This was originally posted by deja2004 on the community forum.

Julie (aka Evergreen)

We booked the 2008 Mexican Riviera, which hasn't even made it to the website yet--it's the last few days of September and the first few days of October. I don't remember seeing any groups of kids at Ephesus. It was mostly older adults. What made us laugh were the signs at the entrance (where all the shops were) advertising "Genuine Fake Watches". I ended up taking 906 pictures (thanks to digital technology!), and I am still trying to wade through them.

We bought a beautiful glass sculpture in Murano that is being shipped to us. We are hoping it will be delivered this week. They said it would be around 25-30 days, and it is getting close to that now.

Will post more later. Got to go to bed now!

Goodnight,
Deja

This was originally posted by evergreen on the community forum.

Hi Deja. Great to see your posting.

Glad you had a good time.

I shall remember what you said about taking Janet down to the sales desk after a few drinks! I'll try that one on Phyl! Which future cruise did you book?

What a wonderful show of support you got for your loss. Brings tears to my eyes again to read about it. Oh, the Olivia "family". Lots of support when we need it.

Agree about Ephasus. It really is an amazing place. Did you meet any kids there? We met some little girls there that were on a school trip. One was fascinated by Phyl because she had the same name. She couldn't understand why Phyl was her height yet had grey hair (I should add, since she was 30) Anyway, they followed us to our tour bus & gave us gifts..that's a switch! We still have the two little bracelets & treasure them.

OK, post more about your adventures. mail me some photos. etc. Enquiring minds need to know more about your cruise!!

Julie

This was originally posted by deja2004 on the community forum.

Hey, Evergreen!

We made it back fine, after thinking we were going to miss our connection in Paris (which we DID on the way TO Venice). It turns out that Air France has absolutely NO concept of the idea of being "on time"! I swear, that was definitely the trip of a lifetime! We had so much fun and Turkey was the best stop of all. Greece was fun, but the ruins at Ephesus were absolutely amazing. Of course, we ended up with two Turkish carpets. And Janet went a bit overboard on the jewelry. But we had a wonderful time.

We did meet Mary Prade and I bought her that beer I owed her(from the other thread). Had a great time talking to her--what a character! We met so many wonderful people on this cruise. Some who live right here in Houston! We actually booked our next cruise. (I find it best to give Janet a few drinks then take her down to the Olivia sales desk!) She keeps saying "No more vacations!" because she is a bit of a work-a-holic. I'm trying to work up to taking more than one vacation a year, but progress in that department is a bit slow.

It was so great meeting so many people. We took the advice of others on this thread and put pictures on our door. Had the dog and cats--as well as a picture of our little Lacey who passed away right before the cruise. So many women stopped by to say they had cried when they read the post I had written about her. Many actually stood outside our door, talking to us, crying as we talked of the pets we love. It was the most amazing experience!

Anyway, was slow to get back online because we've been so worn out with going back to work. However, we're back, safe and sound!

For the record, I LOVED Shirley Valentine!

Deja

This was originally posted by Tenesmos2 on the community forum.

Hi PJ!

Would love to see that shot of the 4 of us...that costume was a hoot...we had a blast. I don't know who had more fun...us or our moms!

Glad the Claritin helped!

Stay in touch....Hugs, Deb

This was originally posted by OceanPJ on the community forum.

thanks for pictures, DSF
It is fun looking at someone else's pictures of the same trip for a different perspective.

We were also on that tour that stopped at the winery, I perferred the white myself.

Also, we bought pistashios at the little marketplace stop in Santorini, but we must have gotten a bad bag as they were not that good.

peejay

This was originally posted by DustySpringfieldFan on the community forum.

Second round of pics here:

http://www.dustyspringfield.info/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1799

This was originally posted by tnt moms on the community forum.

Geeeez, I miss ya'll. When are we going again???

This was originally posted by mary prade on the community forum.

Hi to all you beautiful ladies of Olivia... This is "scary mary" or the "ol' grey mare"(she ain't what she used to be!) reporting in... it is Monday, June 18th, and I'm not quite home yet. I have had a wonderful w/end with my brothers' family and my sister after my week in Rome and a day in Manchester... flew into Vancouver early Friday(15th)evening. I'll be heading over to Nanaimo this afternoon and will then commence with laundry and catching up with life on the Island.
Yes, evergreen, the train ride to Rome and my week there was incredible...(like you described, there was so much going on and an unbelievable feeling of energy there), not unlike my time on the ship and my explorations at our different ports of call!!! This trip was truly a highlight of my many vacations to date. I may not remember all the names of people and the places, but I will remember faces and the numerous, special experiences that I had the good fortune to partake in.
Thank-you to all you solos & couples who made this single feel so welcome on the cruise and to include her in your many happenings!!!

I look forward to more chatter with you, but I must get my stuff organized to head home shortly.
Cheers, Mary

This was originally posted by evergreen on the community forum.

Ok, what did y'all do with our friend Deja?
Did SHE do a Shirley Valentine?

Also, Mary from Nanaimo. Bet you had a fun week after the trip. I heard about the demonstrations against George W in Rome, Rod Stewarts wedding and on this last weekend it was Gay Pride in Rome. That would be pretty exciting.

I'm sure you have lots of stories to tell.......

This was originally posted by OceanPJ on the community forum.

Hey Deb.
Welcome back to you all. Got a great picture of you and your moms in masquerade. Great costumes.

Also, wanted you to know that the Clariton helped Nickie's rash, so thanks for the advice. Saved her a trip to the medical bay.

For anyone reading this, be sure to take an antihistamine along on your trip. It was really helpful when my partner got allergic reaction to the laundry soap after using the ship's washing machine. Several others also got rashes from the sheets and towels. We had Clariton for my sinuses which I never ended up having any problems with, so she took it and the itching and red rash started to simmer down.

thanks again and back to the grind.
pj

This was originally posted by Tenesmos2 on the community forum.

Hello ladies,

We're back! Wow what a great trip. So nice to hook up with everyone. It was a real pleaseure. Compiling the pics, in between getting re-adjusted to that nasty little word called "work". Our moms had a blast. Can't wait for the next adventure.

Julie & Jorga- muchas gracias for the tees.

Mary- I've always thought that way, about GA... that way you can wake up refreshed, and good to go. Took me a couple of days for my time clock to catch up.

Dusty -loved the pics. And you look so good in flight!

See you all....

Deb

This was originally posted by OceanPJ on the community forum.

Welcome home Juliesmith! and Jorga.
I agree with you, don't they believe in escalators? Or at lease ramps or curb cuts?

We got some great pictures of you gals in toga and masquerade. Not sure how to load them on to this site.

---Oceanpj

This was originally posted by Mary Hennessy on the community forum.

Welcome home, J and J,
I've come up with a plan to get through all that flying - general anaesthesia. It would make the stewards jobs so much easier, too. Did you manage to get close to some welsh singing?

This was originally posted by JulieSmith on the community forum.

Hello All,

We made it home at midnight last night. We had a great time in Wales. Very tired after return trip home, 6 hours drive and then all that flying from London. Had a great time with you all, it was nice to have our get togethers and see you all on the decks.

Is it me or does anyone else think of Europe as a perpetual climb? Now I know where all those stories about going to school uphill both ways came from :)

This was originally posted by evergreen on the community forum.

How great that you took Dusty along with you......
Great photos.
Welcome home from another Dusty fan!