Moving right along...to our next cruise!

So Randy and I started to plan a trip—in August of 2013 for April of 2014. Our main idea was to take our children and their spouses on the river cruise in Europe that we had promised them two years ago (we went around the world on Princess Cruises instead http://worldcruise12.blogspot.com/). So that was the first thing we planned. We decided on the river cruise company Uniworld because it seems to be the only one with a long (27-night) trip from Bucharest to Amsterdam (because we like long trips) and has a shorter segment from Vienna to Amsterdam (because the kids are still working and can’t get a lot of time off). We are SO looking forward to that part of the trip and to the houseboat in Amsterdam. The bonus for us is that it actually starts in Istanbul, a city we definitely wanted to go back to. And the cruise includes everything: booze, entertainment, and tours—no decisions to make! Well, we’ll have to make some small decisions about exactly which of the available tours we will take.

The kids were able to get the time off for a May 25^th departure from Vienna so now the river part was settled. Next was how we were going to get to Istanbul. We wanted to use miles on United but there just weren’t any convenient flights and I was getting desperate. We happened to get a brochure in the mail from Holland America touting some transatlantic cruises (translation: repositioning cruises) that were pretty darn cheap. One ended in Rome and one ended in England; both started on the same day from Fort Lauderdale and ended about a week before our river cruise started. Purely because I didn’t want to have to deal with another language, I decided on the ends-in-England trip. We were able to get a first class flight from Gatwick to Istanbul for approximately the usual price of coach so that really clinched the deal.

We had our trip over, the flight to Istanbul, and the river cruise but we needed a place to stay in Amsterdam. I checked hotels for three couples; outrageous prices! Then I remembered we had stayed on a houseboat with our son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Yolanda, in 2006 but that particular boat didn’t seem to be available. I enlisted my very organized daughter to help narrow down the huge list of houseboats. She excitedly emailed me about a houseboat that seemed perfect: slept 3 couples, was downtown, and not outrageously priced. She said it was the Prins et Brouwer (http://prinsandbrouwer.wordpress.com/author/prinsandbrouwer/) and it seemed ideal. Not only was it ideal, it was exactly the same houseboat we’d stayed on before! I had gotten bad information about the availability. The owners even remembered us.

Now we just needed a flight to FLL and a flight home from Amsterdam and hotels in England and a reservation at the same hotel that Uniworld is using in Istanbul, the Crowne Plaza. The hotels in England would wait for information from friends and a bit more research. The flights were easily arranged using miles so we were pretty much set. And we needed a car in England, also easily arranged. The hotel in Istanbul was easy but now I am bedeviled by ads for the Crowne Plaza Istanbul every time I go on the internet!

By now it was getting into January and I really needed to find a place (or places) to stay for 5 nights in England. We knew we didn’t want to go to London—but Randy really wanted to see Greenwich—so we (I) settled on the Cotswold area. We (I) asked friends and checked with friends on facebook and googled cities and hotels and castles—yes, castles! We’re going to England, why not stay in a castle? So we’ll be in a B&B (http://badgershall.com/) in Chipping Campden and Thornbury Castle (http://www.thornburycastle.co.uk/on-our-doorstep/) in Thornbury. Tons of stuff to see and do in that area!

All was set and we were happy until United changed our flight to Fort Lauderdale and wanted us to change our connection so that we traveled on the day of the cruise. No way! So now we will go to Phoenix a day early so we can get to Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise. We’re crossing our fingers that they won’t change anything again!

So all we have to do now is wait patiently 47 more days!

OK, I am officially excited about our cruises because Uniworld has just issued the Cruise Companion and Excursion Planner for the Grand European River Voyage! If you just can’t contain your curiosity, it’s here. And Holland America has its brochure out here for their 27-day Azores, Spain & Mediterranean Expedition. 74 days from now we will be on a plane bound for Fort Lauderdale!

Even though our kids are with us on the whole trip, it’s really nice to plan stuff with them. Well, mostly with Kathy as she’s the one who seems to share my love of planning, planning, and woo-hoo! PLANNING! I really do think that planning is almost more fun than the trip. First of all, planning takes a LOT of time and the trip itself will be over in a green flash. Our ‘round the world trip was ostensibly 104 days + and it seemed that we had hardly gotten on the ship and we were getting off. Not that I am complaining!

It’s going to be fun over the next few days looking at the (included) shore excursions for the river cruise and comparing Holland America’s excursions with the ones we’ve planned ourselves.

One of the things I was thinking about for our world cruise was (is) a new photo bag. There are lots available that are designed specifically for women and maybe, just maybe, I will get one. One I’m interested in is this one

Lyric