European Cruise Countdown: 27 Days

Deciding to go on the cruise was the easy part. Arranging vacation time for more than 2 weeks required more dexterity though I managed somehow. Pleading, puppy dog eyes and tiniest bit of whining helps. Out of the 15 days of vacation time I’ve saved, I’m blowing off 13 of them for this cruise.

The hardest part by far was committing to parting with a couple of grand each. Angie and I have good jobs. We can technically “afford” the trip, but still it stings. I foresee lots of ramen noodle lunches in our future. The original pricing we got from Princess was around $3,500 each. $1,807 for cruise only for an interior cabin and $1,639 for the airfare from California to Barcelona. Adding in taxes and transfers upped the cost even more.

Given no other choice, we would have gritted our teeth and paid the bill but thank goodness for the Internet.

Near the beginning of our planning, my cohort had found a website for American Way Travel that offered a considerable discount for cruise only: $1,189. I hestiated to contact them though because their sparse website didn’t exactly instill confidence. I admit it, I’m shallow and paranoid. With good reason though since the Net is rife with individuals who will scam the dentures from your mouth if allowed the opportunity. (http://www.419eater.com/ is an illustrative example of the net’s underbelly) The fact that the company claimed to be a member of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) didn’t really assuage my fears. I seriously doubt the CLIA will refund over $2,000 if things go south. Mistrust of bureaucracy is a natural tangent of paranoia, by the way.

The traditional travel agents we contacted weren’t able to offer enough of a discount—at the most, only $150 each. We just went round and round trying to find the best price. I must have called Princess every day testing if corporations could suddenly get amnesia. Unfortunately, they don’t I learned. Finally, frugalness won out over paranoia and I called American Way Travel. I chatted with a pleasant lady by the name of Marissa and that was enough to convince me to take a leap of faith. There were several things that convinced me. One, they promised to give booking numbers right away. Two, they declined to arrange the airfare, because they only did cruises. If they were shady, I’d think they’d want to make even more money. Third, they quoted airfare and transfer prices that were consistent with my research. And, lastly, they were located in West Lake Village, California. For two thousand dollars, heck ya, Angie and I were totally gonna drive down there and mess their shit up. Of course we’d never actually do it since we’re mild-mannered wimps, but appreciated having the option of doing so if we ever grew the balls.

In the end, they are legit. Princess sent our welcome packet a week ago and they money we saved made the price more palatable, if not exactly cheap.

Did I mention that I LOVE the Internet and it’s the greatest invention EVAH?

European Cruise Countdown: 28 Days

If ever a situation more aptly described the idiom "Ants in your pants" than the painful wait marking the 28 days until my Princess Mediterranean cruise, I don't know it. (Okay, I know of one, but like the MPAA I'm rated G) The slow fluttering that starts the minute you've booked your cruise that just doesn't subside, but builds to a persistent itch. One tries to resist, remain calm and affect a nonchalant veneer. But, in the end, the ITCH wins and one gives in to compulsion to research every minute detail, plan every possible contingency, have conniption fits over every possible thing that could go wrong, camp out at Cruise Critic forums and retread cruise topics with friends and family until they want to throttle you. (They are, of course, just jealous that they aren't going too your inner voice purrs) Scratching is bad for you, of course, because it just increases the anticipation level in a self perpetuating cycle. But, ahhhhhhh….it feels sooooo good…to scratch. This blog is my scratch.

My best friend, Angie, and I have yammered about cruising to Europe since 2004 after a whirlwind China land tour of 10 cities in 12 days proved that we could share a small space without killing each other. Being young and poor, we didn't have the money or enough vacation time and life just got in the way. She got a new job, I was a workaholic, I quit my job, she got another new job, I got a new job, I almost got married, I came to my senses, we both started to save for our own house, a lot of things conspired to keep us grounded. Eventually, after a series of false starts we consigned ourselves to looking at picture books at Borders and pretending that Starbucks is authentic Italian coffee. Then, just a few weeks ago, I had finished my last project at my new job and realized that I had no due dates until November. I basically emailed her with a "Sup, Europe?" and within a week, bam!, we'd booked the August 28, 2008 Emerald Princess Grand Mediterranean cruise leaving from Barcelona and the flights.

We are still young, 28, and poor, but ain't nothing gonna keep us down now. Er, we paid for nonrefundable cruise and air. We are thoroughly Chinese, 'nuff said.