Belated Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. 

Time is really getting short for the cruise.  Just 16 more days and we are on the way to warmer weather.

Most of the pre-packing is done and we have loaded our box of goodies that we will send to Florida via FEDEX.  Should send that box on its way on January 6th.  Just a few loose ends left to complete prior to flying out to Florida. 

Here are a couple of  tidebits of information for anyone planning a long trip.  It's a good idea to check with you auto insurance company.  You can do what is called "Garaging" your auto and receive a substantial reduction in the premium while you are on travel.  Also, we use a device called a Battery Tender that will keep our car's battery topped off but not overcharge it.  Works really great.
http://batterytender.com/automotive.html

Trivia

VISA

We have been chipping away at all the little trivial items in preparation for this cruise.  Went online to the Australian government’s website and obtained our Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) for this trip.  It is valid for 12 months and is good for multiple entries.  The ship will be obtaining VISAs for all passengers for Cambodia, Togo, Ghana, Indonesia, and Mozambique.  We previously obtained our VISA for India.  All the other countries don’t require advance travel authorization or a VISA.

Internet

Started thinking about Internet access for the trip.  Since we are Princess Elite Captain’s Circle members, we each will get 1000 minutes of Internet time broken down by segment.  Realizing that we will be posting on this blog often, we began to look for additional time through Princess.  To our surprise, Princess Cruises offers substantially discounted Internet minutes for World Cruise passengers to purchase.  So, we purchased one of their 1100 minute packages to argument our normal complimentary time. 

Shipping versus Excess Baggage

There are lots of personal items we want to take with us on the cruise.  As we keep adding things, of course the weight continues to increase.  We estimate that it would be nice to carry about 50 pounds of additional items on the flight from home to our port of embarkation (Fort Lauderdale).  The cost for these items by the airline is $100.  But, we can ship 50 pounds by UPS for $63.  So, we will most likely ship our items by UPS on or about January 3, 2011, to the timeshare in Florida where we will spend a few days prior to sailing.  It would be nice if Princess provided baggage shipping similar to what Holland America provides their world cruise passengers.

Shopping for Shoes

Walking about in 38 ports of call on this cruise will put a strain on the old feet.  For many months we have looked at what is really the best shoe for all this walking we plan to do.  After much research and trial we settled on the MBT Sport 2 which is specifically designed to absorb the impact of walking.  Cindy also has added a pair of Helle Comfort dress shoes of evening wear.

Excursions and Final Payment

Shore Excursions were finally released for booking.  We have gone over everything and did decide to book the Taj Mahal 3-day excursion. No other overnight excursions have been offered, ie, Machu Picchu, Angor Wat or Ayers Rock.  A disappointment at this time.  The Taj Mahal excursion is a little expensive, but you never know when you will get back this way.  There are several excursions in Thailand and some of the African countries that looked intriguing and we booked.  Our experience is that if you really want a particular excursion, it's always a good idea to book the excursion online well in advance of sailing.  Once onboard, excursions get filled very quickly. 

Today we made final payment through our travel agent for this grand adventure.  So there is no turning back now.  We have started to look very closely at just what we need for the trip and what really isn't necessary.  Camera equipment is really taking up room in the carry-on luggage, but can't really leave home without all the little things for photography (telephoto lens, manuals, batteries, cleaning material, cables, and DVD discs for backing up all the photos).  Then there is the laptop.  The goal of course is to take everything we will need without being so heavy we are over-weight on the flights to Fort Lauderdale and return from Rome.

Still have to get a couple of vaccinations for some of the more remote locations.

More Preparation

You know it won't be long before it's time to sail away when Final Payment for the World Cruise is less than a month away.  Speaking of "Sail Away", just added some music (MP3) to the top of this page.  Just another way of getting in the mood for this great trip.  Yes, final payment is coming up in just 25 days.  After that there is no turning back.

Just booked one night accommodation and return air from Rome.  We are concerned about the ship possibly having a late arrival or delayed disembarkation at Civitavecchia, Italy and the distance to travel from the port to the airport in Rome with extremely heavy vehicle traffic.  This gives us much more time and also provided us more options for flights back home.  At least we are not competing for flights with the other potential 680 passengers on the ship; many who will be returning home on disembarkation day.

Packing or at least the mental preparation for packing continues.  What clothes to take for the 107 days continues to be the toughest issue for us.  One thing for sure, we won't have to pack for warm and cold climates.  Just warm weather is all that we will experience on this cruise.  But, how many shoes; how many sets of formal attire; how many shorts; how many of everything and do we really need that many clothes.  This is something that we have to answer pretty soon and really get serious about what should be packed.

Princess Cruises continues to add to their DRAFT online Shore Excursions Brochure.  They continue to add excursions and prices, but they have not released any of them for advanced booking.  Much of the first two segments we have already visited, so there isn't any urgency to book anything for these segments.

2011 Pacific Princess World Cruise Segment Voyages
Ft. Lauderdale to Sydney (33 days): January 19, 2011 – February 22, 2011
Sydney to Singapore (19 days): February 22, 2011 – March 13, 2011
Singapore to Cape Town (30 days): March 13, 2011 – April 12, 2011
Cape Town to Rome (25 days): April 12, 2011 – May 7, 2011

So, we are really eager to check on excursions to Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal. 

Hopefully the cruise line will finalize the shore excursions about the same time that final payment is due.