Things We've Learned

This is the first cruise we've booked "back-to-back" legs/segments.  We'd taken a 66-day trip in 2013 from Auckland to Beijing which was 4 "back-to-back"s however, that one was packaged by Regent
as a "Grand Voyage".  Being a "Grand Voyage" we could book all the shore excursions at the same time and all the dining reservations at the same time.

This trip, being as we booked it independently of a "Grand Voyage", we've had to book the shore excursions separately for each segment, up to 240 days, (number of days depends on cabin selection) before each segment begins.  Likewise dining reservations, 90 days before each segment begins. Yes, we could book them once onboard, however, we would stand the chance of not getting the ones we prefer!

Making Progress!!

From our 2012 Baltic cruise.

From our 2013 cruise with favorite
driver William (Bill) Kelly!

Being as yesterday we had booked our flights home from Cape Town, today, we booked transportation via Super Shuttle's ExecuCar Service to and from the Tampa airport.

Thanks to our community's facilities management company's efforts,
we get a $10 discount in each direction!  We've considered Super Shuttle however, it is worth it to us to not have to make stops along the way!  

Yes, we always dress somewhat nicely, "Sunday dress like" when are flying!

We had selected our shore excursions for the Venice to Istanbul leg a few days ago.  Today we reviewed them and booked them!  AND, most importantly, we received confirmations on all the ones we wanted... Happiness!!!

Today, we found the excursions list for the Istanbul to Dubai leg to be now available to review.  Task over the next few days will be making our selections!  Then on March 5th, we can book them!!

This will likely be the last post until March 5th, but, who knows when the whimsy may strike!

More Bookings Done!!

Today we were able to book our flights back from Cape Town!  Fortunately, our fantastic Travel/Cruise consultant (Betty - of The Travel & Cruise Authority) had it on her calendar.  It took a bunch of maneuvering!  Regent confirmed Business Class from Johannesburg to Washington Dulles, however, couldn't confirm business from Cape Town to Johannesburg or from Dulles to Tampa.

After a few phone calls, yes, phone calls, we were able to ask Regent to just book Johannesburg to Dulles and, we booked our own Business class from Cape Town to Johannesburg and First Class from Dulles to Tampa... all with United points and $40.40!  Such a deal!

Fortunately, we'll only have carry-on bags!  Heavy bags will head directly home from Cape Town at the end of the cruise.  We'll go for our safari and head home 3-4 days later.

Tomorrow, we can, and will, book our shore excursions from Venice to Istanbul!

Where we are now...

... at home!! <GRIN>

And, the planning continues:

• In November, we booked a night at the Marriott at Tampa Airport because the best flights would leave early in the day.
• In January, we booked our outbound fights and will not need to stay at the airport!  We have Edelweiss flight from here to Zurich and then another on to Barcelona!  YEAH!!  No connections in Atlanta, Newark, JFK, Dulles or Chicago!!
• Also, in January, we booked a post cruise safari.  It's included in the cruise fare so couldn't turn it down!  Yes, we could have gotten a credit for not taking it, however, it would have been about 10-15% of the cost would we have had to pay for it separately!  (More on the safari another time.)
• In February, we booked our luggage service.  We had used Luggage Free on our 66-day cruise in 2013 so chose to use them again!  Rest assured it is NOT "free", darn... it just means we travel free of luggage!  We like having our bags there when we arrive in our cabin and having them back home shortly after we return home!  No customs and immigration checks, they do it for you!  Yes we will carry our "drag-alongs"!
• We have booked our shore excursions for the 1st leg.  Fortunately, all the ones we chose are from the "included" list!
• Come Wednesday, 2/25, we can book our return flights from Cape Town and book the shore excursions for the 2nd leg.

Whew!  Caught up with happenings to date!

Catching Up

Back home from our Rio -> Barcelona trip, we contacted our fabulous travel consultant Betty Handel at The Cruise & Vacation Authority to find out about insurance.  We had to book the insurance within 30 days of booking the cruise in order to have pre-existing conditions covered.  And, it is NEVER clear what is included in "pre-existing conditions" so we needed to do that!

Fortunately, we only had to pay insurance on the amount of the deposit!  As we get older, the cost of insurance increases exponentially!

In the Beginning

On board the Regent Mariner from Rio de Janeiro to Barcelona in March 2014, we started looking at a cruise for Tom's birthday in 2015.  On March 11, 2014, we asked the onboard cruise consultant, Brian O'Brien (how much more Irish can a name get?!) for a quote.  Because it was a combination of cruises, it took him a couple of days.

A week later on March 18th, we booked Tom's Birthday Cruise!  And, of course, that meant making a deposit toward the final payment!  While the total cost would be the same, because we were booking on board, the deposit was only half as much as it would have been had we waited until we were back home!