Two to Travel Goes ...: October 2016

Jackets … a RTW Perk

Monday, 31 October 2016
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas

Sixty-seven days … that’s how long we have to wait to board Insignia for the adventure-of-a-lifetime. The days are flying … shopping for things we plan to take … making lists of things we want to pack … finalizing sightseeing plans … updating notes for easy reference … and more.

I got an email from Connie today. She was forwarding an order form from Oceania for the jackets O will be gifting the RTWers. Well, gift might be a misnomer … I’m sure the cost is included in the fare we paid … just like all the other perks. Previous RTWers have mentioned that the jacket is nicely made … white, with an O logo on the front and a RTW designation on the sleeve. Will ours be the same? We’ll have to wait to embark Insignia to find out. In the meantime, as requested, we took our measurements and emailed the order form back to O today.

They Are Baaaack … India Visa ✔

Monday, 24 October 2016
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas

“They” being our passports, of course.

We were told it would take about three weeks to process the visas. But today, just two weeks after we shipped our passports off to CIBT, we had them returned to us … with the all important India visas affixed. No re-do necessary … yay!

I’m not sure why I was so concerned about this particular visa application. Perhaps it was because I kept hearing how the Brits may have invented red tape, but the Indians perfected it. Regardless, I feel like a big burden has been lifted off my shoulders.

Post-RTW Hotel @ IAH … ✔

Sunday, 16 October 2016
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas

I’ve been a busy bee this week … mostly working on details of booked excursions, finding fellow-passengers to join us, and booking new tours where plans were still in the air.

In the midst of all of this, I booked accommodations for our post-RTW overnight at IAH. You see, our flight from Miami on 6 July is scheduled to arrive in Houston at 4:40p. By the time we pick up our bags, get a cab, and get to storage it will probably be after 6:00p. The rig will be way too hot — mid-summer in Texas, dont’cha know — and there won’t be enough time to cool it down before bedtime. So we decided a hotel stay that night would be a smart thing to do.

Normally we Priceline our hotel stays. But booking.com had a decent price for a room with breakfast at the Sheraton North Houston — our go to hotel. It’s a non-refundable rate, which is OK … and a $50 savings over the Starwood pricing as of today. Could we have done better with Priceline? Perhaps, but at least I didn’t have to waste my time with multiple bids and then have to pay for breakfast on top of it.

That’s the last of the pre- and post-voyage logistics to be checked off … feels good to have it done.

Sold Out !?!

Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas

We were having dinner with the Z’s when the conversation turned to the RTW … for some reason our upcoming voyage is a popular topic whenever we get together ;-)

Anyway, at one point we wondered if the full voyage had sold out. Curious, when we returned home, I went online to check. The 2017 RTW was no longer showing on our cruise agent’s website. I checked the O website next … the cabin categories were all wait listed! At least some of the segments are still showing availability, however. I am guessing the ship is not sold out entirely … but is getting there bit by bit.

Visa Applications Completed

Monday, 10 October 2016
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas

This year’s trip to Europe is over and we are settled in at our home pad in Port Aransas until we move to Houston in December. Time to buckle down and get to work on all things RTW.

Not surprisingly, our RTW adventure requires a number of visas if we want to disembark the ship in some of the countries on our itinerary.

What came as a surprise, however, was how few applications we had to complete. And even more surprising, only one country — India — required our passports to be sent in. So we tackled that one first.

One of the perks for the RTW passengers is having the visa package included in the fare we paid. Oceania provided a link for CIBT, the visa service they contract with, and we downloaded the India application from their website. The only glitch we encountered was that the template for the required photo was missing from the package. But we didn’t know that until the Z’s said something about our photos not meeting the criteria. A phone call to CIBT resolved the problem. Whew! That was a close call.

We dropped off the India visa application package at UPS this morning. Now, fingers crossed, we wait for our passports to be returned to us in three weeks’ time with the all important stamp affixed.

This afternoon we worked on the remaining visa applications — Australia … emailed to Oceania; Myanmar … two copies to be collected by O at embarkation in Miami; Vietnam … one copy to be collected by O at embarkation in Miami. That’s it. The rest will be acquired by O on our behalf … likely as group visas.

And that, as they say in show business, is a wrap.

Jackets … a RTW Perk

Monday, 31 October 2016Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas

They Are Baaaack … India Visa ✔

Monday, 24 October 2016Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas