In yesterday’s post, we wrote about building a new itinerary, as shown at this link. After a long travel hiatus due to Covid-19, we are excited for the future as more and more cruises and countries open up. Also, we have now been vaccinated with the two-week window of increasing protection from the virus; our spirits and enthusiasm are growing exponentially.
It’s been a long time since we were busy logging information into our Excel spreadsheet with all the information relevant to each cruise. Yesterday, it was fun for us to work together compiling pertinent data on these two cruises to plug into the fields on the “cruise sheet” in our travel data workbook.
We have three cruises in and around Japan, beginning on February 27, 2022, the first leg departing from Singapore, before these newly booked Azamara cruises. The Japan cruises are all on Celebrity Solstice, one of our favorite cruise ships we’ve sailed many times. It would be fun to experience that ship once again. However, we’re anticipating those cruises will be canceled.
Why are we surmising the Japan cruises will be canceled? With the Olympics starting on July 23, ending on August 8, 2021, it will be interesting to see if there’s been a spike in Covid-19, although spectators aren’t allowed. If there is a massive increase in cases in Japan, we expect these cruises will be canceled. Once again, we’ll be watching the stats on cases from Worldometer at this link.
Japan is currently in the #34 position worldwide, with the USA in the #1 for most cases and deaths. South Africa has moved up the list from the #20 position a few months ago to the #17 position. To see the stats for the numbers of vaccinations given worldwide, check this link.
Staying informed about the Covid-19 stats is very important to us now. It allows us to see where, most likely, we’ll be able to travel in the future. Then again, we’re heading back to South Africa with abysmal stats, with only 2.5% of the population vaccinated thus far.
Fortunately, Marloth Park is less populated and currently has a program in place to vaccinate residents. The question here is: How many residents will agree to get vaccinated when many have negative opinions of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine? That remains to be seen in months to come.
As mentioned in yesterday’s post, here is the pricing information for June and July’s two new cruise bookings. Also, see that post here for the many perks we got from booking with Costco:
CRUISE PRICING
Istanbul to Istanbul on June 29, 2022
Price Summary for 2 Travelers
Cruise Package $6,749.00 $2,699.00: Total $9,448.00
Taxes and Fees $345.06 $345.06 Total $690.12
Total Package Price $7,094.06 $3,044.06 Total $10,138.12
Payment Details
Total Package Price $10,138.12
Payment(s) Applied ($1,100.00)
Balance $9,038.12
Final Payment Due Date 02/15/2022
The second leg of our back-to-back cruise from July 10 to July 20, 2022 itinerary is as follows: (See yesterday’s post for the itinerary for the June 29, 2022 cruise from Istanbul to Istanbul):
| Date | Port of Call | Arrival | Departure |
| 07/10/2022 | Istanbul | — | 06:00 PM |
| 07/11/2022 | Cruising | — | — |
| 07/12/2022 | Kavala | 06:30 AM | 08:00 PM |
| 07/13/2022 | Thessaloniki | 08:00 AM | 08:00 PM |
| 07/14/2022 | Volos | 07:30 AM | 06:00 PM |
| 07/15/2022 | Mykonos | 08:00 AM | 06:00 PM |
| 07/16/2022 | Rhodes | 08:00 AM | 10:00 PM |
| 07/17/2022 | Thira/Santorini | 08:00 AM | 10:00 PM |
| 07/18/2022 | Heraklion | 08:00 AM | 08:00 PM |
| 07/19/2022 | Nafplion | 09:00 AM | 06:00 PM |
| 07/20/2022 | Athens/Piraeus | 05:00 AM | — |
Istanbul to Athens on July 10, 2022
Price Summary for 2 Travelers
Cruise Package $5,199.00 $2,079.00 $7,278.00
Taxes and Fees $201.57 $201.57 $403.14
Total Package Price $5,400.57 $2,280.57 $2,280.57
Payment(s) Applied ($1,100.00)
Balance $6,581.14
Final Payment Due 02/26/2022
Yesterday morning we visited dear friend Sue and had a fantastic time!. Later Tom went to his sister Mary’s home for their usual Thursday evening barbecue while I went with Greg and the three grandchildren to dinner at Champs, followed by a movie, “Black Widow.” We all had a lot of fun. When Greg dropped me back at the hotel, Tom returned to the hotel and came outside to say goodbye.
The time in Minnesota has come to an end. Without a doubt, this was one of the best visits we’ve had to the US over the past almost nine years. Everything fell into place, and we had continuing opportunities to spend with family members. Now, as I wrap up this post to upload in a few minutes, we’re heading out the door to drive to Milwaukee to see Sister Beth.
On Sunday night, we’ll return to Minneapolis to take our flight to Las Vegas, Nevada. We decided to return here to save on the cost of the car rental fee by returning it to the same location and better flights and times for Las Vegas.
The next time we write will be tomorrow morning from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Be content.
Photo from one year ago today, July 16, 2020:
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| Please note: all of our year-ago photos are reposts we utilized while in lockdown in India for ten months. At this point of this post, we’d been in lockdown for 115 days—a view of the cemetery in Boveglio, Italy, in 2013, from the iron railing. For more photos, please click here. |