The World of Joel

Today was the last official day of our trip, and the last official day of the cruise. Can you believe the past three weeks have gone by so fast? Today we had another big tour, this was scheduled to be a 9 hour tour, and it used every minute of that time limit plus some. We woke up this morning at around 6:00 AM and made our way downstairs for our tour at around 7:00 AM, another early morning indeed. The tour began with a boat ride to Capri, one of the most beautiful islands I have visited. The island is set on top of a cliff and overlooks some of the most spectacular crystal clear blue water I have ever seen.

We got off the rocky boat around an hour later and were literally let loose after taking a trolly up to the town. The trolly experience was interesting, it only fits so many people at is going straight up to town which is quite a steep incline. We were crammed into these very small box’s where a few people could sit but the majority were standing. When we finally did make it to the top we were taken to these gardens that overlooked a cliff and then sent on our way for an hour. Jenn and I are toured out at this point, it has been nearly three weeks, we have taken countless tours and it was nice to just go and be left off, the only issue was there wasn’t a whole lot to do. Jenn actually isn’t one who loves shopping and I sure don’t enjoy it so we actually spent the majority of the time in Capri just taking in the sights.

By One of the Many Cliffs in Capri

Another Beautiful Capri Shot

Beautiful Shot of Capri

After the hour was up we went from Capri to Sorrento via the same boat that brought us to Capri. The boat ride was a bit rocky again so I am glad I took the sea sickness medicine but at the same time the medicine made me extremely drowsy throughout the day. The boat ride fortunately was only a half hour from Capri so that was the good news. However the weird part of Sorrrento was there was nothing to see, it was just a normal town with nothing necessarily special going on.

Jenn and I by this time were starving, we had a lunch that was provided by the tour coming up but thus far in the trip we would eat a few bites from the tour food and still be hungry. So instead of walking around aimlessly with no actual motivation to buy anything we sat down and had a lovely lunch at a sidewalk cafe, true Italian style. I love Italian food, I have never met an Italian meal I wouldn’t eat, and today’s lunch was no exception. Jenn had her very typical Spaghetti with meat sauce and I went for a really nice cheese pizza. A lot of times in Italy I will go with Pasta or Chicken but I was craving a good pizza and this cafe delivered big time.

There is Nothing Better then Drinking Coke from a Glass Bottle

My Cheese Pizza Which Was Fantastic

It was another delightful meal, we did end up going to a second lunch following this for the tour and I am so glad we ate before hand. The tour’s meal was a three course meal which actually sounded fantastic when we walked in, you started with a lasagna but it wasn’t good at all, and then a chicken with potato main course followed by a slice of cake. The chicken was horrid, it was dry, and it reminded me of the kind of chicken you get in the sandwich meat aisle. To top it all off the cake was average at best and by that time I was so tired of eating I gave up on it anyways.

After the meal we took a bus ride from Sorrento to Pompeii. By this time I was exhausted, the medicine was making me want to pass out on the spot and sleep on the sidewalk, and yet Pompeii was the part of the trip I really wanted to go to. When we were in Naples in 2006 Jenn and my plan was to go to Pompeii from Naples but things got a little mixed up at the time and we didn’t follow through on the plan. Regardless I have heard such amazing things about Pompeii that even with the extreme exhaustion and the heat really wearing us all down there was still a little left in all of us to get up for the last stop of Pompeii.

The ruins in Pompeii were fantastic, they really worth going to see and were actually some of the best maintained ruins I have ever seen. There were so many great things to see in Pompeii and it was far more industrialized then I had expected. The nearby volcano was really great to look at and the heat was bad but we were fortunate enough to have some rain off and on. It wasn’t hard rain but just enough to help cool us all down just a bit. The trip ran a little long, and we had a lot of walking in Pompeii but it was all worth it. If I had my choice I would have done Pompeii first, it would have been great to start the day off with some great sights, you could see that by the time we all got to Pompeii everyone was struggling to keep the excitement up.

Holding Up the Ruins in Pompeii

Our Thumbs are Up for Pompeii

They Had Me Push Back up This Pillar

We ended up hitting some major traffic on the way home, there must have been an accident on the highway so we took side streets all the way to the cruise ship and it wasn’t until 5:45 PM that we arrived back on the ship. Dinner was 6:00PM and it was the last night so we had to rush and make it. Part of going on Royal Caribbean is that there tipping is not included in the price of the cruise, so you can either do prepaid gratuities or tip with cash. Jenn and I chose to do the cash method as our waiters were phenomenal but the housekeeping staff was not so great. Our waiters Marco (the main waiter) and Jay (the assistant waiter) couldn’t have been better and they deserved every penny of there tip. It is amazing what effect nice people can have on your trip, and they truly made you look forward to every evening.

Tonight’s dinner was nothing special in terms of the menu so I went with things I had previously on the cruise and I knew I would enjoy. I started with the Shrimp cocktail followed by the Top Sirloin and finished it off with chocolate ice cream. Jenn went the same route on the main course but had a nice seafood soup and her never changing vanilla ice cream. Dinner was a nice closure, it was a good last meal, it was sad to say goodbye but I guess that is how cruises go. After dinner we went down and purchased a few portraits of us on formal nights, and finished the night by packing up and getting ready for the extremely long trek back home.

Tomorrow is the big travel day, we leave the ship at 6:00 AM and head to the Rome Airport where we have a 9:35 AM flight to London, we have a five hour layover in London where we depart at 5:15 PM and arrive at LAX at 8:15 PM the same day. It is going to be a brutal travel day, but with three weeks of traveling it will be nice to just sit around and relax for a bit.

It has been such a privilege being able to give these daily updates, I hope everyone has enjoyed them as much as I have writing them. I am going to post a short wrap up of the trip for tomorrow and that will most likely be the last post for me for the week, and things will go back to normal after that. I hope you all have enjoyed this amazing journey that Jenn and I were so blessed to be able to go on, and until next time good bye (which means goodbye in english).

The final at sea day has come and gone and I cannot tell you how much I will miss our days at sea. First off we gained an hour today, when we went to Greece went put our clocks an hour forward and on our way back to Italy we put them back again so today was supposed to feel longer but unfortunately it still went by far to quick. We woke up earlier today, Jenn and I both felt refreshed this morning, more then any other day this cruise. We woke up, and decided to play some video games, yes my fiance plays video games and I love her for it even more. She is into Brain Age and the New Super Mario Bros on the DS, and whenever she gets started she is hooked.

I decided this morning that I might as well pack up the suitcase and get as prepared as I can. Tomorrow we go to Naples which we take a 9 hour tour to Capri, Sorrento, and Pompeii. They say we have a crazy boat ride that gets people sea sick so for the first time in over a week I am going to be on some Bonnie which hopefully won’t make me to drowsy. So packing up to go home is always more difficult, I am obviously bringing more home then I brought on the cruise and I have to try and figure out a way to put the wine I bought on the trip in the suitcase without it breaking so that should be fun. I am about 98% packed at this point and I can finish everything up in 10-15 minutes when we get back tomorrow.

For lunch Jenn and I ordered from the dining room to our room, that’s one of the nice things about this ship. The room service menu is horrendous it has like 8 items but whenever they serve breakfast, lunch, or dinner you can order that via room service as well so that is what Jenn and I did. Our meals were so-so but that is how breakfast and lunch’s have been going. We did end up playing some bingo today, it was the last day so it was the big payout of $1005 and unfortunately we did not win, we didn’t really even come close either.

Tonight was the last formal night, and we all got dressed up in our best for the occasion. Jenn bought a brown dress for the cruise, she sparkles when she wears it. Let me tell you she stole the show this evening, she got compliments from everyone, every where we walked someone was stopping to compliment her dress. Of course Jenn tries to be modest but having dated Jenn for almost five years I know she is gleaming inside. The praise was definitely warranted though, Jenn was drop dead gorgeous tonight, she truly was the most beautiful lady on the ship.

Dinner tonight should have been the best on the cruise, but for some reason they cut out lobster. Why I don’t know, but they did have my second favorite item on the menu Prime Rib, so that was nice. According to Jenn’s dad he said he heard that they had cut lobster due to budget restraints and I figure due to the high fuel costs. Luckily the dinner food has been so good that not having lobster wasn’t the end of the world. Tonight I had a caesar salad followed by the good old prime rib finishing it off with a desert trio. Jenn of course followed with the Prime Rib and also had a Duck Soup and her annual vanilla ice cream.

We saw the show this evening, I am not sure what this cruise’s fascination is with musicians but there was another musician this evening. The good news is she was by far the best act that I saw on the cruise, her name was Samantha Jay and she played the Piano, Flute, Saxophone, and Violin, and she played them all with great skill. It was a great performance, she would switch between instruments seamlessly and kept the audience entertained throughout. I had a lot of fun watching her this evening, she was extremely talented and put on a great show.

Following the show we went up and played another round of miniature golf, our second outing on the cruise. It is a very small course, but it is made even more challenging by the gusting winds. I can honestly say that Jenn’s Mom did win tonight, but I looked the most professional in doing it. I don’t know what it is, I am not a bad putter when I play golf, but miniature golf has never been one of my strong suits. It was a lot of fun more then anything and you couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful evening to play in.

The night was captivated by something that goes a little bit out of my normal routine. For those who know me, know dancing is not one of my favorite past times, it is just not something I go out of my way to do. I can do it, I just prefer not to. Whatever the case I promised Jenn we would go out dancing before the cruise was over, and its just like me to wait until the very end to go dancing, but according to Jenn it was worth the wait.

We were actually just walking around the ship, Jenns parents had just clocked out for the night and we were in the main lounge, where they had a woman vocalist singing with a piano player. We were actually one level above them, and I decided I really should dance with Jenn so we did a slow dance and I said what the heck let’s keep dancing. The next song was a fast song, her final one for the night and so we just started having fun dancing, well when the song was over she looked up to us and said lets give the couple up top a round of applause a 9.8 in my book. So we bowed, took the moment in, and just stood there gleaming. It was nice to just let loose, have fun, and also have someone notice at the same time. Jenn couldn’t have been happier, and it was nice to go out dancing as well.

We had a really great last at sea day today, it still went by far to fast but it ended on a very nice high note. Tomorrow we are in Naples Italy a place I visited on my last trip to Europe. Its a bit sprawling city, so this time we are going out of that area and into some new territory. Tomorrow will be my last official update for the trip, I am going to try and have a recap posted for the final day, but I can’t guarantee it. Until tomorrow, buon giorno (good day in Italian).

There are some stops like Cyprus where I had no expectations going into it what to expect, I just went and waited for whatever came along with it. Today was Athens, Greece and since they held the Olympics there in 2004 I have always wanted to visit the city. I had seen so many great photographs, and coverage from NBC during the time that it really made me want to go, so me prerequisite for the cruise was to visit Athens, and once again this cruise fulfilled that requirement. This morning we disembarked at around 8:00 AM and made our way on a very short 4 hour sightseeing tour and a tour of the acropolis.

Before going on this tour we had originally planned on figuring out Athens on our own, and we all agreed after this was over that would have been the more cost efficient way of doing things. The fact is however that you really never know what to expect from each port until your actually there, so we went with the safe route and booked a small tour. The tour guide reminded me of the man on the Motel 6 commercials, completely uninspired and uninterested in what she was talking about. When we left port we realized within a minute or two that her English was so-so and as I said her interest level was pretty low so we gave up on her relatively quickly.

At the Acropolis

At the Acropolis

I for one am very impatient on tours, and my now soon to be wife feels the same way. When we made it to our first stop the acropolis, we gathered our stuff and ditched the tour and went to the acropolis and toured it on our own. I have to say that this really made the trip for me, I always love seeing things with Jenn on our own, and for at least the hour we were at the acropolis we got to enjoy each others company and enjoy the beautiful architecture and view from the acropolis. The acropolis is perched up on a hill that from what I could tell seems like the center of Athens and thus gives off one of the best panoramic views I have ever seen. Athens is really a gorgeous city, it reminds me a lot of Rome in that it has a ton of the sidewalk cafe’s and everyone seems extremely friendly. The city was also a nice change from Egypt as it looked extremely clean and the kind of place that you would feel safe walking around at night in.

The only thing I have left out from our experience at the acropolis is the weather which was by far the hottest today then we have experienced at any other stop on this trip.They gave us water before we left out on our trek to the acropolis, but Jenn and I went through those like they were nothing, it was truly one of those times where you just feel like your melting.

Overlooking the City of Athens

Some of the Best Views in the City

When we finally did leave the acropolis we made our way to a gift store which was an obvious Royal Caribbean designated stop. We were told that we would be receiving 20% off our purchases of 5 euro or more, so as we were checking out buying just a small item from the store, there was a husband and wife in front of us buying like 4 or 5 small magnets that cost 4 euro per item. Well the tour guide made it sound like if you bought more then 5 euros at the store you got the 20% off, well it was on a per item basis so the customer got no discount, and boy did this man lose it. He just flipped out on this older gentleman working behind the counter, saying what a scam this was, and using a variety of four letter words that I will leave out of this entry, but you get the picture. Well the arguing ensued and it wasn’t until a few minutes later is wife started yelling at her husband telling him to calm down. From what I understand the gentleman left the store, yelled at the tour guide for taking us to this obvious tourist trap, and went back into the store and yelled some more. He would have saved 4 Euros with the discount, I know things are tight and the economy isn’t the strongest its ever been but if your going to flip out over 4 Euros then maybe you shouldn’t be buying the stuff anyways.

Whatever the case, that didn’t put a rain on our parade because the next and final stop of this short tour was to the original olympic stadium used in the 1896 Olympics and used a little bit in the 2004 Olympic games. This was such a great stop, the stadium is still in fantastic shape. We only spent ten minutes or so at the stop but I know I was gleaming from ear to ear, I really enjoy sports, and great sporting events like the Olympics are great for the world so seeing where the revival of the games began was a real treat. What was even better about this stop is that I didn’t even know we were going to stop here originally so it made the stop even more of a pleasant surprise.

At the original Olympic Stadium

We had the option to get off the tour in the city center and shop, or take the bus back and so we all decided to head back. We had lunch when we got back at the Windjammer Cafe (or the buffet) and realized why we don’t usually eat there. Jenn and I both aren’t huge fans of food sitting out in the open like you have in buffets and unfortunately the food wasn’t all that red hot either. We went down afterwards and got Jenn and cranberry juice and I decided with a lot of the day still remaining to order a drink, and went with a Rum and Coke which was fantastic, I think it may be my new favorite drink. Jenn and I sat in the room with our drinks talked about how great the trip was and Jenn took a nice long nap.

I am so glad we didn’t do an all day tour today, I am really all toured out. We still have a full day in Naples where we go to Pompeii, Capri, and Cerento which should be nice but after a while the tours really begin to wear on you, and today’s although the guide was far to bland the tour of Athens was actually really nice. It was the first place for me that I really want to go back to and spend time in. I know Jenn would love to go back to Mykonos and relax by the beach but Athens has a lot we didn’t get to see today and I would love to go and spend more time enjoying the city. Whatever the case we are a bit drained from the tours so being able to relax a bit today was a really nice touch.

We went for Bingo again today, I am not a huge fan, but Jenn and her parents are, so we have been going almost daily for the second half of the cruise. We haven’t won yet all cruise, it has been a bit cold in terms of our luck, but it has been pretty entertaining going to play. Dinner was the next stop on the agenda, tonight I had a Shrimp Cocktail, Steak Diane and Jenn had Split Pea Soup, Steak Diane and her always constant vanilla ice cream. The steak was really good, and the shrimp cocktail is always a sure fire winner.

We of course went to tonight’s show which was our last chance to watch our favorite Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers who actually stepped up there performance tonight with a show called Swing Town. The dancing was far better in this show, and the singing still was on par with the second round of American Idol at best.

The day ended up being a really nice and relaxing day, I would have liked to have seen more of Athens but maybe another time, for now I have to say it was probably the nicest city I saw on the cruise, but Mykonos is the nicest on the eyes. Tomorrow is our final at sea day, it is our final formal night as well. I cannot believe how quickly this trip has gone, but I suppose we say that for every trip. After tomorrow we are off to Naples and then its off to the treacherous flight from Rome to London and London to Los Angeles. Let’s not think about that yet, there are still two fantastic days yet to come, and I will be enjoying every last second of it.

Yesterday was Egypt, and today was sleep, and boy did we all need it. Last night I didn’t necessarily feel all that tired, but when my head hit the pillow I was out for good. There is something about being on a ship that just makes you want to sleep, and boy did we. Jenn and I did our normal 11:00 AM wake up and even after all that sleep I took a nap after lunch today just to get caught up and after that really felt ready to go for whatever the rest of the day had in store for me.

Jenn and I both finished the books we were reading, what is funny about that is that Jenn was smart and brought two books to read, I decided that I probably would only get through one so I didn’t bring the second book I bought for the trip. I am kind of kicking myself for not bringing it, but it did feel good to finish the first book nonetheless. Both Jenn and I had mild feelings on our books, but the relaxing nature of reading has been something I actually have enjoyed on this cruise.

Today was another very relaxing day at sea, the only real activity that Jenn and I did before lunch was go to play Bingo, where I came 2 numbers away from winning $790.00! I was actually just playing one of Jenn’s parents cards so the money wouldn’t have been for me but it still would have been fun to have won. Nonetheless it was nice to go play bingo and just to wake up a little bit.

Jenn Playing Bingo on the Cruise

Following that we quickly got ready for dinner and were off. For dinner tonight I had a Scallop Risotto, followed by a nice plate of Shrimp and Rice, and finished it all off with a Tiramisu. Jenn went a bit different today starting with a minestrone soup, then she had Marco’s (our waiter) recommendation of lamb, followed by her constant choice of vanilla ice cream. It was one of the best dinners I have had all trip, the shrimp was the highlight and they cut the shrimp out of the shell for me and it was extremely tasty, and the tiramisu was not bad either.

Jenn and I in the main dining room for dinner

We finished the night by attempting to make the 9:00 PM showing of another singing performance, but we missed it again. This time it was both none of us wanting to go see another singer and looking back on my 700+ photos that Jenn and I have taken on the trip thus dar. What I found was that Jenn takes much better photographs then I do. Whatever the case, we went through the photos on our balcony, and watched the sun go down. Using the balcony has been amazing, we have an extremely large one with our Junior Suite, and we have tried to use it as much as possible. As my parents once said, once you get a balcony there is no way to go on a cruise without one.

The view from our balcony

That is all for today, as you can see it was a rather quick and easy day. These last few at sea days have been flying by, and its sad to think that the trip is getting closer to the end. Tomorrow is big day however, we arrive in Athens, Greece tomorrow morning and go on another tour, this one only 4 hours, but we get to go the Acropolis. If it wasn’t for Egypt, this would have been the big stop of the cruise, and I think that we are all going to be pleasantly surprised with what Athens has in store for us tomorrow. Until then, Kalimera (Good Day in Greek).

As I mentioned not to long ago, one of the main reasons we chose this cruise over the countless other Mediterranean cruises available was really due to the fact that this was the only cruise stopping in Alexandria, Egypt. Why would we care that much about going to Egypt? Good question, and my exact answer would be why the heck not? It holds some of the most amazing sights and the last remaining ancient wonder of the world, if that’s not a good reason to go then here was our second reason. Who knows how many chances we will have to go to Egypt, and so without further ado here is a recap of today’s 12+ hour adventure in Egypt.

I have not always been high on my college education, I never really felt that I was gaining knowledge that would be applicable in life, but in my last quarters at UCI I took two classes that both discussed Egypt in great length and there current poverty stricken country and all the social problems that have gone along with it. I woke up at 5:45 AM this morning to make sure I got everything ready including our room service order and all the necessary documentation. What was so interesting about waking up that early was that I got to see the port coming in, and I regret not taking photos I did take video but the port of Alexandria the second largest city in Egypt was truly a trip. What photo I wish I would have taken was of this half sunk ships just sitting in the port. The port was so dirty, and smelled of some of the worst sewage I have ever smelled in my life. If I as going to rate the trip by the entrance to the port, that would have been a bad thing, luckily the rest of the day was truly unforgettable.

When we got into our bus and finally left for Cairo (the largest city in Egypt) we were informed although we all knew this going in that we would be police escorted and had a egyptian officer on board with us for our protection. It was nice to have them, but having them there also told me that we were in at least some potential danger. I have been to third world countries, having taken two Caribbean cruises I have seen poverty, but I have never seen poverty like I saw today in both Alexandria and Cairo. I took countless photographs, none that I feel really grasp what I saw today, but to be honest its one of those things that you see but putting that into words would be impossible. We had a 2 1/2 hour bus drive to just get us to Cairo and Jenn and I talked a lot throughout the journey about how fortunate we were to be born in America, and really it are times like this that help put things in perspective.

A Picture at the Port of Alexandria, Egypt from my Balcony

The drive down to Cairo really wasn’t all that bad, I have to say we had a really nice bus ride, and a very nice tour guide as well that informed us of a lot of what to expect. Our first stop and really the most important stop was at the Pyramids in Giza, and of course the last remaining Ancient Wonder of the World the Great Pyramid. When we started approaching the pyramids it was such a surreal experience, never have I thought of visiting the pyramids and yet I have spent so much time in school and life looking at pictures of them. Seeing them in person and seeing the gigantic size of each block and truly seeing how perfectly aligned all of the stones are, was truly breathtaking. When you get out of the bus a bit of culture shock happens, you get hassled to by things in a lot of places in Europe and on cruises in general, but the persistence of the Egyptians to get your money is impeccable.

Close Up View of the Grand Pyramid

I had three gentleman within 2 minutes come up to me, tell me that I looked very Egyptian with my two days without shaven face and that I should buy my pretty lady a necklace, or I should celebrate being in Egypt. Most of the time they want to “give” you something which we are told means they want more money. Whatever the case you can get past them by ignoring them, and then its off to enjoying the pyramids. We had about a half hour to take in the pyramids, and although it was hot you wanted to take so many photographs that the heat was a bit of an afterthought. We took at least 30, maybe more photos at the three pyramids of Giza alone. The place is just so photogenic and was such an amazing place to visit that even to this moment I am having trouble putting it all into words.

Jenn in front of the Grand Pyramid

Jenn and I in Front of the Second Pyramid

Jenn and I Climbing the Great Pyramid

When we got back to the bus we were off just down the road for a minute to get to the Sphinx which also gave a better landscape view of the three pyramids. The sphinx was the only thing on this journey that was a lot different then I expected, mainly it was a lot smaller then I had envisioned, and yet it still was incredible. I still don’t understand how with our modern technology our buildings seem to be falling apart after 50-100 years and yet these pyramids are thousands of years old and they stand in almost full glory showing the world the amazing ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians. We took some pictures of the Sphinx, the landscape view of the three pyramids and then went inside part of the Sphinx. It was here that Jenn and I bought some Egyptian headdresses from one of the really pushy egyptian sales people. One of them we got for $1 and one we got for $3 (it was from two different vendors) and it was supposed to be a great item to have for our next part of our adventure which was a 4X4 Off Road Adventure followed by a camel ride in the desert.

Great view of the Sphinx

There I am on the bus wearing my new head dress

After once again a very short drive to a local country club where we would end up having a buffet lunch we were divided into groups of 6-8 to enter some Toyota style Jeeps where we would go literally off road with a driver through the desert sands to get us to our camel which would take us back to eat lunch. I somehow lucked out and got the front seat, and I figured this will be nothing they will take some easy going path and just leisurely drop us off at the camels. That was not the case not only was the driver just having a great time but I think my favorite two words for the drive was “gun it”. Jenn was sitting right behind me with her mom, and her dad and two others were sitting in the very back. I really had the best seat in the house, we actually got airborne going off a nice size sand dune and every time we would either fishtail, closely miss another vehicle, or go down a steep hill the driver would look over and smile at me like he was a kid in the candy store. When we did manage to get through this incredibly fun off road adventure Jenn and I got linked up on two separate camels and walked through the desert with our camel guide to lunch.

Driving through the Egyptian Desert, Sitting in Front!!

As I mentioned earlier I never thought I would go see the pyramids, and I really never imagined riding a camel, but both were such an experience that I could go on and on about all of it. Riding the camel was a bit uncomfortable and when they stood up for the first time you really did feel like you might lose your grip. Similar to riding a horse it does get a little soar after riding them for a while but riding the camels through the desert with the Giza pyramids in the background and my fiance on the camel to my side, now that was priceless. When your doing all of this you don’t really put it into perspective but when it was all said and done and we finally got off the camel and I looked at Jenn and I told her that I can’t believe I am in Egypt riding a camel, seeing the pyramids and being able to share it all with her. Sitting here in my stateroom right now, part of me feels like that all didn’t just happen, and then the other half knows it did and feels extremely fortunate to be able to experience all of that.

Jenn and I Together on the Camel

Jenn and I Together on the Camel, This Time Kissing for the Camera

Once we got to lunch we were all on an adrenaline high, it was all such a rush that when we finally got to the buffet it was time to let it all sink in. Lunch was actually really good, especially for it being in Egypt. I was a bit skeptical on eating anything in the country, the water is supposed to be extremely dirty, and from what I hear can make you really sick. The food so far has done well with all of us and no side effects yet, knock on wood. I had pasta, with chicken on a skewer, and a tortilla, with an Egyptian Coca Cola which tasted the same as in the States. It wasn’t the best food in the world, but it far exceeded my expectations.

A Picture of my Lunch at this country club in Cairo, Egypt

After lunch things calmed down a bit, we went to the first ever stone monument, which didn’t necessarily look like the rest of the pyramids but more of the pyramids you see in Mexico. After seeing the pyramids of Giza and how grand and magnificent those were, seeing this pyramid didn’t have the same flare. Following that stop we were off to a Prince’s tomb which was really interesting. Only Kings and Queens were put in the pyramids, but the Prince had a nice burial place to and after another short drive we got to walk into a burial site and saw a lot of the amazing drawings that were put on the wall. The Egyptians were sure into there burial grounds and although this wasn’t inside one of the Pyramids it still was pretty interesting. The only downfall here was that it was so hot and humid in this area that I was literally dripping by the time we got out of there.

A picture in front of first stone monument

The last stop on the menu was to a papyrus store where they sold some of the only papyrus in Cairo. We loved the exchange rate it was over 5 Egyptian Pounds for 1 Dollar so we got a nice papyrus painting and Jenn got a necklace that with hieroglyphics spells out her name on front and my name on back, both which were relatively good deals. This was the last stop on the agenda and it did allow for some souvenir shopping and then it was off to take the long trek back to the Legend of the Seas, this drive took closer to 3 hours to get back. Coming back was a bit difficult, at night things actually seemed even more poverty stricken, especially in the heart of Alexandria which looked like it was barely still standing.

We got back to the ship after 8:00 PM and ordered room service, both Jenn and I had the Black Angus Top Sirloin, I had two shrimp cocktails, and an order of there Chicken Wings. This was the first night in a while that I actually ate a lot, but it was nice to just relax in the room, take a much needed shower, and recap on an amazing day. The heat was rough, not as rough as we had imagined it might be, but the heat did wear on all of us today, and having tomorrow as another day at sea comes once again in perfect timing. I hope you all have enjoyed this extremely long overview of our day in Egypt, and although I never have a need to come back here, to be able to visit it just one time is a once and a lifetime experience that I never will forget.

Today’s update will be much shorter then the last three or four, as there were no ruins to visit, no tour guide to tip, and no wake up call to ignore. The day started at close to noon for both Jenn and I and boy did that feel good. There really isn’t a whole lot to do on day’s at sea, according to the ship’s captain we were making circles in the ocean because we were far ahead of schedule to make Egypt tomorrow. Jenn and I would have never known, we slept through most of the day.

It wasn’t until noon when we woke up and even then it was calling for room service for lunch and hanging out in the room. For some reason on vacation I am more likely to feel like reading, when I am home I never have that notion, but I bought a book called Hold Tight for the trip and I have been actually wanting to read. We had lunch at 12:30ish I got another drink today it was called a Singapore Slider (once again not sure what was in it) and we had a really nice lunch in the room. The only real activity we did for the day was go down and play Bingo where we all would have done better if the game was see how few numbers you can punch off.

Dinner was nice tonight, it was another formal night which meant taking a lot of pictures. Jenn seems to want to flash the ring on the pictures every chance she gets, I don’t mind at all, although taking pictures isn’t necessarily my cup of tea. I had calamari for my appetizer and lamb chops for my main course followed by a chocolate extravaganza for desert. I am really not a huge lamb fan, but cruises are a great chance to have things you would normally not want to pay for in a restaurant so I figured what the heck. Jenn went her normal route although she did join me for calamari as her appetizer.

Tonight’s show was a complete bust, it was so bad we walked out 20 minutes into it. It was supposed to a comedy variety show with a husband and wife, and it was the complete opposite of funny or entertaining. As much as I ragged on the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, they ran circles around this couple in terms of being entertaining. I was telling Jenn before the show that my favorite shows are the stand up comedians, I remember one of my first cruises laughing so hard I almost started crying with a standup comedian and so far the show’s on this cruise have been a bit of a letdown.

Really today was all about getting ready for the big day tomorrow, Alexandria Egypt. We take a 2 hour bus ride into Cairo where we are seeing the Pyramids, riding a camel, and making a few other stops along the way. It is supposed to be in the 90’s in Cairo and we are told to where conservative clothing due to the fact that Egypt is a muslim nation, so jeans and a shirt tomorrow which should be nice and toasty. A lot of the staff on the cruise has warned us to be extra cautious tomorrow as it is supposed to be pretty dirty and pretty intense. So I would expect one of the more interesting posts tomorrow. There may be a slight delay in posting, its a 13+ hour tour, so chances are sleep will be in order, but rest assured we have another day at sea the following day so I can always catch up then. That is all from the Legends of the Sea, I hope you enjoyed and until then Naharak Sayeed (Good day in Egyptian), its off to the pyramids!

Who would have imagined us traveling to Cyprus of all places? Today was a hot day, a very hot day indeed. As I mentioned yesterday, we went on a shorter excursion today in Limassol, Cyprus and we thought spending less on the tour would be good just so we wouldn’t be overdoing the whole “touring” thing. I can honestly say that we got exactly what we paid for today in Limassol.

One of the great things about this stop was the time of departure, as you probably have guessed by past posts, Jenn and I don’t love waking up early, especially without a meal. Today was so much smoother then in Turkey, we woke up at 8:30 had breakfast, got ready, and were on the bus for our tour of Cyprus at around 10:00 AM. This tour was about half of the length of the Turkey tour (4 1/2 hours to be exact) and was set to see the ancient town of Kourion, and followed that to the Temple of Apollo and finished it up in the town of Omodos Village.

Right out of the gate today we were all a little underwhelmed with Cyprus, the port was extremely dirty, and run down. Looking out of our balcony the water was really murky, and brown. As we started driving down the streets of Cyprus to make our way to Kourion the town looked poverty stricken and extremely run down. Further along the drive to the first stop things did pick up a bit, and it actually reminded for a block or two of Riverside (where I live) with Orange Groves and lights that reminded me of streets back home. Unfortunately that didn’t last all that long and we were into a more harsh desert landscape that was really unappealing to the eye. Jenn’s Dad who is usually extremely positive had the comment that it looked like we were on a tour of Blythe, CA which for whoever has been there isn’t necessarily a great town to visit.

Jenn and I in Kourion

Our first stop was in Kourion which quite frankly I am still not sure why we stopped there. There were some ruins that were far to modernized and everything that was here we had seen better in both Rome and Turkey. As you can imagine the heat which had to be above 90 degrees with little to no breeze and high humidity didn’t help this first stop. I am carrying a slight burn from yesterday’s beach experience so standing in the sun doesn’t feel all that great to begin with, and unfortunately there was nothing to see so that was a bit disappointing as well.

There’s me at the site of the Temple of Apollo

One of the bullet points on the tours description was to stop for photos at the Kolossi Castle, we never did, nor was there any reason to anyways. From a good three football fields away we saw what looked like the maid’s quarters of a normal castle, so stopping there didn’t seem necessary anyways. Our second stop was at a temple built to honor the Greek god Apollo, and boy was that underwhelming. Once again there was very little to see, the real attraction here was the lone remaining pillar that still stood from so many years ago. There was a line to take a picture at this pillar, that show’s you how little else there was to do.

Jenn and I at the Remaining Pillar at the Temple of Apollo

Our final stop was to Omodos Village, it is a wine village, plenty of small independent vineyards, most of which are family operated. Before getting to Cyprus they said one of the things to buy in the area was Wine, so of course I did. We spent almost 2 hours at this town, and it took Jenn and I about 20 minutes to get her a painting (we collect them from each stop) and myself a two pack of wine. We sat around at a small park swinging on a very dirty old swing set trying to find shade while we waited for the rest of the tour to finish going through this village. Jenn and I both are not very into shopping, and when it is hot out, that really leaves no desire to shop at all, so we got what we needed to done and just waited.

My Two Bottles of Wine from Omodous Village

Jenn Swinging in Omodous Village & Trying to Stay Cool

Getting back to the boat I described to Jenn as being the best part of the trip. Another big flaw of this tour that I forgot to mention was the bus’s A/C, boy that thing was cruel, it would work but only sometimes. I had an old Chevy Malibu that’s A/C would flicker on and off, well this A/C seemed like it would stay off a lot more of the time then it stayed on. So it was hot outside, it was hot in the bus, and our tour guide was pretty uninspired, not the best tour that is for sure. I say all this with the realization that I am sure there are some great areas of Cyprus, supposedly there are beautiful beaches, and the other side of the island is supposed to be great as well. The history and the current split of the island I found fascinating, and there recent acceptance into the European Union seems to have them excited as well. There were a few interesting segments of the tour, but in the end we would have been better just taking today as a quick stop and move on day.

When we got back to the ship both my new fiance and I were both ready for some food and beverages. We ordered some room service and then I picked Jenn up a Ben and Jerry’s Strawberry Shake and I went up and got the cocktail of the day which I believe was called a Blue Azire, which I have no idea what was in it but I liked it. I don’t drink much more then Wine and Champagne, but every now and again I will try something, and today a drink sounded good so I went for it. Jenn had a 60 minute facial/massage afterwards which consisted of a 20 minute foot massage, a 20 minute back massage, and a 20 minute facial. This is the first one she had ever had before and she seemed to really enjoy it. While she was gone I took a nap and it was off to dinner.

Having my Royal Caribbean Martini of the Day

Dinner tonight was once again casual, and for me it was not one of my better dinners, I just didn’t choose the right items. I had a Caesar salad, but I should have gotten Jenn’s spicy potato soup which was delicious. I had turkey for dinner but it was fried and it just didn’t taste that great. Desert was the only relief which was a chocolate trio which had three different chocolate deserts, now that was tasty. We finished the day by going to the show which featured once again the singers and dancers of Royal Caribbean and boy were they just as bad as the first time. For some reason we sat in the front row and that made things worse, we saw how bad they were up close. I give them so much credit for there efforts but boy there show’s are some of the worst I have ever seen.

Tomorrow is a much needed at sea day, where we get ready for our 13 hour tour of Egypt the following day, by far our biggest day of the cruise. I will talk more about that tomorrow but until then, I will be sleeping. Goodnight and good luck!

There is no way to really know what each port is going to be like, until the day you get there. Sure many of the cruise people will tell you a bit about each port and what to expect but each port is so different. The island of Rhodes, Greece was very different then what we saw in Mykonos, Greece. For one Mykonos was much smaller, much less commercial, and from the area we saw lacked good beaches. Where it did measure up was in terms of the great landscapes that it had, where as Rhodes was more commercial, and much better in terms of beaches.

We decided not to do any excursions today, instead take a taxi to the beach and relax, and that is exactly what we did. We headed out for the port at 10:00 am this morning, found a great taxi driver who took us and picked us up from a beach that neither the cruise nor the map showed. We rented some loungers, and umbrellas and plopped ourselves on the beach for a good 4 hours. I had heard that the Mediterranean was very warm, and the water was warm but it was still cool to the initial touch.

There’s Me in the Mediterranean Sea

I laid in the sun for some of the time and then when it got to hot I went for cover or in the water, Jenn and her mom were much more into getting sun. I was laying there on the beach, listening to music on Jenn’s iPod, and I had one of those moments where everything just felt perfect. It was really the first time this whole trip that I sat back and reflected on how fortunate I am. How when this all began I was so nervous about bringing Jenn’s ring overseas, so nervous about making the engagement special, and so worried that something might go wrong this trip. As I laid listening to some great music, pondering back on all of this there was one thought that came to my mind, and that was that I was truly content with everything in my life.

A Picture of the Beach Where We Spent the Day

The only rain on today’s parade was found at lunch which I had a Greek style club sandwich and I guess it was all greek to me, because I barely got through half of it. The lunch was in such a beautiful spot but its food just tasted horrid. We left the beach at 2:00PM and headed back for town, did a quick stop at a few shops right in front of port and came back on the ship in time for a quick rest and dinner.

Jenn and I at lunch on the Beach

What has pleased me more then anything on this cruise has been the dinner staff, we have a two man team helping our table with the Head Waiter Marco, and his assistant, J (like Jay). These guys are not only extremely helpful, but are just really good people and our drinks are always waiting for us and they always have a smile on there faces when they come over to greet us, the staff couldn’t be nicer. We had a good dinner, it was a casual night, so the menu followed but I had a really nice Clam Chowder followed by a Cheese Tortalini and Chocolate Ice Cream. Jenn followed on the Clam Chowder and went for a repeat visit to the Black Angus Steak with Vanilla Ice Cream.

We went to the show tonight, and it was a pianist who played a lot of classical music, it was a little slow, but he was a really talented player, and it was the kind of thing I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch but was entertaining nonetheless. Right after the show, there was the Love and Marriage Game Show which is of course a complete rip-off of the Newlywed Game, but it was a lot of fun to watch, and boy were the contestants hammered, it was like they were giving away alcohol.

All in all it was another great day, I can’t believe how fast this cruise is going by, we have another big stop tomorrow in Limassol, Cyprus. Cyprus is another place I never thought of going to, but we have a nice short 4 hour excursion to see some of the big sights of Limassol and its off for a day at sea. So we will be back to you again tomorrow with our update from Cyprus!

When Jenn and I first started looking at Mediterranean cruises, one of the stops we really didn’t pay any attention to was stops in Turkey. We were more focused on making as many stops in Greece, and then what sold us on this particular cruise was the stop in Egypt. Now after going to Kusadasi, Turkey I think it would have been a shame to miss it. The worst part of the day was at the very start, we woke up far to early but we had to make our 7+ hour tour. We woke up hoping our breakfast would have came early as requested so we could eat it and hit the road. Well our food came five minutes before we had to leave and we ate whatever we could and went to the designated meeting point.

We got our number, sat down in the designated area, and made our way to the bus. Things have changed since I took a full blown excursion, you now have these wireless headsets where you listen to the tour guide as you go, and allows you not to sit right next to the guide. Our guide was a lot faster paced then many others on the same tour which was a very nice touch, since it was close to 90 degrees and we had to wear conservative clothing. I learned a lot about Turkey, it is a country that you very often forget about, and when you hear that one of the closest countries is Iran, it starts to put the geography into perspective.

So we made our first stop at the Ephesus Open Air Museum, and sometimes you wish they would have saved the best for last, but we really started off with the best stop on the tour. In many ways this was more like a Rome visit, then a Turkish stop, because all of the artifacts at this stop were from the Roman period, and were better preserved then much of what we saw in Rome. They had this beautiful auditorium that both Sting and Elton John played at during the 1990’s and was originally built during the Gladiators. What was so great about this though was that you could walk through the auditorium, and you got a better idea of what it was like back then, more so then the colosseum.

Our second stop on the tour was to the very small archeological museum, which after being out in the heat in the Open Air Museum, I really had no interest in it. As Jenn has told me so many times, after a few museums everything starts looking the same, and this small museum was more of a bullet point on the tour rather then a worthwhile stop. The next stop after the museum was a close second for how much I enjoyed it, it was a quick stop to the Basilica of St. John. Much of the area was gone, but from what was still preserved it was a great viewing point to see a good portion of the port, and a lot of great sights of Turkey.

The final stop before grabbing lunch and heading for the cruise was the House of the Virgin Mary, now this is what I like to call a tourist trap. Now this is coming from someone who is not Catholic, and I would imagine if I was catholic I might think otherwise, but they have no idea if she actually lived there, they know she was in Ephesus but they only speculate that she lived there. The house was up on the top of a large hill that overlooked the town, and you wait in line for 10 minutes to get in this room that fits two people at a time see a small shrine and move on. The only other thing to do at this stop was to drink of the water, there were supposedly three streams one for wealth, one for love, and one for health.

After the stop to the House of the Virgin Mary it was back down the hill to a buffet lunch, which to be honest I would have done better not eating it, because it really didn’t seem to enjoy me at all, nor Jenn. Following this “turkish” lunch we were back on the ship and off to take a nap. We had a great dinner this evening, I had a Shrimp Cocktail, followed by an Asian Duck, and Chocolate Ice Cream, while Jenn had an Indian Soup, Top Sirloin, and Vanilla Ice Cream.

After dinner, we sat on our balcony, really the first time this cruise we had really sat there for more then a few minutes. As we were sitting there both Jenn and I saw dolphins swimming near the ship. I always love sitting on the balcony, and seeing dolphins is always a treat to. I am not really sure why we get so excited about that kind of stuff, but after we saw them it was a hunt to see if we could spot them again or other sea life.

The day ended off with a musical by the Royal Caribbean Singing and Dancing Team called Absolutely Fad and I ended up calling it an absolute flop. I know by now (this being my fourth cruise) that you can easily skip these shows, but Jenn wanted to go so we went. They played music from some of my favorite artists like Elton John and Phil Collins which just made matters worse. The singing was downright bad, I told Jenn afterwards that there is no way they could make it through the first round of American Idol. I honestly felt for the team, to be on a cruise and to be getting scattered golf claps throughout the performance has to hurt.

All in all it was a really good day, Turkey really surprised me, it was a really beautiful place to visit, everyone was very nice, the towns seemed really safe, and everything was really interesting. There was a lot about Turkey I never knew, and being able to say I have been to Turkey is actually a really neat thing to do. I would say if you ever go on a cruise that stops in Turkey take advantage, its a good stop. Next on the agenda is Rhodes, Greece. If it is anything like Mykonos it should be a great stop, we are planning to do more R&R tomorrow, taking a taxi to the beach, and soaking up some rays. Until then hope you enjoyed, and I will talk to you again in Greece!

Well today marked the first port of call for our 12 Day Mediterranean Cruise that began in Rome, and now made its first port Mykonos, Greece. We didn’t port until 1:30PM here in Mykonos, so for the first half of the day we watched the strong winds and white water throw this humongous boat around the ocean like it was a feather being tossed every which way. I did take a Bonnie this time (a different brand for anti-nausea) and it seemed to be less drowsy then the first but still just knocked me out and had me sleeping until we left for Mykonos at around 4PM. We originally had a tour to the island of Delos which has some ancient artifacts but the tour was canceled due to the strong winds, which ended up being a good thing.

One of the big things in cruising is the ability to dock at a location or to tender in, and we originally were going to tender, and I can honestly not imagine tendering with these high winds. When we were approaching Mykonos everything was just getting tossed and turned every which way the ship was truly rocking. But once we docked the winds seemed to die down quite a bit, and made for a great time for a nap. As I mentioned we left at around 4PM to head into town, and took the Royal Caribbean shuttle bus to get us from the dock to the town itself. We did some shopping, walked around town, and had dinner with Jenn’s parents at this authentic Greek restaurant. The house white wine at this restaurant was some of the best I have had.

One of the highlights of the dinner was one of the waiters, one of the owners sons, came up to Jenn and saw her engagement ring, he gave me a big pat on the back and said, “hey he did her right”, which was really a great feeling. It was a family run restaurant, a little off the road from all of the shops, but it was really a great meal. We spent a good four hours in Mykonos, it was one of our shorter stops, but it reminded me of everything I thought of Greece when thinking about it. It was a small town, all the buildings painted in a pristine white, with beautiful blue and red doors, and a great view of the Mediterranean ocean. There wasn’t a lot to necessarily do in town, outside of shopping, which Jenn bought another oil painting for our upcoming house/apartment, but it was just nice to get off the boat, get some fresh air, and check out a really beautiful Greek town.

Tomorrow is a big day, we have to wake up at the crack of dawn, and meet at 7:30 for a 7+ hour excursion in Kusadasi, Turkey. Yes we have heard of the shootings in Turkey, but if the cruise thinks we are good to go, we are going with that. The long tour is taking us through both Kusadasi and Ephesus, and has one of the seven wonders of the world to see as well. It is going to be a long day, but should be interesting nonetheless. My post will hopefully come on time tomorrow, but so far the cruise is going great, and I am looking forward to seeing what the next few ports have to offer, as Mykonos was a great way to start it all off.