Almost

All day long looking at clothes.  What was I thinking!  These are not travel clothes.  I put what I consider three days worth into a space bag, and three more days into another space bag.  5 lbs each!  I Start over again.  and got rid of one pound each.  One bag will go in David's luggage, one in mine, and vice versa.  I'll take half of his clothes. Then I divided my medicines into two bags.  He takes one bag, I take the other.  The duffel which can't weigh more than 30 pounds is 25.  I haven't weighed the carryon, which can only be 15.  No computer.  No jewelry.  I'm glad I don't wear makeup anymore.

Boxes.  I got 10 boxes from Costco to fill with stuff in our drawers and around the house so Roger and Mary can move in.  I'm mostly done with that, thank goodness because they arrive Monday, tomorrow, at noon.  The housekeeping service comes at 8:00am.  

The frig is down to the last dregs.  We are opening cans of emergency food now.  The bananas ripened and we will not buy anymore.  I never thought I could do it.  Still three more days to go to refine the packing, cleaning, and say goodbyes.

Revision to our itinerary - hint: it is overwhelming us

I crunched the numbers on our cruise spreadsheet.  It came out that the refund we will get is not so huge as imagined.  The lost beginning itinerary we miss out on is the caribbean, S. America, Africa and India.  But what we really miss is Africa and India.  We are happy that we replaced that with the two OAT tours.

But we decided NOT to go on the caribbean cruise, and we decided NOT to continue around the world in July, but to come home as planned and reserve the July to October section for 2016.

We have been reading the itinerary for the OAT Africa and India tours and are impressed.  The airfares are now the challenge and we are finding routes not as bad as we thought, but to upgrade to business class is the price of like 5 more tickets!

I cleaned off my desk and organized a notebook with the new itinerary in it.  This was while they cleaned the carpets.  David is now cleaning our pineapple!  We grew one on our front walkway and it became ripe just before we leave.

The next project for me is to pack for the OAT trips.  Only one carry on and one duffel.  44 pounds total. for each of us.

Thank God for my family in Florida.  We will be able to spend the month before we leave for Johannesburg with relatives, relaxing, going to theme parks, and playing bridge.

44 pounds probably doesn't include a computer so I am writing this on my iPad to see if I can post just as easily this way.

First Day of actual packing

This is the  reject pile.  the duffel has two neat space bags and one clear bag with underwear, some shoes, and stuff.  Without other things I need, it is already 30 pounds!  I will unstuff the bags and throw out hopefully 2 pounds of clothes.  I get 15 pounds in my carry on, but that will probably be all drugs.  At least I don't wear makeup anymore and won't bring jewelry.

Got my last haircut from Tai today.

Around the World - TWICE!

After Oceania cancelled the first 70 days of our Around the World in 180 Days cruise, we have been busy the last two days adjusting our course for the cruise (metaphor intended).  We are now going to visit family as planned in Orlando, on a Caribbean cruise January 13 to 24, followed by back to back Overseas Adventure Travel trips to Africa (February 5 to February 22) and India (February 24 to March 11), followed by another week in India visiting a friend from David's Peace Corps days, then picking up the new engine renovated Insignia in Singapore on  March 22nd to Miami through the Panama Canal, in Miami by July 10 and finishing it all off with another three months on Insignia from Miami July 10 to October 10 (Northern Canada, Northern Europe, Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal, the Near East, India, and ending in Singapore again!  Whew!  Around the World, Singapore to Singapore on Insignia March 22 to Oct 10.  Around the World from Kona Dec 31 to Kona Oct 10, With discounts and refunds it sounds like it will all cost about the same as the original package-- including some upgrades.  All in all there should be a lot to read on the blog!

Visas

One of the steps to traveling the world is getting the Visas on your passport. 


Our first step was to send our passports in to get 25 extra pages.  Luckily we did that in May.


Oceania uses a service, CIBT, to process some of the visas.  They were VERY helpful.  They said that if we had had to fill out a Russian visa application, none of us would have gone on the cruise!


This is because we had three insane applications to fill out:  India, China and Brazil.  Each country had their own directions for how to fill out the form.


India:
You fill this out online with CIBT.  Sometimes it will accept your entries, sometimes not and then you start over.  Date order:  day-MONTH-year.  They ask your religion.  David put "animism" .  He had to list when he had been to India before, which was in the Peace Corp in 1966.  NO punctuation allowed at all.


China:
requires the year, month and date in that order.  N/A has to be in every box that doesn't have an entry.  ALL CAPS ONLY.


Brazil:
This application is filled out online on their website.  When you are done, you fill in a captcha to have it accepted.  If you don't get this right, you have to start all over.  You have to note the number they give you.  You are supposed to be given a .pdf of your Request form receipt.  You better print it out then and there because it goes away.  Your signature has to be entirely in the box, not outside it in any way.  The name of your contact person is - you!  Date is day/month/year.
 
In each port, you have to write who the contact person is.  This usually takes up to 6 lines of name and address.  It has to be exactly correct. 
For India:
JM Baxi & Co
Godrej Coliseum Phase 2
C Wing near Priyadarshini Sion East
Mumbai 400 022
Think you can find it?


Later we got a rush request to fill out an Australian visa which we had to mail in with photos.
Then we got another rush email saying the Myanmar visa application had to be completed.  Two copies, two photos, each.  This one we bring with, and is required in order to board the ship.


We each got a total of 6 sets of passport photos. 


This effort took us over a week, many reams of paper, re-reading the instructions many times, double checking by each of us, copying for our records, and sending, with our only passports, to CIBT with a prayer.  The expected due date for return is December 19th.


No visas, no passport, no go.

Things left to do.....

Last week I worked on some of the things left to do:
1.  Get out the Christmas letter to 140 friends and family.   DONE!  Except David hasn't signed his yet.
2.  Get the remaining medicines in order to have enough for 6 months.  Thankfully our insurance allows vacation overrides.  A couple more refills are on their way.
3.  Get my crown replaced.  Still need to get it permanently glued in.
4.  Get Botox - DONE! 
5.  Get new glasses.  Still working on it.  I found an optician who can turn them around in 24 hours.
6.  Get a massage.  DONE!  I made need another one.
7.  Print out business cards with my blog, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter accounts listed.  DONE!
8.  Organize the prescription medicines and vitamins, some for before we leave, some for while we are on the cruise.  But I don't know when we are going to go for sure!  DONE!
9.  Organize all the essential items needed that I think I won't be able to replenish while we are gone. DONE!
10.  Check Cruise Critic message board regularly in the hope that someone will know more than me about the status of the ship and when we will depart. ONGOING
11.  Read the wonderful book on African quilts called Quilt Inspirations from Africa by Kate England.  It has wonderful narrative about the countries and cultures and traditional colors and patterns.  I am thinking of buying fabric as souvenirs.  We certainly don't need or want anymore things to put on a shelf.  Sherry Valentine Lestinkof , who gave me the book, can help me fashion a quilt when we return.


Things to do but haven't started:
12.  Pick up all the clothes I think I will take on the cruise from the pile on the floor of the closet and clean them and look again to see if I really want or need all these clothes.
13.  Schedule a pickup for our bags to be shipped to Oceania and then pack them.
14.  Pick up, put away, throw away, and clean the house for our renters, Roger and Mary!!!!!!!!!!!

World map

This is our itinerary 

We will be visiting:

5 Continents

6 Times across the equator

17 National Capitals

19 Overnight stays

24 Time zones

44 Countries

45 Island paradises

47 accessible World Heritage Sites

90 Ports

108 Days in port

46,753 Nautical miles!

We will sail on the Andaman Sea, Arafura Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Cape if Good Hope, Caribbean Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Guinea, Gulf of Thailand, Hainan Strait, Indian Ocean, Java Sea, Karimata Strait, Mozambique Channel, Old Bahama Channel, Pacific Ocean, South China Sea, South Pacific, Straits of Florida, Tasman Sea, Timor sea, Yellow Sea, and through the Panama Canal - 72 total days at sea.

Tragic Engine Room Fire! Will we cruise?

Important Itinerary Update On Upcoming Insignia Voyages

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Professionals,

As you may be aware, on December 11th we experienced a tragic incident aboard Insignia while docked in St. Lucia. We currently have a technical team on board the vessel working with the ship’s officers and authorities to assess the situation. Once the authorities have completed their work, we expect Insignia to enter dry dock and undergo necessary repairs.

We are in the process of evaluating how long those repairs will take to complete and whether there will be any effect to scheduled January sailings, including the start of the Around the World cruise. We will have a better assessment on when the vessel will re-enter service by the middle of next week. We expect to have an update for you at that time.

Sincerely,

Crane Gladding
Senior Vice President, Passenger Services
Oceania Cruises

Welcome aboard our Around the World Cruise

Insignia 180 Day Around the World Cruise, Jan 2015

This is the website we saw after our travel agent, Cary Haskins, sent us the announcement for this groundbreaking world cruise.  This is Oceania cruise lines' first around the world cruise, and they made it a special one that no one could refuse by being 180 days.  Since this cruise, they have had a 180 day cruise every year and it is so popular, many people go on it a second or third time.  Oceania is known for cruising into ports that are new and unique.

We had thought about something like this for years, but it was never the time or place.  Now we are 70.  Now we are retired and have all the time in the world!  Now this unique itinerary, a tasting menu of the southern hemisphere as it were, has presented itself, and we took the bait. 

First of all, there is no unpacking.  We only have two plane rides, and they are first class!  No tipping.  Free internet.  Free laundry.  Yes, they assured us that this was not just free use of the Laundromat.  Free pre cruise hotel and transfers.  Free processing of the visas.  Free reservations to the specialty restaurants.  Free special events for world cruisers only.  We even get a free commemorative jacket and a travel diary.

Since returning, they have gifted us a beautiful aluminum starfish snack tray and a beautiful fish platter.

Aurora at 9 months

Aurora exploring her new home

May, 2014:  My two weeks with Aurora have been the best two weeks of my life.  Being a Grandma is so fulfilling for me.  I can enjoy every minute of cuddling while she is drinking her bottle.  I can watch how she tries, and then the next day she does it, pick up the bottle herself.  She holds on to it almost the whole time.  Her schedule is to wake up about 7:30 or so.  She gets a diaper change and sits on the potty.  Then she gets dressed for the day and gets a bottle.  Then breakfast.  Tricia likes to feed her avocado, then banana and or applesauce or yogurt.  Then I get to see her because I have slept in, and we play.  At first there was nowhere really to play, but I made room for her on the floor in various spots so she could crawl.  They have been moving so floor space has been at a minimum.  No she has a big area in the living room of bare wood floor, the kitchen, but she goes right for Sunny’s bowls, the hallways, and the basement.  She once crawled all the way from one end of the laundry room, across the downstairs landing, and into the guest bedroom.  She would stop for a minute and sit.  She once put her knew sup to the first stair, but I don’t think she really knew what she did.  She is pulling herself up as much as possible, except, she doesn’t have a grip that lasts very long.  She can sure grip things, but then she drops it.  She has been amenable to dropping it in my outstretched hand, and then I immediately hand it back to her and say thank you and “now I am giving it back to you.

She likes to flirt, and is so curious of everything around her.  Whatever it is, she has to touch it and put it in her mouth if she can.  Her one bottom tooth is fully out and you can see it when she smiles.  She must be getting another one because sometimes you know it hurts when she bites on everything.  One day we gave her Ibuprofen.

After we play for awhile, I like to read to her, or show her how to put the rings on the post, or play music or do the sharing.  I love to watch her explore.  I left the cupboard door open and she pulled out all the bottom shelf toys.  The next day she did the same but then got all the top shelf toys off also.  She was determined to get every last one.  That white duck finally made it in her mouth.  She climbed up onto Aaron and sort of stood up before she plopped.  She is getting stronger and stronger every day.  If she has a cuddly sleeper on, it is slippery to crawl.  Good on carpet, but not on wood.  So I let her go barefoot if necessary.  She likes to dance if you say dance, or play fun music.  She eats about two tablespoons of food after the bottle.  Tricia makes baby food out of stuff they eat.  She just puts it in a baby food mill and heats it up before she eats.  We feed her and she opens her mouth until she doesn't.  Hands up means all done.  A few minutes later she may need to poop.  We just put her on her little potty and she sits there and poops.  She likes to sit there.  I only had a poopy diaper once.  Then she takes a nap at 10:00 am, but it has been hard to get her to sleep without a pacifier.  When she wakes around noon, she gets a bottle, some food, and maybe a poop, then playtime until 2:00 pm.  Then nap until 4:00 to 4:30.  Then she gets the bottle and food, and playtime for the rest of the evening.  So now you can take her out to dinner, like we went to the Ethiopian restaurant where she loved the flat bread stuff.  She flirted with everyone there.  They are going to start giving her own food to put in her mouth herself.  I can’t wait to see her again soon.  She is such a joy to relax and be with her and not have any pressing chores or phone calls or errands.  What a life for a mother to do on her own.  I know Tricia missed Aurora, but also, she was thrilled to get to paint the rooms and rearrange things and put up the pictures.  The house looks really nice now.  They have done a great job.  They put in the new circuit breaker panel today.  Aaron scored a lot of really nice wood for the basement.  They have a lot of plans. 

Brother and Sister, Aurora and Sunny

I can't wait to see them all again in August for Aurora's first birthday.

Excursions

Oceania offers wonderful oppotunities to explore each port with several choices of excursions.  It was our job to pick the ones we felt would give us the feel for the place as well as have a good time.  Our travel agent sent us the .pdf file of the excursions offered.  We printed it out and it is over 260 pages!
Printing it was the first hurdle.


Dividing them by months helped in the notebook we started.
I created a spreadsheet listing each port and underneath each excursion offered.  I listed the amount of time, the start time, and the price.  We wanted to have an idea how much this was all going to cost!


We found out that Oceania offers a 25% discount if you pre-purchase at least 25 excursions each.  The catch is, they are non refundable after you board the ship.  But you can switch them around, if you decide to, onboard ship.


We took several weeks, each week picking a month or two, to look at the descriptions and pick what we thought we would like.  I eliminated things like the bus tour into town, or wine tours since we don't drink wine anymore.  Also, no glass bottom boats.  Although we ended up picking one in Scarborough, Tobago because they go to this cool nylon pool - sort of like the sandbar in Kaneohe Bay.

We ended up choosing 86 excursions!  Sometimes, David and I go on different ones.  Snorkling, kayaking, beaches, plantations, voodoo ceremonies, living desert trip, temples, folkloric shows, Mekong River cruise, "Good Morning Vietnam" tour, National Parks, Komodo Dragons, Great Barrier Reef adventure, Art tours, village way of life, sacred sights, jeep safaris, hiking, and the Sydney Bridge Climb!  Of course there will be regular sight seeing, museums, colorful markets, distinctive architecture, and as little shopping as possible.


There are 5 special events for world cruisers:


Event: Open-Air Dinner At Swakop River Canyon in Walvis Bay, Namibia

Event: Traditional Thai Extravaganza in Bangkok

Event: Exclusive Tour & Lunch At the Great Wall of China

Event: 1940s Patriotic Evening Aboard the Battleship Missouri on Oahu


Oceania also included for world cruisers an overnight trip in Myanmar (Burma) to the temples of Bagan.