The Best Way to Carry Money Overseas

Some of you cruisers have begun to inquire about foreign exchange, use of credit card and ATM’s. Though I have heard that some Southeast Asian countries will accept US dollars such as Vietnam. I would not count on this as a for certain option. Plan on either getting some cash ahead of time at your local bank. Keeping in mind of course, that this could easily take a week or more. So please plan ahead. 

I’ve been finding out that the best exchange rate is by using an ATM, but understand that this option has a service charge so think about the amount you will need to make it worth your while. And its very important to get a PIN number in advance for usage as using an ATM in another country is not like the USA. The article I found below may be more specific in detail to address your specific needs or questions.

Also to my surprise, credit card usage is not widely accepted in the Asian countries like in Europe. Small vendors for shopping and eatery prefer to deal with CASH and so exchanging to the local currency would be your best bet. Of course the hotels we will be staying at will easily accept your credit card for services. And on the Diamond Princess you will need a Credit Card for all your purchases and expenses as upon check-in you will be required to provide a credit card for the cashless purchases onboard with the Cruise Card. I also found out that the Diamond Princess also has an ATM machine for foreign exchange. But AGAIN plan on a service charge for this service.  

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Of course, on our flight to and fro you will need a credit card. As most airlines have stop using cash and only deal with credit card transaction for bar drinks, headphones etc.. Be sure to check on line with your specific airline to see what their procedure requires.

Lastly, think about taking extra credit cards. There has been incidents where you might put in your credit card in an ATM machine and for one reason or another. It does not return and holds your card due to circumstances. Yes, this actually happened to someone in our group in Europe. So be prepared with a couple of backups.

I will continue to keep my eyes open and post information regarding this issue. But in the meantime, these articles may assist you in getting prepared for what you will need to do to address your specific monetary needs. Happy Countdown!

IndependentTraveler - Best Way to Carry Money Overseas

http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/money-and-insurance/the-best-way-to-carry-money-overseas

Get the Best Exchange Rate

http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/money-and-insurance/get-the-best-exchange-rate

About.com - How to carry Money in Asia

http://goasia.about.com/od/Planning/a/How-to-Carry-Money-in-Asia.htm

Travel Money

http://seniortravel.about.com/od/seniortravelbasics/f/TravelMoney.htm

Photo provided by Flickr.borman818

CRUISE CONNECTION by LINDA & BILL

My name is Linda. Me and my friend Bill are cruising with you this spring. We are very excited to be going.!! We got involved through Bill’s friend Stephen Baldwin, who unfortunately, is sounding like he will not be joining us. We have not yet met our hosts, Diana and Roger but, are looking forward to meeting them in Las Vegas (where we both live) this December for Roger’s birthday.

I am an occupational therapist and Bill is a screenwriter. We both have the freedom to work when we want to and play when we want. I am a retired civil servant as Diana and Peggy both are and it sounds like many others are as well. Bill has retired from working for the state of Michigan. I have lived in Las Vegas for the past 34 years and Bill is the newbie at 10 years.

I have been more of a happy wanderer than Bill, but he’s trying to catch up. Bill and I cruised to the Caribbean this past January on a Jazz Cruise and loved it!! I have been on many great cruises and traveled to some exotic locations, two of my favorites were the Galapagos Islands and the Amazon. Bill and I have both cruised Alaska and I have also, sailed the Panama Canal, Tahitian Islands, Mediterranean and many of the Caribbean Islands.

This cruise will be the longest trip we have both been on and the longest I will have been away from home. We will be sailing the 16 days and staying several days both in Bangkok and Beijing, before and after the cruise

We are looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing the trip and our experiences with you all.

REMINDER RSVP for CRUISE ORIENTATION & LUNCHEON

Last call for those of you who have not RSVP for our Asia to Alaska Cruise Orientation and Luncheon.

This event will be held at the Capital Seafood Restaurant in the Irvine Spectrum Mall located at the 5 & 405 Freeways in Irvine. The restaurant is located on the 405 freeway side of the Irvine Spectrum mall, near Nordstrom.

We will be having our own private room which will allow us to have an opportunity to introduce, mingle, answer questions and inform you of details
of our upcoming trip.

For those not able to be with us. Please visit us here at our blog as after the event, I will summarize the details of what was shared.

Thanks for those who have already RSVP'd and I look forward to hearing from
everyone else!

Diana & Roger

CHINA VISA APPLICATION.... Due February 15th!

Below are the general guidelines that Alex has provided for us to follow for our China Visa Application. I understand those cruisers out of the Southern California region have been contacted directly by Alex. There is a VisaCentral Application Kit that I will be sending to you via email. So please check your Inbox. Remember, all of your information needs to be delivered and received by the following date below, no exception. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Alex or myself. 
Countdown Time Everyone,
Diana

IMPORTANT DUE DATE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013 - Before 5pm

Cruisers that are living in Southern California can opt to drop off their passports and paperwork with the receptionist at my office in Newport Beach.  Innovative Travel Planner, Inc, 4570 Campus Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660.   If the receptionist is not there, she may have stepped away for a few minutes.  Call me if you have any problems.  I will go over all the applications and take them in together.

The following should be included:

1. Filled out and SIGNED APPLICATION.  Whatever question you are not sure of, leave it blank and I will fill it in.  Please use a black inked pen so that it's easier to match.

2.  Valid passport (must have at least 2 full blank pages for our 2 entry visa)

3.  A good color copy of your passport AND a good color copy of your Driver's License.

4.  1 Passport type color photo with a white background.

5.  A check for $208 per person for consulate fees and processing made out to Innovative Travel

6.  If you did not do your air with me, a copy of your air itinerary.  I will provide the rest.

7.  If you do not live in Southern California, I can still process your visa for you but there will additional Fed Ex charges to ensure the safety of your passport.

8.  Those of you doing the 16 day cruise, we will be staying at the Beijing Crowne Plaza, Phone: 86-10-5911999

9.  We will be doing 2 entries.  We will be visiting Shanghai, China on April 28, 2013 and Beijing, China 0n May 3, 2013 (16 day cruisers, from 3-5 May, 3 days), unless your return flight is different than May 5th.

Most importantly, relax, it's just a process.  We just have to make sure all our t's are crossed and i's dotted.  I will be on jury duty as of Tuesday, Jan 29th so not reachable by phone but just email me.  I will be checking emails throughout the day.

Can't wait to start having fun on our Asian adventure!

Alex
Innovative Travel Planner, Inc.
4570 Campus Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660

CRUISE CONNECTION by CRISTIN & MIKE

Greetings to all our fellow travelers,

Mike Thompson and Cristin George are joining you on the 32 day cruise.  What a bucket list!  We were not asked formally to join the group though, we are quite happy that Diana and Roger was open arms to have us join them.  Rocky and Peggy Alby joined a group of retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Sergeants for dinner on June 2011, and told us about a 32 day cruise starting in Bangkok and ending in Anchorage in April 2013 that they were going on.  Mike and I were excited for Rocky and Peggy and then began to think wouldn't it be wonderful if we could go on the cruise also.  We asked if they minded that we joined them and Rocky gave us all the contact information and so here we are joining y'all.

A little history on us: Mike is an Army brat and lived in MA, TX, NV and Germany.  He worked as a prison guard in MA, before moving to Las Vegas to become a police officer.  After 28 years, he retired as a detective Sergeant in Homicide.  Mike loves scuba diving, became an instructor at 17, taught diving and repaired equipment for 25 years and for the last 12 years has owned and operated a scuba repair business here in Las Vegas.  I am a retired dietitian, lived mostly in UT & NV, plus a little in CA, CO, TX and have had the travel bug for years; studied in Europe for 6 weeks one summer, took continuing education classes in (what was then) the Soviet Union and China, and have visited Argentina on a FAM trip.  We lived less than a mile from each other, but we met in Grand Cayman scuba diving.  I was newly certified and this was my first ocean dive. We have dove most of the Caribbean, Channel Islands in California and dove the Philippines in May and October 2011 (had another bucket list adventure there with 2 typhoons).  Our cruising experience includes the Caribbean twice, Bahamas, transiting the Panama Canal and multiple non ocean liner trips.  We are still debating about bringing our dive gear on this cruise...is it worth sacrificing all that weight??? hmm???

We will not be missed by any children...don't have any, but will be missed by our four legged children...three Maltese and a Miniature Poodle.

The high adventures have already started for us on this trip.  We booked our own airline reservations...I'm retired and have all the time in the world, for detecting bargains.  Rocky and Peggy were in Europe in October 2012 and he emailed me that there seemed to be an “issue” with our flights to Bangkok.  I emailed back that everything looked fine to me.  Thank goodness Rocky emailed back “Was I sure?”  I examined all the flights forward and backward and a cold sweat started, “holy cow the airline has done something to the flight and we are starting at LAX".  Long story short our flight had been canceled by the airline.  I called the airlines and thanked them for rescheduling the flight, but we did not live near Los Angeles / LAX, we lived in Las Vegas / LAS.  After an hour on the phone with the airline, they arranged for us to get from LAS to LAX.  Then spent another hour with the wholesale booking agent getting them to neaten up the itinerary so that a regular person (me) could understand what was going on.  Lesson learned from this: a travel agent (Alex) would have detected this sooner and taken care of it before we even knew anything was amiss.

The much less "stressful" fun stuff has also started.  I really love to shop for the bargain and not just any bargain as I enjoy the art of recycled bargains (Mike is learning to appreciate it as we have both lost a combined total of >80# since January on Weight Watchers online and our clothes continue to get too big).  A cruise, especially one lasting for more than a few days requires extra stuff...like fancy clothes for the evening formals, larger luggage than carry ons or dive bags and just plain stuff.  We have some great recycle shops here in Las Vegas and I have found our needed larger luggage, formal wear and stuff for a fraction of the cost at the regular department stores.  Hooray and happy dance!

We consider this trip part of our combined bucket lists and do not have an agenda of accomplishments other than the Great Wall, which Mike has not seen.  Savoring every moment, meeting new people and having the time of our lives will be the biggest must "have to do".

IMPORTANT REMINDER .... 16 Day Cruisers, PAYMENT DUE

Our total cruise payment is due to Alex by Friday, 

February 1, 2013. If payment is not received by this date your booking will be cancelled. Alex will be sending out your 

invoice via email. So check your In Box! Please 

contact her if you have specific questions. Her number is 949/756-3223.

32 Day Cruisers, its crossed off your list, your payment has been  paid in full last month! Welcome Aboard!

Photo provided by Flickr.Dolphinsdock

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Happy New Year Everyone...I am back and hope you are too! Hope you all had a fabulous holiday season and are looking forward to our upcoming getaway. It will be here in no time at all.

We can officially say that the countdown is truly on for our embarkation day. Our 32 day cruisers have already paid their cruise balance and I will be posting a payment reminder for our 16 day cruisers this week as well.

During the holidays, I have written some articles that will hopefully continue to assist you in your planning and preparation for this trip and Alex is currently busy working on getting the China Visa information posted on the blog as well. So be sure you check in regularly here on our blog or at least sign up for the email notification on the right hand side bar of the blog for your convenience in getting it sent to your email.

Lastly, I hope you all got your invitation to our No-Host Orientation Luncheon at Capital Seafood at irvine Spectrum in Irvine. Advance thank you to those who already responded with their RSVP. Please do so by Saturday, February 2nd 2013, so I can be sure to have a head count for the restaurant.

2013 is here...and April 2013 is right around the corner! Yippee!!! 
Countdown time everyone --- Countdown!

Bon Voyage Soon,
Diana

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Just a note to inform our cruise readers that we will be off-line as we will be visiting family, friends and celebrating this incredible holiday season till mid-January when we will be officially back on-line.

We wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and a most Happy New Year. Celebrate, Enjoy and Be Safe as you close this 2012 year and let's all bring in the 2013 Cruise Year with good health, joy, cheers and happiness!

Looking forward to seeing you on board soon.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Diana & Roger    

CRUISE CONNECTION by ROCKY & PEGGY

Hello Everyone ...Rocky and Peggy Alby here! Like all of you, we are very excited to journey this cruise adventure and of course counting the days to head to the airport. But before we go and talk about that. Diana wanted us to share how we are connected. Peggy and I’ve known Diana since we were kids, specifically we knew each other from our growing up days in Sonoma. Peggy has known her since fourth grade and I’ve known her since 8th grade. As for Roger, we began our friendship when we went to their wedding in Maui in 1990. So, if you want to know the real story, I’m sure I can recall a few, especially if you bought me a drink on board the Diamond Princess. Another drink or three and well... I might make it worth your while, heh, heh!

On a more serious note, we are thrilled to be able to finally join Roger and Diana. As Peggy and I have been retired a few years now. I had a career in the Public Safety field and Peggy was in the Respiratory  Services  arena. Both of these work schedule as you can imagine made it difficult to join the Davis‘ in all of their many adventures. But, we are finally c’mon onboard.

Peggy and I are also connected with Peggy’s sister Lucy Working and her husband John who are also joining us on this 32 day cruise. Additionally we have friends Cristin George and Mike Thompson also coming aboard as well. 

Both Peggy and I have cruised before and enjoy this mode of travel. Some of the other places we have cruised to are Panama Canal on the Island Princess, Alaska on the Holland Cruise Line and most recently Viking River Cruise, Budapest to Amsterdam.

Yes, life is good and we are ready to embark on this exotic adventure from Bangkok to Anchorage. Oh and by the way, we are ready to play Progressive Rummy so c’mon lucky mojo! See you onboard soon.....

CRUISE CONNECTION by JOHN & LUCY

Hello Fellow Cruisers, 

We are John and Lucy Working and we live in Vacaville between the Bay Area and Sacramento in Northern California. Lucy is a retired kindergarten/second grade teacher while I'm retired after managing a college bookstore at Solano Community College and then Sacramento City College. Lucy's sister is Peggy Alby and we have taken three cruises with her and her husband, Rocky over the years. We know Diana through Peggy and met Roger a few times in Sonoma and Las Vegas. The first time I met Roger he was wearing his T-Shirt "I Buy Japanese Swords". I have a Japanese sword and thinking (hoping) it might be worth something I asked Roger to take a look. Well let's just say we are not paying for any of our cruises with the proceeds. 

Our most recent cruise was aboard Viking River Cruises. We sailed from Budapest on the Danube to Amsterdam on the Rhine. If you've not taken a river cruise we highly recommend it. There were just 145 people aboard and at each stop there was a walking/bus tour included. Viking provided a local guide with wireless head set.  We've done the Panama Canal and Alaska so I guess we're becoming "experienced cruisers". This will be our second cruise with Princess. 

My personal interest in this cruise, beside the fact that Peggy and Rocky are going, is I spent some time off the coast of Vietnam and in the Mekong River Delta during the late sixties and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to see Vietnam again under different circumstances. During that time I also visited Hong Kong and Tokyo and could not resist this opportunity to return. As a plus we get to visit other parts of China as well. Lucy and I were both history majors at San Jose State, taking numerous Asian History Classes, so it will be fun to be there. 

We are both looking forward to this trip and look forward to meeting you all. 

John and Lucy Working