Last month (November, 2013), we made a quick cruise to the Caribbean on one of the Norwegian Cruise Lines ships, the Norwegian Dawn. It’s one of their older ships, but we had a purpose in mind. First, we have never sailed with NCL before and we’re planning an Atlantic crossing next May with them. Since the Atlantic crossing represents a reasonably big expenditure on our part, we wanted to see if they were up to it. Continue reading →
Each year at the Walt Disney World Resort a transition takes place around the holidays. Main Street at the Magic Kingdom first decorates in a Halloween theme then changes over to Christmas. Decorations go up all around all the parks and hotels. Continue reading →
The Real Florida. That’s what they call the Florida State Park system. Whether you agree is up to you, but when you venture out and away from the theme parks of Orlando, you certainly see a different side of Florida. Yesterday we traveled over to the west coast of Florida near the town of Silver River to a great little state park called Homosassa Springs State Park. Our purpose was to visit the wildlife exhibit. This park has a great exhibit of animals indigenous to Florida, including the Florida Panther, bobcats, deer, and many dozens of species of birds, including the endangered Whooping Crane. There are also several alligators and manatees here. Continue reading →
We went to Universal Orlando for a quick lap around the parks a couple of days ago, and ended up having lunch at The Three Broomsticks, in Hogsmeade. As theme park fast food goes, this dine-in restaurant is in a class that we’d call “pretty good food”. Continue reading →
If you had only one day to visit Rome, what would you do for that day? The question seems almost silly. After all, who would choose to spend only one day in this most famous of cities? The phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day” is not arbitrary. There’s a lot there, and a lot to see. So why would you try to see it all in just one day? Continue reading →
All up and down the east coast of the United States, there seems to be a tourist town every few miles. You might even argue that much of the Atlantic coastline is just one big tourist attraction. At least, in the summer months this would appear to be so. In the off season, though, where do folks go? Those of you who still have to work for a living probably go back to your jobs and dream about next summer. The retired folks head for Florida, or another location along the Gulf, or even Arizona, to escape the cold of the north. Truly, the season of choice for most of the Atlantic coastal areas is summer. Continue reading →
If you talk to ten people about cruising, you’ll no doubt get ten different answers about its attractiveness. Some people love it, while others absolutely hate the idea. One particular kind of cruise seems to evoke controversy over its merits, and that is the crossing, or repositioning cruise.
As the seasons change each year, cruise lines generally move their ships to different markets. A ship that cruises the Alaskan market in the summer months might move to the Pacific coast of Mexico, or even transfer to Australia and New Zealand. A ship that normally cruises the Caribbean in the winter might go to Europe.
When the cruise lines make these transitions, they of course don’t want to take an empty, non-revenue generating ship across the ocean, so they’ll sell the cruises. Continue reading →
If you approach pretty much anyone in America – or even the world for that matter – and ask them to name the first American National Park that comes to mind the answer would probably be Yellowstone. There might be several reasons for this, but it’s probably because Yellowstone was the first national park in America, and probably the first national park in the world. Of course, the fact that most American baby boomers grew up watching Yogi Bear cartoons on TV helps too. Continue reading →
