Friday, May 26, 2006

Cruise, Day 1: Embarkation


The other day I mentioned that we'll be on a 12-night Scandinavia and Russia Cruise this stint in Europe. It starts today! We fly from Hannover to London at 6:30a and then take a van with others to nearby Harwich for embarkation on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas (click on parts of the ship to see what's there :)



As you can see from our itinerary, there are 6 main cities we'll see, with one/two excursions each day:

26-May: Harwich, England (5:00p Boarding)
27-May: At Sea
28-May: Oslo, Norway (7:00a - 4:00p Docked)
29-May: Copenhagen, Denmark (8:00a - 7:00p Docked)
30-May: At Sea
31-May: Stockholm, Sweden (9:00a - 5:00p Docked)
01-Jun: Helsinki, Finland (9:00a - 6:00p Docked)
02-Jun: St. Petersburg, Russia (7:00a Docked)
03-Jun: St. Petersburg, Russia (6:00p Docked)
04-Jun: Tallinn, Estonia (8:00a - 4:00p Docked)
05-Jun: At Sea
06-Jun: At Sea
07-Jun: Harwich, England (7:00a Departure)

When I asked Donica what she most looked forward to, she said "REST!" We have done 2 Royal Caribbean cruises before (7-nights to Alaska's Inside Passage and 10 nights to New England/Canada), so we know more or less what to expect. Rest for Donica means the entertainment shows, playing Bingo, the Casino, sitting out on the balcony, taking it all in, reading and listening to her iPod while at sea. And of course, the shore excursions!

All the above for me, too, since we do those things together. Plus, we both will have our laptops, so, yes, I plan to keep up with my blog, giving you a running commentary of sorts as I am able. I certainly don't want to leave it all until after it's over!

Bon voyage to all of us because, of course, I know y'all wanna come with us!

14 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm the first to comment and to wish you both lots of rest and fun. Sounds like a fabulous trip! Looking forward to read your experiences!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bon voyage, my dears! Have a wonderful time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We will be so close, yet so far!! I think it's ironic we are both travelling the exact same days. Have great fun, and we'll swap pics upon our return. :)

    Luvs to Donica

    ReplyDelete
  4. What lucky ladies, both of you! I went to Copenhagen but didn't see the other ones. And St-Petersburg! When I went to Europe, in 1986, was still Leningrad. I am eager to see your account and your pictures of this marvelous cruise

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bon voyage! Enjoy and rest! Love to you both!

    ReplyDelete
  6. CS: You are first indeed! Thanks for your good wishes.

    Christina: We're on the ship and are getting ready to sail and have already had a blast :)

    Mrs. M/Shari: Yes, I know--both in Europe. Until tomorrow morning, we're in the same time zone, like when you're in Sarasota and we're in Atlanta!

    Mei: We feel very lucky indeed. St. Petersburg/Leningrad will be the highligtht of the trip, I'm quite sure!

    Ruth: Thanks!

    Gustav: I will definitely wave while we're in Copenhagen! Too bad it's still quite far away from where you live. It would have been wonderful to meet you in real life :)

    Jozee: You're in!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It would not have occurred to me, but you must have wireless on the ship, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I hope you and Donica have a wonderful, wonderful time on your cruise. I'm looking forward to the updates!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I didn't realize you were taking your laptop! So glad that we can still "hear" from you. Can't wait to see all the pictures! Have a GREAT time! Love you both . . .

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had fun clicking on that ship...I have no doubt that you are going to have a wonderful time !! I am looking forward to 'my holiday' with you :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bon Voyage! Looking forward to seeing all the wonderful photos you'll share with us!

    ReplyDelete
  12. ok - I'm like the last one... Sorry been so busy...

    But I can't wait to hear how things are going! visiting so many places at once...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tell me what you think of Sweden and Finland!!! Swede and i are moving there in two years! WE are moving to Lulea? It's far north in Sweden. We'll only be 100 miles from Finland, so I am hoping to learn Swedish and Finnish and teach them when I return to the states!

    La vida es bella, no?

    ReplyDelete

Texel Island, NL, 2024: Renovations

  To be honest, I thought I had already posted about our January trip to start some renovations in Jaap's bungalow, as a gift from Astri...