So the night before last I broke my adult beverage fast and while quite tipsy, decided to get out the ol' wallet and make a big ass non-refundable purchase online. The memory of doing it came flooding to me once I saw the wallet sitting near the computer when I groggily woke the next day around 1:30 pm.
I booked another cruise!
And get this...it's the same ship and home port as last time with two of the same three ports of call (since it's a 5-day cruise instead of a 7) from November.
That's right. I'm going to drive to New Orleans, board the Norwegian Cruise Line Breakaway and sail the Western Caribbean to Cozumel and Costa Maya...again!
When? NEXT WEEK!
I'll barely be unpacked from the move to the new house, maybe as little as half done and I'll be off on a five day trip away from said new home. I plan on leaving my house in Sebring, Florida (there, now you know) a small town 90 miles south of Orlando around 10 pm next Saturday night in expectation to drive through the night and make it to the Julia Street Wharf in New Orleans a bit before noon Sunday.
It'll be $20 a day parking but for 5 days it'll be cheaper than any halfway decent hotel so I'll not do like last time. Back then, if you remember, it was made very affordable by the rewards points I had through my Choice Hotels membership. Needless to say, that perk as well as the ample AMEX Membership Rewards I'd used to book the last cruise are not available to me this time 'round.
So I'm paying more out of pocket this trip, and it's shorter by two days. What's more, of the ports of call last time, the one I really enjoyed (other than the Mayan ruins excursion at Costa Maya) was Harvest Caye in Belize and that's the one NOT on this itinerary. And I don't plan on revisiting the Mayan site this time since, well, you seen it once, it likely is just the same. I mean they've been there for almost two thousand years so I don't think there's anything new or improved about them in less than five months.
But, get this, what's the big and exciting difference? I'm in a BALCONY!
Gotta say, I think it's a pretty good deal...5-day cruise to Mexico with a balcony cabin for a single traveler for about $700.
I'm kinda justifying it in reminding myself that my original Operation V plans for April was to stay here at the Casselberry apartment for another month, paying out over $1,100 in rent. And with the costs to purchasing my own mobile home with very affordable lot rent being much less than I'd budgeted, I feel I deservedly can reap the rewards of my savings.
Of course that's if I don't get in the new house tomorrow (yes, it's freakin' move-in day tomorrow...ahhh!) and do a good inspection only to discover all manner of potentially costly repairs or updates needed. I already know there will be some, but I'm trusting that Shammy's bones are indeed solid and any needed fixes would be covered by the gift card balances I have with Amazon, Walmart and The Home Depot.
I'm sure everything's going to be...well, smooth sailing!