Tag Archives: Costa Rica

Luxury

Pam Conover resigns from SeaDream…

Less than a month ago, I blogged about SeaDream Yacht Club’s turnover.  When I wrote that post, I was a little hesitant, since I am definitely no cruise line insider, nor am I even really a travel expert.  I just like to travel when I can and I like to write about my experiences.  I have cruised on SeaDream three times and mostly enjoyed each time.  However, as a Cruise Critic message board poster, I also regularly follow SeaDream’s forum and this morning, learned that Pam Conover, a highly regarded and much touted executive who joined SeaDream less than a year ago, has just decided to resign her position, effective December 4, 2013.

This is yet another worrying departure on the small, but much beloved, luxury cruise line.  Of course, I don’t know why she’s leaving.  For all I know, she could be resigning for personal reasons that have nothing to do with SeaDream’s apparent decline.  However, I do know that at least on Cruise Critic and among a couple of people I met onboard, there seems to be growing discontent with the product, mainly because of issues people have been having with kids on the ships.

SeaDream I is headed for Costa Rica this month.  I was really wanting to book one of the Costa Rica cruises, but our circumstances didn’t allow for that.  If we hadn’t had to move to Texas, perhaps we would have pulled the trigger.  Every time we move, it costs money and requires time to get settled.  As it is now, I’m not really feeling the urge to book anymore.  I do have the itch to travel, but not necessarily on SeaDream, and that is a big change from the past, when I couldn’t wait to book my next SeaDream voyage.

I will be watching to see what people say about the Costa Rica cruises.  Even if we never do a SeaDream cruise down there, I would like to go to that region at some point.  If my teeth keep giving me grief, I might even go down there for medical tourism purposes.

One magical memory, courtesy of SeaDream…

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SeaDream tempts me again…

SeaDream  must be having a hell of a time filling up their cruises to Costa Rica.  I’ve been wanting to sign up for one.  But we had to move and life is more expensive in Texas than it was in North Carolina.  Yesterday, they sent me a private sale email with very attractive prices for three cruises, two of which are in Costa Rica.  The prices are low enough that I checked Delta to see how expensive flights are…

Sadly, it would cost a bundle to get down to Costa Rica or Panama.  I suppose I could check again… or maybe cash in some credit card points.  I really do want to visit Costa Rica and this is a great opportunity.  But it would be kind of irresponsible to go down there right now…  It would cost about $1500-$1900 just to fly to Costa Rica.  Then it would cost about $5200 for the cruise itself, which is not bad for SeaDream, but more than we have right now as we’re planning for Bill’s retirement.

*Sigh*

As much as the house in North Carolina was falling apart, I sure do miss the extra money we had there…

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Guatemalan rum… and other boozy delights…

One of the perks of my husband’s job is that he gets to travel a lot.  So do his colleagues.  Bill’s co-workers tend to be pretty liberal with sharing things they pick up when they go TDY.  Yesterday, one guy brought a bottle of 23 year old Guatemalan rum.  He was going to give it to a friend, but the friend wasn’t at work.  He had another bottle at home, so he offered to sell it to Bill.

This bottle was full yesterday.  We enjoyed some of it on the porch last night.  It was actually pretty nice outside.  There was a lovely breeze.

The label…

23 years old!

 

This rum was very smooth.  In fact, it was probably the smoothest rum I have ever tasted.  Unfortunately, it also wasn’t very interesting.  It had kind of a minty flavor, but not a lot of body of depth.  It doesn’t quite hold a candle to El Dorado, which is my favorite rum.  I discovered Guyanese El Dorado rum in Bequia during my second SeaDream cruise.

Bill has another former co-worker who used to bring us brandy from Moldova, because that is where his wife was born and raised.  I was interested because I lived in Armenia and Armenia has some outstanding brandies.  I found the Moldovan brandy less impressive than Armenian brandy, but it was still pretty good.

We have also visited a beer spa in the Czech Republic, followed by a trip through the Pilsner Urquell brewery museum.   And we had a very enjoyable trip through Vinopolis in London…  Last year, we went to Scotland and learned all about Scotch, including tours of a couple of distilleries and the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh.

Hmmph… we probably ought to take up some sports, lest we pickle ourselves.  Anyway, we liked the rum from Guatemala.  Makes me think we should take a trip there, though in all honesty, I am even more interested in Costa Rica.  Bill’s job may have him visiting there this year.

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Costa Rica again…

SeaDream recently sent me an email with a link to the newest cruises for late 2014 and early 2015 (phew, that seems so far away).  I noticed they weren’t going back to Costa Rica, which makes me a little sad because I’d love to go there.  I know there are other cruiselines that go there, but I am a SeaDream fan.

So then I looked at what is still available for this fall.  One cruise had a super bargain guaranty rate of $2699 a person, which may seem like a lot, but for SeaDream is very reasonable.  It would be the week before Christmas.  I looked into flights to San Jose, Costa Rica and it would be about $1200-$1400 to fly down there.  The flights are a bit on the sucky side, but they are within our reach.

I must say, it’s REALLY tempting to book.

Booking that cruise, however, would mean that we would likely not be able to do anything next year.  We may not do anything next year anyway, but I was hoping to get rid of some debt.  And I’m also not sure I want to do another cruise so soon after our last one.

But still… it really is tempting.  I do want to go to Costa Rica.  And a Christmas trip might be just what we need.

Well, we’ll see…  When we get to Texas, we’ll be paying more for housing and we’ve heard energy bills are higher.  On the other hand, food is cheaper and there are fewer taxes.  And Bill will be closer to work, so he won’t be spending as much on gas.  We could also forgo TV, which would probably do me a lot of good.

I doubt we’ll do it, but you never know.

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Costa Rica…

I’m giving some serious thought to booking another cruise in November or December.  SeaDream Yacht Club is offering some great deals on cruises there at that time.

I had an acquaintance/co-worker who served in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica.  Knowing that it’s become quite the tourist destination lately, I can only guess that he was a lucky guy to get to serve there.

I also have a friend who had dental work done there at a fraction of the cost it would have been in the United States.  She had serious problems that required multiple dental implants that would have been prohibitively expensive to have done in the United States.  Knowing that I have two baby teeth with no permanent teeth under them, it’s good to know I could get implants relatively cheaply in a country not too far away.

When we lived in Germany, we visited Poland and the Czech Republic.  Both of those countries are also known for medical tourism.  In Poland, you can get dental work done cheaply.  In the Czech Republic, you can get pregnant via cut rate IVF.  But something tells me that Costa Rica’s beautiful beaches and tropical wildlife might be more enticing… at least to me.

If I do decide to book the trip, I’ll do it when we’re onboard so I can get 15% off the fare.  When you’re paying four figures a person, that discount is very helpful in making the cruise more affordable.

Next year, my husband retires and will be searching for a new job.  We may be poor.  I don’t know if it’s better to take the trips now, or save up the money.  Of course, if he gets a job quickly, he won’t have the generous vacation he gets today.  So maybe it’s best to sneak these trips in while we can…  And if we’re poor, we’re poor.  He will get a retirement, so that’s a good thing.  Unfortunately, his retirement will be cut for the first couple of years because he has to repay money that he got when he temporarily left the Army in the 1990s.

Blame the skank for that decision…

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