FANTASY CRUISES: Part 1

Happy Father's Day!  Or should this be Fathers' or Fathers?  The traditional spelling is Father's because this day belongs to fathers as individuals as they relate to his family.

Today is also Juneteenth, and people living in 18 states will have a holiday tomorrow.  What is this day all about?  Read about the birthplace, Galveston, Texas.

I retired from the University of Hawaii in 1999.  My wife passed away a decade later after we had an enjoyable period of traveling and not doing much, except I did write three books, and decided to save Humanity and Planet Earth through my daily blog from 2008, which continues today as you see here.  I sometimes wonder if I would have been happier retiring at sea, instead of a seniors' community?  I don't think so, but would have considered doing that a few years ago before I moved into 15 Craigside, and had a lot more money. 

But I have a continuing interest in the sea, so as an extravagance and splurge, I found a travel mate to join me on a global cruise, which should have left earlier this year.  Why splurge?  Because I am tied down with a monthly fee of $5200 whether I'm here or not.  Fortunately enough the pandemic postponed that adventure, which was a blessing because I saved $20,000 by not going.  More importantly, we purchased a beverage package that allowed unlimited drinks.  Having this recent Pride of America cruise experience of only seven days, where we averaged around 10 drinks/day, I would not today be alive because that global cruise of 111 days had a limit of 15 drinks/day.

Today I will begin a two-part fantasy cruise series, leading with a cheap way to go around the world.  Later this week Part 2 will interest some of you into splendid retirement on a cruise ship.  These postings are for dreamers who enjoy fantasizing about something they probably won't do.  Start with a video on nine dirt-cheap cruise secrets to sail for less $$$.

Using some of those hints, one couple did find an economical way to travel around the world, a trip package that would have scared me even when I was more adventurous a long time ago.  All the following came from a 2018 article by John Widmer entitled:  How We Afforded a Cheap Cruise Entirely Around the World with These Travel Tricks.

• 
  He started by citing that you can swoon over the 117-day Regent world cruise, where the cheapest cabin is $124,998.  Then says, forget about this one.  But for those few so rich, everything on that cruise is accordingly free, including 324 shore excursions.

• 
  Found the Costa Luminosa 112-night trip, $29,012 for two.  When you add gratuities, cocktails, visas and travel insurance, the cost jumps to $40,000, but not including how to get to the departing port, Venice, from Halifax where they lived.  This  $179/person/day for a four month cruise he thought was too expensive for them.

• 
  So he searched for a way to get down to $60/day by stitching together several repositioning cruises, citing the Norwegian epic from Barcelona to Florida at $529/person for a two week cruise, or $38/person/day, as just one example.

• Using this patchwork method they were able to live the life of Phileas Fogg and Passepartout:
• Left Halifax and returned home in 300, not 80 days.

• Visited 22 countries and 100 cities plus 35 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
• Slept in 74 beds.

🚆 71 trains,
🚌 52 buses,
⛴️ 11 ferries + 1 river cruise,
🚗 7 rental cars,
🚕 6 long-distance taxis, and
🚢 4 ocean cruise ships

Highlights during the 10-month trip around the world included:

 Tidal Bore Rafting Across the Most Extreme Tides in the World
 Hiking among Moose in the Canadian Wilderness
 Lobstering in Prince Edward Island
 Taking the Amtrak Empire Builder Across the US
 Cruising through Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park
 Exploring Japan’s Most Atmospheric Ancient Temples
 Hiking Japan’s Ancient Komono Kodo Pilgrimage Route
 Eating Everything in Japan
 Skiing on Downhill Olympic Ski Runs in South Korea
 Attending a local Ice Fishing Festival (and actually catching!)
 Venturing to the DMZ at the North Korea Border 
 Finding Ourselves All Alone at a Remote Section of the Great Wall of China
 Taking a River Cruise Down the Yagtze
 Hiking Across the Fabled Avatar Mountains
 Floating on a Junk Boat Through Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay
 Relaxing on a Tropical Thai Beach
 Experiencing the Wonderful Culture Shock that Incredible India Delivers
 Roaming around Desert in Oman
 Cruising Through the Suez Canal
 Hiking from Seaside Village to Village in Cinque Terre
 Learning Just How Delicious Fresh Pasta in Italy Is
 Trekking the Swiss Alps
 Drinking Champagne within France’s Champagne Region
 Cycling to a Remote Belgian Monastery to Seek the World’s Best Beer
 Pub Crawling around London‘s River Thames on a Sunny Day
🌊 Taking the Inaugural Cruise on the Brand New Norwegian Bliss to Complete Our Journey

• 
  Heck of a fabulous series of experiences, but not my idea of a comfortable global cruise.
• Said drinks on cruises were too expensive, but some cruises allow you to bring on board your own wine.  A very few do, but get your money in other ways like corkage/bottle they find on you.  While I of course can't condone these methods, although I've tried them, as cruise drink prices are astronomical, here are 15 ways you can sneak alcohol on to a cruise ship.  If caught, they don't throw you into their brig or fine you.  You lose a lot of face, but they only confiscate them, returning everything back to you at the end of cruise.  Then he said that there were long periods of no alcohol, which was good for their liver.  That I can appreciate.
• When on land they usually ate cheap food, getting by on $22/person/day, but with some binges in a few European countries.

• They were also frugal about accommodations, averaging $39.26/night, mostly using Agoda for reservations.

• 
  But.... some budget hotels indeed lived up to their meager reputations, as we occasionally experienced cold showers, spotty wifi, and lumpy mattresses. 
• I can't imagine this happening to me, but he said that whenever the cheapest hotels exceeded $50 per night, we almost always found other great places to stay for significantly less by using Airbnb.

• 
  Their best hotel was a Four Points by Sheraton, for $151/night.  This is Marriott/Sheraton's budget dump.
• Cheapest was the Yangshuo Wada in China for $13.12/night.

• 
  Love hotels in South Korea were a bargain, and they had interesting amenities.  Watch a video of what one looks like.
• Avoided cruise tours, and why when you can catch a $2 bus.
• The best natural sights were all free.
• Ship entertainment was terrific and free.
• They paid $25 for a burlesque show onboard, but this came with 5 craft cocktails.

• 
  Bullet trains were too expensive in Japan, so they caught the bus and regional trains.

• 
  Recommended booking cruises way in advance.  
• One example is their Celebrity Millennium from Hong Kong to Singapore, where they got a rate of $883 with prepaid gratuities. Two days later that cruise price shot up to $2,500.
• On your computer, bookmark cruise fare pages and do a 1-minute morning routing to how rates change, like a spreadsheet.
• Be aware of the cancellation period.
• The best cruise is the cheapest one.
• T-mobile phone data plan includes unlimited 2G worldwide coverage for $2/day.
• 
  Go west, for you'll have 24 nights in which you get an extra hour of sleep.
• Get travel insurance.  World Nomads recommended.  Cost them $320/person.
• Don't travel alone to avoid single supplements.
• Favorite search site was VacationsToGo.

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• These are the cruises they took:

• So the total cost per person for 300 days was $19,000, or $63/day:

• 
  Well, not quite, for they redeemed points and travel credits, plus used a Capital One Venture credit card, which earned them 2% so that they actually only spent $18,500/person, or $60/person/day.
• And got an around the world trip of a lifetime.
• And they spent so much on certain segments, so this can be done much cheaper with better timing.

This is an amazing article.  If you have any interest in a cheap around the world trip, read it.  Not for me.

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