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Our Vacations

Vacations are such a fun time to get away and visit new places. As such, we try to take lots of pictures, but have found that the stories about the trips are often just as interesting and necessary as the pictures. Many of our vacations are cruises, so we have begun to emphasize what we do, rather than what the ship looks like.

13 October - 31 October
Patty & Craig on Wabasha Street Bridge

The Mississippi River is one of those 'Bucket List' items we finally got around to doing. While traveling down the Rhine River on Viking in 2019, we learned they would be starting a Mississippi River cruise - and quickly signed up for it.

This was a time to see Middle America from a river's perspective. We've travelled America by car and around her by boat; now we would slice through her heart on one of the world's great rivers.

Our first picture is of Patty & Craig crossing the Mississippi on foot, via the Wabasha Street Bridge in Saint Paul, MN. This was our first day and we walked the mile from the Viking meeting area to the Wabasha Street Caves in quite cool weather. To see our pictures you will have to check out the vacation page.

PLACES VISITED

Saint Paul, Red Wing, Wabasha, MN
La Crosse, WI
Dubuque, Davenport, Burlington, IA
Moline, IL
Hannibal, St. Louis, MO
Memphis, TN
Greenville, Vicksburg, Natchez, MS
Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette, LA

4 March - 8 March
Patty with Mickey

Looking for fun, Patty spotted this 4-day Disney cruise for a good price. We never before had sailed on a Disney ship and thought it would be a grand idea to see what was different about Disney.

What a fun experience. Disney Cruise Card

The ship layout and approach to cruising is quite different on Disney - to be expected, since their target customer is normally a family.

First, their shows are the very best on the high seas. Since this is Disney, we expected good things and this cruise overdelivered. They did things with lighting and animation that simply are not attempted by other cruise lines and the dancing ensembles are noticeably larger.

Second, they emphasize their characters, rather than their crew. There is almost always a Disney character somewhere throughout the ship. This picture of Patty with Mickey was taken in the early morning on the Promenade Deck 4. We were out walking the deck and he just appeared. Not many people were out, but Mickey was.

The food was average, but then again, families don't often require gourmet food at each meal. The kids mostly want cereal, hot dogs, and mac-n-cheese anyway.

The staff were all very friendly and helpful. It was an experience I would recommend. Check out our pictures on the Details page here.

PLACES VISITED

Catalina, CA, USA, Ensenada, Mexico
17 December - 21 December
Family group in Ensenada

It was Craig's 80th birthday and the kids all turned out on a 4-day cruise.

The day after boarding everyone skattered when we docked in San Diego, then it was on to Ensenada beforre a day at sea.

The cruise was fantastic, not only because everyone got together for the first time in years, but because we all had more fun than we thought we would and it was short enough that everyone left wanting more.

We see a group along the shoreline in Ensenada.

C.J., Caleb, Ashley, Jennifer Brooke, Danielle, Andy, and Patty

PLACES VISITED

San Diego, USA; Ensenada, Mexico
16 January - 21 January
Patty on cabin balcony at sunset

On our many cruises, Patty & Craig have never traveled on the NCL Cruise line. We have heard good things about them and thought this would be the perfect time to try them out. The deals were really good and the ship was less than 40% full. Every passenger was required to show proof of vacination and had to take a quick test immediately before boarding at the port. We felt safer than our family members at home - many of whom came down with with the latest COVID variant while we were at sea.

The ship looks quite different, the layout is very unique and - for us - the cruise was a complete success.

We got off the ship for only a short time in Cabo San Lucas and spent our time investigating the ship. Patty had four different trips to the spa onboard and declared herself completely relaxed.

PLACES VISITED

Cabo San Lucas, Ensenada, Mexico
16 October- 30 October
family photo in front of Majestic Princess stern

Within two weeks we are back cruising again - still no air flights. We are travelling to the Mexican Riviera and the California coast.

When we got to San Francisco, CJ, Olivia, and Caleb met us at our ship and we all went out to dinner on our first day in port. Here we took a selfie in front of the stern of the Majestic Princess.

During our second week, Patty got really relaxed. We had seen the shows and the restaurants aboard and were happy to just relax in our cabin and take in only those things we really wanted to do.

PLACES VISITED

Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
San Francisco, San Diego, USA
Ensenada, Mexico
25 September - 30 September
Craig & Patty on the Grand Princess

2020 - the COVID year. We took no vacations, but we did get GiGi, so the year was a net plus.

This year we took the very first cruise available out of Los Angeles. It was another 5-day cruise to Cabo on the now old Grand Princess, but we didn't care - we were back. The ship was only about 40% full, with just over 1000 passengers. No lines to anything and social distancing was very easy, even in the Princess Theater.

Patty had some jewelery she wanted to check out at Ultra Jewelers and we wanted dinner at an authentic - not tourist - Mexican Resturant. The food was quite different at Las Guacamayas and we really enjoyed it.

PLACES VISITED

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
14 October - 19 October
Ilene, Steve, Patty, Craig

We hadn't been on a cruise with our new cruise buddies - Steve and Ilene - since our first trip with them to the South Seas. This was a simple 5-day getaway to enjoy the Royal Princess as much as Cabo San Lucas.

Because we have been here to often we don't have many pictures, but we sure had fun. Patty stocked up on her cosmetics, Craig bought liquor, Steve & Ilene bought medicine - a typical Mexico vacation.

The ship stayed overnight in Cabo, so of course we had breakfast at The Office. Steve and Ilene had never been there, but other friends told them it was a must see.

PLACES VISITED

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
14 August - 26 August

Patty at Windmill in Kinderdijk, NetherlandsWe have taken many cruises, but never a River Cruise. This is the year we decided to take one, and boy did we enjoy it. River cruising is very different from ocean cruising, in that the ship is normally docked at a city during the day - there are no real 'sea days' - and most of your time is spent in cities, not on-board. This means there are not a lot of activities planned shipboard, but the cruise normally includes a 'walking-tour' at each city along with optional supplementary tours. Since you are on a river, when cruising during the day there is usually something to see and it is only a few hours before we reach a port of some kind. This cruise it was the numerous German castles along the Rhine River.

Another unique feature is that you are normally sitting just a very few feet above the water line and you look down on very few things.

Patty had never been to Switzerland or the Netherlands and Craig had only visited those places in passing through airports, so the stops were pretty much new to both of us.

Patty is in front of one of the 19 remaining large windmills in the Netherlands and we got to climb all through this one. The Dutch are world famous for their water management and we got a look at some of the techniques at this stop in Kinderdijk.

CITIES VISITED

Basel & Luzon, Switzerland;
Black Forest & Kehl & Heidelburg & Rudesheim & Koblenz & Cologne & Bonn, Germany;
Colmar & Strasbourg, France
Gorinchem & Kinderdijk & Amsterdam, Netherlands
21 October - 13 November
 View from Loveland Pass
Our travels took us over the Continental Divide at the top of the world twice. The first time we stopped at Loveland Pass for photos.

We still couldn't get enough of our vast country and decided on yet another drive-cruise-drive vacation. This time we drove east to Indianapolis, IN, where we met our friend Ellen - remember our cruise buddies Harry & Ellen - and took her on her first cruise since Harry died three years ago. We all flew to New York and boarded the Regal Princess for a five day cruise to Canada. On our way home we took the old Route 66 path and stopped in Arizona to see our friends and relatives. It turned out this vacation could be nicknamed the 'Museum Tour' because we stopped in a number of museums along the way. Two were particularly memorable and we have an extra page of pictures available for those interested.

CITIES VISITED

Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois; Indianapolis, IN
Saint John, New Brunswick & Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
New York City, NY
Oklahoma, Texas, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Prescott & Phoenix, Arizona
25 July - 10 August
The family

After our south-sea vacation, we couldn't easily get cruising out of our blood and wanted to take our grandson Caleb to Alaska. We thought we would drive up the Pacific Coast to meet the ship in Seattle. Of course his mom and dad thought it was a great idea for the entire family to go - only CJ had been on a cruise and that had been with his dad in 2005 (covered at the bottom of this page).

Patty had never visited the Oregon coast and Craig wanted her to see the great variety and beauty along this part of the U.S. Additionally she wanted to visit with her 97 year-old aunt, who lives in Spokane, WA with her two girls - Patty's cousins. Therefore, we drove to Spokane after the cruise.

The entire trip was a fantastic success. Patty loved the Oregon coastline, the family decided cruising might be a really fun thing to do occasionally, and Patty enjoyed time with her aunt and cousins. Fires were burning all over the West Coast, so the air quality was poor everywhere, but we never were delayed in our travels by the fires.

CITIES VISITED

Pacific Coast;
Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, AK
Victoria, BC, Canada
Spokane, WA
30 March - 27 April
Craig & Patty underwater in Bora Bora

This 28 day cruise is the longest we have ever taken, but we got to see the majority of the South Sea Islands of the Pacific - well worth the time.

Our underwater adventures, both walking on the sea bottom and petting stingrays, were highlights of the cruise, but the relaxed atmosphere and beauty of the South Sea islands left us wanting more by the time we docked in Los Angeles.

While we had lots of time to ourselves, we did 'hook up' with other couples that we knew or got to know on this cruise. It seemed to be the perfect balance between time to ourselves and sharing our experiences with others. 

ISLANDS VISITED

Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, HI;
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA;
Bora Bora, Tahiti, Moorea, FRENCH POLYNESA
November 2017 - Cruise to Cabo San Lucas
12-17 November

Cabo San Lucas view In 2017 it was another getaway cruise to Mexico. This view never gets old, but I think we will try someplace else next year.

10-15 September
Patty at peace around Bell Rock

Patty - at peace - looking out at the landscape around Bell Rock in Sedona, AZ.

Our friends, Mike & Marilyn, were spending a week in Sedona and we decided to drive over and visit them for a few days. After Hawaii, we didn't really need to decompress, but Sedona is such a restful area of the Southwest and we needed to stop in Phoenix for Craig to get some dental work done.

In the process we got to visit one of our favorite towns - Prescott - and spend a little time with our cousin's Larry & Cristie and their daughter Lorna.

CITIES VISITED

Sedona, AZ; Prescott, AZ; Phoenix, AZ
27 August - 3 September
Kalihiway BayKalihiway Bay, northern coast of Kauai, HI

Hawaii is our 'fallback' for getting away or decompressing - the passing of KiKi was weighing on our minds. We had scheduled some time on Kauai with our son C.J.'s family and the week really lived up to our expectations. We even had some time to do nothing.

We visited Kalihiway Bay - above - on our sixth day there. CJ and Craig got to snorkle out to the point on the right, then CJ, Olivia, and our grandson Caleb trapsed around the left side of the beach and up the fresh water river feeding into it.

CITIES VISITED

Lihue, Princeville, Hanalei, Kilauea, Kapaa, & Koloa on Kauai, HI
17 November - 22 November
Cabo San Lucas view

With our house being remodeled, we needed this getaway trip to retain our sanity. The only stop was in Cabo San Lucas and we did take an excursion to the Hotel California in Todos Santos.

Our cabin was a balcony on the stern of the Crown Princess.

Here we see a view of Cabo San Lucas from the ship.

CITY VISITED

Cabo San Lucas
October 2016 - Canada/New England Cruise
8 October - 15 October

Raquel & PattyPatty and her friend Raquel had the opportunity to fly to New York and take a cruise on the Regal Princess, up the New England seaboard into Canada for seven days.

They had been looking forward to cruising together and this fall trip to New England seemed the perfect excuse.

Autumn colors were in full bloom - even if this is a ship photo background.

CITIES VISITED

USA: New York; Newport, RI; Boston, Mass; Bar Harbor, MA
Canada: St. John, New Brunswick; Halifax, Nova Scotia
14 June - 2 July

June 2016 trip mapCraig & Patty's nephew was getting married in Chicago and we decided to make a cross-country trip to attend the wedding - it was a great affair. The trip took over 7600 miles on Dreamweaver II - bringing her milage in six months of ownership up over 18,000 miles. There are certainly a lot more superchargers around than when we came this way two years ago.

On the way we stopped off in Fredericksburg, TX to visit our friends Nora and Rob. We visited their properties and stopped at the LBJ Ranch. Then it was on to Indianapolis, where we met up with our friend Ellen and the three of us set off for the wedding in Chicago.

We all has lots of fun on the hop-on-hop-off city bus tour, using it to get all over the city. The wedding was spectactularly held in Cafe Brauer, inside Lincoln Park. The following day all the attendees were invited on an architectural boat tour of Chicago.

Then it was back to Indianapolis, where Patty stayed on with Ellen and Craig set out alone for a visit to a friend in Bozemen, MT and another friend in St. George, UT, who he met on the previous trip around the country.

CITIES VISITED

Fredricksburg, TX; Indianapolis, IN; Chicago, IL; Bozeman, MT; St. George, UT
1May - 7 May
Newport Harbor

Ok, so this isn't a picture of Dana Point, but Newport Beach. Well ... we went to several cities along the coast of Orange County, CA. This composite picture, taken on the Balboa ferry, crossing from Balboa Island to the Newport peninsula, includes Marilyn & Patty, Mike & Craig, a seal swimming in the harbor, and the famous Newport Beach Ferris Wheel.

This was a short get-away trip for old friends who used to work together. Marilyn had never been to this part of Southern California and we certainly kept her busy.

CITIES VISITED

Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano
14 April - 19 April
Epcot Ball at night

Orlando, Florida is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the U.S. Most of the reason is the Theme Parks there. We went specifically to see Disney World and Universal Studios - Harry Potter World.

We went only to the Epcot Center Park in Disney World - and the famous ball marking the entrance is shown at night.

Two days were spent in Universal Studios, because the Harry Potter worlds are part of two different parks. The Hogwarts Express is the ride that links the two parks - Diagon Alley and the Hogwart's castle - and the effort to make this all seem like a world separate from our own is really spectacular.

Entering is done from a British street - where the Knight Bus is located - through a broken stone wall that empties into the Wizard World of Diagon Alley.

The Hogwarts Express takes you from Diagon Alley to the town of Hogsmeade, where you walk through to get to Hogwarts Castle and other park rides beyond.

30 December - 12 January

Hoover Dam & Lake MeadDreamWeaver II made a couple of trips to Las Vegas - first to take Craig and Mario over there for a few days, then for Patty to make a week's visit and meet her friend Ellen there. As you know from our recent Events, Ellen's husband Harry recently passed away and this was a chance for Ellen to change her routine and visit an old friend in St. George.

We also got a chance to travel to Zion National Park and Hoover Dam. Note just how low the water line is for Lake Mead in the photo to the right. Drought conditions in the West are a continuing worry.

CITIES VISITED

Las Vegas, NV; St. George, UT; Zion National Park; Hoover Dam
16 November - 20 November

Patty & Mario in AvalonWe were beginning to really need some vacation time away and this short coastal cruise had some really good prices. Everything seemed to fit and our friend Mario agreed to join us for some time at sea.

We didn't go far the first night - just 26 miles across the sea - but Patty and Craig had never been to Avalon together. Since Craig was pretty sick, they still haven't, but Patty and Mario got to spend the day ashore.

room companionCraig got to stay on board with his room companion.

CITIES VISITED

Avalon, Catalina, CA; Ensenada, MX
February 2015 - Patty's 4-Day Cruise
2 February - 6 February 2015
Patty and Vanessa

Patty and Vannesa took a little cruise to simply get away by themselves.

They weren't interested in any ports, just in being taken care of.

7 December - 15 December 2014
Skywalk from belowskywalk from above

Last cruise where Patty worked for Princess was on the newest ship - the Regal Princess.

A key visual element of the new ships are the skywalks on either side. They allow passengers to look directly down 12/13 stories to the ocean.

CITIES VISITED

Ft. Lauderdale, St. Thomas, St. Maarten
November 2014 - Craig's 3-Day Cruise
7 November - 10 November 2014
Mario in Ensenada

Patty has taken several 'girls only' cruises and it seemed only fair that Craig go on one - a three day cruise stopping in Ensenada, Mexico - just enough time to want more.

Craig and Mario set off on a Friday afternoon, to return Monday morning. Shopping wasn't high on our list of things to do, but we did examine every part of the ship before the first day ended. It seems 3-day cruises are noted for their drinking and gambling - several people we met bought the 'unlimited drinks' card and were settling in to take full advantage of it.

As far as gambling went, Mario did spend time at the poker table and pretty much paid for the expenses he incurred during the cruise.

In Ensenada we walked all over the city, stopping for lunch in a little local spot where Craig took this picture of Mario - settled in with beer (not seen) in hand.

Truly this was a relaxation cruise, where no one could contact us by cell phone and we could make our own itinerary anew every day.

11 October - 18 October

Golden Patty, her friends Kelly and Vanessa, and Vanessa's cousin from England, took a week to relax and see the California coast. It was nothing we couldn't drive to, but it was fun to have someone else at the controls and the girls could just do their own thing.

 

CITIES VISITED

San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Ensenada
2 August - 16 August 2014

Northwest road trip mapOur first extended road trip - below - was such a success we had to try another, shorter, trip to visit friends and relatives on the West Coast, before Patty's sabbatical from work ended.

This trip was much more relaxed, both because we have previously been to all the places we were going and because it was only going to be about two weeks. The thing is, we hadn't driven to some of these places before and the driving was a good part of the experience.

Of course we had to start by seeing C.J., Olivia, and our grandson Caleb.

Follow along with us on our blog by clicking on the map to the right. Remember blogs have the latest entry first, so scroll down to the bottom to start the journey.

19 May - 1 July 2014

Tesla road trip mapWe took the first cross-country auto road trip of our marriage - at the same time we started a blog for the first time. We had many unexpected situations over our time on-the-road.

All those little red dots on the map indicate Tesla Supercharger locations - where we can recharge our car in 20 min to a little over an hour - making this electric trip across the country possible. Well, we don't have them available everywhere we go, so we had to plan on stops of 5-7 hours when we were 'in the wild'. On this vacation patience was truly a virtue.

The people we met were simply incredible. Contrary to news reports, people everywhere are ready to help and generous beyond belief. You want to restore your faith in America? - then take a road trip across it. Craig was in charge of making sure we got there and Patty was in charge of making sure we had fun while doing it. This sometimes caused tension, but it resulted in a fantastic adventure.

The trip was better than we ever hoped it would be. Thanks for joining us here and thanks for your comments. To relive anything visit the blog by clicking on the picture at the left. Remember blogs have the latest entry first, so scroll down to the bottom to start the journey.

29 December - 5 January 2014

We haven't been able to travel with our 'cruise buddies', Harry & Ellen, since 2009 and this cruise was so much fun because they were along.

Patty & Craig on New Year's EvePatty & Ellen

We hardly left the ship in seven days and had absolutely no excursions planned - except to pick up alcohol at Wal-Mart in Puerto Vallarta??? We celebrated New's Years Eve aboard the Sapphire Princess - a great time had all around.

CITIES VISITED

Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Ensenada
November 2013 - Caribbean
19 November - 29 November
Emerald Princess in Grenada

Craig had never been to the Southern Caribbean and the season there was just starting, so we went. This was an extremely relaxing cruise - except for the excursions - and part of that was not trying to get a picture of everything we did and every place we went. The result is a shorter recording of our trip, but every day was a day of rest.

Here you can see the Emerald Princess docked in Grenada.

CITIES VISITED

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Roseau, Dominica; St. Georges, Grenada; Kralendijk, Bonaire; Oranjestad, Aruba
8 August - 18 August

As cruise junkies go, we were really needing a fix. The 10 day Alaska cruise out of San Francisco seemed perfect - short distance by air (a real consideration now-a-days) - and lots of sea days.

The only new port for us this cruise was Haines, Alaska. This is where we took most of our pictures. However, this cruise was also an Art Appreciation Cruise - meaning we had four artists on board and they treated us to sessions where they painted pictures later sold at auction. This was a new experience for us and we took full advantage.

CITIES VISITED

San Francisco, California; Ketchikan, Glacier Bay, Haines, Juneau, Alaska; Victoria, B.C.
5 December - 19 December
Patty ziplining 1

Cruising and ziplining - that's what this cruise was all about.

Patty ziplining 2

Craig had just passed his 70th birthday and the new Tesla was still a month away. We needed time to just relax and not worry about any excursions - just pampering.

We had never been ziplining - this was to be a first.

26 August - 2 September
Mendenhall Glacier

Vern, Pat, and Patty left Seattle together to get a 'girl's eye view of Alaska on the Star Princess. Vern wanted a dry-run for the next year when she would take her parents on their first ever cruise to this part of the country, Pat was just winding down from years of acting in road shows across the entire country, and Patty just wanted time with her close friends.  

While Patty had been to the Mendenhall Glacier before, none of them had approached it by boat.

Click on the picture to see more of what they saw on this cruise. There isn't much to say, so their story is primarily what they saw and how they enjoyed each other throughout the week.

CITIES VISITED

Seattle, Washington; Ketchikan, Tracy Arm Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Alaska; Victoria, B.C.
11 December - 18 December

This year our Christmas getaway cruise was again Mexico, but - since Princess temporarily stopped going to Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta because of civil issues - we only stopped at Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas with our friend Mario Rodriguez. Since we were going to stay overnight in Cabo, we decided to spend the night in a timeshare we had access to, instead of remaining on the ship. This made this a unique trip.

Here we see Mario, standing by the Blowhole located south of Ensenada, Mexico.

CITIES VISITED

Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas
10 November - 17 November

This year we decided to revisit our timeshare in Hawaii. We were going to take a week off from travelling and go back to one of our favorite places in the world - Kauai, Hawaii.

earth map of Kauai
Patty & Craig
30 May - 9 June

This was a Patty and Craig 'only' cruise vacation. No family, no friends, just the two of us. Would we make it through the entire cruise? You will have to look at the pictures to find out.

We decided to travel to San Francisco the day before the cruise and stay overnight at the Mark Hopkins on Nob Hill. We could see both the Golden Gate and our ship from the hotel.

Most cruises start in Seattle, Wash. Vancouver, Canada, or in Alaska. This was a 10 day adventure that started and ended in San Francisco. Northern California residents love this cruise as it means they don't have to deal with any airports, so 'locals' filled the Sea Princess.

CITIES VISITED

San Francisco, Calif; Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Glacier Bay, Alaska; Ketchikan, Alaska; Victoria, B.C.
5 December - 12 December

Patty's friend Vanessa invited Patty and Danielle to join her, and friend Sandy on a Girl's Only cruise to the Southern Caribbean. There were three islands Patty had never visited - Bonaire, Grenada, and Dominica and special tours were planned for these stops. In Bonaire Patty & Danielle went bicycle riding; reprising their rides on the British Isles cruise. In Grenada all four indulged in inner tubing down some rapids. They took an extended trip deep into a rainforest in Dominica and wound up with a BOSS underwater ride in St. Thomas - a repeat of the June cruise for Patty.

The girls didn't have a lot to say about this vacation, but we do have pictures and they are fun to look at.

CITIES VISITED

San Juan, Puerto Rico; Oranjestad, Aruba; Kralendijk, Bonaire; St. Georges, Grenada; Roseau, Dominica; St Thomas, U.S.V.I.
23 June - 5 July
New York Skyline

Patty has been trying for years to get a girlfriend - Lisa - to try cruising. Finally Lisa agreed to join us on a Caribbean Cruise starting in New York (Lisa lives on Long Island). This nine day cruise stopped at three destinations we had never cruised to: Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Grand Turk. Lisa was joined by her son Frankie and her parents, while our daughter Julie and her husband Matt also took this time to get away.

Four of us stayed over in Manhattan after the cruise and took in the 4th of July fireworks over the Hudson River.

This is a view of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and a Princess Cruise ship from the Empire State building.

CITIES VISITED

Hamilton and St. George, Bermuda; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, U.S.V.I.; Cockburn Town, Grand Turk, New York, USA
7 November - 14 November

The Group at dinner This relaxing Mexico trip had special significance. In October 2002 we took a Mexico trip where we met Harry and Ellen and also Jeff and Sherry. We have become best cruise 'buddies' with Harry and Ellen and on this cruise Jeff and Sherry joined us for the reunion tour. This was not about where we were going, but who we were going with and we really enjoyed each other's company once again.

The first time we braved a following hurricane - the water spouts viewed from a stern suite were spectacular - and kept an eye out for submarines. This time the balcony time was mostly spent by Harry and Jeff smoking cigars.

This was the first time Harry and Ellen had travelled on a large cruise ship (Sapphire Princess) and we made sure we visited all the different dining rooms on board.

CITIES VISITED

Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas
19 June - 7 July
Rescue at sea

One of Patty's dreams has been to take our family on a cruise of the British Isles and we were able to make it happen, at least with our two daughters, this year. It was a fantastic trip and we had only one-half day of rain - that when we were at sea. The hardest thing about the trip was that we had 9 ports (10 if you count Southampton, England) in 12 days. At least Patty and Craig had the opportunity to travel six days from New York to Southamption on the QM2 before starting the Princess cruise.

During the cruise one of the passengers had to be airlifted off the ship by the RAF and we were able to get this shot from our cabin balcony.

CITIES VISITED

Guernsey: St. Peter Port in the Channel Islands;
Ireland: Cork, Dublin, Belfast;
England: Liverpool;
Scotland: Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh;
France: Le Harve, Paris

22 November - 29 November
Whale Tale Dive

It turns out Mexico is our get-away cruise, when we are tired of the routine and a cruise is needed. This time Craig's cousin Fred Wood and his wife Lisa joined the party. Since we have been on this itinerary several times we didn't take many pictures.

However, we did have a spectacular - once in a lifetime - encounter with whales and the picture to the right really is that close to the whale. The whale swam directly under the bow our our boat - and  - Craig was standing on the bow.

CITIES VISITED

Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas
22 May - 27 May
Patty Grace Carol Danielle

It has been years since Danielle has cruised with us and she had never been on the Queen Mary 2.

This was also a chance to visit Danielle's grandmother one last time in Woburn, just outside of Boston. Here we see Patty, Grace (Dani), Carol, and Danielle.

Danielle's friend Ezekiel joined us on the cruise and then Danielle stayed on in NYC, while Patty visited her friend Lisa on Long Island.

CITIES VISITED

Halifax, Nova Scotia; Boston, MA; New York, NY
2 Dec - 10 Dec
Mike Marilyn Craig Patty

We have been trying to cruise again with Mike and Marilyn for several years now. Finally we were able to get our schedules together and this was truely a getaway vacation. We had all been to these ports together before, so there was no pressure to see anything new or push ourselves in any way. The ship - Caribbean Princess - was the only thing new to us all.

CITIES VISITED

St Maarteen; St. Thomas, V.I.;
Miami, Fla
13 May - 28 May
Craig Patty Jo Ellen Harry

This vacation was different - we first sailed for 5 days to get to Hawaii, then toured 4 of the islands, then sailed for 5 days back to Ensenada and Los Angeles. Six of us went as a group: Craig & Patty, Harry & Ellen, Pat Sibley, and Jo Klein. The first leg of the journey we unwound, then we got to tour the islands, and finally we were complete vegetables on the return voyage.

CITIES VISITED

Hawaii (Hilo & Kona), Oahu (Honolulu),
Kaui (Lihue, Hanalei), Maui (Lahaina)
20 December - 27 December
Linda Patty Julie on Xmas

This was intended to be a family holiday cruise. As it turned out Patty, Craig, and Julie were the family; along with Patty's friend Linda D. Neither Julie, nor Linda had been on a cruise before and showing them around was a lot of fun.

Christmas was celebrated on-board, so we all dressed up for a dinner at Sabatini's.

CITIES VISITED

Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta
17 August - 25 August
the gang travelling together

This tour was about the ship, not the destinations, although we did have fun in England and Germany. The Queen Mary 2 advertises itself as an ocean liner, not a cruise ship. It is designed for rough Atlantic seas, however, our trip was as smooth as glass and we probably could have made it in a 35' sailboat. Come get acquainted with the six of us traveling in this luxurious ship.

Here we see Nora & Rob, Don & Betty, Patty & Craig - the entire group waiting for dinner.

CITIES VISITED

New York, New York; Southampton, England; Hamburg, Germany
4 March - 25 March
Ellen, Harry, Patty

Patty and Craig toured Rio de Janeiro, Brazil then traveled to Iguaçu Falls before arriving in Buenos Aires, Argentina to start the cruise. Harry and Ellen joined us there for the 14 day cruise around Cape Horn. We stayed two days in Santiago, Chile before flying home.

CITIES VISITED

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Iguaçu {Iguazu} Falls, Brazil & Argentina; Buenos Aries, Puerto Madryn, Ushuaia, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay; Stanley, Falkland Islands; Punta Arenas, Puerto Montt, Santiago, Chile - plus the Amalia Glacier in Chile
31 August - 27 September
La Rochelle, France & St. Johns, Labrador, Canada

Patty & Craig, along with their cruise buddies Harry & Ellen, traversed the European-Atlantic west coast and then crossed to New York via the north Atlantic. The cruise took 21 days with 2 extra days in London at the beginning and 3 days in New York at the end. Craig drove to New Hampshire to visit relatives.

The picture shows Patty in La Rochelle, France during the European west coast cruise - then the group of four in O'Reilly's Pub in St. Johns, Newfoundland. Harry & Craig have a tradition of drinking a shot of the local hooch and a pint of the local beer at every stop they can find local liquor.

CITIES VISITED

Coast of Europe:
London & Southampton, England; Vigo, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; La Rochelle, France; St. Peters Port, Gurnsey; Portsmouth, England;

Transatlantic Crossing:
Cork & Dublin, Ireland; Torshaven, Faroe Islands; Reykjavik, Iceland; Prins Christian Sund & Qaqortog, Greenland;
St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada; New York, USA

7 May - 14 May
Craig & CJ at Tracy Arm

Craig and C.J. cruised Alaska - beginning and ending in Seattle, Washington. It was a seven day cruise and included attempting to sail to the Tracy Arm glacier.

The ship couldn't reach the glacier because of the heavy concentration of icebergs, but was able to literally 'turn on a dime' to reverse its course.

Here we see a CJ 'selfie' of his dad and himself just about where the ship had to turn around.

CITIES VISITED

Washington: Seattle, Spokane;
Alaska: Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm Glacier, Ketchikan;
Canada: Victoria

2004 Mexico Xmas Cruise
Craig & Patty dressed for Christmas

Patty & Craig simply wanted to get away around Christmas time. This Mexico Cruise allowed them to indulge themselves and even come away with a picture they would use for a future Christmans stamp.

2004 Lake Tahoe

Craig drove up to Lake Tahoe in May to visit CJ and his girlfriend Olivia. It was a great few days and the lake showed off its best face.

Craig, CJ, and Olivia at Lake Tahoe
 
Everyone at dinner

Our old friends Mike & Marilyn joined us on this cruise, along with our new friends Harry & Ellen - another table for six.

We sailed the Sun Princess down the curve of the eastern Caribbean islands for the first time and came to the filming location of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' - St. Vincent - along with skin diving while on Barbados. In Antigua we met up with Nick Malley - a Star Wars animator - and bought his artwork map of this cruise, the picture that opens the cruise webpage.

Marilyn, Harry, Patty, Craig, Ellen, and Mike are shown here at an early dinner on the cruise.

CITIES VISITED

St. Thomas, USVI; Philipsburg, St. Martin;
Kingstown, St. Vincent; Bridgetown, Barbados;
St. John's, Antigua; Princess Cay Island

 

Finally we got Patty's mother to join us on a cruise, along with Danielle and her cousin Jennifer. Addie is 82 years old and wanted to visit Italy - the birthplace of her parents, who emigrated before she was born. The Golden Princess seemed to have the perfect schedule.

Every city was a highlight on this trip, but the time spent in Ephesus, Turkey is particularly memorable. This was an ancient Greek city, built in the 10th century BC and the ruins have been quite well preserved.

Here we see the five of us posed in front of the Leaning Tower of Piza.

CITIES VISITED

Spain: Barcelona; Monte Carlo
Italy: Florence, Naples, Venice
Greece: Athens,
Turkey: Ephesus, Istanbul

Table for six

We call this the Hurricane Cruise, because a hurricane chased the ship up the Mexican coast from Acapulco and the captain elected to skip the ports of Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas because he didn't want the storm to catch up with the Sun Princess - she had just weathered a hurricane the year before.

Patty & Craig had elected to sit at a table for six and took their chances regarding who their dinner mates might be. It turned out to be an exceptionally good decision. One couple - Harry & Ellen - became close friends and we subsequently took several cruises with them and the other - Jeff & Sherry - enjoyed the cruise so much they agreed to a reunion cruise several years later.

Here we see the six of use posed with the table staff at dinner - Craig, Harry, Ellen, Patty, Sherry, and Jeff.

CITIES VISITED

Mexico: Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Mazatlan (missed), Cabo San Lucas (missed), Ensenada

 
Craig & Patty on Cozumel

Mike & Marilyn are good friends of ours - Mike having worked with Craig for the past 12 years. This, however, was the first cruise we have taken together.

It was a week in the Western Caribbean on the Grand Princess and we were supposed to have three ports of call. However, bad weather forces the ship to pass on one and we were only able to stop at the Caymans and Cozumel, Mexico.

With more time in Cozumel, we were able to tour the island and Craig was able to see a local chiropractor about his back pains. The treatment was so different and so successful that Craig followed up on the chiropractic technique and found a practitioner in Southern California.

CITIES VISITED

Cayman Islands;
Mexico: Cozumel

Craig, Patty & Danielle arriving in Oslo

Lisa was going to be married and we decided to plan our vacation around this event in Long Island, NY.

First we spent several days in London, then were bussed to Dover for our 10-day Norwegian Fjord Cruise, followed by the New York visit and finally, the wedding.

We have an extensive and organized physical photo album of this vacation, I doubt you are going to want more. You can always ask us about the album.

CITIES VISITED

England: London, Dover
Norway: Oslo, Hellesylt/Geiranger, Trondheim, Honningsvag (Nordkapp), Tromso, Vikeyn/Flaam, Bergen
USA: New York