The Advent of Another Adventure
Back in 2009 we hiked a portion of the Cinque Terre trails in Italy with my sister and her family Since then it has been our wish to return and hike the entire trail. Unfortunately, in 2011 the trails were destroyed by torrential rain. It was our plan to return in September to fulfill this wish. But, even after 4 years, not all trails have reopened. So in April, we decided to postpone that trip until next year, 2016. Stay tuned for that Blog!
Now Tony & I had a clearing in our calendar that just screamed VACATION! So what should we do? Such decisions! In our hearts we wanted to return to Italy, more specifically, Venice. But at the same time we wanted to see something different. Then we received the Princess Cruise European Cruise Brochure. Problem solved. Cruise G530 was looking pretty good to us.
Yes, I know cruising isn’t different for us. We’ve cruised before. One of the great things about cruising is that there’s always a new port, city, island, country or continent to see. Packing and repacking is minimal and options are endless. This time we’re cruising beyond the Pacific Coast and flying to Copenhagen to spend a quick 48 hours exploring the city. Then we’re boarding the Regal Princess, the newest Princess ship for it’s westbound repositioning cruise across the Atlantic. The cruise ticked a lot of boxes for us – 1) It was after September 5th, which is Tony’s nephew’s wedding date. 2) It was new travel territory for us. 3) We liked the cabin availability. And finally, 4) it was a pretty good deal. So we’re booked. Now for the planning.
We’ve never been to Scandinavia, so this is new territory for us. We’ve done our research on Copenhagen and the scheduled ports of call. I’ve decided not to stress and be uber-organized. Many of the port cities are small and can be explored on our own. And thanks to the roll call* on Cruise Critic we’ve been able to book small van tours in Belfast, Greenoch and Halifx. In the past we’ve had some memorable experiences with smaller port excursions and we’re looking forward to meeting new people and making more memories.
So look for my blog starting in Copenhagen on September 10th.
* Roll Calls are on-line discussions where you can “meet up and chat with” other Cruise Critic members on the same cruise on-line before you sail! Your Roll Call thread is the place where members can get to know one another before they sail, and exchange tips and information about their particular line, ship, Ports of Call, shore excursions/tours, transportation, etc.
Sailing the Regal Princess - September 2015 