We've just decided to change our cruise plans for 2007. Going on "Part I" of "CROSS" November 3-11, 2007.

Would like input on the following ports, please:

Barcelona
Valencia
Malaga
Casablanca
Agadir
Lanzarote, Canary Islands
Funchal, Madeira

Denise....wonderful!!!!

Wonderful ports!!!! Why not book next eight see days? With costs of air and two for one price; might be cheaper just to stay on board.

Trying to figure out the logistics of the air, Marc. I'm all ears, if you can devise a flight plan. Looking at air scenarios now. Cheapest way to do this is to book RT tix from LAX to either London, Paris or Frankfurt. Then airpass to Nice and out of Funchal. How do we figure in the Ft. Lauderdale air segment? My brain is not thinking air too clearly right now!

I believe to stay on for the 2nd segement, it would run about $2,000 PP extra, correct?

Love the ports on this one.

Edited to add - Would it be wise to use FF miles for this trip, considering all the legs of the flights?

Denise as of now, you can fly Delta to ATL and then connect to NCE right out of LAX. It was very easy for WAVE. We are SkyMiles. You can also fly non-stop from FLL to LAX on DL.

If I remember, you use United, so you might have to route differently. If you could do a once way into Paris - CDG, you could train or get a connecting flight to Nice to board. You can also go NS to Long Beach from FLL for $129.00 pp on Jet Blue.

Denise - exciting news - glad you are joining us.

I think you are right about the TA portion, its about $2000 more per person, but here is even better news, by booking both, you get the 2 for 1 on both portions, as well as the SS 10% discount, so you might check it out.

Our numbers are growing!

We talked about it further last night and I'm putting a call into Julie today to inquire about both segements.

We use United, Lufthansa and BA. Looking into all those options and whether or not we want to use FF miles.

Thanks for the very warm welcome, JoAnn.

Denise,

Suzanne, Crystal and I will be visiting Casablanca, Agadir and Lanzarote, Canary Islands when we cruise this November on the Silver Wind. We'll take good notes and report back to you.

And news from me too -- Yesterday we booked the entire B2B CROSS Grand Crossing!

Can't wait to meet this great LCT group who will be on one or both segments.

Excellent news, Priscilla!!!! And, such a surprise ;)

Cannot wait to cruise with you and John! A long time in the making!!! :banana:

Priscilla, glad you are joining us. We are just poor folks though and can only afford the all sea day all the time portion of the cruise! LOL

Denise, we hope you and Alan do the full B2B so we can sail with you guys back to FLL. Plus, look at how much shorter the return home flight will be. ;)

Thanks, Don! Can't wait to meet you in Funchal, even though we are just down the road from each other here in steamy North Texas.

Denise, exceedingly excellent! We have talked about so many travel plans over such a long time, and finally one looks as if it will work. I am so happy about this.

YAY Priscilla - welcome to CROSS! It will be fun meeting you.

Denise - OK now you just have to do it, how can you get off???

Don, Diana, Karen and Mark - don't forget I promised a "welcome aboard" cocktail party in our room in Funchal, now it will be really fun with so many people. We have a couple traveling with us too that haven't been mentioned before so thats two more to add to the fun and games. Looks like plenty of dinner companions!!

JoAnn - hoping your dance card on this one will leave lots of room for Frank and me!

Thanks for the welcome to CROSS, JoAnn. I'm really looking forward to meeting the LCT group on this trip. Should be loads of fun!

Pricilla,

Yes, we have a lovely group of CROSS'ers, it will be fun meeting everyone!

HaHa of course Kathy! Hopefully some dinners with some of these other great cruisers can be worked out between us all.

Doug and I are booked on this too. We were thinking of getting off in Madeira and doing a beach week. We are tossing this around.

Denise ~ There's always JetBlue from FLL to Long Beach. Non stop but unfortunately it departs FLL at some ridiculous time like 6am! Oh well, it was a thought! :rolleyes:

Beth, Will want plenty of feedback, please, from all of you!

I think I have all of us on the roll call thread now.

Andi--didn't know that you and Doug will be on this cruise. It will be great to see you!!! We were originally going to do just the Med part, but a conflict went away and we decided the TA cruise is a much better way to get home than flying from Funchal. These days I'll do most anything to keep from having to go to an airport, espeically for a long flight :D

Don and Pricilla--looks like we can have a mini Dallas/Fort Worth get together on the cruise. Too bad we can't get Lauri and the B&K crew to join us.

:lct: But, I screwed up...we are going in April in the other direction...Poo...

Whoa Andi, I didn't know you were on this either. Welcome to the group. I'll have to go back and look at the roll call. Getting better all the time.

Don, Priscilla, Andi - look at that you already have a table for one nights dinner - a Dallas reunion!

Kathy - why don't you add our friends to the roll call - they don't post here, but barring some unforseen event, I'm pretty sure they are going.
Neil and Carol (Frank and JoAnn's friends).

This may be the wrong thread, but can someone tell me about Funchal? Is it hard to get to? Are the waters around it choppy?

JoAnn we are going to take you up on that. Who knows, maybe we will just bite the bullet and do the whole b2b thing like the rich folk are doing! LOL

Peggy, I think we should. In fact, I think we should even have one here in Big D soon. Maybe when the temperatures finally get below the boiling level!!!

Don,

We'll never be rich in terms of money - we're spending it all to cruise NOW. But ask me about miles and Goldpoints! My cup runneth over!

Kathy, y'all sound like us. When we look at cruises, I usually just think in terms of what do I have to sell in order to do this! It is a real motivator.

OK since you mentioned it. I know that with RSSC you can earn Goldpoints, but what are they and what does it get you? I've got the AMEX Platinum downpat, except is the Grand Crossing considered one cruise or two cruises with regards to the AMEX benefits? Also, what kind of premium wine is it that you get for Platinum?

Don, you get goldpoints based on your cruise fare. Haven't paid that much attention, but maybe you get 10 goldpoints per $ or something like that. Hopefully someone will correct me if that's wrong. Anyway, when you get 100,000 points, you get a $400 discount on your next cruise or you can use the points at Radisson Hotels, and for a variety of other things--the points are like most other hotel points in that regard. When you booked a Regent cruise, I'm sure B&K set up a Household goldpoints account for you, so that the points from both Diana's and your cruise fare will go in the account. Not sure about the premium wine you get for the Platinum cruise privileges, but it's probably champagne. If anyone knows any tricks to get something else, please post that. I'm sure others will know a lot more about both of these benefits.

Thanks Peggy! Diana will like it if it is champagne. We got a bottle of Dom Perignon on our SS cruise and brought it home and opened it to celebrate our 35th anniversary last Sunday.

I will check with Linda to make sure that we are all set up on the goldpoints account.

It's just RSSC Champagne of the California Variety. But it does the job.

Hi Diane,

I am doing some research on Funchal. Here's a site that might be helpful
Funchal

Thanks Denise. I would like to do that in 2008, but am worried about the waters.

We did the cruise last year and our review is on the CC board. It was wonderful but last year departed from Monte Carlo. So far as the ports are concerned we did spend a very nice day in Barcelona, the cruise line provided a shuttle to the Columbus statue and from there we took the sightseeing bus to once again see the sights of the beautiful city. In Valancia the stop was so short that we just had the time to take the shuttle to the city center, have a short look around and then it was back to the ship.
The visit to Malaga saw us on 1/2 day ship's tour to the beautiful resort of Marbella. It was a an exciting ride along the coast road and an interesting experience to observe the Anglification of the city by ex-patriots from the UK!
En route through the Straits of Gibraltar the captain stopped the ship at about 9:30PM to let us view the flood-lit rock - that was a wonderful sight.
Our visit to Casablanca was to Jewish Museum in a
residential area, a visit to the Blue Mosque requiring a shoes off tour which we declined, the floor was too hard and a ride through a rather dirty muslim city with little to offer. Agadir was another arab experience which we could of lived without. A visit to a vantage point with camel rides,a very hot (temperature wise that is! spice store snd the usual "chatske" shop and little else. A walk throught a dirty market, souke, and then a quick visit to the more newly built area of topless beaches and a nice hotel. ( Why didn't we go there first?)
The visit to Lanzarote was very interesting as we took the ships tour of the N part of the island and enjoyed the moon like countryside and a visit to a volcanic plume with wonderful cave with a limpid pool deep in the earth. A visit to a cactus garden was included but by that time we were "pooped" from the walking and sat on a wall admiring the flora.
We arrived in Funchal on a Sunday and really enjoyed the tour which included the basket ski ride. Had to wait a while for that as there were several ships in the port that day; the experience was "awesome." Don't miss it!!!! A visit to a local wine sellers completed a wonderful day in Funchal even though the weather was a little overcast.
After that the 8 days at sea with the wonderful service, great fellow passengers, (only 340 of them though) time to enjoy shipboard life, great entertainment, superb food and wonderful calm seas made our second crossing in 2 years an unforgetable experience.
Havce a wonderful voyage and enjoy the ambience of the wonderful Voyager

David and Betty - Thanks for all the information. Were you on RSSC, just out of curiosity?

Thanks, Betty and David.

What time of year did you that your cruise?

We were on that cruise, also, Denise. It was the same one you are doing. Yes, JoAnn it was on Regent's Voyager. The ports offer a nice variety. We found Morocco to be a fascinating country. Yes, some of it is dirty and dusty and of course it is Muslim. If you are interested in seeing other cultures and viewing a "slice of their life", then you will enjoy your visit. Thought the excrusion in Casablanca good and was amazed by the size and majesty of the mosque we visited. Talk about clean, not a speck of dirt, graffiti, not even a cigarette butt anywhere. I would choose a different excursion in Agadir. I'll have to look up the info to tell you the one we wish we had done. Funchal was my favorite port of all. Lovely, place.

Thanks, Donna. The ports look very interesting and I am drawn to its diversity. Please share whatever excursions you feel are must dos.

What time of year was your sailing?

November 6 - 21.

Thanks. Good to hear there were calm seas at that time. How was the weather?

Thanks Donna - great info. Anything more you would like to share would be welcome. Especially do's and don'ts for excursions. Glad you enjoyed it so much.