How Early to Fly in? Resort or Hotel?

My original plan was for us to fly in at least two days early, and stay at a swanky resort in southern Florida. However, I had difficulty finding one that checked all the boxes. Then I started looking at hotels in the area of South Beach. I quickly honed in on one that looked promising, Circa 39. It was built towards the end of the Art Deco period, and Miami is famous for its Art Deco buildings, and the décor looked bright, comfortable, but not too fussy-A perfect fit.

I kept looking of course, but in the end I have decided to stay with my original choice. While I think Marty will enjoy it, I must confess, this was really for me. The location is just outside Collins Ave, so near enough to South Beach to enjoy, but no so close that I can't get my beauty rest.

Turning 7 Days into 14, or Not

Last December I called my Personal Cruise Planner (PCP) at NCL to cancel a cruise I had booked months earlier on NCL's Epic sailing from Barcelona to Morocco, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and a port or two in Spain (One was Granada-so I could finally see the Alhambra), and finally back to Barcelona. I was cancelling because my husband had suffered a foot injury months earlier, and had not been working while nursing said injury, and there was a possibility of major surgery in his future. While, empathic to why I was cancelling, the PCP seemed loathed to let a booking disappear, and begged me to choose another, later cruise to transfer my booking to.

I had to admit I had become intrigued by reports of NCL's newest ship, that had just launched a month earlier, the Escape. I had heard the downsides of NCL; the ships were too big, with too many people, and way to many kids. So if I was going to book a cabin it would have to be a Haven Suite. Booking a Haven Suite gives one many perks. The first is a private area with pool just for Haven guests. Also their own restaurant, a butler to tend to your every whim, priority for dinner and show reservations, and in our case, because of the promo being run at the time; Unlimited Drink Package, Unlimited Specialty Dining, Pre-Paid Gratuities, and $300 On Board Credit. It appeared to be a good deal, and I thought this would be an "Extravaganza" sailing on two different ships, two different lines, but in both cases suites, so I could make a fairly good apples to apples comparison. So I transferred my booking to the week of December 10, 2016, giving us two weeks in the Caribbean, instead of one.

However, as the year went on I fretted about this decision. Marty wasn't thrilled about being away from work for two weeks, I hated leaving our five fur-babies for that long, The cost for a Haven Suite was not cheap, $6000+ for the two of us. I still had to pay the majority of our Carnival Cruise, which wasn't exactly loose change, and with the popularity of the Cabana Cabins I knew this could very well be our only chance to sail in a Havana Cabana cabin (As I write this they are booked solid until April 2018, with people checking daily to see when bookings for the sister ship to the Vista, the Horizon, opens so they can snatch one up on that ship).

Then during the summer I started reading reports on the web site Cruise Critic that had to do with new policies that had been implemented by the new CEO of NCL that quite frankly I thought deplorable. Granted, few affected me, but they did seem to have a negative impact on others that could only vent about them on the NCL Boards. After thinking about it for a week or so I came to the conclusion I didn't want to give my money to NCL, and I didn't think I would get $6000 worth of value for my $6000. I decided to cancel the NCL leg of the trip. That proved easier said than done. If you book with a PCP, you must cancel with that PCP. He was never available, and my messages went unanswered for weeks, until I finally got hold of him. At first he tried to talk me out of cancelling, I explained my position, he got snarky, I held firm, and finally he agreed to cancel my booking.

I got my deposit back a couple of weeks later, just in time to book a one week cruise Athens to Rome leaving in a month. I got a great deal, $699 for a deluxe balcony cabin (pp), and I definitely got my money's worth on that trip (That is a story to be told at a later date).

So Just one week instead of two, but it will be memorable.....I hope.

It Started When I was Surfing the Web.....

It was about two years ago, and I was doing an usual activity of mine before retiring for the night waiting for Marty, who takes much longer to get ready for bed than I, perusing the different cruise web sites looking for a good deal, or an idea for that next "dream vacation."

I was on Carnival web site and they were promoting their newest ship; the as of then, unbuilt, but newly named, Carnival Vista. As this point it was all conceptual drawings, but it did look like a nice ship. We had sailed on the Carnival Magic in March 2013, and had really enjoyed all the ship had to offer. I was sure that this ship would have everything the Magic had, and more. One thing really intrigued me; The Havana Cabana cabins. I loved the concept, a cluster of cabins on deck 5, with exclusive access to its own pool area, and the outside cabins and suites had, instead of balconies, patios with ocean views. The patios were enclosed with a low fence to give you some semblance of privacy, but there was a walkway where others, I presumed other Havana guests, could walk past the patio. These patios were much larger than standard balconies and had a chair with footstool, lounge chair, and a hammock swing chair. When Marty finally came to bed I showed it to him and he was mildly interested, and I checked the available dates for December 2016 (The ship would not launch until May 2016, and not start its Caribbean sailings until November). I quickly honed in on the fact there were only four suites in the Havana area, and two were already booked. That's when the seed was planted for this trip. I would make it first class all the way! Book a suite, fly to Miami First Class, have a limo pick us up to take us to the airport, and fly down a day or two early and stay at a fancy resort. Maybe even go down to Key West for a couple of days, AND keep all the details a surprise for Marty.

The first step was to book the cabin, which I immediately did, placing a 24-hour hold, until I could call the next morning and place a deposit.

Two years is a long time to wait, and it was far too early to book airfare or hotels, so I busied myself with planning other trips until I got to December 2015, when a new idea popped into my head, courtesy of a cancelled cruise on NCL's Epic.

The Countdown to Marty's 60th Birthday Extravaganza Begins!

Three weeks from today my husband Marty & I will board the Carnival Vista for a one week cruise in the Caribbean, Marty's favorite vacation spot. This cruise is to celebrate Marty's 60th birthday. It has become something of a tradition for us to celebrate his milestone birthday's by cruises, our anniversaries too. My birthdays, not so much, but that's another story. Anyway, I wanted this birthday to be celebrated in a big, BIG way, and I started planning it about 2-years ago.

Just a little background on his last two birthday cruises. The first was for his 49th birthday, and we celebrated it on our only Mexican Riviera cruise in January 2006. It was a great trip, at least from my perspective. Only our 3rd cruise at the time (We are veterans of  26 or so cruises as of todays date), it was the trip that made me fall in love with cruising. We sailed on the beautiful Sapphire Princess out of Long Beach, CA for a 7-day trip that included Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, and Cabo San Lucas.

The following year we did a true 14-day Caribbean Cruise on the Sea Princess. We actually didn't sail until April because Marty wanted to go as late in the season as possible to ensure it was warm (Our Mexico cruise had a few chilly days at sea). This was not one of my favorite cruises, but again that is a story for another time.

So for birthday #60 I asked Marty when would he like to sail, his actual birthday in January 2017, or the month before in December? You see, Marty is in commission sales, and January his store holds a big sale all month long and he makes the big money (So mama can book more cruises), but December tends to be a slow month, so a great time for us to go away. In fact we have cruised in December the last three years in a row, and 4 times all together since we began cruising in 2004. December, as long as you avoid Christmas/New Year sailings can be a great time to cruise. Fares are cheaper, and fewer children. Marty, super competitive and driven to be the #1 salesman in his company, which he is, picked December. So I looked around, and settled on the Carnival Vista sailing December 17-24. By picking this sailing I also got in our wedding anniversary (the 17th), and picked the 18th as the day we would officially celebrate his birthday on board.

I normally hate planning this far out, but there were good reasons that in this case, I had to start early. My plans have waxed and waned like the moon, at times my planning had spun out of control (Mostly financially), and other times I had despaired if it would be an "Extravaganza" at all. It will be a full-month before I know if I was successful, giving him the vacation of a lifetime in fun and memories, but hopefully he won't be disappointed.