It just means that Tony has 2 babysitters now. :)

Lawrence he will be happy to hear that news - better there are two of you to deal with his hyperness - you have no idea how much I appreciated you "hanging" with him so I could relax, nap, read etc -

Well after discussing the Norway cruise inside and out last night hubby and I decided it just isn't the right time for us to be gone that long.

He, too, (like ChatKat) is an accountant, for an insurance company, and has to be around at the end of each quarter and the July part would not be the best time for him to be gone.

So...as much as we would like to meet everyone from LCT I guess it will be another ship/another time! :cool:

Last night, Pat & I booked the Grand Crossing 2007, Monte Carlo to Ft. Lauderdale, Nov. 3-19. (Ngaire never seems to sleep - she is such a wonderful Mother Superior to all of us.) The cruise (a combo of two segments) should be great - lots of ports the first 8 days and then 8 glorious days at sea to recover. And the fares are just amazing, cheaper than Oceania when one considers the value of tips, wine, and booze (now that RSSC will be AI - whoopee!! - in 2007). And, for those who have family obligations and must bring the pies or cranberry relish to the dinner, the cruise returns well before Thanksgiving. Cheers, Fred

Yes, Freddie, she booked it for us in the middle of her Lamp chops last night to make sure we got our requested cabin too.

Whoo Hoo, my next three (or four depending how you count a back-to-back) we're crusing with you :hug: and Pat

:pass: :pass: :pass: :pass:

"Whoo Hoo, my next three (or four depending how you count a back-to-back) we're crusing with you :hug: and Pat"

Hey, maybe we could make this really exciting and invite a hot cowboy or two and make it a Brokeback-to-back... Now, that would be cruising!!

Paula and I have placed an 11/07 Grand Crossing cabin on hold. That will be our first autumn in a long time that we will NOT call a "semester", so the timing seems perfect.

Luke

I think we will be there too. I just have to time my bookings so that Frank doesn't just have a heart attack, thinking we are booking so far ahead. We are doing Oceania this week, and will probably talk about it while on that, and then book sometime after we get back. Of course some unexpected circumstances could always change us actually being there, my Dad, another Grandkid due or something like that, but hey the deposit is refundable, so what the he##. Sounds like we have a group forming here - enough to name it yet??

So, Kathy if I have it right we have:
You and Frank
Don and Diana
Freddie and Pat
Luke and Paula
all for sure and, us
Frank and JoAnn ??? but probably
ANYONE ELSE??? Hope I didn't miss anyone! :D

There were a few people who were interested, but, I will let them pipe up. That will be one perfect cruise. I think Wendy and David were thinking about it.

:woh:

Hey, maybe we could make this really exciting and invite a cowboy or two and make it a Brokeback back-to-back... Now, that would be cruising!!

Fred: My back is breaking laughing!!!!! Joanna

JoAnne, I'm like you, for all the stuff I've booked, if a grandkid is coming in that timeframe, I'm outta here! Of course, I will know outside the penalty time, Just wishing!

Yes, Joanna I think i just have to meet Fred.......

Cindy: "Cowgirls" we are - we'll lasso Pat and Fred on next trip - Joanna

JoAnna,

Mush will be the perfect place to do that.

OK but but will the little skinny cowgirl, Cindy, be there????

You can't be talking about me...........i just got back from 21 days on the 5 meal/multi coctails a day cruise!!! No way, but a nice thought Joanna.........I wish I was going on Mush....

Cindy,

You are now LCT. We do multiple cruises in a year. We get used to the 5 a day plan and our napkins being placed in our laps. Trivia is an occupation along with the Rowenta.

Kathy: off topic but quickly are you CPA??? Someone from Santa Monica asked me - Joanna

Frank is a CPA - I do taxes though...mostly payoll, bookkeeping and financial consulting for individuals and closely held businesses. I grew up just out of Santa Monica and I have many clients in that area.

Thanks..J

hahahahahahahahahaha...Fred, you make me laugh!
Is this an escorted trip?

What is the weather like on the fall crossings?

The best laid plans ...........

JUST as I was writing Ngaire to pay our deposit for the Nov. 2007 Grand Crossing, Paula said "WAIT ... we can't go!" We had forgotten that she is the chair for a HUGE annual charity event (i.e., home tour) which will occur immediately after that cruise.

Back to the drawing boards.

Luke

Our fall crossing was wonderful. We avoided a large storm outside of Lisbon and did a slight diversion around TS Otto. I don't remember any rain during the whole trip across. The eight days on a whirlwind tour of europe (and north africa in 2007) followed by eight days of relaxation is a wonderfully designed cruise.

Thanks for the info Marc. Really excited about having booked that cruise. Now all we have to do is wait 21 months to take it!

Agree. Weather on our 11/05 crossing was beautiful and WARM! Be sure to take shorts, short-sleeved shirts, swimsuit, etc. It was a bit humid also. All in all, gorgeous weather the entire way & so relaxing. (We were ready to toss our cashmere sweaters!) - Michele

Kathy:

I thought you were doing the transatlantic "photo" crossing THIS year; have you postponed until 07?

We had the SNAP cruise in Nov 06 booked and then decided to do the crossing for Nov 07;

When we priced it for '07 as the Grand Crossing (the back to back), we liked the ports better and frankly, it would have been our third cruise this year and too much time out of the office since we spent almost 3 weeks in Italy too. Very hard to tell our regular clients we had taken 9 weeks of vacation time in a year.

It's one less flight over the pond. When our friends said they were thinking of going, well, that was frosting on the cake. We will do a car trip next spring, lug our gear and take our own photo trip to the North - Monterey, Sonoma/Napa, Mendecino, Oregon, and The San Juans

Ah, I didn't know you were doing the Grand Crossing, Kathy, how great!

Wendy,

Wanna join the party???

Thanks Kathy, but I would have to go alone! You know how you can't travel in the spring because it's tax season? Well we can't travel in the fall because of the teaching term at the university. In fact right now, early fall is David's worst time of the year, he teaches 1100 students in Convocation Hall all at once, for about 8 weeks in the fall.

I'm going to see how I handle the sea days on WAVE. See if my perfect record holds, 35 days, and no mal de mer. I will be bringing my Bonine, however, just in case. This would also be a trial for the North Sea cruises as well--I took a ferry once from Bergen to Newcastle, and actually did not get seasick, but spent alot of time out on deck breathing deeply. I took a ferry once from the Hook of Holland to Harwich and was miserable the entire way.

Well we booked it, Grand Crossing. Again of course assuming no issues with my 93 year old Dad, who will be 94 two days after we get back, and no new Grandbabies due around then, we're on!!! Yea!!!
Does it have a name yet? How many are going?

:woh: :woh: :woh: :woh: :woh:

I think that this is the latest, but, Luke and Paula cancelled.

We are thinking about doing the crossing part of this trip but I still haven't decided if I can handle all the sea days. Mark is up for it though.

Karen - come on go for it. There will be lots of things going on to keep you busy, not to mention lots of fun people to do things with, like trivia, bingo, etc. I'm a little worried about all that time on the ocean (seasickness) but when we did the QE2 several years ago, it was 5 days, and I just used my pills when needed and we were in pretty heavy swells most of the time, but then we were going from New York in the North Atlantic to Southampton, and I was fine for the most part, on the last night it finally got to me, but other than that it was fine. And hopefully since we will be traveling southwest, should be smoother.

Need you there Karen!! :D

Jerry and I and another Fort Worth couple (friends of ours) just booked the 11/07 Voyager cruise starting in Monte Carlo. They'll get off in Funchal (they have to get back to work) but we'll possibly be staying on to FLL. I'm still waiting to see whether Ngaire is going to do a group cruise in the Fall, 2007. If so, we may switch to that cruise, whatever it is. But it sounds like we've got the makings of an LCT group on this one!

Hi Peggy -

All we need is 10 to name that cruise and it sounds good that we will, YIPPIE AI O!!!!! (That's Texan for Whoo HOOO!)

Let's See, we have Don, Diana, Fred, Pat, Joann and Frank - all former CALIFORNIANS, Frank and Me, who are CALIFORNIANS and Six Texans. See if that math adds up - It really equals 12 :D

Yee Hah! I think the math does add up! Had to count a couple times because I thought you might have counted Don and Diana twice--but you didn't. I'm hoping we can actually meet Don and Diana sometime before this cruise since we only live a few miles from them!
Back to the cruise--it sounds like we have the West Coast and the Southwest covered. Now we need some folks from the East to join us to keep us all from making too much noise whooping and hollering :D

Pardon me for being lazy but what cruise are you all woo hoo-ing about and how many days?

Suzie - its the November 2007 "Grand crossing" starting in Monte Carlo to Ft. Lauderdale, 16 days. You can do the 8 night Monte Carlo to Funchal, or the 8 night Funchal to Ft. Lauderdale, or as some of us have done combine them for a 16 day. Prices are pretty darn good, past pax discount is 10% on the Transatlantic, combo savings applies, and the TA portion is really priced well at 2 for 1.

Peggy - Kathy is right, we are former Californians, but we live in Virginia now, have for 20 years - but we can't be counted on to keep everyone from hooping and hollering, we like to party with the rest of them. :pass: :pass: :3smile: :3smile: