Now it is only three more days until leave on our trip, but that seems like it will just be enough time to finish getting ready. Today (Tuesday) will be laundry day, and tomorrow will be our first attempt at packing. We are still trying to keep to one suitcase each, but we will just have to see how it goes when we start putting together our packing list.
We have made the final decision on the hotel in Madrid, we are going to stay in our first pick, the Hostal Oriente (This is a link to the hotel website). It is conveniently located in the historical center of Madrid, and is reasonably priced. The hotel has received good reviews on Trip Adviser, so we decided to go with it and give it a try. The only issue we have seen people criticize is that some rooms can be noisy at times. Hopefully, we will be so tired the first night (Saturday) that we will not hear anything. Then, our thought is that Madrid will not as vibrant(or loud) on Sunday nights.
We have confirmed our reservation with AeroCITY shuttle service for pick-up at the airport for the ride to our hotel. The cost for two is 23 euros. If we have trouble packing as light as we want, we might have revert to taking the hang-up bag, and the shuttle will eliminate some of the troubles carrying all of the luggage through the Metro terminals.
We have found out that there is apparently a duty free shop in the port terminal, after the security screening for boarding the ship. We have heard that this will enable us to purchase some adult beverages and be able to carry them aboard with us. This was confirmed by other cruisers via a Cruise, Critic Forum, who had recently sailed on the Navigator of the Seas in the past few weeks. Apparently the ship has been sailing from Malaga on 5-day cruises to the Canary Islands. We will still attempt to take some supplies with us just in case, but minimize the amount, and its weight and volume in our suitcases.
Credit Card companies have been notified that we will be overseas, as well as Banks for using our ATM Cards. We discovered that we had about 30 euros left over from the last voyage, so in the event there is some issues getting money at the airport, we can at least pay the shuttle service and get to our hotel. That adds a little comfort, I have had trouble getting money in the past due to the time difference, and the banks in the USA going through a computer maintenance period between 2am and 4am. That happened on a Sunday morning, so we do not anticipate that being the case on this trip, with our arrival on a Saturday.
Just a few other loose ends to take care of in the planning department for our port days, and then, we will just have to make due with the information we have.
Unfortunately, we looked at the weather on Sunday, and it appeared we were in for warmer than normal temperatures, with sunny days. As fickle as the weather can be, sure enough, we looked Monday, and it is a completely different forecast, a possibility of rain showers in Madrid for Saturday, and temperatures only getting to 58 degrees for a high for Saturday and Sunday. I guess we will just have to be patient and look on Thursday. We were hoping to avoid taking some of the cooler weather clothing, it takes more space. Out weather check on Thursday will enable us to make last minute adjustments, hopefully back to warmer weather clothing.
We purchased a couple of compact, noise reduction headsets for an Anniversary present. This should help with some of the background noise on the flights. We do have seats more toward the front of the plane, and in front of the engines, so that will also help make it quieter. Hopefully there will be some good movies to watch in the 7 plus hour flight across the Atlantic.
Well, its off to begin laundry and house cleaning, and packing the camera equipment. We should have time make one more post prior to our departure, and hopefully can post updates in our layover in Philadelphia on Friday, something to pass the time for a couple of hours. Until Then….