Hey, Being RSSC is AI, we can have a party anywhere on the ship. I am happy to buy drinks for the evening (ha ha)

Don - you are right, our room on the 11th to welcome you and Diana aboard, only one deck up now and a little aft! I haven't forgotten. We can do sailaway first, then move to our room, or just do sailaway in our room and then on to dinner!!

Kathy -

I'd vote for sailway in Funchal on the top deck. Should be BEAUTIFUL up there! then drinks and into dinner.

I think a sail-away party on deck is definately in order. Shoot, Diana and I may even have a sail in party from our hotel balcony and watch as the ship sails into port! A Mimosa toast!!! We will wave to y'all as you get in.

Well then we will meet up at the sail away and then move on to our cabin and from there, if we are still upright and walking move on to dinner. Invitations will be on everyone's doors.

Put a big flag or sheet or something on your balcony Don, so we can find you and wave -- although I have to admit, Frank and I don't necessarily get up for early arrivals - but maybe we will make an exception in this case, so we can all be waving to each other. We could get Mimosa's too and toast each other from afar!!

Hi Don,

We're up early and we'll be waving and toasting you and Diana! You can then watch the cloud of dust as Alan and I make a mad dash off the ship after we dock, to begin touring!

OH WOW Denise and Marcie are both energizer bunnies - got email from Marcie they just got in from Bangkok OFF to St Pat's party on ship...I will wave from my patio at home when you all leave/board :mecry: :mecry: what a great bunch of LCT'ers on this cruise! Fred/Pat, JoAnn, Don, Peggy, Denise, Priscilla and Maria (and non posting SO others) you picked a winner!!!

JoAnn, will this work?

Don,

We'll be waving back at you. Frank and I will look forward to seeing you and Diana - hopefully sometime before we CROSS.

Yes, there are some special friends on this cruise we have sailed with numerous times and have seen on land between cruising. We plan and book them together because we enjoy sailing with them.

I think I will be able to see it Don!!!

Denise - you are just too funny - I can see it now, you and Alan lined up at the gangway before the ship even gets there, coffee in hand, ready to go. :hyper: :hyper: :cool: We might be a little behind you, we are a little slower in the mornings. :p

JoAnn,

You are so right! Up and out as early as possible with not a minute to waste!

Don,

We will surely be able to see your very welcoming quilt! You and Diana now belong to the elite group of Funchal Welcome Wagon!

Don,

Does your quilt have a backside that says "Goodbye Friends" so I can wave it as you guys sail away? :mecry: :mecry: :mecry:

Maria,

No talk of departures, please!! :( :mecry:

Maria lets not talk about you getting off in Funchal, before we've even had a chance to start even the Med portion. Look forward to being with you Monte Carlo to Funchal, and maybe Don will give you the banner when you leave.

I am so excited for this cruise. We just decided this week to add a tour of EZE on our way to the ship, contacted the transfer service, and we worked it all out, stop in Nice for wine and flowers, tour EZE and have lunch, and drop off at the ship in Monte Carlo between 2-2:30. Everything else is in place, except the JetBlue flight, they still are not taking reservations after Sept 4, I wish they would just get on with it.

Oh well......

JoAnn, you've got me shaking my head! I thought you were on the b2b and Maria who is just on the "ports" portion will be with you!

Sorry, Olivia, you are right. Just re-read my post and it does sound weird. We are on the full 16 day Monte Carlo to Ft. Lauderdale. Will edit.

Yes Denise and JoAnn, you are right. I'll hold off my sobbing until I am wheeling down my carry-on :D !

Maria,

We have the Med portion of CROSS to convince you and Bob to stay on for the TA portion! :D

Maria, I didn't think our tapestry had anything on the other side. It was a gift from our good friend Arnold from California! Imagine my surprise when I turned it over and actually found this tag stitched to the back! :D

LOL!!!!! And in Spanish no less!

I like Denise's suggestion better , but if it doesn't work I'll hang it from our hotel's balcony!

Don, I think what Maria wants us to say is -

"Lamentamos verle ir! Queremos que usted se quede!"

Then, Maria will turn to Bob and say -

"Bob, nos quedamos hasta el final"

Bob will then look lovingly into Maria's eyes and say -

"Maria, le amo y usted puede tener todos sus deseos más fervientes"

And then we all will say -

"Ole!"

Sounds good Denise!!!

Very impressive that you understand my post, JoAnn!

Yeah right!!! <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />

However, my guess would be it goes something like this -

Maria - "Oh Bob does this really have to end?"

Bob - "Maria, I love you and you can have anything you want"

Then we all shout "YAY"

and they stay happily onboard for the crossing!

Your spanish is excellent! I'm sticking with you in Spain. Kathy speaks excellent Spanish as well, and Frank does fairly well, so I'm set. My Spanish consists of about 20 words that I can barely remember from high school.

Joann,

I speak traveller's Spanish. Frank does much better with it. I screwed up my French (I was somewhat fluent in French) by taking Spanish in school as well and now I really speak "Sprench" or "Franish" depending on where I am. I can usually read both and understand it, but speaking it is a whole other language!

My gosh Denise, after that I am not going to buy you do this with some kind of automatic translator!

Flawless!

Let's toast that the "script" presented by Denise takes place in real life!

Maria,

I am so in need of an automatic translator, so I hope you will please reconsider buying that for me. I cannot tell a lie - the internet allows us to "know" far more than we sometimes truly "know," if you know what I mean! ;)

I would hate to profess being proficient in my Spanish and/or French language skills when nothing could be further from the truth! :eek:

However, I am true and sincere in my hope that you and Bob stay with us on the entire CROSSING!
:)

Denise you always tell "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" Oui Oui -

Yeah, what did we ever do without it? I sure wish we had freetranslation.com back when we were lost in Puerto Rico on our first cruise. I might not have been looked at like some type of idiot when I said (waving my hand up and down like a rocking boat), Perdone, donde esta el BOATO por favor? LOL Of course, here we are in PUERTO Rico and can't remember the spanish word for port! Gee, I wonder what that word could possibly be? LOL

"Let's toast that the "script" presented by Denise takes place in real life!" Maria, here is to doing "cruz repleta"

Absolutely, lets toast to Denise's "script" taking place for sure!

I love this script! Maria, we can hope, right? Denise, well, I am impressed no matter what. No modesty permitted. Another side of the multi-talented Denise emerges.

Gracias, mis amigos. Sus palabras amables me hacen me ruborizo.

MERCI Denise - OH to speak a second language..I am always in awe - remembered we were lamenting on some threads NO Pan American, no UN translator, no ships's photographer, no international banking - IF only we had listened to our parents - lived abroad, minor/major in a language in college yada yada - comprehende???

Oh yes, we can hope, but really, I was not even supposed to be in this cruise so I cannot allow myself to wallow in self- pity ;)

And I am also impressed by the linguistic capabilities of my fellow CROSS travelers!

Joanna,

It is never too late for a 2nd (or 3rd ) language!! I teach Spanish to adults, mostly retired people, and some of them do beautifully! Also, they say that learning a language is very good for keeping your brain fit ( like aerobics for the brain! <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" /> )

Maria: Point well taken - never too late - I should start with learning how to up or down load pixs - my brain needs exercising :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Joanna,

Me too! I thought I was the only one that didn't know how to!

Maria: You are teaching Spanish!!! - I can't do that or post pixs :mecry: :mecry: and you'll probably be able to post in Spanish once you learn posting :mecry: :mecry:

Joanna, Don't cry. We all have our strengths and talents. One of your wonderful strengths (and you have MANY)is bringing smiles to LCT each and every day! :hug:

I bet Maria is an incredible teacher!

Joanna,

Well, you a have a winning personality that shines through your posts!

Denise,

You are too kind. You should withhold praise until you take a class from me! :D