Future Plans...
As we near the halfway point of the “work season”, it’s time to focus on the final details for the fall travel. The Fall of 2025 my travel will be shared with Roxanne (of course), Lori, Chris and Barry… Thirty-three days at sea will be divided between the above three ships. Starting with Ovation of the Seas, next Ruby Princess and ending with Sky Princess.
Our Ovation of the Seas cruise is compliments of Royal' Caribbean’s Club Royale. Six days of rest and relaxation! Departing from Long Beach, we will fly into the local airport, spend one night in a hotel and Uber to the ship. With a simple itinerary that includes a sea day, overnight in Cabo, sea day and port stop in Ensenada. During our time in Cabo, we will avoid the tender process and spend the night at Tesoro Los Cabos. This is such a convenient hotel… having visited it four times in the past couple of years, I am anxious to return for an overnight of eating, drinking, reading and relaxing!
After returning to Tahoe, I will have two days to get my car and dogs prepared for a cross-country road trip. Barry will fly in on October 2nd after work. After I pick him up, we will drive two hours to Hawthorne to spend the night. This will give us a little bit of a head start. We will take four days to get back to Houston. The dogs will miss their Tahoe meadow, but they always seem happy with their second home in Texas. (PS I have a little surprise up my sleeve that I will write about after the fact… )
Cruise number two… Ruby Princess out of San Francisco. Another complimentary sailing that comes with free play. The decision was made to fly instead of drive this year. Though San Francisco is a short drive, we had a challenge with the parking last year. We found convenient flights on United and booked a room at Club Quarters Hotel Embarcadero. Only a 6 minute drive to the port, this reasonably priced hotel will work perfectly for our pre-cruise stay. Once boarded on Ruby, we will sail at sea for three days, then visit Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlán as our first three stops.
Our final port stop is back in Cabo for an afternoon/evening. We will enjoy a little beach time and maybe even a margarita! Once back on board, we will have a leisurely three days sailing back to San Francisco! The Sea Days are always my favorite. Everyone should be relaxed by the time we disembark. My friends will return to Tahoe and I will go for a night to regroup and head back to Houston until the next trip.
With only one week until the next trip begins, I will have time to do laundry and repack. Then Barry and I will jump on a United 777 from Houston to London. Every little detail has been planned out for a fun precruise adventure. We will have a week from landing to boarding the ship in Southampton, UK. Since he doesn’t know where we are going, I will wait to until we arrive to post the events of the secret week. Then we will return to London, take the National Express shuttle to Southampton. One night… basically dinner, in a local hotel before we board the Sky Princess. Stops will include Portland, UK; Cherbourg, France; Vigo, Spain; Ponta Delgado; before sailing for four days to reach Bermuda. We will have a few more days to reach Port Canaveral. All in all, it will be a week in an undisclosed location, 16 days of sailing and one night in Orlando.
Next up, I will work Christmas week in Tahoe… and, unless Barry gets to do remote work again, I will spend most of the winter in Houston. Of course, I will return for holiday weekends! In the Spring of 2026, the first scheduled trip is a 16-day Hawaiian cruise on Ruby Princess out of San Francisco. Lori and I will have a great time sailing across the Pacific! Odds are, there will be a trip before this one… but at this point, nothing is planned.
End of April, first half of May will be a European dream for Roxanne. Three of the four destinations are places I have previously visited, the fourth will be new to both of us. The skeleton of this trip is set, now it’s time to fill in the details… like accommodations, etc. Paris in springtime should be amazing. Cagliari, Sardinia is the area Roxanne’s Italian family is from. It will be interesting to her “homeland”. It seemed a city followed by a beach would be perfect!
Also on our spring extravaganza… Barcelona! Roxanne has to visit this beautiful city. With so much to see, we will have five days to check out all the sights. After what I expect to be a high energy adventure, we will end our trip with a relaxing time in Rethymno, Crete. Greece is a beautiful country and enjoying the beaches, mountains, food and culture is best experienced on the island of Crete.
One last adventure is currently on the books… first two weeks of June, hubby and I will be heading east! It’s time to change it up a bit… of course, there is time to add to the calendar. Typically, that’s what happens… I start out small and the trips somehow grow and grow!
