Well after having little or no rain over the past 80 + days - a very long stretch here on the west coast the weather has finally turned wet and looks to stay that way in the short term.
Why you ask how does this relate to cruising - well as I like to spend a lot of my time out walking and biking I haven`t spend a lot of time working on the details of this cruise so I now have an excuse to stay indoors and work on the finer details of this cruise.
Sure I have the insurance, train and hotel and host of excursions booked but I am thinking more along the lines of what to pack, how much US$$$ to take with me - making sure that my bank and credit card companies as well as my cell provider know I will be far off in some distance ports. Also need to try and figure out just how much local currency I might need in each of the SA Ports - especially Brazil where I am told that US $$$ aren`t that welcomed.
I also need to start to get to know the ship that will be my home for 49 days.
While I have been on the Sun Princess back in 2000 it isn`t the same class of ship as the Grand - I did spend 5 days on the Golden doing a Coastal but that is hardly enough time to get to know a ship.
As one who gets antsy and not able to easily sit down and read a good book I need to figure out how the handle the 4 sea days after we leave Trinidad - not likely to be as much of a problem for the three days at the end as I figure I will be so tired I will just collapse in my cabin and rest up for the train ride home.
I am determined for this trip that my suitcase will be a lot lighter - at least at the start than on my Panama Cruise where even Amtrak said it was over the allowable limit.
Likely will break the cruise into 7 - 10 day intervals and plan for a laundry - either self service or through the ship during each of those periods.
I am going to try and keep it to three pieces of luggage - my very large maximum size main suitcase, a smaller one which will serve two purposes - it will have the heavy clothes that I will need for the train ride across America in the winter and can also we used for the around the Horn portion of the trip.
I will also use it for the dirty clothes and when it comes to laundry time use it to haul back and forth to the self-serve if I go that route.
I could actually start some of the packing now - the cool weather is here so the shorts won`t be needed anymore and my array of Hawaiian themed shirt are usually only worn on cruises so they could go in the suitcase now
My third piece will be my day pack - it will be used initially to carry my array of electronics and perhaps my beer and wine as well and then on port days the tools that I will need for that day.
I currently have friends on a 34 day South Pacific cruise who over dinner the other night sat with someone who has done this cruise and they say I should really enjoy it. Certainly hope they are right.
Which brings me to my next topic - just how to communicate with friends back home - will buy an internet package on the ship but it is slow and might not even be available in some areas. I do need to try and fine either free or low cost internet cafes in the SA Ports - my friends are using the photo site Shutterfly to keep in touch - he has been able to upload photos using the free Wi-Fi at Mcdonalds but I doubt that option is available in the SA Ports.
I do have a dedicated email address that I hope everyone will use when I am travelling that way I won`t waste a lot of time going to a number of my email addresses.
Well it`s just about supper time to time to log off and say have a great weekend.
Cheers
D
Friday, October 12, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Excursions, Excursions, Excursions
With this being a once in a lifetime trip I decided early on that I would like to maximize my exposure to the various ports by going as many excursions as possible and allocated a fair chunk of change to do so.
With the exception of St Thomas, Barbados, Antigua, Puntarenas and Cabo all the other ports are new to me - of the above I have only booked an excursion in Barbados and that is Harrison Caves which was under redevelopment the last time I was there.
To date I have booked a total of 21 excursions - 14 with the ship and 7 with fellow cruisers covering 16 of our ports. Many of the better private tours were filled before I got off the wait list but some new ones have been added.
With the exception of Rio I am fairly pleased with what I have been able to book to date.
As for Rio - have done a fair amount of research on what to see and they were offered by the ship but at this time the full day tour is full and I am wait listed - I suspect that they are only booking a % of available seats at this time and also to allow people without Internet service to book on the ship when we board.
My preferred ship tour is a city drive past the beaches, Sugarloaf and Christ the Redeemer but it is full - a second tour is to the forest and jeep tour and I have decided to see a bit of the night life with a Platforma tour to one of the night clubs - will get back around midnight - still hoping that one of the other cruisers might pull together another all day tour.
Rio is an overnight stop so I can do some of the shorter trips on the second day.
I still do expect to add a couple more excursions.
I will provide more info my planned excursions when I start to outline my plans for each port.
We have been enjoying a long late summer, early fall dry spell which I find myself outdoors enjoying it while it lasts. Once the weather turns I will be posting here more often.
Cheers
D
With the exception of St Thomas, Barbados, Antigua, Puntarenas and Cabo all the other ports are new to me - of the above I have only booked an excursion in Barbados and that is Harrison Caves which was under redevelopment the last time I was there.
To date I have booked a total of 21 excursions - 14 with the ship and 7 with fellow cruisers covering 16 of our ports. Many of the better private tours were filled before I got off the wait list but some new ones have been added.
With the exception of Rio I am fairly pleased with what I have been able to book to date.
As for Rio - have done a fair amount of research on what to see and they were offered by the ship but at this time the full day tour is full and I am wait listed - I suspect that they are only booking a % of available seats at this time and also to allow people without Internet service to book on the ship when we board.
My preferred ship tour is a city drive past the beaches, Sugarloaf and Christ the Redeemer but it is full - a second tour is to the forest and jeep tour and I have decided to see a bit of the night life with a Platforma tour to one of the night clubs - will get back around midnight - still hoping that one of the other cruisers might pull together another all day tour.
Rio is an overnight stop so I can do some of the shorter trips on the second day.
I still do expect to add a couple more excursions.
I will provide more info my planned excursions when I start to outline my plans for each port.
We have been enjoying a long late summer, early fall dry spell which I find myself outdoors enjoying it while it lasts. Once the weather turns I will be posting here more often.
Cheers
D
Friday, October 5, 2012
Getting things done on the bucket list
Well - the serious countdown has begun for a week ago I made final payment for the full 49 days - so you could say I have now passed the point of no return.
Mixed in with the excitement of getting aspects of this cruise looked after I celebrated my 65 birthday by taking a short 5 day cruise down the Pacific Coast to LA and then immediately hopped a bus to catch the Amtrak train to get back for a birthday party.
Along with final payment I also booked Amtrak and my travel and medical insurance.
While I toyed with the idea of taking a more circuitous Amtrak route to Fort Lauderdale I stayed with the tried and true. Taking the California Zephyr through Salt Lake and Denver in the middle of winter was causing me some worry that a major blizzard could delay my arrival in Fort Lauderdale.
So I am taking my usual route with one minor change - instead of taking the bus to Seattle and catching the Empire Builder on a direct connection I opted to take the Amtrak Cascades which leaves earlier in the morning - partly because I haven't taken that route in years and partly thinking that if we get a snow storm here on the west coast the train is more likely to get to Seattle - it also gives me several hours in Seattle so if the weather is nice I can see some of the sights.
When it came time to book the train the price for the sleeper was cheaper than when I had priced it sometime earlier - like the airlines, Amtrak sleeper prices seem to fluctuate - did find a web site - www.amsnag.net that you can check and see what the prices are for each day - it seems to be kept up to date and it reflected changes that I noted on the Amtrak site.
I will take the Empire Builder to Chicago and then the Capitol Limited to DC - where I will have a layover before taking the Silver Meteor service to Fort Lauderdale - the train station there is half way between Ft Lauderdale and Hollywood so since I am coming from the north will detrain at Fort Lauderdale station and take a taxi to my hotel.
The train ride will be about 4 days and gets me into Fort Lauderdale around supper time - then will have one full day there before boarding the ship.
As for the return from San Francisco - it is pretty straightforward - will have the day to explore as I don't board the bus until late evening that will take me to Emeryville where you catch the Coast Starlight.
My trip and medical insurance is issued by the Royal Bank here in Canada - it is considered one of the better ones - while my extended medical benefits that I have provides good coverage it is only valid for 30 days at one time - so the need for the extra coverage.
Next post I will outline some of my excursions thoughts and pickings.
Cheers
Mixed in with the excitement of getting aspects of this cruise looked after I celebrated my 65 birthday by taking a short 5 day cruise down the Pacific Coast to LA and then immediately hopped a bus to catch the Amtrak train to get back for a birthday party.
Along with final payment I also booked Amtrak and my travel and medical insurance.
While I toyed with the idea of taking a more circuitous Amtrak route to Fort Lauderdale I stayed with the tried and true. Taking the California Zephyr through Salt Lake and Denver in the middle of winter was causing me some worry that a major blizzard could delay my arrival in Fort Lauderdale.
So I am taking my usual route with one minor change - instead of taking the bus to Seattle and catching the Empire Builder on a direct connection I opted to take the Amtrak Cascades which leaves earlier in the morning - partly because I haven't taken that route in years and partly thinking that if we get a snow storm here on the west coast the train is more likely to get to Seattle - it also gives me several hours in Seattle so if the weather is nice I can see some of the sights.
When it came time to book the train the price for the sleeper was cheaper than when I had priced it sometime earlier - like the airlines, Amtrak sleeper prices seem to fluctuate - did find a web site - www.amsnag.net that you can check and see what the prices are for each day - it seems to be kept up to date and it reflected changes that I noted on the Amtrak site.
I will take the Empire Builder to Chicago and then the Capitol Limited to DC - where I will have a layover before taking the Silver Meteor service to Fort Lauderdale - the train station there is half way between Ft Lauderdale and Hollywood so since I am coming from the north will detrain at Fort Lauderdale station and take a taxi to my hotel.
The train ride will be about 4 days and gets me into Fort Lauderdale around supper time - then will have one full day there before boarding the ship.
As for the return from San Francisco - it is pretty straightforward - will have the day to explore as I don't board the bus until late evening that will take me to Emeryville where you catch the Coast Starlight.
My trip and medical insurance is issued by the Royal Bank here in Canada - it is considered one of the better ones - while my extended medical benefits that I have provides good coverage it is only valid for 30 days at one time - so the need for the extra coverage.
Next post I will outline some of my excursions thoughts and pickings.
Cheers
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Some general thoughts
Well it is now less than five month before the cruise sails out of Fort Lauderdale and head for South America.
Final payment is about a month away - once that is done I will book Amtrak and buy the necessary travel insurance.
In the meantime I have started to book excursions for most of the ports - while a few are private most are through Princess - less hassle with payment etc - what I like about Princess is that unlike NCL you don't have to pay for your excursions when you booked them.
Rio is proving to be a challenge - many of the more popular ones are already booked or are only running on one of the days that we are in port - I have booked a couple through the ship and have waitlisted myself for my first choice but that same excursion is available through the Shore Excursion website so I might booked it through them - means paying upfront so I will wait until after I return from my 5 day repo cruise before spending the money on that one.
Buenos Aires only has four excursions available for continuing passengers - the rest are either for people debarking or are in a foreign language - I suspect that with people embarking and disembarking most of the staff are busy with that and don't want to have them worrying about a lot of excursion trips coming and going.
Later I will detail the excurions that I have booked.
That's all for now
Cheers
Dennis
Final payment is about a month away - once that is done I will book Amtrak and buy the necessary travel insurance.
In the meantime I have started to book excursions for most of the ports - while a few are private most are through Princess - less hassle with payment etc - what I like about Princess is that unlike NCL you don't have to pay for your excursions when you booked them.
Rio is proving to be a challenge - many of the more popular ones are already booked or are only running on one of the days that we are in port - I have booked a couple through the ship and have waitlisted myself for my first choice but that same excursion is available through the Shore Excursion website so I might booked it through them - means paying upfront so I will wait until after I return from my 5 day repo cruise before spending the money on that one.
Buenos Aires only has four excursions available for continuing passengers - the rest are either for people debarking or are in a foreign language - I suspect that with people embarking and disembarking most of the staff are busy with that and don't want to have them worrying about a lot of excursion trips coming and going.
Later I will detail the excurions that I have booked.
That's all for now
Cheers
Dennis
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Update on Visa
I picked up my Brazilian Visa on Tuesday - only five days after dropping off the necessity paperwork.
I noticed that it is only good for 5 years instead of 10 years that the Americans get but then that price was about half what the American pay for a 10 year Visa but it does coincidence with my passport expiry which for Canadians is only five years.
Also made a partial payment for one of the private tours I have booked - used Pay pal and it was easy.
Off to a lunch time BBQ for those of us who volunteered for the local Celtic Fest last March.
Cheers
Dennis
Next up - some thoughts on the first three ports of call - St Thomas, Antigua and Barbados.
I noticed that it is only good for 5 years instead of 10 years that the Americans get but then that price was about half what the American pay for a 10 year Visa but it does coincidence with my passport expiry which for Canadians is only five years.
Also made a partial payment for one of the private tours I have booked - used Pay pal and it was easy.
Off to a lunch time BBQ for those of us who volunteered for the local Celtic Fest last March.
Cheers
Dennis
Next up - some thoughts on the first three ports of call - St Thomas, Antigua and Barbados.
Am I crazy
While this is a little off-topic it is still cruise related so I thought I would post it here while I work on some script for this cruise.
Am I crazy - well you be the judge - just booked another cruise - albeit only a five dayer from Vancouver to LA leaving Vancouver on Sept 22,2012 - I had looked at this cruise aboard the Norwegian Jewel earlier but ruled it out because I won't get back to Vancouver until early morning Sept 29, 2012 - the day after my 65th birthday and a planned celebration - fortunately for me my chief organizer isn't the most organized guy and while we discussed dates and venues nothing has been booked - also need to remember that my God son's parents leave on a 35 day Tahiti cruise on the 30th so that further limits the dates available.
So fast forward to this week and I get an email from my cruising friend - cruise more often - Adele and Cliff from the SF Bay area advising me that they are coming to Vancouver pre-cruise - well it turns out there cruise is the aforementioned NCL Jewel 5 dayer and they would like to get together for a dinner the night before.
So I said to myself - why not sail with them - a quick check on pricing and Amtrak for the trip home as I don't fly and letting my chief organizer know of my desire to cruise and I took the plunge and will now be cruising. It will be my birthday treat to myself.
I now have 75 days at sea booked between now and Oct 2013!
Cheers!
Am I crazy - well you be the judge - just booked another cruise - albeit only a five dayer from Vancouver to LA leaving Vancouver on Sept 22,2012 - I had looked at this cruise aboard the Norwegian Jewel earlier but ruled it out because I won't get back to Vancouver until early morning Sept 29, 2012 - the day after my 65th birthday and a planned celebration - fortunately for me my chief organizer isn't the most organized guy and while we discussed dates and venues nothing has been booked - also need to remember that my God son's parents leave on a 35 day Tahiti cruise on the 30th so that further limits the dates available.
So fast forward to this week and I get an email from my cruising friend - cruise more often - Adele and Cliff from the SF Bay area advising me that they are coming to Vancouver pre-cruise - well it turns out there cruise is the aforementioned NCL Jewel 5 dayer and they would like to get together for a dinner the night before.
So I said to myself - why not sail with them - a quick check on pricing and Amtrak for the trip home as I don't fly and letting my chief organizer know of my desire to cruise and I took the plunge and will now be cruising. It will be my birthday treat to myself.
I now have 75 days at sea booked between now and Oct 2013!
Cheers!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
More bucket list items done.
As I approach the 6 month mark to sail away on Jan 26, 2013 many of the items that are on the must do bucket list are falling in place.
1. Got my renewed passport on Monday - took only ten days to be processed so that cleared that hurdle.
2. Brazilian Visa application - Canadians need a Visa to enter Brazil even by cruise ship so I have done the following - filled out the preliminary application on line and printed the remaining supporting documents - got the money order for the Visa, as a retiree - proof of income and tax assessment along with a letter detailing the visit - dropped it all off at the Brazilian Consulate here in Vancouver where it took all of fifteen minutes to complete - was asked a few questions about my employment when I did work - YMCA - how many years - over 40 - what job did you have - membership services and then given a receipt for the money paid and a note that I can follow my Visa application on line and it will tell me when it will be ready - shouldn't take much more than a week.
3. With that out of the way I can now work on three more items - train travel to Ft Lauderdale, travel insurance and ship excursions which are now posted on the Princess web site - Princess unlike NCL doesn't yet charge you for booking excursions prior to sailing.
4. Re: yellow fever shot - this has been a bone of contention with many of us who are cruising as there appears to be some misinformation in cyber space - Princess has it showing that we must get the shot while both the CDC and Brazil are only recommending getting one - now Princess is apparently going to post that it is not required. Hopefully it's not a requirement because it will cost me over $125.00 as it isn't cover by my provincial medical plan.
5. Packing list - yes I printed the one I use for the longer cruises out but this one will have to be altered - between the cruise, train travel and a stay in Fort Lauderdale and possibly San Francisco I will be done for two months - traveling through Chicago and Washington in mid-winter will be interesting - we will have a variety of weather on the cruise - as stated earlier there is a laundromat on board the ship so I plan to do some laundry about every ten days - it will be a sea day - however it is likely to be a zoo on those days as well - might also take advantage of some of the ships laundry offers as well.
6. Did have to make a deposit payment for one of the excursions - used pay pal - worked like a charm - while I have an account the person requesting payment also had one so it was super easy - so far it is the only one of the private excursions that an advanced payment has been required.
Coming soon - a look at some of the ports that I will be visiting and what I might do there.
Cheers!
D
1. Got my renewed passport on Monday - took only ten days to be processed so that cleared that hurdle.
2. Brazilian Visa application - Canadians need a Visa to enter Brazil even by cruise ship so I have done the following - filled out the preliminary application on line and printed the remaining supporting documents - got the money order for the Visa, as a retiree - proof of income and tax assessment along with a letter detailing the visit - dropped it all off at the Brazilian Consulate here in Vancouver where it took all of fifteen minutes to complete - was asked a few questions about my employment when I did work - YMCA - how many years - over 40 - what job did you have - membership services and then given a receipt for the money paid and a note that I can follow my Visa application on line and it will tell me when it will be ready - shouldn't take much more than a week.
3. With that out of the way I can now work on three more items - train travel to Ft Lauderdale, travel insurance and ship excursions which are now posted on the Princess web site - Princess unlike NCL doesn't yet charge you for booking excursions prior to sailing.
4. Re: yellow fever shot - this has been a bone of contention with many of us who are cruising as there appears to be some misinformation in cyber space - Princess has it showing that we must get the shot while both the CDC and Brazil are only recommending getting one - now Princess is apparently going to post that it is not required. Hopefully it's not a requirement because it will cost me over $125.00 as it isn't cover by my provincial medical plan.
5. Packing list - yes I printed the one I use for the longer cruises out but this one will have to be altered - between the cruise, train travel and a stay in Fort Lauderdale and possibly San Francisco I will be done for two months - traveling through Chicago and Washington in mid-winter will be interesting - we will have a variety of weather on the cruise - as stated earlier there is a laundromat on board the ship so I plan to do some laundry about every ten days - it will be a sea day - however it is likely to be a zoo on those days as well - might also take advantage of some of the ships laundry offers as well.
6. Did have to make a deposit payment for one of the excursions - used pay pal - worked like a charm - while I have an account the person requesting payment also had one so it was super easy - so far it is the only one of the private excursions that an advanced payment has been required.
Coming soon - a look at some of the ports that I will be visiting and what I might do there.
Cheers!
D
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