Our Vacations

Patty has been trying for years to get a girlfriend - Lisa - to try cruising. Finally Lisa agreed to join us on a Caribbean Cruise starting in New York (Lisa lives on Long Island). This nine day cruise stopped at three destinations we had never cruised to: Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Grand Turk. Lisa was joined by her son Frankie and her parents, while our daughter Julie and her husband Matt also took this time to get away. Four of us stayed over in Manhattan after the cruise and took in the 4th of July fireworks over the Hudson River.

This relaxing Mexico trip had special significance. In October 2002 we took a Mexico trip where we met Harry and Ellen and also Jeff and Sherry. We have become best cruise 'buddies' with Harry and Ellen and on this cruise Jeff and Sherry joined us for the reunion tour. This was not about where we were going, but who we were going with and we really enjoyed each other's company once again.

The first time we braved a following hurricane - the water spouts viewed from a stern suite were spectacular - and kept an eye out for submarines. This time the balcony time was mostly spent by Harry and Jeff smoking cigars.

This was the first time Harry and Ellen had travelled on a large cruise ship (Sapphire Princess) and we made sure we visited all the different dining rooms on board.

One of Patty's dreams has been to take our family on a cruise of the British Isles and we were able to make it happen, at least with our two daughters, this year. It was a fantastic trip and we had only one-half day of rain - that when we were at sea. The hardest thing about the trip was that we had 9 ports (10 if you count Southampton, England) in 12 days. At least Patty and Craig had the opportunity to travel six days from New York to Southamption on the QM2 before starting the Princess cruise.

It turns out Mexico is our get-away cruisep, when we are tired of the routine and a cruise is needed. This time Craig's cousin Fred Wood and his wife Lisa joined the party. Since we have been on this itinerary several times we didn't take many pictures. However, we did have a spectacular - once in a lifetime - encounter with whales and we did get pictures of that.

t has been years since Danielle has cruised with us and she had never been on the Queen Mary 2. This was also a chance to visit Danielle's grandmother one last time in Woburn, just outside of Boston. Danielle's friend Ezekiel joined us on the cruise and then Danielle stayed on in NYC, while Patty visited her friend Lisa on Long Island.

We have been trying to cruise again with Mike and Marilyn for several years now. Finally we were able to get our schedules together and this was truely a getaway vacation. We had all been to these ports together before, so there was no pressure to see anything new or push ourselves in any way. The ship - Caribbean Princess - was the only thing new to us all.

This vacation was different - we first sailed for 5 days to get to Hawaii, then toured 4 of the islands, then sailed for 5 days back to Ensenada and Los Angeles. Six of us went as a group: Craig & Patty, Harry & Ellen, Pat Sibley, and Jo Klein. The first leg of the journey we unwound, then we got to tour the islands, and finally we were complete vegetables on the return voyage.

This was intended to be a family holiday cruise. As it turned out Patty, Craig, and Julie were the family; along with Patty's friend Linda D. Neither Julie, nor Linda had been on a cruise before and showing them around was a lot of fun.

This tour was about the ship, not the destinations, although we did have fun in England and Germany. The Queen Mary 2 advertises itself as an ocean liner, not a cruise ship. It is designed for rough Atlantic seas, however, our trip was as smooth as glass and we probably could have made it in a 35' sailboat. Come get acquainted with the six of us traveling in this luxurious ship.

Patty and Craig toured Rio de Janeiro, Brazil then traveled to Iguaçu Falls before arriving in Buenos Aires, Argentina to start the cruise. Harry and Ellen joined us there for the 14 day cruise around Cape Horn. We stayed two days in Santiago, Chile before flying home.

Patty and Craig cruised the European-Atlantic coast and then crossed to New York via the north Atlantic. The cruise took 21 days with 2 extra days in London at the beginning and 3 days in New York at the end. Craig drove to New Hampshire to visit relatives.

Craig and C.J. cruised Alaska - beginning and ending in Seattle, Washington. It was a seven day cruise and included attempting to sail to a glacier.