100 days to go

Well we have reached that time that we now have more days on the boat than we have days to go.

So much has happened.... more private tours have been finalized, Princess shore tours became available... and final payments had to be made!!

This all coincided with the announcement that we were to have an itinerary change... Due to the civil unrest and the government travel warnings, Egypt has now been dropped from our itinerary. This comes as a disappointment as visiting the pyramids was a major highlight for us...... But at least it has happened now and we have time to get over it.... not like last year’s world cruise that were practically at Safaga, only to be told that because of the experienced engine problems and the need to arrive at the Suez canal at their allocated time slot, they would be missing that port.

Instead our ports of Ashdod and Mykonos have been brought forward a day and we are now spending 2 days in Istanbul... It may not be the pyramids but I am quite excited about seeing Istanbul at night...

When writing to our Private guide that I have booked about  changing times his response was

“Joanne !!! 

Great to see that you are in Istanbul for two days...
disappointed to see that you are still requesting our services for one day...
There are lots to see in Istanbul !!!”

Cheeky!! But it worked as we will be now booking him for both days. The tour we had booked was for all the old favourites, Ayia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar....... our second tour will take in some of the Asian side of the city along with a cruise along the Bosphorous.

So what have we done.... Pretty much all the ports are decided on and yes the Visa’s are done....

We only needed to organise two visa’s ourselves, India and our American Waiver ... We have not got a communicable disease, we have never been arrested for a crime involving moral turpitude and never been involved in any espionage or sabotage..... so yes we can enter the US

We have been snapping up Euro’s and US dollars every time we find them at a good price.... we have been getting some really good rates from UAE exchange (thanks Ros and Arnold)

So the waiting game goes on.... and on...... and on ...... and on!!