London/Paris Cruise Oct 2013 - Pre-Trip

Last summer, my Dad asked me if we would be interested in going on a cruise with them.  I said maybe, but it depended on the cruise, price and timing.  He said that he found a wine cruise through Celebrity Cruise Lines that starts in Harwich, England, goes to Paris, Bordeaux, Spain and Portugal.  As he was listing off the ports of call my mouth started to drool.  I told him that I would really like to go, but how much does this cost?  Oh yea, and you have to fly to Europe.  Needless to say, it is not cheap.  There were a few hurdles to jump to allow us to go on this cruise.  So then I asked when is it?  Fall 2013.  That gives us a year to save.  Oh and I'm trying to finish school spring 2013, Lisa turns 30 after I graduate and our 5 year wedding anniversary is in June.  We don't have much going on, right?  Ok Dad, we are tentatively going.

That was last summer.  It is now August 2013.  Apparently we are going.  Shortly after I got the info about the cruise, my Dad sends an email to their cruising group (friends and family) and he has people coming out of the wood work wanting to go on this cruise.  Not long after that I get an email that he has booked us a hotel in London.  I told him we were not for sure going.  "Oh, just in case you are going", he replied.  Then we found that we would really like to go to Paris, as you have to travel several hours from the port to get to Paris.  Well Lisa and I want to spend the night in Paris (the ship is in port overnight).  Several people in the group also want to stay overnight in Paris.  Somehow I became the travel agent for the overnight in Paris.  The deposit was due May 2013, well that got paid.  We could still get out of it.  Shortly after that, our airline tickets are booked.  I start to realize, we are only a few months away from this cruise as final payment plus shore excursions were due at the end of July.  I found a hotel in Paris and we finally booked it in the middle of July.  The cruise is now paid and shore excursions are partially paid.  

For some reason I am still in denial that we are going on this trip.  Last weekend I was out of town and when I got back Lisa is in full on vacation planning mode.  She had a bunch of questions (How do I pack?  How to I take my toiletries? What bags do we take? How to a carry my bags? Do we need new bags? What clothes do we take? Do I need fancy clothes?  What clothes do you wear in Europe?).  Oh crap!  We are going on this cruise!  

Needless to say, we are starting to get excited.  Before I go further, let me lay out what we are looking at:

Date	Location	Arrival Time	Departure Time
October 9, 2013	Flight Leaves KCI		1:00pm
October 10, 2013	London	7:30am
October 11, 2013	London
October 12, 2013	Board Cruise in Harwich		5:00pm
October 13, 2013	Paris	7:00am
October 14, 2013	Paris		9:00pm
October 15, 2013	At Sea
October 16, 2013	Bordeaux (La Rochelle)	8:00am
October 17, 2013	Bordeaux (La Rochelle)		6:00pm
October 18, 2013	Bilbao, Spain	7:00am
October 19, 2013	Bilbao, Spain		1:00pm
October 20, 2013	Vigo, Spain	12:00pm	8:00pm
October 21, 2013	Porto (Leixoes), Portugal	7:00am	6:00pm
October 22, 2013	At Sea
October 23, 2013	At Sea
October 24, 2013	Harwich, England & Flight Home	4:00am	12:30pm

As you can tell, this is going to be a great cruise.  We have 21 people going on it, all friends and family.  My Dad has booked shore excursions for the entire group for each port, except La Havre.  Six of us are going to Paris for the night and the rest of the group is going to Normandy and Mont St. Michel.

We are starting to get very excited.  We have started research things to do and places to eat in both London and Paris.  Our hotels in both London and Paris are in great locations.  We are trying to figure out how to pack for this trip.  I do not believe I have gone on a trip this long before.  We will be gone for 16 days.  

That's where we are as of now.  There will be more to come.  I will cover more in-depth plans and then have trip reports from the cruise.  

Until next time......