FIVE DAYS TO GO

After months of planning, we’re just two days away from leaving for Los Angeles on Thursday, January 17^th, for our embarkation on the Pacific Princess on Sunday, January 20^th.  We’re most fortunate to be able to enjoy another 111-day World Cruise.  Our first was in 2016 and, although we had booked the WC for 2018, we realized that the itinerary was the same and didn’t think that made any sense.  When we learned that we’d be going to Africa this time (instead of through the Middle East and the Mediterranean), we decided, “Let’s do it.” 

We’re all packed with much too much luggage, as usual, but that’s just the way it is.  I’ve given up worrying about it.  For 3 ½ months, there are so many things that we take for granted being at home, that, at least for me, I must have my creature comforts.  We’ve already taken two suitcases down to Los Angeles when we visited Michael’s brother and sister-in-law before Christmas.  We’ll have four more suitcases that also contain storage cubes, hangers for multiple pairs of pants, pillows, a 24-slot hanging shoe bag which will hang over the bathroom door, etc. Although we were fortunate to get a mini-suite this time, the closet space is still miniscule and, although we have pictures of the mini-suites on the Pacific Princess, we’re not positive how much drawer space will be available, hence the storage cubes that we’ll use for our gym clothing, etc.  We left similar hangers and shoe bag, etc. with our waiter last time so we’ll have plenty of space in our luggage for “souvenirs” and other purchases. 

I sent three boxes of what I call “mass quantities” to my in-laws in Los Angeles, including two large tins of freeze-dried blueberries, 24 cans of coconut milk (enough for 75 breakfasts), tubes of toothpaste, bottles of hand soaps, shower gels and mouthwash, bottles of vitamins (we have 444 Vitamin C capsules, just as an example), little packets of instant Hazelnut coffees I love, and 400 packets of Stevia (I have no idea why Princess hasn’t switched to or included Stevia in its offerings, but they still offer chemicals like Splenda and Equal).  I had my list of consumables from 2016, so I didn’t need to spend a whole lot of time counting and guessing, just purchasing.  I knew exactly how much of everything I needed from the last time.  

This time around, we needed visas from Australia, Sri Lanka and Brazil.  There are other countries we’ll be visiting that require visas, but the ship will take care of those so I erase all that from my brain, having enough to think about.  Australia’s visa is really simple.  It can be done online and costs $14.00 pp.  Sri Lanka Tourist ETA can be obtained online for free but is good for only two days and can’t be obtained more than 90 days before arrival.  I completed the process in late-December because we’ll be in Sri Lanka March 14^th. 

At first, Brazil seemed a little trickier and I thought, maybe, I’d need to go through a third party as I’d done for India three years ago at a very steep price for a short visit to the country.  After going to Brazil’s website, I discovered we qualified for an online eVisa at a minimal cost of $44.24 pp, rather than the hundreds of dollars I spent on India’s visa three years ago. 

 

We’re visiting Thailand and Kuala Lumpur (but not Hong Kong) this time.  I want to see the Batu Caves in KL and my travel agent, Carolyn at Tempo Travel Group, was able to secure for us a 6-hour private tour that will pick us up at the port, take us to the Batu Caves, where we can spend whatever time we want/need, take us to the City and deliver us back to the ship.  This is our first time using an outside company for an excursion and, although I’ve always been hesitant to go that route, opting, instead, for Princess excursions because of timing issues (if you’re not back in time from a private tour, the ship can leave without you), I’m confident this one will work out because there is no time crunch; we get in so early and don’t leave KL until 7 p.m. They’ll pick us up at 9.am. and deliver back to the ship by 3 p.m.  Most importantly, knowing Carolyn will be checking our arrival, etc. and staying in touch with us and the KL tour people prior to our arrival, has eased my mind considerably.  I was also concerned about Princess’s excursion to the Batu Caves because it just didn’t give us enough time to get off the bus, walk up 100+ steps, view the site, walk down the stairs and get back on the bus.  Plus, we weren’t interested in a museum that was part of the excursion.  So, I’ll let you know how all this works out but I’m confident we’re going to have a great time on our private tour.

I don’t get too concerned about foreign currency because it’s usually available on the ship and we’ve been lucky using our credit cards.  I did, however, get Malaysian ringgits, for our tour guide, and South African rands because we’ll be in that country for five days, including an overnight safari. 

Perhaps I should but I don’t worry about inoculations, etc. when we’re traveling. We’re in one port for such a short period of time and we’ve never had a problem. We did, however, take typhoid pills this time and we have malaria pills for our travels in Africa.   

So, here we are - January 15^th - with very few items left on my “to do list.”  Shut off washer and dryer, cancel Netflix, re-arrange contacts on our home alarm system and give our mail carrier our change of address card.  That’s about it.  

I’ll be posting articles whenever I get a good connection on land.  You can check out our Ship’s bridge cam on princess.com - click on “onboard our ships” - “bridge cams” and then “Pacific Princess.”