Santorini: July, 2007

In the 2005 movie “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” a teenager named Lena rides a donkey up the steep hill to visit her grandparents in scenic Santorini.

The part of Lena is played by Alexis Bledel, who for several years played Rory Gilmore on one of our family’s favorite shows, “The Gilmore Girls,” which undoubtedly helped my youngest daughter Amy relate to her Greek vacation.

When Amy learned we would be visiting Santorini, she insisted she would ride the donkey up the hill. 

She enjoyed the ride up so much that she rode back down at the end of the day, and she thoroughly enjoyed every moment in between.

That’s the perfect attitude with which to approach a port: have specific objectives but flexibility, and always have great enthusiasm.

Her mother wasn’t as thrilled with the ride up, on which her donkey bashed into another donkey, cutting Julie’s leg.

My nephew Jered rode a donkey up, but after reaching the peak, he decided to head back to the ship to recover from many late nights of partying in the disco.

Most of us had decided to take the tram to the top.

On paper, Santorini seems to be a simple port to explore.

Either the tram or donkey would be four Euros. 

For us, it would essentially be a postcard port. 

We weren’t trying to learn any history but rather simply enjoy the amazing beauty of the blue domed buildings high above the deep blue sea.

In reality, the port was congested with too many tourists, most coming from cruise ships, making the line for either the tram or donkey rides long.

Rollie had the best idea: hike to the top.

He beat us all to the top by a half hour and got a great aerobic workout.

He said that he received several offers to ride donkeys on his way up, probably because some people didn’t enjoy the feeling of riding a wobbly creature into old guardrails next to sheer cliffs and got off before making it to the summit.

The tram itself was a quick ride, but the line took a terribly long time, with hundreds of people cutting in front of us until we finally reached a walled area where we could block them back from wall to wall.

Having our tenders delayed, also presumably due to port congestion, had me quite frustrated by the time I made it to the village.  I began to wonder if I should have paid $66 for a shore excursion that would have beat the crowds with an earlier tender, but then Santorini became wonderful.

On top is Fira, a quaint village of white-washed small shops lining cobblestone streets.

Our oldest daughter Gina stayed in that village with her Aunt Cheryl, who has health issues that limit her mobility.

They enjoyed lunch and some browsing before taking the tram back down.

Laszlo wasn’t there, having taken a Volcano Hot Springs Tour instead.

The rest of us hustled through this village to catch a bus to Oia (1.2 Euros each way), where we found what we expected: engaging architecture along breathtaking vistas.

After snapping lots of photos, we began looking for a restaurant and found one with the most amazing views, but there were no gyros, which Jay, Amy and my niece Kendra had been craving since I started bragging about the gyros I had in Heraklion with Gina and Rollie.

I wanted a gyro too, but the prices for the view restaurant felt as steep as the cliffs of Santorini, with a Diet Coke alone costing 4.7 Euros.

The four of us made an awkward retreat, leaving Jacque, Rollie, Kelsey and Julie to enjoy a meal with a spectacular view.

The four of us walked back toward the bus stop to where we had seen a gyro café.

We pointed to the sign to get the gyro combination plate for 5 Euros.

It looked like a soda and two gyros, but we assumed it was one cut in half to show both ends. Kendra chose another plate that had French fries, gyro and soda for the same price, which should have been a clue.

When we received our meals, Kendra had what she thought she ordered, while the rest of us had two large gyros and a soda each.

The food was terrific, but we couldn’t eat it all, so we gave some to a cat.

Our view wasn’t as spectacular as on the other side of Oia, but we could see lots of blue water.

After lunch, we caught the bus back to Fira, where we took a leisurely stroll browsing in shops.

Amy led a group onto the donkeys for the downhill ride, while Julie, Jay, Kendra and I sought the perfect cliffside taverna for some ouzo.

We settled into one with a spectacular view and shared the small bottle of ouzo, clinking glasses in Santorini like characters from some Hemmingway novel I never read.

The anise-flavored liquor is surprisingly good. I don’t like licorice, so I would think this drink would be appalling to me, but it is really quite excellent. It goes down smoothly.

Then again, I think it was the company more than anything.

We had some other drinks to help quench our thirst, but the ouzo stole the show.

From there, we continued our hike down the hill, giving us more perspective on Rollie’s climb up.

At the base, we found a little swimming area in the ocean next to another taverna.

It didn’t take any arm-twisting to get any of us in the water.

The cool, clear water felt amazing.

At a certain point, Jay and Kendra took a break.

We decided to buy some beer at the taverna to essentially pay for using their steps into the water, and Jay, in his wet bathing suit, plopped down on the padded seat.

The waiter came over, quite upset, telling Jay to get up. Holding the damp seat cushion with disgust, the waiter asked, “What can I do with this now?”

He then motioned for Jay and Kendra to be seated in the chairs with cushions removed and wasn’t much happier after taking the beer order

Back in the water, I looked down at my watch and saw it was 4:00.

“What time were we supposed to be back on board?”

I decided to head down to the tender loading area and discovered the last tender was at 4:15.

I ran back to the taverna, waving for the others to join me. They paid for the half-finished drinks and took off running. As we boarded the tender, the crew was loading up their signs, but we weren’t too late!

This, of course, was not the end of our day. We changed into formal clothes and enjoyed sugar-free mojitos at another scenic sail-away in the Crown Viking Lounge.

Another amazing family dinner in the dining room, exchanging stories. Formal portraits followed by our biggest Trivia loss of the trip. We were so bad that we won the booby prize for worst score. We will all cherish those plastic Royal Caribbean keychain tags, for they invigorated us to the point where we won at Trivia the next night (leatherette baggage tags)…but I’m getting ahead of myself again.

I have never been on a cruise so many days without a full production show with costumed singers and dancers. The cruise director announced this was the first show by a new cast that had boarded the ship only the day before. They were a talented bunch of performers, energetically performing songs from movies like “Footloose” and “Dirty Dancing,” but the chemistry wasn’t there yet. Still, we all enjoyed the show.

TODAY ONLY DEAL!!!

If you are a Southern California resident looking for a last minute cruise for Spring Break, you simply cannot do better than this amazing trip on Radiance of the Seas.

Discover for yourself why Royal Caribbean's Radiance Class ships are my personal favorites. No, they aren't the biggest, but they have lots of great features that perfectly suit me and possibly you. There are great restaurants, from the terrific fried chicken and fish joint on the fantail of the ship where I love to grab lunch to the incredible spread at the buffet to the deluxe dining room. There are amazing nightclubs, including the signature Crown Viking Lounge perched high above the ship to the deluxe yacht club-like Schooner Bar to the African safari themed lounge with self-leveling pool tables. There's great entertainment, including a dedicated movie theater with stadium style seating, rock climbing wall and terrific live singing and dancing. The fact that this floating resort ever arrives at any ports is simply frosting on the cake.

This ten night voyage, however, includes great ports. Cabo San Lucas is always a favorite, and maybe you'll take a pirate ship to snorkel at Chilleno Bay. In Puerto Vallarta, go ziplining, and ride horses in the sand n Mazatlan. In addition to the big three of the standard Mexican Riviera cruise, you get Acapulco, the favorite port of many experienced cruisers. And that's not all. Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo lets you choose the modern side or the historic village side.

Don't waste a lot of time contemplating this one. It is on sale today! You can have a balcony for only $899 per person! Even with taxes added in, that's less than $100 a day for a world class cruise embarking from convenient San Diego. Ocean View is only $699 pp, but for a few dollars a day you can add those intimate moments like morning coffee or evening wine on a balcony. Third and fourth passenger rates are only $549 per person, subject to stateroom availability.

Rarely do you have the opportunity to book a true last minute bargain this close to a holiday that doesn't require expensive air fare. Don't miss it. Call me NOW!

Radiance of the Seas embarking April 2, 2010, for Ten Nights on the Mexican Riviera

Cochem's High Water Marks

Last week in Southern California, the skies burst open to finally give us some relief from our latest drought. 

We mumbled complaints about the less than sunny weather, sat in traffic jams due to accidents on rainslick freeways and, for an unfortunate few, dealt with mudslides. 

Speaking on the phone with a Norwegian Cruise Lines representative located in Arizona, I had to explain that Los Angeles had not been destroyed by flood, as her local TV news seemed to indicate.  In fact, we had only a few sprinkles in Redondo Beach and something like 1 to 5 inches in Los Angeles County.

It wasn't even enough to stimulate the usual warnings by climate alarmists of another apocolypse related to man-made global warming, although of course the drought itself is often blamed on modern man, even if tree rings indicate intermittent droughts hundreds of years before the industrial age.

The high water marks in the villages along the Rhine and Moselle reveal a similar story of the power of nature's cycles. 

The marked buildings we saw were usually well over a hundred yards from the river and elevated at least another twenty to fifty feet, but the markings often towered twice as tall as the humans who marked them. 

That same rain that produces delicious wine grapes on the steep hillsides can, especially when bolstered by ice melt-off from the Alps, obviously create major problems for these beautiful river villages.

While some high marks, including several in Cochem, occurred more recently, many occurred in the 1600s and 1700s in other villages, and who knows how many high water marks were washed away with older buildings before the "new" construction? 

I'm not saying this disproves manmade global warming theories, but it is once again a reminder that climates have changed throughout the history of the earth.

The late Robert Crichton called global warming theory a religion, not unlike the druidism practiced by ancient Celtics who lived in this area before the Romans.

By the way, you may wonder what river cruises do if the water gets too high for them to cross under the bridges on rare occasions. 

Like humanity has through the centuries, the captains, crews and land-based cruise planners adapt.  Sometimes they're forced to cancel cruises entirely, turn the ships around to backtrack to the home port or move onto buses to continue the trek. It's not unlike how cruise lines react to hurricanes.

Viking River Cruises, which has by far the most ships including twins traveling in opposite directions on the same river, has been known to change passengers and their luggage from one ship to an identical room on the other previously going the opposite direction.  And the crew goes with them too, making it feel very much like they're on the same ship.  In any case, just as with ocean cruise ships, passenger safety is of primary concern, and cruise lines also aren't going to risk damaging their beautiful ships needlessly.

However, like on most river cruises, the river water levels were not unusually high or low for our trip, and the river wasn't flooding the village streets when we took a morning tour of scenic Cochem before heading up to Reichsburg Castle.

Our guide shared interesting information, including the story of the refurbishment of a timbered building by a successful optometrist.

According to our guide, there was some sort of subsidy for restoring old buildings that the city officials would not allow for the Brillen Müller building, because it belonged to a successful optometrist.  As amusing revenge, the businessman commissioned a sculptor to carve faces on the ends of four beams above his ground floor storefront. 

The faces represent the bureaucratic lunacy he encountered, so that anyone entering beneath will see his architectural taunt.  If you want to know what each face represents, you'll have to go to Cochem and ask for yourself. 

The beautiful wine village filled with historic timbered houses and surrounded by hillside vineyards could be a vacation highlight by itself, but it served primarily as a scenic introduction to the area, which in addition to our castle visit would include a unique afternoon experience in nearby Ediger-Eller.

Cruising Sober?

Does it seem to you that cruise lines devote a lot of marketing to people who enjoy wine and other alcoholic beverages?

If you're someone who doesn't personally imbibe, this could make you feel like cruising might not be for you.

Actually, just as non-gamblers usually enjoy cheaper vacations than high-rollers in Las Vegas, if you're a not a big drinker, it actually could make cruising more of a bargain for you.

And before I forget to mention it, if you struggle with alcoholism, "Friends of Bill W" holds get togethers most evenings on cruises.  As those in the program know, Bill Wilson was co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, which uses first names in meetings where people confess their drinking struggles with strangers who become friends in order to keep themselves on the sobriety path.  It's a way for people to help each other avoid temptations to drink, and while cruises by nature may not have any more temptation than most other places, they certainly don't have any less.

Keep in mind that while cruise lines may advertise "free beverages," those drinks are built into a higher price, allowing you to choose other amenities like hundreds of dollars in credits to spend your way or considerably lower prices on the cruise itself.



With Norwegian Cruise Lines, it isn't unusual to see low entry level prices next to a list of freebies, including open bar, leading many to believe that the two must be compatible.  Most times, however, the lead rates with NCL are for a special category of staterooms ending in X, indicating that they have no amenities and will have the stateroom assigned later.

Celebrity Cruises is another mainstream line that regularly offers free beverages as an amenity choice, but their lowest last-minute deals, Xciting Deals, do not include free drinks or other amenities. Promotions for seniors or residents of a particular state also do not include the beverage package with Celebrity.

Oceania allows you to choose the drink package --- which now is beer and wine with lunch and dinner rather than open bar, as it has been sometimes in the past --- or other amenities.  They always have the option of no amenities with a lower price, though including amenities is well worth the price difference in the case of Oceania.  With OLife, you can choose on board credit or free shore excursions worth hundreds of dollars instead of the beverage package, and either is worth far more than the small price difference to get the non-OLife price.



Other times, however, the price savings might be several hundred dollars by opting out of a beverage package.

The truth is that many people simply don't drink enough to justify the beverage packages, and if you're a non-drinker or light drinker, that is money in your pocket.

Julie and I enjoy some wine and a few other drinks while on vacation, so we bring one bottle of wine each on board with us to board the ship.  This one per adult policy is standard for most cruises.  Oceania allows three bottles of wine per room.

Princess allows you to bring as many extra bottles of wine along as you like, as long as you pay $15 corkage fee for each bottle beyond the one-per-adult standard allowance.  Unless you pay a corkage fee, the wine carried on is supposed to be consumed in your stateroom, though more than a few stretch the privilege a bit.

There's also a Captain's Party with some kind of free drinks one night, and if you're a past guest, there's usually another party with hosted bar another night.  By the time we spend time in port, possibly choosing to have drinks ashore rather than on the ship, we realize we're generally better off just paying for the occasional extra drink rather than paying more for a beverage package.

Most river cruises include beer and wine with lunch and dinner, but some don't.  U By Uniworld, which caters to adults under age 45 --- a group that probably is most inclined to drink more heavily --- certainly has bars but charges extra for all beverages including alcohol.

A British Line Cruise Planners now represents does not include beer and wine with meals as standard, but packages can be purchased ($159 for seven nights).  Like U By Uniworld, this is a less-expensive line than Viking and other lines that cater to Americans.  Riviera has a few other differences, like meals more in line with British tastes than American and not as gourmet oriented, and a less broad selection of included shore excursions, but if you don't care for wine and beer, you may save money with this line.

So, if you're a non-drinker, you shouldn't shy away from ocean or river cruises.  That could be just one more way get the most out of your travel dollar.

"Better service leads to better trips!"

Uniworld River Cruises

In Europe, there certainly are many great cities with remarkable histories waiting to be discovered.  Buildings older than our country and architecture based on alternative visions certainly entice, but the natural beauty is also incredible.

Wes by Hohenschwangau (Bavaria) a few years back.

Many of the great cities of history can be accessed by large cruise ships along the Mediterranean and magnificent Northern European coasts, but obviously there's a great deal more to explore inland.

Access to water routes has always been key to trade throughout the world, and in addition to the oceans and seas, rivers filled the bill.  Beginning with the Roman Empire, great cities developed along these tributaries of commerce in Europe.  It is not surprising that river cruising, which makes visiting these inland treasures convenient and exceedingly pleasurable, has become increasingly popular. 

Several competitors vie for river cruise business, offering unique marketing propositions.  Obviously, Americans want English-speaking staff aboard attractive ships that maintain a certain level of comfort and amenities, but which one is the right choice for you? 

Julie in Schafhausen (near Basel, Sw)

As with ocean cruising, much depends on your personal desires, but I must admit that Viking River Cruises has always dominated my offerings.  They certainly offer a wide selection of itineraries and wonderful cruise experiences.

Recently, however, I've decided Uniworld River Cruises deserves some attention from potential river cruisers.

Their luxurious river cruise ships tend to be more individualized, much like European boutique hotels of which no two are exactly alike, which is not surprising given their association with the prestigious Red Carnatian Hotel Collection.

Perhaps more significantly, Uniworld boasts being truly all-inclusive, with all beverages (not just those at meals) and all gratuities included.  That means if you want to enjoy a glass of wine or frosty mug of beer while cruising along the Danube in the afternoon or while listening to live music in the evening, you don't have to reach into your pocket or wait for the next meal rather than enjoying it the moment you want it. 

And you won't have to wait long for service, because Uniworld has the highest staff to guest ratio among all river cruise lines, not to mention the fact that their ships carry only 130 pampered guests.



The Uniworld River Queen

A few months ago my friend Greg Rood mentioned to me, as he worked over his computer at the swim-up bar in Cabo, that once the cruise ships have unlimited internet access, he's down with another cruise.  Uniworld offers unlimited internet and Wi-Fi throughout the cruise at no additional charge, although I have to add that most of us could use a break from all this technology for a vacation and should force ourselves to focus on real reality more often.



Time for Europe?  (Large clock at Musée d'Orsay in Paris)

Fascinating shore excursions are included in each port at no additional charge.  So are bicycles, should you wish to strike out on your own, which is particularly easy because as soon as you step off the ship, you're in the center of most towns.  While there are some optional offerings at additional cost, the excursions included are more than sufficient for most guests on their first visit to each port, and a few optional excursions are also at no additional charge.  

The experienced, English-speaking local guides use Quietvox lightweight audio headset systems, which make it easy to hear their narration.  On our recent Panama Canal excursions, we had difficulty understanding some of our guides in bustling plazas due to ambient city noise and tour groups stringing out down the block as we "followed the leader."  This state-of-the-art audio system is key in getting the most out of the tour.

Rural France

Of course, we expect fine meals on any cruise ship, but with only 130 guests, Uniworld can serve the freshest local ingredients, sourced daily from farmer's markets along the cruise route. The meals are always prepared and served with care by culinary experts.

While there are many cruises from which to choose, the linked article about the Legendary Rhine and Moselle show how amazing such a trip can be.

If you're more inclined to sit back and watch pretty pictures to beautiful music, however, check out this video prepared by a satisfied cruiser of Uniworld on that same cruise:

Fascinating River Cruises

Ocean cruises aboard dazzling floating resorts remain the bulk of my business, but many experienced cruisers are ready for more port-extensive experiences. River cruises offer fantastic opportunities to explore interior regions away from the "Seven Seas."

While sea cruises have hotel stays and tours as add-ons, river cruises long ago established a combination of land and cruising as standard, allowing extended stays in fascinating cities like Paris or Prague at either end of the river cruise.

Interior Europe remains strong, whether for Winter Markets in Central Europe, Spring Tulip Time in Holland or summer cruises to elegant cities on the Danube, but river cruises take you to more exotic locales, too. 

The fastest growing river cruise line, Ama Waterways, recently introduced cruise vacations on African safari routes to their other itineraries in Europe and on Sotheast Asia's exotic Mekong River.

Viking River Cruises has always been the leader, and with their fantastic Russia, China and Egypt itineraries long ago proved exploring exotic frontiers doesn't require roughing it.

Whether you want the pinnacles of civilization, storybook settings, or the most primative places on earth, river cruising delivers great destinations.  The perfect balance of land stays and cruising makes a perfect vacation into regions that should be on your bucket list.

Live your dreams.

Better service leads to better trips!

Voyager of the Seas: November, 2008

A nice cruise ship goes well beyond being comfortable, efficient transportation between ports. It is a destination in its own right.

Surprisingly, many people who take cruises stay on board when the ship is in port. That's not us. We enjoy our ports too much to miss any, and on this itinerary with long port days and only one sea day, we spent less time exploring the ship than usual.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed our stay aboard Voyager of the Seas, which is indeed a magnificent destination. One of the most prominent features of Voyager Class-ships and the newer, larger Freedom-class ships is the Royal Promenade.

All cruise ships have shopping areas, and many are quite lovely, but Voyager of the Seas, with its wide walkway that includes cafes, bars and a soaring ceiling, set a new standard when she introduced the Royal Promenade about eight years ago.

It very much feels like being on a nice street in a European city, and there's even a classic Morgan roadster parked by the Scoreboard, a sports bar that features multiple flat screen TVs. Cater-corner from the scoreboard is the Pig and Whistle, an Irish pub serving Guinness and Murphy's Stout.

Across from that, Seattle's Best Coffee serves excellent espresso drinks for which they do charge, but they give away fresh baked good including delicious oatmeal cookies and pizza to anyone who asks. Surprisingly, there's also a self-serve coffee for free right there, and that coffee, as everywhere on Voyager of the Seas, turned out to be quite good, which is in contrast to my coffee sipping experience on many cruises. There's usually music playing at one or more of the Promenade venues, whether a folk singer in the pub or a jazz band on the street.

Of course, there are stores in the Promenade, and just as on most cruises, tables of sale merchandise come out like clockwork on different days, expanding the possibilities but also making some items available “one day only.”

The Promenade is a pleasant place to stroll, and it attracts lots of guests, even when activities like the Captain's cocktail party or the opening night Island Frenzy Parade are not in progress.

I had a Guinness at the pub and some great Mexican pizza, cookies and coffee at Seattle's Best during our cruise, but upon returning to the ship, we primarily unwound at the Crown & Anchor Diamond Member's lounge, to which we received an invitation the first day. We received this benefit as a result of having taken more than ten cruises on Royal Caribbean --- those three night cruises add up! --- but you can get a short cut to Diamond perks by booking a suite for your next cruise. The lounge had free drinks, using only name brands like Coca Cola, Jack Daniels and Tanqueray, along with hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. The only problem was that we couldn't take our drinks out, and the room itself is nice but has no views.

Because there were so many past guests on this cruise, by the second night of these free happy hours, all of the seats were filled and people were standing around. Royal Caribbean upped the ante, opening Cloud Nine, part of the Crown Viking Lounge, to accommodate the overflow. Perched high on the fourteenth deck and surrounded by glass walls, this became the preferred Diamond lounge, although our concierge, who attained tickets to the ice show and for preferred tender times for us, was stationed in the original lounge. Bartenders served us, but sometimes guests helped themselves, making their own drinks. It was a nice stop before dinner.

The three level dining room is gorgeous. We were seated on the top level for dinner, so we didn't have as much of a sense of the grandeur of the restaurant as we did when we enjoyed breakfast on the lower level, but it was still very nice. Our table mates for the trip were two nice couples, one from Las Vegas and the other recently transplanted to South Carolina from Chicago.

Because most port stays ended at 7 PM, we signed up for late dining on this cruise, and by the time we finished delicious dinners, it was 10:30 PM. Sometimes the big show of the night was presented pre-dinner, but more often it started at 11 PM.  On cruise ships there's always great entertainment including the opportunity to dance to terrific bands until well past midnight.

Lest I forget to mention it, the Voyager of the Seas Orchestra which backed all the shows and also played gigs around the ship both as the full band and as combos, proved to be the best band I have ever heard on a cruise ship. Each musician was a gifted soloist, and the arrangements were extremely tight. By the time we dropped into bed, we were worn out, but most ports arrived to our floating resort at 7 AM the next morning.

The first night, the seas were rough. I was surprised by the amount of rolling on a ship so large (138,000 tons, or almost twice as large as most mainstream ships). I slept like a log, which is to say that I felt like I had been cut down in the Pacific Northwest and spun by kicking lumberjack boots until I started down rapids. Not really.....but close. It was a good reminder that no matter how large the ship may be, a mid-ship location is much better for limiting ship movement during stormier parts of the year for any given itinerary.

Our D1 balcony room was forward, primarily because that was where I could get a triple occupancy balcony at the time of booking. A big advantage of booking early is the choice of the best locations.

Many of the finest suites on ships, however, are located at the extreme ends of the ship, and experienced cruisers frequently prefer the greater solitude and feel of the sea that those locations offer. Again, it comes down to finding what is best for you personally, which is something a Cruise Planner like me can help you understand, especially if you're a landlubber who doesn't know if he has sea legs.

Because we would not arrive at our first port, Villefranche, until 10 AM, Amy and I had decided we would work out at the gym, setting a wake up call for 8 AM. Morning came very quickly, but we dutifully headed over to the state-of-the-art health club. Amy wanted to do the elliptical cross training machine, but I knew we would be doing a lot of walking in port, so I persuaded her to do mostly upper body lifting instead. Like most places on the ship, we could look out at the ocean as we trained. After about a half hour of pumping iron, we took a jacuzzi in the gym. Amy headed back to the room to shower, but I went over to the dry sauna before returning. If you have the time, a quick workout is a great way to start a cruise day.