November 26 - Getting ready

We're off on Tuesday, November 28 for a cruise on Oceania Sirena roundtrip from Miami through the Caribbean and up the Amazon.  The Amazon is another new area for us, so fingers crossed nothing goes wrong on this cruise.  We know the river levels are pretty low, but other ships of the same size as the Sirena have made it, so we're hopeful.  

We'll spend tonight at a hotel near Dulles Airport as we have a relatively early flight and we'd rather be close to the airport.  Then Monday night at a hotel near Miami airport.  (Using our Marriott points for both, of course.)  We always try to fly in at least one day before just in case there are hiccups along the way, especially in winter.  Then we'll board Sirena on Tuesday morning.  My sister and brother-in-law, Jan and Tom, are on this cruise also, which is exciting.

Oceania is a new cruise line for us.  Like Regent, it is one of the three Norwegian Cruise Lines holdings.  We understand that it is very close in quality to Regent.  The biggest difference is the pricing structure.  On Regent, they include everything up front, including tours, laundry, gratuities, wi-fi, alcoholic beverages, and specialty restaurants.  Really the only place to spend your money is in the shops or at the spa.  Oceania does it more a la carte.  They do have some packages that include drinks, gratuities, wi-fi, and an allowance towards tours.  We did have the standard allowance of $800 to use where we wanted and we booked a few tours that used that up right away,  We chose not to do a package this time so we'll see how it goes.  We'll have to get used to bringing out our room key whenever we order a drink.

We're packed, checked in for our flight tomorrow, and now just have the last-minute stuff like unplugging non-essentials, turning off the water, and lowering the heat.  Bill and Jacquelyn are giving us a ride to the airport with a stop for dinner on the way.  Next stop Miami.  Thank goodness we didn't have to fly out today as the airports are jammed according the news reports.  Hopefully tomorrow morning will be better.