4 days till Our Wonderful European Vacation

[Andros]

4 days until we take our first flight to meet up with a friend. I'm getting so anxious I can hardly contain myself:eek: ! We are travelling to London 3 days pre-cruise, then onto Barcelona 2 days pre-cruise. This is the first time for me and my travel companions to be in Europe. We have so much planned. We are going to need the 7 sea days on our 11 day voyage to recoupe before Thanksgiving. Most likely, we will be the most thankful people at our families tables. 18 days of great fun and sites kind of does that to you. We have planned everything we can. Now it is time to let it unfold. Hopefully, this will be to our advantage. There is always the unexpected though. Luckily, I'm very good with most crisis, if they come along.

 

I have only sailed once before on the Majesty. I was hooked the second day. I never imagined I would get to see Europe in my lifetime. I get so excited and teary eyed everytime I see some type of travel show. Especially if it is about one of our destinations. It just builds my excitement and makes me research even more. I've never been more ready for a trip, than I am right now. I've had so much fun planning and preparing everything I can. It's all coming to reality now. I have never had more self confidence than I do right now.

 

Thanks to everyone here at CC for sharing your tips, info, stories(good&bad), about cruising and travelling all over the world. I would not be where I am today, if not for your unselfish generosity. I will be forever grateful. Cruising has changed my life for the better. The people on our roll call have been so helpful and fun. I can't wait to meet them. I posted on another thread, how strange it was to have such a bond with so many people you have never even met before. Strange, but such a wonderful experience. So, again, thank you all.

 

Hopefully someday I will have the pleasure of cruising with you. Until then, Bon Voyage. May all of you have as much fun in life, as I am now.

[Merion_Mom]

Your enthusiasm is contagious. I am very excited for you and your wonderful travel plans. Have a fabulous trip, and tell us ALL ABOUT IT when you get back!

 

Bon Voyage!

 

Carol

[cruiser_carol]

Hello Nashville from an American in London...Well Derby in Central England actually...but close enough. You are going to have a fantastic cruise of Europe. The ship is brilliant and the sights you are going to see will be amazing. Despite the fact we are living on the doorstep, and are technically part of Europe, It took my husband and I ..24 years to get to Europe and on a cruise. We had a fantastic time sailing the Med for 14 days in August, on the Legend of the Seas, seeing sights that were "out of a movie" or "picture postcard". Some places I was lucky enough to have visited in my 20's, but that was over 30 years ago. It was like being young all over again. For my husband it was a first time for everything and he really enjoyed himself. I've never known him so happy and I was "Over the Moon". I cannot convey to you how wonderful it all was and what a magical experience.

 

The weather here, is cloudy and gray at the moment., we might get rain. But so far there has been very little cold weather, in fact we had the warmest ever day for October, 70 degrees, last week. It is changing a bit now but I think it will be similiar to Nashville. If you are in London on Saturday, Nov 5, it is a big day here in England..Guy Fawkes..who tried to blow up parliament..We celebrate with lots of fireworks everywhere and bonfires, people having house parties with sausages and jacket potatos. So it will be great if you are here in London for that. Here's wishing you a Wonderful trip of a lifetime..Enjoy every minute..and be sure to come back and tell us all the details. Happy Halloween for today and Happy Thanksgiving in advance. Regards,from carol in Derby

[shipknotshore]

Hope your trip is everything you hope it to be. It's a lot of work planning every detail but entirely worth it. Now it's time to relax and enjoy. We want to hear the story of your adventure when you get back.

[Andros]

You wonderful people come and cheer me on. With your heartfelt stories, and sheer enjoyment for me. That is why I love CC. I never mentioned where we were sailing. We are sailing Brilliance from Barcelona to Miami. Unfortunately, we will not arrive in London until Sunday. Maybe we will see the festivities from our sky high lounge chair:rolleyes: . I'm so excited about crossing the atlantic as my ancestors did years ago. I learned through a little research that my fathers family was from Cork(cove), Ireland. Evidentally the last port of call for the Titantic:eek: . Obviously, none of my direct decendants were on her.

 

Thank you guys for your responses. I promise to fill you in on our wonderful vacation. I had already bought a journal to keep track of everything my mind could grasp. It sits in my luggage as we speak. I most likely will return to see if there are any new post, but not respond till we return.

 

See You on the Flip Side:rolleyes: . Andros

[Catseyes]

Hi Andros, I am so pleased and excited for you, especially as you will be visiting our part of the world. You will have a great time in Europe, it is so diverse and colourful with so many different cultures to see. Wish you a safe journey and a wonderful cruise. You will love London, it is one of my favourite places. My family were from Ireland, Dad near Galway on the west coast and Mum Monaghan near the Northern Ireland border. Cork is a lovely place to visit too, beautiful sceanery. Maybe you will get to visit there some time too.

 

 

Happy Cruising.

 

Tessa:D

[cruiser_carol]

Hi Andros..Greetings again from Derby, England. Just to let you know that the fireworks will carry on here for days..so I am sure that you will come across some on Sunday in London. Every neighborhood sets them off and loads of shops sell them, so the skies are full of rockets and sparkle for days. Secondly, you are sailing to Miami. That was my home for 31 years before coming to England, so you will be visiting both my homes. Miami is a beautiful city.. surrounded by blue waters and Palm trees.. millionaires homes and boats and yachts everywhere. It truly is a paradise, but You must be careful where you go. That is true, however, of any big city. Have a fantastic time and enjoy every minute. Cheers For Now, carol

[Andros]

Well the waiting and anticipation are over. We leave Nashville today at 4:20 to Dulles. We will meet up with our friend at the airport. Staying the night and departing for London at 7:30p.m. on saturday via Virgin Airlines. We had a little bit of a scare last night. I decided to check baggage restrictions on all of our flights, one more time. I was mainly concerned about our limits on our BA flight from London to Barcelona. After searching the site a little, I discovered we were only allowed 1 checked bag each weighing no more than 51lbs:eek: . We were under the assumption that it was 2 checked with a combined weight of 51lbs. I'm sure glad that I decided to check this one last time. We would have been very ill, if this was told to us when we arrived at Gatwick to check in. I have dodged the bullet and I am feeling quite giddy right now:rolleyes: ! LOL

 

I will talk to you all later and thanks again for your encouragement. I plan on writing some type of review of our travels. However, I have never done that before. I have a feeling though, that it will come natural to me. I've already have a good start with all this posting I've done. I was always told that experience was the best teacher. Adios, Andros

[csk]

Have a great flight and stay in London, We are also on that cruise, but not leaving until Monday, and then spending the time in Barcelona. Was on this cruise last year and had a great time. love all the sea days. See you on the ship .

[tinkerme1]

Have a great time on your cruise! Hope your time in Barcelona is simply wonderful. We look forward to that trip sometime in the future.:D

[Andros]

Just wanted to let you know we arrived home safely last night around 11:00. It will take several days to unpack and get myself in order. We had a wonderful time and I will post our pictures and get my review written over the holiday weekend. Thanks again for your encouragement and shared joy for us. It will not be forgotten.

 

See you soon, Andros

[Jarronwood]

Andros

 

Will you be posting in the Europe forum on your trips? Will keep an eye out on both forums.

 

Glad you had a good trip.

[cruiser_carol]

Just wanted to let you know we arrived home safely last night around 11:00. It will take several days to unpack and get myself in order. We had a wonderful time and I will post our pictures and get my review written over the holiday weekend. Thanks again for your encouragement and shared joy for us. It will not be forgotten.

 

See you soon, Andros

 

 

Welcome Home Andros...Great to hear from you...So glad to hear that You had a Good time. Have A Very Happy thanksgiving and I look forward to reading all about your Adventures in the very near future. Regards from Chilly England, Carol

[Andros]

After many, many hours of writing, I'm finally through. I have been writing a letter for my family describing our wonderful vacation. You too, are now part of my family. My CC family. I have put down details of our travels pre and post cruise, and everything in between. There will be a lot of references to cruising that you are well aware of. However, some of my family, don't know anything about it. So bear with my explanation of some of these details. Also, bear with some of my grammar, as it was not my best study area:confused: when I was in school over 20 years ago:eek: . When I printed this out at home, it was 12 pages long. I never wrote a thing in my journal and was surprised that I remembered what I did. Our trip was absolutely fabulous. Thank You again, for your excitement for us.

 

I am taking Jarronwood's suggestion of posting this in the Europe forum. I have no idea where this particular thread is located now and have been getting here through my user cp. I don't know, being these details are so long, that I will be able to post all of it in one place. So I will break it up into seperate threads. Starting with "Details of our European Vacation" and then "Continued Details of Transatlantic Cruise". We are still going through our pics and I will post them for viewing when we finish. Hope you enjoy! Also, you will get an idea of who I am and my passion for travel. Many thanks to all.

[Andros]

I see that many people have looked at the details of our trip. Either they didn't like what I said or are still recovering from my mile long explaination. Whatever the reason, I suspected I would get some feedback of somekind. Good or bad. Hope I didn't bore any of you and ruin our relationship. Be it only a message board, you guys are important to me. Will talk again soon, Andros