Hi Everyone,

Well, we are safely home. Venice was lovely – just not enough time. It was sad saying goodbye to Jan and Fred and some of the other folks who were staying on the ship for the voyage to Rome. We had a wonderful time on this cruise - the Voyager is in excellent shape and ready for all of you on CROSS. My only wish is that we were going with you.

The Regent transfer to the airport went very smoothly. Our flight from Venice to Frankfurt was delayed by almost an hour. We had to make a run for the flight home to Boston – change of terminal in Frankfurt, then through passport control, then the enhanced security screen for US bound flights, then a second check of our tickets and documents. We arrived at the gate about half way through the boarding process! Flight was uneventful – 7.5 hours Frankfurt to Boston. We attempted to stay awake the whole way so we can get back on US time – Lufthansa has lots of entertainment options in business class so it was easy to pass the time. The new business class is ok – I found the seats to be a little weird as they will not go completely flat and they don’t go parallel to the floor – you are at some strange angle where you keep slipping down in the seat. I didn’t notice on the way over since I slept the whole way.

We live really close to Fenway Park (10 minute stroll from our house) and generally come through Kenmore Square on the way back from the airport, so it was a complete zoo last night. Good news for the Sox though!

Today was the unpacking (helped by the cats) mixed in with sporting events. Jim had the brilliant idea of sending most of our laundry to be done on the ship before we left. All we had to wash today was socks, underwear, the last day’s outfits and yesterday’s traveling clothes – two loads total. Everything else went from the suitcase to the closet. This is something I plan to do on future cruises as the dry cleaning is about the same price as we pay at home. We were unpacked and everything put away in an hour so we could enjoy the day.

It’s Head of the Charles Regatta weekend (rowing) and my sister-in-law’s brother is an Olympic class rower so we went to watch his race(s) this morning. His girlfriend coaches the MIT Women so we stayed to watch some of her team too. The Patriots continued their winning ways against Miami this afternoon and then we have Game 7 of the ALCS tonight. Even though the game did not start until after 8PM tonight, the Red Sox Nation started invading the area around 2 this afternoon – the police started patrolling the streets in my neighborhood at around 5 (there are 15 motorcycle cops stationed one block from here - I could here their radios sqauwking so I went out to see what was going on) and the helicopters and planes are circling overhead and driving the cats nuts as I write this! Normally, I love living in the city and I am a Red Sox fan but it would be so much easier if they would have just won this while we were away!

I will write up a review during the week and upload the edited pictures too, but here are a few shots of Dubrovnik and Venice just to keep the virtual cruise afloat.


The Voyager from the old city wall in Dubrovnik


Dubrovnik – we “walked the wall” all the way around the old town

Moving on to Venice

Piazza San Marco and the Doge’s Palace from the Voyager as we sailed into Venice


The view from the Vaporetto Route 1 on the Grand Canal – Jan had the excellent idea to take the long way round to Piazza San Marco so we could enjoy the views of this wonderful city


Fred, Gabrielle, and Jan - lucky folks are staying on right through to Florida. Fred's a Rockies fan...


And finally, the two furry child substitutes seem glad we are home.


Zorro – sitting behind my laptop as I was catching up on e-mail this morning


Katu – practicing kitty yoga before settling down for his mid-morning nap

Red Sox up 3-0 in the top of the fourth. I hope I can stay awake long enough to watch the game!



Mary Ellen