Hello Fellow Cruisers! WELCOME ABOARD! Just thought I'd welcome you to the group. This is the first CruiseLetter, a maiden voyage in itself. I don't have much news, other then to say I'm delighted you are here and that we all might be traveling together to just about the best places on the planet. There are 77 of us receiving this CruiseLetter. YAHOO GROUPS I also thought I'd tell you a little bit about Yahoo Groups, which is the way we'll be communicating for a while. This is a free service. Having said that; nothing's free. Yahoo makes money on advertising, so you might see a LINK at the top or bottom of the newsletter. Ignore it. After I post the CruiseLetter to Yahoo Groups it will be delivered directly to your mailbox. After that you can find it again by signing into Yahoo Groups, or, just go to my web page, click AMI'S ADVENTURES, and select EUROPEAN CRUISE. Scroll down. My web page is AmiSimms.com I am the only one allowed to post to the whole group. However, if you have questions, all you have to do is email me. I'll save up your questions and answer them in the next CruiseLetter. I love questions. If I don't know the answer I'll try to find out. No question is silly. Ask away. Chances are good somebody else had the same question, but were too timid to ask. My email is: AmiSimms@aol.com. Please put CruiseLetter in the subject line. If you're writing to me for another reason also, write two emails. Sounds strange, but it is easier for me to prioritize. QUESTIONS The first question comes from Lynn E. who wants to know how much the cruise will cost. If you follow the link on my page to McCall's Quilting, you'll see a similar picture of the ship (hmm..., wonder how THAT happened) and a descriptive paragraph. In the paragraph is the price: $1549. That's based on double occupancy. I'd suggest a call or email to the nice people at Sew Many Places. Call 1-800-708-0880. Or email: Ann@SewManyPlaces.com. They can give you the full scoop. WHY THIS CRUISE? Why am I so jazzed about this particular cruise? Well, I used to live in Rome. I lived there as a kid for three and a half years: when I was a toddler, when I was in the second grade, when I was a teenager, and when I was in college. The first three visits were a year long; the last was six months long. I also spent numerous summers in Rome. I've been back too many times to count and have traveled all over Italy. I just can't get enough. I led a quilters' tour to Rome after my "Classic Quilts: Patchwork Designs From Ancient Rome" was published, and several years later took another group of Quilters to several places in Italy. My last trip is almost completely documented at When I was a youngster my family visited both Marseilles and Nice. (We actually bought a car and picked it up in Nice and drove it back to Italy.) I don't remember much (except eating a very long loaf of French bread) and the last time I was in France was during college, when I got to see some of Spain as well, so I'm very excited to return! This cruise is going to some of my favorite places! I also like ships. Back when we traveled to Italy to live for a year it was too expensive to fly with all our household belongings. We made six Atlantic crossings (there and back each time.) Those were all like row boats compared to the gorgeous ship we'll be on. The only official CRUISE I've ever taken was several years ago when my mother and I took a cruise to Asia. WOW! It was fantastic! AMI'S TRAVEL QUIRKS We shall eat very well. I'm looking forward to every morsel, from the gourmet meals to the street vendor's fare and everything in between. When I travel eating is one of my favorite parts! However, I'm a little strange. Not only do I eat it; I photograph it! I also photograph floors. It's a quilter thing. Other then that, I'm harmless. UNTIL NEXT TIME I'm looking forward to your questions and to traveling with you next spring! Ami Simms AmiSimms@aol.com AOL HYPERLINKS Ami's Web Site Ami's Last Adventure to Italy