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Country rooooooads take me home....

As a Cubs fan, I can vouch that things like this can happen! Like we used to say...anyone can have a bad century

As a Cubs fan, I can vouch that things like this can happen! Like we used to say...anyone can have a bad century

As a Cubs fan, I can vouch that things like this can happen! Like we used to say...anyone can have a bad century

As a Cubs fan, I can vouch that things like this can happen! Like we used to say...anyone can have a bad century

We have so many visitors living over here, and they all want to go to Paris, so I have an off-the-shelf plan that features Notre Dame prominently. My sister-in-law and wife were just in Notre Dame two weeks ago, and I was planning another trip in a month for my other sister-in-law. It was shocking to hear the news last night.
As far as YOLO, we just got back from a week in Ireland and I am so glad to have crossed that off the bucket list! The cruise we took last minute to Greece was amazing too!
We're moving back stateside in 58 days, but we'll be able to say we left it all on the field as far as travel goes when we do.

We have so many visitors living over here, and they all want to go to Paris, so I have an off-the-shelf plan that features Notre Dame prominently. My sister-in-law and wife were just in Notre Dame two weeks ago, and I was planning another trip in a month for my other sister-in-law. It was shocking to hear the news last night.
As far as YOLO, we just got back from a week in Ireland and I am so glad to have crossed that off the bucket list! The cruise we took last minute to Greece was amazing too!
We're moving back stateside in 58 days, but we'll be able to say we left it all on the field as far as travel goes when we do.

Day 8: Boooooooo!
We woke up early, and sadly packed our last things to carry off the ship. Leaving our bags in the room, we got breakfast at a semi-leisurely pace, and then went down to say goodbye to our cabins. We then did a lap around the pool deck, and started to head for the theater to wait for our disemarkation number to be called. A crew member saw us headed that way, and told us we could wait in the Centrum, and she would come find us when our number was called, which was nice. When our number was called, we walked off the ship for the last time, and into the terminal. We were able to quickly locate our bags and walked on out. A benefit of sailing through the European Union is there are no customs/passport checks while leaving the port (at least for US/EU citizens). Our car service met us right at the exit of the terminal, and whisked us to the airport. Unfortunately, we had to sit in the airport for about 4 hours waiting on our flight, but the girls barely noticed since they all had their iDevices and wifi. I dozed off a little on the short flight home, and before we knew it, we were in the van and driving home.
 
Final Thoughts:
- I really enjoyed our cruise, ship, crew, and port calls. I was concerned about being on one of the oldest ships in the fleet during an off-season cruise, but my fears were nowhere near founded.
- We were keeping a running scorecard of the Disney Magic vs. Rhapsody of the Seas, and I must admit that Rhapsody stacked up favorably. Even in the areas where the Magic won, I kept telling my wife "if we were on a bigger and newer Royal ship...."
- I cannot say enough about how much my girls enjoyed their time in Adventure Ocean. Even though there were not as many kids on this cruise, the staff kept up a high level of programming and gave my girls all kinds of personal attention.
- With the exception of the tender debacle in Kotor, embarking and disembarking the ship was smooth and painless.
- I can't wait to try the other ships and itineraries Royal Caribbean offers. I am fully a "cruise person" now and constantly schemeing for the next one. 
 
Thanks for following along!

We did a 7-night out of Barcelona last May, and it was my favorite vacation ever. I love both Barcelona and Palma (so much that we are taking another cruise this May that hits both ports), and Florence, even though a hike from the port, is amazing. Rome is a jam-packed day, with about an hour and half transit to/from the port on each end. The weather should be great in September, missing the really hot June-August months in Italy. The only thing I will say is don't expect a relaxing vacation if you choose the Med cruise, it is port-intensive, and you will want to go-go-go. 

Yeah....they're nothin' but trouble anyway.
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We did a 7-night out of Barcelona last May, and it was my favorite vacation ever. I love both Barcelona and Palma (so much that we are taking another cruise this May that hits both ports), and Florence, even though a hike from the port, is amazing. Rome is a jam-packed day, with about an hour and half transit to/from the port on each end. The weather should be great in September, missing the really hot June-August months in Italy. The only thing I will say is don't expect a relaxing vacation if you choose the Med cruise, it is port-intensive, and you will want to go-go-go. 

We did a 7-night out of Barcelona last May, and it was my favorite vacation ever. I love both Barcelona and Palma (so much that we are taking another cruise this May that hits both ports), and Florence, even though a hike from the port, is amazing. Rome is a jam-packed day, with about an hour and half transit to/from the port on each end. The weather should be great in September, missing the really hot June-August months in Italy. The only thing I will say is don't expect a relaxing vacation if you choose the Med cruise, it is port-intensive, and you will want to go-go-go. 

Thanks for the great blog! Enjoyed living vicariously through your adventures! Sadly with 4x college and 4x weddings in my future, it will be steerage for me for a long, long time to come.

Happy Cruise Day!

My wife tells me I only get excited when I talk about a cruise...I think she would understand why if she would look at your blogs/photos.
Thanks, as always, @twangster

My wife tells me I only get excited when I talk about a cruise...I think she would understand why if she would look at your blogs/photos.
Thanks, as always, @twangster

My wife tells me I only get excited when I talk about a cruise...I think she would understand why if she would look at your blogs/photos.
Thanks, as always, @twangster

@Traveler linked to my blog about my trip in November. When we were in Athens, we used GreekingMe for an independent tour, and I cannot recommend them highly enough! They have several tour options, depending on your interests. There is absolutely no shade on the Acropolis, so be sure to take water and a hat and wear sunscreen! The views of the city are amazing from up there, too. 
I've been to Rome in June, and it is murderously hot then, and a perfect excuse to seek out gelato. Expect huge lines for St Peter's and the Vatican Museum unless you book something in advance. My perception of Rome may be a little skewed, though, as the two times I've been have been either with 4 kids or a pregnant wife.
We are going on a cruise departing from Civitavecchia this May, and am planning on going straight from the airport to the cruise port on arrival, and then doing a day of sightseeing in Rome on disembarkation day since our flight from FCO is late that night. I'll report back on that, but it may be too close to your cruise for you to make changes.

Like I’ve been taught...flexibility is the key to airpower...and indecision is the key to flexibility. 
But seriously, glad it mostly worked out for you. 

Gonna be a busy year for us...
-MLK weekend we were in Berlin
-President's Day weekend: London
-Spring Break: Ireland for a week
-May: My wife and I will be cruising without kids on MSC Seaview (Rome, Mallorca, Barcelona, Cannes, Genoa, La Spezia)
-June: Move back to the States
-July: My entire extended family (22 in all!) will be going to Kauai for two weeks
And at that point, I will be out of leave and money!

Gonna be a busy year for us...
-MLK weekend we were in Berlin
-President's Day weekend: London
-Spring Break: Ireland for a week
-May: My wife and I will be cruising without kids on MSC Seaview (Rome, Mallorca, Barcelona, Cannes, Genoa, La Spezia)
-June: Move back to the States
-July: My entire extended family (22 in all!) will be going to Kauai for two weeks
And at that point, I will be out of leave and money!

Gonna be a busy year for us...
-MLK weekend we were in Berlin
-President's Day weekend: London
-Spring Break: Ireland for a week
-May: My wife and I will be cruising without kids on MSC Seaview (Rome, Mallorca, Barcelona, Cannes, Genoa, La Spezia)
-June: Move back to the States
-July: My entire extended family (22 in all!) will be going to Kauai for two weeks
And at that point, I will be out of leave and money!

Feb - land  - Dead and Red sea
March - maybe 8 days Singapore to Hong Kong , Voyager 
June - Land tour in Greece , Vila in one of the islands.
August - Cruise - Greece Island and Croatia (from Venice) , Rhapsody 
October - 7 nights to Japan from China, Spectrum
Dec - planning a cruise from the US, not sure which one yet.  
In between , as extended to business trip some weekends in Singapore, Italy and Peru. 

I found baseball card pages work great for making a keepsake binder. Eventually I'll add maps of the itinerary with each page. 

The top highlight was taking my first two cruises (only one on Royal) and seeing how much my family loved it.
The top memory was this view sailing out of Venice....