The Prelude

30/10/07     It is now only 286 days (40weeks and 6 days) till we leave Brisbane on QF175 for Los Angeles.

Since our Sun Princess Cruise was cancelled and we were able to transfer to the Dawn Princess Cruise, San Francisco to Sydney, the last 6 months have been busy.  We have worked out our pre-cruise itinerary, booked accommodation and rental cars etc.

It was a bonus to be able to book all our flights using our frequent flyers points and with the added luxury of travelling in business class from Brisbane.  Our flights over were booked on Friday night 24 August 2007 exactly 11 ½ months before we leave Brisbane for the USA.

Reg booked these on line and we were both so excited that he was able to get us in Business Class.  We are in Row 1 J and K. This is at the front of the plane on the RHS.

Our American Airline flights were able to be booked 11 months out and we will be flying from Las Vegas to Buffalo, New York City to Indianapolis and Indianapolis to San Francisco all via Chicago.  So fingers crossed all our luggage stays with us.

Once we get to Buffalo we have a limo booked to pick us up from the airport and take us to our hotel in Niagara Falls, Canada.  The limo with also pick us up at the end of our stay and take us to Depew Train Station to catch our train to New York City.  This should be a very relaxing day and a way of seeing a little of the countryside without the stress of driving.  We will have our own compartment with fold down bed, toilet facilities and it includes meals.

To date this has been an amazing experience and very exciting organising everything ourselves.

02/04/08     Oh my goodness it is now only 131 days till we leave.  Time has really been flying by and we have a lot more of our plans in place as well.  The exchange rate has also been excellent and we have had the opportunity to purchase US dollars as well as travel cards in both US and New Zealand currencies.

Today I found our gifts for the Gift Exchange for our first Meet and Mingle of our Cruise Critic Roll Call Group which is being held the first full sea day.  I found CC thanks to a friend and it is a forum which deals in cruises on every ship and shipping line.  It has been a wealth of information and friendships are being forged online.

I have also organised a group rate for us at the Chancellor Hotel on Union Square in San Francisco and we have 21 rooms booked.  As well as this I have a shuttle booked to take 34 of us to Pier 35 on 24 September to board the beautiful Dawn Princess. 

05/05/08     3 months and 2 weeks and we will be flying to LA.  Tickets are now booked for Hearst Castle Tour, Empire State Building, Cher Concert in the Colosseum at Caesar’s Hotel, The Lion King at Minskopf Theatre on Broadway. 3 hour Circle Island Cruise and a 2 hour City Lights Cruise around Manhattan, Hop on Hop Off Bus and Muir Woods and Winery Tour.

I am working with Kathy, from our roll call, in organising a dinner at the Butterfly Restaurant for 23 September in San Francisco.

We are sharing the hire of a car in Honolulu with Tanya and Kevin and Kathy and Dennis from our CC roll call. 

In Bora Bora we are doing a tour with Stephane, which Kathy has organised, to swim with the rays and sharks.  I think Reg and I might stay in the boat but it will be awesome to see it all.

 17/05/08     Today we met Maurice and Mark who will be cruising with us on the Dawn Princess.  They stopped in to see us while they were staying overnight in Brisbane before heading home to Sydney.  We had a great afternoon with lots of talk about cruising of course.  There were lots of laughs and a couple of glasses of ‘bubbles’ all around.  They are going to be great fun on our trip.

We will be sharing the hire of a van with them, their friends Lyndon and Graham and Tanya and Kevin in Papeete, Tahiti.  The tour is with Carl of Carl’s Tours and for a 3 hour tour it is $US150 which will make it quite inexpensive for 8 people.

9/07/08  It is now only 4 wees and 5 days till we leave and the excitement is building for us.  I have gone over our paperwork to make sure it is all in order.  I am sure I will be doing this a few more times before we leave.

Over a week ago I found that some of our flights with American Airlines hand changed.  This is not a big drama although it now only gives us 35 minutes between arriving in Chicago from New York and getting our connection to Indianapolis.  I am sure that will give us some fun and games on the day.  At least we arrive and leave from the same terminal at O’Hare so with a little bit of luck the arrival and departure gates will be close together.  Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about our luggage as that will be checked right through to Indianapolis.

 2/08/08   Today was my last day at work and I am now on holidays for 13 weeks.  Yippee.  It was a great feeling when I left today knowing I had such a great holiday coming up.  I was so excited all day that it was very difficult to stay focused on the job I had to do.

Reg is also very excited and so looking forward to our trip.  He will be home from work on Thursday afternoon.

3/08/08   Only 8 sleeps till we leave now.  It seems quite surreal that after 2 years of planning the time to leave is nearly here.I packed our carryon bag and did a test weight – oops it was 9.8kg and just a little overweight.  Have to get it down to 7kgs for Qantas.  I have resorted it and put a lot of our paperwork into our laptop carryons and there are a few things which can go in our checked luggage.  So another weigh in and it was down to 7.6kg so it is getting closer to the mark now.  I will repack again and again till I get it right.

Over the next couple of days I will start packing our clothes and then see how their weight comes up.  With Qantas we can have 2 bags at 32kg each but we have to bear in mind that American Airlines has a weight limit of 23kg per bag.

Also American Airlines, like the other US airlines, have all brought in charges for checked baggage.  They used to allow 2 checked bags at 23kg per bag for free.  You can still check 2 bags but now they charge $US15 each way for the first one and $US25 each way for the second one.

When I read the fine print we are hopeful that as we organised our tickets so long ago they will not try and charge us for the 1^st bag each and if we do have a 2^nd one then Reg’s Gold Qantas Frequent Flyers (= Oneworld Sapphire) should exempt us from the charge for that bag.  Fingers crossed anyway that it will all be smooth sailing and we won’t be charged as we have six flights with American Airlines.

4/08/08   7 sleeps to go now.  I have spent the day trying to do all the running around I need to do so I can spend my days  packing and doing the last minute tidy up at home.

7/08/08   4 sleeps.  The last few days have been spent tidying up last minute items.  Yesterday I spent the better part of the day packing our suitcases so we are now all nearly ready to go.  Just need to go back over the packing and put in shoes and some odds and ends.  I have to say that even for all the excitement of our trip the packing is not one of the most enjoyable tasks.  I guess it should be fun, as it just brings the holiday that much closer, but it is just decisions, decisions and more decisions on what we must have, need and really don’t need.  Guess I have probably packed too much as usual so will have to go through it again and see what really isn't necessary

Reg arrived back, from work, this afternoon and he is so happy to be on holidays and so excited about our holiday.  Come to think of it this will be the longest that either of us has been absent from work.  Oh what a great feeling it is too. 

9/08/08   2 sleeps.  Well we are packed and weighed and all is well as the 2 main bags came in around 16-17kg each.  Phew we have room for quite a bit of stuff which is good.  Look out shops here we come. 

The rest of the weekend will be for a little bit of house tidying and relaxation.  Definitely nothing too stressful we don’t want to wear ourselves out before we leave.

Tomorrow we are having lunch with my son and his family and will also see how the house they are building is coming along.  Unfortunately I will be away for my granddaughter’s sixteenth birthday later this month.

10/08/08  1 sleep  Last night we had some farewell drinks with our very good friends Shaz & Phil.  Played some pool and had an enjoyable evening.  We will miss you while we are gone and I look forward to cruising with you both in January.  Dare I say that Reg was a little worse for wear this morning.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch at Botanix, at Wellington Point, with Kim & Steve, Robert, Allison, Tayla and Cassidy.  Thank you so much for our going away gift it was such a lovely thought and we will enjoy spending it.

Website Software by PersonalWebKit