I began to gather a care package for Jodi, Lorinda and the kids. I gave them our last trail mix and a couple apples. Lorinda took the kids back to their stateroom to get them to bed. It was now about 10:00 pm. Jodi stopped by our room to tell us that Matt found a room in a hotel on Lido Island, Venice. I was so happy for her. I told her I had been praying for her. I felt so helpless because there was nothing I could do for her. We were leaving and they were stuck.

Saturday, April 17

Aubrey and I were among the 1^st group to leave the ship. Buses took us to the airport. When we got off the bus a rep met with each family. “You are one of the lucky ones,” she said. “Delta flight to NYC is one of the only ones still flying today.”

Whoa! We were smiling as we strutted into the airport.

We got to the counter and no one was there.

At the counter there were only 3 ladies ahead of us. One said, “The flight is canceled.” Someone from Delta was to talk to us at 9 am. As people piled up behind us, finally a lady came and announced, “No flights. Maybe tomorrow; maybe Monday.” Neither Delta nor Royal Caribbean was taking responsibility for any other accommodations because of the sheer number of people needing food or housing. They told us we would have a better chance of finding something in small groups. Are they kidding? There are no buses, trains or hotels!

Aub had a few tears. She was ready to be home and wanted to see mom and dad and go to church tomorrow morning to see her friends and tell them about the cruise. We waited in line for a rep to talk to each of us only to say the same thing. “We don’t know. But here is a # to call for information.”

I looked away and had a few tears myself, now, but looked back and told Aub “We are going to get through this. It will be OK.” I guess if it was just me I may have camped out in the airport with the others who were already staking out their spaces. I don’t know. I had a young girl with me and didn’t feel it was an appropriate place for who knows how long. I scoped out the facilities: bathrooms, water fountains, snack foods, people and luggage all over the place.

Just before Jodi left our room last night, as an after thought, she said, “Oh, just in case – here is where we are staying.” And I wrote the address in my notebook. Thank you, Lord.

Before we left the counter we asked about transportation to Lido Island. All I could think about was getting to our family who was still somewhere near Venice. Jodi was savvier about travel in Europe and I felt I needed her. If we could get together we would be alright. The rep told us to check the ALILAGUNA, public transportation to Lido. When we found the counter for the waterbus the lady said, “That will be 50E for two. No, we do not take credit cards. Only Euros.”  And definitely no US dollars. I had 30E left from our vacation that I had bought from Jodi.

I had Aub watch the luggage while I tried to find a bank or money exchange. (Jodi taught us that when traveling in Europe you use an ATM with your debit card (no credit cards at ATM’s). I don’t use ATM’s or debit cards. My son also told me (later) that if I read his blog I would have known that the best rate of money exchange is at airports. We had been on a cruise, after all, where one doesn’t have to think about anything. Suddenly we were thrust into a country where we had done no preparation or research.)

On my tour around the airport I found a Water Taxi, 190E for two, round trip. BUT they did take credit cards.

I bought tickets for us to take the water taxi to Lido Island. We had to drag all our luggage about a 10 minute walk, paved, over to the pier where the taxi was waiting for us. On the way over in the taxi I think we went through part of Venice. It was about a 25 minute ride through a bay.

But, I became more and more nervous as to how we were going to get our luggage to a hotel – we didn’t know where or how far after we landed. Our driver didn’t speak much English but I was planning on how I was going to question him. No need. When we boarded the taxi I had shown him the address Jodi had given me. Lido is a long thin island with many water bus and taxi piers. He dropped us off one block from the street the hotel was on.

When we got to the corner I asked a lady who was selling flowers which direction Hotel Helvetia was. (The taxi driver had indicated left.)

After an animated discussion in Italian with another woman-left? or right?-she pointed right and I could see it down the street.

Hotel Helvetia on Gran Viale S Maria Elisa, Lido, Venice, is a clean little hotel.  They had rooms for 85E a night. I went without a reservation knowing that hotel rooms were mostly booked. I was going to beg to sleep on the floor in Jodi’s room.

What happened is that because of the volcanic ash people were not only unable to get out but flights were not able to get in. So when they said hotels were all booked they did not consider the ones who did not show up. Rooms WERE available and many keys were still hanging in their spaces the next morning.

We are on Floor 1, room 12. I inquire about Jodi and her family. “Yes, yes, but they are not come yet.” I know that because they weren’t leaving the ship until 1:00 pm. We left a note for Jodi at the desk. The clerk pointed us to a “bar”, what we would call a café, and we had an Italian bread sandwich. I expect Jodi about 3 pm. It is 10:30 now, seems later. Will try to call home later – it must be 3:30 am at home. We are exhausted probably from stress. We both lie down and doze.

We see on CNN that the ash is getting heavier. It occurs to me for the 1^st time that we are living through a disaster. We are very fortunate to have a room and food. (Hotels and what I came to call “Table Cloth Restaurants” take credit cards.) It doesn’t seem disastrous except that we are so far from everyone at home.

Jodi spent the evening on the internet searching airports while her husband, Matt, in England was doing the same. She was in the internet café and all the stations were filled with people trying to make other plans.

She came up to the solarium and said all hotels are full, trains are full, buses are full. What we didn’t realize was that this had been going on since Thursday and we had been completely oblivious. They had nowhere to go. That’s when the seriousness of the whole thing hit me. Up till then I was joking, “Oh, you’ll have an adventure!”

I decided I’d better check Delta flights. I had my computer with me – the solarium is a ‘hotspot’. As far as I could tell there were no updates. I tried to check in and typed in all info but a message came that it couldn’t go through and to check in at the airport.

My first thought was that I had spent all that time at 60 cents a minute and I didn’t get anywhere. But when I logged off there was no screen telling me how much I had spent. Later we got a letter under our door saying phone lines and internet lines were open so people could make arrangements.
Well, I emailed home that as far as I could tell our flight was on.

I went up to the Windjammer for coffee late afternoon and overheard some folks who were from the same UK Air Force base as Jodi. They were talking about how their flights were going to be later tomorrow – but no worry.

Friday evening was our last meal together because we would be leaving the ship at different times tomorrow and would not see each other in the morning. We all ate together in main dining every night. It was nice. I really enjoyed everyone being together and main dining is not as rushed and noisy as foraging for food at the buffet. It was a great time to visit with family and for 2nd cousins to get to know each other.

After dinner we gave hugs all around because once we dispersed for the evening we wouldn’t be together again. I offered to take the kids to the solarium to swim while Jodi finished packing.

Before I went down to get the kids, Lorinda stopped by our room and said their flight was canceled because of volcanic ash in Northern Europe. The UK, where Jodi’s husband is stationed, was one of 8 countries on a list that airports were closed. Italy was not on the list. Yeah! For us. Sad for them. Aub and I were flying to JFK.

In spite of that, this is the best time to plan for a summer vacation. USA Today had an article about booking your 2010 vacation now. They list a few types of vacations and the best time to plan for them.

Book Cruises

There are many fans of cruises, my parents included. They are easy as there is no driving around, and you can have anything from food to floor shows anytime you want.

The tips are book soon if you need special accommodations or want certain dates. If you aren’t that particular, then booking closer to the cruise can help you get some deals.

According to Carolyn Spencer Brown, Editor in Chief at Cruise Critic, “Definitely keep an eye on wave season [January through March] deals, which are more oriented toward offering value than the deepest discounts. You may pay more for a cabin than you would at the veritable last minute, but you might also get free air thrown in, which sort of mitigates the issue.” She recommends to book your summer cruise during January through March.

Book Vacation Rentals

Like cruises, vacation rental availability can depend on where you are going. If you are going to Cape Cod, or the Caribbean you should start trying to book a vacation rental six months before you want to go. I looked at vacation rental houses when we went to Jamaica, and I was very tempted. They aren’t just a hotel room, you can get a full house with all the amenities, which is great if you are traveling with people who aren’t family.

If you are looking to go somewhere that might not be as popular, you can wait until much closer to the time you want to go.

The article from USA Today then goes on to talk about Europe and National Parks, but I going to stop here. Do you have any tips on when to book your vacation?

I’m sure that many of you are freezing this year wishing for the beach, and what better to celebrate Christmas than by laying on a tropical beach somewhere in the Caribbean.

Or maybe you’d like to spend Christmas with Jimmy Buffett on Christmas Island.

Rondel Village was a beautiful hotel in Negril, Jamaica. It was clean, had great service, and was almost right in the middle of the beach.

These are pictures from our room. You can see that we were right on the beach. Although the entire beach is lined with hotels, Negril the city is actually surrounded by cliffs. This is one thing you have to watch when searching for cheap hotels in Jamaica, if they don’t say beachfront rooms, then they are most likely on the cliffs, and don’t have beaches close.

If you are looking for a vacation or holiday in Jamaica, I would definitely recommend Rondel Village. The restaurant had great food, and there were always people at the bar. However, it wasn’t a party atmosphere, which I liked.

Tours in Jamaica can range in price from cheap to expensive. Going through the hotel is probably not the best idea, rather go through another agency, or ask a taxi driver.

I will be going into much more detail about places we went and things we did in Jamaica in later posts.

See the first day of our Jamaican Vacation here.

Or have you felt that your vacation just wasn’t as good as it could have been?

Vacations come way too infrequently to not enjoy them to the fullest, and I have the answer for how to relax on vacation. Well, I have the answer that works for me. Everyone is different. Some people want adventure, like the Indiana Jones vacation. Others (like me) like to relax. In my last post, I explained how to make your vacation last longer.  In this post I will let you in on my secret list to relax.

1. Relax

Sounds simple, I know, but it’s true. If you want to get recharged and enjoy yourself, then don’t start running all over the place. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off is for back when you are at work.

2. Keep Your Expectations Low

Low? Seriously? Yes, seriously. If your goal is to sit on a beach and read a book, then don’t plan on doing everything you can. If you get out and see some sites, then great; you did more than you planned on. Just don’t try to plan too much when you don’t really want to.

3. Adapt, and Overcome

Things change. You have to accept it and deal with it. Sometime we make plans to go do something, and then you can’t do it. Don’t get upset, just go do something else. See #1 and #2.

4. Take the Day After Vacation Off

I know many people who, if they have five days of vacation, they will leave on Friday night, spend all week on vacation, and get home the next Sunday night. This is the worst thing you can do. You enjoy your vacation, then kill yourself by trying to squeeze every last bit out of it. If you get home, and have the next day or two off of work, then you are still technically on vacation, but you aren’t paying for it.

Do the same thing you were doing on vacation, go sit on your deck and read, find something fun to do. RELAX!

5. Don’t do the Tourist Thing

This can be a hard thing to do. If you’ve never been somewhere, you want to see all the tourist spots. However, if you go to a certain place a lot (like we go to Newport, Rhode Island) then stay away from anything touristy. Go and do things that the locals do.

6. Eat Where the Locals Eat

This is the most important point to me. If you eat at tourst places, most likely you are eating the same thing you can get at home. Find where the locals go and eat with them. You enjoy finding new places, and you can relax because the local places will almost always be cheaper than the tourist or chain restaurants.

This list is made form experience. My wife and I have had our share of vacations that felt rushed and short. But last year, we had the best vacation we’ve ever had. We had no plans but to sit on the beach, and we fulfilled every plan we made.

Do you have any tips on how to relax on vacation? Let us know in the comments.

I do think that these are some great tips, and most of them I have already done.

1. Start Your Vacation Early: By using the internet, you can look at where you’re going, and get yourself excited and in the mood before you ever start.
2. Clean the House Before You Leave: This one is easy as my wife can’t stand to come home to a dirty house even on a normal day, nevermind after vacation. Doing this means you don’t have to do any work when you get home.
3. Bad Habits: See #4
4. More Bad Habits: Basically, get out of your routine. Make your life different while on vacation. For the second part of this, if you can’t get out of your routine, then go somewhere that makes the routine impossible. Go somewhere without internet, or TV.
5. Do Something New: This sort of goes along with #4. Do something different to make your vacation special. If you do everything exactly the same as when you are home, what’s the point of going on vacation?
6. Get Some Sleep: This is a good tip, even if you think it might not be. A lot of people might say “I want to get the most out of my vacation, no sleep for me”, but that means you’ll be tired and not enjoy it as much. Also, it means that you won’t feel rested when you get home.
7. Act Like You’re Still on Vacation: Even after you get home, act like you are still on vacation. Relax, read a book, don’t work. This will make the transition easier and not so stressful. This is why I usually come back a bit before I have to go back to work so I can still have time to get back into the swing of things.
8. Don’t Buy Crap: Yes, everyone wants some souvenirs to take home, but don’t buy something that is just going to sit around and collect dust.
9. You Live in a Vacation Destination: This was written for Chicago, but many places are in fact vacation destinations. I live in a boring little town called Canton, but every year in July people come from all over the country (even the world) to Canton for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival. Most places have something to offer. Enjoy these places through the summer to get out of your routine.
10. Get Back Online: After you’re done, look at all those bookmarks that you had on you’re browser from when you were planning your vacation. Remember the places you went, the people you met, and the things you did. Keep the vacation memories alive.

So what do you think? Do you have any tips for keeping your vacation going?

I emailed them and they responded quickly. The only real problem I’ve had so far is that when I tried to book it on the site, the booking software they use is not secure. So you have to put in your credit card info in a non secure browser. I didn’t feel comfortable doing that, so I emailed them again, and they sent a credit card authorization form to fax back to them. I still wasn’t that comfortable with having a fax laying around somewhere, but they sent back a receipt within minutes, so it wasn’t laying around long.

I also have found a great price on plane tickets. I checked out CheapTickets.com, but the reviews about them aren’t very good, so I just went to Travelocity and got the tickets for the exact same price.

I am getting so excited as this is only two months away.

I also haven’t decided whether I want to use an online travel site such as Expedia or Travelocity or just do it all myself. I love to save money, and if that means doing all the booking myself, then I’ll do it. And I’ll tell you how I do it too.

Things To Do in Jamaica List:

These are some of the things I would really like to do (some I have already done, but my wife hasn’t).

• Dunn’s River Falls
• Cliff diving at Rick’s Cafe (only if we stay in Negril)
• Relax on the beach
• Stay at a place on the beach
• Go to the beach (the beach is important)
• Eat authentic Jamaican food (not Americanized Jamaican)

Places to Stay in Jamaica List:

• White Sands in Negril – A nice looking place with mostly good reviews. It is much cheaper than many other places, and it is right on the beach. White Sands would be more of an economical vacation. I don’t plan on spending much time in our room anyway. I’m going to the beach.

• Mom’s Place B&B – I just found this on TripAdvisor, and it looks like a really nice small little B&B. It is right on the beach in Negril, and not owned by a corporation.

• Taino Cove – This place looks beautiful with large rooms. It’s about twice as much money as White Sands, but it is also on the beach. It is in Treasure Beach area which is much further out than most touristy places. That is good (no crowds of tourists), but also means a bit less to do.

• Negril Beach House Villas – A little more expensive than Taino Cove, and also right on the beach. This place has very good reviews, and you can get a kitchen in your room. That is awesome, as my wife and I like to cook and save money by not eating out.

So that’s what we are looking at. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I am not into partying, I am going to relax and enjoy the beach. And to drink some Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.