doubt, so I decided to see how things progressed throughout the voyage.

This first night, I had the escargot (yummy!), a Caesar salad and the salmon encrusted with horseradish. For dessert, it was chocolate almond cake with sour cherries. Crazy Mom started with the eggplant/artichoke tart, the Caesar salad and a sirloin for her entrée. For dessert she chose the carrot cake.

After dinner we made our way to the Safari Lounge where Karaoke was just finishing up. Here we ran into Lynn & Karl and shortly thereafter, Dewayne and Michael (also from our roll call and the sail away party) joined our little group. The latter pair were the first to leave, but Lynn, Karl, CM and I stayed there for a while just gabbing away (we had been the only ones in the lounge for some time at that point).

At one point, I asked CM what time it was (she always wears a watch). She glanced at it and said, “Oh my gosh, it’s almost midnight! We need to get to bed!” Well, I happened to be able to see the face of her watch when she looked at it and I corrected her…. “Ah, mom, it’s not almost midnight, it’s almost 1am.” What?! I can’t believe the 4 of us had been chit-chatting that long!!!

So, the four of us make our way to the stairs. Just as we round the final corner before the elevators, a crew member comes around the bend (we hadn’t seen a soul… not a single person (crew or passenger) for well over an hour). You should have seen the look on his face! He said “I didn’t know anyone was still awake. No one stays up this late the first night after leaving Barcelona!” He told us we had to take a picture to prove we were the only ones still up at the time, so that’s what we did:

[IMG]http://i57.tinypic.com/2zq5yro.jpg[/IMG]


This is the R-Bar in the Centrum at 1a (this was about the only time I ever saw it empty.... throughout the cruise it was a hoppin' joint as there was usually something going on in the Centrum all the time)


[IMG]http://i58.tinypic.com/34nmg4n.jpg[/IMG]


Finally back to our cabin in the dungeon, we found our Crown & Anchor party invites on our beds (there were so many fun parties on this cruise!). Shortly after 1:30a, it was lights out. We would be arriving in Cannes in just a few hours and had much-needed beauty sleep to catch up on!

[B][COLOR="Purple"]Up Next – Our first port of call, Cannes[/COLOR][/B]

[crvng4mr]

I captured a photo of that screen! You can borrow it if you want. ;) Loving this review! It is really nice to see it told from someone else's perspective.

[iriegirl]

This review is so much fun! Subscribing...

[jennywren46]

Thanks for your review. I'm loving it , can't wait for the next post .

[clochette]

Great review, I cannot wait to read more. Thanks

[Bailey & Sophie]

[quote name='kirian']After sailing away from Barcelona, we headed back to our room to unpack, untangle my hair after the trip to the windy helipad (probably ripping out half of it in the process... if you have long hair you will totally understand), and get ready for dinner (we had a late seating (8:30p) so there was still plenty of time).

We strolled around the ship, which was finally coming to life now that everyone was aboard and most folks were settled. I noticed for the first time the new kiosks that had been installed (I assume during the renovations). These were great!

I'm so sorry, but it seems I didn't take a photo of these, so for those who don’t know what I am referring to, they are large (about 45” or so) touchscreen TVs. I believe that there was one near each bank of elevators. When they were working (because like any computer, they had their moments…lol!) you could use them to view the dinner menu for the evening, see what was happening around the ship at that time (or in the near future) or just find out where the heck you were in relation to where you actually wanted to be.

........

Oh, we haven’t had a disclaimer in quite some time, so let’s rectify that straightaway….

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][B]Disclaimer #12[/B][/COLOR]: I get seasick. OK, I’ve never been “technically” sick, but I definitely have been queasy. The worst for me is when the ship is in only slightly rough seas. You know, the kind that still have a rhythm to the ups and downs? Those are the worst. I would actually rather be in rougher seas where there isn’t quite the exact cadence to the waves. But, just how my total and complete hatred of flying isn’t going to keep me from traveling, my non-cooperative stomach isn’t going to keep me from cruising! Less-drowsy Dramamine to the rescue. I have learned that if I just take a small dose (such as ½ tablet the night before boarding, ½ table the day of boarding and maybe ½ table the second day), I’m basically fine. If we hit a patch of slightly rougher waves, I can usually just pop another ½ and I’m fine until we get through it (and fortunately, the Captains are usually fantastic about giving the passengers plenty of notice if they expect to encounter rough seas ahead).

I am very lucky that I don’t have to take large doses or take it very often since the less-drowsy stuff is still sort of sleep inducing and I don’t go on cruises to sleep!

True story – first cruise I ever took, I didn’t know the motion would bother me, so I didn’t have motion sickness drugs. Well, we hit a HUGE storm in the Mediterranean…. I’m talking plates crashing, seasick bags along every rail for the taking…. Just terrible seas. I sent my then-husband (it was our honeymoon) to the front desk to get me something. He comes back with a little envelope that had no writing on it, but contained 2 pills. I assume that’s a dose, so I take them both…. And sleep for 14 hours straight!!!! I later found out the “correct” dose was 1 tablet every 8-10 hours. Talk about a lesson learned. Now I always bring my own Less-Drowsy Dramamine.

.......

[B]Back to the review….[/B]

So, Dramamine in my system, I’m feeling good as we head off to dinner. We were at a 6 top with two other lovely couples (although only one of the couples showed up the first night). Our tablemates for the first evening were Jenny & Andrew from a small town just north of London. They were so much fun and had the best stories.

Our servers… well, they were a different story. The Assist Waiter was Dennis and he was sweet enough (a little spacey sometimes, but sweet). Our Head Waiter, Cleevdan was… cold. I guess that’s the best way to describe him. He was super-professional, almost to he point of snobbiness and kind of abrupt. The Dining Room Manager must have been aware of Cleevdan’s current attitude since he seemed to make a point of dropping by our table and informing us that Cleevdan’s fiancé (also a crew member) had just left the ship that morning as her current contract was up and that was why Cleevdan was moody. Ok, I’m one to give the benefit of the doubt, so I decided to see how things progressed throughout the voyage.

This first night, I had the escargot (yummy!), a Caesar salad and the salmon encrusted with horseradish. For dessert, it was chocolate almond cake with sour cherries. Crazy Mom started with the eggplant/artichoke tart, the Caesar salad and a sirloin for her entrée. For dessert she chose the carrot cake.

After dinner we made our way to the Safari Lounge where Karaoke was just finishing up. Here we ran into Lynn & Karl and shortly thereafter, Dewayne and Michael (also from our roll call and the sail away party) joined our little group. The latter pair were the first to leave, but Lynn, Karl, CM and I stayed there for a while just gabbing away (we had been the only ones in the lounge for some time at that point).

At one point, I asked CM what time it was (she always wears a watch). She glanced at it and said, “Oh my gosh, it’s almost midnight! We need to get to bed!” Well, I happened to be able to see the face of her watch when she looked at it and I corrected her…. “Ah, mom, it’s not almost midnight, it’s almost 1am.” What?! I can’t believe the 4 of us had been chit-chatting that long!!!

So, the four of us make our way to the stairs. Just as we round the final corner before the elevators, a crew member comes around the bend (we hadn’t seen a soul… not a single person (crew or passenger) for well over an hour). You should have seen the look on his face! He said “I didn’t know anyone was still awake. No one stays up this late the first night after leaving Barcelona!” He told us we had to take a picture to prove we were the only ones still up at the time, so that’s what we did:

[IMG]http://i57.tinypic.com/2zq5yro.jpg[/IMG]


This is the R-Bar in the Centrum at 1a (this was about the only time I ever saw it empty.... throughout the cruise it was a hoppin' joint as there was usually something going on in the Centrum all the time)


[IMG]http://i58.tinypic.com/34nmg4n.jpg[/IMG]


Finally back to our cabin in the dungeon, we found our Crown & Anchor party invites on our beds (there were so many fun parties on this cruise!). Shortly after 1:30a, it was lights out. We would be arriving in Cannes in just a few hours and had much-needed beauty sleep to catch up on!

[B][COLOR="Purple"]Up Next – Our first port of call, Cannes[/COLOR][/B][/QUOTE]
Were the bartenders still serving at this time, or had they closed the bars down?

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Great review!!! Looking into a med cruise for next year so excited to read the rest of your review.

[grab007]

A confession...I have been following this review and without subscribing I find myself hooked! Melissa, your writing style is infectous (I think that's a word!) You're funny, informative and have a way of developing your characters (that happen to be real people!) that seasoned novelists would envy.

I honestly think you could develop your talent into a new career. In the meantime, I look foward to your chapters to come!

Thanks for the ride!

[kirian]

[quote name='crvng4mr']I captured a photo of that screen! You can borrow it if you want. ;) Loving this review! It is really nice to see it told from someone else's perspective.[/QUOTE]

I would love to "borrow" the shot, but I have no clue how :confused:....lol! If you end up posting it on your review though, I will definitely link to it. I know that if someone hasn't seen one of these large touchscreens before, they may not realize how truly cool they are (at least, they're cool to the likes of me :cool:)

[kirian]

Iriegirl, Jennywren46, Clochette & Cruiserccl1212 - I am positively thrilled to hear you are enjoying the review!!! Thank you so much for your kind words and for subscribing :D Edited July 10, 2014 by kirian

[kirian]

Were the bartenders still serving at this time, or had they closed the bars down?

 

I believe by this time, the bars were closed down. Now, that being said, I only walked past a couple of them. But when I said the only person we saw out and about was the one lone crew member, I wasn't exaggerating....lol!

 

Now, this was not the case on other nights.... bars were open later and people were out and about. However, this was no where near the wild and crazy cruise you might expect in the Caribbean. The first night, I think most people were drained either from jet lag or from trying to see as much of Barcelona as possible. On the other nights, most people were exhausted from sightseeing so it seemed most folks were in the cabins by midnight. Keep in mind though, This was a very port-intensive cruise (and not the type of ports where you just grab an umbrella drink and sit on the beach).

 

I just wanted to clarify in case you thought all RCCL cruises were dead by midnight.... they aren't.... but this one was definitely a lot quieter than those I have been on in the Caribbean.

 

If any of my fellow roll-callers are out there, please feel free to chime in (especially if you had a different experience... maybe I was just in bed early so I didn't notice the ship was "lively" after midnight :p)

 

Melissa

[kirian]

A confession...I have been following this review and without subscribing I find myself hooked! Melissa, your writing style is infectous (I think that's a word!) You're funny, informative and have a way of developing your characters (that happen to be real people!) that seasoned novelists would envy.

 

I honestly think you could develop your talent into a new career. In the meantime, I look foward to your chapters to come!

 

Thanks for the ride!

 

WOW! Seriously.... WOW! Your kind words have humbled me beyond belief. Truly, thank you so much!!!!

 

Funny thing is, I hate writing.....lol! OK, maybe I don't hate writing, but even back in school, I would jump at the chance to do a speech over writing a paper.

 

I am really happy to hear though that my "characters" are coming across so well. You never know how well you are conveying tone of voice when you're typing.

 

Maybe I could do some of this wacky writing stuff on this side to feed my intense desire to travel... That's definitely a plan I could get on board with and if it led to that outcome (most money to travel), I might just find that I actually love writing after all :cool:

 

Melissa

[heatheld]

Wow I am definitely enjoying this review. Usually I seem to start reviews late after the whole story is posted (and man that is definitely some working going through 20+ pages and needless to say I dont seem to get much else done during that time). I am subscribing and definitely plan to follow along with this review.

 

So far, I love the way you are writing this review. I am hooked and can't wait to read more. I love your style of writing and definitely feel as though I know you and your mom already, which makes it even more enjoyable to read. :)

[h20cruzer]

loving your review but no pictures, saying unavailable..Is there a link to your pics?

Norma

[kirian]

Wow I am definitely enjoying this review. Usually I seem to start reviews late after the whole story is posted (and man that is definitely some working going through 20+ pages and needless to say I dont seem to get much else done during that time). I am subscribing and definitely plan to follow along with this review.

 

So far, I love the way you are writing this review. I am hooked and can't wait to read more. I love your style of writing and definitely feel as though I know you and your mom already, which makes it even more enjoyable to read. :)

 

Thank you so much, Heathheld! It really helps to read that people are enjoying it and getting into the "characters." :D

 

Believe me, I know what you mean. When I first found CC (I was a little late on coming across this wonderful place), I had so much to catch up on. I was trying to read two (fabulous) reviews about similar itineraries for my upcoming cruise, as well as catch up on 50+ pages for my roll call. I felt like it took me months (literally!!!). So now, when I come across a thread I think I might enjoy (including my roll call), I try to get "on board" :p as early in the game as possible.

 

loving your review but no pictures, saying unavailable..Is there a link to your pics?

Norma

 

:eek: YIKES! :eek: Is anyone else having this problem? I see them when I scroll back through the review. I'm on a laptop (using Chrome). If anyone else out there is having trouble, let us know what type of program you are using... maybe it has something to do with that. (PS - I am so happy, Norma, that you are enjoying the review... even without the pics... but hopefully we can get that remedied ASAP)

 

Melissa