Tuesday, 10 October 2017
Tucson

Getting Ready for November 2017 Cruise
(and planning for February 2018)

I am back on LFLatSea to announce plans for my next cruise.  After our trip to Hawaii in July, the three of us--Anita, Will, and I--decided that we travel so well together we are taking a 14-day Mediterranean cruise next month.  In fact, we leave from Civitavecchia (the port of Rome), four weeks from today. 

This cruise, on Oceania's ms Marina, will take us and 1197 other passengers, from Rome to Barcelona.   If you recognize that the distance from Rome to Barcelona can be covered in a mere two days, you will realize that we will be taking the long way round, with stops in Messina, Italy; Valletta, Malta; Haifa/Jerusalem, Israel (2 days); Limassol, Cyprus; Rhodes and Gythion, Greece; and Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Although I have visited some of these ports on earlier cruises (Messina, Valletta, Rhodes, and Palma de Mallorca), it is always exciting to discover new things to see in familiar places.  Will and I spent a week in Israel (and 10 days in Egypt) in 1993--but that is ancient history, and we are anxious to see what changes have occurred over the past 24 years. 

ms Riviera, exact sister ship to the ms Marina

Detailed itinerary:

Su 5 Nov 

12:00nn Lv Tucson by car
1:45pm Av PHX (drop Anita at BA: terminal 4; overnight to London and Rome)

2:00pm Av Phoenix (Will and Larry overnight at Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix Airport North)

M 6 Nov 

8:25am Lv Phoenix (PHX) /  DL 2162 / 12 C,D / economy comfort
1:59pm Av Atlanta (ATL)
6:00pm Lv Atlanta / DL 64 / 17 F,D / overnight / economy comfort 

T 7 Nov
9:40am Av Rome (FCO) / meet Anita in arrivals lobby

11:00am Lv FCO / private car with driver

12:00nn  Av Civitavecchia / embark ms Oceania / Larry and Will:  Penthouse Suite 11059 

6:00pm  Sail from Port / ms Oceania    

W 8 Nov 

8:00am  Anchor at Sorrento, Italy  
10:00am  Tour of Amalfi and Positano (private car with driver)  
4:00pm  Return to Sorrento Port
6:00pm  Sail from Sorrento Harbor

R 9 Nov
8:00am  Dock in Messina, Sicily, Italy
9:30am  Shore Excursion:  Explore Taormina on Your Own
2:30pm  Return to Messina
7:00pm  Sail from Messina

F 10 Nov and Sa 11 Nov  At Sea

Su 12 Nov
7:00am  Dock in Haifa, Israel
8:00am  Shore Excursion:  Jerusalem Old City
6:00pm  Return to Haifa (overnight on board)

M 13 Nov
7:00am  Shore Excursion:  Masada and the Dead Sea
7:30pm  Return to Haifa  
8:00pm  Sail from Haifa

T 14 Nov
8:00am  Dock in Limassol, Cyprus
8:45am  Shore Excursion:  Paphos
1:45pm  Return to Limassol
4:00pm  Sail from Limassol

W 15 Nov 
8:00am  Dock in Rhodes, Greece  
9:00am  Independent Touring
4:00pm  Sail from Rhodes

R 16 Nov
9:00am  Dock in Gythion, Greece
9:15am  Shore Excursion:  Medieval Mystras
1:15pm  Return to Gythion
7:00pm  Sail from Gythion

F 17 Nov  At Sea

Sa 18 Nov
8:00am  Dock in Valletta, Malta
9:00am  Shore Excursion:  Rabat, Mdina and Dingli Cliffs
1:00pm  Return to Valletta
6:00pm  Sail from Valletta

Su 19 Nov  At Sea

M 20 Nov
8:00am  Dock in Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
9:15am  Shore Excursion:  Taste of the Past
2:15pm  Return to Palma
6:00pm  Sail from Palma

T 21 Nov 
6:00am  Av Barcelona, Spain Port
11:50am Lv Barcelona (BCN) /  BA 479 / 15 C,D / premier economy
1:20pm Av London (LHR) 
2:35pm Lv London / BA 289 / 13 D, 14 D / premier economy  
6:30pm Av Phoenix (PHX) / pickup car at Hilton Hotel
10:00pm Av Tucson  

More details about the ship and the cruise in days to come.

*****
Be on the lookout for first news of the 17-day Holland America Australia-New Zealand cruise, departing from Sydney on 1 February 2018, and ending in Auckland, NZ.  I have placed a deposit to reserve a veranda stateroom, and Will has until 3 November to decide if he wishes to sail with me.