Tonight, at 8pm on the travel channel, the oh-so-upbeat Samantha Brown is doing a show about her first cruise. I think it's a repeat but I have never seen it before and I think I will give it a try.


Samantha Brown's First Cruise


Embark on a 12-day Mediterranean voyage aboard Royal Caribbean's "Brilliance of the Seas" with first-time cruiser Samantha Brown. There's as much to do on board as there is to do in ports like Nice, Florence, Naples, and Venice.

Ooh, sounds good - I'll be watching it. Even if it is an RCI cruise, at least it might give me an opportunity to relive some of my Mediterranean experiences!

LeeAnne, that's what I was hoping for, too!

Sounds interesting to me too! Thanks Karen.

Thanks Karen, I think I'll tune in, you never know when you might learn something new.....

Well she sure had some nice weather! It was fun revisiting some of the ports on my last cruise. I thought the ship, while huge, was very pretty!

Not a bad show!
Sam Brown was better than normal (lol).

Marcie: A lot of VOF country covered

Doug

But no Corfu ring holders

Hi Doug!

Corfu/Ring holders MADE that trip for me! Who knows, one day we may find that ring holder on Antiques Roadshow and worth millions! Lucky Ken!

We got something out of this one! She visited a few of the ports we are most interested in for our first trip to the Med. They were gorgeous! Ahhh, Corfu!

That ship did look nice, but all I could think of was, "thank GOD we sail Silversea!"

Well, it hasn't aired yet out here, but I'm glad to hear that it was good, so I'll definitely be watching it!

We took our kids and grandchildren on this ship last year. We had the best suite we have ever had on any ship, however it was the worst food, and service that we had ever had. The kids had a ball, and we had a wonderful time being there with them. Just think, you saw how the wine and drinks were flowing for her, nothing flowed free on that ship,including water, sodas, and the other restaurants....We'll stay with Radisson and Seabourn, the cabin was great but not worth it.

Kristin,

Yes, yes, Corfu is lovely. If you go, make sure you do as she did and leave Corfu town which is full of the ticky-tackiest shops and oh, how shall I put this, ummmm...."holiday makers" (as they say in Europe or at least the UK) on package deals.

It has always been one of "those" package destinations, but, I was so lucky to have experienced this island for the first time with an exchange student my family hosted when I was in high school.

I was taken to that high view point, but, at night. Total blackness, nothing open, including the tiny family restaurant we were going to.

Ding, dong, knock knock, "We have brought special guests from abroad". The lights strung across the two wooden picnic tables suddenly lit up. Soon the matriarch of the family started bringing out platters of deep fried calamari. There were just four of us. We ate and drank whatever appeared at our table. It was all good. So delicious. I can still hear the whisper of the pines (lots of them on Corfu)and the sweet smell of fish just caught that morning but prepared for us that evening, (I'm sure earmarked for that family).

By midnight my hosts and hosting restaurant family were surrounding us. So many toasts and happy feelings.

It was just not the same when I was there doing the "cruise ship" thing in Corfu town two years ago. I'm sure the magic of that island is still there...

Wow, Suzanne, excellent description, I swear I feel like I was right there with you experiencing that wonderful dinner! It sounds like it was a magical evening. That, to me, is the ultimate travel experience -- actually delving into the real existance of people who live in an exotic (to us) locale, eating and drinking what they do, getting to know them, being enveloped in the warmth of the locals. What a memory, huh?

As for the show, well Samantha was a little...um...too perky for my tastes, but she did a fine job. I was surprised she didn't show a little more of Barcelona -- did she even get out and see the city? It's one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and she just ignored it. She didn't say a whole lot about the food or service on the ship, but then what is there to say, I guess. She seemed to have a fabulous time, but they didn't show any of the stuff that drives me batty on a mass-market ship. They definitely made it look idyllic.

We enjoyed watching that show last night too. As for Corfu....unfortunately we never saw anything nice like they showed. We didn't get past the tacky shops in town! I too was wondering why they didn't show Barcelona....we LOVE it there!

I think I might tune into this show tonight at 10:00 on the Travel channel just to see the Alaskan itinerary!

Great Cruises: Radiance of the Seas


Get ready for a week of wonder on a cruise from Juneau to Ketchikan, onboard the Royal Caribbean's amazing vessel. Uncover the challenges of running this massive cruise ship and navigating its 90,000 tons of steel through the chilly Alaskan waters.

Keep your eye on the Discovery channel for a piece on the Voyager. There was a crew on board filming a "behind the scenes" piece during the 5-day Caribbean cruise a few weeks back when I was on. Had dinner one night with the producer--an extremely charming young Australian fellow. He wasn't sure when it would be on.

Crystal, I'd love to see that! Unfortunately, it will probably be on AFTER January 9th when we leave. DARN!

Well, the Radiance of the Seas show is on. They were dog sledding out of Skagway and all I can say is MUSH!!!!! I wanna go dog sledding! We did not do that on our first Mariner Alaska - good thing we have a second chance!!!

Yikes, the weather was a bit dreary! I was surprised to see it raining every day but at least now I won't be expecting sunny skies!

Karen - It rained in Victoria just for a short bit and Ketchikan (The rainiest city in America) when we were there. It was like Hawaii - a quick rain and then sunshine! It never stopped us from doing anything!

We watched the Radiance of the Seas show last night, too - very nice! I bet you guys will still have plenty of good weather for MUSH. That train with the windows throughout - are you guys able to take a tour like that, or is that exclusive to Royal Caribbean?

Did anyone catch the show that was on after that about the mega yachts?! WOW! Can you just imagine...