Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Athens, Greece

Monday, Aug 25 – Athens, Greece

I woke up at 5:10 am to use the bathroom and never did get back to sleep again. The alarm went off at 6:30 and we got ready for our shore excursion then went to the Oasis Café for breakfast. At just before7:15, we met Wade, Charlie, Steve, Marcy, Tony, and Claire outside of Michael’s Bar. We headed downstairs to the gangway and, after just a bit of confusion, found out that we were to take a bus from the ship to the port terminal but the ride was extremely short and we could have walked it without any difficulty. At the terminal, we easily found the guide from Spiros Taxi Service – his name was George and he walked us to a surprisingly large blue mini-bus which could have accommodated 10 more people than just the 8 of us. What a nice luxury to have the whole mini-bus to ourselves
George was originally born in Zambia but his family was from Greece and he spoke impeccable English. The traffic in Athens this morning wasn’t very bad according to George as he drove us straight to the Acropolis this morning to “beat the crowd” narrating along the way and pointing out interesting facts and structures including some of the buildings used in the 2004 Olympic Games. George dropped us off at the foot of the walkway to the entrance. There were already other tour groups making their way up the hill along pathways that were lined on either side by olive trees. When we reached the gate, it was a bit confusing but the men made their way down the hill and found the ticket booth purchasing Acropolis entrance tickets for 12 euros each. While we were waiting, a group of soldiers marched out and did a few somewhat sloppy drills then boarded a car.
The tickets for the Acropolis also include admission to the Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, Kerameikos, Temple of Olympian Zeus, and Hadrian’s Library. We headed up the hill and passed by the Theater of Dionysos then walked over to the Propylaia which, just like each of the other structures, was undergoing restoration. We walked through this grand hallway and immediately marveled at the Parthenon. It was interesting to note the natural marble that punctuated the pathway and had been worn down and polished by so many people walking this same path making the climb very slippery at times.

We circled the Parthenon in awe and snapped a zillion pictures then walked about for quite some time looking at the other structures, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion and finally climbing up Aeropagus Hill. Climbing up the hill was an adventure as slippery marble combined with jagged rock but the view was beautiful.

We spent about 2 hours at the Acropolis then George took us to the Temple of Olympian Zeus with its massive columns of which many were still standing but one column had fallen over. We were also able to view Hadrian’s Arch pretty well.

Next, we briefly visited the Olympic Stadium where the original Olympic Games were held. George told us the only event that resulted in an award of a medal back then was the marathon and the very first winner was a young boy who ran the marathon with no shoes on.


At this point, George asked us to decide on which tour we would like to do: the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion which would be a 3 hour round trip on the mini-bus or staying in Athens to see the archaeological museum and the Plaka shopping district. The group decided to stay in Athens so our next stop was the Plaka shopping area where we (Wade, Charlie, Seth and I) walked to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier while the rest of the group went shopping for black platinum. George had told us that the guards were chosen based on their height (at least 180 meters), the “shapeliness” of their legs, and whether they were “good-looking” enough to be specially trained guards at this location. For an hour, 2 guards stood at attention in their traditional Greek military costumes before being relieved by another set of guards who took over after a traditional changing of the guard ceremony at the top of the hour. Unfortunately, we arrived at the Tomb at just past 11 am and missed the changing.

We headed back to the Plaka area and found a small taverna called Milton’s to have lunch. Other tavernas were not even opened yet as it wasn’t quite noon. We shared their version of hummus and I had the Mousaka – baked ground lamb with potato and eggplant. This was the first time I had this dish and although I don’t care for lamb, I thought the Mousaka was very good. Seth had a traditional Greek salad which included onion, olives, and huge chunks of feta cheese. We lingered over lunch for quite a while enjoying the company of our new gay friends who have a wonderful sense of humor and a really refreshing sense of themselves.


After lunch, we shopped briefly but didn’t bother to really buy anything.

We headed back towards the cathedral and quickly made our way to the bakery to pick up some baklava before boarding the mini-bus again.

Our next destination was the archaeological museum where we spent about 2 hours exploring the artifacts and sculptures. As a note, all bags must be checked in prior to entering the museum. 2 hours was barely enough time to see the first floor but we did make it up to the 2nd floor and quickly explored some of the rooms before we made our way back to the mini-bus.

Our last stop was at a lookout point near a cathedral at the top of a hill. We could view all of Athens and really appreciated how crammed in the city is.

We were taken back to the pier terminal where George dropped us off and we walked back to the ship and re-boarded. Along the way, Seth noticed the cigarettes for sale in the duty-free shop. Each box carried an interesting warning about the adverse health effects of cigarette smoking – quite a bit different than the generic surgeon general warning on US cigarette packages.

After packing our laundry in the Celebrity laundry bag and tagging it with our special Captain’s Club $20 coupon inside, we met Charlie and Wade at their cabin for drinks at the Sky Bar. Tom was working again and, as usual, was very liberal with the alcohol. I tried a mojito which was very good. At around 6 pm, we moved down to deck 6 to have drinks with Joyce and Peter. Seth and I tried a Messicano coffee with tequila, kahlua, and cream. It wasn’t sweet enough for me – I had to add Splenda. As Charlie, Wade, Joyce, and Peter headed off to early seating dinner, we went to the Celebrity Theater to see the comic for the evening who was really pretty good. We even stayed after the show to play a round of bingo but did not win the $500 prize.

We were about 5 minutes late to dinner but were still the first ones to arrive at our table. We were soon joined by the couple from England but the Kiwi family did not dine with us this night. I had the baked goat cheese with potato, Cream of broccoli soup (which I did not care for), Roquefort salad, teriyaki salmon (a little overcooked, imo) and an apple tart with butter pecan ice cream which was very good. Alexander, our waiter, seemed very rushed this evening. We did finish before 10:30 but lingered to compare notes with our English companions until well after 11 pm. Alexander waited for a little while for us to finish but ended up excusing himself and leaving which I found to be a bit of a disappointment.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Sea Day

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

I was up at 8 am today and quickly got ready to go to the fitness center – I had to squeeze in my long run this morning and finish up before my massage appointment at 10:30. I toyed with the idea of running outside on the track (12 laps = 1 mile) but realized how hot it was already and opted for the treadmill in the fitness center instead. I ran 7 miles in 69 minutes today – a personal best. After cooling off for a bit, I returned to the cabin to shower and get ready for my appointment – there was no time to grab breakfast.

After a short wait and filling out the usual paperwork/release in the AquaSpa, I met with my masseuse and had a deep tissue massage. My calves were particularly sore today and, as usual, there were a couple of “knots” around my shoulders and scapula that always seem to be there. I was done in about an hour and went back to the cabin to get Seth for lunch – the Sunday brunch only ran until 1 pm and it was already past 11:30 am.

Brunch was held in the Orion restaurant – lower level. The buffet was huge with a pasta station, warm dishes including duck with a cherry sauce, eggs benedict, fresh fruit, a huge dessert area, ice cream, and various types of salads including cous cous, etc. The food was good but the service was awful. We wandered for a bit with our plates wondering where we should sit and several waiters pointed in a general direction but didn’t really go out of their way to get us seats. I had returned to our stateroom to get some Lactaid and when I got back to the dining room, we hadn’t even gotten any water yet. I flagged down a waiter for some water and asked for some coffee and ketchup as well. After a bit, I went over to the service station and helped myself to some ketchup and then asked a 2nd time for a cup of coffee. Even the clearing away of plates was a very very slow process. We chatted with a couple from Minnesota who were here on board as part of the cardiology CME seminar – he was a PhD in physiology lecturing during the conference. The other young couple was from Jersey City where he worked as financial trader.

After we finished lunch, Seth returned to the cabin and I headed to the Stratosphere lounge to work on my journal. At 3 pm, we attended the wines around the world event which Seth had reserved the evening before through our wine steward. This event was different than the previous wine events we’ve been to resembling a walk-around wine festival moreso than a wine tasting class. We were given a wine glass and a list of the wines that we would be sampling. 1-3 wines were available from each of the countries sampled including Spain, France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, and the USA. We tried a bit of each wine rinsing our glass out with water after each sampling. There were also various canapés available. We noted our favorites from this wine experience and left the event with Wade and Charlie who brought us up to the Sky Bar for a cocktail. They especially liked Tom, the bartender, who manned the Sky Bar and was very generous with the tequila and vodka. I had one of the pina colada specials in a souvenir glass.

It was very hot outside on the deck with very little wind so we soon headed back to the cabin for a rest before dinner. I ended up taking a 2.5 hour nap and then got ready for our first formal night. We skipped the formal portrait sessions and headed to the dining room noting the truly awful dresses/outfits that some were wearing as they headed to their table. I enjoyed the crab cocktail, French onion soup (delicious, not too salty as most usually are), sautéed shrimp with goose liver pate that Alexander brought to me as an extra side, and for dessert, the spring roll with coconut sorbet. I could easily make this spring roll dessert – stuffed with mangoes and pineapple, deep fried, then taken and rolled in sugar. We headed back to the cabin and I repeated what was to become a nightly ritual – downloading pictures, updating the journal, charging all the electronic accessories, etc. We have a very early morning where we will meet the rest of our tour group and leave for Athens by 7:45 am.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Sicily/Messina, Italy

Saturday, August 23, 2008

The first time I woke up, it was about 6 am. The second time I woke up, it was about 7:30. I finally decided to get out of bed at 8:45 and left Seth sawing away as I sat on our veranda and finished last night’s blog entry. It was a beautiful day outside with a slight breeze and sitting on the veranda was just priceless as we made our way to our first port of call, Sicily/Messina. At 9:45, I finally went back inside but knocked over the small glass table as I made my way in and broke a champagne glass. This woke Seth up and we finally got dressed and out the door just before 10 am. Waiting on our door was a note about the Cruise Critic Connections party to be held in the Stratosphere lounge at 10:30. We only had 30 minutes for late breakfast in the Oasis café: fresh fruit, cold smoked salmon, cereal, and yogurt for me.

When we finished breakfast, I headed to the Connections party while Seth returned to the cabin. I went from aft to forward on deck 12 which took me outside to the deck that overlooked the pool. We were just pulling in to Sicily and there were many passengers along the railing and laying around in the sun. I later commented to Seth how I should have gone another way as there were a large number of frightening sights on this deck – people in bikinis and Speedos that had no business wearing them.

It was almost 10:45 when I arrived at the Connections party and I immediately saw Wade. Charlie had also elected to stay in his cabin during the party. We mingled for quite a while making so many connections between faces and screen names. We also confirmed with other passengers whom we were sharing tours with agreeing to meet in Michael’s bar about 15 minutes prior to our scheduled private tours. Stewart, our cruise director, made introductions and afterwards, we gathered for a group photo. We mingled for a little longer and then it was time to return to the cabin to get ready for our Messina wine tour. I headed back to our cabin at about 11:30 am.

We quickly packed our things and headed down to the Rendezvous Lounge at noon for our 12:15 tour. We brought along our passport copies since Celebrity had kept our passports when we checked in for the cruise. There was a copy of our passports slipped under our cabin door this morning but I had brought along color copies of our passports and credit cards. We checked in for our tour, were given a green #4 sticker and told to wait in the Lounge until we were called. It was almost 12:45 by the time our number was called. Wade and Charlie joined us as we waited to leave the ship.

We left the ship and skipped past the photo op with the Roman guard boarding a Mercedes bus just a short walk from the pier. The bus was very comfortable but we had been warned earlier that “Italian regulations” prevented the buses from being cooled off as much as some would have liked. The scenery was gorgeous and our tour guide kept up a running and informative commentary about the countryside dotted with exclamations of “Mama Mia” when we ran into traffic or when she noticed something surprising. When we finally came into view of Mount Etna – it was pretty amazing watching the steam pour out of this active volcano.

The drive took about 1.5 hours ending after a twisting and turning route up steep hills to reach the Barone di Villagrande. After we got off the bus and headed into the winery’s courtyard, the view was gorgeous and we took turns taking pictures with the vineyard in the background. We were first treated to olives, salami, cheese, and bruschetta served along with our first white wine: Etna Bianco (7 Euros/bottle) out in the courtyard. We sat on the steps and sipped on our wine taking more pictures of each other.

Soon we were invited into the “barn” and were treated to an Italian buffet with sautéed eggplant, olives, roasted peppers, percorina cheese, sausage, and macaroni pasta which looked a lot different than the macaroni we had at home. The pasta was cooked al dente which isn’t actually my favorite but it was delicious, nonetheless.
We sampled another white wine, Fiore followed by 2 red wines: Etna Rosso (7 Euros/bottle) and Sciara (13 Euros/bottle). Our favorite was the Sciara. The wine was poured very generously. The ladies serving the food and pouring the wine were hit-and-miss with their English. Apparently in Italy, “Thank you, I’m fine” meant that you wanted more wine.

After our plates were cleared, they served a biscuit which was a type of almond cookie with a good serving of their sweet wine, the Passito. This was my hands down favorite – I had 2 glassfuls. After we finished, we were invited back out into the courtyard where we were given espresso, more biscuits, and the opportunity to try their Grappa (18 Euros/bottle). We were served a teeny amount of Grappa in glasses which was more than enough for me. Grappa smelled like hard liquor and a small amount goes a long way.
We took more pictures and bought a bottle of Etna Rosso (13 euros) as well as a bottle of Passito (20 euros) to take home. The winery didn’t take credit cards but they did accept either Euros or USD. The bus ride back to the pier was mostly quiet and we dozed off after having so much wine.

We then went back to our cabin and changed into our workout clothes. I did 30 minutes on the stair climber in the fitness center and finished up after the ship had started pulling away from Sicily. We returned to our cabin and showered/changed then left the cabin which was getting pretty warm. That's one thing that I really disliked about our cabin - the thermostat was set at the lowest setting - 65F - but it never got even close to that cool in our cabin. We wandered the ship a bit checking out the art gallery, the casino, and the shops but we didn’t find anything of interest so we went out to the pool deck and sat on some loungers until dinner time at 8:45.

We were the first to our dinner table again but were soon joined by the family of 6 and the couple from England. We exchanged stories about our day and I enjoyed escargot, creamy mushroom soup, a young chicken and tiramisu for dessert. We learned a lot this evening about New Zealand and should really consider taking a vacation there. We finished our pinot grigio from last night and ordered a bottle of Merlot. This was the most alcohol we’d had in a very long time. We returned to the cabin, watched tv for a bit, then called it a night. We have a day at sea tomorrow and set our clocks ahead an hour in anticipation of reaching Greece on Monday.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Rome/Embarkation

Thurs, Aug 21 – Friday, Aug 22, 2008

It seemed like the longest single day ever although we were about 6 hours shy of a 48 hour day. We said goodbye to the kids as they left for school and ran by Kmart to pick up a few things for our trip (Lactaid, Downy wrinkle releaser, and luggage locks). We got on the road right on time and reached the airport uneventfully. Our flight to Washington DC arrived early and we stopped in at Vino Volo in Dulles to have a bite to eat. We hadn’t had lunch except for a protein bar and water so we were starving by the time we reached Dulles. Vino Volo is a wine bar in the DC airport where we each ordered a “wine flight” (red for Seth and rose for me) sampling 3 different wines each. We also had a large order of 2 “tapas” type dishes – pork tacos and sausage/chickpea chili. The food was good as well as the wine.

We stopped by Dunkin’ Donuts for dessert and the guy behind the counter had a hard time understanding that we wanted chocolate crème filled donuts. We also ordered a berry smoothie but it was absolutely awful tasting so we threw it away.

After a while, our Rome flight finally appeared on the departure monitor and we made our way to the gate where we met our first Cruise Critic friends: Tony and Trudy from Florida (Daytonams). We had exchanged pictures on line and recognized each other right away waving at each other from across the gate area. Our flight finally started to board and after settling into our United Economy Plus seats, we were on our way to Rome – only a little bit late.

I was surprised on the flight that not only were we entertained with many different movies shown on personal tv monitors but we were also actually served dinner (meatloaf, potatoes, salad) and breakfast the following morning (yogurt, bear claw). After watching Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, it was lights out on the plane and we tried our best to get some sleep. By this time, it was about 2 am, Rome time. I did manage to get some sleep on the plane but don’t remember having so much difficulty with my legs/knees hurting. I finally gave up on getting anymore sleep at about 5:30 am and watched a few more episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy, the first season” before packing it in for our landing. For a long 8 hour flight, it did go by relatively quickly and we landed right on time in Rome at 8:50 am local time.

Arriving in Rome, I was surprised at how simple customs was. There was one checkpoint – “passport control” where our passports were stamped with the agent barely looking up at us. We made our way to the baggage claim and waited, waited, and then waited some more. Italians really do seem to operate on a slower/more relaxed schedule than the rest of us. Tony and Trudy got their luggage pretty quickly and went to meet up with a Celebrity agent – there were many scattered around the baggage claim area. After waiting an eternity until almost 9:45 am, we finally received our bags – all 4 of them. It looks like we’ll finally have a Celebrity trip without lost bags.

After gathering our luggage, we met up with Fabio of Rome in Limo who was dutifully holding up a sign with “Switzer” on it as we exited the baggage claim area. Fabio introduced himself in near-perfect English and immediately took one of my suitcases.

We walked the short distance to the parking garage, noting the proximity of the train station that I had read about as an option of getting to the port. I really couldn’t imagine negotiating the train with all of our luggage in tow. We boarded Fabio’s van – a large Mercedes van – and headed to the Rome Hilton which was, literally, less than 5 minutes away.

We arrived at the hotel at just past 10 am to find Steve, Marcy, Stan, and Claire waiting in the lobby – 2 couples we had also met on Cruise Critic who would be also sharing our Athens and Kusadasi tours.

After having a brief lesson on the proper pronunciation of “Civitavecchia” (chi-veet-a-vek-ia), we were on our way to the port to board our ship. We chatted all the way for the approximately one hour that it took to get there with Fabio giving us a constant commentary about life in Italy and the countryside all the while expertly negotiating some hairy traffic as we entered the port area.

We thanked Fabio as he dropped us off and each couple paid $65 Euros for the service ($59 Euros plus tip per couple). Our tagged luggage was whisked away to the ship immediately and after a brief panic looking for my passport that I thought had fallen out of my pocket, we headed to the passenger check-in area. We stopped to take a picture in front of the ship but were hurried along by the ship staff. As we entered the large tent, we were given health questionnaires to fill out – are you having diarrhea? Are you having fever? Etc, etc. We were then shown to the check-in lane and were quickly checked in after being handed a number 7 card. This is the first time that we’ve ever been on a cruise where the cruise line kept our passports.

After the obligatory embarkation photo (having just spent over 12 hours travelling, we were a little on the scruffy side), we were directed to a holding area to await our number to be called to board. The boarding area was a little crowded when we first arrived but numbers 2-6 were boarded pretty quickly and eventually it was our turn to board. We stopped to hand over our room key/charge cards and a picture was taken quickly. We were given glasses of champagne as we entered – it was about 11:30 am.

Our rooms would not be ready until about 1 pm so we spent a little time exploring the ship and taking a few pictures even stumbling upon the (empty) topless sunbathing deck. The Oasis café buffet was calling our name by about 12:30 and after having some salad, a samosa, pad thai (which neither of us thought was very good), and ice cream, we headed to our cabin (1102) just shy of 1 pm. A steward was just finishing up vacuuming our cabin. We gladly dumped our things off and took a 3 hour nap punctuated with intermittent knocks on the door as our luggage arrived one piece at a time and, finally, a fruit basket was delivered (one of the perks of Concierge Class).

After putting most of our things away, we donned our life jackets at about 5:15 and headed to muster station D (the casino) negotiating our way past the crowd gathered at the door after our names were checked off the list. The life boat drill took a total of about 30 minutes as we listened to the drill announced over the loud speaker in English and everyone groaned as we listened to it again in Spanish. Fortunately, we were on the side of the ship where the deck was shady. I was waiting for the version in Italian but, luckily, we were spared a 3rd version. We lumbered back to our cabin and put our life jackets away when Charlie called from their cabin to introduce himself and Wade – yet another couple we had met on Cruise Critic and whom we would be sharing our Athens, Kusadasi, and Naples tours. We agreed to pick them up at their suite (1226) and go for drinks in the lounge.

We knocked on Wade and Charlie’s door at about 6:10 and got a quick peek at their Sky suite with a larger bedroom, MUCH larger veranda, and bathroom with marble countertops and a bathtub. We headed to Michael’s Club and sat for a while chatting in large, blue, comfortable seats. Another couple from Scotland, Peter and Joyce, that Charlie and Wade had met the night before at their hotel in Civitavecchia, joined us as well. The bartender made a very good Flirtini for me after being asked to make something “fruity” by Wade. We enjoyed our drinks with them a great deal and chatted until about 7 pm when they had to get to the dining room for their early seating dinner. Seth and I finished our drinks then headed back to the cabin after thanking the bartender whose name was “Isaac – like the Love Boat”. I went to the fitness center and used the elliptical trainer for about 30 minutes. There were about ½ a dozen other people in the gym working out as well.

When I returned to the cabin, we got ready for our late seating dinner at 8:45 pm. I showered, changed, and quickly dried my hair with a hair dryer that I found in the bathroom – better than the usual hair dryer attached to the wall. We arrived at the Orion dining room at just about 8:45 pm but the doors were still shut. We wandered around briefly in the shops then headed back down to the dining room waiting in line for a bit to be seated. We were shown to table 600 which turned out to be a large table for 10 right by the starboard aft window. Soon our tablemates arrived – a couple from England, Steve (decorator and soccer ref)and Elaine, and a family of 6 from New Zealand living in Scotland and Prague. The woman sitting next to me, Lucy, had been a head waiter on Carnival cruise lines and carefully inspected all the plates and silverware before our food arrived.

Our head waiter, Alexander from Serbia, introduced himself and expertly took our orders, served our courses, and answered questions with a smile. The food was delicious as expected – Seth ordered the Chef’s recommendation for the evening. I ordered the baked goat cheese with red peppers, tomato and garlic soup, classic Caesar salad, and herb encrusted white fish.

For dessert we had the vanilla crème brulee. After saying good night to our table mates, we headed back to the cabin and called it a night. I downloaded my pictures from the camera, synched my ipod, and started my blog but could barely keep my eyes open. It was about 11 pm when the lights went out.

Oklahoma YMCA State Swim Meet

This past Saturday, the 9th of August, I attended for the first time in my life a YMCA state swim meet. The meet was in Stillwater and was to start at 9:15 am so Rhys had to be "on deck" by 8 am to warm up. We left our house at 6:45 am to be at the Stillwater YMCA.

Rhys is new to the swim team having just started at the end of the Spring semester this year. He attended 3 other meets to qualify for the State Meet. He's been attending swim practice at the Enid YMCA about 1-3 times a week for the most part and really seems to have a knack for it with some coaching from Seth.

It's been an educational experience for me having no idea what the difference was between a breaststroke and a butterfly nor the order of an individual medley vs a team medley relay. I still get the medleys confused.

So, to summarize, here are Rhys' times this summer:

14 June 2008 Enid YMCA swim meet #1

50 yd fly: 1:05.59 (1:12.80)
50 yd back: 1:03.03 (1:09.96)
50 yd breast: 1:05.85 (1:13.09)
100 yd free: 2:03.17 (2:16.72)

(Converted to meters just to make the numbers comparable)

12 July 2008 Enid YMCA swim meet #2

50 yd fly: 1:04.43 (1:11.52)
50 yd back: 1:05.27 (1:12.45)
50 yd free: 50.52 (56.08)
100 yd IM: 2:33.48 (2:50.36) - DQ'd

26 July 2008 Stillwater YMCA swim meet

50 m fly:
50 m back:
50 m free:
100 m free:

9 August 2008 State swim meet, Stillwater

200 m medley relay (back): 1:09.65/4:20.44 (2)
50 m fly: 1:06.65 (2)
50 m back: 1:10.46 (4)
50 m free: 53.77 (2)
100 m IM: 2:25.71 (1)
200 m free relay: 55.37/3:28.78 (1)

The state meet was a LONG day (we got done at around 3 pm) and Rhys swam a lot more events than he had at other meets but seemed to be just fine. He improved all of his times and is looking forward to the swim team party this week.

Edited to add: I made it just in time to Rhys' swim party at the Y for the awards presentations. Of all the age groups, the only "sure" high points winner was Rhys in the 7-8 age category. For this he received a trophy. Rhys also received 2 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze medal for each of his races and did not receive any DQs.

Med Tours - Preparing Payment

I really need to sort out what we will owe in both Euros and USD for our various tours and such while on our cruise in the Mediterranean. I'm ready to buy Euros from our bank but the cost hasn't dropped as much as I would have liked. The current rate is about $1.55 USD for 1 Euro. I don't know what our bank's current rate is - probably in the $1.65 USD range.

Here's the breakdown that I've figured based on an exchange rate of $1.55 USD per 1 Euro:

ROME: Rome in Limo transfer from FCO to Civitavecchia (6 passengers): 28.33 Euros per person + tip ($3 USD per person) = 66 Euros
Roma shuttle private transfer from Civitavecchia to FCO (2 passengers): 120 Euros + tip ($3 USD per person) = 130 Euros

SICILY: Celebrity tour already paid for. Tip ($3 USD per person) = 10 Euros

ATHENS: Spiros taxi service (8 passengers): 56.25 Euros per person + tip ($5 USD per person) = 128 Euros

EPHESUS: Ekol tours (6 passengers): $55 USD per person + $10 USD per person + tip ($5 USD per person) = $140 USD. Ekol will take USD or credit card and we also paid the $130 USD deposit for this tour for all 6 of us.

NAPLES: Italy Limousine service (6 passengers): 66.67 Euros per person + tip ($5 USD per person) = 148.83 Euros

Total: $140 USD + $482.83 Euros

I plan on picking up some envelopes at Staples today and labelling each envelope with the info for each tour and putting the amount that we need in them in Euros once we receive them from the bank. Hopefully this will make it very easy to keep things sorted out. Of course, we'll also need some pocket money but I'm thinking we'll need to use an ATM or 2 while we're out there. Looks like I need to order at least 500 Euros from the bank.

Too good to pass up - DVC

It really was a deal that was too good to pass up. DH and I had discussed briefly buying more DVC points after I had received an email with the latest "deal" DVC was offering at their newest addition: Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas. I called our guide, Amil Arroyo, and spoke with him just catching him before he left for his next trip (DCL to Mexico this weekend). We already own 350 points at SSR. Here's the deal:

$104 per point with an $8 per point credit applied to the downpayment. So for 100 points, it would cost $10,400. Down payment would be $1300 - $800 credit = $500 down (Disney Visa). The remainder of the balance has 30 days no interest then 10.75% for a 10 year contract. I'll be putting that balance on our Disney Visa and paying it over 6 months with 0% interest. No closing costs with first payment due about October 1st. Here's the real bonus: we are allotted 100 points for March '08 use year (not '09) AND we receive 100 bonus points AND we receive a $500 Disney gift card. The downsides: Our annual dues go up by $471.32 and the 100 bonus points must be used at SSR, Disneyland, or through interval international within 12 months of purchase (by August of '09). So, if I'm doing the math right, $10,400 for 100 points - $800 ($8 per point credit) - $1000 (approx value of 100 points if I sold them) - $500 (gift card) = $8100 which amounts to $81 per point. 3 years ago when we first bought in to DVC, we ended up (after incentives) paying $90 per point.

For next year, then, we'll have 120 points banked from this year + 450 points = 570 points. We are soon-to-be-owners of Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas! Woohoo! We will be able to book either SSR or AKL 11 months out, otherwise, all other resorts we can book 7 months out.