Thursday, November 29, 2018: Details taking shape

At this time, I have no volunteers to go with me on the Trans Atlantic cruise. I have offered to host my travel agent, who will also be on the subsequent Portugal river cruise. Thus far, no decision has been made.

Working through the details of linking the Trans Atlantic trip with the Portugal river cruise. Here is the plan at this point:

I will fly from St. Louis to Bridgetown, Barbados via Miami on American Airlines on April 16. he flight to Miami is Economy Class.

St. Louis to Miami

I will stay the night in the Hilton Resort Barbados. The Seabourn cruise begins on April 17. The flight from Miami to Barbados is Business.

Miami to Bridgetown

I booked the Hilton using my Chase Sapphire points through the Chase system. The one night cost me 29,219 points. Going to the Hilton web site, the same room would have cost me 98,000 points. Hilton is not one of Chase's "travel partner", meaning that I cannot transfer points from my Chase account to my Hilton account. BUT, I can book Hilton rooms through the Chase travel system and my points go three times further!!!

Once I arrive in Lisbon on May 3, Maxine has booked a room for me at the Hotel Avenida Palace which, according to on-line, is "located in the center of Lisbon close to Bairro Alto and the Chiado, is a 5 star Hotel which combines luxury and charm and is regarded as part of the city’s historic heritage."

The Portugal river cruise begins on May 5, so I will stay at the hotel for two nights. Maxine is flying in early and is staying at the same hotel. Maxine has arranged with the hotel to have a driver meet me at 9:00 am, upon my disembarkation to drive me to the hotel. Per the hotel "This service will be made in a private car, with a professional driver. The driver will be waiting for your guest, holding a plate with your guest is name on it."

At the conclusion of the river cruise in Porto on May 14, I will take a quick (one hour) mid-morning flight from Porto back to Lisbon before catching a flight back to StL via Newark, arriving around 6:00pm. The flight to Newark is Business Class and the flight to St. Louis is Economy.

Flights have finally been finalized and seats assigned. I will be fly from St. Louis to Bridgetown, Barbados on American Airlines, via Miami. 

Plans

The week before Thanksgiving, I started seriously doubting my upcoming 2020 World Cruise on Silver Sea. I was not happy with the cabin (709). It took a week of discussions with Maxine to convince me this was still my best option. The alternatives would have cost me an additional $200,000. The Seabourn cruise was heavy on Africa, spending 40+ days along the west coast of Africa...too much. I finally decided to do Africa piecemeal, starting with North Africa. There is also a Seabourn cruise that starts Cape Town and ends, 54 days later in Shanghai.

Thus, prior to starting my Portugal river cruise on May 7, 2019 Maxine has booked a Seabourn trans-Atlantic crossing that has stop overs in North Africa.

Itinerary:

April 17: Departs Bridgetown, Barbados

April 18 - April 24: At Sea

April 25: Santa Cruz De La Palma, Canarias, Spain

April 26: Puerto De La Estaca, El Hierro, Canarias, Spain

April 27: Santa Cruz (Tenerife), Canary Islands, Spain

April 28: Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

April 29: At Sea

April 30: Casablanca, Morocco

May 1: Tangier, Morocco

May 2: Portimao, Portugal

May 3: Lisbon, Portugal

Maxine booked me on the Seabourn Quest. It is the newest of Seabourn's Odessey-Class ships, being launched in 2011. It hosts up 458 guests and has a crew of 335. I am in the Owner's Suite #801 on the starboard bow. It is an excellent room with about 526 sq ft of living area plus a 133 sq ft veranda.

The end of the cruise is on May 3. The beginning of my Portugal Viking river cruise is May 7, so I will have several days to look around in Lisbon. Maxine said she was flying over on May 4, so maybe we can catch up with each other.

The suite will accommodate three guests, so I suggested to Maxine that she, and her traveling companion, might consider joining me on the crossing. She said she would consider the offer. Having one guest join me would add about $200 to the cost of my single occupancy. Adding a third would still only increase the cost of the single occupancy by about 25%.