The days are flying by. In only 18 days, we’ll be on our way to Nevada, arriving on December 18. It will be Tom’s birthday only five days later, which we’ll celebrate by heading out to dinner. A few days later, it will be Christmas, which we won’t do much to celebrate. We don’t mind at all.

This will be our 13th Christmas since we left Minnesota in 2012. We don’t put up a tree or decorations since it’s neither practical nor necessary in our unusual lifestyle. The meaning of Christmas is always in our minds, and we have been able to observe the holiday season in our hearts.

Following is the information on the third cruise we booked:

There’s not much on the agenda for today. The workout is going well. Each day, I increase either the time on the treadmill or the elevation. Today, I did 17 minutes on the treadmill with 7 minutes of elevation. Once I get to 20 minutes, I’ll focus more on time and elevation rather than increasing the time.

I’ll miss five days while we travel to Nevada, but once we’re situated in the condo in Lake Las Vegas, the next day, I’ll start up again, hoping to pick up where I left off. If not, it should only take a day or two to return to my previous level. I keep track of each day’s workout stats on my phone’s calendar app, attempting to improve daily.

Thanks for staying with us through this long and less exciting period.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, November 26, 2014:

Yesterday afternoon, after Tom’s considerable research, we booked four cruises at Costco Travel. Over the next four days, we will present one cruise and all its information, including prices, itinerary, and miscellaneous details.

It took us most of the afternoon on the phone with Costco, especially when we ran into a glitch. Since we have a Costco Citibank credit card we use primarily for Costco purchases, we wanted to use the card for the four deposits totaling $3900 since we receive 3% cash back plus more credits on our annual Costco rebate.

When the Costco Travel rep tried to use the card, which we’ve used many times, it kept getting declined. We didn’t want to use another card and miss the perks associated with this card. We didn’t owe a balance and had never had a late payment. While on the phone with the Costco Travel rep and later with Royal Caribbean also on the call, there was nothing they could do to get the charges to go through.

Frustrated, we called Citibank while the two companies were on the line. Citibank insisted something was entered incorrectly when attempting to process the charge. To make a long story short, we used another card after trying to figure this out for over an hour.

Costco assured us once we figured out the issue, they’d reverse the charges on the second card and charge the Citibank card. Tom called Citibank and got nowhere. I went into the bedroom to work on it alone and resolve it once and for all. I asked for a Citibank manager or supervisor. Once someone took the call, I explained the scenario once again.

After checking and checking, precipitated by my relentless persistence, the Citibank rep figured out the problem was due to our billing address’s zip code. The four-digit number at the end of the main zip was on their system as our billing address, but it wasn’t used when Costco or Royal Caribbean tried to enter the charges.

The Citibank rep removed the four digits, after which we called Costco back, and they could process the four transactions. In the next few days, we’ll see the $3900 credit on the second card we used and get the perks we were entitled to. What a hassle!

Only our enthusiasm for booking these four cruises got us through this laborious, time-consuming process. We were anxious to wrap it up before sharing the information in our posts.

Thus, here is the information for our first of the four cruises, all of which we are with Royal Caribbean, Voyager of the Seas:

18 Night Cruise from Barcelona to Cape Town

Royal Caribbean

Voyager of the Seas

18 Night Cruise

Departure Date: Mon, Oct 27, 2025

Embarkation Port: Barcelona

Return Date: Fri, Nov 14, 2025

Disembarkation Port: Cape Town

When we arrive in Cape Town on November 14, we will stay aboard the ship for the next leg. We are doing a triple back-to-back. We wouldn’t want to stay in South Africa so close to the holiday season and during the hot summer months in the Southern Hemisphere, and thus, we’ll continue on.

Other than the $210 Costco Shop card, there are no special perks. Tips, at $37 per day for two of us, totaling $666, and drink packages and WiFi services are not included. These costs could easily add another $1500 to our cruise bill.

Tomorrow, we will be back with the next leg of our triple back-to-back, and on the fourth day of posting, we’ll share the details of the 2026 cruise.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, November 24, 2014:

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