Well, life has a strange way of moving you and in February 2026 we got a good offer to buy our Key Largo condo, with closing in May. Lynn had been wanting to sell for a while, with the idea of going other places in the winter and more financial stability. I had been hesitant, liking our time on the water with our boat and having a set up place with our things. The offer, the fact that we were spending less time at our condo and the thought of more winter adventures like current cruises, won me over. Since the condo was selling in May, I convinced Lynn to change to balcony guarantees instead of an obstructed oceanview while we were on our 2026 Asia cruise.
First cruise, 36 nights (Jan. 21, 2027): Los Angeles; Hilo, Hawaii; Kahului, Maui; Honolulu, Oahu; Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI; Pago Pago, American Samoa; Suva, Fiji; Dravuni Island, Fiji; Port-Vila, Vanuatu; Luganville, Vanuatu; Rabaul, Papua New Guinea; Alotau (Milne Bay), Papua New Guinea; Cairns, Australia; Airlie Beach, Australia; Brisbane, Australia; Sydney, Australia.
We reserved a BE Balcony guarantee (Coral Princess has them on floors 8-12), which means that level or better. We will get a $1,230 Digital Costco Shop Card. Total Price for all Passengers is now $17,102.00 ($1,990 more for a balcony instead of the obstucted oceanview room we had reserved. $16,702 due Sept. 9th. We called to check pricing again on Sept. 3rd and made final payment after hearing the prices didn't drop and the cruise was fully booked.
Second cruise, 32 nights (Feb. 27, 2027): Sydney, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Tauranga, New Zealand; Christchurch (Lyttelton), New Zealand; Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand; Fiordland National Park, New Zealand (cruising); Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; Adelaide, Australie; Perth (Fremantle), Australia; Kimberley Coast, Australia (Cruising); Darwin, Australia; Bali, Indonesia; Lombok, Indonesia; Singapore.
We reserved a BF Balcony guarantee (Coral Princess has them on floors 8 or 12), which means that level or better. On 8-6-26 (a month before final payment was due) Lynn called to check prices and the price on this cruise dropped to $11,658, the shop card we get also dropped a couple hundred to $755, but we saved around $2,400 off the original price (due to calling to check pricing before paying off). We called to check pricing again on Sept. 3rd and made final payment after hearing the prices didn't drop and the cruise was fully booked.
Princess gives you three levels of reservation, standard, plus and premium. We again did standard as it saves us money since we don't drink a lot of alcohol or go to the specialty dining much. My main disappointment with their loyalty program is that they no longer (since 2019, I believe) give you any wifi minutes included. We use to get 150 or more free minutes on each cruise. Now you have to pay, and it is not inexpensive. Platinum and Elite get 50% off, but it still cost around $20 per day.
Our longest cruise so far is 53 nights and we said we could have kept going. So, if we commit to these cruises, they will be our longest (68 nights). We booked through Costco and get a $1,230 and a $985 digital costco shop cards for booking with them. I also bought Carnival stock which could give us two $250 credits for these two cruises, due to stock benefits.
This will be our 38th cruise (15/218 days on Princess (after this cruise), 13/148 days on Norwegian, 6/44 days on Carnival, 3/26 days on Royal Caribbean and 1/9 days on Celebrity) = 445 days of fun and relaxing cruising.
On Aug. 4th, 2026 we booked our return airfare on Delta from Singapore to Detroit. I used 88,000 airmiles I had received from getting Delta's A.E. credit card, plus around $100 tax. Lynn bought her ticket for $850?. We leave Singapore March 31st at 10:00pm (operated by Korean Air, 6h 35m flight) arriving at Seoul-Incheon, South Korea at 5:35am then a 4h 40m layover, lastly at 10:15am we fly (operated by Delta, 13h 20m flight) to Detroit arriving at 10:35am. So, 24h 35m total flight time with layover.
Cruise 2 
More to come
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