We are back from our Mediterranean Cruise. It was wonderful! We boarded Royal Caribbean's Spledour of the Seas on Saturday, 18 August. The check-in process was smooth and we were able to board the ship right away. We booked a "large ocean view stateroom" - room number 2072. We were on the BOTTOM of the ship, but that's ok because we were on the ship! Ethan slept on a pullman bed, one that came down from the ceiling. He loved it! It was like sleeping on the top bunk. The cruise line provided a pack-n-play for Dylan. We were pleasantly surprised how much rrom there was in the cabin. Once we unpacked our clothes and stowed the suitcases under the bed, we were ready to go.

It was time for the muster drill, so we all put on our life vests. Everything was fine at first...

...then Dylan got hot and uncomfortable in his life vest, so mommy took him back down to our cabin for the remainder of the drill.

DAY SIX and SEVEN: CORFU, GREECE
We spent day six of our cruise at a hotel beach resort in Corfu, Greece. Is sounds much more fancy than it was. However, it was very relaxing and the kids enjoyed a low key day of swimming. We spent part of the day enjoying the crystal clear warm water of the Med and the other part of the day enjoying the hotel pool.

Day seven, the last day of our cruise, was a day at sea. Again, we took advantage of the relaxing atmosphere of the ship and sat poolside most all of the day.

This was a wonderful vacation. We look forward to cruising again once Dylan is a little older.

DAY FIVE: SANTORINI, GREECE

O.K. So after a wonderful, yet LONG day at Ephesus, I really had no energy to site see again today. Even after watching the ship sail into the caldera of Santorini, Greece. It was a BEAUTIFUL site, one I will never forget. However, all the prep work I did before the cruise told me it was easy to get up to the Old Town area, but it could take hours to get back down. I didn't think Dylan would last through another day, so I decided to stay at the pool with him. Dan however, really wanted to see Santorini, and so did Ethan. I gave them my blessing and saw them off from the pool deck. The ship was empty, as most everyone went ashore that day...but Dylan and I enjoyed our time by the pool, and we had alot of attention from the cruise staff! The following pictures were taken by Dan and Ethan during their day on Santorini.

These are a few of my pictures of Santorini, taken poolside on the ship!

Once Dan and Ethan returned to the ship, Dan admitted I was right. There are only two ways to get from the ship's tender to the city...either by funicular or donkey trail. Dan and Ethan took the funicular up in the morning because there was no wait. However, on the way back down, the wait for the funicular was over two hours long...so they decided to walk the donkey trail back down. He said is was covered with donkey poop, and he ended up carrying Ethan on his shoulders because he feared Ethan might get trampled by the charging donnkies! To remember their trip, the guys bought me a souvenier snow globe of a donkey!

DAY THREE and FOUR: Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus)

Day three was a day at sea, and we enjoyed some time at the pool and Ethan enjoyed the kids club.

Our stop in Kusadasi, Turkey on day four was by far our favorite on the trip. We made arrangements with an independant tour company (Meander Travel) for a private tour of Ephesus. The tour guide picked us up right at the port and had an air conditioned van waiting for just us. It was H-O-T, so the air conditioned van was perfect. The tour company took us to Ephesus and the Terrace Houses, the House of the Virgin Mary and lunch at a wonderful little family run restaurant. To make the day even more perfect, we were able to meet up with our old friends Dave and Yesim Poulin, who are stationed at Izmir, Turkey. They were in the middle of a PCS out of Izmir, but they drove down to Ephesus and joined the tour with us.
The following information was taken from the Meander Travel website, as it is a concise description of the sites:

"Ephesus. The city was established as a port on the mouth of the river Cayster and was one of the foremost cities of the world for its being on a strategic trade route in Anatolia. Ephesus was founded by Amazons, and inhabited by the oldest settlers of Anatolia-Lelegians and Carians, as early as 3000 BC."

"Terrace Houses. Ephesus Terrace Houses are located on the slopes of Bulbul Mountain, opposite the Hadrian Temple. Also called as "the houses of rich", these houses were for the important and wealthy people of Ephesus, as only rich people could afford such houses. The oldest of the houses were built in the first century BC, and most of the houses were restored in the second century AD. The houses seemed plain from outside, but inside were constructed with the highest standards of their date. They were decorated with mosaics and frescoes, and they had interior courtyards (peristyle) in the center, with the ceiling open. These houses were mostly two-storied, upper stores have collapsed during time. The excavations of the terrace houses started in 1960. The first frescoes, mosaics and other things found were taken to museums, but after that findings have been left in their original places."

"The House of the Virgin Mary. Located on the top of the "Bulbul" mountain 9 km ahead of Ephesus. It is the place where Mary may have spent her last days. It is believed that she may have come in the area together with St. John, who spent several years in the area to spread Christianity. The house is a typical Roman architectural example, entirely made of stones.
Paul VI was the first pope to visit this place in the 1960's. Later, in the 1980's, during his visit, Pope John-Paul II declared the House of Virgin Mary has a pilgrimage place for Christians. Every year, on August 15th a ceremony is organized to commemorate Mary's Assumption."

DAY TWO: DUBROVNIK, CROATIA
Dan and I have traveled to Croatia before, but this was our first time to Dubrovnik. What a beautiful city. We took the cruise shuttle bus to the Old City, which is surrounded by a huge city wall. We had a delicious lunch in the city, and cooled off with some gelato. After exploring the Old City with the boys and I, Dan climbed to the top of the wall and walked the entire way around (I took the boys back tot he ship for some pool time!)


More photos from Dubrovnik can be found here: http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=23271188247090915/l=300205750/g=81281258/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

DAY ONE: VENICE, ITALY


We had passed the cruise ships so many times when we traveled from Aviano to Venice. I always wished we would one day be on one of those cruise ships. It was so exciting to see that port once again and know that we were headed to OUR cruise ship.


Leaving from Venice was magical. All the familiar sites...the vaporetti, the gondole, the canals, St Marks square...just from a very different perspective.






See more of our photos of Venice here: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=171385682/a=81281258_81281258/t_=81281258