18 Days and Counting!

It’s hard to believe it’s been about a month since my last update, but here we are! We’ve been busy with our planning and packing, making steady progress as our departure date approaches. Time is certainly flying, and it feels like we’re racing against the clock.

One of the tasks I tackled was arranging for our mail to be forwarded to our son, Dave. I hope I’ve provided him with all the necessary information to handle any unexpected deliveries that might come our way. Another concern was our auto tag registration. I made a trip to the Cherokee County Tax Office, where a very pleasant lady assisted me. Thankfully, it looks like I’ll be able to renew our registration on January 2nd, which is our last day at home. The regulations state that renewal can only happen within 90 days of expiration, and January 2nd is the earliest I can manage. She assured me that the office would be open, so fingers crossed!

I have made our final estimated federal tax payment, but I still have to file for an extension.  That cannot be done until January 1.  Hope I don't forget!

In terms of excursions, we’ve booked several independent activities with Shore Excursion Group, a company we’ve used before. This decision was made to replace some of the excursions we initially planned with the cruise line. After tallying everything up, we have a total of 66 excursions lined up! Of those, slightly over half—35—are included in our cruise package. It sounds like quite an adventure, and I’m sure we’ll make some modifications along the way.|

Today was also significant as I finalized our medications for the four-month trip. With the invaluable assistance of my friends Darrell, Rand, and Jamie at Northside Pharmacy in Waleska, I feel confident that we’re well-prepared. Their help in coordinating our prescriptions has been a lifesaver for this extended journey.

In our mail this afternoon, we received a packet from Viking.  It included special luggage tags to attach to our checked luggage after we arrived in Los Angeles.  These will help assure that the luggage makes it to our cabin.  We also received instructions on meeting our driver at the airport for transport to the hotel.

Lastly, we had two pieces of luggage picked up by Mike, our UPS man. He’s done his part; now we can only hope that our bags are waiting for us when we arrive at our cabin. Exciting times lie ahead!

It is nice to know that at least some of our packing is done and we won't have to deal with the extra luggage on our flight.  It is tough to pack for 4 months...

Now that some of our travel planning is behind us, we can start planning for our family to join us next week for Christmas!

This will probably be my last post before our departure.  If time allows I will post from LA, otherwise it might be after we board The Sky.   Until then...

49 Days and Counting

This is a brief update on our planning progress. Since my last post a few months ago, there have been significant developments. With only 49 days until our departure, we have secured our flights, initiated the visa process, booked most of our planned excursions, and made several reservations at Viking's specialty restaurants.

Michelle, our travel consultant from Cruise and Travel Experts, has been incredibly supportive in ensuring a seamless journey. She successfully arranged our preferred flights. Although Viking includes airfare in their packages, the options for carriers and routes can be limited. Thanks to Michelle, we now have direct flights with Delta from Atlanta to Los Angeles and from London back to Atlanta. A big thank you to Michelle!

GenVisa is the visa processing service utilized by Viking for their included visa package. Our experience with GenVisa has been straightforward and efficient. We also needed to obtain an Australian E-visa on our own, which was processed without any issues.

Booking excursions proved to be more challenging. Viking employs a priority system for excursion bookings based on cabin category; since ours is in the lower tier of the top third, about 300 passengers had access before us. Therefore, we had to be ready when our booking window opened if we wanted to secure our desired excursions. Additionally, all four of us wanted to participate in the same excursions. Janet managed her bookings while I handled ours, and we were prepared when the booking window opened at 3 PM on the designated day. Unfortunately, Viking's website was not user-friendly or transparent, resulting in over two hours of effort to finalize our bookings, with a few excursions still unavailable together. One of Viking's representatives informed Janet that changes might be possible once onboard.

Making dining reservations at the specialty restaurants was similarly complicated. Fortunately, they permitted one person to book for both couples. The main hurdle was again the website; we could only advance book one reservation per cruise segment for each restaurant without clear information on what those segments were. After contacting her Viking representative, Michelle provided us with the necessary segment dates. However, during the first booking attempt, the website required a "Cruise Day" instead of an actual date, which begins on our first day in LA. I had to look up the "Cruise Day" for each reservation date we wanted to make, making it more difficult than necessary.

We also received information from Luggage Forwarding, the company Viking partners with for complimentary shipping of two pieces of luggage directly to the ship before departure. Arrangements are set for our luggage pickup on December 13th, which will lighten our load for flying—great news!

On a positive note, I had a pleasant experience arranging transportation to and from Atlanta Airport yesterday with Top Hat Limo in Woodstock, GA. We have relied on Top Hat for airport transport many times before. Jan was exceptionally helpful during our call.  It is comforting to feel assured that our transport will be ready upon our return four months after booking. Thank you, Jan!

We still have various planning tasks ahead regarding mail, taxes and many other items, but overall things are coming together.

I’ll conclude this rather mundane update here; it serves more as a personal future reference for me than for your reading enjoyment. Please excuse me!

Struck by Lightning

As surprising as a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky, we made the decision to do another world cruise. This wasn't something we were even considering, but Viking Ocean Cruises announced an itinerary with very special pricing for a limited time.

Our friends Janet and Carl Wellborn, who often join us on adventures, forwarded us an enticing email with cruise details. After just a week of contemplation, the four of us enthusiastically decided to embark on another unforgettable nautical journey together. The prospect of creating new cherished memories on the high seas proved irresistible for our tightknit travel crew.

An Irresistible Itinerary and Deal

Not only did this itinerary contain dozens of ports and several countries which we have not visited, it included many free upgrades including business class airfare. What finally pushed us to make the booking was the price. The cost is less than we paid 10 years ago for fewer amenities and this cruise is almost a week longer.

We are embarking on an extraordinary journey that spans five continents and 25 countries, with 13 of these destinations being first-time visits for us, including 10 in Africa. Our adventure will take us to 57 different ports, with overnight stays at 11 of them. Out of these, 35 ports will be new experiences, and we will also  revisit an additional six locations we have previously explored, but this time by ship. This voyage promises a wealth of new places to discover and explore.  

This cruise sails exactly 10 years to the day from the date of our last world cruise in 2015. We have now officially committed, having made a deposit two weeks ago and the final payment today.

An Additional Note:
For our upcoming cruise, we had an intriguing option to extend our journey by departing from Fort Lauderdale on December 19th. This alternative would have significantly expanded our itinerary, adding 17 days, 4 countries, and even an entire continent to our adventure. While the prospect was tempting, we collectively decided against it. The main factors in our decision were that the additional destinations were places we had already explored, some even multiple times. Moreover, the allure of passing through the Panama Canal tends to diminish after a couple of experiences. We also considered that this extension would have meant being away during the Christmas season, which wasn't ideal for our group. Ultimately, we concluded that the extra 10% cost didn't justify revisiting familiar locations and missing the holidays at home. Our choice reflects a balance between travel experiences and personal preferences, emphasizing quality over quantity in our cruise plans.

The Lure of the Open Sea

If you do the math, based on the length of the cruise and port days, this leaves a total of 53 days at sea.  Ten of the sea days come during the first 13 days of the voyage while crossing the Pacific.  This gives us time to acclimate to ship life and get organized for the remainder of the cruise.

There's something magical about disconnecting from the rhythms of daily life and surrendering to the cadence of ocean travel. Long days at sea provide a chance to read, relax, and broaden your horizons through onboard guest lectures and classes (as well as enjoy the excellent food).

For those accustomed to short cruises lasting a week or two, an extended voyage offers an entirely different perspective. The rhythm of life aboard slows to a more relaxed cadence, allowing ample time to savor each moment. But beyond the unhurried pace, the true allure lies in the vast array of novel experiences that unfold. With longer itineraries, the world's wonders reveal themselves in greater depth, inviting you to immerse yourself in diverse cultures, breathtaking landscapes, and unforgettable adventures. An extended cruise is not merely a vacation; it's a journey of self-discovery, where the boundaries of your comfort zone expand with every port of call.

We can't wait to share the journey with all of you over the coming months. The world is vast and endlessly fascinating - may this lightning strike of a cruise allow us to experience more of its wonders.