The NCL Jade

I had forgotten that I love cruise ships. I was all prepared for cheesy entertainment, dark tiny rooms, uncomfortable beds and food that was kinda good.

It was so nice to get on the ship, not wait in any lines, head up to out room and find an awesome balcony, big room and comfy beds.

We sat on the balcony as we sailed away from Venice, getting a great view of the city. We met our neighbors, some Brits on their 50th wedding anniversary. They were great, they thought we were newly-weds. I loved them. Kelly and the guy visited all week when they hung out on the balcony.

The Food

NCL has all of these dining options that you can choose from, some you pay extra for and then the complimentary food. Kelly and I are cheapskates so we never opted for the pay extra restaurants. I don't feel like we missed out though. We had great food every day, Breakfast was fresh fruits, omelets, breads, whatever. Lunch and dinner were great too and I always like the chance to try new food and not feel bad if I only take one bite. My new favorite food that I thought I hated is Bread Pudding. They had a different kind every night and I could not get enough.

The Entertainment

The entertainment was pretty great. There was a creepy magician, I mean, Really Creepy, and a Horrible lounge singer from Italy who apparently sang a Pavarotti's wedding (Maybe as a joke or something) but otherwise I was really impressed. I usually feel like it is a total waste of time to go to shows but not this go round.

They also had basketball tournaments, salsa dancing classes, a show tunes night, and a big band night. There was always tons to do. The pool was a great temperature and the hot tubs were rarely crowded.

One of the best things was at the end of the cruise Kelly and I walked off with our bags while we passed tons of people disputing their bills at the front desk. I guess they were shocked that they drank so much alcohol!

I LOVE to cruise!

Cruisin' with Kelly

Kelly has been dying to go on a Mediterranean cruise for a while now and we finally had one that worked. It was very last minute, very cheap and everything fell into place.

Amber (the kids' second mommy) was able to come stay at the house and babysit, Jac went to her mom's and that left Kelly and I to enjoy a 7 night cruise.

We left out of Venice on Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Venice is a great one day visit. We landed, went to the ship, dropped our stuff and headed out on a water shuttle bus to Piazza San Marco. It it a huge square where all of the tourists mill around feeding the pigeons, looking at the beautiful cathedral and other old buildings and eating at the little cafes that line the square.

The cafes all have string quartets playing classical music. You really can't beat the ambiance. But this is not my favorite part of Venice, this is.......

The little bridges that cross the small winding canals and looking up at the people's laundry hanging out the windows and the winding streets that are pedestrian only. The gelato rocks too, but my life does not revolve around food....I swear.

So we wandered around Venice, got cherries at the produce market on the grand canal and sat and watched boats go up and down The Grand Canal. After our refreshing break, we meandered back to the ship peeking in store windows, and trying to catch glimpses of peoples gardens.

Day one started out great, and the trip just got better from here.