News behind the Cruise

Liz Here. We leave from our Goddess Temple in Kauai in a few minutes for 40 minute flight to Honolulu. But before we go here is The News Behind the Cruise

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How it came about that we are taking a cruise from Honolulu to Sydney thru French Polynesia and boarding on 11/11/11@11:30AM

11/11/11 is certainly an auspicous date. That fact was almost overlooked by the marketing group for the Celebrity Cruise Line because when George Markovitch first told his wife Diane Buffalin about this cruise to last April, the departure date was 11/09/11. Boarding was set for 8 PM with Departure at 11PM. The subject came up when our Air Treks travel agent said that she did not have flights from Hawaii to French Polynesia. She asked if we would accept a stop in Fiji. The State Department has a caution posted on Fiji; increase in crime against tourists since dictatorship in 2006. Friend Judy had seen Anthony Bourdain's show on French Polynesia. Judy observed that Hawaii was a commonplace destination whereas French Polynesia was rare. Bourdain thought it was the most beautiful place he had ever been. So how to get there? 

In hind sight I have met a number of people who fly from Hawaii to Tahiti so I might/ could/should have looked past the Air Treks broker's limits but too late now.

Now add another drama. The same date (11/11/11) and place (Honolulu) were also chosen as the kick off date for the 2011 meeting of the APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Counsel). Since Mike and I   marched in Occupy Honolulu we know that Waikiki is the most laid back and welcoming of places and that traffic around Waikiki will be the biggest issue.

I booked our cruise through RCI Cruiser in July but initially I purchased an unspecified RCI cruise package in February. RCI cruise agents had tried to sell me a cruise package twice before but I declined because I did not have a partner to cruise with. I did not have that much time off. When this call came I understood the offer and was ready to accept.

The RCI call in February came in during my regular work day. I quickly pulled out my Discover Card and bought it. I did not cheat GM of work time to make this purchase. I did not call Mike and discuss because he was working and I did not know for sure how he would react. It was a situation so out of his routine that it did not seem fair to interupt him. He enjoyed our 7-day Carnival cruise in the Carribbean so I expected he would go along.  I had a 24 hour period in which to cancel. I had buyer's remorse of course. I was worried that I over paid and that if only I'd asked around I'd have found a better deal. Also I was worried that we were spending an extra 11 days in Hawaii which is relatively expensive and shortchanging time in New Zealand and Asia. It turned out that Mike completely approved of the cruise purchase! He was in a bit of shock like I was. (Can this really be happening after all these years of just going to work everyday?) We really admire Diane and George who cruise so often. When they did not find fault, relief! We got plenty of congratulations from our family and friends.

RCI is a timeshare trading company so offering cruises is a natural off shoot for their customer base. What they sold me was an unspecified package for two for $3200 and not a specific trip. Also included was a week at a timeshare anywhere and a week at some specific resorts in Mazatlan, Mexico. Buyer has up to a year to book specific cruise(s), either 2 cruises for 7 days or a 14 day cruise. Our cruise is 18 days and is still included for same price.  Port fees, taxes and trip insurance are not included. I booked a week in timeshare in Wiakiki and tried to book the trip to Mexico but decided it cheaper and better just to throw the Mexico offer away because it expired before we returned from Asia. The criuse port fees and taxes were another $1200 and trip insurance seems exorbitant at $250 for both of us.  What does a medical airlift off a ship cost? I didn't want to find out so we bought insurance.

The cruise goes from Honolulu to Maui on 11/12/11 then 5 days at sea, then Papeete, Moorea, Raiatea and Bora Bora on Nov 18 -21 (so we hope to update blog then) and then 7 more days at sea until port on Nov 30.

Diane did scheme on how to go on this cruise with us but the returning air fare from Sydney was outrageous. Diane also counseled us not to take a different cruise along the Vietnam and China waterfront instead. The shore excursions add up. Add $200 per day per person. She said that this cruise to best for us and the Celebrity Century is a really classy ship!

In marketing terms if the Carnival cruise line is to cars like Chevy then the Celebrity cruise line is to cars like Buick.

Using timeshares is a lot like using GM's Teamcenter software. It gets a bad name because people buy it but do not learn how to use.  

Now Wiakiki may practically be in a state of lockdown on 11/11/11 since protesters may converge to object to the APEC summit as if it were a meeting of the World Bank or IMF. HPR (Hawaiian NPR) reports on road closings and the difficulty 20,000 employees may have in getting to work during APEC. Our friend Gil Knarich has seen this type of event in Washington, D.C. and thinks Honolulu is ideal place for conference.

The one change that did occur for the cruise is that we got a voice mail message from RCI stating that boarding is moved from 8PM to 11:30AM. WoW! That means we get an extra lunch and dinner on the the ship! We will be more relaxed because boarding is the hardest part. We are priviledged to have private transportation in a van from Brian McCormick who really knows the streets of Honolulu. We spend the night with his neighbor also named Liz. They are located in midtown Honolulu. Brian and Merv are hosting other cruisers. Hopefully we will be away from possible drama in Wiakiki.