Here we are…well into 2017 with our next cruise all but imminent. April 24th can’t come soon enough but as we all know, as soon as an adventure begins, it also begins to end. That may well be the case (in fact, there’s even a song about beginnings that are endings – just ask Roger Whittaker) but it is not going to diminish the anticipation.
The decision was made to try something completely different with this excursion. Rather than fly in the day (or two or three) before, we’re going to fly in the same day as the ship leaves. Are we really trying to live dangerously? Is saving some money worth the potential of knowing the cruise is starting without us because we’re late due to some unforeseen circumstance?
Yeah…why not? 🙂 In truth the real risk is minimal. Our plane leaves home at midnight…ish and we arrive in Fort Lauderdale by 11 AM. It’s less than an hour to the Port of Miami (embarkation point) and the ship is scheduled to leave at 6 PM. So…7 hours to make a one hour trip. Should almost be able to WALK that far in that time (and we all know how likely ~that~ is to happen).
Another first for us is sailing with a different cruise line. Our fondness and continued enjoyment has always been with Princess (and our next one is, again, with Princess). This time, however, we are going with Celebrity. Why the change of heart?
Every once in awhile, despite your best efforts, a deal comes along that you just can’t pass up. Cruising (at least for us) is a wonderful way to see the world. It does have certain costs that come with it though and they can get substantial. Some can be minimized, some cannot and some can be avoided all together. Occasionally they can all turn into freebies. 🙂 Without going into a lot of detail, suffice it to say we got a deal on the room to begin with, and so much after that was free it would have easily increased the cost by 75%. And we wouldn’t have bothered with some of it simply due to the cost. So…Reader’s Digest version, keep a Very Watchful eye open for deals. They really do happen.