Tales from Palmer Vacations

Virtual Cruise; Day 9, Friday, December 10

2011-12-24T08:45:00.000-05:00

Today is the day we arrive back into New Orleans and disembark.

5:30 am

Up and at it. Pretty cool to see the ship make it's final turn on the Mississippi River before reaching the dock.

6:00 am

Up stairs to the Windjammer Cafe for the buffet one last time. Normally you have the option of the buffet in the Windjammer, room service or the main dining room for breakfast. However on the last morning both room service and the main dining room are closed and everyone uses the buffet. Don't worry about a limited selection of food today. It is a full spread of food just as it was any other day this week. Since the main dining room is closed, seats are a little more scarce but not real bad still since we are very early.

As a side note, we have never really felt crowded on this trip. The ship sailed with a near capacity crowd close to 3,000 passengers. I expected to have to fight crowds for deck chairs, on the steps, at the buffet, etc. but the opposite was actually true. I had told Horse that the buffet would be packed on the very first day as people boarded the ship. To my surprise there was plenty of seats and it did not feel crowded at all. By the pool, there was always an abundance of deck chairs available.

Back to breakfast...I probably don't have to tel you that I enjoyed scrambled eggs, corned beef hash and french toast. Mmmm, again! Not one food item could be complained about on this trip. Just amazing food in both selection and taste.

6:50 am

Time to grab our bags and go to our meeting point for disembarkation, La Scala Theater on deck #4. Again, normally you put your bags outside your stateroom on the last night and they are collected to be removed from the ship. Once you disembark the ship, you proceed to your designated color coded area and pick up your bags. There is a newer process that we used called Unassisted Walk-off where we keep our bags with us and carry off our own bags. You have to have only 1 suitcase (I had a backpack as a carry-on too) to use this service and you have to be able to carry the bag a pretty good distance.

This process went very smooth. We were supposed to meet at 7:00 am but we got there about 6:55 am and just as we meet the rest of our group, the ship's personnel started us walking off the ship. We had our customs forms all filled out last night and handed them to the officer with our passport. Then we went right outside to grab a taxi to the airport.

7:30 am

We arrive at the New Orleans Airport and get in line for Airtran Airways to check-in. We did the Unassisted Walk-off process because we had an 11:30 am flight and I had heard that traffic has been horrible around the pier. I was afraid with an 8 or 8:30 am departure off the ship that we would miss our flight if traffic was really bad. The whole process of disembarking and getting to the airport took about 35 minutes and 25 minutes of that was driving to the airport!

7:50 am

Airtran opens their counter and we get checked in just fine. Security is pretty long but still not real bad and we are through and at our gate by 8:15 am. Our flight is for 11:30 am so we have 3 hours yet so we watch a few planes leave and arrive.

9:00 am

Boarding begins for the flight at 9:30 am. After all passengers are on board, the Airtran staff member asks us if we are on the 11:30 am flight. He says that they believe that flight might be delayed and they have space for us on this flight if we would like. We jump on it as we don't want to be late getting in to Atlanta and miss our flight to Canton.

12:15 pm

We get into Atlanta just fine. We get of f the plane and instead of going straight to our next gate and waiting for 4 hours, I checked the board for the next earlier flight to Canton. It turns out that the plane we just took from New Orleans is actually going on to Canton.

I ask if there is space available for us to get on the earlier flight at 1:15 pm to Canton. After a couple minutes of checking to see if they can catch our bags before they are moved off the flight, we are issued boarding passes and seats for the 1:15 pm flight!!

1:15 pm

On our way home to Canton Akron Airport!!

3:25 pm

We arrive and make our way to baggage claim. We are met by our families there and it was so good to see Jackie and the kids again. It was a very fun trip but hard to be away from them. The kids were very excited to see us but they may have been more excited to see the luggage come in on the belt.

It was a wonderful trip and Royal Caribbean did an awesome job in every aspect on this trip. This was the first cruise for Horse and I am happy to report that he is now addicted to cruising. He just cannot wait to go again and have another wonderful cruise vacation. A lot was learned on this trip and a lot of great experiences were enjoyed.

I hope you all have enjoyed reading this and experiencing the cruise right along with us. I hope this blog provided some insight as to what it is like to cruise on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and cruising in general. Thanks for coming along with us and we hope to see you on the high seas soon.

Happy Sailing,

Todd Langenek

Virtual Cruise; Day 8, Friday, December 9

2011-12-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

Today is our last day on the ship and it is a full day at sea. One final day to relax and enjoy all of the wonderful things this floating resort has to offer. One of the “attractions” on board this ship is the men's room on deck #11 just outside of the Windjammer Cafe. The urinal in this restroom is a long structure that has a waterfall as a rinsing mechanism. The backdrop behind the waterfall urinal is the ocean as the wall is nothing but glass. This is such an attraction that women will wait until all men are out and then run in and snap a photo. To save you women from having to do that, here is a photo of it.

11:15 am

Rise and shine!! Wow! Do not take Nyquil before going to bed on vacation or you will miss half of your day. Horse worked on some Sudoku puzzles while listening to the rhythmic snoring I provide.

11:30 am

Breakfast time. Gasp! I enjoy something healthy as a banana is added to the diet today. I just could not resist more french toast with strawberry topping, corned beef hash (surprise!) and a croissant.

12:15 pm

We attempt to play shuffleboard to work off breakfast. My story (and I am sticking to it) is that it was too windy to play. Horse's story goes something like he was winning by 40+ points when the game was called off due to his opponents lack of skill at shuffleboard. Hopefully you believe my version as I am the author of this blog. I have not mislead you yet so let's just follow my version. Thanks.

1:00 pm

Found my twin!!! While browsing the photo gallery a nice couple asks me if any photos of other people have made it into our groupings of pictures. Apparently a gentleman in their party looks very similar to me. The facial recognition software used to sort pictures ended up putting some photos of me into this other couples photo groupings. I can't believe it so they show me some of his photos and sure enough if I added 40 pounds (give me another week at a cruise buffet) and had a little longer hair, we could look like twins. It is pretty funny too that the computer was fooled.

1:30 pm

Even though my quest to break my own ice cream cone record is officially over, I decide to enjoy a cone anyways. This time it is a strawberry and vanilla swirl.

2:00 pm

We browse the last minute specials in the ship's shops in the Promenade. I score a nice opal and diamond ring for my wife as a wedding anniversary present. 12 years as of December 18; happy anniversary Jackie!!

3:00 pm

Let's add a chocolate cone just for good measure!

3:15 pm

We relax in the Viking Crown Lounge area called High Notes. This is a music themed lounge and they have different musical entertainment periodically. It is pretty windy outside and the temperatures are steadily dropping as we get closer and closer to the Mississippi River. Thus the reason for us moving inside for a little while. We visit with one of the travel agents from our group and play some cards too.

4:00 pm

Time to eat again!! BBQ ribs are on the buffet today so I definitely have to sample them. Let's add in some seafood alfredo over rigatoni and some fried chicken. Mmmm.

Eating at the Windjammer Cafe. What a view!

5:00 pm

We are not huge trivia buffs but we go down to the Schooner Bar on deck #4 to test our trivia knowledge. We miss the beginning of it so we don't get involved with an official score sheet. We decide to listen anyways and we surprise ourselves with the number of questions we get right.

5:30 pm

Since today is our last day, we need to pack our suitcases at some time so might as well be now. Normally you set your luggage outside your door for the ship staff to collect and take them off the ship the next morning. However we are doing something new called unassisted walk-off. Basically we carry our own luggage off the ship tomorrow and will be in the first group off of the ship. So we leave our bags in our room but it is packed and ready to go.

6:30 pm

Tonight's show is the grand finale show and they add a juggler to the show. He was very, very good and had the crowd laughing with his humor too. The finale had a video showing clips from the cruise and guests having a great time. Then a final number from the singers and dancers is performed. At the end, some of the ship's officers, chefs, housekeepers, waiters, etc all come on stage to thank us for sailing Royal Caribbean. We in turn get to thank them for their outstanding service with a standing ovation.

7:30 pm

We have a few minutes before dinner so we pull up a chair in the Promenade and just people watch. I love to people watch as they can be very entertaining without even knowing it!

8:00 pm

My favorite time of the day, dinner time! I start with a shrimp cocktail and then move on to the fried shrimp and fried mahi mahi entree. I could not decide between the banana custard or the chocolate brownie cookie so I order both!!

10:15 pm

Matt Yee is performing his wildly popular adult comedy sing-along show in the Schooner Bar for the last time this cruise. We have been watching most of his shows from the distance but tonight we decide to go into the lounge and have a sit. Matt does a great job of getting his audience involved and I am chosen to help out. It is a simple task of leading the crowd in his famous OY chant while he gets the next part of the show ready. The show is a blast and we have a wonderful time at our last function. It is kind of cool sitting there enjoying the show and looking out the windows to watch the lights of the oil rigs and other ships floating by as we cruise up the Mississippi River.

12:00 midnight

Good night all for the final time on this voyage. One more report left on how the disembarkation process goes.

Virtual Cruise; Day 7, Thursday, December 8

2011-12-20T17:47:00.000-05:00

Today is our 3rd and final port day of the cruise with our destination being Cozumel, Mexico.

6:15 am
Rise and shine. OK, so I am not so sure about the shine part of that as 6:15 is early! I bet my kids are not even awake yet!

6:40 am
We make our way to deck #12 to watch us pull into port. We are running side by side with a Carnival ship as we approach the pier. They have a separate pier than the one that we will be using so the pier area does not feel crowded at all.

Cozumel pier area

7:00 am
Down one deck to the Windjammer Cafe for breakfast. Today’s choices are scrambled eggs, bacon, french toast with strawberry topping and a bowl of Corn Pops for good measure! I also have finally discovered that they have chocolate milk! How did it take me 5 morning meals to realize that they had choc milk? I love apple juice and I have been fine drinking juice but choc milk is awesome!

8:00 am
Time to get ready to go ashore and meet our tour guide for our island tour.

8:45 am
Did I mention that our tour today is on a Segway?!

Segway - our wheels for our tour

I have been looking forward to this tour for a while. We do get some slightly disappointing news in that our tour was to have time for snorkeling too but the water is too rough and the snorkel portion has been canceled. The good news is that we get more time on the Segway instead. Several guests cancel (and get a full refund) as they really wanted to snorkel but the snorkel was just a bonus to us.

I was not real worried about hurting myself on the Segway but once we meet our guide and he has a bandage wrap on his left knee, I begin to worry!

9:00 am
We take a van ride to a parking lot a couple miles away and this is where we will learn how to ride our Segway before heading out on the open roads. Our guide gives us a demonstration and some pointers but this looks very easy. If you have never seen a Segway, first thing you realize is that there is no gas or brake controls other than your body controlling the machine. You lean forward to move forward, lean backwards to slow to a stop, continue to lean backwards to begin moving in reverse. The steering control does not turn but you just lean it left or right to move that direction. Piece of cake.

I turn on my Segway and with the help of the guide I step on the platform. Now as I am getting on, I lean forward and begin to accelerate forward. I quickly lean backwards to stop but I lean too far backward and begin to move in reverse. I quickly lean forward to stop but lean too far forward and begin to move forward. Again, I quickly lean backward to stop but I lean too far backward and begin to move in reverse again! A vicious cycle that I cannot control at this point and I might as well just be riding a bull in a rodeo. Finally, after what seems like a half hour but was just 20 seconds or less, the guide grabs my Segway to stop me. I now wonder whether or not this little plastic helmet is really going to help me.

I gather myself and give it another try and am able to get the hang of the controls. We practice riding around in the parking lot for several minutes before we begin our journey on the roads. Horse seems to have gotten the hang of it too without the bull in a rodeo effect as he was riding around before I was. Show-off!

9:15 am
Let’s roll! We begin by riding on a bike path so traffic is not a concern at this point. We make a stop to learn about some history of the island and plants that are native to Cozumel.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop....I mean here is Horse on his Segway!

We get to learn a new trick that the parking lot dwas unable to teach us, how to drive over a speed bump. The trick to theis is that you have to lean forward to go up the front side of the bump but need to lean backwards just enough to slow you down as you descend on the other side of the bump. Otherwise you will just fly over too fast, go air born and crash & burn. The first bump, the guide stands and offers assistance as we go over it. The next one, he stays on his Segway but goes slow and looks back with caution to watch us. By the third bump he does not even look back at us. I guess we are doing pretty good then!

Stud muffin on wheels

Now we venture out on the roads and drive along the coastline with the ocean to our right. Absolutely gorgeous.

We make a stop at a beach club, where we were supposed to snorkel, so we can rest our feet. Since you just stand in one place, your feet fall asleep and start to really burn. The trick is to keep rocking on your feet but you have to be careful because if you move too much you will cause the Segway to go too fast or stop. This is why they don’t tell you to do that but we learned from just watching the feet of the tour guide. We did this on the way back from the beach club and our feet were much better but still fell asleep. We just sit and relax at the club watching the ocean.

We get back on our Segways and the guide snaps a few photos of us riding around. We keep riding up the coast for a mile or two. The guide stops us and has us turn around to see our cruise ship off in the distance. It was very cool and surprising to see how far we have come on these 2-wheeled cycles! Snap a few more photos and then we begin our journey back.

Studs on wheels in paradise

Our guide tells us that we are doing very well and that instead of going back to the parking lot and riding a van back to the pier, we are going to ride the Segways back! We now will get to deal with traffic, sidewalk entrance ramps and people! None of their groups have ever gone back to the pier as their are either too many riders or the riders do not have enough control of the Segways to maneuver in town safely. Guess we are doing really good! We have a blast riding these “toys” all the way back.

The best part comes when we stop and get off the machines. We are supposed to get down, turn off the machine and then lean it up against the wall. No problem for me. Horse gets down but forgets to turn his off before leaning it up against the wall. As he tries to lean it on the wall, he steps in front of the tire and then leans the handle forward. Keep in mind that it is still on and leaning the handle forward makes it move forward. The tires start turning and runs right up the back of his leg and keeps spinning trying to move forward. His calf muscle is now getting a nice massage from the tire and has black rubber burns on it. Awesome! Wish I would have video taped that nice trick!

What an absolutely wonderful experience that was! One of the coolest things I have ever done. Let’s take that to mean that riding a Segway was ultra cool and not to mean that I have not done many cool things in my life.

11:30 am
We are back on board the Voyager of the Seas and looking for some food. We are at the very end of breakfast and a lot of food is being taken off of the buffet but still too early for lunch. I settle for some fresh pineapple, cheese and croissants and some corned beef hash. (You thought I forgot to have some today, huh?)

11:50 am
Grab a chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream cone as we make our way back to the bottom deck of the ship to go ashore again for some shopping.

12:00 noon
We meander through all kinds of stores just browsing. We find the keychains, errr...Christmas tree ornaments, for my kids but keep looking just to see what is there. We come to some pretty aggressive sales people that keep wanting us to go upstairs to their stores. Not sure what is up there but we pass and the sales person moves to someone else. Some people are not so lucky as they are followed and continually asked to go upstairs. Hate to se what they are like once they get you in their store!

Another chap sees my New Orleans Saints hat and shows me a wooden plaque that he has airbrushed a nice Saints logo. Starts the price at $35, then I say no thanks and he lowers to $25 and I tell him I will think about it and turn to walk away. Now he lowers the price to $20. I wonder if I went back just before the ship departs and offer him $10 if he would have taken it? It was very nice but just not on my shopping list.

On the dock in Cozumel

1:30 pm
We make our way back on board the ship for….more food!!!! Lunch time!!

2:00 pm
Lunch today in the Windjammer Cafe in the Island Grill section. A mixture of several things today with some fried chicken, pizza, spaghetti and cheese-stuffed pasta shells. I probably should have stopped about halfway through that menu! I am stuffed!

2:45 pm
Stuffed or not, I need to eat ice cream cones to break my record. I grab my 2nd cone of the day with a chocolate cone.

3:00 pm
We walk around the pool deck for a little bit to walk off lunch. We find a couple deck chairs in the sun and decide to rest a bit. Now we are in a group of chairs with room for about 20 people but there are about 8 or 10 of us. Horse and I alternate sleeping and snoring loud enough to wake ourselves up. I fall asleep soundly enough and snore loud enough that I cleared the people out around us. I wake up some time later and the chairs are now empty around us! Hope those people did not want a nice quiet place to relax!

5:00 pm
Anchors away!! Well, technically we are tied to the dock and not anchored but you get the idea. We watch as we turn 180 degrees and start our journey back to New Orleans.

Every now and again we read about some dope who falls overboard and is lost at sea. You wonder how someone can fall over a railing that is pretty tall. I am about 6’2” and most railings are middle of my stomach and up to chest high for me. Well, we got to see how this could happen. This not so smart girl decides to stand on a deck chair and hoist herself up on the railing to sit on it for a picture that will have Cozumel in the background. Not so smart boyfriend encourages her and snaps pictures. Thankfully, the photo session ends and she gets down unharmed but one nice jolt of the ship and this girl at least falls one deck down to the pool deck or right overboard to the water down below. Smart people don’t fall overboard, dumb ones do. This dumb one was just lucky.

6:30 pm
Tonight’s show in the theater is a voice impressionist named Paul Boland. He is called the man of 1,000 voices and is pretty good. Some I have never heard of but most I do know. He switches in and out of voices even while singing songs. I would say that he was good at most voices and really great at some. Enjoyable show.

7:30 pm
We make our way to the sports bar to watch the beginning of the Browns and Steelers game. I think we might be the only Browns fans in the bar and for sure the only non-smokers!

7:50 pm
This is our 2nd and last formal night on the cruise. We look rather dapper tonight so we decide to have our pictures taken again. Our last pictures looked like Horse couldn’t find the camera and had a stroke so we did not buy them. It’s always awkward to pose for a formal portrait and you end up with goofy looking smiles. We made our way through 2 awkward pictures when this little old lady who was all of 4 feet tall comes barreling through the picture area. Not sure how she missed all of the big flash umbrellas and other camera equipment but she did and walked right between us and the camera man as he was ready to snap the picture. She screams this little yelp and we bust up laughing just as the picture was taken. They ended up cropping her out of the picture and we had a photo from the chest up but it was the best picture of the bunch.

8:00 pm
Oh boy oh boy! It is lobster night in the main dining room! I order a puff pastry filled with mushrooms for an appetizer and then a cup of double duck consomme is brought to me too. I do not remember ordering but gave it a try anyways. It is a dark colored broth with shoestring sliced veggies in it. I have never had duck before so I have no idea if it tasted like duck but it was good. Now comes the good part, the entree! Even though I knew I wanted the lobster tail and shrimp, I also wanted the prime rib. The waiter brings the lobster dinner that I ordered but also brings a prime rib dinner too! Horse and I share the prime rib as he ordered lobster too. While we are munching away, the waiter brings me another lobster and shrimp dinner! I end up eating 2 lobster and shrimp dinners and half of a prime rib dinner! I follow that with a chocolate cake sampler dessert that has 3 different kinds of chocolate cake. Oh, wow. I can hardly think about eating ever again but it was the most awesome dinner of the week!

Mmmm, lobster, shrimp and prime rib!

9:30 pm
We make our way all the way up to deck #14 to find a place to watch the rest of the Browns game where there is no smoking. We watch the Browns fight a good game but lose, as usual.

11:00 pm
Some how we decide that we are hungry!! We go to the Promenade on deck #5 and get a couple fresh baked cookies from the cafe to enjoy while we watch people passing by.

12:30 pm
Take a couple Nyquil tablets to help get a good nights sleep and get rid of this nagging headache.

Good night all!

Ice Cream Cone-a-thon update: Ah, who cares? I am no where close to the total and will not even reach double digits this week. Amateur!

Virtual Cruise; Day 6, Wednesday, December 7

2011-12-19T16:20:00.000-05:00

Today is another port day as we visit Georgetown, Grand Cayman. In Grand Cayman, because of the coral formations and shallow waters, the cruise ships need to stop a distance out from the shore and anchor there. Then they use boats, called tenders, that hold anywhere from 150 to 250 people to get everyone off the cruise ship and get them to the pier. The tender process takes a little longer than normal since you have to fill up the boats and then go ashore and unload the tender. You just have to make sure you allow yourself enough time to get off the cruise ship before you need to meet your shore excursion at the pier.

View of pier - small boats are the tenders used by cruise lines

7:30 am
Rise and shine! We do have a shore excursion booked today but we don't have to meet them until about 11:15 am so we have a little bit more time to wait out the rush for the tenders.

8:00 am
To this point we have only had breakfast in the Windjammer Café for the buffet. Since we don't have to go ashore real early we decide to have a sit down breakfast in the main dining room. There are 3 main dining rooms on this ship and all 3 are in the rear of the ship and stacked on top of each other. The Carmen dining room is on deck #3, the La Boheme dining room is on deck #4 (this is where we eat our dinners) and then The Magic Flute dining room is on deck #5. There is a very impressive staircase (reminds you of the staircase on Titanic) that connects all 3 levels but the main entrance to each dining room is on their appropriate deck.

Breakfast and lunch are only served in the Carmen dining room on Deck #3 so we make our way down there. The seating is not assigned so they seat you on a first come, first served basis. They will seat you at a table with other guests unless you specifically request otherwise. We joined a table with 8 other guests who had already begun their meal just a couple of minutes ahead of us. Today I decide to try the omellete since I have been wanting one all week and too lazy or impatient to wait in line in the buffet. I order a ham, cheese and mushroom omellete with some wheat toast. This omellete is one of the best that I have ever ordered, anywhere! Light, fluffy and just superb. Horse actually orders more like his normal health conscious self and enjoys scrambled eggs made with Egg Beaters and some turkey sausage links. Eh, go bad and take an extra cholesterol pill is my theory this week!!!

9:00 am
Pop up on deck real quick to see how the tenders are going and this are running very smooth. We watch for a few minutes before we have to get ready ourselves.

9:30 am
We start making our way down to deck #1 to the tender stations. There is one in the front and one in the back of the ship. They are using tenders that hold about 250 passengers and are mostly full when they leave the ship so they are not creating unnecessary wait times by leaving half full.

View of the ship as we tender to shore

(notice the 2 tenders loading people)

10:00 am
The whole process goes very smooth and we are on land at the pier pretty quick. We don't have to meet our guide until 11:15 am so we have plenty of time to look around and shop a little bit. I decided that I was going to buy Christmas tree ornaments for my kids at each port. Well, that lasted about 10 seconds when we first got to Jamaica as most stores did not have them or they were $20 U.S. dollars. OK, so plan B is now to buy them a $2 keychain and call that a Christmas tree ornament. I found a couple and we add them to our collection and keep browsing.

Pier area full of shopping and excursion meeting points

11:00 am
We find the meeting point after looking for several minutes as it is not clearly marked where we should be. The tour operator is running tours for multiple excursions including Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruise lines. Some better communication and organization is needed as it was difficult to find meeting point and we left about 30 minutes late even though we were all there. Even though the delays, this tour is outstanding and I highly recommend this wonderful excursion. What tour is it you ask? We are embarking on a bicycle tour of the island complete with a rum cake tasting and a rum sample.

The tour begins by van as we ride a couple miles to our meeting point. We are introduced to our 2 tour guides, issued safety gear and bicycles. After a brief instruction on the equipment and the rules of the road, we are off and riding.

Our first ride is through a more residential area as we ride over to the famous 7-mile beach. We ride along the beach for a short distance and then we stop for a drink break. While we stop the tour guide tells us of a couple interesting facts about the islands history and it's current economic reliance. We are treated to a view of a crab that happened to by walking nearby and the guide picked him up to show him off to us.

7-mile beach -- notice our ship really small in the background, just left of center!

We continue a few miles to the Dolphin Discovery center where you can swim with the dolphins. We are not swimming with them but just watching the guests that are swimming with them (sold as seperate excursion). We have the option to wait and have our picture taken with one but none of us want to wait or pay to do so. We rest our legs a bit, grab a drink and then we are back on the bikes.

Guests enjoying the swim with dolphins excursion

My favorite part of the bike ride comes on this leg of the trip. Horse is 2nd behind the tour leader and I am 3rd. We are riding at a comfortable pace and Horse seems to be enjoying himself with sightseeing the island. Next thing I see is Horse riding off the side of the road and half in the bushes as he rides. Bushes are just smacking him in the chest and arms as he rides off the side of the road and then he regains full control and calmly glides back on the road. I about wreck my bike from laughter watching him ride through the bushes. Oh my, what a hilarious sight!!

I think they are considering adding training wheels after his off road bushes adventure!

We ride a short distance to a store that sells rum and rum cake. We are able to sample some of each at this stop. Hey, let's get liquored up and ride a bicycle on the street! Wahoo! Eh, the amount of alcohol that you actually sample should not hinder anyone from the bicycle portion. Unless you act like the passengers from the other cruise line (no names please -- but they have a red, white and blue smoke stack) that treated the samples as a buffet. Our tour guide had to ask the other groups guide to step aside and let our group have a few samples too. Very small place and very crowded but some very, very good rum cake and rum. We head out back of the store to the water and look at the coral formations that are ABOVE water and have turned black. Little crabs are running every and sunning themselves and someone believes they saw an iguana but we cannot locate it though.

Time to mount up and ride on. We now enter one of the longer stretches of the ride as we make our way up the island to a town called Hell. Blink and you miss it but it is a tourist trap as a motor coach full of guests arrive as we are preparing to depart. Basically it consists of a small gift shop, post office and bar. Behind the building is a large mass of more black coral formations. The coral turns black without the salt water and then actually turns white from the heat of the sun. Some interesting stories are told as to how and why they are there and how the town got it's name. We do find some birds eating in the shallow water below the coral formations and an iguana sunning himself on top of one group of coral. We all visit the gift shop and purchase postcards to mail home so they are postmarked with the town of Hell postage. My postcard to my kids has not arrived after almost 10 days so I am guessing it must have gotten lost in Hell.

The main attraction in the town of Hell - black coral formations

Our little iguana friend resting in the sun

After our sightseeing break, we hop on the bikes for one final ride back to the starting point. This is the longest leg of the Tour de Cayman as we travel probably 4 miles in one stretch. I believe the whole tour covers about 8-10 miles so it was just right for a leisure day of riding. I am the youngest person of the 6 on the tour and we had a wonderful lady who was probably in her mid to late 70's on the tour. She lags back every now and again but there is a Jeep that trails the group to offer assistance and stays with her so the rest of the group can pace on. The Jeep also carries our belongings, has water coolers and a first aid kit aboard so that is nice to have offering peace of mind.

After we reach the starting point we all park the bikes, return the safety equipment and talk about our favorite parts of the ride. The tour guide gives us some more interesting facts about the island and we thank him for his assistance on a great tour. We board the van back to the cruise ship and get in line for our tender back to the Voyager of the Seas.

3:00 pm
We get in the short line to board the tender and then grab a seat on the top deck for some extra sun on our ride back to the ship. Very organized process overall.

3:45 pm
We are back on board and get cleaned up before we go in search of some lunch! We worked up a big appetite riding bikes to Hell and back! Ha ha, sorry, could not resist! We make our way to the Windjammer Café and just have to try the steak and pepper burrito station. Piled them nice and high with steak & peppers, cheese and sour cream. Oh so good!!!

4:15 pm
Time to grab an ice cold Coca-cola and sit poolside to relax a little while. I might have dosed off a little bit but people did not scatter so I must not have been sleeping to the point of snoring. We hang out and just relax our tired legs.

6:30 pm
Tonight's show is a tribute show to the music of Broadway shows. We are entertained with all sorts of music from great musicals and Broadway shows. Very enjoyable.

Broadway Rhythm and Rhymes show

7:30 pm
We have about a half hour until our dinner seating so we decide to visit the Aquarium Bar on deck #4 which is just outside of our dining room. We partake in our first cocktail of the week as Horse enjoys a Rum and Coke and I have my new favorite Tequila Sunrise. Drinks are about $7 each including tip so we don't plan to have too many as I don't need alcohol that bad to spend that kind of money for several drinks each day. You do get your moneys worth though as they do not go lightly on the alcohol content of the beverage. Very, very good drink.

8:00 pm
Dinner time!!! (have you sensed that this is our favorite time of the day?) Dinner ends up truthfully being very enjoyable as we all gather to discuss our excursions and our days in general. Also, Horse has become the entertainment at dinner as he is not afraid to try different things, multiple dishes and then cleans up after everyone is done with their meals and does not want certain items. I am convinced that they are ordering too much just to have leftovers to see what he will eat and how many plates he will try things from. It is really funny to me knowing that at home he is really strict on what he eats and here he is letting his diet go and just eating everything in sight.

Tonight I decide to go with the scallops for starters and the tiger shrimp for the entrée. My seafood meal is so good that I completely forgot what I had for dessert. (Or Horse must have snagged mine off my plate before I got a chance to eat it!)

9:45 pm
Time to go for our nightly stroll on the deck to walk off dinner. We really like looking out at the dark horizon and trying to see if we can find any ships or land. Most nights we cannot but every now and again we see some lights in the far off distance.

10:45 pm
Good night all! A busy day today and with all of the bike riding we are tired and ready for a good nights rest. We will be in Cozumel, Mexico tomorrow and we have another excursion so we better be rested.

Ice cream cone-a-thon update: ZERO cones today!!! I believe the quest is mathematically over as far as reaching my 25 cones in 7 days as I have only had 3 and we only have 2 days left on the ship!

Virtual Cruise; Day 5, Tuesday, December 6

2011-12-17T12:39:00.000-05:00

Today is our first port of call and it is in Falmouth Jamaica. This is an old port that has recently been revitalized with the help of Royal Caribbean. The port is on the north side of Jamaica and is about half way between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. The port itself is triangle in shape and is fenced in so the cruise passengers can shop and enjoy without tons of locals pawning their wares.

Falmouth Jamaica Port

8:00 am
Up and at it. We catch a peek of the port out of our cabin window and hurry to get ready to go up on deck to watch us dock.

8:30 am
We head to deck #12 to get a good view of the docking process. It is impressive to watch the ships officers back this huge ship right into place like it was a compact car. Kind of neat to watch the ship staff member hanging off the back of the ship guiding the ship in and throwing ropes to the dock workers who tie them to the dock.

This is called "Stud in Paradise"

9:00 am
After watching these dock workers, I have worked up an appetite. Must be time for breakfast. We head back to the buffet today but meander to the Island Grill as they have an omelette station and a fried eggs station. Why did it take us 3 days to discover this?!! Today we partake in the fried eggs because I don't want to wait for the omelette to cook. Lazy, I know but I am hungry. So, 2 over-easy fried eggs, bacon, corned beef hash (notice a pattern here?) and toast. That should hold me for a while.

10:30 am
We have not purchased a shore excursion today. There are a couple that we like but just wanted to see the port and try some things on the ship that we have not done yet. We exit the ship and just browse some of the shops that are in the port area. We are not looking to buy anything specific but just a couple trinkets for the kids.

11:45 am
Ship is very empty so we head back on and decide to check out the hot tubs to make sure they are functioning properly. Don’t even have to get out to get a drink as the waiters come right up to the hot tubs and bring you drinks. Life could be a lot worse than this.

1:30 pm
Now that I am as wrinkled as a raisin, it is time to get out and move on to something else. Lunch might be a good thing now.

2:30 pm
To my own shock, I do the unthinkable and visit the salad bar at a buffet. My #1 rule at a buffet is to never waste stomach space with salad. However, I have had some good food and figure a salad is not going to hurt me every now and again. Ok, 1 salad for the week will be enough!! I try the various lunch meats and make a nice sandwich and a salad.

3:00 pm
Just enough room for a chocolate ice cream cone!

3:15 pm
Time to rest now that I ate all that food and ice cream. Head to the top deck for some sun.

4:30 pm

Rock Climbing Wall on Deck #13

Ever since I reserved my space on this trip, I have been planning to try to climb the rock-climbing wall. I have been watching people do this all week and just have not attempted it with the strong winds we have had. Today is relatively calm and no one is climbing now so let’s go for it!! Horse was hoping that I would forget about climbing but here we are. We decide to go at different times so we can watch each other and take pictures. I go first and I ask the staff member about how far up I can go and still have some self respect if I have to quit. He simply replies, “the top of the wall and ring the bell.” Thanks buddy. So up I go and the climbing is pretty easy at first. You have to remember to use your legs to push yorself up and not use your arms to pull up. That is vital because I get about 8 feet from the top and my arms are now shaking because I pull up more than push up with my feet. I refuse to quit and keep pressing on and finally get to the top and ring the bell, twice!! I hang out up there for a couple seconds and yell, “ I am king of the world” much to the delight of the little old ladies sitting below watching me climb. This was a way cool thing to do and I am really glad I did it.

Spiderman, move over!

Now, it is Horse’s turn to climb. He starts up the wall and gets about 3 feet up and does not use one of the cleats on the wall for his foot but uses a “bump” in the wall. He attempts to push off and slips so down he goes. Hits the ground and backs up against the wall and comes to a stop. Head down, looks around to see if I noticed and the answer is yes as I am laughing really hard now. His second attempt is much better and he makes it up the wall and rings the bell a couple times. He does not stick his landing and stumbles again but we won’t make fun of him for that, will we? I am very proud of my dad and thrilled that he is willing to do some of these things with me and really enjoys them too.

Horse ringing the bell at the top!

6:00 pm
We got our showers and dressed and ready for the shows and dinner. But first we head back up on deck to watch us pull out of port.

7:00 pm
Tonight we have tickets to the Ice Odyssey Show which is in the ice skating rink on deck #2. This is an amazing thing to comprehend on a floating vessel at sea! Along with the regular cast of ship’s skaters from around the world, there is a special guest star from Russia who does a hula hoop routine. It was amazing with up to 8 or 10 hoops at one time and she moves them up and down her body without using her hands! So amazing that I forgot to take pictures!! The whole show is very enjoyable and the skaters are really good with some being past Olympians or World Champion skaters.

Ice Odyssey Show

8:00 pm
Again, I worked up an appetite just watching other people doing things! Tonight’s dinner choice is Beef and veal ravioli for a starter, steak for the main entree, some birthday cake and strawberry ice cream for dessert. One of our fellow travel agents celebrated a birthday so we had some cake for him tonight. I have incriminating pictures of people partaking in the alcohol “shot of the day” in celebration of the birthday. The pictures might end up on our facebook page or they can disappear for the right fee. (You know who you are and how to get a hold of me)

Happy Birthday!

9:30 pm
Time to walk a couple laps around the deck to walk off the wonderful dinner. Boy, 4 days in and still have not had one single food item that I could complain about. The food has been tremendous.

10:00 pm
We are walking through the Promenade on deck #5 when we hear laughing and singing coming from a lounge on deck #4. We make our way down there and find the entertainer named Matt Yee doing his bit. He does an “adult themed sing along” show and really packs a crowd. He will sing anything from tv show theme songs to popular hits and really gets the crowd involved. You should not attend his show and not want to participate in the act. He will stop in the middle of a song and call you out, all in good fun of course.

11:00 pm
We make our way just steps across the hall to the main theater to watch another comedian named Matt Bruner. He has some really funny and entertaining stories and the crowd really enjoys his show.

12 Midnight
Had a really fun filled day but it is now time to hit the sack as we have a big day planned for Grand Cayman tomorrow!!

Ice Cream Cone-a-thon update: 1 more cone today! This is just sad! The total is now 3 cones through 4 days so it looks like the record of 25 cones in a week is not going to fall.

Virtual Cruise; Day 4, Monday, December 5

2011-12-16T11:03:00.000-05:00

Today is another day at sea for us. I have my seminar and we fill our sea day with various activities aboard this wonderful vessel.

7:40 am
Rise and shine! Up a bit later than I hoped for but still plenty of time to eat before my next seminar.

8:15 am
Back to the Windjammer Cafe for breakfast. Today’s selections of choice are scrambled eggs, bacon, corned beef hash and french toast. Mmmmm.

9:00 am - 12:00 noon
Seminar at Sea session 2 today.

12:15 pm
Today some of our group decides to go to Johnny Rockets for lunch. Johnny Rockets is a specialty dining venue (cover charge of $4 per person) styled like a 50’s diner complete with table jukeboxes and dancing waiters. Food is included as any other venue on board and you can always order as much as you would like. Milkshakes are the exception as there is an additional charge for their delicious milkshakes. You can sit inside the diner or outside overlooking the ocean and enjoy some fresh air while you dine. We select outside and really enjoy our meal.

1:30 pm
There is an ice carving demonstration on the pool deck today. The gentleman that carves the watermelons and ice sculptures is showing off his skills by carving a huge block of ice. He does not use any power tools or anything fancy, just 2 chisels - one short and one long. Very impressive and he carves this massive eagle in less than 15 minutes.

Ice Carving Demonstration

2:00 pm
Ok, time for a shuffleboard rematch. After a back and forth match, I lose again. Once more, Horse must have cheated but I cannot prove it. Maybe that is what he has been doing in his retired life, practicing shuffleboard. Well, there will be another match sometime to claim my first victory!

3:00 pm
A special treat for our travel agent group, a tour of the bridge!! After clearing many security measures, we are lead to the bridge and met by one of the officers. He is Scottish and we have to resist the urge to ask him the question; “ Have you ever said to the ship’s captain, I'm giving her all she’s got captain!” Sorry a little too much Star Trek as a kid!

The tour is really great and we get see to the radars, mapping systems, computers to control all the water supplies on the ship for ballast purposes, the cockpit where they drive from and the wings that hang over the sides so they can steer into ports and see the front and back of the ship at the same time. The question about fuel comes up and we are told that this ship carries more fuel than some oil tankers and cost approximately $9 million every 2 weeks.

Tour of the bridge

4:15 pm
We decide to go play a little mini-golf today. I cannot win at shuffleboard so hopefully I can do better at mini-golf. Up on deck #13, sports deck, is the 9 hole mini-golf course, in-line skating track, basketball/soccer/volleyball court and the rock climbing wall. With winds approaching 40 mph, it is a real challenge to play mini-golf. You hit the ball and it changes directions 3 times before it stops, if it stops. Horse hit one and the wind kept it rolling across a completely different hole. After fighting the wind gusts and a ball that doesn’t stop, I am able to secure a 2 stroke victory!!

Voyager Dunes 9-hole mini-golf course

5:15 pm
We head back to our cabin to get cleaned up and ready for the show and dinner. A little mini-golf victory nap never hurt anyone. Hey, I am sure Tiger Woods takes a nap after he wins the Masters tournament.

6:30 pm
The show tonight is at 6:30 pm so we can enjoy it before dinner at 8:00 pm. Tonight’s entertainer is a very, very funny female comedian named Etta Mae. She has appeared on tv before and has a special coming out on CMT soon. One of the better entertainment pieces of the week.

8:00 pm
Dinner time!! Tonight I start things off with a crab cake, follow that up with shrimp dumplings finish and with a lemon tart for dessert. The shrimp dumplings have a formal name that I cannot pronounce but amounts to shrimp in a sauce stuffed inside dough. Think of ravioli with shrimp inside. Very, very good.

10:15 pm
The Royal Promenade turns into a dance party central some evenings. Tonight’s theme is 70’s disco inferno complete with John Travolta wanna be and the Village People make an appearance too. Guests dance on the “street” of the Promenade while the singers stand above them on a bridge across the street. Sometimes the singers and dancers meander through the street dancing with the crowd. We don’t get involved in the party up close but watch from a distance. Don’t realize how many 70’s songs I really know. (Also brings back memories of my childhood when Horse would play his records of the Village People and dance around!)

70's Disco Inferno Party

11:30 pm
Tomorrow is our first day in port, Falmouth Jamaica, so we go to bed a little earlier to make sure we are rested.

Sad to report on the ice cream cone-a-thon; not one single cone was consumed today. I need to average 4 cones a day to break my record and I am well short of that. I have had 2 cones through 3 days!!

Virtual Cruise, Day 3; Sunday, December 4

2011-12-15T16:12:00.000-05:00

8:00 am

Slept through my alarm!! I have a seminar at 9 am and I slept through my alarm!! Grab a quick shower and head to the breakfast buffet. We are on deck #9 forward and the breakfast buffet, Windjammer Cafe, is on deck #11 aft (back of the ship) so not real far to go.

8:30 am
Oohhh! Sausage gravy and biscuits!! Yes, please. Add some bacon and scrambled eggs and I am all set! There is a lot to select from but not a lot of time so a small breakfast today.

Check out some of the watermelon carvings that pop up in the buffet room every now and again.

Watermelon carvings in buffet restaurant

9:00 am - 12:00 noon
Seminar at Sea. I won’t bore you with our class work but let’s just say it was informative and fun.
Not sure what all Horse did while I was in the seminar but my guess is that he had a few of the hash browns! I think he played a game to see when he ate a whole pan of them if the cooks would bring another pan full.

12:15 pm
Meeting is over so it is now time for (what else) lunch! Back to the Windjammer Cafe for the buffet. Actually we visit the Island Grill which is part of the Windjammer Cafe. The Windjammer Cafe occupies the back portion of the ship on deck #11 and is U shaped. The sides of the U are the Windjammer Cafe and the very back is the Island Grill. Island Grill serves more burgers, hot dogs, ribs, and the salad bar. The Windjammer has more pastas, cold cut sandwiches and soups. Today, I try a cheeseburger, onion rings (very crispy and delicious) and some pasta.

2:00 pm
Let’s just kick back and relax on deck. Listen to some music by the pool (deck #11 & 12) and try not to get blown off the deck. Winds are about 40+ mph making it difficult to walk around the front of the ship. Waves are about 6-8 feet so we feel some movement every now and again. Most of the movement felt is an occasional shutter which feels like we just ran over a small sailboat. Not too many people seem to mind as the pool deck is pretty populated today. Temps are reaching mid-70’s today.

2:45 pm
Yahoo! I find the strawberry ice cream machine. So smooth and creamy and gone in about 60 seconds!!

3:00 pm
We move down to deck #4 and decide to play a little shuffleboard. I have a big lead before Horse comes back and wins. Guessing he must have cheated somehow. He actually tried to knock me down with the little puck thingy. I was walking and he shoots one across the deck, just as I step, it stops right under my foot so I step on it and slide a bit. Was he trying to knock me overboard?! Don’t worry, I will beat him the next time we play.

3:45 pm
I have mercy on Horse and let him win at shuffleboard so we head in side to one of my favorite places on the ship. The portrait gallery!! From the time you start boarding the ship to the last day on the ship, the ship photographers are everywhere snapping pictures. They sell these gems for $10-$30 each or a CD with all of your pics for $200. I love to go look at the pictures because they display every one's pictures on the walls and you pick yours and purchase them. I don’t buy too many but I do love to look and laugh at the goofy expressions, colorful outfits or just weird things people do during pictures. I wonder if half of the people realize their picture is being taken. Good times.

4:30 pm
Want to go outside and walk but it is raining a bit. Sugar melts when it gets wet so we stay inside.

4:45 pm
We make our way up the stairs to the 14th deck and the Royal Caribbean signature area called The Viking Crown Lounge. This is the Star Trek spaceship looking feature on the top of all the Royal Caribbean ships. This area consists of 4 entertainment venues; Seven Hearts - a game room full of board games and decks of cards, Cloud Nine - a lounge with a piano for guests to play, High Notes - a lounge with various musical entertainment nightly, the 19th Hole - a golf themed sports bar.

Viking Crown Lounge (overlooking pool deck)

We decided that we would wait out the rain in the Seven Hearts game room. We get up there and it is closed for a private function for past guest Royal Caribbean members. Bummer. I don’t have many complaints from this cruise but this is one of them. Royal Caribbean is having private functions to honor their most loyal past guest members. This is a nice gesture but when you close down 4 lounges every day you are not allowing your “other” guests a chance to enjoy all parts of the ship. Some newer ships have lounges purpose built for their past guest receptions but something else needs done for the ships without such lounges.

5:00 pm
We decide to go watch football but the main sports bar is called Scoreboard and is located in the main Promenade on deck #5. This bar is one of the few indoor smoking venues on the whole ship and thus it is packed with all of the smokers even if they don’t give two cents about the football games on tv. (Make this my 2nd complaint of the day). You can see a gray cloud as you approach so we just keep walking. We decide to go back to our cabin to watch the games and finally order our shore excursions. We order our excursions right through our tv in the cabin. We decide on a bicycle island tour in Grand Cayman and a Segway island tour in Cozumel Mexico. (Guess you will have to wait and see how those turned out)!

7:30 pm
Tonight is a formal night for dinner. Formal attire is suggested but not required. Most men do not bother with tuxedos although a few do have them on. We select jackets and ties and call it formal enough. The photographers have set up multiple stations around the dining rooms to get your pictures taken.
We decide to play along and get in line. Apparently this photographer did not get the memo when I told him we are father and son and just need simple poses. If he considers hands on each others shoulders and getting real close as appropriate poses for father and son, I wonder how he would have posed us had we told him we were a couple! More on the picture results tomorrow!

8:00 pm
Our travel agent group is seated together at 2 tables. What a fun bunch we had. Tonight is the first night we all dined together in the main dining room. The first night some were at the main dining room and some were at the specialty restaurant. Tonight I will stuff myself on lobster bisque as a starter, filet of beef for the entree and finish it with strawberry cheesecake. Wonderful dinner and ready for a nap now.

10:15 pm
Each night they have some entertainment in the main theater and tonight is the first of 2 shows this week by the ship’s dancers and singers. Broadway style musical and very entertaining.

11:15 pm
Since I lived in Mississippi for a handful of years as a kid, I grew up watching the New Orleans Saints football team. The Saints game was on tv tonight and we got to watch the last 10 minutes with a room full of other Saints fans on board. The Saints beat the Detroit Lions tonight so we all had a celebratory “Who Dat” chant afterwards.

12:00 pm
All day long we saw nothing but water as far as we could see. When you are out to sea at night everything is pitch black. Tonight we see another cruise ship off in the distance but cannot tell which ship as we just see the lights making an outline..

12:15 pm
We stop by the 24-hour cafe in the Promenade and grab some fresh baked cookies before we head back to the cabin for bed.

For those of you keeping track, only 1 more ice cream cone today!!! That is a total of 2 for a day and a half on board. I need to pick up the pace if I am going to have more than 25 cones!

Good night all!

Virtual Cruise, Day 2; Saturday, Dec 3

2011-12-14T13:48:00.000-05:00

Today is the big day as we board our ship.

5:30 am
Not by plan but I just happened to wake up and look out the window and there is Voyager of the Seas passing right in front of us. Almost missed it by the time I find my camera.

Voyager passing by our hotel

6:45 am
Carnival is also docking in New Orleans and we watch their ship pass by on the way to the pier.

11:00 am
Time to check out and make our way to the pier. Voyager of the Seas is the largest cruise ship to port in New Orleans and with a Carnival ship in town too, you are looking at about 4,500+ passengers trying to get off the ships and then another 4,500+ trying to get on the ships. For the first couple sailings (Voyager started New Orleans on Nov 12), traffic getting to the pier has been a real nightmare. I was concerned about sitting in traffic for hours without moving anywhere and considered walking to the pier. I checked with the hotel concierge and she stated that there is a new lane for taxis only so they can get people to and from the pier much quicker now. A taxi it is then!

11:10 am
Bellhop hails taxi for us and away we go. $14 sure beats walking with our luggage for a 1/2 mile.

11:17 am
We arrive at the pier. A porter greets the taxi and takes our bags and readies them for placement on the ship. He then instructs us where to go to begin the check-in process.

11:35 am
Royal Caribbean employees and the cruise terminal staff are still working out some kinks in their process for check-in here in New Orleans. Some guests are confused as to which line to get in for check-in even though employees are trying their best to direct them. We listen to the instructions and everything goes very smooth and now we just have to wait our turn to board. However, if Royal Caribbean were to put up some room dividers in this big warehouse type facility there will be far less confusion.

12:00 noon
We are at the last step of boarding and have our picture taken for security purposes. Then we are permitted on board our wonderful ship and begin to explore.

Horse on deck ready to explore!

12:30 pm
Our room is not quite ready yet so we have just been exploring but now are stomachs are ready to explore the buffet. The key to eating on a cruise is to pace yourself or you will be sick from over-eating. I select a slice of roast beef, a hot dog and some pasta. Odd combination but I had to try some different foods to make sure it is ok for other passengers. Now Horse decided to play a popular cruise buffet game called “how high can food be stacked on this plate”? He must have been afraid that he was only allowed 1 trip to the buffet all week! hehe. He soon learned the pace yourself technique.

1:15 pm
We have finished our “light lunch” and decide to keep exploring. Low and behold, I have found the self-serve ice cream machine!! Let the quest to break my record begin! I start with a chocolate cone but rumor has it that their is strawberry in another machine. Oh how I must find that machine!

2:15 pm
The staterooms are ready so we make our way to deck #9 all the way forward on the port (left) side. Our stateroom is the very first one facing the port side of the ship. We have a window in our stateroom even though guests can select between interior (no window), ocean view (with window like ours), balcony stateroom (full sliding glass doors open to private balcony) or even suites. I like to have a window so that I can see out and have some light in the cabin but a balcony was not required for the two of us. The bridge (cockpit or control room) on this ship is on deck #10 and sits directly above our room. Gwen, our stateroom attendant, mentions that we need to keep our curtains closed at night so the light does not shine into the bridge and make it difficult for them to see. Every night I have to continually fight the urge to turn on all the lights and see how fast I can open and close the curtains!

Ocean view stateroom #9514

For those who have not cruised before, the staterooms are small. Ours is about 165 square feet including the bathroom, living/sleeping area and the closet.. Bathrooms are small and 2 people would not be able to fit in at the same time. Once you realize that you are only in your room long enough to change clothes, shower and sleep, the small room size does not bother you. If you are a person who has to have space, then at least a room with a balcony or perhaps even a junior suite is needed.

Small bathroom with shower

We drop off our carry-on bag, put our passports and valuables in the room safe and prepare to head back out and explore some more.

3:00 pm
Some people have changed and jumped in the pools or hot tubs already. We are busy taking pictures of the city skyline behind the cruise ship. We have about 2-1/2 hours before we set sail so we just walk around, explore and talk to other guests.

Pool area on deck #11

5:30 pm
Anchors Away!!! The sun is setting and the ships deck lights have come alive as we begin our push away from the pier. We are facing up the river but we need to head down river to reach the Gulf. It is neat how the front is spun to the left side while the back of the ship remains in place until we are completely facing the opposite direction.

Pushing away from pier and turning down river

We watch for a while as we begin the long trek down the Mississippi River - about 9-10 hours - as we head for the Gulf of Mexico. We have a cocktail reception for our travel agent group so we have to go get ready for the reception and then dinner following that.

7:00 pm
We meet in a lounge called The Vault. We have a couple cocktails and some appetizers as we meet and mingle with the other travel agents and our representative from Royal Caribbean. We have a great time and look forward to spending time with everyone this week.

8:00 pm
Royal Caribbean has 3 dining options for guests; Main seating at 5:30 pm, Late seating at 8:00 pm and then My Time. My Time is for the guests who do not want to have the same set dining time each evening. My Time allows them to make reservations daily to come anytime between 6:00 pm and 9:30 pm. Our group is using the 8:00 pm dining schedule. I was not sure I would like to have a set time but 8:00 pm worked out great as we all conversed about our days.

Our wait staff, Can (left) and Selvin.

Each night the meal consists of an appetizer, entree and then a dessert. You can order as many of each that you would like. Some nights there are multiple of each course that you might want to try. Tonight I will begin with a tortilla soup, some fresh made rolls and bread, then on to a mushroom Alfredo entree and finish it off with a piece of chocolate cherry cake. Wow! What a awesome dinner! The wait staff is amazing as we tell our assistant waiter, Selvin, that we would like a Coke for me and a diet Coke for Horse. Then each night Roberto brings them to us without us asking him for them. Can, our waiter, makes wonderful recommendations as a whole and then will recommends something individually based on what you have been eating all week.

10:00 pm
In the main theatre, La Scala, tonight is a comedian so we decide to check him out. He was pretty funny and we have a good time.

11:15 pm
The Cruise Director and his staff kick off our week with a parade through the Royal Promenade. This area is as long as 2 football fields and as high as 4 decks of the ship. Huge open area filled with shops, pubs and eateries. This is the central focal point of the ship and multiple events will take place here over the course of the week.

11:45 pm
Well, as hard as we try to stay up and watch us exit the Mississippi River, we are just too tired. We have explored a lot of this massive 14 deck ship so we are worn out. We have decided to not take elevators and use the stairs as much as possible to counteract all of the food we eat. Doing so was good for us but also wears you out with a ship this size.

With all of the excitement of this ship I only manage 1 ice cream cone. I have a lot of cones to eat before I break my record that actually stands at 25! Well, better luck tomorrow.

Good night all.

Virtual Cruise: Friday, December 2

2011-12-13T12:01:00.000-05:00

This opportunity came up back in September and I really wanted to experience Royal Caribbean so I signed up to go. I wanted my wife, Jackie, to go with me and experience Royal too. However, she was unable to go. Let’s not list it as a fear of flying as the reason to keep her home, let’s say it was her desire to be a good mom and stay home with the kids. So my hunt begins for a travel companion but it became a short list pretty quick. My dad, Tom, was the first person I checked with and he made some adjustments to his schedule of retired life and was able to go.

Now, before we get too far along, my siblings and I do not call him dad, father or even Tom. He is simply known as Horse; I won’t bore you with the whole story but my sister called him that when he gave her rides around the house when she was little. That name has stuck and to this day we all call him that so feel free to join in and call him that too.

Seemed like it was yesterday that Horse agreed to go and we confirmed all of the reservations and December would never come. But here were are at December 2 already!! The ship will not set sail from New Orleans until Saturday the 3rd however I don’t trust the airlines to get us to the airport on the day of sailing so we decided to go in a day early. Besides, who would not want to spend some extra time in New Orleans?

3:15 am
We have a 6 am flight out of Canton-Akron Airport on Airtran Airways so we better get the day started. (I always tell people that there is no good airline anymore but Airtran is as close as there is to a good one). We are already packed (well at least I have packed EVERYTHING I need!) so that much is done. We have a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then load the car to head for the airport.

4:15 am
Hearts beating faster and I no longer have to go to the bathroom as we almost hit a deer on the road to the airport. That would have just ruined our day!

4:30 am
We arrive at the airport and say our goodbyes before heading inside. I have been told that I pack like a typical female would and that I have entirely too many clothes. So I am concerned that I will go over the 50 pound checked bag limit and have to pay half as much as we paid for the original airline ticket. To rewind a little bit, I tried everything to weigh this bag. I used our “wonderful” digital scale at home. One reading said 9 lbs and then the next said 48 lbs. hmmm. So, let me weigh myself without the bag and then while holding the bag. Yes, that should work. 185 lbs! Yes!!! I have not been that weight since my freshman year in high school! Next reading shows 258 lbs; umm maybe AFTER the cruise buffet but not before it! Next reading shows 205 lbs! Wrong answer!! In the trash can you go pal! What to do next? I know, use the scale on the Wii Fit! Used my 6 year old daughter’s character who just happens to weigh 44 lbs. Put the bag on the scale and it registers at 38 lbs; twice! So, fast forward back to the airport...I reluctantly put the bag on the scale and it registers....38 lbs!! Yippee! Moral of the story, use the Wii Fit to weigh your bags! I wonder if I can convince Donna Palmer to have a Wii at work...just for the purpose of weighing clients bags. That’s the only reason, how Madden NFL gets on there I would have no idea.

5:00 am
All done with check-in and security so we proceed to our gate upstairs. While we are sitting there and discussing our trip, my dad discovers that he forgot to pack his dress shirts for formal nights. Ooopss....I may pack like a girl but at least I have all of the required clothing! No time now to have Momma bring one to us. Guess he will have to make formal night sexy with no shirt under his suit jacket. (I know what song everyone is singing now!!!)

6:00 am
All aboard! We are all on the plane and on our way to New Orleans via Atlanta.

9:00 am (keep in mind that New Orleans is on Central time or 1 hour behind Ohio)
Nothing exciting on the flights (thank goodness) and we arrive about 30 minutes early into New Orleans.

9:20 am
Taxi or hotel shuttle? We decide to try the hotel shuttle. $20 per person to go from the airport to the French Quarter hotels -- distance of about 20 miles. (Taxis are about $17 each person) I should just have paid $40 and gone to Cedar Point to have the pee scared out of me on a ride. This guy is cruising up and down all of the side streets, just honking and hoping people get out of his way.

9:47 am
With the side mirror on the van, we almost behead someone on a bike who is a little slow, deaf or just likes a thrill.

9:52 am
Girl sitting in the street working on a sewer line almost has similar fate to the bicycle rider when she refuses to move. I did not look but I am pretty sure she has tire marks on her bright yellow jacket now.

10:00 am
Arrive at the Marriott and I want to kiss the ground once we get out of the van. We pre-check in and they take my cell phone number so that they can call us when our room is ready. We check our bags with the bellhop and hit the streets.

We selected the Marriott on Canal Street for a couple reasons. 1) I am cheap and this was the best deal I could get. 2) It has a very good location. About 3 blocks from Bourbon Street and about 1/2 mile to the cruise pier. Highly recommend this property to anyone cruising from New Orleans or just wanting to spend a couple nights.

10:30 am
We walk around looking for a men's clothing store as someone (no names please) forgot their shirt and we have to purchase one. We find a mall attached to the convention center but no stores with dress shirts although a Saints jersey would look real nice. So we find another mall with a store, that shall remain nameless, selling shirts for $150 each and sweaters for $350 each!! Let’s keep looking! Finally find a reasonably priced shirt, now the ladies on the ship are spared from tripping as they stare at Horse’s bare chest.

12:30 pm
The hotel calls and says our room is ready but it is time to find lunch. We hear the Po’Boy sandwiches are something not to be missed. Just about every restaurant offers them so we find a place on Bourbon street called Remoulade and settle in. I order the Shrimp Po’Boy and Horse orders the catfish Po’Boy and a bowl of Gumbo. Both are awesome sandwiches and are reasonably priced at $8 for the meal.

2:30 pm
We had our Po’Boy so now it is off to the hotel to check-in and have a nap’boy. We have a room on the 17th floor overlooking the Mississippi River. We relax a little and just watch the ships moving cargo up and down the river.

6:00 pm
Time to visit the famous French Quarter at night and see what is happening. Let’s just say that since this is a family blog, we won’t report most of what we see on Bourbon Street. I found it amazing how different it is during the daytime versus at night here. When we ate lunch here, I would not have much of a problem bringing my kids along but no chance would I do that at night.

8:00 pm
We are getting hungry again so we begin our search for a good place to eat. We don’t mind the jazz music playing in most of the clubs and restaurants on Bourbon Street but we want a quieter place so we can actually converse during dinner. Just off of Bourbon Street on Conti Street is a seafood restaurant called Oceana Grill. We decide on the Gator Bites for an appetizer. These are grilled alligator meat in some spicy sauce. Real good and tastes a bit like beef. I tried a chicken Alfredo dish that was really good. I am used to traditional Alfredo but this was a spicy version. I sucked down a couple glasses of cold water to offset the spice of the appetizer and meal but well worth it.

9:30 pm
We watch some street acrobat performers. Pretty entertaining and they draw a very large crowd too.

10:00 pm
We head back tot he hotel. It has been a long day and I guess I am just not a party animal for the New Orleans nightlife. If you like to drink and party, you could have some serious fun in New Orleans but could also get in lots of trouble too. Still we felt safe walking around town and never worried about our safety. New Orleans is a very enjoyable town.

Good night all. More to come tomorrow as we prepare to board the ship that will become our home for the next 7 nights. Enjoy.

Virtual Cruise

2011-12-12T15:17:00.000-05:00

By Todd Langenek

Well, it is that time again where I “must travel for work”. The worst part of the job but I am willing to take one for the team! I wanted to get some sailing time in with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as I have only traveled on Norwegian Cruise Lines to this point. Up sprouted an opportunity to travel with other travel agents and attend seminars on board the ship to learn more about Royal Caribbean and their products.

In my previous cruise experience, I posted a blog entry every day while on board the cruise. Because of some logistical reasons, I am not posting live while on board. For this trip, I am trying a virtual cruise experience after the cruise is completed. I will still post a daily diary type entry so you can follow along and experience virtually what we experienced live. I am confident that you will still enjoy this blog even though we are back on dry land when you read it. A benefit of this method is that I am back on land and have more time (and faster internet!) to answer questions or respond to your comments about the cruise.

Now some general background information before we get into the daily trip diary. This particular seminar was aboard Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas; December 3-10 sailing from New Orleans. Royal Caribbean used to sail out of New Orleans prior to hurricane Katrina in 2005 but had to leave because of the storm. Voyager made Royal Caribbean’s return to the port on November 12, 2011. The Voyager departs from New Orleans and visits Falmouth Jamaica, Georgetown Grand Cayman and Cozumel Mexico with 3 days at sea mixed in.

Voyager of the Seas made her maiden voyage back in November of 1999 and was refurbished in May of 2009. She is 1,020’ long, weighs in at 137,000+ tons and carries approximately 3,000 passengers at full occupancy. She was once the largest cruise ship and, even though she has been surpassed by several of Royal Caribbean’s other mega-ships, she is still one of the larger cruise ships around. Voyager introduced innovative features such as an ice-skating rink, rock-climbing wall and in-line skating track to the cruising industry. This ship is ideal for those wanting a mega-ship cruise with lots of activities and several days at sea to enjoy them.

I will give more details (complete with pictures) on the exciting features of this cruise ship as we go along on our journey together. You will have to tune in to see what features we tried on board, what excursions we tempted fate with and if I broke my previous ice cream cone eating record of 22 cones in one cruise. Please come back and join us in experiencing this wonderful ship and fun itinerary.

Bon voyage,
Todd Langenek

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2011-11-22T10:06:00.000-05:00

Wishing you and your family all the best at Thanksgiving and through the upcoming year.

Enjoy all that you do on this wonderful holiday; watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, eating too much turkey, potatos with gravy, pumpkin pie, watching football and of course that crazy Black Friday shopping.

Be safe, be merry and be Thankful.

Enjoy.

Palmer Vacations Family

Carnival Fun Ship 2.whoa!

2011-10-26T10:14:00.000-04:00

FUN SHIP 2.0 is the next wave of innovation from Carnival. Imagine everything you already love about a cruise, enhanced with new experiences that get you dancing more, laughing more and simply having more fun onboard.

Of course there is the routine maintenance, standard cosmetic updates upgrades to carpeting, tile work, wall coverings and furniture. In addition to the standard updates, Carnival has added lots of new bars, comedy and entertainment options.

Carnival Cruise Lines has begun the first phase of it's $500 million Fun Ship 2.0 enhancement initiative. Carnival Liberty was the first ship to visit dry dock to receive the new updates. She began sailing this past weekend on Oct 22 with her new wardrobe. More ships are scheduled to undergo the enhancements in 2012 as listed below.

Punchliner Comedy Club presented by George Lopez
George Lopez will be the lines' "Curator of Comedy". He will be selecting the best comics for the Punchliner Comedy Clubs.
Coming to Carnival Liberty (October 2011), Carnival Dream (Sept. 2012), Carnival Splendor (2012), fleet-wide (2012)

Guy's Burger Joint
Food Network personality, Guy Fieri, will be bringing the roadside burger joint appeal to the cruise ships. Guy's Burger Joint is the cool poolside spot for hand-cut fries and juicy burgers complete with a toppings bar.
Coming to Carnival Liberty (October 2011), Carnival Breeze (June 2012), Carnival Conquest (October 2012), Carnival Glory (November 2012)

Hasbro The Game Show
Take your favorite Hasbro family board games and enlarge them to larger than life. Now put them up on stage in a competition that puts your skills to the test.
Coming to Carnival Breeze (June 2012), Carnival Conquest (October 2012), Carnival Glory (November 2012)

EA SPORTS™ Bar
If you're into sports, get yourself into the first ever EA SPORTS™ Bar, which provides the perfect place to catch a game. And if you're feeling that competitive spirit, you can even get hands-on and right into the game with the latest video game titles from EA SPORTS.
Coming to Carnival Liberty (October 2011), Carnival Conquest (October 2012), Carnival Glory (November 2012)

DJ Irie and Spin'iversity
DJ Irie from the Miami Heat will be training DJ's fleetwide. DJ IRIE's Spin'iversity' graduates will be spinning expanded musical catalogs in clubs across the fleet for maximum guest bodyrocking.
Coming to Carnival Liberty (October 2011), Carnival Dream (Sept. 2012), Carnival Splendor (2012), fleet-wide (2012)

RedFrog Rum Poolside Bar
A full poolside bar featuring a great selection of Caribbean rum-based concoctions.
Coming to Carnival Liberty (October 2011), Carnival Breeze (June 2012), Carnival Dream (Sept. 2012), Carnival Conquest (October 2012), Carnival Glory (November 2012), Carnival Splendor (2012)

BlueIguana Tequila Bar
The cool poolside chill spot featuring frozen tequila drinks and cold Mexican beer.
Coming to Carnival Liberty (October 2011), Carnival Breeze (June 2012), Carnival Dream (Sept. 2012), Carnival Conquest (October 2012), Carnival Glory (November 2012), Carnival Splendor (2012)

Alchemy Bar
Lab-coat-clad mixologists prescribe you something from the unique vintage-themed cocktail "pharmacy."
Coming to Carnival Liberty (October 2011), Carnival Conquest (October 2012), Carnival Glory (November 2012)

Library Bar
A wall full of good books, a selection of entertaining board games and self serve wine dispensers. The coolest library ever?
Coming to Carnival Breeze (June 2012)

With so many exciting upgrades coming to a Carnival ship soon, it is sure to enhance your sailing experience. Call one of our destination planners today to help you plan your own Carnival 2.whoa experience!

Group Travel

2011-09-06T11:57:00.000-04:00

Have you ever considered traveling with a group of people? Maybe your church group, your seniors activity group, a local common interest club or maybe even your online social networking group?

A couple weeks ago, we received a call from a lady that wanted to talk about group travel on a cruise. She belongs to a website that happens to be a forum for owners of a specific breed of dogs. This website gives the owners a place to talk with other owners about anything and everything related to their 4 legged family members. This lady has been wanting to meet in person other members from this website but has just not had much luck putting things together.

When she was referred to our agency, she asked us what we could do to help make this happen. She had already done a fabulous job of sparking an interest in her friends via the website. We were able to review with her the options available for the group with pricing, cruise ship information and payment options.

Once a package was selected, we prepared an email for the group to announce the details thus eliminating the guess work for the group leader in what is important for making the reservations. Next we took the work off of her shoulders for making reservations, assigning staterooms, cross-referencing dining times and speaking with the travelers to answer their questions about cruising. This can be the most daunting task of a group leader to be able to make sure things are running smoothly with the group payments and paperwork not to mention reserving all of the flight tickets, pre-cruise hotel stays and documentation for travel.

Now this group leader is able to focus on her daily routine and visit with friends on the website and not have to worry about how the group bookings are proceeding. We are able to handle that business and then simply communicate with the group leader on a regular basis so they know how the group is doing. The group has a contact in our office to speak directly to any time they should have a question about the trip as well.

In only about 2 weeks time, they now have approximately 50 people confirmed for the cruise! What a great way to enhance their friendships!

What a wonderful group they are to work with too. Now is the perfect time to bring YOUR group travel idea to one of our specialists so we can help your wonderful group spend a fabulous vacation together.

Cancun

2011-05-17T12:17:00.000-04:00

With thanks to Gogo Worldwide Vacations, I was able to attend a quick 3-night hotel site inspection in Cancun from May 12-15. I was fortunate enough to tour 16 hotels during the quick trip. I won't bore you with the complete list or details but I will give you my recommendations for 2 properties. One is a couples only resort and one is a family friendly resort.

Before I get into the details I will first get this out there. Cancun IS a safe destination! You do not have to worry about the drug cartel business and the violence while you are in Cancun. As with any tourist destination, you still need to use common sense and be alert but Mexico officials are doing a wonderful job to keep the tourist areas safe as possible.

Flights from Canton-Akron Airport are the most relaxing way to travel to Cancun. I was at the airport about 4:30 am for my 6:00 am flight. The check-in line was efficient and then on to security. Even with being selected for an additional screening process, security went very smooth and brisk. Board my flight and I had a connection but still arrived in Cancun before lunch. Very, very nice travel times.

Gogo uses Olympus Tours for their destination services in Mexico and they could not have been any nicer the entire weekend. The Olympus staff meet me right outside the Cancun Airport exit and showed me to my transportation to the resort. Olympus Tours also provided our transportation between hotels for the site inspections and their representatives kept everything in fine order. I have complete confidence in their destination services for our guests who use them while they are in Mexico!

Now for the hotels that I would recommend.

EXCELLENCE PLAYA MUJERES - Couple Only

This is a couples only resort in a quiet gated community located about 25 minutes north from the heart of Cancun. This resort is made up of several buildings and spread out over the beautiful landscaped grounds with lazy rivers winding throughout. This resort is ideal for those that are looking for a relaxing time and don't need to be in all of the congestion of Cancun.

Some points to ponder:

• Average room size is 850 sq. ft.

• Jacuzzi tub in each room with access from balcony

• All rooms have balcony or patio

• Double vanities and double showers

• Swim-up pool access rooms available

• 2-story rooftop terrace rooms with private pool available

• 8 restaurants and 11 bars

• 7 swimming pools / lazy rivers

• 450 total accommodations

CANCUN PALACE - Family Oriented

This impressive 12-story resort is situated along the main hotel zone corridor of Cancun but is really geared towards those who enjoy staying onsite for all of their activities. There is a separate building in front of the main hotel that houses the very large and energetic kids' area. Kids will enjoy trampolines, ping pong tables, foosball tables, video games and even have their own pool complete with water slides. Don't forget about the 36-hole miniature golf course too! The main pool runs the entire length of the property facing the beach and is a magnet for social activities. This property is sure to be a hit with the kids of all ages.

Some points to ponder:

• Average room size is 430 sq. ft.

• Two person Jacuzzi tub in each room

• All rooms have lagoon or ocean view

• 5 restaurants and 4 bars

• 4 swimming pools

• 601 total accommodations

The above hotels are just 2 of the many hotels that have lots of features and amenities that may suit your needs. If neither of the hotels work for you, we will be more than happy to recommend a hotel that will make your vacation perfect.

Happy travels,

Todd Langenek, CTA

todd@palmervacations.com

Disney Cruise Line's Newest Ship (Disney Dream) Arrives!

2011-01-11T12:55:00.000-05:00

Looking to bring even more of the Disney magic to families who love to cruise, Disney introduces the Disney Dream. The Dream arrived last week into Port Canaveral, Disney's home port outside of Orlando, about 3 weeks prior to it's inaugural cruise; scheduled for Jan 26.

Disney has not had a new ship in over a decade with the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. The Disney Dream is about 50% larger than the previous vessels as she comes in at 128,000 tons with 1,250 staterooms with a capacity for about 4,000 passengers. Created with all the imagination of Disney dream makers, the newest ship features spectacular innovations that will make dreams come true in brand-new ways. Legendary Disney service, unique personal touches and elegant details all come together on this incredible vessel to create spaces and experiences designed to delight kids, teens, adults and families in enchantingly different ways.

The Dream features about two dozen pieces of framed artwork placed throughout the ship's 13 decks that will come to life when a passenger stands in front of the frame, some of which will include historic photographs of Walt Disney. The Enchanted Art feature will also include a detective game where clues are digitally hidden in some of the art.

Adjacent to the Atrium, the Royal Palace restaurant will feature "lazy susan" revolving-booth seating and opulent decor inspired by four Disney princesses: Cinderella, Snow White, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

Thrill to the first water coaster at sea, the AquaDuck! The Dream also will feature the cruise industry's first onboard water coaster, AquaDuck, a 765-ft, acrylic-tube "water coaster" suspended above the football-field-size deck area. One of the ship's most anticipated features, it is capable of handling up to 250 people per hour. A wild, watery ride, winding slide propels you up, down, around, through the forward funnel, splashing down four decks and even over the edge of the ship!

Adults desiring a break from the kids can head for the Quiet Cove Pool, an area exclusively for passengers age 18 and older. The area features a swim-up bar, sunbathing pool with built-in loungers, a 4-ft-deep plunge pool and a hot tub. Also for the adults is an exclusive nighttime entertainment area called the District, with themed lounges, bars and nightclubs.

Of the ship's 1,250 cabins (1,000 of which interconnect), 150 are inside cabins that feature "virtual portholes" fed by real-time LED projections from four outside positions around the ship. Disney characters, such as the starfish from Finding Nemo, randomly make cameo appearances in the video view.

This has been a highly anticipated vessel for lovers of all things Disney. Let your Dream begin soon! Call (800-627-1208) or email (info@palmervacations.com) one of our Destination Planners today for more information and availability.

Agent Review: Allure of the Seas

2011-01-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines recently debuted it's most innovative ship to date and one of our Destination Planners, Char Stertzbach, was fortunate to see this ship first hand. Here is her review of the magnificient vessel.

Allure Of the Seas Pre-Inaugural Sailing Nov. 29 2010

My husband and I were fortunate enough to experience the Pre-Inaugural sailing on the world’s largest cruise ship, Allure Of The Seas. The ship is 1,187 feet long and 208 feet wide. A crew of 2,384 to take care of passengers, and 24 elevators to assist in moving guest from deck to deck. There are 16 decks, 2,706 staterooms, of which 70 percent have balconies, that will accommodate up to 6,318 passengers.

While the suites are lavish as you might expect, the rest of the guest rooms are tastefully appointed, they feature the latest technology, including flat-screen TVs and iPod docking stations. They do a remarkable job of maximizing the space with shelves, cabinets and cubbyholes for all your belongings.

The ship’s home port will be Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale Florida, and will sail the Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries.

Words like "revolutionary", "most innovative”, “incredible”, “awesome”, “unbelievable” were heard over and over onboard by guest experiencing this remarkable ship.

Allure of the Seas is the sister ship to Oasis of the Seas, but not a clone. One difference in particular stands out: Allure is 5 millimeters longer, making it the largest cruise ship in the world. Plus there are different dining options and show choices than Oasis Of The Seas offers.

How big is the biggest cruise ship ever? It doesn't really hit home until you are actually onboard.

GETTING AROUND: You are 'here'
For all its size, there is a wonderful feeling of flow as you go from one area to another. There are 7 different neighborhoods. One thing you hear over and over from the Royal Caribbean executive team is the focus on the "guest experience." Particularly useful are the interactive touch-screen guides on every deck. With buttons for "What to Do Right Now" and "Room Finder," We never felt lost.

CENTRAL PARK: Yes, there's a park

Imagine exiting an elevator in the middle of a cruise ship and walking out into the bright sunshine amid thousands of trees and plants, complete with chirping birds and upscale restaurants. It's called Central Park, and, like its New York namesake, it's the perfect place to rest and unwind amid walls of plants five decks high. You can grab lunch at the Park Café or reserve a table at 150 Central Park, the most upscale restaurant on the ship with a surcharge of $35 a person. Other venues include a steakhouse, Chops Grille, Giovanni's Table and Vintages, offering a wide selection of wines.

BOARDWALK: Family fun and a carousel

If you desire an experience more like Coney Island, proceed to the Boardwalk, where the emphasis is on family and fun. For starters, you can't miss the full-size carousel, with its 18 hand-carved figures. Rita's Cantina is here, a new Mexican specialty restaurant (specialty in front of any restaurant means there's an extra charge, by the way), during the evening they have guitar music and dancing, Johnny Rockets with its signature dancing waiters, the Aqua Theater, featuring water and light shows and two 43-foot-high rock climbing walls for the adventurous. Also here is the surprisingly popular Dog House, where you order from seven varieties of custom-made hot dogs, sausages or brats. A ice cream parlor and a must visit to the Candy Shop.

THE ENTERTAINMENT: 70’s Street Party and Dream Works Parade
A mega-size ship provides mega-size entertainment, and Allure Of The Seas delivers, starting with a full-scale, Bob Fosse Broadway-caliber production of Chicago complete with orchestra in the 1400 seat Amber Theater. There's also an ice show, a 3-D movie theater (showing DreamWorks' Megamind), a Cirque du Soleil-style experience, a comedy club, a jazz club, dance clubs, including the two-story Dazzles, and gambling in Casino Royale. Royal Caribbean's alliance with DreamWorks, whose characters and creations are integrated throughout the ship will make for a pleasant family experience. Not to mention Shrek’s Princess Fiona is the Godmother of the ship.

If you want to try surfing, there's Flow Rider.

For thrill seekers, attach yourself to a zip line and soar over the atrium.

Miniature golf, ping pong tables, and basketball courts all on deck 16, along with the teen night club, Fuel. The younger children have a special area new to the seas, where mom and dad can play with the children inside, toys provided. Also new is the nursery for the tiny ones with a minimal fee per hour. There definitely is a lot for the children to do onboard. They even have a special water park, the H2O zone.

DINING: A 3,000-seat main venue, and 26 dining options to choose from.
Allure gives you a chance to eat and drink nonstop at almost every turn. The main dining room is the multi-deck Adagio, which can seat 3,000. New on Allure is the Samba Grill, where you can eat Brazilian style. Just press "green" on your table light and more meat selections start coming your way. There's something for every taste, from steak to Italian. You can even cook it yourself at Izumi Asian Cuisine, featuring 550-degree hot rocks. Allure also features the first Starbucks on a cruise ship. Sorrento's Pizzeria where you can order pre made pizzas or create your own and The Cupcake Cupboard where you can also order pre decorated cupcakes or create your own concoction. (Oh, and there's a special Coke machine. At a touch a button you can order up to 106 kinds of Coca-Cola products.) There is the Ice Cream Parlor set perfectly on the Boardwalk for a variety flavors to choose from.

We ate at Chops Grill the first evening and what an experience. An excellent seafood or steak restaurant. Well worth the nominal fee of $25.00 per guest which includes gratuities.

SHOPPING: GUESS, anyone?
Among the many shops is another first for the Allure - a Guess fashion store. Also on board is the first Britto art gallery, featuring the work of Romero Britto. There is the Coach shop in Central Park.

THE BARS: How high can you rise?
Even on a ship this size, there are plenty of places to lose yourself in a quiet, dark corner against a background of jazz or Sinatra. My favorites included the Vintages/Tapas in Central Park for a great glass of wine, Crown Viking Lounge, high atop the 17th deck, where the entertainment includes the sunset; the Champagne Bar, for a taste of the bubbly; and maybe the most unique, The Rising Tide Bar. You enter on the fifth deck and the whole bar lifts skyward toward the eighth deck.

Like everything else my 2 days must come to an end, and sadly I had to disembark this mega ship. The embarkation and disembarkation of a ship this size was the most organized I’ve experienced. I’d never of known there were almost 6000 guest leaving the ship at the same time as I was.

Just some FYI:
Cost to build: $1.5 billion
Time to build: Seven years and 10 million man-hours of design and construction
Cruising speed: 22 knots (25.3 mph)

For more pictures or to reserve your stateroom under our special group package, please visit our website or our Facebook page.

STRANDED? How to have peace of mind and enjoy your vacation.

2010-11-30T10:40:00.002-05:00

By now I am sure that you have heard about the Carnival Splendor and the engine fire that disabled the cruise liner at sea for several days. Everyone's dream vacation up in smoke and now they are living out a nightmare instead. Without getting into details of the actual compensation provided by the cruise line, the cruise line did their best to take care of the passengers.

However, what to do if you are stranded on a disabled ship, stuck in an airport during a snowstorm or missed your flight due to a flat tire on the way to the airport? I am sure that a lot of the passengers on that ship were without the benefits of a travel professional and/or travel insurance. Therefore they were on their own to make sure that everything was taken care of for their compensation by the cruise line, their return ticket home and any other details related to the unforeseen incident.

Your first step to enjoying any vacation, trip of a lifetime or a girls weekend to the spa, should start with a travel professional. At Palmer Vacations & Destination Planners, we help write a prescription for your perfect vacation. We don't stop there as we follow you through with document presentation and a full explanation of what to expect on your journey so you don't have surprises along the way during a normal vacation. We are always a phone call or email away should a question arise about your trip.

Once your departure day arrives, we monitor your flights to make sure that everything goes as planned. Should something unfortunate happen, we are behind the scenes working on ironing things out for you; often without you ever knowing that we are there for you. No matter the situation, we are there looking out for your best interests and to get your travel plans straightened out so that you can just sit back, relax and enjoy your vacation. You don't have just one person at Palmer Vacations & Destination Planners helping you, you have the entire team and 144 years of combined experience on your side.

Your second step to enjoying any vacation should be to purchase the optional travel protection plan. We offer a third party travel protection plan that covers you for trip interruption (such as a flat tire on the way to the airport), provides medical coverage should you injure yourself while traveling and even provides coverage for lost or damaged luggage. However, one of the best benefits is that you have a staff of experts ready to assist you should you not be able to get a hold of us. The experts can assess your situation and provide just about any kind of assistance you need. They can change flight reservations or make hotel accommodations depending on your individual needs. Remember, travel protection is for unforeseen circumstances and you never know when you may need it. Bet those passengers on the Splendor did not think about the engine catching fire and stranding them at sea! If we all knew something bad was going to happen, we would be sure to have protection. Why take that chance?

What peace of mind it is to know, that while you are experiencing a hiccup in your vacation plans, you have a strong team of professionals behind you making sure you can enjoy your vacation to the fullest.

Client Comments: Avalon Waterways River Cruise

2010-11-16T09:53:00.005-05:00

Romantic Rhine River Cruise on Avalon Waterways Felicity

My trip to the romantic Rhine was the best experience! I have traveled on cruise ships before because I love the ‘unpack once’ idea. I traveled many years ago with my company as an award to Paris so I cannot say I had not traveled to Europe before but this river cruise was soooo different! The history I learned and recalled was outstanding! I know why my mom traveled to Europe as many times that she did. She loved history.

Each stop that was included on my trip was a new adventure. Amsterdam with all the bikes, bike parking deck, canals, homes, flower market and museums were so different than the USA.

I enjoyed the walking, looking, listening, and picture taking at each stop. Each guide was very informative at each destination! I was amazed at the activity at each stop – the economy must be doing very well along the Rhine. The castles, the Lorilie story and how busy (barges) the Rhine River was. The Heidelberg castle and all of its history and we walked right there! Each town has its own story and place in history.

Food was wonderful and wine with dinner each night! The River cruise was clean, concise, good food and an opportunity to meet other people from different countries and see them many times during the week. (Not always true on the big cruise ship).

Would I do a trip with Avalon again? In a heartbeat! What was the best of all the trip cost was all inclusive! Would I book through Palmer Vacations & Destination Planners again? Always! Lisa Shall has booked several trips for me and I have never been disappointed; neither with her recommendations or the trips booked for us.

ElisaBeth Durbin

Changes, Changes

2010-10-22T09:27:00.007-04:00

Palmer Travel bids adieu to our Palm Tree logo as we welcome a new era. Donna Palmer has been the proud owner of Palmer Travel for over 30 years and decided to spruce things up a little. We have a new name and a new logo and are very excited to share it with everyone.

The "official" name change will be announced in a press release in the next couple weeks. Many thanks to Innis Maggiore for their help in designing a great looking logo and here is a sneak peek.

The sign company finished the refurb on our existing sign to convert it to our beautiful new sign.

We have quite a ways to go yet with the sign on the building, the name on the front door and not to mention all of the envelopes, invoices and business cards. Hopefully you will start seeing our new logo sprout up here and there. Just remember that we are the same great company, owned by the same great person and will deliver the same outstanding service to our clients.

Blog at Sea: Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6

2010-06-07T23:23:00.001-04:00

Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6

Saturday was our last full day on the magnificent Norwegian Dawn and we spent the full day at sea cruising back to New York. We made a point of just relaxing and enjoying our last day on the cruise so we did not get involved in many activities. We mainly walked around, took pictures and just relaxed by the pool listening to the steel drum band.

The important thing that we had to do on the last day is to pack our bags, put on our luggage tags and set the luggage outside our stateroom door. NCL disembarks by a colored luggage tag system and each color has an approximate time that it will be disembarking the ship. Basically 6 colors with 2 color tags departing every 20 minutes with the first time approximately 9:00 am and the final 2 colors at 10:00 am. The colors are so you know where your luggage will be in the baggage claim area. In our case we had lime green and we were the 10:00 am time. You are able to select your preferred color/time that meets your schedule.

We were in no hurry to disembark so we selected 10:00 am. We get our tags, fill them out, place them on the handles of our luggage, pack them up and set them outside our room. They also provide us a U.S. Customs Declaration form that we have to declare any items that we purchased while on board or in Bermuda. Basically just a couple gifts so nothing major for us to list. As a U.S. Citizen, you are permitted $800 per person of purchases to be brought into the USA without paying taxes on them. Anything over $800 and you pay a duty/tax on them. (Different regulations when it comes to limits on alcohol and tobacco but we did not have any to worry about those regulations).

Sunday
7:30 am
We are asked to be out of our staterooms by 9:00 am so they can start getting them ready for the passengers arriving this afternoon for the next cruise. Breakfast is being served until 9:00 am in the Garden Cafe but first we head out to deck #13 to watch us pull into port. Since our luggage has already been moved on Saturday night all we have is our carry-on bags which we are using backpacks so our hands are free. The captain and his crew dock the ship perfectly even though we have our doubts as to how he is going to steer this big ship into that slip. Pretty interesting to watch.

8:20 am
Now that we are docked and waiting for immigration and customs to clear the ship for disembarkation, we have nothing better to do than to go eat! Food selection is not limited and they have the same spread that they have had all week long. We have a 12 hour train ride ahead and seeing as food is not real cheap on the train, we eat a good breakfast.

** With over a dozen restaurants to choose from on the Norwegian Dawn, one can eat at just about any time of the day or as much as they want. And eat we did! Too much to account for as we ate probably 25 ice cream cones each! That's just the ice cream that we remember! We must have eaten 4 or 5 times each day because the food was just great and we had to taste different things all the time.

On May 30 they loaded me as a passenger but on June 6 they unload me as cargo!!!

9:00 am
We grab some iced tea along with a deck of cards and head to the pool deck to relax. We play some cards and leisurely wait our turn to disembark.

10:00 am
When it is our turn, we proceed to the gangway and swipe our room card one last time to exit the ship. We then pull out our passports and the U.S. Customs declaration form and get in line for customs. When we get in the terminal there is a backup before we get to the customs area. This is due to the fact that there were 2 other cruise ships; Carnival Glory and Holland America Veendam, at the pier with us. The port authority just does not have enough manpower to handle all 3 vessels at the same time. However, the wait is not very long and we make our way downstairs and find our luggage in the proper color coded area.

After clearing customs, we proceed outside and climb in a taxi to take us to New York Penn Station to catch the train. We arrive at the train station and head inside.

10:40 am
Even though we have about 5 hours until our train departs, tAmtrak takes our bags and checks them in for the train. Thus again we are left with just our backpacks. Very nice!

Note: Even with the delay in customs, it only takes 40 minutes to exit the ship, claim our luggage, clear customs, find a taxi, get to the train station and check our bags. Only 40 minutes total for all of that. We are pretty impressed. (To get from the pier to the NYC airports is about 40 minutes alone).

11:00 am
We have some time to waste so we go catch a sightseeing tour of downtown Manhattan. The tour is on one of the two level open air buses and takes about 2 hours. We are treated to picture stops at many of the better known sites in town and we are happy we did this tour.

1:20 pm
We still have just over 2 hours before our train is scheduled to depart. We walk around the train station and find a TGI Friday's restaurant and grab some food. Double the price of what we pay at our local TGI Friday's; welcome to NYC!

3:00 pm
We find the station has filled up considerably now. We try to find out which track number our train will be departing from but Amtrak does not give that out until it is posted on the schedule board in the center of the station. The track number posts when boarding is available, about 15 minutes before departure. Once you see it posted you then have to navigate your way downstairs under the station to one of the fifteen or so tracks at this large station. Not a tough process but can become a bit nervous trying to make sure you are in the correct spot as you only have 15 minutes maximum to get to the right escalator and get downstairs to the correct track.

3:35 pm
We have no problems and are among the first group to board thus giving us our choice of seating as seats are not preassigned. Sorry to those who sit around me and listen to me snoring all night!!!

3:45 pm
Prompt again is Amtrak and we pull out of the station. Good bye New York, we hope to come back and visit again soon!!!

Quick Recap:
1 day and 1 night on Amtrak trains
1 night in Times Square hotel
7 nights on a beautiful cruise ship
1 ocean view stateroom
Watching dolphins playing outside our stateroom window
1 island tour of Bermuda
1 catamaran sailing trip and snorkel
1 round trip transfer to one of the gorgeous beaches
Shopping in Bermuda
Tasting free samples of rum cakes in Bermuda
25 ice cream cones each (give or take a couple)
4 gourmet meals in the main dining rooms
1 excellent meal in the alternate (cover charge) restaurant
Too many meals in the buffet and 24 hour restaurant to list
1 extremely patchy sunburn while laying poolside
2 comedy shows
2 Las Vegas style entertainment shows
Multiple nights listening to live music
1 hour of Cha Cha Cha dancing lessons
3 movies on the big screen cinema
Several games of shuffleboard
Many walks on the deck taking in the sights and the sounds of Bermuda
Many nights spent watching the sunset over the ocean

These are just a handful of the many activities that are offered on a cruise like NCL's Norwegian Dawn to Bermuda. Even though there are many more activities to do, you can do as little or as much as you want.

On behalf of Palmer Travel, we hope you have enjoyed reading this blog and following us on this awesome cruise to Bermuda. Hopefully you are ready for your own cruise vacation now. Call or email Palmer Travel today to plan your own cruise to your own paradise!!

Don't forget to check out all of our pictures over on www.facebook.com/palmertravel

Thanks for coming along!
Todd and Jackie Langenek.

Blog at Sea: Friday, June 4

2010-06-05T08:57:00.001-04:00

Friday, June 4
3rd and final day in Bermuda

9:00 am
Up and at it so we can eat breakfast before we hit the beach. We hit the buffet for the usual scrambled eggs, bacon, corned beef hash, etc.

10:15 am
Meet the bus driver for our excursion to the beach. This time we have a small mini-bus and 18 of us load up for the 25 minute ride to Horseshoe Bay. The beach is surrounded by coral and rock formations that make up the shape of a horseshoe. This is one of the more popular beaches in Bermuda and has full facilities. Cold drinks, food, showers, restrooms, changing stalls, and even beach chair and umbrella rentals were there at our disposal.

We pick a location about ½ way down the beach, spread out our towels, spray on some sunscreen and jump, err slowly creep, into the 78 degree water. We swim for about 20 or 30 minutes and then lay out to get some sun.

1:15 pm
Time to hit the showers and wash the sand away so we can get changed for the bus. We have to meet the bus at 1:45 pm so we can make it back to the ship before it departs at 5:00 pm.

1:45 pm
The bus makes a stop back at the Clock Tower Mall located at King's Wharf just down the street from the cruise ship so we can get in some last minute shopping.

3:00 pm
We are back on the Dawn and getting ready to sail for home. Well New York but then the train ride to Cleveland followed by the car ride to home.

3:30 pm
Note to self: don't wear sunglasses at the beach unless you like the white circles around your eyes.

4:30 pm
We grab a bite to eat before we watch the ship depart the beautiful island of Bermuda.

5:00 pm
We are delayed from departing as a passenger needs medical attention and we have to wait for an ambulance. This is the 2nd time on this cruise that we are delayed from departure due to a passenger needing medical attention. The first one was in New York and delayed us approximately 30 minutes.

5:25 pm
We watch as the lines are untied and the engines come alive. Within minutes we are cruising along sailing up the coast of the island. It was interesting how quickly the water changed from the bright, turquoise color to a darker, bluer color once we left the tip of the island. Many passengers are on deck to get some last pictures of beautiful Bermuda.

6:30 pm
Grab a quick sandwich in the Garden Cafe and head to a show called Bollywood, a dancing, acrobatic show with an India theme. Grab our usual ice cream cone on the way back to the room. It is a requirement for walking the ship, or so we hear.

6:45 pm
Note to self: spray on sunscreen is not as effective as lotion sunscreen. Burnt in some places and white in others. I look like a cross between a red & white checker board and a raccoon. Nice tanning dork.

7:30 pm
The Bollywood show is amazing. When the acrobat on bungee cords dropped from the ceiling, I thought the lady in that row was going to have a heart attack. Funny from our seats though.

8:30 pm
After the show they bring up a lot of the ship's crew so we can give them some love for taking care of us this week. Pretty nice to see the standing ovation for the crew. I would like to think that the crowd really appreciates the captain and his staff, however I think they cheer the loudest for the bar manager.

9:00 pm
Jackie let is slip that the movie Eagle Eye is playing in the cinema. She regrets this as now I am committed to watching it and she either has to spend the next 2 hours alone or watch it with me. She comes with me and then immediately wants to get rid of all of our cell phones, GPS, laptops and move to Amish Country.

11:00 pm
No big dinner tonight as we were busy so we grab some grub from the 24-hour eatery known as the Blue Lagoon. Burgers, paninis, fish and chips, hot dogs and wings are their main items. We order some nachos along with an order of fish & chips and a chicken strips basket. Wash it down with an ice cold Pepsi and now we are ready for a walk and the bed.

11:30 pm
Good night Atlantic Ocean.

Note: This will be our last blog entry while we are at sea. Today is our last full day on the ship and we have some activities such as towel folding, trivia, comedy show, food and of course some ice cream as we enjoy one last day aboard. Once we get home (Monday) we will sort things out and post a conclusion including our disembarkation process.

Blog at Sea: Thursday, June 3

2010-06-04T07:58:00.000-04:00

Thursday, June 3
Our second day in Bermuda

9:00 am
Ordered room service for breakfast today. Hmm, should have rethought this one. There is bacon, eggs, corned beef hash, etc on the buffet yet we ordered muffins and fruit from room service. Well, at least the orange juice cocktail was pretty good.

10:00 am
We go ashore to walk around the King's Wharf area and see what is here. We find the Glassworks and Rum Cake Factory especially interesting. We watch 2 ladies make a glass pitcher. Fascinating how they make it and how they work so well together to do so. We decide to look at all of the glass items that are for sale. A thought occurs to me, am I coordinated enough to be over here? What the heck am I doing in a store with glass items costing this much????

On the Rum Cake Factory side of the building they are passing out free samples of the different kinds of rum cake so we visit there. Coconut is Jackie's favorite and the Swizzle is mine. (Babysitters: please don't read this! Rum cakes make nice family gifts).

12:00 noon
Head back to the ship for some lunch before we have our excursion today. We hit the pasta bar and have them saute some pasta with our choice of ingredients. Pretty tasty. I had to go back a second time just to make sure that they are able to saute it the way I want it twice in a row. Tempted to go back a third time just to test their culinary skills but afraid of going swimming with a belly full of pasta. I might become part of the next snorkeling tour; “Look everyone, here is the newest edition to the coral reef, a fat cruise passenger who couldn't walk away from the pasta bar and decided to swim afterwards.”

1:45 pm
Meet the rest of the group and board the Rising Son II catamaran for our (sing it with me) “3 hour tour.” We have 75 people on board for our sailing trip and snorkeling excursion. We get a good background on the Bermuda lifestyle from our captain on the way to the cove. We anchor in 7 feet of water and everyone jumps in. I was more interested in jumping on a kayak than snorkeling but the 4 kayaks go fast so I wait. We grab snorkel gear and see what is happening under water. Once I see the first fish, I am hooked. The 1-1/2 hours of water time is gone before we know it and I never did get to kayak. We saw all kinds of cool looking coral and plant life plus several different kinds of fish. Pretty amazing under the water. Check out the cool pics on Facebook.

5:00 pm
Back to the ship to wash up and hit Aqua, one of the main dining rooms. Tonight we have bay shrimp and potato salad as a starter for Jackie and wild mushroom quesadilla for me. Jackie orders a roasted lamb shank with fresh vegetables and I have sea scallops with cheddar cheese grits. No dessert for us tonight as we are saving room for the Chocoholic Buffet.

7:30 pm
Hello Chocoholic Buffet!!! The Garden Cafe occupies the mid section of the ship on deck 12. It has 3 large sections of buffet tables on each side of the ship. The Chocoholic Buffet takes up one entire side of the cafe and all 3 buffet tables are packed full of chocolaty goodness. I can't even tell you what all we ate but it was pretty good. Chocolate cheesecake was my favorite.

I cannot believe the amount of people that were showing up for this! Each buffet table has a line of at least 30 people waiting to get their hands on the selections. Most of the tables were occupied already so not sure where everyone was going to sit. Heck the dining room tonight was not even this crowded.

8:45 pm
Walk around the pool deck and listen to the steel drum band tonight as we walk off some of that chocolate.

10:00 pm
Okay, chocolate walked off, time to head back to the Chocoholic Buffet. Hey! Don't judge until you have been confronted with such a thing as the Chocoholic Buffet. Chocolate covered bananas from the fondue fountain are Jackie's favorite.

10:30 pm
Walk around the deck some more. We find another couple and their teenage kids that we meet the other night and talk to them about their excursions. We enjoy a nice conversation poolside while we listen to the steel drums.

11:30 pm
Off to Dazzle's Lounge to listen to the band, Next Stage. Tonight is Rock the Ship night and we enjoy their musical gifts again.

12:15 am
We are really tired after a day of shopping, swimming and eating. Good night Bermuda.

Blog at Sea: Wednesday, June 2

2010-06-03T17:46:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, June 2
Our first day in Bermuda

7:30 am
Breakfast buffet again today. We consider room service but head to the 12th deck for the Garden Cafe.

9:00 am
Head down to the 4th deck to walk the plank and head for shore. They scan our room key which has our picture attached to it in their computer system. They verify our identity and let us leave. We find the line for our tour and begin to board one of the bright pink buses that will be our transportation for our 5 hour island tour.

Here are some of the highlights:
The island is shaped like a fish hook and is 22 miles long by 1 mile wide (up to 3 miles wide at it's widest point). As small as this island is it can have approximately 75,000 people per day during the summer months and about 60,000 people per day during the winter. The capital has been moved to Hamilton though St George was the original spot where settlers first landed and was the original capital city. St George is where most of the island's history lies including St Peters Church which is the oldest Anglican Church outside of England.
We start in King's Wharf where our ship is docked; this used to be the old Naval Dockyard. It has been converted into a cruise ship pier and shopping complex.
Travel across the world's smallest draw bridge. The opening is only big enough for a sailboat's mast to fit through.
Next up is Gibb's Hill Lighthouse on the south shore. This lighthouse is one of the last remaining cast iron lighthouses.
Our next stop is at Horseshoe Bay Beach. We don't actually walk on this beach we just stop at the overlook for pictures. (We will actually be heading to Horseshoe Bay Beach on Friday for some beach time.)
We now cross over to the north shore and and along the way we get a lesson on the houses and how they are designed. The white roofs are made of limestone and the gutters are designed to collect the rain water and empty it into their water tanks for general use including drinking.
During our architecture lesson we learn that the minimum price for a home on the island is $1 million!!! Does not matter how small! Most homes are passed down from generation to generation due to the high cost of purchasing a home.
Good grief these streets are narrow!!!!! When another bus tries to squeeze by us and our bus driver who is used to this actually says “Mercy!” you know it is time for me to duck and cry!!!!
There are a decent amount of cars still on the road but a common method of travel is a motor scooter. With narrow streets and driving on the left, I don't recommend renting one. One of the reasons for using scooters is that GAS IS ABOUT $25 PER GALLON!
We stop at the top of the island at St George's for a lunch break. We just grab a quick snack and walk around the town square to see all of the sites.
On the way back we see a home on the market for $57 million dollars!!! This home has a crystal cave in the living room!!!
We stop at John Smith Bay to walk on the pink beach. Pretty cool.
We drive by the road where Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones live with their children. Michael Douglas is a native of Bermuda so he is permitted to own as many houses as he wants. Their children attend private school here and Michael drives them to school himself almost every day. They live in an area (buses are not allowed) called Tucker Town and the minimum price for a home here is $45 million.

3:00 pm
We return to the ship. To pass through the security at the pier we need to present our driver license of passport. Then we get to security on the ship and they scan our room keys to view our picture and allow us on board.

3:30 pm
We grab a quick bite to eat at the Garden Cafe buffet.

4:00 pm
Jackie takes a nap and Todd heads to the cinema to watch James Bond: The Quantum of Solace. Have seen it several times but it is so much better in the theater.

6:00 pm
Head to the deck to walk about the empty ship and enjoy a game of shuffleboard. Jackie loses a “close” match. Eating an ice cream cone is required (or so we think).

8:00 pm
We grab a couple deck chairs and watch the sun set. Awesome sunset over the wharf and we had a front row seat.

8:45 pm
A game of shuffleboard. For Jackie's pride we will not publish the score here.

9:30 pm
We love finding sandwiches and BBQ chicken wings at the buffet! We take our food outside to the pool deck as they are having country music night with the band Next Stage.

10:30 pm
We were not planning on sticking around and listening to the band all night but they are very, very good. They switch over to rock and roll and this is also very enjoyable.

12 midnight
Good night Bermuda.

Blog at Sea: Tuesday, June 1

2010-06-02T07:06:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, June 1

10:00 am
Breakfast buffet. Today is another day at sea so we decide to sleep in again since we don't have to be anywhere at any certain time. Wednesday will be our first day in Bermuda and we have a 9:00 am shore excursion so we have to be up early to eat breakfast first.

10:30 am
Time to finally lay on the deck and soak up some rays. Grab a peach ice cream cone on the way. Yum. Already by 10:30 am most of the deck chairs have been taken. We find 2 of them on the top deck and settle in. We enjoy pleasant conversations with the couples on either side of us about our experiences on board so far and the upcoming shore excursions. We stay for 2 hours and decide it is time to go when we can fry an egg on our skin. Note to self: spray on sunscreen does not work real well for us...next time go for the lotion type.

12:30 pm
Every day so far there has been a poolside BBQ so we decide to eat there today. We grab a table by the pool and chow on some hot dogs, hamburgers and BBQ chicken.

1:15 pm
Seeing as we have not gotten crispy enough today, I decide to get in the pool. Let's add a little salt water to the burning flesh. Not in very long as it gets busy and Jackie is really starting to feel the sunburn.

1:45 pm
Browse the photo gallery for our portraits from Monday night. We find ours and decide we need to hide them out of sight!

2:30 pm
We decide to go for a walk in the shade on the Promenade and we come across an available shuffleboard set. We have never played before but the rules listed on the wall seem fairly simple. We try a game and enjoy it but we stop after just 1 game and let others who are waiting in line to play.

6:00 pm
Tonight in the Cinema they are showing Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. This movie has been on my rental list for some time now, but we have just never got around to see it yet. Feeling we have had enough sun for the day, we decide to go watch the movie. It was very good!

8:30 pm
Dinner in the main dining room; Venetian. FYI to those, like me, who are not educated in the gourmet food styles, a shrimp summer roll is not a piece of bread with shrimp baked in. It is something that looks a lot like sushi. Thankfully I con Jackie into ordering those and I order some sesame chicken skewers for an appetizer. She follows up with her appetizer with an order of grouper with lobster tail, mashed potatoes and asparagus. (My thought is that she orders the lobster so that she is not the reddest thing in the room!) I order a steak with onions, baked potato and green beans. For dessert we select apple pie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate mousse with caramel sauce.

10:30 pm
We head to Spinnaker's Lounge for the adults only Dave Hennan comedy show. This place was packed tonight! They filled the lounge so they showed a live feed into the cinema and filled that and then had people standing in the doorways listening too! He was worth it as he was entertaining and funny.

12:30 am
Off to bed we go! Excursion day on Wednesday so we need to be up early. Good night.

Blog at Sea: Monday, May 31

2010-06-01T08:28:00.001-04:00

Monday, May 31

Note: We entered a new time zone so we set the clocks forward one hour.

9:00 am
Good morning and Happy Memorial Day!

9:15 am
Until now, we could not “feel” that we were even on a boat of any kind. We felt the ship rock for the first time this morning but it was so slight that it was no big deal.

9:45 am
Breakfast time!! We head to the Garden Cafe to enjoy the breakfast buffet. Everything you could imagine for breakfast was there. The made to order omelets and corned beef hash are among our favorites.

11:00 am
Still exploring the ship. There is so much to see and do here. Thinking about bingo (chance to win a free cruise, trying our luck in the Dawn Club Casino or even ball room dancing lessons.

11:50 am
Watch a pod of dolphins jumping and swimming past our stateroom window.

12:15 pm
Grab an ice cream cone and head to the sun deck for some sunning and relaxing.

1:15pm
Stroll through the Garden Cafe and grab a Caesar chicken salad wrap and ice cream to hold us over for our dancing lessons.

2:00 pm
Ball room dancing lessons is our afternoon activity choice today. Two of the professional dancers from one of the shows are here to teach us the Cha Cha Cha. Believe it or not, I am able to handle most of the steps. Until they decide to put the music on turbo speed then it is just all legs and arms flying around. Anyone within 3 feet of me was running for cover.

3:15 pm
Cha Cha Cha; nap nap nap

5:00 pm
Tonight is “Formal or Not” night. NCL is very informal and laid back, shorts and jeans are acceptable at most restaurants for dinner. Tonight however is the night that the captain is available for pictures with guests plus they have photographers available in the Grand Atrium for formal pictures. Yeah, I am not very photogenic as evidenced by the fact that the photographer kept asking me to tilt my head and then would follow that up with “I said tilt your head not pretend you have a broken neck”.

6:00 pm
Tonight we have dinner at one of the restaurants that charge a cover. We have chosen Salsa, the Tex-Mex restaurant and they have a $10 per person cover. Pretty nice place on the 8th deck located in the Grand Atrium. We get a table for 2 right by the large picture windows overlooking the sun shining on the beautiful ocean. Just gorgeous.

Jackie orders the tortilla soup along with their signature dish the warm lobster tacos with Pico de Gallo and Jicama Salad. Wow! They are just fabulous. I order the chicken quesadilla along with Mariscos en Banderilla: Shrimp and swordfish skewers, Pico de Gallo and Mexican rice. I have never had swordfish before and this was just wonderful and I am very glad I tried something different. We order Torta de Chocolate Mexicana: rich cinnamon-chocolate cake with caramel glaze for dessert.

I have never really been a big supporter of the cover charge restaurants. However for only $10, I felt this was a very nice experience. The wait staff, the food and the ambiance were well worth the $10.

7:30 pm
We go to enjoy our first entertainment show (with our dance instructors from earlier today) called Band on the Run. This is held in the Stardust Theatre and is a 70's themed music, dance and acrobatic show. Did not realize how many 70's songs I knew. Oh how Macho Man by the Village People brings back visions of my dad dancing around the living room when I was a kid.

9:00 pm
Ice cream...notice a theme here?

10:30 pm
We go check out the duty free shopping at the Galleria Shops. Find a couple post cards to mail to the kids. They have a special on vodka so we might be heading back!!

11:45 pm
80's music night is on the schedule and keeps me awake tonight. We make our way down to the Dazzles Lounge but Karaoke is still going strong. We grab the only two seats left in the lounge and those are on the window seats along the far wall. Something is just wrong with a mid-20's male singing Cindy Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Yes, I may look like I'm in my mid-20's but NO it was not me singing that song!!! We are not big karaoke fans but it was enjoyable. Finally at 12:10 karaoke ends and they move on to 80's night. 2 songs later it turns into some funky techno club music. So much for jamming to the 80's music.

12:45 am
We stroll along the promenade on deck 7 and find a chair so we can talk and listen to the waves.

1:15 am
Good night.

Blog at Sea: Sunday, May 30

2010-05-31T11:15:00.001-04:00

Sunday, May 30

11:15 am
Said good bye to the beautiful Novotel hotel. Checked-out conveniently on the TV from our room.

11:18 am
Door man found us a cab and helped put our bags in the cab.

11:19 am
Todd cried again.

11:20 am
Jackie takes pictures of Todd trying not to cry. Note: this cab had a TV so we saw the highlights of the Indians beating the Yankees. Go Tribe!! This makes Todd stop crying.

11:35 am
Arrive at the pier and we see the gorgeous Norwegian Dawn up close for the first time. What a beauty!

11:50 am
Porters help collect our luggage and we go inside the terminal to begin our check-in process.

12:15 pm
We complete the check-in process as everything is very organized and efficient. NCL has tables set up where you can sign up for excursions, book spa treatments and even make dinner reservations for the alternate restaurants that have “cover charges”. We select one, Salsa, which has a Tex-Mex menu as we have heard their Lobster Tacos are great. We will find out Monday night!

12:40 pm
We are on board now!!! The staterooms are not quite ready yet, but everyone is occupying themselves with eating lunch, exploring the ship or sitting by the pool. We explore to try and get the layout of the ship stored in our mental map.

2:00 pm
Staterooms are now ready! We get our first look at our ocean view stateroom with a window about 4 foot square. Staterooms are small (less than 200 square feet) but let's just call them cozy instead. Still we have bathroom with a shower stall, computer desk, queen size bed, 2 night stands, dresser, closet with a safe for valuables and a small TV.

4:30 pm
Untie the ropes and off we go!!! There are small personal boats, kayaks and jet-skis everywhere in the Hudson River. The Coast Guard has fun trying to make sure everyone is out of our way. If I was out there and saw this monster moving towards me, the Coast Guard would not have to chase me down to tell me to get out of the way!!

4:50 pm
We wave to the Statue of Liberty as we sail by her. Lots of people on the starboard (right) side of the ship take pictures of her, including us.

5:15 pm
We head to deck 12, the pool deck, and grab an ice cream cone; banana for me and macadamia nut for Jackie. Seeing as sodas (and alcohol) are not included and I cannot live without soda for a week, we find the station where they are selling unlimited Pepsi refills for $6.25 per day. Trust me, they are losing money on me.

5:30 to 9:00 pm
Leisurely walk around listening to the music in the various lounges and by the pool. Spend more time walking around because my mental map is a bit fuzzy. At 90, 000 tons there are quite a bit of things to see and do. Don't know what we would do on one of the newer ships that are nearly twice the size of this one.

9:30 pm
We head for one of the main restaurants, Aqua, for dinner tonight. Dinner on NCL is called Freestyle and there are no reserved dinner times. You just come any time between 5:30 pm and 10:00 pm and they seat you as they would at any normal restaurant back at home.

Jackie enjoys a bowl of French onion soup along with salmon, asparagus and basmati rice. I savor some Florida shrimp scampi, roasted pork loin with apple compote, asparagus and mashed sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, no room for dessert tonight.

10:30 pm
We go for a stroll to walk off our late night dinner. It is a bit chilly inside in the air conditioning so we go outside on the deck. It was a windy night and quite brisk out. We end up back inside listening to music in the lounges again.

11:45 pm
Good night. Time to rest up for Monday!

Blog at sea: Saturday, May 29

2010-05-30T20:17:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Palmer Travel Daily Blog at Sea!!! We have boarded the Norwegian Dawn and we are starting to get settled in. Let's take the time to recap our day of travel to New York City.

Saturday, May 29
3:15 am
My sister and brother-in-law arrive at our house to take us to the train station in Cleveland, Ohio. However, parking is free if you choose to leave your car. We stop by IHOP for breakfast and the pancakes, sausage and eggs were a good start to our day!!

5:05 am
GPS directions have us attending a Cleveland Browns game so we had to navigate a bit for ourselves. The sign for the entrance to the station was hidden behind some overgrown bushes but we found it on the second time. For as many times as I have been to the Cleveland Browns Stadium, I never saw the Amtrak station hiding behind it. The building was small, not much larger than Palmer Travel's office building.

5:15 am
Our train is scheduled for departure at 5:50 am and Amtrak recommends that you arrive 1 hour prior to departure so you can check bags. We were a bit behind because we missed it the first time, but we were still able to check our luggage. Since our tickets were paper tickets, we bypassed the ticket counter. FYI: Electronic tickets need printed by the ticket counter staff so you can present a paper ticket to the conductor on board the train. We check 4 bags at NO CHARGE. Some airlines are charging $25 for the first checked bag and then up to $50 for the second bag.

5:30 am
Baggage check CLOSES and now anyone who arrives has to carry on their luggage.

5:40 am
Train boarding begins. No long security lines to wait through, no shoes being removed and no grumpy TSA security asking if your bags have been loaded with something bad without your knowledge. Everyone just mingles by the train until the staff begins loading. They first ask for travelers who are traveling with 2 or more. Since seats are not assigned on board they allow companions and groups to board first to select seats together and then let the single travelers fill in the seats around them. Their second concern was to move all of the Boston passengers to the front of the train and all the NYC passengers to the back of the train. More on that later.

Seating on this train, Lakeshore Limited, was 2 seats on the left and 2 seats on the right. For 12 hours we were in comfortable, cloth seats with lots of room to stretch out. I am 6'2” tall and I did not have any trouble with leg room, even when the seat in front of me was reclined. Each seat had fold down tray tables, foot rests and leg supports that pop up when you recline the seat. Each set even has electrical outlets so you can plug in all of your electronic gadgets. The only thing I thought was missing was a cup holder for my drink. Note to self: next time do not sit right by the door that leads to the cafe car. There are some hungry folks riding and the constant opening and closing of the train door was a nuisance when we were trying to sleep or work a crossword puzzle.

7:00 am
Yes I am asleep already and wake myself up with a loud snore. Jackie tries to pretend she does not know me.

8:50 am
Decide I am thirsty and, having forgotten my cans of pop at home, I need to go to the cafe car and get a drink. My first experience walking on a moving train. Discover that A) walking on a train is more difficult that I thought or B) IHOP serves really strong “pop” for breakfast.

Prices are high as expected but not much different than on an airplane. $1.75 for a can of Pepsi and $2.75 for a Starbuck's iced coffee. We brought some snacks along so we don't have to buy so much on board.

1:30 pm
We both go for a stagger, I mean stroll, to the cafe car to get some lunch. We settle on a turkey and swiss and a ham sandwich with a couple more pops: $17.25. There are tables and chairs in the cafe car but we opt to go back to our seats and eat there.

2:30 pm
Arrive in Albany NY station. As they split the train in half it is very neat to watch (sorry, we could not get very good pictures of the process though). Front half continues to Boston and the back half goes to NYC. They unhitch the 2 cafe cars right in front of our car and the Boston train takes off. They bring in another engine and hook it to our car and then we continue on to NYC. The whole process took about 20 minutes and then we are back on track (you knew I had to work that in somewhere).

The staff makes numerous announcements about the cafe cars closing at 2:00 pm for the train split. Yet I spend the next 2 hours watching people try to open the door and enter the cafe car only to discover that there is an engine car there instead. One guy actually turns around and asks me, where the cafe car went since he already used it earlier? Ummm, buddy were you sleeping through the announcements and did not feel all the tugging and pushing when they were disconnecting the cars and hooking up the new engine??

6:00 pm
Our first glimpses of NYC. You really don't get to see a lot of the city when you are on the train. You basically enter and exit a series of tunnels to go under the river and finally enter the station underground.

6:15 pm
Enter Pennsylvania Station otherwise known as NY Penn Station. We exit the train and make our way upstairs to claim our luggage and discover what a huge station this is. Everyone is familiar with Grand Central Station, located just a couple blocks over, being busy. However, NY Penn is the busiest train station in North America and we can attest to that. After leaving Cleveland's moderate station and seeing some of the other smaller stations along the route, it was a sight to see NY Penn. It was as big as an airport and shared a lot of the same features such as restaurants, gift shops, currency exchanges, etc.

6:40 pm
Baggage claim has our bags ready. Unlike an airport where you just grab your luggage (or someone else grabs yours by mistake) the Amtrak staff must check your baggage receipts prior to allowing you to exit the baggage claim. We thought the process was pretty slick and really did not take much time with four staff members helping.

6:50 pm
We exit the 8th Avenue exit and right there is a line of taxi cabs waiting. A police officer sees that we need a cab, calls us over, and then helps put our luggage in the cab. Away we go.

6:51 pm
I cried for the first time in a long time. Cars and pedestrians are everywhere and cab drivers, including ours, were driving like NASCAR drivers.

6:52 pm
I cried for the second time.

7:02 pm
We arrive at the hotel, Novotel Hotel Times Square. The hotel sits on 52nd Street and Broadway, right in the middle of the theatre district and only a couple blocks from the famous Times Square. You enter into a small lobby and take 1 of 2 elevators up to the 5th floor to the main check-in and lobby area. Our room is #3203. There are only 2 floors remain above us and 1 of them is the penthouse suites level. Jackie, having a fear of heights, is just thrilled. However, she even admitted that our room had an awesome view of Times Square. It was your typical hotel room; king bed, desk, sitting chair, love seat, closet with small safe, mini-bar, ironing board and iron, etc.

8:00 pm
We are hungry and start walking through the Times Square craziness to get to the Hard Rock Cafe. It is located in the old Paramount Theatre right in the heart of Times Square. Jackie and I have been visiting Hard Rock Cafe's ever since we went to the one in Cleveland after our wedding. We have been to about 7 now and this one was pretty cool.

10:15 pm
Do a little walking around Times Square and go and out of stores to see what all the attraction is. NYC does everything on a grander scale. At home we have a Toys R Us store that is just like any other toy store. Not NYC, theirs is 3 levels of madness with a large ferris wheel right in the middle of the store and costumed characters available to take pictures with.

11:30 pm
After a long day, we grab a couple sweet teas from McDonald's and go back to the hotel.

11:45 pm
Said good night to NYC.

Check back later to see how we enjoyed our first day on the ship.

For pictures of our adventures, please check out our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/palmertravel

Time to dust off the luggage!

2010-05-25T11:15:00.004-04:00

Here it is only 3 plus days until we embark on our journey to New York to catch our ship to Bermuda. We have had this planned for some time now and kept thinking that it is so far away and plenty of time to get ready.

Got out the luggage and cleaned it up the other night and had to decide what to fill it with. Some final items need laundered tonight and then the real packing begins. Shore up the plans with our parents to watch the kids, mow the grass one more time before we leave then check the shopping and packing lists one more time. Finally off to the train station early on Saturday morning.

We cannot wait to experience everything on this vacation from the train to New York City to the Hard Rock Cafe Times Square and of course to the Norwegian Dawn and Bermuda.

Don't forget to check back for our daily blog of our adventures! Chat with you soon from onboard the ship!

Blogger at Sea

2010-05-18T09:42:00.011-04:00

Have you never experienced a cruise but are curious to get an up close look? Never been to Bermuda but always wanted to see the pink beaches? Now is your chance! Our staff member, Todd Langenek, will set sail on Norwegian Cruise Lines' ship, Norwegian Dawn, for Bermuda on May 30. Todd will be posting in this blog (and updating on Facebook) about the ship, life on board and of course about Bermuda with all of it's treasures.

Bermuda has always been a place that has intrigued my wife, Jackie, so naturally when I asked her where she would like to go this summer she selected Bermuda. Jackie does have a fear of flying so selecting Bermuda was a great choice for us as we don't have to fly to get to the pier. We selected NCL's itinerary out of New York (Pier is located in Manhattan) thus within an easy drive from Northeast Ohio. While Jackie has a fear of flying, I have a fear of driving our car in the demolition derby that is NYC traffic. We decided to neither fly nor drive but we are taking the Amtrak train to New York. We can't wait to experience train travel as this will be a first for us both. The train operates direct from Cleveland to New York City ending in Manhattan. We will have pictures and details of the train trip and our overnight stay in Times Square for our first at sea blog to share with you all.

The cruise itinerary will spend 2 days at sea, 3 days in Bermuda and 1 more day at sea on the return to New York. We will have plenty of time to experience the wonderful ship, Norwegian Dawn, and look forward to being your eyes aboard this great ship.

Make sure you check back often starting May 30 as we will update at least daily but hopefully more often as time permits. We aim to bring you closer to the Freestyle of cruising that is NCL and the charming destination of Bermuda. Won't you come along for this outstanding journey?

Talk to you soon!

Will The Airline Fees Ever Stop?

2010-04-13T10:46:00.002-04:00

Recent years have seen airlines charge for things that used to be free. Checked bags, food and standby travel are just a few that come to mind.

RyanAir, a European value airline, announced this week that they will begin to remodel their aircraft to have coin operated bathrooms on board. They will begin charging 1 Euro or approximately $1.50 USD to answer the call of nature. Their theory is that with a charge for bathroom use more travelers will make sure they do so before boarding the plane. Their hope is that they will be able to reduce the number of restrooms from 3 down to 1 on a plane (carrying up to 189 passengers) and then be able to add even more seats.

RyanAir's average ticket cost is less than $100USD but the fees sure do add up quickly. RyanAir adds this latest charge to their long list of fee related services. They charge extra for purchasing tickets via the phone or at ticket counters, checking in online, they have an administration fee just for using their airline, checked bag fees that cost even more if you travel during the peak season, infant fees, excess weight baggage fees along with the normal ticket change fees.

Domestically, Spirit Airlines is now charging up to $45 to have a CARRY-ON bag. They are trying to encourage travelers to travel light. While RyanAir's fares are inexpensive for the marketplace, Spirit's fares are lower than most carriers but by the time you pay for your carry-on bag it is about the same as traveling another airline.

The US Government is looking into the Spirit Airlines decision to charge for carry-on luggage so not sure where that is heading. But just prepare yourself for other airlines to get involved in the carry-on bag charges too.

With the ever increasing airline fees let's all hope the high speed rail system comes along in a hurry!

Helpful Tips For Taking To The High Seas

2010-03-23T10:36:00.003-04:00

The following is a list of helpful tips that ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) put together and we added some information as well. We thought this might be helpful to those who may be considering a cruise but have some concerns. Hopefully this will help ease those concerns.

With many cruise lines offering specials, there's no time like the present to discover why taking to the high seas was a favorite of more than 13.4 million people in 2009. Booking a vacation should be as relaxing as the vacation itself; the tips below and our experience will make for an easy booking process.

"With literally hundreds of ships and itineraries from which to choose, there truly is a cruise for everyone," said ASTA President and Chair Chris Russo. "But selecting the right cruise involves more than just picking your cabin; there are numerous factors to consider. It's not a one-size-fits-all vacation. Working with a travel consultant who specializes in cruises can make all the difference, ensuring that your first time on the high seas won't be your last."

Chart your course! Your first task is to decide where you want to go and for how long. Cruises offer everything from one- or two-night excursions to journeys that take you around the world in 100 days. Three-day weekend, four-day midweek, week and two-week cruises are the most popular. Palmer Travel has the experience to guide you towards the perfect cruise for both your travel desires and your budget.

Cabin with a view. If you plan to spend significant time in your cabin, choose the biggest room you can afford. Standard cabins have twin beds, which can usually be converted into a queen-sized bed, while bunk beds in other rooms cannot be converted. Some ocean view cabins will have obstructed views due to lifeboats and other equipment. While the obstructed cabins may offer you a better price, Palmer Travel staff will advise you of the unobstructed view cabin price as well.

Travel insurance - better safe than sorry. Travel insurance is a small price to pay for peace of mind. A policy is not only for trip cancellations but also can cover missed connections, lost or delayed baggage, emergency medical and dental expenses and emergency legal assistance. Trip cancellation and interruption insurance will cover you from the time that you purchase your cruise until you return from the trip. Most travelers will believe that they will not have to cancel their trip and would like to save the cost of the insurance. That is until the UNEXPECTED happens and they become ill at the last minute and their doctor advises that they cannot travel. Now they have lost all the money they invested into their cruise because they did not have travel insurance protection.

What's free and what costs? The price of your ticket will include your cabin, on-board entertainment, departure taxes & port charges and food. Other items to consider when budgeting your trip include: alcoholic beverages, bottled water and occasionally soft drinks; on-board extras, such as gambling, spas, massages and ship-to-shore calls; and tips for the ship's crew.

Land, ho! Whenever your ship stops at a port of call, you have three options: stay on board, explore by yourself or take a ship excursion. We can discuss with you your what you really want to see and do while in port and give you advice about the best way to do experience it. The cruise lines have a vast array of shore excursions that are sure to meet your desires.

Safety first. Overall, cruising is a very safe way to travel, as ships must follow an extraordinary number of rules and regulations and are subject to rigorous quarterly inspection. Safety drills are practiced within the first 24 hours of sailing, where you'll learn how to put on your life jacket and locate your assigned lifeboat. When in port, don't draw attention to yourself with flashy jewelry and large amounts of cash. Use common sense just as you would on any other vacation.

Get your sea legs. Seasickness is less common nowadays as the ship's immense size and state-of-the-art motion stabilizers control gentle rocking. Once on board, spend some time on deck and focus on a fixed point of the horizon to help you adjust and get your sea legs quickly.

Be prepared for emergencies. Be sure to pack your complete health information with you on your trip, with your medical history, your insurance information, contact person in case of emergency, blood type and list of allergies, medications and immunizations.

Call Palmer Travel today and let us get you out on the high seas!

Passport fees set to increase

2010-03-10T15:32:00.003-05:00

By now you know that to travel outside of the United States you will need a passport. Gone are the days of driving to Canada or a quick weekend flight to the Bahamas with just your birth certificate and driver license. Well, soon enough it will be time to dig deeper into your pockets to obtain that much needed travel document.

The U.S. Department of State charges fees for its consular services related to processing passport and visas. After a recent study indicated that the government is not fully covering its costs for providing the services, the Dept of State has proposed a new fee structure to offset those costs.

The total proposed cost of a new passport will increase from $100 to $135 for adults and from $85 to $105 for minors. Renewals will increase from $75 to $110 for adults and from $60 to $80 for minors. Travelers needing extra visa pages will soon pay $82. Currently, this service is free. The fees for passport cards will be increasing as well.

While no firm date has been set for implementation, the U.S. Department of State is taking public comments through early March. Once they have had time to review those comments they intend to proceed with the rate increase.

We strongly urge all travelers to apply for their passports as soon as possible. If you are a first time applicant, you will have to make an appointment at the Passport Office at your local Post Office. Both first time applicants and renewals can download the necessary forms from our website.

Should you have any questions or comments we would be glad to hear from you.

Happy Travels.

Information for this article obtained from www.regulations.gov. Please visit the website for more detailed information.

Romantic Rhine River Cruise Review

2009-12-11T12:50:00.013-05:00

ROMANTIC RHINE RIVER CRUISE on the MS AVALON CREATIVITY

by Lisa Palmer Shall

MS Avalon Creativity

Is there any better way to see Germany and France than by sailing on the “Romantic Rhine River?”

Upon arriving in Amsterdam, Netherlands from our overnight transatlantic flight, we were transferred to our beautiful and brand new vessel, the MS AVALON CREATIVITY. After settling in our spacious cabin, we opened our floor to ceiling sliding glass doors to a totally unobstructed panoramic view. What a great way to see the countryside when sailing down the Rhine!

View from cabin

Before leaving Amsterdam the next morning we boarded our canal boat to cruise through the elegant canals of the city of Amsterdam, also known as the Venice of the North.

Amsterdam, Netherlands (Holland)

Sailing through the night, we arrived in Cologne, Germany in the morning. Guten Tag! (Good Morning). This morning we will be taking a guided walking tour of the city and will visit the gothic Cathedral “Dome” with all of its intricate and ornate detail. Afterwards we will take time to shop and perhaps try a “Kolsch,” the favorite local beer in one of the many taverns.

Cathedral in Cologne

Everyday begins with a plentiful breakfast buffet with such a selection and variety of goodies! Arriving this morning in Koblenz, Germany and after a hearty breakfast we’re off for a tour of the town—each of these cities having their own unique personalities and history. This fascinating city is nearly 2000 years old. Departing Koblenz this afternoon we set sail for the quaint town of Rudesheim, Germany. To reach Rudesheim we sail through the dramatic Rhine Gorge, the most beautiful stretch of the river with so many castles and vineyards to see along the way.

Before mentioning our next stop, Mannheim, Germany, I want to brag about the wonderful dinner selections, and, of course, the ice cream desserts prepared by the dessert chef. Yum! Yum! Not to mention the workout room onboard where you can work off at least some of the calories.

In Mannheim we motorcoached to Heidelberg, Germany where we visited the ruins of the Heidelberg Castle. One of the points of interest at the castle was the giant vat, an 18th century wine cask holding 49 thousand gallons of wine!! WOW!

View of Heidelberg Castle from town

Heidelberg Castle

Well, back to the ship for dinner and an evening of entertainment.

Bonjour! (Hello)
This morning we arrive in Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is situated on the border of France and Germany and is influenced by the culture of both countries and is the capital of the Alsace region. We took an optional tour to the Alsace countryside to visit one of its wine farms. The next morning we arrive in Breisach, Germany which also sits on the French-German border and is the gateway to Germany’s Black Forest Region. We travel by motorcoach to the house of the Black Forest Clocks that sits up in the mountains of the Black Forest. The most well know products of this region are the Black Forest Ham and the Black Forest Cherry Cake which we all sampled, of course.

House of Black Forest Clocks

We returned back to the Creativity for lunch and then got ready to go out for our last tour of the cruise to Colmar, France. This was one of my favorite little towns! It was Saturday night and we were on our walking tour around Colmar. The atmosphere was like out of a movie--many people out walking and biking around town, street musicians playing French music and many wonderful patisseries and chocolatiers along the way.

Colmar, France

Upon returning to this beautiful ship for our last evening, I reminisced about my experiences on the river cruise and everything we did and saw.

What a great cruise! A relaxing and exciting way to travel across Europe without packing and unpacking on a riverboat with only 68 cabins and a shore excursion included at each port of call!

**See Lisa's full photo album on our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Palmer-Travel/154981672453?ref=mf

Customer Comments

2009-11-13T14:23:00.003-05:00

Palmer Travel is not a company that likes to toot it’s own horn, however we are very proud of our service to our community for over 100 years! We take pride in the level of commitment we take to ensure that we have customers who enjoy their vacations. We continually educate our staff through office training, online training and first hand onsite inspections so that our staff can provide our customers with the best experience from the moment they contact our office.

Below are just a few comments from customers who have personally experienced and enjoyed the benefits of working with Palmer Travel.

***************

Lisa,

I wanted to thank you for planning this trip for us. It was much less stressful than any trip we've planned before and you've really provided me with quite an experience. I hope we get to use you and your company for a long time.

Mehnaz C.
Chicago, IL

***************

Palmer Travel has guided me regularly through the maze of often confusing airlines and their ever-changing regulations. I fly often and the folks at Palmer, particularly Zulie and Todd, have always been quick to help, follow through and go the extra mile. Thank you all so much.

Ray G.
Canton, OH

***************

Hi Lisa,

Just wanted to thank you for everything you did to help to make our trip go so well! We had a fantastic time and enjoyed every minute of it!

We will definitely highly recommend you and your agency to anyone we have the opportunity to. It was a pleasure dealing with you. You made everything very simple and easy for us.
We thought Qantas did a fantastic job with our tour. We were so pleased with everything! The hotels, the buses, the tours, even the bus drivers were wonderful! We thought they did a great job at planning things so as to not exhaust you too bad, but yet squeeze a lot of wonderful things in to the trip!

New Zealand is an unbelievably beautiful country with so many awesome natural wonders! The people there were by far the nicest people we have ever encountered in our travels! If you have clients in the future interested in going there you shouldn't hesitate to recommend it! You are always welcome to give our name and number to anyone thinking of going that would like to speak to us!

Thanks again. You really helped to make our trip a fantastic experience! We sure hope we will have the opportunity to work with in the future!

Kim T.
North Canton, OH

***************

Your service was awesome. I generally plan trips online but this made me remember why I love using a travel agent. Thanks Todd!!

Barb D.
North Canton, OH

Travelers' Tales: Ireland

2009-10-14T11:44:00.009-04:00

The following review is from a valuable and long time client of Palmer Travel, Tim and Cathy Faherty. They have traveled with Palmer Travel quite a bit over the years and we thought we would tap into their experiences from one of their favorite destinations: Ireland. We are sure you will enjoy.

Ireland: As seen through the eyes of Tim and Cathy Faherty

Ireland, the land of James Joyce and Oscar Wilde, when at one time it was said “…only the river runs free…”

Our personal experience, my wife Cathy and I, has been outstanding, on escorted tours and self-drive arrangements. In addition to being very personable, our tour directors were outstanding as were the local guides. The driving can also be an unusual experience but once on the road, it becomes more comfortable.

Most of its history deals with wars and persecution, religious and political. Having no army or military might of any kind, it had been a target for many European nations. Only lately has it approached modernity in terms of justice and self-government. It may be the last of the western states to do so.

Our first Ireland adventure was in 1998 and we have re-visited seven times. Of course we have done the “touristy things”, i.e. kissing the Blarney Stone, shopping at Waterford Crystal and the Beleek pottery factory. We visited the Guiness Brewery, Trintiy College with the irreplaceable Book of Kells, the Cliffs of Mohr and many other historic sites. In Galway Bay, on the little island of Inishmoor, we even discovered family and think these contacts will result in relationships to last for generations.

Galway Bay

From the Temple Bar area in Dublin, The Giant Causeway in Northern Ireland, Kinsale and Loop Head in the south and southwest, we have never experienced an unpleasant moment. The people are sincere in their friendship and they admire many things American, most of all, personal freedom, and many of their laws mimic ours.

Durty Nelly's Pub

Their literacy rate is almost 100% and the number of companies having offices there includes the largest communication companies in the world, computer companies, and other high-tech operations. Having said that, it must be noted that in the west they still speak and teach the Irish language.

We saw through the years how the political “troubles” have been dissolved and all the border guards between the two Irelands are gone. The only way to tell you have left the Republic of Ireland is when you pay for purchases; you now pay in English Pounds instead of Euros.

Bunratty Castle

At our first meeting at the Irish airport, we were asked why we were there. I explained that we hoped to have some fun. The immigration officer said rather authoritatively…”be about it now lad…” We have and we will.

We must specifically thank Char and Mustafa - Palmer Travel associates. If it was not for their generous supply of patience and information, we may not have gone.

Creed Of The Peaceful Traveler

2009-09-24T10:19:00.002-04:00

Grateful for the opportunity to travel and experience the world and because peace begins with the individual, I affirm my personal responsibility and commitment to:
· Journey with an open mind and gentle heart
· Accept with grace and gratitude the diversity I encounter
· Revere and protect the natural environment which sustains life
· Appreciate all cultures I discover
· Respect and thank my hosts for their welcome
· Offer my hand in friendship to everyone I meet
· Support travel services that share these views and act upon them and,
· By my spirit, words and actions, encourage others to travel the world in peace

Celebrity Cruise Lines Solstice

2009-09-04T10:28:00.013-04:00

Review by Lisa Palmer Shall

SOLSTICE, Celebrity Cruise Lines newest class of ship is absolutely elegant and architecturally stunning! I had the opportunity to sail on her along with the travel media and other travel agents before her maiden voyage on November 23, 2008.

Celebrity’s Solstice has a range of unique features such as the Lawn Club with real grass, so well manicured that you want to touch it to see if it is real, where you can play croquet or bocce ball. Or even a bigger attraction is the “Hot Glass Show” in partnership with the Corning Museum of Glass. They have actual demonstrations in the art of glassblowing called the “2300 Show”, referring to the heat of the oven. The show runs three times a day and once at night.

Another great thing about the Solstice is how well it is organized. Specifically, the pools and spa are located on deck 12 and the two-level Aqua Spa and treatment rooms all located on deck 11 with a Persian Garden sauna and relaxation area. Next-door is the Fitness Center, which has an assortment of cutting edge exercise equipment. The guests in the Aqua Spa staterooms have special access to the spa lounges, extra cabin amenities and their own dedicated restaurant, Blu, which serves lighter fare.

The Solstice has such a wide range of dining options, the Silk Harvest which serves Asian fare, the Tuscan Grill an Italian steakhouse, the Murano, a French restaurant, the two-level Grand Espernay, which is the main dining room and the casual Bistro that offers sandwiches, crepes and salads 6:00AM-2:00AM. The spacious buffet restaurant called the Ocean Café offers a huge variety of food. You can find just about anything there - seafood, steaks, pizza and so much more. The restaurant called Blu, which is mentioned above, is a beautiful white room with a rose sculptured wall (live white roses)! Guests in suites and the Aqua Spa staterooms are given priority for the two dining times, which makes it the first mainstream American cruise ship with a class system for dining. Oh, I forgot to mention Café al Bacio where you can enjoy an espresso or Italian gelato!!!

After dining you can head to the ships main shopping venues called the Galleria Boutiques conveniently located on deck 5. There you will find unique fashions, leather goods and beautiful jewelry, including the Solstice Diamond, a gem designed specifically for the vessel.

The entertainment venue onboard the Solstice consists of a series of bars, clubs and theaters. The Solstice Theater offers 3 different shows in the 2 level circular theater. Nearby is Celebrity Central, a smaller cabaret-like theater featuring comedians and other acts. Quasar is the ships somewhat retro-modern disco. The Fortunes Casino has a full range of slots and table games. Some other venues include the Martini Bar featuring an iced bar top, and the Cellar Masters, offering wine tastings.

Another major feature of the ship is its atrium, which rises 13 decks through the center of the vessel. On deck 7 there is an exhibit called Team Earth sponsored by Conservation International.

Now let’s talk about my stateroom. It had a large off-white leather couch, a very comfortable designer bed, a 32-inch flat screen TV and a nice size balcony with 2 two chairs and a table. The bathroom was also nice size with a larger shower and a designer sink.

I can say that anyone who sails on the beautiful Celebrity Solstice is in for an awesome treat! E-mail me today for your chance to see this ship for yourself! lisa@palmertravel.com

A recent letter from a client

2009-08-18T12:00:00.006-04:00

The following is a letter our office received from the daughter of our client. She sent this letter to us after her parents' trip to France had some bumps and we worked to straighten them out.

*************************************************

Mustafa and the Wonderful Palmer Travel Family,

It is with heartfelt thanks that I send you this note regarding our recent experience with Palmer Travel.

As you know, my parents have relied on your services for many years, with tremendous satisfaction. During their recent trip to Paris and the South of France, they encountered some unforeseen difficulty, from missing flights, to flight delays. As my daughter was also traveling in Europe at the time, and meeting up with her Grandparents, I was very concerned about everyone's safety. As things would have it, I had missing parents, and a daughter with travel issues, as well.

One call to Palmer Travel, and the network of care and professional service was put into place. Everyone at your Agency got involved, and showed genuine concern. My parents and daughter proceeded with an amazing trip, and returned home safely.

Had it not been for the ability to call you and have your help, they all may still be in turmoil.

I cannot express my thanks and appreciation for all of your time and generosity. At a time when people are booking travel online, I feel there is no better reason to reinforce the need to travel through an agency, such as Palmer Travel. The ability to speak with caring and trustworthy individuals, and knowing you will be taken care of appropriately, is worth more than words can express.

My thanks go out to all of you, and hope others will realize the VALUE in booking their travels through you!!!

Sincerely,
Robin Capaldi Ford DDS

Still Confused About Passport Requirements?

2009-07-07T09:56:00.004-04:00

Beginning June 1, 2009 ALL PERSONS traveling by air, land and sea outside of the United States are required to present a passport book or passport card to enter or re-enter the United States. There has been much confusion on the difference between the new passport card and a traditional passport book.

Here is a simple way to know which document you will need based on your mode of transportation.

U.S. Passport – This is an internationally recognized travel document that verifies a person’s identity and nationality. It is accepted for travel by air, land and sea. The passport book is good for all travel outside the U.S. regardless of the destination and method of transportation.

U.S. Passport Card – This is a new, limited-use travel document that fits in your wallet and costs less than a U.S. Passport. It is only valid for travel by land and sea. The card is not permitted for air travel regardless of the circumstances. For example, if you have a passport card and traveling on a cruise to the Caribbean and had to disembark the ship to return home part way through the cruise. You would not be permitted to board an aircraft to fly home to the U.S. with the card as it is only valid for LAND and SEA travel.

Both the card and the book are valid for 10 years but the prices are different. The book will cost approximate $100 per adult and the card will cost approximate $45 per adult.

We recommend obtaining the book since it is valid for air travel in addition to the land or sea travel. You may plan a driving vacation to Canada this year so you purchase the passport card. What happens two or three years down the road when you have to fly and your passport card is not valid for that trip? Don't limit yourself, obtain the passport book.

If you still have questions or concerns about either the passport book or card, please call our office today for assistance. 800-627-1208 or 330-966-2252. Visit our website to download your passport application. http://www.palmertravel.com

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-03T13:58:00.003-04:00

On behalf of the entire family of Palmer Travel, we would like to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July. If you are staying home for a picnic or on the road traveling, enjoy and be safe.

Don't forget that it is not too early to start reserving your Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday vacations! Call or email our staff today.

You're Invited!!!

2009-02-23T11:28:00.004-05:00

Palmer Travel invites you to join us for a presentation of two unique products from Collette Vacations.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Adventures - value priced learning vacations worldwide and Explorations by Collette - a collection of smaller, more personal travel experiences.

Both products offer smaller sized groups, approximately 16-24 passengers, and are geared towards a more cultural experience of your destination. Special destination experts are brought in to speak about various topics in order to enhance your vacation experience. Also enjoy personalized and exotic travel experiences, including wine tours, boutique accommodations, food demonstrations and interactions with locals.

Enjoy destinations such as the New England Area, California Wine Country, Italy, Galapagos Islands, Africa, Peru and many more!

If you would like more information on these two outstanding products, please join us:
MONDAY, MARCH 16 at 6:00 pm

Location: Palmer Travel, 5366 Fulton Drive NW, Canton OH 44718

Light refreshments will be provided. Space is limited and reservations are first come, first served!

Please RSVP: 330-966-2252, 1-800-627-1208 or email info@palmertravel.com

Brief description of some experiences you will enjoy with Explorations by Collette:
California’s Wine Country takes passengers to the Kendall Jackson Wine Center for a tour of the winery, and on a cellar tour of Korbel. Hidden Treasures of the Maritimes tour provides an opportunity to sample L’Acadie Blanc, a wine produced from a rare grape found only in Nova Scotia, and Ice Wine, the fine dessert wine. Italy’s Treasures includes a cooking class in a winery with a tasting. Clients also can discover South Australia’s wines during tastings at two Barossa Valley wineries on Australian Adventure. Naturally New Zealand includes two nights in the art-deco village of Napier with a winery visit.

Dining experiences include dinner in the oldest tavern in the United States on New England’s Coastlines which also features a lobster feast. On Plains of Africa, travelers experience a traditional dinner in the bush with Masai entertainment. A typical Bedouin lunch in the Wadi Rum is a highlight on the Journey through Jordan & Egypt tour. Cooking demonstrations are included in The Roof of the World: China and Tibet tour the Authentic Ireland tour. The Hidden Treasures of the Maritimes tour includes a visit to Nova Scotia’s western shore and a cooking class with an award-winning chef on how to cook Digby scallops.

The programs also include distinctive accommodations. Italy’s Treasures includes four nights in a Tuscan Villa and a stay in a castle on the Italian Riviera. On Treasures of Spain, clients stay in Paradors, where former castles, fortresses and monasteries have been transformed into hotels and reflect the area’s history and culture. The Plains of Africa tour includes two nights at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club, once William Holden’s private retreat.

Traveler's Tales

2009-01-20T09:47:00.004-05:00

From time to time we will feature an article as written by one of our clients. This gives our readers a chance to hear tales of travel from someone other than our staff, someone who has recently visited a destination and wants to share his or her experience with other travelers. This article is written by Dr. Prab Gill whose family completed a journey through Turkey.

TURKEY IN OUR EYES
Exotic, colorful and unexpected are all apt descriptors for Turkey. The culture is layered with enough of the contemporary to feel familiar, and yet harmoniously coexisting is an exotic Ottoman Turks-derived culture. To attempt describing it would fall short of describing the intrigue and beauty that it evokes; however, we do hope that we will mention enough to make you want to visit Turkey and assemble experiences that will leave you enriched.

Our van driver, after spending half a day with us, felt like part of the family. In spite of us not being able to understand much Turkish we were communicating just fine, don’t ask me how. He took upon himself to extend his role to be a guide and furthermore pulled us over to enjoy a Turkish coffee and bottled water for the kids, and this was “on him”, he would not let me pay. The generosity and capacity to care is what I will remember most about Turkish people.

We spent five nights in Kusadasi and took the opportunity to enjoy the Aegean Sea shore as well as visit Ephesus, Virgin Mary’s shrine where she apparently spent her final years, as well as visit countryside attractions. Visiting Turkey is to witness earliest Christian history. Some of the mosaics in Istanbul were awe inspiring, vibrant and huge in presence. Being in their presence was an experience that is truly unique. Of course, Istanbul was not short of an extraordinary experience. It is steeped in history spanning from the times preceding Christ and extending to contemporary times. The mosques, in their beauty, were difficult to be prepared for. The colors of Turkish carpets and the spice bazaar was something we all enjoyed.

Dr. Gill and his family in front of Saint Sophia

We are vegetarians and the dining experience was simply extraordinary. We enjoyed eggplant dishes that could not be imagined, yogurt dishes and not to mention the fresh vegetables, grape leaves and olives. Go to Turkey and you will understand why ours was an inspiring and memorable vacation. The picture is taken in front of the famous worship place, The Blue Mosque, in Istanbul.

In closing, I must say that Mustafa is the man to guide you in your international excursions.

Season's Greetings

2008-12-19T16:48:00.003-05:00

The staff of Palmer Travel would like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season. Enjoy the moments and cherish the memories.

Wishing you blessings for a healthy and happy 2009!!

Alaska, The Inside Passage

2008-12-10T09:34:00.013-05:00

By Charlene Stertzbach

My husband and I recently returned from an Inside Passage Alaska cruise. What a wonderful place everyone should get a chance to experience at least once in a lifetime.

You can see enormous, translucent-blue glaciers as they calve huge chunks into the bays of the Inside Passage. You can sail through steep, misty fjords, and seemingly endless waterfalls. You can hike through temperate rainforest, looking out over ice fields. You can be adventurous, or relax and take in the most breathtaking scenery you’ll ever experience.

The cruise I traveled on visited Juneau, Glacier Bay, Sitka and Victoria British Columbia.
Juneau, Alaska’s capitol sits at the base of snow-capped alpine peaks, surrounded by mountains and natural splendor on the Gastineau Channel, where it meets the Inside Passage. There is a good chance to see Orcas and Humpback whales breaching in the waters right beside downtown. A must see is a Mendenhall Glacier, on one many of the tours cruise lines offer.

Hubbard Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias national park, the largest in North America, is a magical place with hundreds of waterfalls. The 6 mile wide, 40 story glacier is actually growing faster than any other glacier on the continent. You can hear the loud rumble and see the mighty crash known as calving in to Yakutat Bay.

Hubbard Glacier

Sitka Alaska is perhaps the most beautiful small town on the Inside Passage I visited. On an island exposed to the outer edge of the Inside Passage. Sitka is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and has one of the most picturesque harbors. Many of the tours revolve around the areas unique heritage, a combination of Native Tlingit and Russian cultures. You can see the onion shaped Russian Orthodox churches and folk dance performers. A must see is the many Totem Poles.

Sitka, Alaska

Ketchikan, Alaska is a quaint town near the southern end of Alaska's Inside Passage. From the docks, it is a short walk to the downtown area known as Creek Street, where historic wooden shops overhang a crystal-clear stream. If you arrive in late summer, the stream will be teaming with huge salmon on their way to spawn. A wonderful port to fish, whale watch, or even zip line through the rain forest.

Victoria BC is another beautiful city located on Vancouver Island in Canada's British Columbia. Due to its year-round temperate climate Victoria is known as the "City of Gardens". It is truly one of the most beautiful cities you will ever visit, with its 19th Century architecture, countless gardens, sparkling waterfront and many brew pubs. It's a place you'll want to return to again and again.

Alaska cruises start in May and end in September, making for a short time to travel to this beautiful destination.

Call Palmer Travel (800-627-1208) to book your Alaska today!!

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

2008-10-30T13:08:00.006-04:00

I know you are all enjoying the beautiful fall weather but, now is the time to start thinking about booking your winter ski trip. My husband and I love Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Known for its world class skiing, Steamboat trademarked the name “Ski Town USA” as a testament to its skiing roots and the generations of Olympic athletes. Steamboat Springs is enriched with the legendary cowboy lifestyle that is still alive and well in the Yampa Valley. I have included a picture of the famous barn you will see on the front of a lot of Steamboat brochures and ads.

Steamboat is located on the windward side of the Park Range just before the Continental Divide, so the snow-laden clouds from the Pacific have to dump their snow on Steamboat in order to get over the mountains. On average, Steamboat gets 27 feet of snow each year. The best time to hit the slopes for some of Steamboat’s famous champagne powder is in January. Winter season usually begins about the 3rd week in November and goes through mid April. During this season Steamboat Mountain is open 8:30AM to 4:00PM daily.

Steamboat is one of the largest and most diverse ski areas in Colorado. Featuring 3000 skiable acres of terrain, the mountain has great tree skiing, wide open meadows, long bump runs and groomed cruisers, so something for all levels of skill.

For those that don’t ski there are a number of things to do. Take a balloon ride over the valley. It is spectacular! Maybe a sleigh ride dinner, tubing, ice skating, horseback riding would be your choice. Take a snowmobile tour, or if fly-fishing is your cup of tea they offer winter fly-fishing and much, much more.

Believe it or not Steamboat was originally a summer vacation town offering numerous family activities such as mountain biking, fly-fishing, white water rafting or hiking on the endless trails.
So whether you go in the winter or summer you can end your day relaxing in the wonderful natural hot springs!

Call Palmer Travel (800-627-1208) today for your ski package at Steamboat Springs!

Lisa Palmer Shall