In the summer of 2007, our family went on one of my all time favorite cruises. Traveling with extended family and friends always makes a trip extra special, and in this case, we had the added enrichment of returning to the home of my gorgeous wife's grandfather. (I was referring to Julie as gorgeous, although I don't intend to imply that old Nick wasn't a Greek god in his own right when he set out for America as a young man.)
With a full day on the isle of Crete, the idea was to rush off the ship, snag a cab and head to the hillsides above Chania to see Grandpa Nick's village and find some long lost cousins. As it turned out, they never made it to the village, but they enjoyed a generally enjoyable day touring the countryside of Crete.
I won't say I had an Oracle's premonition that they would not meet their cousins face-to-face, but I had a feeling it might meet with some frustration, leading me to join my oldest daughter Gina and brother-in-law Rollie exploring the ancient Minoan ruins of Knossos near Heraklion. Our jovial trio had an amazing time.
Reunited with the others back on the ship, we celebrated throughout a great evening.
While we enjoyed highlights literally every day, Julie was disappointed to have not met her cousins, and we vowed to return. As luck would have it, this coming season Royal Caribbean announced that the incredible Navigator of the Seas will dock in the village of Chania on her seven night voyages in the summer of 2011, and our die was cast.*
Here's the amazing itinerary visiting some of the greatest places in history with prices starting at just $749 per person:
15-May Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 5:00 PM
16-May Messina (Sicily), Italy 10:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked
17-May Cruising
18-May Piraeus (Athens), Greece 7:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked
19-May Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey 7:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked
20-May Chania, Crete, Greece 6:30 AM 3:00 PM Docked
21-May Cruising
22-May Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 5:00 AM
*As my brain works, I wondered how the word die would be spelled in the phrase, "the die is now cast."
According to my research, when Julius Caesar acted to bring his Legion across the Rubicon River into Rome in violation of the law, he said, "Iacta alea est" which means "the die is now cast," referring to the singular of dice. In other words, he had now gambled by throwing the dice, and as any craps player will tell you, there aren't do-overs until the bets have been paid. This seems most likely, but some say the phrase is "the dye is now cast," meaning the dye or ink has been thrown in the water and it has thus changed permanently. If the Latin translation is correct, then the former must be true, although the latter also makes sense. In the case of what I meant, it is more like throwing the dice. We would like to go on that cruise, so I set up a group, gambling that perhaps, if we go, perhaps you would like to join us. 
I went with the least expensive date, with inside rooms starting at $749 per person and balconies from just $1199 per person, but if more people could go on a date other than May 15, 2011, we can look into an alternative roll of the dice. Would you like to join us on an amazing voyage from Rome?
