On April 9th we board a Carnival ship…Should we be worried?…

This is the Carnival Liberty, the ship  on which we’ll embark on April 9th.

With the influx of news regarding the horrifying nightmare for over 4000 passengers on the Carnival Triumph, we watched intently, wondering what we should do.

The likelihood of another such incident on the two back to back Carnival Liberty Cruises we’ve booked is unlikely.  We’ll be staying in the same cabin on both cruises, sailing from April 9, 2013 until April 20, 2013.  Upon disembarking the Liberty around 10:00 am, we’ll change ships at the same pier, on the same day, to board the Norwegian Epic at 4:00 PM to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to Barcelona on our first transatlantic cruise.

For the heck of it, we contacted our cruise guy, Joaquin at Vacations to Go inquiring as to what options are available, if and only if, a passenger wants to “jump ship” to another cruise line.  (Keeping in mind we’re cruising as a means of transportation as much as possible. Plus we love it as opposed to flying). 

Not to our surprise, Carnival is not offering refunds for future cruise passengers on other ships.  This would bankrupt them.  Based on the fact that we can’t get a full refund within 90 days of a cruise departure, diminishing on a scale the closer it gets as taken directly from our Cruise Confirmation documents.

Cancellation Charges If you cancel, the following charges will be assessed by the cruise line (per guest):

Cruise Length Days Prior To Sailing Cancellation Charge
2, 3, 4 & 5 nights 61 days or more

60 to 46 days
45 to 30 days
29 to 15 days
14 days or less

None (except for Early Saver, Easy Saver* and
Super Saver fares**)
Entire deposit
50% of total fare or deposit, whichever is greater
75% of total fare or deposit, whichever is greater
100% of total fare
6 nights and longer (including Alaska & Hawaii) 76 days or more

75 to 56 days
55 to 30 days
29 to 15 days
14 days or less

None (except for Early Saver, Easy Saver*
and Super Saver fares**)
Entire deposit
50% of total fare or deposit, whichever is greater
75% of total fare or deposit, whichever is greater
100% of total fare
Europe, Panama Canal and Transpacific sailings 7, 9 & 12, 14 and 17 nights in length 91 days or more

90 to 56 days
55 to 30 days
29 to 15 days
14 days or less

None (except for Early Saver, Easy Saver*
and Super Saver fares**)
Entire deposit
50% of total fare or deposit, whichever is greater
75% of total fare or deposit, whichever is greater
100% of total fare
All cruises purchased under the Instant Saver Fare Any time after booking 100% of total fare

Timetables and rates are subject to change, and exceptions may apply for holiday sailings. *Early Saver & Easy Saver fares: The deposit on bookings made using the Early Saver & Easy Saver Fares program is non-refundable/non-transferable. No name changes will be permitted. There is a $50 service fee per person applicable on ship and/or sail date changes outside standard penalties.**Super Saver fares: The deposit is non-refundable.

With 51 days until we sail, we’d lose our deposits, in these cases, over $1000.  Thus, the question posed:  Are we willing to lose $1000 in deposits to cancel these cruises?  Secondly, there are no specific dates that coincide with our planned dates of departure which would result in losing money leaving here early and paying for hotels and meals on the other end.  it makes no sense monetarily.

Does it make sense emotionally?  Not really.  When we decided to travel the world we knew there would be risks and bumps along the way.  Here we are, almost five months since leaving Minnesota and without a doubt, we’ve already had a few bumps.

1.  Our luggage going on the wrong van when we arrived in Belize City on January 29, 2013, to be recovered an hour later, after a lot of foot stomping after we had specifically stated several times that they ensure the luggage goes on the tender boat with us, not ahead of us.
2.  The ineptness of guest services on the Celebrity Equinox when they only arranged a one week visa for our stay in Belize when we needed 30 days (to be renewed soon when we have to go by boat to immigration in Mango Creek).  It was straightened out but again, only with observation of the error and persistence in getting it resolved.  Had I not checked our passports when the on board immigration officer handed them back to us, we’d have been forced to go to Mango Creek while we were living in that unsanitary water-free zone only 12 days ago.
3.  The water-free house down the road, Little Cottage, with an occasional dribble of cold running water, cold dribbling showers and a mostly non flushable toilet resulting in a horrible unsanitary situation.  Hot water and soap is a great sanitizer.  We had soap but no hot water.  We boiled it as often as we could accumulate it at a dribble’s pace in a huge pot on the dangerous gas smelling stove.  (Oh, listen to me go on!).

Yes, we are uninjured.  Yes, we are now safe from disease.  We ask ourselves, what have we learned? 
From comments above in order:
1.  Incompetency prevails
2.  Incompetency prevails
3.  Don’t rent a marginal house with only two reviews on the website, both of which were outdated and one of which referred to another property the owner rented.  I should have been more suspicious when booking the property.  Lesson learned.  (Bless Tom’s heart.  He never blamed me!)

None the less, we are grateful we found LaruBeya by a fluke.   We are grateful to have water and to be in a sanitary environment.  We are grateful that we are able to walk to or be driven to (for only a tip) to a total of five restaurant in our area.  Yes, we are grateful that Estevan picks us up every Wednesday to go to the grocery store for a $10 round trip (plus tip).  In addition, we are grateful that we find food we can eat, although the selection is limited and the fact that its grass fed, free range and organic.

As for the upcoming cruises, we’ll continue on as planned on the Carnival Liberty.  If something does go wrong, we have our portable solar charger that is powerful enough to fully charge our phones.  With our phones charged we’ll be able to use the Blogger app to continue to keep our readers informed.  As for Internet connection (which was not fully functioning on the Carnival Triumph, we’ll have our XCOM Global MiFi with us which works independently of the ship’s data when close to land). 

See…there may be a use for all the gadgets we’ve packed which are consuming space in our bags!

Time to book hotel reservations for Barcelona….Itinerary updates…

Yesterday, while we were docked in Colon, Panama again staying onboard, we realized it was time to go online to book a few hotel reservations. We had a strong signal with our XCOM Global WiFi and decided to take advantage of the it.

Now, today, we’re in Puerto Limon, Costa Rico, comfortably seated in the Sky Observation Lounge in the bow of the ship, hoping to get a better Internet signal with our XCOM Global MiFi, while we notice a number of passengers getting off of the ship, walking the mile long parking lot and subsequently returning to the ship.  Apparently, there was nothing to see from this location. 

The few offered excursions included a bumpy bus ride to “touristy” shopping areas at the cost of $49 per person.  Why spend money to spend money on items we don’t need or want?

As mentioned earlier, we had no problem visiting a few of the same ports we experienced earlier in the month on our journey through the Panama Canal.  We love cruising and visiting two of the same ports in the past three weeks was no different to us than if one was on vacation and awoke in the morning to the same view as the prior day.  No big deal, right?

On to our hotel reservations.  Requiring reservations on two separate nights, May 5, 2013 and June 3, 2013 in Barcelona while we’re between cruises, it was time to book these after we had made our airline reservations from Dubai back to Barcelona with Emirates Airlines last weekend while in Florida.

Here’s how this looks directly from a portion of our itinerary.  The highlighted items are  five of our six remaining cruises.   Everything you see here is booked, as is the reminder of the first 2 1/2 years of our journey which will grow as we continue on:

Cruise
Belize to Miami  (return trip to Miami from Belize)
3 4/9/2013 –
4/13/2013
Cruise Miami to Miami (Caribbean cruise) 7 4/13/2013-4/20/2013
Cruise Miami to Barcelona
Cruise (across the ocean)
11 4/20/2013 -5/1/2013
Cruise Barcelona to Mallorca 4 5/1/2013 – 5/5/2013
Hotel Barcelona 1 5/5/2013 – 5/6/2013
Cruise Barcelona to Dubai 15 5/6/2012 – 5/21/2013
Dubai Condo – High Rise Tower
overlooking Palm Island
13 5/21/2013 – 6/3/2013
Flight Dubai to Barcelona 0 6/3/2013-6/3/2013
Hotel Barcelona 1 6/3/2013-6/4/2013
Barcelona to Venice – Cruise 12 6/4/2013-6/16/2013

As a pleasing point to us, the above first two cruises, beginning on 4/9/2013 and 4/13/2012 respectively, are on the same ship and in the same cabin.  The next two, beginning on 4/20/2013 and 5/1/2013 are also the same ship, same cabin.  This translates into a 10 day stint and a 15 day stint moving only once in between. 

We felt lucky to have been able to do this.  But, after meeting many people aboard ship, apparently avid travelers often book cruises back to back to avoid moving luggage and for the purpose of extending their experience on one particular ship.

Ideally, we wouldn’t have these nights in between the cruises but based on the advice of our cruise guy, Joaquin, at Vacations to Go, it was too risky to plan to get on another cruise on the same day when subject to an airline reservation. 

This is the case on the return flight to Barcelona from Dubai on June 3, 2013.  The earlier date in May was simply an extra day in between two cruises.  That was as tight as we could book these particular two cruises. 

Yesterday, off to Expedia.com we began a search for an affordable highly rated hotel in expensive Barcelona our criteria being:  close to the pier, free WiFi (which we may not need if we have our trusty MiFi), rated four stars or more by Expedia reviewers. 

We lucked out!  Our first reservation for May is $166 a night and the second in June is $140 (both with taxes) and to boot, with a 4.7 our of a possible 5 star rating. We couldn’t be more thrilled. 

Earlier today, while looking online for a storage facility in Barcelona to store our excess baggage during our trips to Dubai, Kenya and South Africa (when we’ll have no choice but to fly), I stumbled across a few travelers who had worked with a number of hotels in Barcelona which were willing to store luggage for a fee for extended periods.  This would be ideal with Barcelona as a central location for many of our comings and goings.

If we can’t convince the hotel to store our bags, there is a huge self service storage facility less than five miles from the hotel.  As time approaches and we have a better feel for what we’ll need in our luggage, we’ll decide if its worth storing two or three large bags or paying for excess baggage fees.  We don’t fly until May leaving us time to figure it out. 

Check out this link for the Grums Hotel in Barcelona for our two separate nights.  We opted for non-refundable reservations for both nights in order to save almost $100. 

How did people travel the world without use of the Internet?  Somehow, they managed, making endless long distance phone calls, using the services of travel agencies, all the while booking directly with each establishment. 

The time saving benefits of using the Internet makes this experience much easier for us.  However, in any case, it still requires an enormous amount of advance thinking and planning.

A few night ago at dinner we spoke to a couple, perhaps a few years older than us, who said they’d spent days planning this single cruise.  They asked, “How in the world did you book one location after another, keeping it all straight?”

The answer is clear to us…bite sized pieces coupled with precise record keeping with absolutely NO RISK of losing the records by storing them in multiple locations.  In our case, we’ve stored all of our records (and photos) in Dropbox of which we each have separate accounts, local copies on the desktops of each of our computers and in each of our Outlook and Gmail accounts.  In addition, my new Windows 8 laptop has the cloud Skydrive where we also store copies.

Thus, if both of our computers were stolen, all of our records (and photos) would be readily available online in our multiple accounts.  This gives us considerable piece of mind. 

Wherever we may go, whatever plans we may make, there will never be a time as we continue to travel the world, that we can stop being mindful of the next location.  Luckily, we both enjoy the process.  Tom may not do as much of the searching as I do but his suggestions and input is equally valuable to us in the process.  Is it overwhelming?  Not at all. 

For me, its not unlike grocery shopping.  If we like homemade food, we make a list,  plan meals creating a menu for the week, whether written or in our heads.  I’ve never tired of grocery shopping.  Each time I walked into the same or a different grocery store, I was challenged by the opportunity to make delicious and varied meals that we or our guests would enjoy.

Its the same with planning our next step in the journey; make a list of that which we desire to do, first consider our existing itinerary, plan a budget, do some research to determine if it is possible and affordable and then…begin booking, all the while documenting the results. 

Actually, I do miss grocery shopping.  After almost 23 days aboard ship with every meal prepared for us, it’ll be time to dig out that little skillet I stuffed into one of our bags and start cooking again. 

In a matter of a mere three days from today, we’ll be tucked into our little beach house in Placencia, Belize figuring out how to get a ride to the grocery store to purchase our first week’s groceries.  Wonder if they’ll have grass-fed meat, organic vegetables, coconut oil, free range chicken and eggs.

If not, well…we’ll improvise. 

Watch us live via webcam as we go through the Panama Canal…

Above is the link to watch live as we go through the Panama Canal beginning at 6:30 am Eastern time, Sunday morning.  Follow us live through the various locks using this link progressively as indicated.
Tomorrow morning at 6:30 am Eastern time our ship will arrive at the entrance of the Miraflores Locks at the beginning of the Panama Canal.  We’ll transit the canal in an 8 to 10 hour period, going through a variety of locks and dams and also the man-made Gatun Lake that facilitates the millions of gallons of water supporting the canal. 
The Panama Canal’s rich history is highlighted on numerous websites, including the above live webcam site at:  www.pancanal.com, also on www.visitpanama.com.
Over the past week, Tom and I have attended five fascinating seminars outlining the history of the canal presented by “Uncle Marty” a diplomatic representative for the country of Panama.
Tomorrow morning at 6:30 am, we’ll be firmly planted in an ideal spot for viewing the transition through the canal along with the other 1816 Celebrity Century passengers.
Today, Saturday, January 12th, we’ll roam about the ship searching for the most advantageous viewing spot we can find. Hopefully, we’ll park ourselves in that spot early enough to ensure we can watch from the starboard (right) side of the ship, which appears to be most advantageous.
Since we’ll be close to land, we’ll be able to use our XcomGlobal Mi-Fi device to upload some photos along the way.  Especially interesting to us is the fact that our ship at times, will have less than 24″ of space between the ship and the canal’s sidewalls. Certainly, we’ll upload photos of this surprising scenario.

The canal is being renovated to be completed in December 2014 to allow larger ships to transit from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans (and vise versa) to avoid the over 7500-mile journey around the horn of South America transitioning from the one ocean to the other, an engineering
feat, that opened on August 15, 1914.

The estimated cost for our ship, the Celebrity Century, to go through the canal is approximately  US $350,000, the exact amount to be determined by the canal authorities after our transition.

Please stay tuned for facts and photos as we experience this passage, for which we are both so grateful to include in our year’s long adventures.

Extra expenses while cruising…

After seven days aboard ship, we’ve begun to get a handle on what we’re spending while cruising, over and above the cost of the cruise itself.

So far, based on cash remaining in our wallets for this cruise (which we’ve kept locked in our cabin safe) and the bill on the TV, we’ve spent $759 from the moment we arrived at the pier in San Diego. 

This total includes cash tips at the pier, tips throughout the cruise. Tips were included in the price of the cruise but we’ve experienced extraordinary service warranting some additional tipping. In addition, we’ve charged the $399 WiFi bill and bar tabs. Tom’s cocktails (Courvoisier and 7 UP) are $7 each and my diet tonic with lime i$2.  We each have two to three of these each day at most.

Coffee(too strong), milk (which we don’t drink), hot tea, iced tea (too strong), and “tap” water (purified, they say) are free. All bottled beverages vary in price, ranging from $2 to $5.

 To save on
the cost of beverages beside our cocktails, we brought along about 30 quart-sized powdered packets of our favorite beverage, Crystal Lite Iced Tea.
Ice and water is provided in our cabin and available in the restaurants. 

With our trusty Contigo chill-holding, handled mugs in tow, we’re able to make our own iced tea to enjoy throughout the day, hauling them with us everywhere we go. We’ve calculated that we’ve saved no less than $300 for the entire cruise by having our own beverages on hand.

Yesterday, simply by buying and sending the six grandchildren one postcard each, as we’ll often do when entering new countries, we spent $16. 

Each night, we’ve given our waiter in the Grand Restaurant an “extra” $10 in cash although a 15% tip was added to the original cost of the cruise which totaled $ 5,545.48 (for both of us in a balcony cabin of 186 square feet).  

Dubrokov been amazing accommodating my strict gluten-free, grain-free, starch-free, and sugar-free diet, bringing me extra piles of steamed vegetables and larger portions of salad. Luckily, the menu references gluten and sugar-free options.

Everything we’ve heard about venturing out on any of our cruise ship’s offered excursions has made the idea
of spending $100 to $300 for the two of us has been unappealing. 

Yesterday, an excursion was offered for a “self-guided” tour of Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala for $48 per person.  The passengers were to gather in a designated area only ten minutes from the pier to be handed a map in order to travel about on their own. Duh? $96 (for two) for a map and a finger pointed in a direction?  No, thanks.

Oh yes, there were other excursions such as the $188 (for two) bus ride to the Western Highlands of Guatemala, to the home of the living Maya and the ancient city of Iximche, now in ruins.  This four-hour outing included lunch in a local restaurant.

Tuesday night we heard of a couple on the ship suffering from food poisoning after such an outing. This is not to say the local restaurants are selling “tainted” food but our tender tummies may not do well eating and drinking local fare, especially with no time to become adapted. 

Another offering for yesterday was a trip to visit a block of historical buildings on cobblestone streets. The cost was $199.50 per couple.

If this were our annual “vacation” we may have budgeted for some of the excursions and be enthusiastic to take advantage of every such opportunity. Knowing that in no time at all, we’ll be living in one interesting and historical locale after another, we’ve decided to wait to venture out on our own or with locals we meet along the way.

As I have mentioned in the past, our interests lie in “living” in the various countries from one month to four months (planned so far) allowing us to feel more like a resident than a tourist. 

We aren’t as much interested in familiar tourist attractions with long waiting lines and barking salespeople, although we will visit the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, Giza, the French Riviera, the Mayan ruins in
Belize and many more.

Although the ship has many stores offering high-end merchandise including clothing, jewelry, art, duty-free liquor, and various sundries, we are so well equipped, we don’t have a need or desire to purchase anything. 

Tom downloads the daily Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper and has many books, as do I, on the Kindle apps on our phones and computers. When not busy, we may spend an hour or two reading each afternoon.

As for the Internet, while at sea we use the ship’s pricey plan at $.24 a minute on the $399 plan, allowing each of us to stay in touch with family and friends for
about one hour per day. 

While in port, we can use the XCOM Global Wi-Fi device, which finally started working yesterday after the company’s tech support discovered they’d set up the device incorrectly for us. We are being credited for the days we were unable to connect at $14.95 a day.

In only four days, this Sunday, we’ll be seated at the bow of the ship at 4:00 or 5:00 am to get a first-hand view of the ship’s entrance into the Panama Canal, its locks and dams where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. This was our motive for selecting this particular 15-day cruise.

We’ve attended three of five aboard ship seminars thus far on its rich history, its politics, it’s culture, and its people along with the interesting story of the building of the canal. 

We were told by the presenter that this ship barely fits (by 24″ on each side) into the locks and dam system.  This will be an interesting sight to see through the 8 to 10-hour trip through the canal. Tom is excited that in
May, we’ll also cruise through the Suez Canal, another interesting bit of history we’ll also enjoy.

It all boils down to the tone of our new lives together: we’ll only experience that which appeals to us, not what a cruise ship director or travel agent may encourage us to do and not, “what everyone else may do.”  Yes, sometimes we will follow the mainstream, the crowd, doing the expected. 

More often, we’ll wander about in our own time, visiting with locals on our own schedule, living life, loving life, and enjoying this interesting end enriching time of our lives. 

All in all, cruising is expensive.  We’d budgeted $1400 for extra expenses on this cruise and no doubt we will end up in this range. That averages about $7000 for the 15 days for a daily average of $466, almost twice as much as we’ll spend on the other seven cruises we’ve booked so far.

This cruise was special as our first out of the chute as the first leg of our worldwide journey and especially meaningful to Tom, as a history buff with extensive knowledge of the Panama Canal all of which I now find fascinating. I had no idea how much he actually had already learned about the canal on his own over the years.

See…we learn new things about one another spending 24 hours a day together.  Not too bad, eh?

Footnote:  Norovirus is still raging aboard ship.  Now the waiters fill our plates in the breakfast/lunch buffet line as opposed to our scooping up our own choices. Also, a staff person stands at the entrance to every area, at each elevator, and in doorways holding huge pump bottles of hand sanitizers requiring every passer-by to partake.

In addition, we’ve been washing our hands before leaving and upon entering our cabin several times per day. We brought along 500 sanitizing wipes (having stuff pays off!) which we use to clean our phones, our mugs, and any other items we may touch. So good so far.

Cruising to Cabos San Lucas…Be there tomorrow…

To our readers:  We will be adding photos here as soon as we are near land and able to use XCOM Global Mifi device which doesn’t work away from land.  We are at sea all day today arriving in Cabo San Lucas at which time we’ll upload photos.  The cruise ship’s wireless connection is too slow at this time to upload any photos.

The Celebrity Century which we boarded yesterday in San Diego, California.
It felt as if someone had pulled the plug and I’d slithered down the drain. To say I was exhausted was an understatement. Tom was his usual perky self, ready to dance the night away.

Dining in the Grand Dining Room last night, a table for two by the window, ensconced in the gentle rolling of the ship, we found ourselves relaxed and at ease for the first time in the many months of planning our year’s long journey to see the world.

Our dietary restrictions were generously accommodated with gluten-free references to the well-appointed menu, offering a wide array of what one might consider being upscale dining. Surprised that we weren’t herded about as cattle at a buffet line, we chatted with nearby guests and teased our articulate Croatian waiter. We couldn’t wipe the smile off of our faces. 

All the while the exhaustion was creeping up on me and after our four-course dinner, capped off with a scoop of rich sugar-free vanilla ice cream, I was ready to go back to our cabin.

We’ve yet to unpack other than the items we had had in a duffle bag in San Diego, a few pairs of jeans, underwear, a small bag of toiletries, and my workout clothes. Soon, we’ll leave our “comfy chairs” in this casual dining area after a hearty breakfast and head back to our cabin to see if the overflowing toilet is repaired. Ah, so it begins? No big deal, we laughed. The toiled overflowed in Scottsdale too.

Leaving San Diego was a combination of a test of our organizational skills and our resilience to stay calm when our soon to be turned over vehicle (to son Richard who generously took it off of our hands) was so loaded with “stuff” that we had no choice but to pile luggage on my lap
on the drive to the pier. 

Some items were to be left for Richard who flew in from Las Vegas to pick up the car and my sister and her partner who drove from LA,  all of whom came to see us off at the pier. The remainder was our orange Antler luggage, two computer bags, two duffle bags, and my bulky overloaded handbag. (We “converted” Tom’s”murse” into a computer bag. Now he likes it).

Arriving at the pier to unload our bags at noon proved to be another pleasant surprise. We drove into the baggage drop off area next to the ship and in less than five minutes our bags were tagged
and hauled out the SUV by a burly porter (to whom we gave a generous tip).

In moments, we were on our way to the Fish House Restaurant less than 1/4 of a mile away to meet up with Julie, Maureen, and Richard for our final goodbyes. (We drove past the USS Midway, wishing we had time to explore. We’ll save that for another time).

Having said our goodbyes to our other three adult children, their significant others, and the six grandchildren (who Tom lovingly refers to as the “pallbearers!”) in Minnesota only two months ago and again over the phone in the past few days, we now were faced with more goodbyes. 

At 2:30 PM after entering through two relatively painless checkpoints and security, hundreds of passengers before us, we found ourselves aboard the ship.  Our luggage would be outside our door within a few hours while we were free to roam the ship after a mandatory 3:30 lifeboat training session in our designated muster station. 

I felt my heart racing for a moment when instructed as to how to wear the life vest. While
drawing a deep breath, I looked over at Tom, suddenly feeling at ease. Many years ago, he’d been a volunteer fireman having proven to be highly competent in emergencies. No doubt, he’d take good care of us.  My pulse settled down and a calm washed over me.  Everything would be OK.

Our luggage had arrived in part when we returned to our compact cabin. We were missing a bag
with all of our power cords and another with my space foam neck pillow and Tom’s unfinished bottle of Courvoisier which we had anticipated would be confiscated. 

Passengers are not allowed to bring alcohol aboard the ship which they tag to be returned upon the day of departure.  We were aware of this but it was a shame to toss a bottle of VSOP which no one we knew wanted.  Finding our way to security we discovered our two bags.  Not only was alcohol not allowed but no power strips, extension cords, and multiple adapters were allowed onboard due to a potential fire hazard. With only two electric outlets in our cabin, we knew we’d have to
improvise.

Now, we’ll return to our cabin, hopefully finding the toilet repaired. We’ll unpack our bags,
hang our fancy clothes in the shower to un-wrinkle for tonight’s formal night and find our way to begin the much-anticipated process of having fun.
Of late, many have asked us, “Are you excited yet?”
We’ll respond in unison, “This is our life now.  One doesn’t wake up every day and say they’re
excited. Some days, we’ll be excited. Some days we won’t think about it. But, most days, we’ll be happy simply being together, wherever that may be.

We survived it all..December 21 and MIFI rental for world travel…

As Tom’s three sisters and two brothers-in-law walked out the door yesterday, the day after Christmas, they asked us of we were getting excited. 

Tom, not giving me a chance to answer, chimed in, “You know what?  Jess planned all of our world travels.  And I just went along with it, figuring that the world was gonna’ end on December 21st and it wouldn’t matter.  So now, it does matter, and it’s time to start getting excited.”

We all roared with loud bursts of laughter. I had nothing more to say after that.  They were all headed back to their winter homes in Apache Junction, Arizona, and us, today back to our awaiting vacation home in Scottsdale to hook up with them again on December 30th for final goodbyes and sister Colleen’s birthday party.

Yesterday morning, we met up with my dear sister Julie and her significant other at son Richard‘s office in Henderson to have our wills and health care directives witnessed and notarized which will be secured in the family member’s hands while we travel. Yes, it was morbid doing this, but a necessary element of our travels and life itself.

Handing Julie our complete medical files put our minds at ease that should we ever need anything she’ll have it readily available. Julie like me, embroils herself in the details, making her a logical choice.  Of course, she would immediately notify all of our children if anything happened to us.

In addition, we have designated Julie as our contact person.  We will report to her with the contact information, phone numbers, and email for property owners prior to departure and arrival at each location. For instance, if we are due to arrive in France on a certain date and Julie doesn’t hear from us within 24 hours, she will immediately notify our adult children and begin the process of finding out what has transpired.  This is important.

We’ve all heard stories of travelers being kidnapped, lost in a jungle, or any other possible scenarios. It’s unlikely any of this will occur to us. In the event, an unforeseen situation does occur Julie will be highly diligent in tracking us down.

This provides all of our families with a sense of security. Although a little time consuming, it’s also a comfort to Tom and me to know that a nearly immediate effort would be instituted to “find us” if we’re missing. Julie, a TV producer, is an experienced world traveler with many worldwide contacts.  It’s logical for her to be assigned this task.  Thanks, sis!

Yesterday, we ordered our MIFI from XCOM GLOBAL that provides us with global wireless Internet access for up to five devices from a small wallet-sized device.  I’ve mentioned this many times on this blog finally placing our first order.  Pricier than we anticipated at $538 for the first month, we bit the bullet. 

The usual cost for using the device in one country is $399 a month plus shipping which may be as much as $100 each time it is shipped to us, with the high cost of international shipping.  We refused the $3.95 a month insurance for the device, at another $120 a month. 

The reason this particular first month’s rental was so high is due to the fact that we chose to try the device while cruising through the Panama Canal, which including it being set to work not only in Panama but also Mexico, Columbia, and the US while we’re in ports of call.  While at sea, it won’t work being too far from a cell tower. 

During those periods of time, we’ll use the ship’s Internet access at $395 which provides us each with one hour online per day for each of the 15 days for this first cruise.  This is expensive at $26.33 at roughly $13.17 apiece per day. 

MIFI from XCOM GLOBALalthough represented on their website that they offer unlimited access, will not allow more than 750 megabytes in any three day period.  If we do, they will turn off the system.  This allows us each 100’s of email messages per day, many more than either of us currently receive. 

We had decided that this would not be sufficient online usage for us.  We have personal business to conduct, ongoing travel research and arrangements, and of course, email messages from family and friends.  Thus, when Internet access if of poor quality or unavailable, we will order the device to be sent to us.  At this point, we anticipate using the MIFI approximately six months of the year since many vacation homes will have high-speed Internet access.

We are asking everyone to please continue to send us an email with text only beginning January 1, 2013, while we’re using the MIFI.  Receiving text-only email messages will mean “the world” to us being so far removed from everyone we know and love. Please keep the communication coming minus the videos and multiple photos.  Posting those videos and photos on Facebook will enable us to see them when we aren’t monitoring our usage.  We love hearing from you.

Today we’re heading back to Scottsdale, after more sorrowful goodbyes, for our final four days before our trip to San Diego for two more days before boarding our cruise to the Panama Canal, taking us away at long last. It’s hard to believe it’s finally only one week away. 

We have to repack all of our bags, clean our condo, finish our insurance planning, go to a birthday party, and brace ourselves for what is yet to come.                                                                                                                     

Smartphones may not be so smart for world travel…

Many months ago, while researching smart phones for world travel I discovered that no-contract unlocked phones were the way to go.  What is an unlocked phone you may ask?

An unlocked phone is a phone that doesn’t have its system locked to work only on a particular cell phone service’s network.  Thus, no contract.  However, on its own, a mobile phone won’t work.  It requires a method of receiving a signal from the towers and satellites all over the world.

That method, when one doesn’t have a mobile phone company such as Verizon, AT &T or T-Mobile, providing the signal directly to the locked phone, requires that the phone be unlocked (and set free from any service provider.) Then, it requires that a SIM card, a subscriber identity module, be installed enabling the phone to grab onto local cell signals.

In addition, each country operates their own signal on a specific band, not unlike radio signals, requiring the phone to be no less than a quad-band with frequencies that it can access bands of 850 and 1900 MHz commonly used in North America and 900 and 1800 MHz used in other parts of the world. A quad band phone can work in all of these situations.

Our plan was to buy the Nokia Lumia 920 when it hit the market this November.  Patiently, we waited.  We were sorely disappointed, last week, once we began the laborious process of searching for an unlocked version, to discover that finding it reliably unlocked was impossible. 

The only option was to buy it locked from AT & T, who has a monopoly on this model without a contract for $449 and try to find a way to unlock it ourselves since AT & T refused to unlock it for any price.

Unlocking a phone can be easy when given the proper code.  Unfortunately, due to AT & T’s pre-established criteria with Nokia, there was no readily available unlock code.  Many web sites, suspicious and otherwise, claimed that they had the code, offering to sell instructions to unlock it for prices ranging from $29.95 – $199.00. Very risky. 

Also, trying to unlock it under these questionable circumstances could result in damage to the phone rendering it useless and unable to be returned.  Very risky.  We gave up on the Nokia Lumia 920.

After no less than five visits to phone stores in the past three weeks both in Scottsdale and in Henderson, we were almost at a point of giving up being prepared to pay the horrific charges to keep the two Android phones we  currently have for international roaming charges which would be upwards of $500 a month.

Again, this morning we decided to try one more time.  We found our way to a Verizon store, saw another phone we liked that was supposedly unlocked, only available for full price (without a contract) by purchasing online from Verizon’s global department. (All along we were prepared to pay the “full price” for whatever unlocked phone we purchased.  The lower cost options are only available when one commits to a new 2 year contract with the carrier).

Returning home, we finally had an opportunity  spoke to a knowledgeable representative, who explained that the phone we in liked in the store, the LG Intuition, was CMDA, not GSM (GSM is Global System for Mobile, the international standard, required for use with SIM cards and global use). 

“Please,” I asked, “tell me which smart phones you have today that are GSM and unlocked, suitable for world travel. We are ready to purchase right now.”

With the sound of her fingers flying across her keyboard, I waited patiently, almost holding my breath.  Tom and I looked back and forth at one another, hopeful.

Moments later, she said, “Oh, you already have a GSM unlocked phone that works globally.”

WHAT???? My phone was on speaker.  Tom and I looked at each other and gasped at the same time.  We already had such a phone!  She confirmed that Tom’s 11 month old Motorola Droid Razer that  I had purchased for him last year for his birthday in December, was both CDMA and GSM, unlocked and ready for world travel.  My older Droid X was not compatible.

She proceeded to explain how to remove the Verizon SIM card and use the slot to install a micro SIM card in another country, without having a Verizon contract.  Buy one more of these, cancel our existing expired contracts before we leave the US and we’re good to go.

Moments later, we had purchased the Motorola Droid Maxx with the 8 MP camera we wanted, also unlocked, GSM, and ready to use internationally!  In two days we’ll have our new smart phone in hand, activated,  awaiting the installation of the SIM cards we are now going to find and purchase.

The day before we leave the US on January 2, 2013, we will terminate service to our phones and install our new SIM cards.  We won’t have to worry about “roaming” charges on the cruise since we won’t have a contract. 

Our smart phone technological issues are almost completely resolved. Now we begin the search for the most cost effective data and call worthy SIM card that will work seamlessly with our two phones.  Whew!

Why two smart phones when we are together 24/7?  Safety. 

If I leave Tom at home in Cajarc, France, while I walk to the health club down the road, tripping on a cobblestone street (possible) and spraining my ankle, I’ll want to be able to call Tom to come walk me home. 

Another less important reason, we both are in the habit of “playing” with our phones. When we have WiFi available, we’ll still want to play.  When WiFi is not available, we can read KINDLE or NOOK books on our phones while lounging in a lawn chair on the deck of the cruise ship neither of which require an Internet connection once the books are downloaded.

Oh, good grief!  How spoiled we are with our technology!  You may say, people traveled the world without technology for centuries.  But…were they able to upload a photo for you to see of a baby elephant walking behind its mother, holding its mother’s tail with its trunk, in a matter of seconds!

Our first hotel and restaurant review…

 

This quaint old fashioned motel, the Sandia Peak Inn Motel run by the most charming woman on the planet was well worth the $100 (plus 13% tax) nightly rate.

Halfway to Albuquerque by 1:00 pm, we searched for a hotel on my Android smart phone during the intermittent times we had a signal. Driving across the barren lands of Texas we expected to settle down for the night around 5 pm after another 525 mile day.

Only one day from Scottsdale, our destination for the next two months until we leave the US, we were pleased that we had traveled about 1300 miles in a little over two days.  

Our original plan had been to take our time getting to Scottsdale by the 4th, the day our vacation condo is ready.  On a whim, the day before we left I called Spencer, the real estate agent, asking if we could get in a day early.  We could. 
Searching for an Albuquerque hotel was slow and laborious, continually losing the connection as we traveled across Texas and New Mexico. Anxious to ensure we had a comfortable place to stay when we were able to connect, I selected an old fashioned motel a few minutes from  Highway 40 in Albuquerque’s Old Town. 

We agreed that the price of $100 for a motel, the Sandia Peak Inn Motel seemed on the high side but the reviews online were astounding, as high as a 9.5 at Trip Advisor.  We signed up online for the $100 king room.  
Delightful Kate, manager of the Sandia  Peak Inn Motel, hugged me when we checked out, moments later running out to our car to hand us a crisp red apple along with well wishes.
No words can describe the delightful property manager Kate, other than “wow.”  She couldn’t do enough for us!  Her charming demeanor and concern for our comfort reminding me of times past.  
The adorable motel and our king room, not a disappointment in any manner, was reminiscent of the 50’s and yet updated with modern conveniences including HD TV, working wireless Internet and a newer over-sized Jacuzzi tub . Our room was spotless, spacious and comfortable. We couldn’t stop smiling over this surprising find. My painful shoulder thanked the Jacuzzi.
Starved by the time we were situated, Kate recommended a Mexican restaurant that we hesitated to consider, based on it’s 9.5 miles from the motel.  She insisted we wouldn’t be disappointed. Easy to locate using “Maps.” we found our way there in less than 15 minutes.  

Kate was right. Garduno’s of Mexico, Restaurant and Cantina was exactly what we needed; an extraordinary environment, fresh succulent Mexican fare, cold beer, and yes, we cheated…all you can eat  homemade crispy corn tortilla chips with lip puckering salsa.  

The atmosphere was astounding, a cleverly designed replica of a Mexican restaurant in a warehouse district with high ceilings and a tasteful decor.  The servers, although busy, were pleasant and knowledgeable about the menu, doing their best to accommodate their multiple tables, mostly occupied by seniors, like us.  

Us old-timers can be quite demanding at times. Tom and I made a pact to make every effort to be gracious wherever we may be, the US or abroad.  The old stereotype of the “ugly American” will not apply to us!

Determined to stay as close to our limited diets as possible, I ordered the shrimp fajitas, skipping the tortilla.  Although I don’t normally eat starchy foods, after a few handful of chips and a cold light beer, my reserve went out the window resulting in my devouring half of the re-fried beans.  It was well worth it!
My fajitas dinner minus the tortilla. Fabulous!

Tom had the tender pot roast stuffed corn tacos, although “Mr. Picky” won’t eat Mexican beans or rice.  What a waste.

After a good night’s sleep in the comfortable king bed, we decided to hit the road early this morning while it was still dark.  

An hour into the drive on Highway 40 we were rerouted to famous Route 66, when a tanker truck overturned ahead of us spewing a dark cloud of some toxic chemical requiring  Hazmat trucks, fire trucks, police cars and ambulances speeding to the scene.  Luckily, we made it safely out of the area with only a half hour delay.

Another productive day of driving behind us, we made it to Scottsdale around 2:00 PM.  We were confused about the time change, referring to our phones for accuracy.  Arizona, (most of it) does not acknowledge Daylight Savings time.

There’s a one hour time difference between New Mexico and Arizona. Plus, the clocks change tonight but, not here in Scottsdale.  In our tired condition, it was difficult to figure out the time. We’ll go with whatever our phones say in the morning.

The last time we changed clocks was the first time I wrote this blog, March 14, 2012.  If you’ve yet to read from this blog from beginning, this date is listed in the archives on the right side of this page.  
Contained in those archives since March 14th, we share with our readers the long process of getting to this point. Today, we are exactly two months from the date of January 3, 2013 when we officially leave the US.  

I deleted the Retirement Countdown Free app on my phone.  We no longer are counting the hours, the days, the weeks and the months.  Every moment will be treasured now that we are free, together at long last.