Walt fan

The octopus picture! Made my day. What a rare and amazing sighting. And yes, I am sneaking in on a break from work.

DS and DIL went to Aruba for a break during Christmas. Airfare and airbnb were quite cheap. They loved it. It is one island I have never been to. Looking forward to more pics!

Hey there Norris! I am so enjoying your walk down memory lane. It's so good you took so many pics and had the brochures and keepsakes. You had a lot of adventures and met so many interesting people from all over the world. Amazing.

The cruise we took on RC Enchantment of the Seas' MDR is called My Fair Lady now. I remember it vividly as it was one of my favorite musicals.

Midnight buffet! We did not start cruising until 2009 so midnight buffets were gone by then. But I remember my SIL still having midnight buffet on Carnival around 2005.

Thanks for sharing Norris!!

I am really enjoying these amazing pictures. The synagogue is fascinating. I learned 3 things I never knew; the settlement of Jewish people in the area; where the Spock hand sign came from; and most interesting of all Ernst Leitz and the Leica Freedom train. I had to look it up and read about it; I never knew about him. I honestly do not remember seeing anything at the Holocaust Museum in D.C. about him.

I loved the children's parade; never seen anything like this! Glad you happened upon it.

Thank you for posting and all of the beautiful pics; what a diversion to my work day!

Option 2 but of course!! Oh my goodness Norris, I am captivated by your stint on RC back in the 80's; better than a book. Please share all you want, I love your style and this is just so interesting. I love the hills and valleys and twists and turns life gives you, and yours took a big twist on the RC. Thank you for sharing.

And yes, following faithfully along.

Your underwater pictures are truly amazing. We snorkel, and have never been able to get such clear pictures. I am enjoying the sea life through your TR.

I know the ship we were on, Oasis, had different venues than the Allure at the time. From what I understand they each have different food offerings and entertainment. The biggest drawback were the lines at ports. I know our status on RC will be whatever status Celebrity and Azamara has. One of the carrots I am using on my husband.

Enjoying and following along!

I am so loving the Art Deco pics of all of the buildings and surroundings. I never knew there were so many buildings restored. Beautiful.

I absolutely love San Francisco. I have only been 3 times but I know there will be some more stops there in my future. You and Carol will have an amazing week.

I agree with Perfect Match, our cats do not get a vote; we would be overruled as well with 3 spoiled rotten felines.

Thank you for the pic of you back in the '80's. Perfect look.

I don't want this review to end Norris!

Cannot wait to see your update on diving in Bonaire; do you usually go with private excursions for your dives? The food description in your daily for Bonaire looks so interesting.

Loved the pics of your Balcony dinner; everything looked so delicious and the presentation was amazing.

We have only seen a Beatles tribute band at Epcot, many years ago. They were excellent. Good for Celebrity for booking such talent. Thank you for sharing!

My lunch of leftover soup eaten at my desk at work really pales in comparison to your room service lunch on the balcony; I keep staring at the wake and the lunch and the wine. Enjoying so much.

Our favorite show hands down was one we almost passed on a RC cruise; it was a tribute band to Abba; it was amazing; they looked and sounded exactly like them. They got a standing O at the end.

Standing ovation Norris; take a bow.

Thank you again!!!

(And yes, every member of the family, even feline, gets a vote; kudos to Snowy)

More amazing art for me to ogle; thank you Norris.

We did the RC Enchantment out of San Juan one year; fabulous itinerary. And San Juan is beautiful. The Enchantment is one of a kind ship for RC. Over 10 years ago they stretched the ship by cutting it in two and adding a section in the middle. A "mid body extension" they called it. They were going to do this to her sister ship, the Grandeur, but RC put a stop to the plans due to costs. It was different layout for sure. Your take on the Princess Regal ship will be most interesting.

Staying on the ship for as long as possible sounds like the best possible plan Norris; can't wait for more.

Our small, small world may cross paths some day! Thank you for the photos of your trip to Ireland. It gives me even more incentive (like I need any) to plan this trip.

So enjoying this Norris and Carol; thank you. Packing day is the worst. Another LCG meal coming up! Cannot wait to see.

On a side note, when we were on our California/Nevada/Utah/Arizona road trip; we were driving into LV at night and pulled up to the Bellagio just as the fountains started to Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. It was moment to remember. We drove on through the strip and on to our next destination. I would love to catch some of the shows there one day. First row at Celine Dion is quite impressive Norris.

Hope you find your old RC momentos!

A small world indeed; I remember many shopping trips with my Mom at Northline Mall. They had a hiring freeze for policemen at the time my DH applied; so San Antonio became home to us, which we love. Thank you for your kind words; your wife knows too well how hard of a job our husbands have had.

I have never sailed Celebrity; just RC and Princess; and my bucket list has a 2019 Celebrity cruise on it, since they are showing they will be porting out of Dublin then. DH's family is from Kerry County, Ireland; something we have always wanted to see. I thought we could combine some land time and a cruise.

Beautiful sunrise on your cruise; cannot wait to read more! Thank you for sharing.

I love it when people give their take on where they grew up; your area has changed considerably. I grew up in a burb of Houston called Bellaire that is so different now I hardly recognize it. A majority of the old cottages are torn down to build giant mansions, sometimes 2-3 lots big. I am renting out my mom and dad's cottage for the time being. I have no desire to sell right now. The house next door just got torn down. It was really sad.

You are a retired firefighter! Thank you for all your hard work all of those years. I hope to say in about 3 years my DH will be a retired police officer. His goal is 32 years. You have the time and location to take many cruises; so awesome.

Your food looks amazing in the MDR. Can't wait to hear more.

Just letting you know I have so enjoyed your reviews; I never have enough time to chime in but I am here. You have sailed quite a variety of ships!

Thanks for all of your time and giving me more ideas and notes for my bucket list. That list continues to grow!

I will be here until the (bittersweet) end. Enjoying every minute.

I would love to see the RCL pics when you were working on their ships. RCL was a great choice for us when we had kiddos and their friends on board. Plenty to do. I am now thinking more towards Celebrity and Azamara with the 2 of us. We need to find more time for those longer cruises! Waiting until retirement - maybe in 3 years? I really hope Celebrity still has the cruise out of Dublin then.

Thank you for all of your hard work Norris. It helps my work days to go quicker and makes me dream of upcoming adventures.

I am loving all of the pics Norris, but especially the art ones; I love to stroll around a ship and see what they offer in terms of art; we have an amazing art museum here in San Antonio that I have never found the time to visit; a must do one day; I loved, loved, loved the Smithsonian Art Museum when we there years ago.

Please remind me, did you eat only in Specialty restaurants for dinner; or did ya'll eat in Blu as well? I know the MDR is off your list. When we had the kiddos plus friends we always ate in the MDR as it cost too much in a specialty. Now that it just the two of us I am thinking of more choices.

Thank you again!

Had to chime in as those pictures of the sunrise made my whole day. I love to see the sun come up with the promise of another day, but with that color and on a cruise ship, life is very, very good.

One of our cruises was on the Oasis, the sister to the Allure. It was really incredible how big that ship is and how often you could get lost. The entertainment was spectacular.

Norris! I have been gone a bit and was way behind. Wishing you a late Happy Birthday!

Am so loving this review. Love the pics of you and Carol in Murano. The food porn! And here I am with very little lunch.

Glad Labadee was good to you. We did not enjoy our stop in Labadee quite some time ago on a RC ship. There was a large market with very persistent sellers we seemed to keep running into; and for lowly balcony cabin people you had to fight for a spot on the beach. The food was awful as well so we quickly returned to our cabin. I never saw any excursions through RC, as I probably would have took them up on it.

Our most interesting show on a rolling ship was on the RC Voyager when they did an ice skating show. There was quite a lot of movement on the ship that evening and there quite a lot of falls. I felt so bad for the performers.

Following along and enjoying every minute. Thank you Norris!

Popping in to say hi; your review and pics of Cozumel are awesome. Our one and only port stop there was in 2009 and we still talk about it. We took a taxi ride pretty far out of town and the taxi drivers there are crazy. They drive like they're on a Nascar track and are inches away from cars. We all held on for dear life and exhaled only when we got to our destination. It was the same on our way back.

Cannot wait for more!!

Take care.

Good afternoon Norris and definitely eating my Wheaties for the long haul. So enjoying every single picture and all of your humor. I have my sad salad and celery with hummus sitting in front of me after drooling over your LCG pics. My kind of food.

Love the story of your drummer days. I just talked to my youngest this weekend about all of the dips and turns and sideways life takes you and you just have to hang on for the ride. It makes life interesting. You have had many stories with you.

I am seriously hoping Celebrity will still have a cruise available I am oogling when I want to go in 2019. It ports out of Dublin. I will have to wait until some time in 2018 to book it to see if we can go then. Really, really, really hoping I can make this one a reality. Your Celebrity ship pictures make me have the wants even more.

Glad to see Carol chiming in on this one. Cannot wait for more!

Take care.

"Report to the Principal's Office" - yikes, Norris, you gave me flashbacks to high school:) We won't go into further detail there.

I would rather read your review and pour over your photos than work. But, I guess I have to earn a few pennies today. I will be following along this weekend!

Have a good weekend and stay warm.

Well I am here with my motto for life "better late than never". So glad to see you back Norris! Looks like you and Carol had an amazing cruise. Your intro pics are stunning. I am here for the long haul and following along!

I feel kind of sad and empty like at the end of a vacation; the end of Norris' epic trip report; thank you for much for your pictures, your humor, and letting us escape each day to the ship and Alaska and elsewhere. You know I will be anxiously following along in January. Loved the blurb from Carol. Love the Snowy pic, give her a pat for me. Take care Norris!

Stunning sunrise pics Norris. I think that is the thing I like most when cruising; the sunsets and sunrises.

And stunning pics of Glacier Bay. I could sit here and stare all afternoon.

Speaking of afternoon, I left my lunch on the kitchen counter, so no lunch today, and then I looked at your food pics. Deeeelicious. Not a good thing on an empty stomach.

I think I saw our table on your MDR pics. We had the best waiters on the Star.

I agree with the Windjammer hours on RC; you couldn't even get an iced tea or a snack between meals. They need to re-think that one.

Last day at sea; sad words indeed.

Can't wait to see more glacier pics!!! Thanks again Norris!