Von & John

I've switched to a Monocular & Love it... With my astigmatism I've always been challenged looking through binoculars with both eyes open 🙂

You're in the Haven - Just ask them to whip you up some Fresh Scattered, Smothered & Covered... Please sure to ask them to properly season the fresh potato shreds...

Von Boyage... Holiday cruises are Fun. Cheers to an Amazing Cruise -- Von

Hope your sore throat was from talking & you are feeling great now!

Wow - You were like the Lone Ranger here or the Last One Still "Standing"... Thanks for an awsome/entertaining review - as always...only 4 pages left to finish. Cheers -- Von

Von Boyage... Wishing you an Amazing Cruise! Cheers from Talkeetna - Von

Von Boyage & Cheers to an Amazing Cruise

This sounds wonderful!!!

We've done both interior & balcony for repositioning... And would happily do either interior or balcony again. For $100 more - we'd jump at the balcony - unless it messes up your perks/amenities.

That’s truly unfortunate. Hashbrowns cooked properly are amazing. Must be a Mid-West thing … ”Here hold my beer”

Absolutely - Hashbrowns are fresh shredded, seasoned, scattered on the griddle & occasionally covered w/ cheese.

We were in the Large Picture Window OV on APR/MAY - our room had the bed under the window. However there were others in the same category w/ bed not under the window.

From my younger days serving @ a Diner… Hash browns Scattered, Smothered & Covered Actually for me just scattered & covered w/ good cheese 😎 Just like Mom taught us to cook - well seasoned… Grilled them for Brunch yesterday.

Also from the US... Just never connected the 2 until we were in Barcelona 🙂

Enjoy your cruise! We sailed LAX to FLL on the Coral Princess over Christmas 2011/New Year's 2012. It was an amazing trip... We traveled from MIA to SEA on the NCL Sun in April/May this year - also a great trip 🙂

Wow - All caught up & hope you are enjoying/enjoye your first evening in Barcelona! The view from your hotel is fantastic - what's the view from your bathroom? It looks like you are in a great location for traveling on foot - the underground, trains & buses provide wonderful travel options to get around to other areas. I think on one of our trips, we may have used the HOHO one day - it provides a great overall view of the area - including getting to the water/beach. We hit the Boqueria & Gothic Quarter on each visit and enjoyed the Maritime Museum on one of the visits. I just looked up the Born Cultural Center - when we make it back to Barcelona, we'd like to visit. Laughing on the Gaudi/Gaudy Connection... Learned the word gaudy as a child & understood it meant over the top, etc. However, until we were in Spain & visited both Park Guell & Sagrada Familia as well as viewing the Gaudi architecture - neither Johnny nor I had linked Gaudi w/ gaudy 🙂

Thanks for the fabulous walking tour & photos of Barcelona... Brings back many memories of our trips 🙂 Enjoy the rest of your time there & the cruise to come! Cheers from Talkeetna -- Von

Always nice to Iowans fall in love w/ Alaska... I grew up there & my first trip to AK was when I was living in Orlando - stated I'm going to live here (AK)... Started the move to AK about 9 months later & LOVE IT! We had nesting Bald Eagles across the Massey Slough from us @ our cabin on the Mississippi... We see lots of Golden Eagles @ home in Talkeetna & some Bald Eagles as well. The Baldies once again have a nest near our home 🙂 Did you see any owls during your trip up here - they are plentiful? "Alaska and only three eagles? Wow! That's like a record. I can't imagine being in Alaska and not seeing dozens of those birds! Crazy right! I expected to see tons. We saw tons of crows and ravens though. But a mated pair of bald eagles nests a few houses down from me, and I see them most mornings, and there is another mated pair that lives on the Iowa river and I see them many mornings when I row. (The real win is when we can see the owls coming in at the end of the night, those are rarer.)"

We did the "Champagne" Pour (Sparkling Wine) & Photo Op many years ago on NY's Eve... They told us they dispose of it b/c in the past someone had broken a glass & another person found glass in their mouth while drinking... Also - the women in line b/4 us actually chugged out of the "Champagne" bottle - they of course let her keep it... Ewwww... I would say - who does that - but obviously that person did & benefited with the Sparkling Wine Bottle...

Greg -- Have a Fantabulous Final Day on board!!! I fell behind this week & I'm currently up to page 37 (a little thing called work has gotten in the way) As always loving the Review... It appears you may be off the ship b/4 I am caught up. Cheers -- Von

Love the Grand Canyon - Your trip sounds Fantabulous!! We have friends upper 60's/early 80's & they generally hike into the Canyon, spend a few nights & hike out again. She hikes w/ a trash bag both ways & collects trash as they follow the trail. We've attempted to join them a couple of times - but always end up cancelling for work or other reasons. The Rafting Trip also sounds fabulous! Love Barcelona - where are you staying? We've spent a week or so in Barcelona both before & after our two cruises which sailed from there. I vote for Montserrat & Cava Country - we took the train to both. For Cava Country we mostly walked to the different vineyards from the train station and for Montserrat it was a combination of train & then the cog-wheel train up the mountain. The first Barcelona visit b/4 the first cruise - we did everything we could in Barcelona... The following 3 stays were spent partially in Barcelona & partially expanding out from the City. If you have any interest - the Olympic Village was interesting, as were the plethora of Museums (Miro, Picasso to name 2) & there was an Artisan Village Complex we went to... Of course, we also hit Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell & all the historical sites & most of the neighborhoods/beaches. We loved the architecture & history @ every turn! As a lifelong water rat - anytime I'm near water - my feet @ a minimum must make it into the water - regardless of the temp. Las Ramblas & Mercado La Boqueria are always a hit! We used a combination of walking & public transportation w/ a rare taxi thrown in. We enjoyed our wine or cocktails every night w/ Tapas & we also found a small Creperia we loved serving both savory & sweet crepes 🙂 The fun part was hitting a different location every evening. On one trip we met an older gentleman while we were walking, we were waiting for a light to cross & started talking - I think it was near the Gothic Quarter... I commented how much I loved his leather jacket & he invited us back to his little shop... The conversation flowed during the 10/15 minute walk to his shop. Well - as it turns out - he was the owner of the "little shop". He used his key to enter & everyone greeted him when we walked in they had an extra special customer they wanted him to greet. He excused himself - we noticed his "little shop" was very high end & the extra special customer was dripping in jewelry/classic bling & was much better dressed than we would ever be. We turned to leave & he asked us to stay - he went to say Hello & then returned to pick up our conversation from our walk over. We attempted to express to him how wonderful his designs & materials were, but that we could never afford them. He didn't care - he sent someone upstairs to grab the 3 of us some wine and he insisted we try on some of his clothes/coats - he kept selecting different items for us to try on - he didn't care we weren't planning on purchasing anything - he was having too much fun! We spent an hour or two there with him, enjoying the conversation & wine... People were being buzzed in & greeted - there were lots of stares & whispers our way, obviously we were not there target clientele... He gave us both big hugs as we left. I still have his business card & a few pictures somewhere. Sitting here laughing & smiling while I recall this encounter - what a lovely man! Anyhoo - Barcelona - Grand City we're hoping to get back for another visit one of these days. Cheers - Von

Which pup did you use for your head shot? Laughing - our APR/MAY Cruise on NCL - the Check-in Person insisted on retaking both our photos.. I asked if there was something wrong w/ our submitted photos - No - required to retake all photos... I may then have "mumbled" - Then why do we need to submit the photos to start with - which of course made her look @ me funny 😎 We get on the ship & I poked my head around - wanting to see my new photo Imagine my surprise when it was the one I submitted 😏 Cheers -- Here for the Party - oops of course the Review!! Also - we saw the Blue Man Group on the Epic NOV 2014 And - we are 0/1 for the Azores Hoping to live vicariously through your review Cheers from Talkeetna - Von

Wow -- Good Coffee... Much different than our NCL Sun - MIA to SEA cruise through the Panama Canal it seems... We were so disappointed in the coffee on that cruise & I believe you noted you had switched to Tea b/c it was so bad. If you didn't mention - then it was someone else 🙂 Enjoy your B2B & we'll happily follow along on anything you want to share. Have Fun in the Casino - May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor Cheers from Talkeetna -- Von

I have a lamp I bought years ago... I believe from Crate & Barrel - but it may have been Restoration Hardware or another store (I've had the lamp longer than I've had Johnny 🙂 ) The base of the lamp is a revolving postcard stand - There are 10 spots for postcard stacks... When the twins are over to visit - they like to shuffle the stacks & display their favorites in the front for each slot. We mix it up by changing all the postcards every now & then.

Very easy to disconnect