Second prelude to a second cruise?

[Astronomer]

Here we go again…………. For those of you who remember us… hello again! For those of you that are not familiar with Moondance and I, we wrote a ridiculously long review, and a ridiculously long prelude of prior to the cruise during the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006.

I can post a link to the long and wordy postings if you like….. and I plan to do the exact same thing again this time around.

Lately Moondance ( my wife and lifetime mate ) and I have been trying to not use our credit cards, so when I wanted to buy a console game machine called a “Wii” I took a plastic coffee can, put a label on it calling it the “( name deleted) wants a Wii fund” and put it on the mantle above the fireplace.

Dropping change, and the occasional few paper bills into it, I had made the $250 in a remarkably short period of time. After purchasing the Wii, Moondance asked me for the can for a vacation fund… I laughed and said… sure… and changed the label on it to ( name deleted)’s vacation fund )

In a matter of one month… Moondance announced she had over $400 in the can. Of course she had added some of her rolled change she had been saving for a gambling trip, but gambling has been less fun for us lately.

Moondance mentioned to me that she would kind of like to take a Cruise again, in fact to Mexico again but to different ports.

The alarm just went off in my head, and I have been able to think of little else… other than…. How can I make this happen. Now we are still trying to reduce our credit card debt as we expect to retire before the age of 80, so… how can we do this without sinking ourselves further in debt.

He second part was…. which cruise would suit us.

The first part would be answered that weekend, when our tax man came over, if we owed taxes, then this would have to be postponed for a while, if we received a substantial return then some of that could be put toward another adventure for Moondance and I.

So while we waited for the outcome of the first part I could investigate the second. Believe it or not… I did not start looking at Carnival…. I looked across all cruise lines without bias.

Three main considerations…. All of them paramount take any of the three away and the cruise would not happen.

1 A cruise during a time that we could go

2 An Itinerary that Moondance wanted ( I planned our Pride Cruise, I want to take Moondance where she wants to go, specifically Zihuatanejo. )

3 A Cruise we can afford without going into debt, ( but still be a balcony cabin )

First I had to tackle the time, as I couldn’t do anything without figuring when it was possible. To my surprise Moondance didn’t want to do it during the summer as we did last time, which is a good thing because it is a whole lot more expensive then. But she could take no more than 5 days off work ( she has a very different job at the school now and did not have a regular classroom )

I immediately thought of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter vacations ( spring break ), but our family counts on us for Thanksgiving, everyone looks forward to that as the favorite holiday of the year and we hold that at our house. Moondance does get time off after Christmas but that is usually the time when our kids and grandkids are with us for an extended visit.

Spring break would not be my first choice for a getaway with Moondance.

I started looking at cruises and the first one that popped up as a possibility was a Norwegian one… departing the day after Christmas day, Dec 26th. It would be a new Years cruise… what fun! But looking further I realized that the price practically doubled for that cruise compared to other cruises that were not New Years cruises. And it would be when the kids where around.

Then I looked at Easter Cruses and the Carnival Spirit started looking better and better. Of course Easter is also a time we often spend with family.

One night Moondance sat me down with her calendar and a 4th possibility presented itself…. By only taking 4 days off, there was a Carnival Spirit cruise in Feb that we could make, and it was even less expensive than the Easter sailing.

I looked across every Cruse line I could think of, and every “Cruise finding” website I could find, and nothing even came close as far as itinerary, price, and sailing date as the Feb 10th sailing of the Carnival Spirit. An 8 day Cruise…. One day longer than our Pride Cruise, and a lot less expensive sailing at that time. On a ship that was a sister ship to our first cruise that we loved so much, going to ports we have never ever been too.

I sent an e-mail to the PVP that helped me so much the last time, but have not had a response in the last few days… I will wait until next week before I call for another…. As right now, I don’t know if this is a pipe dream, or if we are again planning for another adventure of a lifetime.

If all goes well with the tax man this weekend, and we confirm this is what we will do. I promise to write the same ridiculously long preludes and the same ridiculously long review as I did last time.

If we do this… I am once again going to depend on you folks to have to get me through another 11 month wait ( sigh ) :confused:

Here is to hope....:rolleyes:

[gypsyrose]

My fingers are crossed for you. I enjoyed reading all your posts the last time. Moondance is a very lucky lady. Come on tax man.

[Astronomer]

Thank you so much Gypsy, we had so much fun last time and we made so many friends here.

 

Some I see are still around, you, and I see Mr Pete, and Big Duck, and Goingcrusin ... is Curt Jerome Wild still around? Sable Rose, how about Timmy's mom, and StirCrazy and Vickivicki, and Coolestwife....

 

 

There were too many to name, Ill forget too many....

 

You folks really helped me pass that year getting to that cruise....

 

I just showed Moondance that I posted here.....

[VICKIVICKI]

I am so excited for your new prelude!

[Payd]

Astronomer,

 

I really hope it works out for you and Moondance to take this cruise.

 

I spent lots of time reading your posts and review before my husband and I took our Pride cruise - lots of great info in there.

 

We have just booked an eight day southern carib. on the Miracle - we also like the spirit class ships.

 

Keep us posted on the tax man and your planning.

 

Best of luck!!

 

Payd:)

[Molly BPOE]

Good luck with the tax man, look forward to your posts. If you can swing it and go on the Jan. 9, 2008 sailing of Spirit, I'll buy you a drink of the day:D

[Peaceful]

I also read your posts and so very much enjoyed them. I booked 670 days out for my Glory cruise, and now I'm just a few days over a year to go! I have a similar method for acruing funds and it has been really successful. My fingers are crossed for you and Moondance, and I await your prelude!

[Moondance]

:p Well I guess that cats out of the bag. I was trying to plan a secret trip but Astronomer is the kind that peeks under the bed before Christmas (if you know what I mean). It's good to be excited about a cruise again. I know many people from work who really love this cruise. I expect we'll hear lots of great ideas.

 

In the meantime I can already hear Astronomer in the back seat yelling "Are we there yet?, Are we there yet?, How much longer?"

 

But the good news is he's like a 16 year old boy with his first hot date... its very motivatating. He's willing to save money and work in the yards.;)

 

Glad you all are out there to make the trip "experience" even more fun.

 

I do have to say it took CC 7 tries to get my password reset, I was about to give up because I couldn't get on-line. With some frustration I am finally here. :D

[emmysmommy]

Welcome back Astronomer and Moondance! I really enjoyed that you shared your pre-and post experience last time. (Has it been that long??) I also loved the photos and the pre-cruise Long Beach hotel review as well. I hope all works out well and that we read more prequels and reviews!! :)

[Stircrzy]

Are the taxes finished yet?!?

 

This is so cool...and gives the rest of us a thrill to live it through you two! We enjoyed every moment of your last journey.

[aggieastrosfan]

I hope you guys get your cruise!! I loved reading your posts prior to and after your last cruise, and hope the tax man is kind to you so I can read about your adventures again. :)

[Moondance]

:( Tomorrow the Tax man comes (Sunday morning)... it will be our religious experience for the day. At least I know I will be praying.... praying we don't have to pay in. We usually pay to the state and get back from the Feds but last year we got back from both. :D Let's hope this years a good one.

 

Of course we also have three daughters in the 20-30 year age and I expect weddings at some point. Oooo maybe we could make them wedding cruises!!!:rolleyes:

[Moondance]

:) Well do you want the good news or the bad?

Good first...we do not owe taxes :D but we are only getting a very modest sum back (had to pay some to the tax man himself).:(

We are however moving forward with plans for a cruise next February on the Spirit. If anyone else is going we'd love to hear from you.

[Astronomer]

Well.... this will be my last post in this thread.

Starting today I will write down some of the rambling considerations that go through my head and I will post a compilation of that in a future post called...

Prelude to a second Cruise....( shrug )

It is a long way away but that will give Moondance and I some time to prepare and save some money.

Carnival Spirit Feb 10th sailing..........

I am going to try and do it smarter this time, instead of a series of threads, I will keep it in one thread…… like the Review was…. except that the review was written over a period of a week and the prelude is written over a period of 11 months.

LOL

I have to get busy, and start figuring out how I can get the best price on that cruise.

Here we go again…. :eek:

[Guienevere_Arianette]

Astronomer, I hope you and Moondance can achieve this goal! I loved reading your prelude because you are going through many of the same things I am; it's nice to know others out there exist :) Is there anything we can do to help you find a cruise that fits your budget, or are you pretty well settled on the cruise mentioned in your post?

[Timmys_mom]

Some I see are still around, you, and I see Mr Pete, and Big Duck, and Goingcrusin ... is Curt Jerome Wild still around? Sable Rose, how about Timmy's mom, and StirCrazy and Vickivicki, and Coolestwife....

Oh, come now.... where else would I be!! I'm so happy you are on your way to another cruise. :) You have a long time to save and I'm sure you will make it there. I'm just sad you can't go with us on S&S 3. You shall be there in spirit. Keep saving those pennies!

[iluvdoxies]

Well.... this will be my last post in this thread.

Starting today I will write down some of the rambling considerations that go through my head and I will post a compilation of that in a future post called...

Prelude to a second Cruise....( shrug )

It is a long way away but that will give Moondance and I some time to prepare and save some money.

Carnival Spirit Feb 10th sailing..........

I am going to try and do it smarter this time, instead of a series of threads, I will keep it in one thread…… like the Review was…. except that the review was written over a period of a week and the prelude is written over a period of 11 months.

LOL

I have to get busy, and start figuring out how I can get the best price on that cruise.

Here we go again…. :eek:

 

 

 

Great ! Glad it worked out for you!

 

We had to canx our Oct cruise because of taxes that we owed :( But we have one for Jan, so we can countdown together !

[pppiglet]

Oh if only I could afford it next year this is the cruise I would be going on! Feb. in Mexico was beautiful when we went on the Pride. As soon as you mentioned where Moondance wanted to go and not go in the summer I thought of this exact cruise for you. And you'll be on the ship for Valentines Day! If I amazingly come into some money soon, I'll be there!

[Astronomer]

Oh if only I could afford it next year this is the cruise I would be going on! Feb. in Mexico was beautiful when we went on the Pride. As soon as you mentioned where Moondance wanted to go and not go in the summer I thought of this exact cruise for you. And you'll be on the ship for Valentines Day! If I amazingly come into some money soon, I'll be there!

 

 

Woah!... I had not thought of that... We will be on the Cruise on Valentines day....

 

Hey Moondance... did you realise that dear? !!! :)

 

 

Great!

[Victory Bound]

Hey Astronomer & Moondance. I'm so excited that you are planning your next cruise. I wish I could say the same. We are heading to New England this summer to visit family. It will be fun but not quite the same as our last cruise. ;)

 

My sister Kim (your riding companion in Mazatlan) and her husband Bryan are on the Conquest right now. She said she would e-mail me sometime this week so I am looking forward to her reviews.

 

I will definitely look forward to your prelude as well as your review. I know from your last one it will be very detailed.

 

Remember, half the fun of a cruise is planning for it, so enjoy this time as you look forward to the Spirit!

[girltrips4ever]

I soooo enjoyed reading all the posts last year . . . good to hear you are up for cruise #2 so soon. I love the coffee can idea! You can do it! Someone told me once "you can do anything you want if you REALLY want it bad enough" and I live by it. Looking forward to more posts!