The Big 50! In More Ways Than One

Yup I know you are shocked.... how can she be turning 50? Okay stop laughing!  And it doesn't happen till next year!  

I still have a year to go.  But not only is it the big 50, it is also our 20th Wedding Anniversary too.

For the past year my honey (aka Bernie) has been saying we need to do something special to celebrate two great milestones.  So we have been contemplating where to go.  

A few obstacles were in the way though.  Our anniversary is in July, and my birthday is August.  But next year (well most years) it is very difficult for us to get time off in the summer, and especially long stretches off in the summer. So we had to think about Fall itineraries.  

There are many areas we considered. Northern Europe, Australia, Asia, South America and Mediterranean.  

What we wanted was a "wow" vacation, to somewhere we maybe haven't been to.  One where we could see lots of amazing ports but also get in a good rest and come back to work rested.  

After many months of searching over itineraries I finally decided.  

Mediterranean and Trans Atlantic.  

We have never done either.  I know how crazy... but there were other areas that interested us more and the Med is more of a summer holiday and is never a restful holiday (or at least I knew I would try and do too much).  But after much consideration and chatting with numerous friends who have done them we both agreed to try it.  The real bonus was that the Island Princess would be doing this itinerary. This is great for us as we like the more intimate feeling of that ship and the ease of getting around.  Also this size would enable us to go to Venice due to their new size ship rules.

Adding the Trans Atlantic crossing will ensure we are rested and ready to return to work.

Here is the itinerary, leaving October 25, 2015 

Next it came down to what type of cabin do we want?  Well for such a great trip a balcony was due.  We had considered a mini suite but the price point was too high and with such a port intensive itinerary we figured (at least for the first leg) we wouldn't be in the cabin much any ways.

We settled on a BE balcony, on Emerald deck.  We actually picked the exact cabin we had once on the Panama cruise. Here is a link to that cruise 2009 Panama Canal Cruise.  We loved that cabin.  Just above the Promenade, no one below us, little noise, and we loved being lower down closer to the water.  

We booked this voyage as two segments so we would get more on board credits.  This is because we would now get to Loyalty credits ($75 each leg), on board credit from Future Cruise Deposit, and Stock Credit from each leg too.  The price for the cruise in two segments was a little more but still in the end worked out to much cheaper when you add in the on board credits.  We are able to book the same cabin for both legs too.  Although they do sell as one 31 day cruise too.

Now the kicker is the second leg of this cruise (as of right now) will be my 50th Princess Cruise!  A milestone cruise that is celebrated with Princess.  Nothing better than celebrating my 50th birthday with my 50th Princess cruise!  

If you care to join us, contact your travel agent for details and we will see you on board.