Wow! Thanks everyone for the amazingly quick feedback, and especially to Priscilla for the detailed advice. Also to Fred for suggesting that specific cruise, and to Lee, who is coming from Sydney to be on board then. We already feel welcome.

Tomorrow I'll start talking on the phone. My first thought is, hey, why wait? There's a similar trip (11 days) this September. Maybe we should celebrate our 49th and come back again next year! Ann's head is swimming a bit, but we'll see.

The 2009 Portsmouth to Monaco trip indicates on the web site that at this point we would be on stand by in every stateroom category. Is this because they have not yet reached the penalty deadline when they will get an idea of the dropouts? The cruise is Sept. 7. When will they start opening it to stand-bys?

I'm trying to figure out how to get our pic online. I have pics of us on the computer, but they don't have their own URL. I'll need a techie to get it done.

Thanks to all of you. we are pumped!

Jim&Ann