Finalized Shore Excursions

After much thought, we finalized our list of excursions and reserved them online. There are plenty of places along this route that we have visited several times previously. And, many we may never visit again, so we decided to book as much as possible--at least what we could afford!!. Below is a list of things we have reserved. Two of the shore excursions are 3-day events off the ship. Those are the Taj Mahal and the Safari in Kruger National Park and Shishangeni Lodge.

Motu Islet Beach - Moorea, French Polynesia Date: Feb 10

City Drive/Cleland Wildlife Park - Adelaide, Australia Date: Feb 25

Elephant Kraal - Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Date: Mar 10

City Drive/Chinatown/Orchid Garden - Singapore, Singapore Date: Mar 13

Cellular Jail/Aberdeen Bazaar Tuk - Andaman Islands, India/Andaman Date: Mar 16

Delhi / Agra / Taj Mahal - (3-day India land excursion)
Cochin, India Date: Mar 20

Grand Mosque & Bait Al Zubair - Muscat (Mina Qaboos), Oman Date: Mar 25

At The Top: Burj Khalifa - Dubai, United Arab Emirates Date: Mar 26

Kruger: Shishangeni Lodge Camp -(3-day Safari) - Maputo, Mozambique Date: Apr 06

Table Mountain - Cape Town, South Africa Date: Apr 11

Cape Of Good Hope - Cape Town, South Africa Date: Apr 12

Slavery,Voodoo & Zangebeto Dances - Lome, Togo Date: Apr 20

Pink Lake Of Retba - Dakar, Senegal Date: Apr 25

Rabat (city tour) - Casablanca, Morocco Date: Apr 30

Monaco/Monte Carlo (city tour) - Monte Carlo, Monaco Date: May 05

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.

Passports,VISA, and Other Items

Over the past two weeks we have received our new Passports and Indian VISA.  All the other VISAs for this cruise will be obtained by the ship.   We actually began preparing for this cruise in September 2009.  The process has been ongoing ever since that time.  All the little details such as immunizations, income tax extension, mail hold, etc., etc., have been part of our planning during the past year.  Now things are beginning to come together.  Noticed yesterday that Princess finally posted a preliminary listing of the shore excursions.  However, many don't show any pricing yet and none are open for booking as of this date.  So, it's time to begin getting serious about what we will actually pack for this adventure.  There has been so much information posted on other world cruise blogs concerning clothing.  I guess the biggest challenge will be to not over pack.