Hey Starbucks Fans!

Guess what? Starting in December 2010 you can enjoy your favorite Starbucks beverages, sweets and pastries onboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas! Located in the Royal Promenade neighborhood on Deck 5, RCCL has just announced this new offering to the ship which is currently enroute to Fort Lauderdale from the shipbuilders in Finland. Allure, like her sister ship the Oasis will be the two largest cruise ships ever built capable of carrying 5400 guests at double occupancy. Longer than multiple football fields they feature the 'neighborhood' concept in defining the ship's spaces.

Neighborhoods include Central Park, an interior area that is outdoors, has balcony cabins facing it, restaurants, the Rising Tide Bar (a levitating bar going up and down 3 decks) and live plants! Since she is currently sailing the cool weather area of the Atlantic Ocean, the plants won't be installed until she arrives in the warmer climes of Florida. Guest may stroll this area and simply sit on a park bench while waiting for their table at a new alternate dining restaurant called 150 Central Park.

Interested in booking a cruise? Drop me a note at phelan_susan@yahoo.com with contact information, sailing date, size of your party, etc. I look forward to hearing from you soon and thanks for reading.

Taylor Swift Fans!

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines offers guests on the Jan 16, 2011 sailing of the Allure of the Seas the opportunity to see Taylor Swift in concert while the shift is docked in Cozumel. Limited availability for seating is available and guests may participate in contests related to Miss Swift's appearance on the world's largest cruise ship. Debuting in December, the Allure (like her sister the Oasis) is a revolution in cruising offering ship public areas built around a 'neighborhood' theme. Neighborhoods include Central Park with live plants and grass and balcony cabins, the Entertainment Zone, Boardwalk and Royal Promenade. For more information or to book your cruise, contact me at phelan_susan@yahoo.com.

Allure of the Seas Offers Guests ...

a Royal 5K run on the December 12, 2010 sailing. While calling on the island of St. Maarten, guests can register ($50 adults, $35 children) to participate in a 5k jog, sprint or walk. What a great way to see this lovely half Dutch, half French island in the Caribbean and a great way to burn off some of those extra calories you have taken in on the cruise! This ship also offers all guests the opportunity to set the course jogging track record during this sailing. The track onboard is .46 miles long and the longest at sea.

So burn off those calories from the candy shop or Cupcake shop (extra fee applies) and enjoy a run. Or use the full gym, pools, Flowriders, ice skating rink or rock climbing wall and keep those extra pounds off.

For more information, contact me at phelan_susan@yahoo.com and as always, thanks for reading my blog!

Sue

Ship Tours

Hello!

Recently I toured Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas on a day the ship was docked in Boston, Massachusetts. The RCCL Business Development Representative met about 20 agents in Boston pier side late morning to board and give us a tour of this ship. As Boston was a port of call for this cruise, not too many passengers were on board. The weather in Boston that day was on and off rain with some humidity so it was not too cold. The Enchantment is an 83,000 grt (gross register ton) ship carrying over 2000 guests. She was even 'stretched' in her history! You ask 'stretched'? She was expanded and actually cut in half across her beam and additional space was added while she was in dry dock. Never having toured or sailed on her before the expansion I could not tell what was different - the process was truly seamless! Our group was even lucky enough to see several styles of cabins as the cruise was not quite sold out. This gave us an opportunity to see a nice junior suite aft with a very large balcony. The balcony actually held 2 lounge chairs, 2 additional straight back chairs and a small table. The suite came with all the expected amenities including a flat screen TV, IPOD docking station and Internet access. The ship was completely refurbished in 2005 and at this time not all cabins have the amenities I listed above. The Enchantment does have the RCCL Rock Climbing Wall, pools, spa, sauna, Chops Grille specialty restaurant ($25 per person charge applies) and the signature RCCL service.

If interested in booking this ship or any other cruise, please drop me a line at phelan_susan@yahoo.com. Include some information about yourself, contact info, where and when you would like to cruise, number in your party, etc. Thank you for reading!

Attention Medical Professionals!

How about a unique way to earn your required continuing education credits? Guess what? You can now earn these while on a cruise! Yes, 3 cruises are currently scheduled for 2011 and offer 3 different subjects. Each subject has its own renowned expert in their field. These cruises are for physicians, physician assistants, nurses and pharmacists. Courses are held during days at sea so they don't conflict with shore excursions or nightly entertainment. How cool is that?

March 6, 2011 on the Celebrity Solstice (5.5 stars) departing from Fort Lauderdale for the Eastern Caribbean offers CME (Continuing Medical Education) sessions by Michael R Weitekamp, M.D., F.A.C.P, MHA. These sessions will cover cardiovascular diseases and treatments.

May 22, 2011 on the Royal Caribbean ship Allure of the Seas (entering service December 2010, 5 stars) will also depart Fort Lauderdale visiting the Western Caribbean. CME sessions will be led by one of the nation's leading diabetes experts, Condit Steil, Pharm.D, CDE and will focus on diabetes management. The Allure is the largest cruise ship ever built, an amusement part on water that is ideal for families.

June 29, 2011 on the Celebrity Infinity (also 5 stars) departing from Seattle and sailing to Alaska will play host to CME sessions on respiratory diseases and new advances in treatment options. Kevin Gleeson, MD will lead these sessions and Kevin is also one of the nation's leading experts in this subject.

Please sent me an e-mail message at phelan_susan@yahoo.com if you have any questions or desire more information or a cruise price quote. Thanks for reading!

Sue

Party Cruises

Yes, they still exist! My first cruise was definitely a party as I was only in my mid-20s and could still party all night long. The best thing that happens on a cruise is as you board or go to the 'lido' deck (yes, there really is a lido deck!) you are greeted by a member of the bar staff with a frozen cocktail! And boy, on a hot day in Miami that drink is a welcome sight and taste!

On any ship, cocktails are served for a large number of hours every day! You can wake up to Bloody Marys or Mimosas, have an ice cold beer for lunch and poolside, martinis before dinner and wine with dinner. Sounds like this blog entry is being written by a lush! So on that note, you are not driving so you can drink on board but you might not want to make a total fool of yourself. Then again, will you ever see the people on your cruise again?

If a party cruise is your desire, I suggest the Carnival Cruise Lines Fun Ships. I have cruised with this line several times and find that the staff is young, energetic, outgoing and will always provide you with your favorite cocktails! Drop me a note to start the booking process for your party cruise! Pricing on Carnival is very reasonable! My e-mail address is phelan_susan@yahoo.com. Thank you for reading.

What Time Is It?

Answer: It is always time for a cruise! Cruises offer the best value for your travel dollar and come in a lot of variety! You can choose a small ship, medium ship or large ship! You can cruise the Caribbean Islands, Mexican Riviera, Europe, Alaska, Australia, the Panama Canal and more! Families can really enjoy the cruise vacation as ships offer activities dedicated to the children. Youth staff members create age-appropriate activities for the 3-5 year old, the 6-8 year old, etc. This means the adults in the family get some adult time to just relax. Ships even have a babysitting service available(extra fee applies) on a first-come first-served basis so the adults can even have date night while on board the ship.

Consider a cruise today as your next family vacation. If your children are not yet in school, consider the winter months of January, February or March as prices tend to run lower in these months. For more cruise information, contact me at phelan_susan@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading.

Attention Brides and Grooms!

This blog entry is directed at the brides and grooms who need to plan their honeymoons and want to make that honeymoon a vacation to remember. I suggest the Honeymoon Cruise aboard a Royal Caribbean ship. Why a cruise? Mostly because after you have done all the work related to planning your wedding like booking a church, minister, reception facility, registering for gifts, creating your seating plan, etc. - YOU DESERVE A HONEYMOON CRUISE! Cruises offer everything from the ultimate in romance to the ultimate in relaxation! With Royal Caribbean, your cruise ship is a destination and resort in itself offering basketball, mini-golf, ice skating, restaurants, shore excursions, spa treatments, swimming, etc., etc., etc.!!! Why not add a Romance Package from Royal Caribbean for the cruise? Packages include a Welcome Aboard bottle of champagne, robes, a formal 8 x 10 portrait, flowers and canapes in your room. I would be happy to assist you in booking your honeymoon and Romance package. My contact information is phelan_susan@yahoo.com.

Group Cruises and Family Reunions

Is it time to plan your family's next reunion? Maybe you are from a large family and only get together every few years and summer 2011 is your next planned reunion date. Why not make that reunion a Group Cruise? Have the reunion where no family members have to host the party or clean up after the party or provide much or most of the food and cooking for the party. Or did I say clean up after the party? Cruises provide excellent value for your travel dollar and by starting to plan for summer 2011 now, family members have a year to save the money they might need to pay for the cruise. Cruise ships offer activities for guests of all ages from ice skating, rock climbing, bowling to swimming and miniature golf. Make your next family reunion a most memorable one! Send me a message at phelan_susan@yahoo.com for my contact number and give me some details about your group size, number of cabins, age range of guests, duration of the cruise, where to sail from, etc. Thank you for reading and please contact me so we can give you a reunion to look forward to!

Sue

Theme Cruises!

Cruises may even have themes. For example, today I found two on the Carnival Cruise Lines site that offer two different styles of music. These two cruises are an Elvis theme to celebrate Elvis' 75th birthday and the Rock Boat XI cruise. The Elvis cruise sets sail from Jacksonville on Nov 4 returning on Nov 8 on the Carnival Fascination. The Rock Boat XI sails from Tampa on the Carnival Inspiration on Jan 6 returning on Jan 10. If you like rock and need a short winter getaway after this year is over, consider the Rock Boat XI cruise.

Some details about the Elvis cruise. Prices start from $599 per person with the event being hosted by Jerry Schilling. Among the Elvis entertainment guests are the Elvis Imperials, Jose Guercio, Members of the TCB Bank, DJ Fontana, The Memphis Boys with singer Bobo Moreno, Terry Mike Jeffrey, Andy Childs and Jamie Aaron Kelley. Also a number of Elvis tribute artists will be in attendance. AND there are even some Special Guests. So, Elvis fans get out and celebrateon this fall cruise to Nassau and RELAX!

The Rock Boat XI cruise goes to Grand Cayman Island which is one of the BEST places in the world for scuba diving and snorkeling. Seven Mile Beach is just gorgeous! This cruise is hosted by Sister Hazel and includes Gaelic Storm, Will Hoge, Nada Surf, Needtobreathe and many more artists. This cruise sounds like non-stop music coming from every venue onboard the ship. So rockers, come and enjoy a Fun Ship cruise!

Send me a message at phelan_susan @yahoo.com for my contact number. You can include your contact info, size of your party, cabin preference, etc in your message. Thanks for reading!

Sue

Cruises!

I am now selling cruises as an independent consultant! I have been having some fun creating some sample flyers and a couple of presentations. I am looking to target groups who want to take advantage of great pricing on cruises. Groups can be anybody from an organization looking to raise funds like a school, church or club to people who have something in common like a love of wine or the Grand Ole Opry. Cruises make for great family reunions and honeymoons too! Plus, you receive great value for your travel dollar! This value is seen because your cabin, your meals, movies under the stars, skating shows and even entertainment are included in the cruise price! Cruise lines today have so much variety from the size of the ship to the ports of call to the range of shipboard activities and shore excursions that there truly is something for everyone! Or you have the option of simply doing nothing at all! If you might be interested on a cruise at a great price either as individuals or a group, contact me at phelan_susan@yahoo.com. This address will allow you to drop me a note about your interest and I can answer you back with my phone number. Future posts to the blog may include some of my cruise memories, some photos if I can teach myself how to insert them and some highlights of ships in service.

Thanks for reading!

Hello again! Yes, I did take a hiatus from the blog. I am still searching for full time employment and it is still a job in itself to search. However, having some time has been a blessing in that I have been able to do some personal stuff like pack my house, sell my house, get rid of stuff that had been accumulating for 18 years, give away stuff, find an apartment, move in and then unpack the remaining items. I am now settled in to a smaller environment.

So back to the blog. I am still a very active reader and while packing the house I created a list of 'Books Read'. I had previously had one but it was on a dead PC so I created a new one from the stack of books that I had. A friend of mine named Nancy had given me the idea of having a list as she herself was a huge reader and was supplying books to two of her aunts who were not able to get out too often. She would track the ones each person had read so when buying a 'bag of books' or going to a tag sale she would know who had read what.

I am reading The Spire by Richard North Patterson right now (www.richardnorthpattersonbooks.com) and really enjoy his style. I had almost forgotten how much as it has been some time since I read one of his books. If you ever want some recommendations on authors to read, just drop a note and I will be happy to provide some options or discuss with you your favorites. I had a great conversation with one of the librarians last week on our favorite authors and she gave me some suggestions of people I have not read. The librarian (also named Nancy) told me that she sometimes has 50 books checked out at once on her library card. I said if I don't have at least 30 book choices available to me I go nuts! I like choice and read quickly so it would be truly awful if I ran out of reading material and everything was closed!

Other news: I may be selling cruises to both groups and individuals so if you have ever thought of going on a cruise, drop me a line. Cruises provide a great value for your travel dollar and it would be my pleasure to quote you a great price!

I will try not to take such a long break from the blog. Keep reading!

More of My Favorite Authors

Hello - I am back from a few days off. I went to a birthday party for my niece on Saturday. And yes, you can fit a bouncy house in your family room and it will most certainly amuse all the children so the adults can converse. OK - it was a bit loud with the air going all the time but it was still worth it.

Additional favorite authors whose books I just finished in the last few days:

Elizabeth Lowell (http://www.elizabethlowell.com/)
Just finished Moving Target which I enjoyed very much. Still haven't figured out how I can meet the gorgeous, intelligent and sexy man that was the hero.

Lisa Scottoline (http://www.scottoline.com/)
As I am a rather fast reader I read Lady Killer in two days. Lisa's books include wonderful female characters and this one is set in Philadelphia and features Mary DiNunzio, Attorney at Law. Mary is the local South Philly girl who made good but has never forgotten her roots and is very close to her family and her neighborhood. And she too meets a new man.

James Patterson (http://www.jamespatterson.com/)
After Lady Killer was completed and it was still too early to retire for the evening I read The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. Everything James Patterson writes is good and always a quick read. So yes, I finished this one in 3 hours! It is an adventure story and is probably targeted more for young adults than more mature adults but if you like his Maximum Ride series, then you will like this series too.

Hope you enjoy today's blog entry.

Sue

Today I thought I would give one of my favorite recipes for a hot hors d'oeuvres that everyone in my family enjoys. I do have to credit a previous roommate for this recipe as she and her sister always made them. The best parts are you can easily double or triple the recipe for that big Super Bowl Party and you can freeze any that you have not cooked. Total prep time is 15 minutes and there are only 6 ingredients.

Crab Meat Hors d'oeuvres or "Crabbies"

1 6-pack of Thomas' English Muffins, split
1 jar of Kraft Old English Cheddar Cheese Spread (found in dairy case)
1 stick butter, melted
1 6 oz. can of crab meat
1 tbsp mayonnaise
Old Bay Seasoning to taste (probably about a tbsp if I had to guess)

Put the crab meat, mayo, cheese and Old Bay in a bowl. Melt the butter and mix with the items in your bowl. Spread the mixture over the English Muffins. And place into broiler. Broil until bubbly; they turn a nice brown color.

You can cut in halves if you like. Bon Appetit!

Please let me know if you enjoy them as much as I do. I make the batch for myself and cook a few and freeze the remainder. Then when I want a nice easy meal in the winter especially I take them out, make a salad or soup and I have a meal.

Sue

OK, here goes nothing or maybe something. I, Sue Phelan, have decided to give blogging a try as it seems like everywhere one goes someone is blogging. If Julie of the Julie and Julia can blog about French Cooking then Sue Phelan can blog about anything or nothing at all.

Currently Sue is unemployed and searching for a job. A job search in itself can be a job as it takes time to post your resume at the career builder's, monster's and hot jobs' of the world. Then it takes time to read and review their possible job recommendations that they think match for you. Now I am not sure why they think I would match for anything in the car repair or auto parts lines of business but that is what I received today. And once you have reviewed their ideas, it is time to actually try your saved search agents using your skills and likes against their job databases. Hopefully everyday you find several jobs that you feel you are qualified to do and send out resumes. My goal is to send at least 5 - 10 resumes daily.

So enough about my unemployed situation unless someone wants to hire me then you can find my resume out on all the main job search sites. Thank you for your consideration.

I know blogs can be about whatever subject moves one so as I am a voracious reader I think I will blog about some of my favorite authors and maybe talk about the last few books I have read. Personally if I don't have 25 or more books available for me to read at all times I can get antsy because I like having choices and if we have bad winter weather and can't get out then what's to do except read?

Just finished Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell (http://www.patriciacornwell.com/) where ME Dr. Scarpetta is working in private practice in Charleston. What appear at first to be unrelated cases come together nicely in masterful Cornwell style. And it really made me add the city of Charleston to my list of cities to visit someday in my life. Oh heck, it was already on my list so I would be open to invitations to visit if anyone wants to send me one!

My next read was Lost Lake by Philip Margolin (http://www.philipmargolin.com/) a conspiracy story with a secret military assassination unit started during the Vietnam War. Several murders, attempted murders and jail breaks later the conspiracy is proven and the book is an enjoyable quick read.

Think I will end for today. Feel free to comment. I am always looking for new authors to read so please make recommendations.

Thanks for reading.