 |
||
Tom, looking good with his recent haircut and, of course, always with a smile on his face.
|
Every few days, Tom checks prices on cruises we’ve booked. A cruise booking benefit provided to US citizens (may not apply to citizens of other countries) is as follows:
If a price drop occurs before the final payment’s due date (90 days before the cruise sail date), we can ask that the price be dropped to the new pricing on multiple occasions. If the price increases at any time before final payment, it has no bearing on our final price.
 |
| Entrance to Jardin Botanico. No entrance fees are charged. |
However, a stipulation on this benefit is that we are responsible for discovering these price drops. Subsequently, almost daily, Tom checks prices online for all cruises we’ve booked, searching one by one. Doing so has saved us thousands of dollars over these past five years.
 |
| A map was posted with the layout of the triangular facility. |
Yesterday, while he was searching for price drops, he noticed a newly posted cruise: Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas, April 26, 2019, a transatlantic crossing with an almost identical itinerary to the cruise we booked a few days ago, with a slight difference in dates and number of sailing days at considerably lower pricing.
 |
| A few remaining flowers blooming late in the season. |
Immediately, he got to work to contact Vacations to Go to book this particular cruise based on two pertinent facts that particularly appealed to us: one; we’d be able to stay in Minnesota with family for four more nights going from 13 nights to 17 nights and; two, we’d save a considerable sum.
 |
| A garden of stock-type plants. |
In doing so, we eliminate the necessity of staying in Amsterdam for 11 nights. Instead, we’ll be staying three nights which is plenty of time to spend in the big city. Based on research we’d done, it would be costly to stay in Amsterdam for the prior extended period.
 |
| A statue of Julius Caesar. |
Here are the changes we made yesterday:
Originally booked cruise:
Celebrity Reflection 4/22/2019 – 5/6/2019
$4,497.10 (inc tax, no tips, no perks) (ARS 84,892)
$150 (ARS 2,832) cabin credit
Change to a different cruise:
RC Serenade of the Seas 4/26/2019 – 5/12/2019
$2,806.32 (inc. tax, no tips, no perks) (ARS 52,975)
$325 (ARS 6135) cabin credit
Includes two extra nights
Four additional nights in Minnesota:
4/8/2019 – 4/25/2019
 |
| We didn’t enter the information building. |
Savings differences:
Difference between cost of two cruises: $1,698.78 (ARS 32,068)
Difference cabin credit: $175 (ARS 3,283)
Total savings: $1,865.78 (ARS 35,220)
As a result of these changes, we’ve adjusted the itinerary we posted on January 3, 2018, as follows. To avoid confusion for those that closely follow our itinerary, we felt it was important to post the revisions as shown below:
| Location | Days | Dates |
| Buenos Aires – Prodeo Hotel |
20*
|
12/23/2017 – 1/23/2018 |
| Ushuaia – Ushuaia – Antarctica Cruise |
16
|
1/23/2018 – 2/8/2018 |
| Buenos Aires – Prodeo Hotel |
2
|
2/8/2018 – 2/10/2018 |
| Marloth Park, South Africa |
89
|
2/11/2018 – 5/11/2018 |
| Zambezi River Cruise – Victoria Falls |
8
|
5/11/2018 – 5/19/2018 |
| Marloth Park, South Africa |
89
|
5/19/2018 – 8/16/2018 |
| Uganda – See gorillas, Visit “Cradle of Mankind” in SA |
7
|
8/16/2018 – 8/23/2018 |
| Marloth Park, South Africa |
89
|
8/23/2018 – 11/20/2018 |
| Mozambique, Africa (get visa stamped) |
1
|
11/20/2018 -11/21/2018 |
| Marloth Park, South Africa |
89
|
11/21/2019 – 2/17/2019 |
| Valparaiso, Chili |
36
|
2/17/2019 – 3/24/2019 |
| Cruise – San Antonio, Chili – San Diego |
14
|
3/24/2019 – 4/8/2019 |
| San Diego – fly to Minnesota – Family Visit |
17
|
4/8/2019 – 4/25/2019 |
| Cruise – Fort Lauderdale to Copenhagen |
16
|
4/26/2019 – 5/12/2019 |
| Ireland – rent country house – research Tom’s ancestry |
90
|
5/12/2019 – 8/9/2019 |
| Amsterdam – (wait for upcoming cruise) – hotel stay |
3
|
8/9/2019 – 8/11/2019 |
| Cruise, Baltic – Amsterdam to Amsterdam |
12
|
8/11/2019 – 8/23/2019 |
| England – rent countryside house |
62
|
8/23/2019 – 10/24/2019 |
| Southampton to Fort Lauderdale |
15
|
10/24/2019 – 11/8/2019 |
| Las Vegas, NV – Los Angeles, CA – Scottsdale, AZ |
25
|
11/8/2019 – 12/3/2019 |
| Ecuador – Galapagos – Rent vacation home |
89
|
12/3/2019 – 3/01/2020 |
| Peru – Machu Picchu – Rent holiday homes, visit site |
30
|
3/1/2020 – 3/31/2020 |
| The Pantanal/Amazon River Cruise – Brazil (2 cruises) |
30
|
3/31/2020 – 4/30/2020 |
| Number of days |
852
|
*When we prepared this itinerary on January 3, 2018, we had 20 remaining nights during the first stay at the Prodeo Hotel in Buenos Aires until we depart for the Antarctica cruise on January 23rd. We have 16 nights remaining until we depart, but we chose not to change the published itinerary reflecting this difference.
 |
| An alternate view of the information center. |
Yesterday, we went sightseeing to the Carlos Thays Botanical Garden, a 10-minute taxi ride from our hotel. The cab fare was a paltry US $3.22 (ARS 60), but we walked back to the hotel on the perfect weather day with brilliant sunshine and temperatures around 72F (22C).
 |
| A statue of a wild dog nursing two human babies. This statue depicts the Roman mythological story of Romulus and Remus. |
The season of flowers blooming was late for the botanical garden since it’s mid-summer here now. However, we were able to take many good photos of plants, trees, and a few remaining blooming flowers.
 |
| Unknown pods preparing to bloom. |
We walked through the garden for a few hours. The garden is located in the city, and the 17 acres triangle-shaped facility was surrounded by busy roads on all sides, making our long walk a bit noisy. Nonetheless, we had a pleasant stroll through the property, leaving with many good photos.
 |
| Small flowers in a garden patch. |
After leaving the botanical garden, we decided to walk the busy streets of an area of Palermo we’d yet to see. The hustle and bustle of Saturday shoppers and a handful of tourists filled the sidewalks and roads. We had to carefully watch where we were walking due to the uneven pavement.
 |
| Bamboo tree. |
After walking for some time, we took a side street to head back to our neighborhood, an hour-long walk. It felt good to be out and about in the fresh air, away from our laptops, after staying indoors in the comfortable lobby of the pleasing hotel where we’ve worked for many days on future planning.
 |
| A decorative pond with a statue. |
By 6:00 pm, we headed out to dinner. We found yet another restaurant we’d yet to try. (Only one repeat thus far). I had a glass of Malbec (wine), and Tom had a few beers. By 9:00 pm, we were back in our room to relax and read for a few hours. It was a great day, especially after we had the opportunity to extend our time in Minnesota with family and also save a good sum in the process.
 |
| These purple flowers, Agapanthus, looked familiar, and we remembered there were blooming wildly in New Zealand when we arrived in January 2016. Thanks to friend Louise in Kauai for once again being a great resource for names of flowers, trees, and birds! |
Next week, we’ll head out for more sightseeing. For now, we’ll be sharing photos over the next several days from yesterday’s outing. As I sit here in the lobby now well afternoon, Tom is wearing his earbuds while watching football on his laptop as we fast approach the time for Super Bowl. With the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs, he is interested in how the competing teams are doing.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more. We look forward to “seeing you” then. Have a wonderful day, wherever you may be.
Photo from one year ago today, January 7, 2017:
 |
| We saw Meerkats at a rescue center in Tasmania. These adorable creatures are marsupials in the mongoose family. For more details, please click here. |