Flight back home - Check!

I'm happy to report I booked my flight today. The cruise ends in Dover England which left two possibilities to get home. One was the QM2. The other was to use miles for a flight. I would love to experience the QM2 (minus all the formal wear) just in case I should ever be fortunate enough to have an opportunity to do her world cruise.

My strategy was going to be to wait until after final payment for the QM2 and see where the rates were at that time. If they weren't attractive I would book a miles flight home. That all fell apart when United announced it was raising the miles required to book a flight between Europe and North America in 2009. So I decided to book today, Dec. 29th 2008. I have successfully snagged a first class round trip air, out of London to Denver and then in the fall, back to Rome.

Now some of you may be scratching your heads, where did Rome come from? Whenever I've done a round trip air at the end of the cruise where I'm only using one of the legs for the cruise I book the other to meet up with a transatlantic in the other direction. I've got my eye on the Princess 3 Continent Cruise which goes to Europe, Africa and South America before ending in Fort Lauderdale. Sounds like a very nice itinerary. If I change my mind and pick another cruise I can always change the date or routing on the flight with just a small charge from United.

Amazing product!

Merry Christmas to all!

I have discovered an amazing product. The world cruise goes to the Great Barrier Reef (among other great snorkeling spots) and it was a site I didn't want to miss. I can't see squat without my glasses and can no longer wear contacts so I decided to invest in a prescription snorkel mask. To my amazement you can find them on the Internet for $65! Imagine, all these years seeing blurred fish when for only $65 I could have seen them clearly.

But that is not what this post is about. In my research for a prescription snorkel mask I discovered a product that I did not know existed, 3M Press-On lenses, that I got for $18.50 each from a company called Western Ophthalmics. Now I can see with my swim goggles too. Wow! There is a formula they use to calculate which power to order. It is the same for the prescription snorkel mask and press-on lenses so they are both the same power which will make it easy too switch between the two. They both work wonderfully here in the house. Can't wait to try them out in the ocean.

Technology Update

Gadgets, gadgets every where. It was tough but I managed to wait until the after Thanksgiving sales to buy my gadgets. For a new waterproof camera I eventually settled on the Pentax W60. I've had it for a few weeks now and it was the perfect choice for me. It is lightweight, water and dust proof, great battery life and has a very easy to use menu system. The outdoor pictures are great. Indoor not as good but that was a known issue from the reviews. I plan to take it underwater for all my snorkeling adventures so will need to design a system to strap it to myself so that if it gets dropped it doesn't sink to the bottom of the ocean.

My netbook saga is a bit more convoluted. I selected the ASUS 901 XP with SSD. I was so excited to get it! But I had ordered it sight unseen so did not realize it had a matte screen. Matte computer screens always bother my eyes so back on ebay it went. I then ordered the Acer Aspire One. That is what I am typing this on. I think this little unit will do nicely for this trip. It has a 6 cell battery so I should get good battery life for writing the blog posts. It runs a little hotter and is noisier than the ASUS as well as it seems slower. I've tweaked my XP to turn off the things that keep it slowed down so it is now running at an acceptable speed.

Not exactly technology related but I am the proud owner of several buzz-off (mosquito repelling) outfits. I have waterproof touring shoes. I have teva sandals. I've bought prewrinkled tourist clothes so that when they get new wrinkles they just fit right in.

I have discussed getting a GPS with a 911 function with my loved ones so should I disappear in the wilds someone will know where I am.

Today my arms hurt from shots for the trip. I may go get some more shots next week. I didn't want to get everything at once and overload my immune system.

Only about 3 weeks until we leave!

The cruise docs are here!

It is always exciting to have your cruise documents arrive.

In this case they consist of:

• Large 2009 world cruise shore excursion book
• Tour reservation form showing all the pricing
• Visa and vaccination info.
• 6 luggage tags
• Pre-cruise checklist
• Travel insurance book
• Passage contract
• Cruise answer book

Cruise preparation update

Christmas shopping, wardrobe assembly, industrial size hand sanitizer, doctors appts, updated tax documents, auto bill payment, visas...all check. I'm feeling pretty good about the preparations. I've been picking up things I need as I come across them. There is a little pile growing in my closet.

To help prepare myself for the world cruise I've been doing research on the ports and the things I would like to see and do. This has lead me to set up some private tours.

In Easter Island I have arranged a cruise critic group to see the statues. In Sorrento I have a similar group set up to see Herculaneum. The Easter Island one is slow to respond and has asked for prepayment which may cause the preparations to fall apart.

I've found a nice tour in Lima that allows you to see wildlife and swim with sea lions. Also in Lima I am going to try and set up a tour to see some ruins and tour the city. We have a day and a half there so I should have time for all three.

I have a wonderful tour arranged for Mumbai to go with a private tour company for an Indian cooking class and then head out to Elephanta island to see the world heritage site caves. But as many of you who read this are aware, there has recently been some terrorist activity that may impact our stopping in that port. I sure hope not, as India is a highlight for me.

I have also spend some time trying to arrange a wonderful private tour in Bangkok. Some places just resonate with you. The sights in Bangkok sure resonated with me. Mysteriously the tour guide I was working with encouraged me to pick something that stayed around the ship. So I abandoned the plans and booked a ship tour. It turns out that I hadn't been paying enough attention to world events and Bangkok was having major unrest. I sure hope we keep this port. But for now I'm on the ship's tour and will see a subset of what I hoped to see.

A main thrust of my research has been trying to set up an overland Egyptian tour. I really want to do this overland. The agenda for the Princess overland spends alot of time transferring between sights. I had hoped to stay around Luxor and Cairo and more fully explore what those areas have to offer. And I found some great highly recommended tour companies with prices half that offered by Princess. But so far I have not found a group to go. Maybe someone will show up on our roll call with the same ambition to see Egypt and it will all work out in the end.

I reread through the World Cruise brochure last night when I couldn't sleep. Wow, I can still hardly believe I have the opportunity to do this. What an adventure!

Average high/low temps

We are going to be swinging back and forth between very hot and fairly cold areas. Check out the temperatures in Guam vs Japan. After the cold in Japan we hit the extremely hot area of Vietnam and Indian. The end of the cruise in Europe is also going to be quite cool. Packing will be a challenge!

Cruise Temps Avg High/Low

Ft Lauderdale 72/53

Grand Cayman 80/74

Panama Canal 84/76

Quito (Manta) 86/72

Lima (Callao) 79/68

Easter Island 78/70

Papeete 89/72

Rarotonga 84/76

International Dateline 85/76

Auckland 73/62

Burnie 64/55

Sydney 79/66

Brisbane 84/70

Cairns 88/75

Rabaul 88/74

Guam 85/76

Osaka 54/39

Hiroshima 54/40

Inchon 46/35

Shanghai 53/42

Hong Kong 71/63

Ho Chi Minh City 92/76

Sihanoukville 100/75

Singapore 88/77

Kuala Lumpur 91/74

Mumbai 90/77

Dubai 93/72

Salalah Oman 88/75

Luxor 93/65

Port Said 71/63

Athens (Piraeus) 66/52

Sorrento/Capri 64/48

Rome (civitavecchia) 63/47

Cannes 61/49

Barcelona 62/47

Gibraltar 66/56

Lisbon 65/51

Cork 55/43

Paris (Normandy) 56/51

Dover 61/44

You know your going on a world cruise when...

• You buy 3 giant tubes of sunscreen, wondering, will this be enough?
• You try on clothing and the sales person says, you could go down a size and you say, "No, I'm going on a world cruise".
• Suddenly elastic waistbands are a feature.
• Your keeping an eye out at Costco for the industrial size bottles of hand sanitizer.
• The question of "Exactly how many bottles of shampoo do I go through in 4 months?" has real meaning.

So much to do, so little time

Every day Princess is releasing more shore excursion choices. I won't list any more prices but you get an idea of where the overland tour prices are from the previous post. Most day tours are in the $100 plus range and most half day tours in the $50 -$100 range. I'm happy to answer questions if anyone has a question on the choices for a particular port.

There is a lot of research that needs to go into a world cruise. There are 40 ports on this cruise and many options for shore excursions, both with the ship and on your own. The problem is doing the research for the independent excursions can be time consuming. However, the alternative is depending on ship tours which can be less rewarding then independent excursions.

Here is how I've done so far:
Egypt - I can't see going all the way around the world and not spending as much time in Egypt as I can. I really want to do an independent overland tour while there. I have e-mailed 5 tour companies. So far no taker for organizing an overland tour. But I'm not giving up. I just have to find the right tour operator.

Easter Island - The ship tours are all wait listed so I will organize an independent tour. There are a few others on my cruise critic roll call interested so it will be a reasonable price for a group of us. For someone reading who is not familiar with the cruise critic roll call. It is a group of people going on the same cruise with you. They all post on the roll call board and if the group is lucky someone steps up to organize a get together on board the ship so everyone can meet. The group also can be used to find others interested in independent excursions. http://www.cruisecritic.com/

For ship tours, I've booked the 4 day overland to the Great Wall of China. I figure with the Olympics having been there this year the infrastructure (buses, hotels, the sites etc) will be in great shape.

I've also booked a cooking class excursion in Vietnam. You shop in the market with the chef, cook the meal and then eat it. Sounded like great fun! This is also the taking off point if I want to see Ankgor Wat. Originally I decided not to do this tour due to the price for 3 days being too high. But a member of the Royal Princess World Cruise is researching an overland tour that is a fraction of the ship's price. So I may change my mind about the cooking class and strike off overland.

or?

In Bangkok I've booked the Princess shore excursion Legendary Bangkok - Explore Bangkok's legendary Grand Palace on a walking tour. View the fabled Emerald Buddha and explore the Venice of the East on a Chao Phraya River cruise. Attend a cultural performance after a traditional Thai lunch.

In Mumbai I've booked Elephanta Island and Caves - Board a motorcoach at the pier for the short transfer to the motorlaunch boarding area. A covered motorlaunch carries you for the approximately 45-minute cruise through the harbor to Elephanta Island. You pass Butcher Island and Neva Sheva along the way. Take in the busy harbor traffic ranging from fishing boats to supertankers. Follow your guide for a 25-minute walk up the 120 steps leading to the main cave. Elephanta Main Cave - Your guide escorts you through the cavern, pointing out the stunning sculptures and explaining their cultural and historical significance. The highlights include the "Mahesamurti," an 18-foot-high triple image representing Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. The Caves have been a must-see for the world's travelers for centuries. After your tour, enjoy free time to explore on your own. I like the walking on this one but TripAdvisor doesn't give it great reviews so I'll have to see is something more appealing shows up.

For Dubai I found that their hop on/hop off bus covers alot of interesting possibilities. The only trouble will be settling on just a few. For $48 it includes a beach tour, walking tour, ticket to the Dubai Museum, an Arabian Dhow Cruise (1 hr) and entrance to the Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum House. This is in addition to the regular many city and sightseeing stops on a normal hop on/hop off bus tour. It is going to take a great deal of dicipline to pick a few of the items like the cruise (which gets rave reviews), museum and walking tour and not get distracted by all the other possibilities.

I've also taken care of getting my tax stuff in order for next year, getting all my credit cards set up for auto-pay and contacting my bank to let them know I'll be out of the country.

Tours released yesterday, Oh My!

Yesterday, I found that Princess released the tours. I was so excited to see all that I would have the option to do. Most are moderately priced but the overland tours with one exception are higher priced then I thought they would be. In planning for a world cruise, that is one cost that you generally can't find detailed anywhere. To pay it forward, so to speak, I will list the overland tour costs here for others that are planning world cruises in the future.

Cuzco & Machu Picchu Overland (Double Occupancy) $3,000

Overland Adventure: Beijing & The Great Wall - Double Accommodations $1400

Overland Adventure: The Ruins Of Angkor Wat & Phnom Penh - Double Accommodations $1700

Deluxe Grand Overland: Luxor, Karnak, Valley Of The Kings, Aswan, Abu Simbel And Cairo - Double Accommodations $2000

There were two overland tours described in the Princess brochure that are not listed on the web site. They are Galapagos Island and Ayers Rock and Alice Springs. I don't know if they are not being offered or if they will be posted later. I am particularly interested in the Galapagos Island tour.

Of the list, I only signed up for the Great Wall of China. I think I will do Machu Picchu during a different trip when I can spend more time there and get more bang for my buck.

In Egypt I am going to try and schedule a private overland tour which should be cheaper then traveling with the cruise tour. In addition, I did not care for all the stops on the ship's tour. When scheduling my own I can target more of what I want to see.

I'm thinking about Angkor Wat.

I'm starting to get a handle on the other logistics. Cruise insurance, check. Visas for China and India, applied for. Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, check. We are staying at the Comfort Inn Cruise Port South. I've stayed there twice before pre-cruise and enjoyed it. It is a great value because it includes not only breakfast but transportation to the hotel from the airport and from the hotel to the cruise port. However Trip Advisor reviews are mixed at this time.

Now I need to work on flights!

First blog, first post

Hi Everyone,

I've wanted to take a world cruise for a long time. Last week I decided to make my dream a reality. There were several nice options but the Tahitian Princess had the best price so I paid up and started the planning phase.

I've told a few people of my plans and there has been interest expressed in a blog so they can follow along. I am happy to comply. Last year I followed several world cruise blogs so that I would be prepared if I should be so fortunate as to have the opportunity to take a world cruise. I had no idea that it would happen this year.

A little about me. I will go on this cruise at 41 years of age (how fortunate is that!). I have cruised with Princess on 3 transatlantics so have some experience on a ship in the open ocean but have never been on a ship as small as the Tahitian Princess which holds a meer 688 passengers and is only 30,000 tons. I have also never been on a ship for more than a few weeks. This cruise is 107 days from Fort Lauderdale to England. From there I will either take the QM2 back or fly.

I am an electrical engineer and I love gadgets. So naturally the first thing I started to research was not how to dress on the ship but what new gadgets I need. I will definitely be buying a netbook computer to take on the ship. I have also reviewed my digital cameras. I have a Canon PowerShot S110 which is a very old model. However, I bought the underwater housing for it so can take it snorkeling and to the beach. The outdoor pictures are good but indoor photos are not so good. I also have a really small (almost credit card sized) Casio Exilim. I never really developed a fondness for this camera. It is almost too small to hold easily for taking photos and I haven't been that impressed with the pictures. However, it is very easy to take anywhere.

So I ventured forth to the stores and discovered the Olympus cameras that were supposed to be waterproof for the beach and snorkeling. But alas the reviews are mixed in term of whether they really are. Also they are being dinged for not taking the best pictures. But given the age of my digital cameras their 'not the best' may still be better then what I currently own. The advantage of this camera is that it is supposed to be waterproof, shockproof and freeze proof. I won't be testing the freeze proof part on this trip but I'd like to have something I could take to the beach, not worry about in the rain and not worry about it getting squished in my pack or having to carry an extra protective case for it. I'll post later about what I eventually end up with. However, I'm going to probably bring 2 cameras, just in case.

As stated in the title this is my first blog. I'd love comments on it as well as to hear from anyone who wants to say Hi so that I know who's reading it. I am also happy to try and answer any questions.

Here is the cruise itinerary:

Wed	Jan	14	Fort Lauderdale, FL		5:30pm
Thu	Jan	15	At Sea
Fri	Jan	16	Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands	10:00am	6:00pm
Sat	Jan	17	At Sea
Sun	Jan	18	Panama Canal (Full Transit) (Cruising)	7:00am	4:30pm
Mon	Jan	19	At Sea
Tue	Jan	20	Manta, Ecuador	6:00am	7:00pm
Wed	Jan	21	At Sea
Thu	Jan	22	At Sea
Fri	Jan	23	Lima (Callao), Peru	7:00am
Sat	Jan	24	Lima (Callao), Peru		1:00pm
Sun	Jan	25	At Sea
Mon	Jan	26	At Sea
Tue	Jan	27	At Sea
Wed	Jan	28	At Sea
Thu	Jan	29	Easter Island, Chilean dependency	9:00am	6:00pm
Fri	Jan	30	At Sea
Sat	Jan	31	At Sea
Sun	Feb	1	Pitcairn Island, UK Territory (Cruising)	10:00am	2:00pm
Mon	Feb	2	At Sea
Tue	Feb	3	At Sea
Wed	Feb	4	Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia	8:00am	5:00pm
Thu	Feb	5	At Sea
Fri	Feb	6	Rarotonga, Cook Islands	8:00am	5:00pm
Sat	Feb	7	At Sea
Sun	Feb	8	At Sea
Mon	Feb	9	Crossing International Dateline	8:00am	8:00pm
Wed	Feb	11	At Sea
Thu	Feb	12	Auckland, New Zealand	7:00am	10:00pm
Fri	Feb	13	At Sea
Sat	Feb	14	At Sea
Sun	Feb	15	At Sea
Mon	Feb	16	At Sea
Tue	Feb	17	Burnie, Tasmania, Australia	8:00am	6:00pm
Wed	Feb	18	At Sea
Thu	Feb	19	Sydney, Australia	7:00am	10:00pm
Fri	Feb	20	At Sea
Sat	Feb	21	Brisbane, Australia	8:00am	6:00pm
Sun	Feb	22	At Sea
Mon	Feb	23	At Sea
Tue	Feb	24	Cairns, Australia	7:00am	6:00pm
Wed	Feb	25	At Sea
Thu	Feb	26	At Sea
Fri	Feb	27	Rabaul, Papua New Guinea	7:00am	2:00pm
Sat	Feb	28	At Sea
Sun	Mar	1	At Sea
Mon	Mar	2	Guam, U.S. Territory	Noon	7:00pm
Tue	Mar	3	At Sea
Wed	Mar	4	At Sea
Thu	Mar	5	At Sea
Fri	Mar	6	Osaka, Japan	8:00am	8:00pm
Sat	Mar	7	Hiroshima, Japan	9:00am	5:00pm
Sun	Mar	8	At Sea
Mon	Mar	9	Inchon, South Korea	8:00am	5:00pm
Tue	Mar	10	At Sea
Wed	Mar	11	Shanghai, China	7:00am	6:00pm
Thu	Mar	12	At Sea
Fri	Mar	13	At Sea
Sat	Mar	14	Hong Kong, China	7:00am	8:00pm
Sun	Mar	15	At Sea
Mon	Mar	16	At Sea
Tue	Mar	17	Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam	7:00am	7:00pm
Wed	Mar	18	At Sea
Thu	Mar	19	Sihanoukville, Cambodia	9:00am	6:00pm
Fri	Mar	20	At Sea
Sat	Mar	21	Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand	7:00am	7:00pm
Sun	Mar	22	At Sea
Mon	Mar	23	At Sea
Tue	Mar	24	Singapore	7:00am	5:00pm
Wed	Mar	25	Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang), Malaysia	7:00am	6:00pm
Thu	Mar	26	At Sea
Fri	Mar	27	Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India	Noon	7:00pm
Sat	Mar	28	At Sea
Sun	Mar	29	At Sea
Mon	Mar	30	At Sea
Tue	Mar	31	At Sea
Wed	Apr	1	Bombay (Mumbai), India	7:00am	10:00pm
Thu	Apr	2	At Sea
Fri	Apr	3	At Sea
Sat	Apr	4	At Sea
Sun	Apr	5	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	7:00am	8:00pm
Mon	Apr	6	At Sea
Tue	Apr	7	At Sea
Wed	Apr	8	Salalah, Oman	7:00am	5:00pm
Thu	Apr	9	At Sea
Fri	Apr	10	At Sea
Sat	Apr	11	At Sea
Sun	Apr	12	At Sea
Mon	Apr	13	Luxor (Safaga), Egypt	6:00am	10:00pm
Tue	Apr	14	At Sea
Wed	Apr	15	Suez Canal, Egypt (Cruising)	1:00am	5:00pm
Thu	Apr	16	Cairo (Port Said), Egypt	7:00am	8:00pm
Fri	Apr	17	At Sea
Sat	Apr	18	Athens (Piraeus), Greece	9:00am	6:00pm
Sun	Apr	19	At Sea
Mon	Apr	20	Sorrento, Italy	8:00am	6:00pm
Tue	Apr	21	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	7:00am	6:30pm
Wed	Apr	22	Cannes, France	9:00am	6:00pm
Thu	Apr	23	Barcelona, Spain		11:00pm
Fri	Apr	24	At Sea
Sat	Apr	25	Gibraltar, UK Territory	7:00am	1:00pm
Sun	Apr	26	Lisbon, Portugal	10:00am	6:00pm
Mon	Apr	27	At Sea
Tue	Apr	28	At Sea
Wed	Apr	29	Cork (Cobh), Ireland	8:00am	6:00pm
Thu	Apr	30	At Sea
Fri	May	1	Paris (Le Havre), France	7:00am	7:00pm
Sat	May	2	London (Dover), England	7:00am