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Pangean
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Posted: Wed Sep 12th, 2007 06:49 pm | 1st Post |
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Just booked this cruise yesterday. Anyone joining us?
P.
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whatawonderfulworld
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Posted: Wed Sep 12th, 2007 07:19 pm | 2nd Post |
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Excellent!!!!!!!!! You know the deal with us...we haven't booked yet but are seriously considering.
This is going to be one FAB U LOUS cruise.
Ciao and....ALOOOOOOOOOOOHA!
WaWW
Last edited on Thu Sep 13th, 2007 02:26 am by whatawonderfulworld
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Pangean
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Posted: Wed Sep 12th, 2007 09:31 pm | 3rd Post |
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And you have a wonderful time on the Pearl. Where does it leave from?
P.
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whatawonderfulworld
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Posted: Thu Sep 13th, 2007 02:25 am | 4th Post |
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We fly out to LA on September 29th (first flight out of JFK). Then it's on to Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, transit the Canal, Cartgena Columbia, Puerto Limon, Key West and into Miami for our flight home. Oh do I ever need this vacation...it's be a long long time since I've taken off more than one week at a time.
What is your next itinerary for Hawaii? What ship are you on?
Ciao,
WaWW
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Pangean
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Posted: Thu Sep 13th, 2007 05:18 pm | 5th Post |
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We're leaving on the NCL Sun this Sunday from Vancouver. It'll be our first Penthouse Suite experience. We stop the first day in Victoria. I lived there for a year many years ago and periodically go there for business (and ocassionally pleasure), so for the last cruise that stopped there we almost didn't get off the ship. This time we have tickets to the Titannic Artifact Exhibit at the Royal BC Museum and to the IMAX film Titannica (somehow strangely appropriate since we'll then be heading off for 5 sea days across the North Pacific). We stop twice on Maui (Kahului and Lahaina), twice on the Big Island (Kona and Hilo), once on Kaua'i and end with two days on Oahu (flying out the night of the second day).
There's a flurry of activity at home (we have a vineyard and there a number of things we need to do before we go away) and at work. I am really going to need this vacation by the time it comes around. ' '
P.
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whatawonderfulworld
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Posted: Fri Sep 14th, 2007 03:45 am | 6th Post |
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Whatever you do....do not miss going to Volcano National Park...here's a website of the the Puu Oo eruption and the July 21st fissure eruption:
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cam/index.htm
If you can, do walk across Kilauea Iki...an unforgettable experience!
We've been to the park several times and never tire of it! It is wonderful. Our last trips to Hawaii have been exclusively to the Big Island. We love it there.
All of the islands are beautiful...you'll catch that Aloha spirit quickly ...have a wpnderful cruise and who knows...maybe we will be joining you next August!
Ciao,
WaWW
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Pangean
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Posted: Sat Oct 6th, 2007 04:40 pm | 7th Post |
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WaWW;
You were right. You do get the Aloha spirit quickly and it seems to stick with you even after you get back to cool rainy west coast. We loved all the islands, but our favourite was the big island (especially around Kailua-Kona). As we tendered into the pier my wife asked me why the water was that colour (a brilliant aquamarine blue) and I explained that it was because we were in heaven.
Look forward to hearing from you after your cruise and comparing notes. Hopefully, you've decided to book this one to Europe.
I've started a preliminary itinerary for planning purposes (flights and train times, etc.) already. Since we've been to four of the ports already (Rome/Florence/Villefranche/Barcelona) before, it was just a cut and paste job, but it looks doable.
I've also mentioned it to another family that we've cruised with in the past (they don't like cruising as much but are attracted by the port-itensive itinerary and the variety of ports, so who knows, we might have a larger group on this one).
P.
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whatawonderfulworld
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Posted: Mon Oct 15th, 2007 03:27 am | 8th Post |
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Aloha! How are you Pangean? I hear you, and concur wholeheartedly, about why the water has the color you described...we love the Big Island. Did you get to Volcano Park? What did the kids think about it? Did you get to walk out to the active lava field?
We just returned home about 4 hours ago from our Panama Canal cruise...it was...WONDERFUL!
And, yes, it does appear that we will be joining you and yours next August. We spoke with the cruise consultant on the Pearl - he lives in Manchester. His excitement for us, relative to our coming to England for the first time, was contagious! We again signed up for the cruise rewards program so now it's just a matter of finalizing our plans.
This will be our first sojourn into the Mediterranean so any tips you'd like to pass along would be greatly appreciated.
Time to go pack to unpacking...and dreaming of our next cruise!
Ciao,
WaWW
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Pangean
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Posted: Mon Oct 15th, 2007 05:36 pm | 9th Post |
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Welcome Back to Reality WaWW. Once you've unpacked and recovered from the flight home, you'll have to post a summary of your Panama cruise. Its an itinerary that my wife and I have talked about for several years (but one we've put off to do sans kids).
We really loved the diversity of the Big Island. The tropical vegetation at Akaka Falls, the wonder of the Volcanoes, and the beauty of the Kona side. Even with two days there, there was so much of the island left to discover. For the day at Hilo, we did tour VNP, but we didn't end up hiking over the lava field. Apparently, the fresh lava was only visible by helicopter while we there. Not such a bad thing, it means we'll have to go back!
It hasn't been too difficult getting back into the swing of things. However, all the things I left behind at work were magically waiting for me upon my return. Also its a busy time of the year. We have a vineyard and small winery operation going on the side. We're doing the bulk of our harvest and crush next weekend, so the last couple of weeks have been hectic - bottling some of the 2006 in order to free up a tank or two. The trip to Hawaii was sandwiched in between getting all the bird netting up and the bottling/prep for the harvest.
For the Jade trip, we had talked about flying into and out of Paris (in order to tack on a few days), but we've decided against that. It now looks like we will be flying into Gatwick on the 22nd and going by train to Southampton that day. The Maritime Museum in Southampton is supposed to have a very good Titannic exhibit, so we'd like to get into Southampton with enough time to take it in. After arriving in Barcelona, we'll be flying back to Gatwick (there are cheap British Airways flights between BCN and LGW), then staying two nights near London before flying home on the Sunday. We stayed right in London last year, so we're planning to see some of the sights of outer London this time.
For the Med, we did all our own transportation and touring. The trains worked very well for Rome / Florence / and Villefranche. I've looked at the train schedule for Cadiz to Seville and back. It also looks viable. If you're interested, I can send you a copy of the current version of my itinerary. At this point, it is more about planning flights and dates for return, but I've updatd the train times and started to put in some information on the new stops. Here's the current entry in our itinerary for Rome with updated train times (the Jade is coming in earlier than the Jewel did last year):
"Shuttle from Pier to Port Gate every 30 minutes (free). From Port Gate turn right – cross crosswalk and continue down street (parallel to coastline) for approx. 4 blocks to the Civitavecchia Train Station. Write name on back of ticket and validate in yellow machines.
Train Civitavecchia to Rome (Roma S. Pietro Stn.) Departs 0841/0922 (Express – 52 min.)/0941/0957(Express – 60 min.)/1002 H Arriving: 0950/1014/1050/1057/1120 H.
If arriving at Roma San Pietro: Disembark train, leave through front doors of station, turn left down hill to first street, turn right one block, then continue to your left one block to main street. Cross street and continue along until next left turn. Columns ahead! If arriving at Roma Termini: [need to update for directions from R. Termini to Vatican]
Tour Vatican & Vatican Museum (Sistine Chapel in museum price).
Lunch in Rome (on the run)
Afternoon tour Rome: ?????
[Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Forum, Pantheon, Coliseum last time - Coliseum and Pantheon again?]
Train Rome to Civitavecchia Departing Roma Termini at: 1608/1700(Express – 45 min.)/1708/1713/1803(Express – 29 min.)/1808/1816 arriving Civitavecchia at 1715/1745/1815/1824/1832/1915/1931 H
[Note: Tracks 27-30 for Civitavecchia trains 10 minute walk from rest of station.]
From Civitavecchia – walk to Port Entrance – Shuttle to Ship (every 30 minutes – leave time)."
P.
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whatawonderfulworld
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Posted: Sat Oct 27th, 2007 07:16 pm | 10th Post |
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Hello fellow travelers!!! Yes...it is confirmed that DH and I will be on this terrific cruise next August!! Pangaen - we're flying out of NY on August 20th and will be spending two nights at the Holiday Inn Kensington - looks like she's in a good location for catching the Tube.
I've got 6 folks that I'm trying to convince to come along.
How's the vineyard coming? We are finally in Autumn weather...it's a refreshing change from the tropical heat and humidity - I had had enough of that by the 14th day.
Ciao,
WaWW  :cloudnine::breakdancer:
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cassie55
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Posted: Sat Oct 27th, 2007 10:19 pm | 11th Post |
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My sister, brother in law, niece and nephew are on this cruise. It's their 1st cruise and they are doing it because I rave about cruises (and NCL).
I am sure they will have a great time.
Or I hope they do or I will get the blame 
Last edited on Sat Oct 27th, 2007 10:31 pm by cassie55
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whatawonderfulworld
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Posted: Sun Oct 28th, 2007 05:54 am | 12th Post |
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Hello cassie55. I'm sure we'll have a meet and greet...perhaps your family would like to partake and attend?
It's funny about NCL...I went to a baby shower today and a young lady mentioned that she had just gone on a cruise to Bermuda. And, yes, she went on NCL. She loved it especially noting that the kid's program was terrific. It wasn't on one of the big ships either...it was on the Dream...the smallest (I believe) of NCL's ships...and one that has been sold off. In fact, her last NCL cruise will be leaving tomorrow.
The only folks I have ever met that had something to complain about NCL were ones who had traveled on other lines and inevitably it was "they don't do it the same as when we cruised with (fill in the blank)." Alot of them had great difficulty with switching from the "eat now at this time only" to the freestyle approach to dinner. I've come away from these conversations realizing that some people are not happy unless they can find something to complain about...I cannot imagine being forced to sit with people like this for a long cruise, night after night.
Several of my friends are now cruising NCL as well. We all love the ability to eat when we want to eat. That's going to be a big plus on this cruise. Port intensive...long shore excursions (9 hours or more). The last thing I want to worry about is being back on the ship in time to meet my assigned dinner time. That to me is absolutely ridiculous. During our recent Pearl cruise (15 nights), it was so nice to come back to the ship, maybe take a nap and approach the evening in a relaxed frame of mind. The longest we had to wait to be seated for dinner was maybe 5 minutes. And although I am not a buffet person, the quality of food on the Pearl's action stations was excellent. If the Jade measures up to the same level, I can see myself eating there with no "reservations" (pardon the pun!)
If your family want to come on line and join the NCL banter, I would hope they'd come here and stay away from the dark side. That message board is no longer what it used to be. The folks who truly know the in's and out's of NCL are now here.
Regarding this trip, I've been to Europe once - several years ago for a two week stay in Germany. It was wonderful. But I've always wanted to see more. I'd been looking at several different Med offerings when I came across this one. I came across it purely by luck...one day the NCL website was working perfectly and voila, this itinerary showed. I am so looking forward to this. I'm still coming down from the high of our recent Canal trip...I'm not used to having yet another wonderful cruise waiting out on the horizon. It's a feeling I can get used to quite easily.
Are you coming along with your family on this one?
Ciao,
WaWW
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cassie55
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Posted: Sun Oct 28th, 2007 11:49 am | 13th Post |
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Oh ignore me. I don't know what I am talking about  .
They are not on this one. They are on the Jade cruise before this one. 14 days round the Med, Southampton back to Southampton.
I saw that this cruise left from Southampton and assumed it was the one.
I wish I could go with them on this as I think they will have so much fun. My niece and nephew are 11 and 13 which I think is an ideal age for their first cruise.
I've told my sister about this forum but I think she's a bit 'shy'. I belong to a UK forum (nothing to do with cruising) where I have met some people that have become good friends IRL but she's never belong to a forum before. She was interested when I said I had found some people on her cruise (which turned out not to be her cruise  ) so if someone starts a roll call for the Jade 9 August I am sure I can persuade her to join.
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NCL Sun 23Nov08 B.A to Santago
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Pangean
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Posted: Tue Nov 27th, 2007 07:16 pm | 14th Post |
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Well, I suppose it was not to be. Seems like the timing for this cruise just isn't going to work for us after all. It looks increasingly likely that our DD (and also possibly our DS) will be starting a new school year and taking this cruise would mean that she'd / they'd miss the first three days of school. So we've had to transfer our booking to the 13 day Dawn Repo from NY to Miami next November.
P.
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whatawonderfulworld
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Posted: Wed Nov 28th, 2007 01:15 am | 15th Post |
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Nuts! I so remember when you "blamed" this booking on me after you had other plans!!! But you will be joining me sort of...I live in NY (out on LI actually)...work just a few blocks down from the pier in fact.
Will you be able to come to NY precruise? It's such a great time of year to be here...Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons. Hopefully by then the stage hand strike will be over and you could take in a Broadway show or two!
Take care Pagean...and have a wonderful time on the Dawn repo - my first NCL cruise was on the Dawn - I absolutely love that ship. We had an AC out of NY harbor...I felt as if I was driving the boat (errr...I mean manning the helm of the ship!!!) Ha Ha!!!
Ciao,
WaWW
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Pangean
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Posted: Wed Nov 28th, 2007 01:34 am | 16th Post |
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Yes, we're hoping to go to NY for 2 or 3 days pre-cruise. Indeed, that was one of the attractions of this cruise over the other strictly Caribbean itineraries. It's been 20 years since we've been there (its a long ways from the left coast) and we haven't seen much of the east since I left Toronto. We're definitely hoping to take in a show or two and show our kids as much of the City as we can.
We've booked a mini-suite, but would definitely be interested in an upsell to an AB. I am afraid our time in the AD on the Sun has ruined us forever. Our first NCL cruise was on the Star and I gather that other than a missing waterslide or two, there's not much difference. Loved the Star. We're looking at taking the Star on a 3 day Pacific Coastal in April and we're doing a 3 day Pacific Coastal on Celebrity Millenium (a work thing - not my choice) in September - so at least we'll keep our feet wet waiting the extra couple of months to the Dawn repo.
P.
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whatawonderfulworld
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Posted: Sat May 31st, 2008 11:38 pm | 17th Post |
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Helllllllllloooooooooooooo???? Are there any other CTT'ers that will be commenting here? Is everyone on the DS?
Ciao,
WaWW
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luvs2cruze2
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Posted: Wed Jun 18th, 2008 10:28 pm | 18th Post |
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Hi!
I am on the Jade on the 23rd. Just found this board today. I have been on the CC board up until now...well, I guess I still am.
I'd love to hear from others who are on this cruise! 
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NCL JADE - August 23, 2008 - Southampton to Barcelona
2007 - CARNIVAL FREEDOM - Eastern Europe; 2006 - COSTA MEDITERRANEA - Caribbean; 2005 - GOLDEN PRINCESS - Northern Europe; 2004 - DIAMOND PRINCESS - Mexican
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