Hi Denise,

Well, if this pans out it'll be my most exciting birthday present ever! It'll be like meeting old friends!

PS: I'm very impressed with your proper use of the "ñ". Do you speak Spanish?

Old friends - so true!

I'd like to take the credit for the proper use of the "n" however, I cannot tell a lie - Google/cut and paste! My Spanish is horrible. I try to communicate with the Housekeeping staff at work in my own version of Spanish. Pitiful! But, at least I try and they get the laugh of the day!

I do slightly better with French, but that's pitiful, as well!

Whatever the language - I hope your day was as special as you are!

You could have fooled me!

Thanks again for the good wishes!

Happy Birthday Maria!!!! :happyb: :happyb:

Whoohooo, so happy you will be joining us on the first segment of CROSS. With several stops in Spain, I'm sure you will be very excited, since I know Spain is one of your favorite places.

Looking forward to meeting you.

Thanks JoAnn,

And I can now report that we are officially booked for the 1st segment, cabin 644.

Olé and let the sangría flow!!

Fantastic!! And the party just gets better and better. is right!!

Maria, congratulations and Happy Birthday. Sorry we won't get to meet up since you will be getting off, just as I am getting on.

JoAnn, is the party still in your room for when we board? :pass:

Denise, it looks like we have the same technique. Remember, when they don't understand you, just talk louder! LOL I remember on our first cruise (a few years back) we were in Puerto Rico and wandered off on our own. As it got time to get back to the ship, we suddenly forgot all of our High School Spanish. I still remember trying to converse to find our way back and asking, Donde esta el BOATO por favor, and waving my hands up and down making sailing motions! Fortunately for us, one of the crew saw us and told us to get on the same bus as him and led us back to the ship.

Hi Don, Thanks! I'm also sorry about our ships "crossing in the night", so to speak!

I think I read somewhere you were flying from Paris to Funchal? How are they routing you? I am trying to get out of Funchal!!! Thanks!

Come to think of it, I bet we can keep Maria on board in Funchal with the rest of us until Don boards or something like that....We have a few months to think about how to make it work.

Maria - I will update the roll call to add your cabin number - You are directly across the hall from us!

Bravo, Maria!!! I knew it would all come together for you and Bob(positive vibes always lead to positive results!). Can't wait to finally meet you! We're in 648, so we're practically neighbors!

We love Sangria and Paella!

Kathy, Thanks!

Denise,

Thanks for all the encouragement. So far so good.

Oh yes, paella..... and the paella valenciana is the original and IMO, the best!

Maria, wonderful news! Yea!!!!!! What a difference a day makes, right? Yesterday you had the idea, and today you are booked. Let the party begin!

Don, you now are ahead of me on your flights from and to Dallas. If I don't get busy, Denise will disown me! The pressure is on.

Kathy, whenever you are updating, we have changed cabins. We now are in Suite 726.

The excitement is building ....

Hi Priscilla,

Let's not scare Maria off so quickly with my endless and relentless prodding to get airline tix!

Now I have two people to pester! Get cracking, folks! Please. You know, having those airline tix is a great excitement enhancer! You'll see! :hug: :hug:

Denise, prod away!!!

I'll probably be researching bizarre routings ( there is nothing easy about getting back to the US from Funchal)until the light bulb goes on and I realize that what makes the most sense is to take the TA segment as well! LOL!

Don - of course - we will celebrate you getting onboard. Invitations will be on doors!

Denise - agree, just need to get that last segment booked when JetBlue opens those dates up, its frustrating knowing I have one little loose end.

We're all settled in for this one. That lack of finality of getting to and from is nerve wracking to me. I hate loose ends. It did cost more in the miles department, but, if I hadn't booked it before tax season, I'd have too much to think about.

We originally booked the 1st half of the crossing for 2006 but cancelled when we started planning the flights and ended up book 2007's Grand Crossing back. The flight home was almost the same price as just doing the full crossing.

That was our reasoning, Maria. It made sense to book the 2nd segment. We are United Mileage Plus members and TAP Portugal is their partner. So, we would have had some mileage options. We did want to tour Funchal and would have had to stay overnight to do so. By the time we figured in hotel, meals and air, it came out pretty reasonable to do the 2nd segment.

The other enticement was the fact that the 2nd segment was pure relaxation. I am, as Ngaire refers to me, the Energizer Bunny. Alan is Mr. Relaxation. So, the Energizer Bunny gets to be on the go the first segment. Mr. Relaxation can laze around on the 2nd segement. We both have our ideal vacations!

JoAnn, you'll be able to book the return leg before you know it. Then, no more loose ends to think about.

Maria,

Just ask Priscilla. I love to prod and will be relentless! :D

Relentless! Task master! Prod, prod .... :eek:

:app: It's a nasty job, but somebody's gotta do it!

Uh, shouldn't you be checking out your air options???? <img border="0" alt="[c]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" />

See what I mean, everybody????? Relentless, I tell you! :D

But she is oh so "special" as you well know Priscilla :hug: :hug: :hug: :ch: :ch: :ch:

Yes, she is, Joanna! I'm in Denise's cheering section too! :ch: :ch: :ch: :ch: :ch:

You are both too kind and in my cheering section, too! Thank you! :hug: :hug:

OK, Priscilla, time to pack up your pom poms and get back to your airfare project!

As Tony's Italian mother would say "A ball buster" why I love her -

Denise - you are toooooo funny. But oh what an organizer you are. We are in your cheering section too, and believe me I take your advice on travel seriously. :ch:

Maria, check out www.tap.pt Fly from Funchal to Lisbon and then non-stop to Newark! You would have to overnight in Funchal, because the flight leaves before you would be off the ship. 790 Euro one way fare

Mon
12/11 07:30
Funchal 09:05
Lisbon TP1604
Mon
12/11 11:50
Lisbon 14:40
New York - Newark

Or, as my Jewish aunt would say - "You're
breakin' 'em!"

You and I are "cut from the same clothe." I love you, too, Joanna!

That's really sweet, JoAnn! Thanks!
:hug:

Hi Diana,

There'll be no prodding you and Don. Don booked your air all ready! Nice job, Don!

Denise, you're the best!!! I'm also the energizer bunny but I'm close to crashing in the next few days. The B2B on the crossing will be perfect for you!

Nancy

Hi Nancy,

Sure would love for you and Larry to be on this one with us!

I don't know how perfect relaxing is going to be for me for 8 days :eek:

Oh Denise, sure wish we could join you but we are cruising on the Crystal Symphony at the end of august from Dover to NY. It's a 14 day cruise with 8 non-consecutive sea days. I don't know how to fully relax but cruising does help!

Best, Nancy

Sounds like a fantastic cruise, Nancy! Hopefully, all those sea days for you and me will result in a great lesson on how to fully relax!

Hi Diana,

How nice to see you posting!

Thank you for the schedules. Yes, for sure an overnight in Funchal and maybe, the "silver lining", also an overnight in Lisbon . I have never been there so I figured , why not?

I'm just curious, how are you routing your Paris-Funchal trip?

I am sorry it seems that I will not cruise with you and Don this time, but who knows, maybe we can meet briefly in Funchal!

JoAnn, You're absolutely right, Denise is a great organizer and I'm glad of that. She's already keeping me on my toes! :)

I second what Maria said, Diana! Great to see you back on LCT! Really looking forward to seeing you and Don again in November!

Thanks for the very kind words, sweet Maria!

Maria, we are on British Airways. We will take the late afternoon flight from Paris to London Heathrow, then bus down to Gatwick, where we will take the early non-stop flight to Funchal. One interesting note, we can check in (including our bags) the night before, so we are staying at the Sofitel inside of the terminal, so that we can go right from our room to the plane.

We now have all our hotels booked and lined up. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Bastille in Paris, which is just up from the Gare de Lyon train station and Metro. We are doing the RT Air France bus CDG to Gare de Lyon and back. It is a very convenient location.

As I said, we are booked for the Sofitel for our overnight in London and then we are booked at the Hotel Porto Santa Maria in Funchal. It is right on the harbor in Funchal and close to the sky tram, the old town, and all the area transports. It is ranked #3 on Tripadvisor and we can even wave to y'all as you sail into port!!!

In fact, this will be the view from our balcony. Isn't the first one on the right the Voyager? Looks a little overcast that day. Hopefully 11/11 will look more like the bottom picture, without that many ships of course!





BTW, it was actually me that posted on Diana's computer. She hadn't logged out. She really does need to post more.

Honey, are you lurking??? LOL

Thanks Don,

I wanted to see if there was another direct way other than Lisbon or Gatwick to get out of Funchal.
Makes sense to stay inside the terminal, less hassles !

Tell Diana to come visit with us more often!

Editing to add:

Don, Are you staying in Funchal overnight or are you coming the same day of embarkation? If you are staying overnight and find recommendations for hotels , please share! ( I'll do the same)
Thanks!

Great news that you are all booked, Don. Beautiful view from the hotel in Funchal.

Very happy to hear this is coming together so well for you and Diana!

Don,

Thanks . It looks lovely! I am going to look into it!

Maria, we booked it on www.booking.com (they are part of Priceline). The rate for a sea view studio was 120 Euro per night.

You can check out the reviews here on tripadvisor Porto Santa Maria Hotel

Don,

Thanks for the info!

Nenhum problema!

I thought I would try out my Portuguese. I also use Denise's method! ;)