Geo: 45.4345, 12.3384Today we arrived in Venice. At about 6:30 we were scheduled to begin sailing down the Bacino de San Marco and then the Giudecca Canal and then on to the cruise terminal. Nikki and I were up and it was really cool to see. Around 6:45 we passed San Marco Square and we were lucky enough to see it right outside our verandah. We met the girls at Cabana's at 8:15 and had breakfast before meeting in the D-Lounge for our last shore excursion this trip. We boarded a water bus that took us down the Giudecca Canal to San Marco Square. We then went on a tour of the Doges Palace and St. Marks Basilica. Then we walked to a café where we ordered gelato to eat while people watching. While we were ... read more

Geo: 42.6537, 18.0948We had enough time this morning to eat breakfast in Lumiere's before heading out to the walled city of Dubrovnik Croatia. We met in Fathoms before heading out to the bus. We took a short 15 minute ride to an overlook point where we could see the walled city with its red tiled roof buildings. Dubrovnik is the oldest walled city on earth. In the Middle Ages, Dubrovnik was known as the Republic of Ragusa and was as important as a seaport as Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice. It was a highly diplomatic Republic that remained free for much of its history. Today, Dubrovnik still exists as a residential and commercial city within the walls. The wall varies in height and thickness based on whether the wall is toward the sea or the land ... read more

Geo: 37.503, 15.0881Today we were in Catania, Sicily. We had an early excursion time at 7:00 am so we met in Cabanas early once again then we were off to the Walt Disney Theater. Our day started out with a 45 minute drive to Taormina. This is a medieval town that was built in Greek times and, like much of Italy, taken over by the Romans. The name means between two mountains. It is about 230 meters above the sea. It is beautiful. We walked down the main street of town, past two churches the city hall, many shops and historic buildings before arriving at the medieval theater. It was built on a hillside so that they could have stadium seating and the sea to the back of the stage so that the wind from the ... read more

Geo: 40.84, 14.2529Today we were awakened by the sound of thunder. There was no rain at the time but there were clouds and noise. We arrived in Naples shortly after we got out of bed. We met in Cabanas again before our excursion. Then off to the Walt Disney Theater for our meeting time.We then boarded our bus and rode to the base of Mt Vesuvius where we switched to 4 wheel drive vehicles that took us up a bumpy, windy dirt road to 1000 feet where we hiked an additional 1000 feet up a 40% grade to the summit of the volcano.While we were exploring the caldera the clouds rolled in and a thunder storm started. The lighting actually struck near enough that some people were knocked off their feet. The rain started as we ... read more

Geo: 44.1097, 9.81355*** If you have already read the blog for Monaco, I have corrected an error. Land in Monaco is $125,000 per square meter, not the $125 I had original posted. Today we ported in La Spezia which is the closest port to Florence and Pisa. Our tour was an all day tour so we started early. We met the girls at Cabanas at 6:15. Regan had not felt well overnight and was a little shaky as to whether she was going to be ok to go but she decided to go.We met in the Walt Disney Theater and were escorted to our bus where we met Elena, our tour guide. She explained that we would be riding into Florence first. We made a short pit stop at a rest area and then after a ... read more