It is the Memorial Day weekend 2017 and we are doing the usual weekend afternoon things...Carolyn is looking through a stack of catalogs before she pitches them. One is a brochure on the Pacific Princess 2019 World Cruise. We have cruising on the brain since we are leaving for a week long cruise on Liberty of the Seas the next weekend with one of our granddaughters and our son’s family. Anyway, Carolyn likes the itinerary and loves those little ships.
We talked for years about doing a world cruise when Dick retired. So, in late 2007, Carolyn started looking at the various itinerary choices and realized that there were so many things we wanted to see and do that one day in a string of ports was just not enough. We wound up doing a trip around the world lasting over 5 ½ months including a segment of the Ocean Princess 2009 World Cruise and a segment of the Seabourn Pride 2009 World cruise connected by 22 flights, two train rides and a driving trip through Italy, France and Germany.
Over the next few years, we continued to look at World Cruises thinking that we would do that for our 50th wedding anniversary in 2015. However, in planning for the 2015 trip, we were still encountering the same problem. There were several places we wanted to visit and spend time, Tasmania, South Africa and Great Britain. We had a false start with a planned back-to-back-to-back cruise on the Island Princess from Sydney to Southampton that we canceled because of a changed itinerary due to the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Our second trip around the world was once again a combination: the first leg of Queen Elizabeth’s 2015 World Cruise, San Francisco to Sydney, the last segment of Queen Mary 2's World Cruise, Cape Town to Southampton and a Transatlantic Crossing on the Queen Mary 2, Southampton to New York City plus seven connecting flights across the Indian Ocean. It was a great, but exhausting 4 ½ month trip. Even though we have been around the world twice, we still haven’t done a true world cruise just lots of world cruise segments!
So here we are, Sunday of Memorial Day weekend 2017, and Carolyn is looking at a world cruise brochure for the Pacific Princess 2019 World Cruise! Dick makes the big mistake of asking what she is doing. She tells him about the cruise. It does sound interesting and he wants more details. Carolyn drops an email to our long time cruise travel agent, but hears nothing from her during the next 36 hours.
During that time Carolyn researches the various 2018 and 2019 itineraries on the internet. Turns out that Regent has an itinerary that we like even better than the Princess one....the SS Navigator 2018 World Cruise...because it is visiting ports around Southern and Western Australia and South Africa!
Besides the appealing itinerary, Regent is offering many benefits such as included excursions. That is very appealing to Carolyn after all the detailed planning for our previous around the world trips. After a call to Princess we have a three day hold on one of the aft Owners Suites on deck 8 for the 2019 cruise. These are our all time favorite cruise accommodations. Still haven’t heard back from our TA, but Carolyn has found out that, at this point, there are only two suites left on Regent’s 2018 cruise.
In the process of searching, Carolyn receives an inquiry generated email from another TA that deals with Regent. This TA is offering a big rebate on the Regent cruise. So, Dick runs the numbers for the two cruises. The Regent cruise which includes everything, even medical, is more expensive than the Princess cruise where some things are included, but we will pay extra for drinks, tours and specialty dining. Regent's cost is not that much more. Sure the Princess aft cabin is wonderful, but the all inclusive deal Regent is offering for their standard veranda suite more than makes up the difference with the prices so close.
We have sailed with Regent before and know that their veranda suites are a roomy 300 square feet and the service is very nice plus it is all inclusive! Our original TA does get back to us, but is unable to match the price by thousands of dollars. For a cruise of this cost we decide to go with the new agent.
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By June 1st we are booked on our long awaited world cruise. Three days later we head off on our week long cruise to the Caribbean with our oldest son and family.
The final payment is due shortly after we return home and the shore excursions have been out since May 13. Carolyn spends days picking tours for all 64 ports. We wind up wait listed for some, but they will probably clear before the cruise. She also wants to look into doing some things on our own in some of the ports we love.
Carolyn can’t spend too much time planning the details for this cruise right now as we have the short cruise, a family lake house week coming up in July and a six week camping trip that includes time on a Seabourn Sojourn Alaska cruise out of Vancouver in September. But, she does get air arranged using miles for first class seats to LA and an extra pre-cruise night at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. Post cruise air and hotel can wait a while.
Two Months to Go....
Halloween is over.
We leave for a camping trip with our daughter and her family over the Thanksgiving holiday in a couple of weeks. Then, three weeks later, we leave for the Christmas Holidays with the whole family in Taos, NM. Time is going to fly by.
Our Alaska cruise was very good even though the weather was not so good. The camping part was a bust as the tow car died the second day into the camping part of the trip and we had to regroup, get the camping trailer back home and then drive to Vancouver staying in motels which is not our thing anymore.
Most of the travel details for the World Cruise are arranged for. Our return flight is booked along with a night in Santa Monica. We have all the tours selected from the ship’s list and the wait-listed ones have cleared. Plans are in place for the ports where we plan to do our own thing: Pago Pago, Bay of Islands, Auckland, Bali, Mauritius and Cape Town. In some of the other ports we plan to start out on the ship's tour, but leave it to do something on our own and then make our way back to the ship. Our Prime 7 reservations are made and Luggage Free is scheduled to pick up our four bags December 15th since we will be gone at the later regular pick-up time. Our TA has made our special requests for our suite and diet to Regent. Most importantly we have a big box set out to put things for the trip in as we think about them.
Carolyn’s plan is to pack as lightly as possible...140 days is a long time, but everything we take has to be repacked at the end of the cruise which is a real pain as far as she is concerned! With free laundry, we don’t have to worry so much about how much we take. We will wear the same things over and over and mix and match. Carolyn will try to get everything, clothes-wise, in the four fifty pound bags we are shipping ahead. Then we will take two carry on bags for medicine, toiletries and LA clothes plus a computer bag and a camera bag. Hope this plan works!
We have sent the paperwork to Visa central for our Australian visa. Fortunately we already have valid visas for Brazil in our old passports. So, we don’t have to deal with that hassle, but do have to present both the old and the new passports when we arrive in Brazil. Our Yellow Fever shots are good from our 2009 trip. Still need to get all the needed meds though.
Our lists have lists right now, so hopefully over the next two months we will be able to get everything organized and ready for this wonderful trip!
18 days, 22 hours 45 minutes, but who is counting!
It is almost time to leave for Los Angeles and the beginning of this wonderful adventure! Rumor has it that there are over 250 full World Cruisers on the 490 passenger Navigator! That is half the passengers...it is going to be great cruise.
Luggage Free collected our three bags this past Friday.
Going....
They weighed in at 49 lbs, 43 lbs and 44 lbs. We had planned on shipping four bags. Turns out we need to take the forth bag with us on the plane to carry some things we need that can’t go in the carry on luggage or in the luggage free shipment. So, we will have two carry-ons, a camera case, a computer bag and the checked piece to deal with going to Los Angeles. Hopefully we can ship that forth large bag home with the other three in May.
Everything we are taking with us is either already gone, in the luggage still here or stacked “neatly” on the floor in our bedroom. Carolyn can’t pack completely yet because we still need some luggage for our Christmas trip to Taos, New Mexico. We leave in a couple of days. We have rented a house and the whole family is joining us. When we get back we will have four days until we head to Los Angeles.
There are always last minute things that pop up. We thought we had all the visas taken care of, but today we had an email from the TA with a link to a form for a Sri Lanka transit visa. Regent wants us fill it out before we leave so they can arrange for the visa.
Monday, Dick goes to Houston for the foreign currency he ordered. We have found it much easier to get a little cash for the various countries before we leave. That way we don’t have to waste time looking for an ATM first thing.
Then, of course, there are a ton of little things still to do, but they can’t be done until the very last minute, like get a hair cut and close up the house!
We did the 2017 RTW on Oceania and I’m having a bit of RTW-withdrawal as everyone leaves on their adventures and we remain in Houston until we get on the road for a motor home trip in March-April.
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