I’ve recently begun following The Backpackers, a blog published via the Sydney Morning Herald.  It’s definitely good for a giggle.  For example, check out the most recent posts:

The Bug: This entry addresses how to spot those bitten by the travel bug.  It’s quite charming.

Meet locals, get laid: This entry talks about CouchSurfing, “a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit.”  Apparently for the singletons out there, it’s a good way to… hm… meet a mate.

The Heathrow Spread: Here the blogger talks about visiting the UK and how “it’s usually only the diet conscious among us who manage to return from there without adding a few pounds to our personal carry-on.”

On my way in to work this morning, I was listening to NPR as usual when I heard a report about libel tourism.  Apparently people who want to sue someone for libel are doing some serious forum shopping, primarily focusing their attention on getting into court in England or Wales.  Those jurisdictions offer fewer defenses than, say, the United States, so the plaintiffs are more likely to win (or at least bully the defendants into a favorable settlement).  This year senators Aarlen Spector and Joe Lieberman proposed a Free Speech Protection Act of 2008, a companion to a House bill introduced by Rep. Pete King (NY) and co-sponsored by Rep. Anthony Weiner (NY).

The bill would bar U.S. courts from enforcing libel judgments issued in foreign courts against U.S. residents, if the speech would not be libelous under American law. The bill would also permit American authors and publishers to countersue if the material is protected by the First Amendment. If a jury found that a foreign suit was part of a scheme to suppress free speech rights, it could award treble damages. -Wiki

Read more from the International Herald Tribune and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Image from CartoonStock.

Jeld-Wen Door and Window Company restores the doors and windows in one lighthouse each year.  This year North Carolina’s own Bodie Island Lighthouse is up for consideration.  Please take a minute to visit their website and vote.

Image by Moatway via IgoUgo.

The airline industry has been griping a lot lately about how they’re losing money.  If you’ve flown on  US Air flight in the past couple years, you know they sell advertising space on their tray tables.  Today Delta launches a new way to collect revenue - advertisements on boarding passes.  That’s right - when you check in online and print your boarding pass, you’ll be using your ink to print out a bunch of ads.  The good news:  it’s not fully implemented yet, there’s a box to check to avoid printing the ads (but you’ll still see them on your computer screen), and only some other airlines (Continental, United, Northwest, and US Air) are getting on this bandwagon.  Get the full story at the Wall Street Journal.

As I’m still fairly fresh off the Splendour of the Seas (see my review here), my travel tip this Tuesday relates to those of you planning your own Royal Caribbean cruise.  If you like wine, check out their Wine and Dine program.  They have three levels of wines - gold, platinum, and diamond.  Each package offers a variety of sparkling, white, and red wines with the options depending on which package you choose.  You can sign up for 5, 7, 10, and 12 bottle packages ranging from $129.95 to $378.35.  Although it might seem expensive at first, the packages do provide a bit of a discount over ordering bottle by bottle.  Check out woof22’s savings analysis.

Image from Diane Schmidt via About.com.

If you decide to purchase one of these packages, keep in mind that you do not have to finish the bottle before leaving dinner each night.  The servers will recork and store it for you for the next night.  Also, you don’t have to wait until dinner to use your package either.  You can get a bottle from your package at any of the bars onboard.  Although a 15% gratuity is added to the cost of the package, I tip extra when I ask someone other than my dining room servers to bring a bottle for me.

If your favorites aren’t included as one of the package options, check the 2008 list compiled by critterchick to see if it’s available.

I always figured the “safest” seats on an airplane were in the overwing section or maybe that there were no safest seats.  About a year ago, Popular Mechanics conducted a study and found that the safest seats are in the rear of the plane.  Considering the teeny number of fatal jet crashes in the U.S. in recent years, do you think it’s worth the hassle to select a seat further back?  I’m thinking it’s not.

Image from Popular Mechanics.

In related news, the FAA just announced new runway safety measures.  See CNN for more.

On Monday, a cruise ship got stuck on a sandbar at low tide near Haines, Alaska.  According to an Alaskan news station, there was some damage to the ship.  Considering this is the fifth incident involving Cruise West ships in Alaska in a year, I think I’d skip that particular line.  Check out photos at iReport.

This Tuesday, my travel tip is to reach Timothy O’Neil-Dunne’s 10 tips for surviving the coming air travel crash.  He has some good tips for preparing for the impending contraction of the industry.  My favorite tips: 

1. Book early.
2. Don’t book your hotel until you’ve booked your airfare.

Thanks to Timothy for doing my job for me this week. 

OUR GROUP: My husband and I are in our late 20s.  We traveled with another couple our age and my mother and aunt (50-60).  This was the third cruise for Mr. and Mrs. Feisty, second for our friends, and first for my mom and aunt.  Our past cruises were in the Caribbean on Carnival Destiny and Carnival Valor.  We loved those cruises – fair to good food, excellent service, and fun ports.  Everyone in our group ordinarily does land vacations and has done many, including in Europe.

THE RUMOR:  “You’ll love RCI!  It’s so much better than Carnival.  Carnival is full of drunken partiers and has terrible food and mediocre service.  RCI has much nicer people and great food and service.”

THE TRUTH:  I was delighted to find drunken partiers on RCI’s Splendour since I hadn’t found them on either our Carnival cruises.  (The “drunken partiers” were charming and a lot of fun, so this is definitely a point in RCI’s favor over Carnival.)  We were, however, very disappointed with the food and service on Splendour, which was severely lacking in comparison to our Carnival cruises.

EMBARKATION/DEBARKATION: A++ on both ends.  RCI had a free shuttle to/from Piazzale Roma (it’s a bright orange bus with a small “Port of Venice” sign in the front and no RCI signs; confirm that you’re being taken to the Splendour before you load up though), which made things easy.  We got to the dock around 2pm and absolutely flew through the “line.”  Our cabins were ready, and our luggage arrived in plenty of time before dinner (9pm).  Since we had an early flight (11:30am), we dragged our own luggage off at about 7:15am and arrived at the airport a bit after 8am (free shuttle to Piazzale Roma, number 5 bus to airport).  It was all very easy.

SHIP: Having sailed on Carnival Destiny (also a 1996 launch), we were prepared for the ship to be small and worn around the edges.  Like the Destiny, Splendour is well maintained.  We did, however, giggle at the ugly décor after we’d been told how RCI’s décor was so much nicer than Carnival’s.  There are some problems with the Splendour – it’s just too small.  There aren’t enough bars (not a problem on Destiny), and it’s very difficult to find a place where there aren’t already a ton of people.  The deck behind the spa was quiet but never empty, so that’s a possibility if you’re looking for a quiet spot.  The Solarium was always hot and muggy, so go there only if you’re prepared to fall asleep.  The gym was fine but lacked a scale.

CASINO:  The casino was fine.  The dealers were very nice, if a little un-educated about the games (wrongfully picked up friend’s chips at least once).  There were a couple non-smoking nights, so that was very nice.  The poker tourney was not well attended (5 people), so be prepared if that’s your thing.

DINING ROOM:  If you like really plain food and don’t mind eating pretty much the same thing every day, then you’ll be satisfied.  Our group was bored to tears.  Breakfast was the same every morning.  The only difference in eating in the dining room instead of the Windjammer was that it was served to you.  The one time we had lunch in the dining room, it was pretty good, which was not the norm.  Every night, the menu consisted of 1-2 unimaginative pasta dishes that may or may not be prepared as described, 1-2 steak options which may or may not be butchered correctly and will be served with a boring potato option, a boring chicken option, 1-2 seafood options (we and our friends don’t eat seafood; my mom had mixed satisfaction with her seafood selections), some other meat option (pork or whatever) that was usually disappointing, and a couple of vegetarian options.  They had an Indian option (vegetarian) most nights, and that was usually, but not always, very good.  The head chef is from India, so that probably explains why there were some successes.  On our past cruises, the big decision each night was whether we would order 2 or 3 desserts.  I have a major sweet tooth, so I was looking forward to this.  We were terribly disappointed with the desserts.  If you like Grand Marnier, you may be happy.  It seemed like that was in at least one dessert each night.  Service: Our servers in the dining room were generally adequate, which was disappointing considering how we’d bonded with our servers on our past cruises.  They were good to remember that we liked to start with a plate of fries and a cheese plate each night, but they totally missed our anniversary.

WINDJAMMER: I love buffets.  I love to eat and eat until I feel like I’m going to explode.  I especially adore breakfast buffets, and I’m not picky about them.  I hated eating in the Windjammer.  The food was always the same!  And always boring.  Another problem was the staff.  They absolutely glared at me any time I wasn’t seated!  I’m not sure why they were so cranky. 

OTHER FOOD: This was a problem.  We had second seating for dinner (it’s 9pm, not 8:30 like we expected), so we always wanted a snack when we got back onboard at 3-6pm each day.  From Carnival, we were used to pizza and a grill (hamburgers, french fries, hot dogs) being open pretty much all the time.  We were sorely disappointed with Splendour’s options.  Although there was a place to get pizza and sandwiches in the Solarium, it wasn’t always open and the service there was always rotten.  The set up for burgers, dogs, and fries nearby was poorly maintained and sometimes closed up early.  That was especially annoying considering that the Windjammer often opened late.

OTHER PAX:  All the passengers we met were lovely.  There were about 1,500 from the U.S., possibly in part due to a big grocery convention onboard.  We especially enjoyed those folks.

ACTIVITIES: Although I missed the water slide, Splendour beat our Carnival ships hands down when it came to activities.  The mini-golf course was hilarious (please try it!), and it was super fun to ring the bell at the top of the climbing wall.  We also really enjoyed all the dancing.  There were several dance classes throughout the week; I remember waltz, meringue, and line dancing.  The Swingstreet Trio played slow numbers; the Boleros, a Latin trio, played TONS of salsa, some meringue, and the occasional cha cha and rumba; the DJ on the top floor disco played all types of music.  I recommend going to the 70s line dancing class and then hitting the disco that night – hilarious!  The fitness classes are about the same as on Carnival - $10 each, not of great quality but better than nothing (I took a yoga class).

ENTERTAINMENT:  I am still trying to figure out who truly believes the shows on cruises are of good quality.  As they go, these were marginally better than the ones on Carnival.  We’ve been taking ballroom dance lessons, so we enjoyed the professional ballroom dancers. 

CABIN: This was another big disappointment for us.  We couldn’t fit our suitcases under the bed like we had on the Carnival ships (same suitcase and a new smaller one).  I’ve since read a suggestion to open them up and slide them under, which is a good one.  My main gripe, though, is the size of the shower.  I thought our showers on previous cruises were tight but tolerable.  I cursed this shower on a daily basis, and I’m a size 2.  Ladies, I’d highly recommend getting your legs waxed before cruising on this ship.  Our cabin steward was fine, though he did manage to forget to leave a Cruise Compass one night. 

PORTS: Awesome, amazing, incredible – all the positive adjectives you can come up with apply.  This is why we adored our cruise even though we were so disappointed with the food and service.  I’ll go into the ports in separate posts.

MISC.: The Wine and Dine program worked well for us.  We also very much enjoyed the RCI’s special Belgian beer, Royal.  Check it out!  The shopping tips, in at least one case for us, turned out to be abysmal.  RCI goes on and on about The Loom, this “terrific” rug shop (Athens and Mykonos).  We popped in a rug shop just down the street from The Loom in Athens and shopped there for a bit.  The owner gave us a lesson in machine v. hand made and showed us incredible rugs at fair prices (we have access to a couple of outstanding discount stores in North Carolina, so we didn’t buy).  We then went to The Loom, where they were trying to sell machine made rugs at hand made prices and wouldn’t give you a straight answer about how the rugs were made.  I’m very grateful we stumbled into the first shop, and I’m now hesitant to buy from any ship recommended shop without at least doing some research first.

CONCLUSION: If you’re not too demanding about food and service and haven’t visited these ports before, I highly recommend taking this cruise.  If you are more discerning, check out some other options and, if you sail Splendour anyway, go prepared so you won’t be disappointed.  It really is an incredible itinerary and was far and away my favorite option when we booked.  It could only have been more perfect IMO by adding a night and a stop in Santorini! 

Cats cats, everywhere, cats!  If you didn’t like cats, you might say Europe is INFESTED with them.  I, however, love them and was happy to see them.  The only problem is that some of them are really sad because they’re strays or feral and not taken care of.  I wish I’d thought to take cat food with me!  If I’d had more time, I would’ve found a grocery store and bought some.  Anyway, here are some pics, and then I’ll tell you where I’ve spotted them.

Location of cats: Acropolis, Athens, Greece; Mykonos Town, Greece; Delos, Greece; monastery at Paleokastritsa on Corfu, Greece; Peristyle in Split, Croatia; monastery on Corfu again.

Amsterdam: We were here such a short time, and it was raining for part of the day.  We didn’t spot any cats.  I only remember spotting a couple of dogs.  We did, however, see more bikes than people.

Venice: We didn’t see any cats in Venice, but we did see lots of dogs.  Surprisingly, there were very few purebreds.

Athens: There were dogs and a cat hanging out at the Acropolis.  They just trotted in the entrance and up to the top, found a shady spot, and stretched out.  It was a little weird.  Obviously the cat didn’t mind being pet too much.  While we were wandering the Plaka area, I saw a bunch of cats hanging out in the Ancient Agora.

Mykonos: There was an adorable little family of cats near where the ship’s shuttle dropped us off.  The kittens were playful, and all of them were friendly.  That makes me think that someone’s feeding them.  We also spotted a cat hanging out in the only shady spot on Delos - the porch of the museum.  Considering that no one lives on Delos, I think it’s very weird that a cat does.

Olympia/Katakolon: We didn’t spot any cats or dogs here.

Corfu: This place was the worst for me.  First we went to the monastery in Paleokastritsa.  There were a bunch of cats living there - and kittens!  They were all very friendly.  When I put the little orange kitten down, it followed me a little bit until someone else pet it.  While having lunch at a little cafe by the beach, a small dog, PePe, decided to join us.  He stayed by our feet most of the meal, probably because my bff Ami fed him little bits of her chicken!  The worst part, though, was when we stopped at a pet store to get Ami’s doggie a toy.  There were adorable puppies and a precious kitten that fell in love with me.  The kitten tried to follow me to the car!  This was the worst because I really wanted to take the kitten home.  Here are our Corfu buddies:

Split: We saw a few dogs walking around in Split - in the town and at the beach.  The funniest thing was this cat (picture above).  It just happily took its bath right there in the Peristyle, which is probably the busiest place in town.  Oddly, of the three cats I spotted in Split, all were calico.