Our Med dream: August 6-18, 2014

[POregon]

Sonia loved spending time with Jaymee and the gang! You have a lovely daughter. It really makes a huge difference to my kids in the enjoyment of a cruise when they can find a good cohort group to hang out with. Mum's the word about the review to my children, however ;) They will hate that their lives are on display, but I so owed it to my fellow CCers who've been invaluable to me in planning over the years.,

 

Won't say a word. Just showed Jay the pictures of you guys when I recognized your daughter. Sorry we didn't meet on the cruise. We had a great group (through the cruise critic roll calls) that still maintain a great friendship and we all plan to cruise again together someday. Glad our kids got to hang out...it did make for a great memory for her and your daughter is equally lovely. My eldest is 19 and didn't make any friends, unfortunately -- too old for teen center, too young for the drinking crowd (and not a party kid).

[chipmaster]

Nice detailed reviews, starting early planning for another sabbatical and thinking about doing another Med Tour, Land Europe, East Asia cruise.. so many things to consider, but your pictures and review make me want to do the Med run again :D

[h-sar]

Won't say a word. Just showed Jay the pictures of you guys when I recognized your daughter. Sorry we didn't meet on the cruise. We had a great group (through the cruise critic roll calls) that still maintain a great friendship and we all plan to cruise again together someday. Glad our kids got to hang out...it did make for a great memory for her and your daughter is equally lovely. My eldest is 19 and didn't make any friends, unfortunately -- too old for teen center, too young for the drinking crowd (and not a party kid).

 

This next Christmas cruise on the Regal will be Devon's last one before he turns 18, so he's already a bit concerned about not being able to go into the teen club on future cruises to connect with new friends. He's also not a drinker/partier...I told him all he'll have to do is hang out at the b'ball court and he'll meet all sorts of guys his age.

 

I did post on the roll call when it first got established, but work got in the way of things (I took an Assistant Principal position at my school) and unfortunately I didn't end up joining.

[POregon]

we would have loved to have met you but congratulations on the 'new' job! I am sure your son will do great. Jay seemed pretty impressed by him ;)

 

 

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Edited October 26, 2014 by POregon

[h-sar]

Nice detailed reviews, starting early planning for another sabbatical and thinking about doing another Med Tour, Land Europe, East Asia cruise.. so many things to consider, but your pictures and review make me want to do the Med run again :D

 

East Asia would be fascinating! Thailand, Vietnam - definitely on my bucket list. Yup, I vote for Asia. Then you could come back and help me plan my future cruise ;)

[hilcadon]

I have never enjoyed a review more!!! You have a wonderful family and I was able to relive our TA/Mediterranean cruise through your pictures. We had our computer crash and had not backed up yet and lost all of them.

You have a great way of looking at the world and it came through in your review and pictures, especially the comment about fresh fruit and how it looks outside of Canada. We were able to do our trip of a lifetime in 2001 with a group of family members and need to do another one soon. Thanks again for taking the time to write the review.

[Gallivanting Souls]

OP,

I very much enjoyed your review! Your family are definitely A.P. (advanced placement) travelers in my book. I can only dream of some day doing such a detailed trip with my family. We have only cruised one time together as a family, but they are all "hooked" and can't wait to go again!

[h-sar]

OP,

I very much enjoyed your review! Your family are definitely A.P. (advanced placement) travelers in my book. I can only dream of some day doing such a detailed trip with my family. We have only cruised one time together as a family, but they are all "hooked" and can't wait to go again!

 

This made me laugh, as both kids are in AP and I spent many years teaching preAP :) Looks my husband's the odd man out. Thanks for having the patience to get through the whole review!

[h-sar]

I have never enjoyed a review more!!! You have a wonderful family and I was able to relive our TA/Mediterranean cruise through your pictures. We had our computer crash and had not backed up yet and lost all of them.

You have a great way of looking at the world and it came through in your review and pictures, especially the comment about fresh fruit and how it looks outside of Canada. We were able to do our trip of a lifetime in 2001 with a group of family members and need to do another one soon. Thanks again for taking the time to write the review.

 

Thank you for the kind words. You've lived my dream holiday - a TA followed by a Med cruise!

[4774Papa]

Excellent Review.

 

We have done those ports and it is interesting to see what others do there.

 

Here are my reviews from the MED

 

Black Sea and E. Med

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=228545

 

W. Med NCL Epic

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=103808

 

AMA Rhone River

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=103733

 

Spain, Canary Islands and Morocco

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=80907

 

E. Med and Adriatic, NCL Gem

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=70129

[Liz54]

Thank you! I have to confess, it did take a few weeks, working on it here and there. I did about half the notes, poolside, and took as many point form notes as I could throughout the trip. I got back from London the day before school start up, and with Sept being a crazy busy month at school, didn't get it posted in a timely fashion. Hope you'll come back to check out the pics in a couple of days.

 

I've always enjoyed reading your posts and have long admired the picture of the house!

 

Harjinder

 

Thanks! Had not seem your kind comment since we are in NS - and in the house! It was built in 1770, so needs some work. A great retirement project!

[blueridge20]

Just found this thread yesterday, and have enjoyed it very much. Just wondering if anyone else is having trouble seeing the pics, they all say they have been moved or deleted? :(

[h-sar]

Just found this thread yesterday, and have enjoyed it very much. Just wondering if anyone else is having trouble seeing the pics, they all say they have been moved or deleted? :(

 

Glad you enjoyed the review, blueridge20. I was attempting to delete an old photogucket account and wound up deleting the wrong one. As a result, all my pics in the review have disappeared :( I am hoping to get them back up this wknd.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

h-sar ~! I've thoroughly enjoyed your review which has brought back good memories for me. Ephesus is my favourite ruins too, also love Barcelona & London. My what a amazing detailed report you've written, thanks so much!:D

 

Glad someone else addressed the problem with the pictures as I couldn't see them either. Looking forward to seeing them.

 

Ciao.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[Cruisa Loosa]

Fantastic review! We are doing an almost identical itinerary on HAL in July 15, so your information is very useful, especially your reflections on using private tours. We have always been a little nervous of using private tours but will definitely give it some serious thought now. You cost information was very helpful, as was the info on Venice, Barcelona and London as we will be staying in those cities as well.

Thank you again for sharing your trip with us, it was inspiring.

[cruiseclues]

Thank you so much for your extensive great review. :):):):)

[leighuf]

This is my type of review! I appreciate all the time it took to write out all the details, especially the cost.... our upcoming cruise stops in a few of the same ports and I've already used your info to book our tour guide in Turkey. :)

[h-sar]

This is my type of review! I appreciate all the time it took to write out all the details, especially the cost.... our upcoming cruise stops in a few of the same ports and I've already used your info to book our tour guide in Turkey. :)

 

Glad it was of help! If you're using Ephesus Shuttle, some of my friends who ended up using them after I did highly recommend the female guide; her name is Melissa or Meliss.

[leighuf]

Thanks for that additional tip!

[ksbear]

Good reminder for us to not wear shorts and cover our shoulders as we enter churches. I had forgotten about that. I will take lightweight shawls.. good idea.. and I think dh and ds will have to wear convertible pants/shorts because they will complain about wearing pants in the summer!

[h-sar]

Good reminder for us to not wear shorts and cover our shoulders as we enter churches. I had forgotten about that. I will take lightweight shawls.. good idea.. and I think dh and ds will have to wear convertible pants/shorts because they will complain about wearing pants in the summer!

 

The menfolk will be fine with basketball style shorts (which my son was wearing) or board shorts as they're always a bit longer, and females are fine in capris or shorts that skim their knees. I think they had issue with my daughter as her shorts were nowhere near her knees and she had some lower thigh showing. Sigh...she's a very tall 15 yo, with very long legs, and even decent shorts don't give her great coverage. My old-school, born in India husband still hasn't let her forget it..."see, even the Catholic God doesn't approve of you wearing shorts!" It's given him much fodder. :D She was fine that same day for entry into the Pantheon which is still an active Church, or maybe we just got lucky with the guards who were on duty. We truly were not planning on going into the Vatican, or she would have been appropriately dressed. In fact, I just used her as a cautionary tale during a mtng with parents and students last week - a colleague and I are taking a group of our 10 jr high students to Italy in 3 weeks!