Mike and Darlene’s Weekly DEAL!
November 25, 2011

Happy Black Friday!

We know you’re being inundated with sales from every retailer you’ve ever dealt with, so we’re going to make this short and sweet… We have access to DEALS and sales with nearly every cruise and land operator, on almost any itinerary you can think of. AND we also have a Spending Remibursement offer for a limited time, giving you cash back after your vacation of up to $200, depending on the value of the vacation that you booked. (Air or car rental only bookings will not qualify.)

Call us at 1-800-267-7613 as soon as you’re back from the mall, let us know when/where you want to go, and we’ll do the work! We promise to find you the very best DEAL we can, with personal service before, during, and after your trip…and you don’t even need to leave your house!

We can even help you arrange a vacation gift certificate! Just let us know how much you want to spend, and we’ll do the rest! We can deliver a gift certificate to your inbox, mail you a hard copy, or even gift wrap and mail the certificate directly to the person you’re being so nice to…your choice!

In the meantime, we hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Be careful out there…the roads will be a madhouse until things get back to normal on Monday. Call us when you get a chance to catch your breath, and we’ll help you plan a nice, calming vacation to recover from the holidays. And remember, there’s still time to plan a Christmas or New Year’s cruise, but don’t wait, space is not going to last forever!

Feel free to contact us with any questions.
We’re here to help you!

Sincerely,
Darlene & Mike Jordan

CruiseOne/Mike and Darlene Jordan
7131 Dunklau Rd
Ft Garland, Colorado 81133
1-800-267-7613

Get Out the Map November 25, 2011

The Big Church
By Mike & Darlene Jordan

There are churches, there are cathedrals, there are basilicas…then, there’s the Vatican.

Day two of our Rome adventure started early. After a surprisingly delicious American-style breakfast on the roof of the Hotel Diana in downtown Rome, it was time for us to head for the highlight of our Rome visit, the Vatican.

We chose to pre-purchase a guided Vatican tour from an Italian tour company, Ciao Italy!, to handle our Vatican tour. (They also handled our hotel transfers from the airport and our transfers to the port at Civitavecchia for the cruise home.)

As it turned out, this was a brilliant decision on our part.

The tour van picked up our party of six promptly at 9:00 a.m. for the ride to Vatican City, actually a “country within a country.” The Vatican is a sovereign city-state and, at just 110 acres in size with a population of a little over 800, it is the smallest country in the world.

As we approached the walls of the city within a city, we saw the first reason a guided tour of the Vatican is a must unless you have an unlimited amount of time: the longest line we’ve ever seen for any attraction anywhere. The queue stretched three or four abreast outside the city walls, down the street and around the corner; not to mention the enormous crowd that packed the plaza outside the entry doors to the Vatican Museum. Approved tour operators like ours jump the line immediately. We went through an airport-like security screening (jumped that line, too) and we were in.

Before entering the museum, our guide informed us that a mass would be underway in St. Peter’s Basilica during part of the time of our visit, and that the Pope might be officiating. We could attend the mass, if we wanted. The bad news was, if we attended the mass, we would not be able to tour the museum because tickets are restricted to certain entry times and could not be changed or refunded. It was determined that the Pope was not officiating, so we opted to continue the museum tour.

The Vatican museum is an amazing place, jammed with historical artifacts, artwork from the masters including Michelangelo, Rafael, and many others. There’s so much of it that one could spend an entire day in just a couple of the galleries, but they seem to go on forever. It would be impossible to describe them all in this small space.

The final portion of the tour, besides St. Peter’s, was the Sistine Chapel.

Famous for Michelangelo’s paintings on the ceiling, the chapel is also the place where the College of Cardinals holds its conclave to elect a new pope. Basically, it’s a large, rectangular room with a fancy roof. Guards are placed inside the chapel whose job it is to keep the crowd quiet. There’s a lot of sshhh-ing going on. Photos and videos are not permitted, but, unfortunately, a number of people ignored the rule.

The famous ceiling is truly remarkable, as is all of the art that decorates the chapel, but one can only look straight up for so long before the neck begins to ache. Most spend 15 or 20 minutes inside the chapel before moving on.

As happens with most incredibly popular tourist attractions, we were asked to “exit through the gift shop.” It’s a large one and finally empties out past the Vatican Post Office (where one can mail postcards with a Vatican postmark) and into St. Peter’s Square after about 3 and a half hours in the museum. From here we would enter St. Peter’s Basilica.

But not yet. The mass was still going on, and the thousands of people waiting to go in were lined up in concentric circles around the square. This was one line we could not jump and the wait would be at least 2 hours.

This is where our tour guide again came in very handy. She offered to take us to Rome’s “Capitol Hill,” which overlooks the city’s most famous ancient ruins—the forum, the coliseum, and many other historic ruins. From here we could explore those ruins, or head off on our own to see some of the Eternal City’s other famous sites.

No, we didn’t miss St. Peter’s. We returned late in the afternoon and skipped the crowds altogether.

More on that and our walking tour of Rome next time. Until then…get out the map!

Mike and Darlene Jordan are franchisees of CruiseOne., and are based in Southern Colorado. You can contact them at 800-267-7613 or by email at mjordan@cruiseone.com.

http://ping.fm/LRaBn

Get Out the Map Nov 18, 2011
Ahh…Roma
By Mike & Darlene Jordan

Back…tanned, rested, and ready—to go again!
We hadn’t been this excited about a trip since China in May of 2010—and we get pretty excited about every one of our travels.

Even the long flight to Rome was something we looked forward to; probably because it was the first day of the trip with all of the anticipation that goes with that, plus the fact that we knew we weren’t flying home, at least not across the Atlantic.

We arrived in Rome early on a Sunday morning and were greeted by a representative of Ciao Italy!, the company Darlene used to help us with the Rome portion of the trip. They took our party of 6 from the airport to our delightful boutique hotel, the Hotel Diana in downtown Rome, just 2 blocks from the main Metro Rail station and within walking distance of many of Rome’s attractions.
From its rooftop garden, almost all of Rome is visible, including the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.

It was too early to check in, so we stored our bags and hit the street, ignoring the fact that we hadn’t slept a wink overnight. On the way to the hotel, we had passed the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, just a couple of blocks from the hotel, so we headed there, and were glad we did. Entering the Basilica, we discovered that mass was under way (of course…it was Sunday morning) so we participated in the service, blown away by the sounds of the choir and chants echoing through the enormous stone building.

When the service was over, we stayed to explore the various chapels that surrounded the sanctuary with its stone sculptures, renaissance era artwork, and the tomb of the baroque sculptor, Bernini, who, according to his epitaph, “decorated the city” of Rome. Indeed, his work is everywhere in the city. We especially liked his fountain in the Piazza Navona.

Lunch was at a sidewalk café where we sampled our first Roman meal—pizza! Roman pizza resembles the U.S. variety in shape, but not in taste. For one thing, the crust is wafer thin, almost cracker-like. An individual serving is an entire pizza and, without all the bread, it’s not nearly as filling.

The afternoon was spent checking in to the hotel and exploring the area nearby some more. We stopped at the National Roman Museum and the Basilica of Santa Maria Degli Angeli, a large, open structure with high, vaulted ceiling and bright sunlight. It was spectacular, but very different from the more gothic one we visited that morning and most of the other churches that abound in Rome.

As we roamed the city we found a church on almost every block, and that’s no exaggeration.
We stopped for an early dinner which turned out to be more of a dessert (but delicious) and a somewhat early turn-in. Even we can’t go forever without sleep.

We discovered that, in Rome, a good pair of walking shoes is an absolute necessity. This would be a good thing to know. The next day, we would be visiting the Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Square and St. Peter’s Basilica…and a whole lot more. Although public transportation is plentiful, there is so much to see on almost every block that you’ll miss it if you’re riding a subway or bus. Over the course of our 3 days there, we probably walked 10 miles or more.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks and we’ll tell you all about it.

Until next time…get out the map!

Mike and Darlene Jordan are franchisees of CruiseOne., and are based in Southern Colorado. You can contact them at 800-267-7613 or by email at mjordan@cruiseone.com.
http://ping.fm/vIkZj

Mike and Darlene’s Weekly DEAL!
Friday, Nov. 18, 2011

Hello Everyone, and Happy Friday! We’re back from our awesome trip to Rome and 16-night transatlantic cruise. If you haven’t been to Roma, we highly recommend a visit, just remember to pack your sturdy (but stylish) walking shoes. Rome is a great city to explore by foot, and after all that walking, a cruise back home is just the ticket to relax and rejuvenate mind and body. And no jet lag when you get home!

But, what if you just don’t have 2 or 3 weeks for your vacation?

Then how about a nice, relaxing, and WARM 7-night cruise aboard the Holland America Eurodam on January 28th? Just about the time the after-holiday blues set in, and most of us are just sick and tired of being cold!

Here is your itinerary:

Holland America Line
Eurodam January 28, 2012

7-Night Eastern Caribbean, Fort Lauderdale R/T

Sat 01/28/12 Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Embark – 05:00 PM Times subject to change

Sun 01/29/12 At Sea

Mon 01/30/12 Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos 08:00 AM 03:00 PM

Tue 01/31/12 San Juan, Puerto Rico 01:00 PM 11:00 PM

Wed 02/01/12 St. Thomas, USVI 08:00 AM 05:00 PM

Thu 02/02/12 At Sea

Fri 02/03/12 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 08:00 AM 04:00 PM

Sat 02/04/12 Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Disembark -07:00 AM Times subject to change

This is a great itinerary with lots of beach time, beautiful scenery, shopping, and fun shore excursion possibilities. And, you’ll be sailing a “premium” cruise line, Holland America, that offers the service, dining and amenities that will make your winter get-away a real break from the ordinary!

Here’s the Deal:
Interior staterooms start at only 549.* per person! Yep, only 549. PP for a premium cruise for 7-nights. And if you prefer an ocean-view stateroom, we can book that for you for only 749.* per person while inventory lasts. And here’s the best part; for only 50. more per person, you can upgrade to a stateroom with a private balcony! Just imagine yourself sitting on your verandah, first thing in the morning… Enjoying your room-service coffee with your feet up, as you think about your poor friends back home in the cold. Have pity! Tell them about this DEAL!

Call us at 1-800-267-7613 ASAP, as fares are subject to change and availability. We’ll help you plan your winter get-away, and you’ll have something to look forward to during the cold nights ahead! If it’s easier for you, email us at mjordan@cruiseone.com and let us know what type of accommodations you prefer, and we’ll get right back to you with the details.

Until then, have a great weekend, and beat the rush, buy your turkey now!

CruiseOne/Mike and Darlene Jordan
http://ping.fm/JuF04
mjordan@cruiseone.com
1-800-267-7613

*Fares are based on double occupancy, and are subject to change and availability. Fares include port fees. Airfare, transfers, travel insurance, and tax of $103.20 per person, are additional. Ship’s registry: The Netherlands.

Call now, prices are not guaranteed until payment is applied!