LIVIN' THE DREAM

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

We are grateful for our wonderful cruise on the beautiful new Carnival Dream. Take a look above ^^.

Our first completed/posted video. Reply to this and let us know what you think of the video!

Ciao Y'All,

Marty & Jeanne

Monaco and Florence

Hi everyone,

This will most likely be our last post till we get home. It is 5:30 in the morning and the ship is back in Rome, it is Tuesday Morning in Europe. Our stops at Monaco and Florence were great. While in Monaco we did a tour of Nice and Eze. It was ‘spectacular’. But like most of the places we have gone, it was very hilly and rocky with lots of walking.

Florence by contrast was a city in a valley and very artistic place where Michaelangelo and Galileo as well as many other artists were in residence. We did an all day private tour with 2 other couples. The Medieval as well as the Renaissance history is very visible and tangled. Amazingly, throughout Europe they have the same problems as we do in America with graffitti and tagging.







We also saw the leaning tower of Pisa on our way back. This was actually a clock tower next to the church which includes the Baptistry on one end of the grounds and the Church in the middle. We’ve seen this everywhere. It’s been very interesting and historical and Marty has taken much video and picture. His challenge will be to edit it into an abridged version that is both interesting and captures the essence of the whole trip.





I wasn’t feeling well and did not do much last night, only the packing and sleeping. But I wanted to get this last posting done before I get off the ship. We’ll be seeing and talking to you all soon. We have 3 days in Rome and then a 12 hour flight back .

Arriverderci!! Ciao!
Jeanne and Marty

Rough Day at Sea!!

After leaving Messina, Sicily for Barcelona, we ran into some inclement weather in the Med. A cold front was blowing through and the ship encountered 70 mph winds (120 km) (almost hurricane strength!) & 40 ft seas! Needless to say, the were a lot of people sea-sick on board. Fortunately, Jeanne had brought along 2 transdermal anti-sea-sickness patches, so both Jeanne & I put them on….they really helped quickly.

Captain Carlo changed the ship’s course, doing a 180 degreeturn. Then, I’m sure after consulting with Carnival HQ, in Miami, the port call at Barcelona was cancelled. However, later we found out that the ship would have extra time in Monaco and would stay overnight!!
Captain Carlo steered the ship on a northerly course that put us on the leeward-side of 2 islands, Sardinia and then Corsica. Once we got behind those islands, the ride became much smoother. Later, the weather started settling down and the ride was even better and as it was when we started this cruise.

We are now anchored just off Monaco, and will proceed to the dock in about an hour (7 pm local). The coast and Monaco look beautiful and I was able to capture some great still pics, as well as video.

We have an excursion tomorrow to Nice & Eze, France. I have my French speaking translator (Jeanne) right with me, so this should be cool. After we dock tonight, no big plans, but we might wander off the ship for a bit.

The cruise has been fantastic and the service excellent. Few “glitches’ here & there, but nothing serious. This ship is beautiful and a great design. I am sure this ship will be immensely popular with customers and Carnival will build more after the Carnival Magic in 2011.
Also, Jeanne & I bought many ship portraits & pics ($$), but well worth it, so we will be able to send family & friends some of the pictures, along with the ones I am taking on the Sony camcorder…

(Jeanne here) Last night was a really nice night after all the rockin' and rolling. There was a good dinner, a good show and before all that was a past guest cocktail party. They really treat us well.
Today we saw a comedy show. I can't wait to go to Nice tomorrow and then Florence on Monday. It just seems impossible that the cruise is almost over. More news to come.

Bon Soir a tous!
Jeanne et Marty

Greek Theatre in Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Jeanne & Marty at CAFE BUZA (in Dubrovnik)

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Aren't the orange rooftops just picturesque - this was one of our favorite places. Marty loves the shipping history here.

Marty & Jeanne on the Amalfi Coast

Marty & Jeanne in Pompeii

Messina and Taormina, Sicily 10/22/2009

Marty here- As our cruise approaches the mid-way point (we have been sailing for 6 days), we now are calling Messina, Sicily. Very much a maritime crossroads, with many, many ships & ferries in this very bust port (makes Marty very happy). The Dream docked port side to and we were ahead of the MSC Fantasia. Messina was right outside our balcony stateroom and very busy with many little cars running here & there.

Terrain was very hilly and then mountainous, with volcanoes not too far away (e.g. Mt Etna). We got oof the shiop & immediately boarded a bus for another coastal town called Taormina. A little bit of logistical snafu on where & when we got to board the bus, as the bus did not show up right on time and then could not get close to us on the dock because all the other tour busses were leaving. Finally, down the dock, we met up with the bus & driver and we shortly after on our way.

Amazing that they get these large buses up the hilly/mountainous narrow, winding roads, but they do. The road and highway went through tunnels into mountains and crossed long elevated bridges…very scenic! Not too bad a drive and we arrived Taormina. Cool Sicilian town built into & along the mountains.





We made a point to visit the Greek Theatre, and we got some great still pics & video. Rest of thr time, we wandered around mainly along the main street and did a lot of window shopping. We stopped and had lunch at, believe it or not, an Irish Pub! Marty had a local Messina “birra” (very good btw, and the label had a ship on it-> made Marty very happy), Jeanne, for some reason, thought she was on a western Caribbean cruise and was in Cozumel, because she had a Corona with lime??!! For lunch, we had some freash Breshetta and also yet another pizza, this time Sicilian style, which Jeqnne & I both agreed, was the best so far. Lots of mozzarella cheese that was cooked (mmmm…yum), Fyi, the pizza in Dubrovnik was also VERY good. Crust was excellent and pizza of very good size.

So, at 2:30pm, we re-boarded the bus and rode back to the ship in Messina. No funny andedotes here, like in Venice. Everything went smooth, except the weather, We had gray skies, cludy & periods of rain L. Also, humid (reminded me of Houston!). Overall, Taormina was very cool and we enjoyed it very much. I had a wonderful pistachhio gelato on a cone…the best pistacchio I have EVER tasted J.

Back on the ship, we relaxed up to sail-away. I went up to Serenity (adul area) and bubbled away in a hot tub, way up on deck 14. What a way to say good-bye to Messina, Sicily!

Till our next adventure -- stormy seas on the way. More to come!!

Marty and Jeanne

Day at Sea - Wednesday

October 21, 2009 Day at Sea

This is Jeanne - It started out with a 7:50 wake up call for our 8 am pilates class. Okay, that was a killer, my muscles may be sore the rest of this trip. But we had all these extra spa amenities with our room so we wanted to use as many as possible. We have full use of the mineral pools, saunas, and heated chair room. We also got a couple of free classes like yoga and pilates so we thought we try it out. It took me 3 days to recover from yoga and now I think it will be another 3 or 4 to recover from pilates. It’s a low impact workout but very intense. Carnival was taping and photographing the session for a marketing promotion. It will be interesting if we end up on a brochure and very funny since we had never done pilates before.



Marty and Jesse ventured to the pools and the water slides today while it was sunny. It’s still not too warm but it was nice this morning and got cloudy this afternoon. Kirsten and I just taped them so they could have memories of the slides. Then we played Bingo again and other games. Tonight is one of the big shows and some country dancing.

Tomorrow we head onto the island of Sicily. We will write more after our tour of Messina and Taormina. We may even see the volcano - Mt Etna- early tomorrow morning while it is still dark as we cruise into port. More to come. Marty will try to get pictures posted soon.

But first Marty with a funny story - a continuation of Venice...

Yet another funny anecdote that happened in Venice. After I proposed to Jeanne, we were walking back when this old, short, tooth-missing flower guy, comes up to us looking to sell yellow & red roses. 2 of the roses were still in decent shape, but the others left a little to be desired. Anyway, flower guy hit me up at the perfect time, as I had JUST proposed…so. I HAD to buy Jeanne these roses.

I told flower guy 5 Euros but told him I only had a 20 E bill. He said he had change..”no problem”. I gave him the 20, he gave me the roses then only 5 E back! I said, “hey” where is my other 10 E? He then grinned with his front tooth missing grin, and proceeded to pat me and Jeanne on our shoulder and said we “were very nice”. When I again said, “where is my 10 other Euros?’, he simply turned and walked away!!

My reaction was not of anger, but I thought it simply funny and just another anecdote that happened to us in Venice. Just the sight of this small old man walking away without a word was priceless. He got a good tip for those dingy roses…however; as it marked Jeanne & my engagement to each other, these were the most beautiful roses in the world and this was a humorous memory we will always have!!

Love Ya -- Marty and Jeanne

Dubrovnik

October 20, 2009 - Dubrovnik, Croatia - on the other side of the Adriatic we spent the day. This city and country is spectacular. All the stone buildings with orange terra cotta roofs. It is the cleanest place we’ve been. This village was bombed back in 1991-1992 by the Serbians. They have cleaned up, rebuilt and it is the first really friendly place we’ve been. Everyone was nice to us and helped us, even teaching us a few words. It is also very clean. There is a wall around the city. This is a very old port city which has been active since the 1500s probably longer than that. We visited the maritme museum and several old churches and cathedrals. The city is built completely in the hills so everything is a maze of step up and back down into the center of the “Old town” - very cool. We definitely got our exercise this day. Such a wonderful place, this is one country we would definitely like to come back to and visit for a longer period of time. The scenic views are breathtaking and relaxing.



We did have a funny story here too - The public restrooms in Italy charge a fee of 1 or 1 1/2 Eurose which is equal to 2 dollars or so just to use the facilities. amazingly they are clean, but the idea of paying and using a turnstile is pretty funny. In one of the small towns - Amalfi - there was a little old lady collecting the money ane this is an old town, so the accomodations were not modern, but still okay -- you just didn't know where the money was going for sure. But the funny part was she was handing our the paper towels and you could only get one piece. Then we go to Croatia - there is a public restroom near wher the buses leave you. Only the rooms are very small - there are 5 stalls - 4 of them literally have only a hole in the ground with a vent and handles on the walls. I lucked out with the one stall that had a real toilet but I could hear all the women talking and laughing. It was the funniest thing. Needless to say, I really did not drink much in Dubrovnik all day. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Tomorrow we are at sea! Till our next story
Lots of love to everyone!
Jeanne and Marty

Venice by the Sea

October 22, 2009 - The last three days were incredible. First we spent 2 days in Venice. I’ve never seen anything like it. It is a city near the Adriatic Sea with all its canals which really makes travel interesting. Lots of steps, walking and canals so everything and everyone gets around by boats.



But first - our first funny story - We had to buy tickets for the Vaporettos (boats) to get around Venice. The lady at the ticket counter (about 18 years old) was not having a good day and I became the target. She was refusing to serve me because I did not have exact change. You would all be so proud of me - I stood my ground and waited her out. After a few customers went by and gave her exact change, then I tried again knowing she had enough change, once again she refused stating the line was so long and she needed to make it last. Many people just wanted to get through so they bought maps. She kept telling me - I had to help “her” out -- to which I said “you have to help me out. I am a guest in your country” (after all I just got off the boat.) I sent Marty in search of exact change while I stayed in my spot right next to the window. I waited through a couple more people, then she got exasperated and finally just gave me my two tickets and change. Off we go to the first Vaporetto and you won’t believe this -there was a automatic ticket kiosk.



We did some of the traditional sightseeing - San Marco Basilica, The Doges Palace, and the Wall of Sighs that connects the Palace to the Prison. The courtyard (Piazzas) are everywhere surrounded by many shops and restaurants. Everything is in tight quarters. I don’t think you can get more than 4 people in any one shop. In the restaurants you sit very close to other people. It definitely has its own ambience. Venice was very exciting and worth it.



So for our 2nd funny story. Marty and I with two friends went to find something to eat and chose a small pizzeria. We each ordered a pizza and Marty orders a beer (Birra) and the rest of us order water, and the waiter goes nuts - talking directly to Marty and basically saying we were idiots and one of us should order a 1 liter bottle to share since they cost so much. So Marty came off as the only smart one in the group. Okay so, customer service is not at its best in Venice.



In the evening, Marty and I embarked on the Gondola ride - Gondoliers make their own rules, so our ride included 4 other people and a fleet of 6 other gondolas, also filled with people. The gentleman who serenaded us was in another gondola, so we really traveled as a fleet. But it was very nice. The couple who sat with us was from Czekoslavakia. They had a good sense of humor. Ironically, he was originally from Houston too. He’s been living in Prague for the last 10 years or so. After the ride (Oh by the way did I mention it was soooo cold in Venice. I was wearing multiple layers, gloves, and had to buy a scarf. It’s been an unusual month in the Mediterranean. We’ve been told it is not usually this cool in October - oh well).



After the ride - Marty took me to a very nice restaurant with a maritime theme called La Caravella. We had some interesting dishes, good cheeses, and I had a very tasty steak and Marty ate the local seafood (something called torbut).

Afterwards, we took a walk to the Wall of Sighs -where Marty proposed -- Yep --that’s right!!! -- He picked the romantic "city of love" to propose. It was beautiful! He’s such a romantic! So for all of you waiting for the big moment -- there you have it. Afterwards, we continued our walk along the canals before returning to our beautiful Carnival Dream.





We spent the next day just walking the canals and doing a little shopping, stopping for cappucino and watching the canal traffic. They even take out the laundry, garbage and everything out by boats. There are very few places where trucks or cars can go. We even saw a furniture delivery. It’s incredible. I’m sure very expensive and the upkeep tremendous. The flood lines on the building were up about 4 feet from earlier this year. It looks like no one can live on the first floor only the upper levels. It was such a beautiful day. At about 1 p.m. we headed back to our ship. Oh yeah, one of our purchases included the Venetian masks. There was to be a Carnivale parade on the ship late that night. They are so beautiful and we thought they would make great art pieces too. We did have a romantic dinner in the ship’s steak house with wonderful cheese cake. But the “carnivale” was not till 11:30 and that was just too late, and my bed was calling me..



Till the next blog - Our next stop was Dubrovnik, Croatia. Love ya’ll.

Day at Sea #1

Last Night/Yesterday was a day at sea and we have the captains dinner tonight. We started with a workout at 7:30 am and yoga afterwards. Neither one of us had ever taken a yoga class so it was pretty funny and amazingly I found out you need lots of upper body strength. I expect we’ll be sore tomorrow.



Love you all.. We are arriving in Venice for 2 days. Happy Sunday..

Napoli

What a beautiful place Napoli is quite beautiful - nestled at the base of a mountain. It is a large port. We had set up a private tour with 6 other people (our new best friends). With Marty’s research, he booked us a driver, Giovanni, and nice minivan. Giovanni drove us to Pompeii. I have to tell you driving in Italy is quite an experience I’m not really sure if there are two lanes or not, speed limits don’t really exist, and merging is an art (as is crossing the street). This was the wildest, hairiest ride ever. Giovanni is used to driving large tour buses on these roads and told us driving a minivan was ‘relaxing’. He did an excellent job. Our first stop was Pompeii.



Pompeii is quite large - A real ancient city that is still being excavated. Of 6 square miles, only 3 miles have been excavated. The ruins in spots are being reconstructed. Partial buildings becoming full buildings if there was enough to work with. It was a lesson in history with Mt Vesuvius in the background. And just thinking about the fact that this is a very live volcano, it is amazing that so many people live there.

After Pompeii we drove the coast and had authentic Italian pizza in Sorrento. The town was very busy and set up for the tourists. Lovely old town. Then we continued on down the Amalfi coast. The area is awesome. We’ll post some pictures so you all can see. All this we did in 8 hours. It was the most gorgeous scenery.

The Carnival Dream

We’ve been on board the Carnival Dream for 2 and a half days. Such a beautiful vessel. All glitzy and new. Very, verrry ‘pretty’. And large. We walked the corridors earlier today on a couple of other floors and it is the longest ship I’ve ever been on. Incredible. We’ll post some pictures tomorrow of the ship. There are many clubs, a casino, theatre, and restaurants. The staff is really friendly. The Spa looks beautiful. Marty booked us a balcony spa cabin and we get to use the spa facilities quite a bit. The dining rooms are all laid out in reds as are many of the dance clubs - all different shades - Crimson, Burgundy, Scarlet, so for those of you who know me know how much I like reds and shades of pink; so this is heaven.

Finally in Italy

Hi Everyone,

We had a wonderful flight to Rome. Service on the entire flight was awesome. Since we were lucky enough to fly first class we found out how wonderful that was. Spoiled rotten. Seats that recline into almost full beds. Thick comforters, real size pillows and food that was pretty great. Since the flight was so long, we were served dinner around 8:30 pm then breakfast before landing. Pretty great. Everyone had their own headsets and could watch moviies, play games or listen to a large variety of music. It was the most comfortable flight.

As I awoke, I noticed a little light coming under the window shade and I checked it out to find we were just coming back onto land - Portugal. That’s when it really struck me that I was in Europe. It was then that the plane started to stir. People waking, breakfast served. As I was the landscape change below us - the mountain ranges came into view in Spain, all the while the coast was visible. It was all very beautiful and majestic. Eventually we flew over Sicily, in our initial decent into Rome.

Our drive from the airport was nice and uneventful. Another couple shared the shuttle ride, also going on the cruise with us. They were from Alaska, basically on a second honeymoon. They were young and energetic. I can’t remember those days myself, as I felt my energy waning away - and it was only noon in Italy. Arriving at our hotel, we realize we are truly in Italy. A small family run hotel. They cater to Americans quite nicely. The room is wonderful. Marty has done most of the planning for this trip and has done a wonderful job with his research. The town of Civatevecchia reminds me of Coacticook, my Dad’s hometown - 20 years ago. It’s like they are stuck in time here. We are reminded this is an old shipping town.

The roads and sidewalks are so narrow it’s hard to believe that anyone can drive. And for the most part walking romantically hand in hand is out. We must have fit in quite nicely, someone actually stopped to ask “us” for directions. Fortunately, I new how to say “Io no parlo italiano”.
So now we’ve been in Civatevecchia for several hours. We went to find a ‘farmacia” (pharmacy). It’s only about 2 pm or so and encountered a society which is pretty much shut down from 12 to 3 or 4 pm. So then we went in search of a restaurant that was recommended and found it to be closed on Wednesdays. Oh well, so off we went to, only to find the staff working the day shift speaks only Italian. It was staffed with Mother and Grandmother who appears to be the cook. The young granddaughter was doing homework with the help of both women. But back to the Italian -thank goodness I completed level one of Rosetta Stone Italian - I was able to communicate the essentials and we had a very good and very fresh seafood meal. But I have to warn you - if you order ravioli stuffed with cod, you also get shrimp, mussels (shells and all), and some other mystery shellfish we cannot name, tossed with my ravioli. I found myself quite adventurous today.

Now I am fighting serious jet lag and want to sleep but I’m holding out till dark. (maybe)!
(This post is 1 day late - we’ll catch you up about the departure in the next day or two)

Jeanne & Marty

Hi Everyone,
We are on our way. Up at 4 am. The shuttle arrived at 5 am on the dot. Then through security and the pat down, we headed straight for a good all American meal - McDonalds!

Then trying to connect to the free hot spot was a challenge - Or maybe it’s the fact that when you buy a brand new computer two days before a big trip, maybe you need to try it out at Starbucks first.
More to come it’s only 7 a.m. - Day 1.



Well now it's 2:30 EST - I finally got hooked to the internet. We are 2 hours into our 7 hour layover in NYC. Nice airport. Nothing too exciting. Lots of time to write our thoughts, but not much to share just yet.

This is Marty; at JFK, and at Starbucks they don't know how to do a DoubleShot on ice :-(. No milk...just 2 shots of expresso over ice, leaving the cup about 3/4 empty. Guess you have to specifically ask for milk here in NY.

Now the long wait continues...had a good roast beef au ju sandwich, but had to take out a second mortgage on the house to pay for it along with the beer...which was Brooklyn Lager on draft (yummy). That's it for now...post more later as this adventure "across the pond" continues...


Jeanne and Marty

Hi Everyone

Welcome to our first blog. We will try to entertain you with our adventures.
Feel free to respond and let us know what is going on in your lives.
Come on a journey with us.

Jeanne and Marty