Travel Plan 2023

[tmitchell]

We are headed to Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia this week!

Spring might be NC to see friends and check out the area as a potential place to settle.

Summer likely CO to see mom and old friends.

Still trying to figure out the fall, but looking like Southern Europe. Partner has his eye on Italy/Sardinia.

We spent so much last year during my first year of RE, so trying to pull in the reigns a bit with recession looming!

 

[explanade]

Lot of Chinese are going to Asian countries south of China, because they've finally been allowed to travel out of country.

High rate of infections.

 

[oiseux]

I've not fully planned the year, as it is supposed to be the end of OMY. An extended stay in May, in Europe. A road trip the San Juans. A tour of National Parks. Another European jaunt in the Fall. Maybe Mexico again this year. The pooch continues to be a barrier for longer trips.

 

[NW-Bound]

I didn't know what a repositioning cruise is. Googled it - seems like a repositioning cruise would be much better than the Caribbean cruise we went on.

I think I would enjoy a cruise where I wasn't pigeon holed into a given dinner time, didn't have to dress up, and didn't have to sign up in advance for sub par shore activities.

Norwegian does not have pre-assigned dining time. It also does not have formal attire nights. While I still have my tux, it's hard to pack formal clothes into a carry-on for summer travel.

I have had only 3 cruises. Two were with Royal Caribbean, and one was with Celebrity.

 

[Ronstar]

Norwegian does not have pre-assigned dining time. It also does not have formal attire nights. While I still have my tux, it's hard to pack formal clothes into a carry-on for summer travel.

I have had only 3 cruises. Two were with Royal Caribbean, and one was with Celebrity.

Thanks for the info. The more this thread goes on, the more I want to do something like this. I've done 2 cruises. Bahamas for a wedding, and Caribbean for about a week. I'm not a beach or pool person, so the ports of call on these cruises didn't really do anything for me.

But I think a transatlantic cruise either to or from Italy/Spain/France - US would be fun.

 

[Freedom56]

Heading to Florida this weekend for two weeks but we are planning a trip to Japan for this spring.

 

[NW-Bound]

Thanks for the info. The more this thread goes on, the more I want to do something like this. I've done 2 cruises. Bahamas for a wedding, and Caribbean for about a week. I'm not a beach or pool person, so the ports of call on these cruises didn't really do anything for me.

But I think a transatlantic cruise either to or from Italy/Spain/France - US would be fun.

Vacationstogo shows a 15-day trip from NY to Civitavecchia (Rome), stopping at 8 European ports along the way, with only 6 at-sea days. Prices as low as $799/person for inside cabin. At these prices, it's easy to upgrade to a better cabin.

 

[tmitchell]

Lot of Chinese are going to Asian countries south of China, because they've finally been allowed to travel out of country.

High rate of infections.

Very true!

 

[Ronstar]

Vacationstogo shows a 15-day trip from NY to Civitavecchia (Rome), stopping at 8 European ports along the way, with only 6 at-sea days. Prices as low as $799/person for inside cabin. At these prices, it's easy to upgrade to a better cabin.

Wow - Thanks for the info. I checked it out. That trip departs 4/15 - may be too soon for me to line up other accommodations in Rome, etc & DW may not like it that it's only a week or 2 after getting back from a 2-3 week road trip. And we need to line up elder care.

But this cruise is available again in April 2024, and it's possible that we could do Rome to NY instead. Lots of options.


But what do people on the boat do all day?

 

[Teacher Terry]

Ron, repositioning cruises have so many activities to choose from that you can’t possibly do them all. Plus of course you have pools and hot tubs.

 

[Ronstar]

Ron, repositioning cruises have so many activities to choose from that you can’t possibly do them all. Plus of course you have pools and hot tubs.

Excellent! I hope the pools and hot tubs are indoors. I image the Atlantic could have some weather sometimes

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, a lot of idle times is my main concern. We do not like the crowd, so have never sat by the pool, or join in any game, etc... We don't mind going to the shows after dinner, but the rest of the day just find some quiet spots, or watch a movie.

The risk of overeating when you are bored is real, for me and not my wife. They often also throw in unlimited drinks, but in the last cruise I only had 3 drinks/day. One at lunch, one at dinner, and a cocktail at the dinner show. So, I face no risk of overdrinking. My wife does not drink.

The last ship we were on had a library, but on a 7-day cruise with a stop every day, there was no dead time for me to read any book.


PS. Unlimited Internet is $30/day. Maybe I can spend free time to watch the market and sell OTM options. Two birds with one stone: kill time, and make money too.

 

[Sunset]

Wow - Thanks for the info. I checked it out. That trip departs 4/15 - may be too soon for me to line up other accommodations in Rome, etc & DW may not like it that it's only a week or 2 after getting back from a 2-3 week road trip. And we need to line up elder care.

But this cruise is available again in April 2024, and it's possible that we could do Rome to NY instead. Lots of options.


But what do people on the boat do all day?

Besides, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner

Large cruise ships are (IMHO) best for repositioning, as they have more entertainment options:
They have physical things to do: gym, running track outside, mini golf, water slides, and other stuff. Picture is of the skyride on a couple of Carnival's larger ships. Each ship is different in activities on top.
Nightly shows in theater, daily "fun" activities or events, nightly comedy shows, bars have musicians, etc.

We also like to literally watch the ocean for a bit each day, sitting on a side deck chair or balcony if we have one.
They also have tv, but we try to avoid it as it seems stupid to pay for a cruise to watch tv, but we have watched some movies at night.

I do more on a cruise than I do here at home most days..... maybe that's a sad reflection just on me.

 

[Sunset]

Yes, a lot of idle times is my main concern. We do not like the crowd, so have never sat by the pool, or join in any game, etc... We don't mind going to the shows after dinner, but the rest of the day just find some quiet spots, or watch a movie.

The risk of overeating when you are bored is real, for me and not my wife. They often also throw in unlimited drinks, but in the last cruise I only had 3 drinks/day. One at lunch, one at dinner, and a cocktail at the dinner show. So, I face no risk of overdrinking. My wife does not drink.

The last ship we were on had a library, but on a 7-day cruise with a stop every day, there was no dead time for me to read any book.


PS. Unlimited Internet is $30/day. Maybe I can spend free time to watch the market and sell OTM options. Two birds with one stone: kill time, and make money too.

We rarely go for the unlimited drinks as DW doesn't drink, and I only want 1 or 2 drinks per day so it's way cheaper to buy each drink at ~$13 than to pay the daily rate. Plus most cruise lines allow a person to bring 1 bottle of wine each onboard, that you keep in your room refrigerator. (bring a corkscrew in your checked bag).

 

[explanade]

Vacationstogo shows a 15-day trip from NY to Civitavecchia (Rome), stopping at 8 European ports along the way, with only 6 at-sea days. Prices as low as $799/person for inside cabin. At these prices, it's easy to upgrade to a better cabin.

15 days to cross?

Or round trip across the Atlantic?


That's cheap for 15 days of lodging and food.

But if it's 15 days one way, after you arrive, how much more do you have left to travel around Europe?

 

[FIYes]

If you are retired then you have as many days as you want to explore Europe. This is definitely more time than money travel. [emoji3]

 

[explanade]

After more than 2-3 weeks, kinds of burns you out, have to take care of monthly things and so forth.

 

[NW-Bound]

We rarely go for the unlimited drinks as DW doesn't drink, and I only want 1 or 2 drinks per day so it's way cheaper to buy each drink at ~$13 than to pay the daily rate. Plus most cruise lines allow a person to bring 1 bottle of wine each onboard, that you keep in your room refrigerator. (bring a corkscrew in your checked bag).

The unlimited drink deal was thrown in the package in my last cruise, so was "free".

One cruise line I am looking at wants more than $100/day.

 

[NW-Bound]

15 days to cross?

Or round trip across the Atlantic?


That's cheap for 15 days of lodging and food.

But if it's 15 days one way, after you arrive, how much more do you have left to travel around Europe?

Just crossing at full-steam is usually 5 to 6 days to the western edge of Europe. The 15-day trip above includes many stops in Mediterranean ports before ending in Italy. Other itineraries may take you as far as Haifa, Isreal.

I have gone on a European trip of longer than 5 weeks, so there would be plenty of time left for self-guided land travel.

 

[Sunset]

After more than 2-3 weeks, kinds of burns you out, have to take care of monthly things and so forth.

We've been gone for 75 days one time and normally do 60 days every year.
It takes a bit of organizing, but with emailed bills, auto pay on CC to pay bills, lawn service, there isn't much need for us to be here.

I would fret a bit leaving in the middle of winter, as a failed furnace can damage the house in freezing temps pretty quickly (water pipes, toilets, footings, etc).

 

[lajolla]

We have all hotels booked for our annual ski road trip next month. This year we are headed to Canada to ski at Revelstoke then over to Banff to ski Sunshine, Lake Louise and Norquay. We will also ski Big Sky in Montana and Jackson Hole in Wyoming this trip. We will take a snow coach into Yellowstone again and cross country ski at Grand Tetons National Park. It is a lot of driving from San Diego, but H and I adore our winter road trips and are looking forward to some great skiing with all of the storms in the west.

We head for a long weekend at Mammoth Mountain (Eastern Sierra) in a couple of weeks to ski since they have gotten an amazing amount of snow since we were there before Christmas skiing. We will do a couple of more ski trips to Mammoth in March and April if the snow stays good.

We are just starting to think about a late fall trip to Yosemite. We don't travel much in the summer as we enjoy our time here in San Diego since we live close to the beach.

 

[explanade]

Good time for skiing in the Sierra Nevada or Rockies.

At least so far.

Europe ski resorts haven't fully opened, too unseasonably warm so not enough snow in many places.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Relative went from Barcelona to San Juan Puerto Rico this past December. Seemed late for a repositioning cruise, but I guess not!

Your relative probably shared a boat with my sister!

 

[TripleLindy]

We have all hotels booked for our annual ski road trip next month. This year we are headed to Canada to ski at Revelstoke then over to Banff to ski Sunshine, Lake Louise and Norquay. We will also ski Big Sky in Montana and Jackson Hole in Wyoming this trip. We will take a snow coach into Yellowstone again and cross country ski at Grand Tetons National Park. It is a lot of driving from San Diego, but H and I adore our winter road trips and are looking forward to some great skiing with all of the storms in the west.

We head for a long weekend at Mammoth Mountain (Eastern Sierra) in a couple of weeks to ski since they have gotten an amazing amount of snow since we were there before Christmas skiing. We will do a couple of more ski trips to Mammoth in March and April if the snow stays good.

We are just starting to think about a late fall trip to Yosemite. We don't travel much in the summer as we enjoy our time here in San Diego since we live close to the beach.

I’m so jealous! We haven’t skied since COVID hit in early ‘20. Shutdowns and ortho injuries have derailed us and this is the best snow year in a LONG time. Enjoy!

Fall is our favorite time for Yosemite, too. We found an outstanding VRBO rental inside the park for our last trip. This was the view from the deck - sunrise and full moon rise directly behind Half Dome.

 

[brett]

We've been gone for 75 days one time and normally do 60 days every year.
It takes a bit of organizing, but with emailed bills, auto pay on CC to pay bills, lawn service, there isn't much need for us to be here.

I would fret a bit leaving in the middle of winter, as a failed furnace can damage the house in freezing temps pretty quickly (water pipes, toilets, footings, etc).

With the exception of 2 covid years, we have left for 9-10 weeks every winter since retiring.

We shut off the water, drain the toilets, turn the water heater down. We shut the water off even if we are only gone for a few days.

We have a neighbor or a friend check on the house every few days.