Our bags are packed and we leave this evening for FL.

There are 5 large bags, 4 carry-ons, 2 shoulder bags and 2 backpacks.

Departure day is in sight now

We got our cruise documents and luggage tags this week. I took that as a sign and gave up on my house cleaning and started hauling suitcases downstairs. Clay had already co-opted the dining room and begun his camera and electronics staging there, so it is now packing central. I got 2 suitcases packed. Sounds like all systems are go, right? Not so fast.

Tragedy strikes. Make no mistake, this isn't just about us, but a true tragedy. Our ship around the world for 180 days, Insignia, suffered a fatal engine room fire in St. Lucia yesterday. Today the ship has been sealed for death investigations and the next cruise has been canceled. That next canceled cruise would have run from December 17 to January 10. That is our sailing date. That gives Oceania about 25 days to get Insignia ready to run the 3 back to back 180-day cruises they have on the schedule.

I know this is unhappy news. We feel terrible.

Downsides

Not everything is roses and rainbows. Don't get me wrong, we're excited about this epic trip, but it is not without its downsides. Numbers one and two are pretty near a tie. They are living in a 216 square foot cabin and traveling eastward and doing both for 6 months! Now, clearly the cabin size was a choice we made. Actually, it was more like a compromise. Neither of us was willing to cough up an additional $21,000 for the next size cabin at 322 square feet. Even adding that 106 sq. ft. would have made this one of the smallest cabins we've had for a long cruise! So, we decided to stay with the smaller cabin and that $21K could be much better used elsewhere. Traveling eastward was a choice Oceania made (twice!) for reasons that will always be a mystery to us. Having circumnavigated twice before, we can admit making a rookie mistake and going eastbound in 2001. We learned from that and made sure to travel westward in 2006. Now you may be thinking, well it can't make that much difference. Trust me, it does. Traveling eastward, you lose an hour crossing time zones every couple of days. So, in essence at the end of the trip it seems like you had all 23 hour days and that is exhausting. Forget the argument about getting it back at the International Date Line. Nothing happens there! It feels like just another time zone change. Traveling westward on the other hand, it feels like all 25 hour days. You get an extra hour every day or so to sleep! Or do whatever you want with your extra hours. But, the point is that you have EXTRA hours, which is not exhausting the way LOST hours are. It makes a bigger difference than you can imagine sitting at home. We can't imagine what the cruise itinerary planners at Oceania were thinking when they laid out not one, but two world cruises traveling east. Number three is on Oceania too. When we booked and got our first invoice it said Passenger 1 and Passenger 2 Free Unlimited Internet. After final payment, we got another invoice and it said Passenger 1 2 Free Unlimited Internet. Did this mean anything? Yes, in fact, it did. What did it mean? Well, it did not mean Free Unlimited Internet anymore, I can tell you that. What is the distinction then? Now it means there is One Free Internet account per cabin, not per passenger. So, we'll work it out and only ever have one of us at one time logged on one device. But, for unmarried singles sharing cabins, I imagine it gets a little thornier. Plus, there is the issue of Oceania changing the terms ever so subtly between taking initial deposits and final payments. That change of terms is cutting in half a benefit previously agreed to and is badly done Oceania. The last thing that is bothering me is the fact that Insignia has one small laundry room for just over 600 passengers. I may be strange, but I prefer to launder our own garments. That won't be possible. Further downside is that Oceania is providing laundry service. That doesn't sound right, does it? But, I have read far too many negative reports on hot water washing and overheated drying and items not just rendered unwearable, but worse never returned at all from Oceania's laundry service. So, we'll have a limited wardrobe for 6 months and it sounds like it will be ever continuing to shrink, both in size and in quantity. I hope this is not true, but it is so universally and reliably reported that I fear it will happen.

Am I missing anything to fret about? Probably. But that will do for now. ;)

One foot in front of the other

That's the way we're going to do this. Baby steps. Yesterday, we went through all the electrical adapters and discussed usage onboard and on overland trips and land stays. Yesterday, I finished all the Pacific Island car rentals that I could. I don't know what is going on at Bora Bora the day we are there, but there is not a rental car available anywhere I could find online! We had a disastrous day the last time we were there, too! Time will tell on Bora Bora... Last night at 12:01am, Clay logged onto the Oceania website and made all 28 of our available restaurants reservations. Boy was I surprised when I logged into my email this morning to find over 30 emails waiting! That's right one for every reservation, plus one from Clay explaining, plus a couple more random ones. So, every day we get a little more ready. Sometimes it seems like travel is a mental game. It is certainly a state of mind. We'll get there. Though, I was beginning to think maybe Clay was already gone!

Not so ready...

By this time in advance of any long cruise we've taken in the past we were ready, set and fixin' to go! Not so this time. I don't know if it is my Parkinson's or if it is just the sheer overwhelming scale of being away from home for nearly 7 months, but I am not ready. I am not organized. I don't have a plan and 2 backup plans as in the past. We leave home in almost 3 weeks and set sail in almost 6 weeks, but I don't have a single suitcase out.

Usually I write these trip blogs with an eye to being of service to future travelers. I try to be detailed and full of advice. Not so with this one, and that is a warning right up front. I have a couple of reasons for this, one I am not in a position to give advice this time out. Two, the first time we went around the world, I found little information online to help me plan. That is no longer true. There are thousands of round the world trip blogs available now and a few books, so I really don't need to add anything.

So, what have I/we done to get ready? Well, quite a lot actually. So, if I were giving out tips to future travelers, number one would be to book well in advance. A year of preparation is not too much. That year and a half of waiting for departure is what has allowed us to be as prepared as we are. We are nearing finalization of our port plans. I have fewer than a dozen left. Now for people who only take short cruises that may seem appalling, but those ports are about 6 months out and that's less than 12 out of 90 or so. So, I feel like I'm close on that front. We have all our immunizations. We have all our extra passport pages and visas (only Brazil, India and China could be obtained in advance, the rest will be obtained on the ship). We have the house sitter lined up. Really then all that is left is getting through Thanksgiving, my birthday and Christmas, cleaning the house, packing up and driving to Florida. That can't be that hard, can it? ;)

In the beginning...

In the summer of 2013, Clay was preparing to retire on his 65th birthday in October. (That didn't happen, but that's another story...) He thought that he needed to find a BIG trip to celebrate and mark the occasion of the end of his working life. In July 2013, I heard about Oceania Cruises 1st World Cruise. It sounded like an epic trip for a once in a lifetime event and I shared it with Clay and we decided to do it in celebration of his retirement. We missed the opening booking window when all the cabin categories we were interested in sold out. But, those preliminary bookings were no deposit holds. When the 20% or so deposit had to be made within 7 business days to keep those bookings, there were cabins available again and this cycle was repeated. We got booked in cabin 6054 by the end of July 2013. (We didn't learn until October 2013 that Clay wouldn't actually be retiring, but going to half-time. We decided to keep the celebratory retirement trip in place anyway. Now, it is a semi-retirement/pre-retirement/30th anniversary celebratory trip.)

An interesting fact is that Oceania's Insignia is the former Renaissance R1. This is the first ship that Clay & I ever cruised on together. That was in the summer of 1999. So, this 6-month cruise will be a strange return. This will be a return to one of the smallest cabins we've ever sailed in for the longest cruise we've ever taken. Not a happy intersection, but there it is. You can follow along if you like to see how we fare!

Below is a list of our scheduled ports.

Around the World in 180 Days

Miami to Miami
180 Days aboard Insignia
Departs on January 10, 2015

Cruise Ports:

1. Miami, United States	31. Male, Maldives	61. Brisbane, Australia
2. Santa Marta, Colombia	32. Mangalore, India	62. Sydney, Australia
3. Oranjestad, Aruba	33. Cochin, India	63. Hobart, Australia
4. Kralendijk, Bonaire	34. Rangoon, Myanmar	64. Picton, New Zealand
5. El Guamache, Venezuela	35. Langkawi, Malaysia	65. Napier, New Zealand
6. St. George's, Grenada	36. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	66. Rotorua, New Zealand
7. Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe	37. Singapore, Singapore	67. Auckland, New Zealand
8. Fort de France, Martinique	38. Ko Samui, Thailand	68. Nuku'alofa, Tonga
9. Bridgetown, Barbados	39. Sihanoukville, Cambodia	69. Pago Pago, American Samoa
10. Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago	40. Bangkok, Thailand	70. Raiatea, French Polynesia
11. Devil's Island, French Guiana	41. Saigon, Vietnam	71. Bora Bora, French Polynesia
12. Belem, Brazil	42. Hanoi, Vietnam	72. Moorea, French Polynesia
13. Fortaleza, Brazil	43. Hong Kong, China	73. Papeete, French Polynesia
14. Natal, Brazil	44. Xiamen, China	74. Huahine, French Polynesia
15. Recife, Brazil	45. Shanghai, China	75. Rangiroa, French Polynesia
16. Lome, Togo	46. Beijing, China	76. Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
17. Cotonou, Benin	47. Seoul, South Korea	77. Hilo, United States
18. Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe	48. Nagasaki, Japan	78. Honolulu, United States
19. Walvis Bay, Namibia	49. Kagoshima, Japan	79. Lahaina, United States
20. Cape Town, South Africa	50. Taipei, Taiwan	80. Nawiliwili, United States
21. Port Elizabeth, South Africa	51. Kaohsiung, Taiwan	81. Los Angeles, United States
22. East London, South Africa	52. Manila, Philippines	82. San Diego, United States
23. Durban, South Africa	53. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia	83. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
24. Richards Bay, South Africa	54. Muara, Darussalam	84. Huatulco, Mexico
25. Maputo, Mozambique	55. Kuching, Malaysia	85. Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
26. Nosy Be, Madagascar	56. Bali, Indonesia	86. Corinto, Nicaragua
27. Zanzibar, Tanzania	57. Komodo, Indonesia	87. Puntarenas, Costa Rica
28. Mombasa, Kenya	58. Darwin, Australia	88. Cartagena, Colombia
29. Mahe, Seychelles	59. Cairns, Australia	89. Key West, United States
30. La Digue, Seychelles	60. Whitsunday Island, Australia	90. Miami, United States