Part 4…We booked 4 cruises!…Here are prices, itinerary and details…Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate…

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The skeleton of a humpback whale at the Whalers Village before it was destroyed by the fires in 2023.

This morning, I prepped the stuffing for tomorrow’s turkey. What a lot of work! Without a fully equipped kitchen, it was incredibly challenging. We have one large tinfoil roasting pan and not a single oven-safe casserole dish. Instead, I placed the stuffing I had prepared in three tinfoil pie pans, lining them with parchment paper and covering them with tin foil.

I’ll bake one pan of dressing each day, leaving the other two pans for the leftovers we’ll have after roasting two whole turkey breasts. Since I don’t eat any of the carby sides, only turkey, veg and salad, Tom will be on his own, eating all the leftover side dishes. He won’t mind a bit.

We’ll have plenty of turkey breast meat to last for several days, and I’ll freeze any leftovers we can eat in the next two weeks. With 17 days until we depart, it will all work out well, and I won’t need to order any more meat during our remaining days. We’ll use whatever we have left in the freezer.

To continue with the information for the four cruises we booked with Royal Caribbean, please see below:

Royal Caribbean_map

royalCaribbean_Logo

24 Night Cruise from Brisbane to Seattle

Royal Caribbean
Voyager of the Seas

24 Night Cruise

Departure Date: Tue, Apr 14, 2026

Embarkation Port: Brisbane

Return Date: Sat, May 09, 2026

Disembarkation Port: Seattle

Non-Refundable Deposit

Date Port Arrive Depart
Tuesday, April 14 Brisbane, Australia 4:30 pm
Wednesday, April 15 At Sea
Thursday, April 16 At Sea
Friday, April 17 At Sea
Saturday, April 18 At Sea
Saturday, April 18 Cross International Dateline (Cruising)
Sunday, April 19 At Sea
Monday, April 20 At Sea
Tuesday, April 21 Papeete, Tahiti 7:00 am 11:59 pm
Wednesday, April 22 Moorea, Society Islands 7:00 am 8:00 pm
Thursday, April 23 At Sea
Friday, April 24 At Sea
Saturday, April 25 At Sea
Sunday, April 26 At Sea
Monday, April 27 At Sea
Tuesday, April 28 Honolulu, Oahu, HI 7:00 am
Wednesday, April 29 Honolulu, Oahu, HI 8:00 pm
Thursday, April 30 At Sea
Friday, May 1 Kona, Hawaii, HI 8:00 am 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 2 Hilo, Hawaii, HI 7:00 am 5:00 pm
Sunday, May 3 At Sea
Monday, May 4 At Sea
Tuesday, May 5 At Sea
Wednesday, May 6 At Sea
Thursday, May 7 At Sea
Friday, May 8 Seattle, WA 6:00 am

Cost for two $6947.66   $495 Digital Costco Shop Card

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with a short post with Thanksgiving wishes.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, November 27, 2014:

Restaurants line the boardwalk at Kaanapali Beach, Maui. For more photos, please click here.

Part 3…We booked 4 cruises!…Here are prices, itinerary and details…Excitement for the future..

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Sadly, the formerly beautiful Whaler’s Village in Lahaina is no longer operational after the 2023 fires.

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:

royalCaribbean_Logo
Royal Caribbean_map

12 Night Cruise from Singapore to BNE

Royal Caribbean
Voyager of the Seas

12 Night Cruise

Departure Date: Mon, Dec 01, 2025

Embarkation Port: Singapore

Return Date: Sat, Dec 13, 2025

Disembarkation Port: BNE

Non-Refundable Deposit
Date Port Arrive Depart
Monday, December 1 Singapore 4:30 pm
Tuesday, December 2 At Sea
Wednesday, December 3 At Sea
Thursday, December 4 Benoa, Bali, Indonesia 7:00 am 10:00 pm
Friday, December 5 At Sea
Saturday, December 6 At Sea
Sunday, December 7 Darwin, Australia 9:00 am 5:00 pm
Monday, December 8 At Sea
Tuesday, December 9 At Sea
Wednesday, December 10 Cairns, Australia 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Thursday, December 11 Airlie Beach, Australia 9:00 am 6:30 pm
Friday, December 12 At Sea
Saturday, December 13 Brisbane, Australia 6:30 am

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:

At the Whalers Village Museum, destroyed in the horrific Lahaina fires, ship masthead rings held the sailors to the mast. For more photos, please click here.

Part 1…We booked 4 cruises!…Here are prices, itinerary and details…Excitement for the future…A weird glitch…

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Quaint little coconut shop in Maui.

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:

Itinerary Map

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
Non-Refundable Deposit
Total Package Price (for two): $3,582.62
Your booking includes a $210 Digital Costco Shop Card Shop Card Tooltip - Opens a dialog
Date Port Arrive Depart
Monday, October 27 Barcelona, Spain 5:00 pm
Tuesday, October 28 At Sea
Wednesday, October 29 Tangier, Morocco 7:00 am 6:00 pm
Thursday, October 30 At Sea
Friday, October 31 Grand Canary Island, Canary Islands 8:00 am 8:00 pm
Saturday, November 1 At Sea
Sunday, November 2 At Sea
Monday, November 3 At Sea
Tuesday, November 4 At Sea
Wednesday, November 5 At Sea
Thursday, November 6 At Sea
Friday, November 7 At Sea
Saturday, November 8 At Sea
Sunday, November 9 At Sea
Monday, November 10 Walvis Bay, Namibia 6:00 am 10:00 pm
Tuesday, November 11 At Sea
Wednesday, November 12 At Sea
Thursday, November 13 Cape Town, South Africa 8:00 am
Friday, November 14 Cape Town, South Africa Disembark

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:

We spotted spam-flavored macadamia nuts on a visit to Lahaina, Maui. For more, please click here.
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Questions from a long time reader…

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Old-fashioned community washing pool, where locals gathered to do their laundry in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy. The larger pool is for washing. The smaller sink is for rinsing. Of course, they’d bring their laundry home to dry outside their windows. For more photos, please click here.

Today’s photo is from our three-month stay in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy. See the post here.

Yesterday, I received the following message from a long-time reader, Pam,  as follows:

“Dear Jess & Tom,

My husband and I are 70, and I’m beginning to think that cruising may be our best travel option as our mobility is becoming more limited. The research and planning are also mostly done by me, which can be a bit exhausting. We flew to Vegas in April and rented a car for an 8-day road trip to Bryce, Zion, Monument Valley, and Grand Canyon. We saw some amazingly beautiful sights, but walking even short distances was very difficult for me, especially in the higher altitudes. We spent much time just touring from the car and the tour buses. So I think that cruising may be easier for us. We have only cruised twice. The first time was 1999 (eek!!! Really that long ago?) Western Caribbean, which we aren’t interested in doing again. The second was in 2012 (wow, time flies!) to Alaska, which was wonderful. Both on NCL. We aren’t fancy and kind of like their freestyle cruising.

I know that you have recommended Vacations To Go in the past, so just wondering if you still do. Also would welcome your thoughts on Costco Travel, United Cruises, or just booking directly with the cruise line. I also recall that Tom has a website that alerts him when prices go down, but I can’t remember which one. Could you kindly remind me? We would love to cruise the Med, but I read a comment on a YouTube video that said if you have any mobility issues, it may be difficult.

Just wondered if you would be willing to share your thoughts. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Happy sailing!

Pam”

Thank you, Pam, for writing! It’s lovely to hear from you, and we’re thrilled to hear you are considering cruising again. I am relisting your questions below (for ease of reading), and we will answer them individually.

  1. I know that you have recommended Vacations To Go in the past, so just wondering if you still do. Also would welcome your thoughts on Costco Travel, United Cruises, or just booking directly with the cruise line.

Answer: We prefer using Costco to book cruises and car rentals. (Annual membership is required). Their prices and perks for cruises are the same as most other cruise booking agencies. However, through Costco, you will receive gift cards (shop cards) each time you book a cruise, which motivated us to use them. Unfortunately, reaching them by phone to book a cruise or ask questions subsequently is awful. You can wait on the phone for an hour or more; contacting them by email is sketchy at best. This fact alone prompted us to return to Vacations to Go, which we’ve used for years. Our rep is Heather. She can be reached here:

“Heather Thompson
Master Cruise Counselor, Luxury and Multi-Cabin Specialist
Vacations To Go (16 Years)
hthompson@vacationstogo.com
My office hours: Mon-Fri: 11 am-8 pm (US Central Time)
US and Canada: 1-800-338-4962 ext. 7317
For toll-free numbers from other countries, click here.”

With us booking cruises while out of the country with huge time zone differences at times, having easy access to our booking company is important to us. Heather is very responsive and quickly responds to emails and phone calls. Please tell her we sent you. We don’t receive any remuneration for referring you to her, but we love sharing good service with our readers.

We’ve never used United Cruises and rarely have booked directly through a cruise line. They are also hard to reach and don’t have better pricing or service.

2. I also recall that Tom has a website that alerts him when prices go down, but I can’t remember which one. Could you kindly remind me?

Answer: Mainly, Tom has used Cruisecritic.com at this link that takes you directly to their cruise roll call, where you can enter the cruise you’ll be taking and see if there have been price drops. If there is a price drop (only applicable to passengers from the US and Canada), only prior to the final payment, you can find the information there and then contact your cruise booking company and ask them to lower your price. This has saved us thousands of dollars over the years. But you must carefully analyze if the price drop is beneficial for you since you may lose some perks if you take the price drop. Your booking agent will provide you with this information

(You must sign up for a free account at Cruise Critic here to see the roll call for each cruise. It’s straightforward to do so).

3. .We would love to cruise the Med, but I read a comment on a YouTube video that said if you have any mobility issues, it may be difficult.

Answer: We sailed in the Mediterranean on three occasions. At many ports of call, walking can be long and up and down hills at times. However, many easy-access “Hop On Hop Off” buses are available at the various ports, taxis, and vans you can arrange to take you to see the highlights. It’s essential to negotiate a price for taxis before you embark on such private means of transportation. “Hop On, Hop Off” buses have a fixed price for passengers, which is usually reasonable. In these cases, you can decide if you want to get off the bus or taxi and walk around or not. You will still see plenty.

We hope these answers help you decide what may work for you. Please feel free to contact us at any time with more questions. We’re always happy to help!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 19, 2013:

The flowers of Tuscany never ceased to amaze us. The colors, the smells, and the varied designs make them appear more artistically rendered than real life itself. For more photos, please click here.

Part 1….Two new exciting bookings…

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We’re so excited to have booked another “visa run,” but this time, on November 26, 2022, we’re flying to Seychelles.

Image result for the seychelles
“Seychelles
Country in East Africa
Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa. It’s home to numerous beaches, coral reefs, nature reserves, and rare animals such as giant Aldabra tortoises. Mahé, a hub for visiting the other islands, is home to Victoria’s capital. It also has the mountain rainforests of Morne Seychellois National Park and beaches, including Beau Vallon and Anse Takamaka.”
The ship, the Pegasos, can accommodate 44 passengers. Basically, it’s a luxury yacht suited to this number of passengers. In light of Covid-19, they likely won’t be booked to capacity, as has been the case for many cruise ships, big and small, worldwide since the onset of the pandemic.
Passengers are tested twice daily during the seven-night cruise, which gives us peace of mind considering our last cruise experience of contracting Omicron and becoming very sick, especially Tom, who ended up with Covid-19 pneumonia. This smaller ship particularly appeals to us. Below is a photo of the ship:
Note: It appears they spelled both “Pegasus” and “Pegasos” based on English and Greek.
“M/Y Pegasos offers five- and eight-day cruises around beautiful Seychelles, with each option departing from Mahe. Both cruises visit the former leper of the colony of Curieuse, now uninhabited by humans and home to many giant tortoises, Cousin Island, known for its bird life, Aride, and St. Pierre Island. Swimming, snorkeling, guided walks, and an al fresco BBQ are all activities you can look forward to. The shorter cruise ends in Praslin, while the more extended voyage returns to Mahe via Felicite, the charming La Digue, and Moyenne Island.

Renovated in 2016, the M.Y. Pegasos has 21 cabins that can sleep a maximum of 44 people. The twin-hulled vessel has plenty of open space to enjoy the views, sea breezes, and sunshine, and the onboard leisure facilities make it easy to relax and unwind or mingle with other travelers. Sip a drink in the stylish lounge bar, select a book from the library, relax on the sundeck, and rejuvenate in the mini spa. The swimming platform makes it easy to enter the water for a swim. Paid internet access is available. When it comes to enjoying the chef’s tasty culinary creations, you can choose between indoor and outdoor dining areas. Special events, such as a Creole night and live music, add to the fun. Each spacious en suite cabin has a window, air-conditioning, satellite TV, centralized music, and a mini safe.”

A typical cabin aboard the Pegasus.

We won’t need special visas to enter the country but will require a negative Covid-19 test no more than 72 hours before arrival on the ship. This won’t be a problem since testing is still offered in Komatipoort at the lab across the street from Dr. Theo’s office.

This cruise wasn’t as expensive as we thought it could have been, considering the small size of the ship, but it was pricey nonetheless. But each time we leave for a new visa stamp in our passports to be able to return to South Africa, we realize there is a certain expense associated with it.
We selected the second category, not the highest since we spend little time in our cabin and prefer to spend our time mingling throughout the cruise with other passengers while enjoying the surroundings and amenities that appeal to us. The cost for the cruise, not including WiFi, is US $7280, ZAR 120861, about US $2000, ZAR 33260 less than many sites listed. We booked it directly through Intrepid Travel at this link. Airfare and tours are extra. We can decide while on the cruise which tours appeal to us.
The dates for this cruise are from November 26, 2022, to December 3, 2022. We paid a deposit of US $1200, ZAR 20099, and will pay the balance on October 1, 2022. Upon return, we’ll have another 90 days until we have to leave the country again, and most likely, we will do an extension at that time. After that, we’ll figure something out.
We are excited about visiting Seychelles which we’ve discussed over the years.  Also, we love being on the water.
Tomorrow, we’ll be back with information on another booking we wrapped up last night. Tonight, Jabula with Rita, Gerhard and Lee!
Have a fantastic day and evening.
Photo from one year ago today, August 5, 2021:
The Imposter, a smaller version of Tiny, who’s yet to appear, is ingratiating himself with us, showing up several times a day. For more photos, please click here.