Unexpected trip plan change? Make lemonade out of a lemon

by Jamie Rhein on

For circumstances beyond my control, my mom isn’t going on our cruise to Greece in August. Originally the trip was my idea to help fulfill a longtime dream of hers–take a Greek cruise. When I found out that MSC Cruise lines was offering quite the deal I was on it. We booked the cruise in March.

All details fit into place including hotel rooms in Venice, the cruise’s port and frequent flier flights for my son and me. Because he is seven, the cruise is free for him.

Now that my mom is unable to go, and it’s less than two weeks from the trip, rather than go with my son on my own–or lose 100% of the money we’ve paid for the cruise, we’re switching my teenage daughter for my mom. Here’s what the change has involved so far.

  • $100 to make the ticket switch with the cruise line.
  • 75,000 in frequent flier miles. Amazingly enough, I could get her on the same flight to Venice with my son and me for 30,000. She’s on a different flight back for 45,000.
  • $165 for taxes and fees for her plane ticket.

Now that she’s going on the cruise instead of my mom, there are her expenses of drinks and shore excursions which I expect won’t be particularly inexpensive. Plus, I’ll have to feed her in Venice.

All in all, the lemonade isn’t too sour. What’s $1,000 more dollars? That’s what I’m anticipating the total cost for my daughter’s trip will be. It’s better to over budget than under budget when it comes to making lemonade.

When I told her the ship has a no shorts or jeans dress code after 6 p.m., her response was. “Geez, it’s like middle school.” Teenagers.

Pirates vs cruise ship: Travel fibs I’ve told my mother and a poll

by Jamie Rhein on

I don’t plan to tell my mother lies when I travel. I actually think what I’m saying is accurate information, but I have one of those mothers who sees disaster looming at many corners so I try to sideswipe her fears with a “That won’t happen.” The latest fib has to do with the pirates that attacked the MSC Melody cruise ship on Saturday.

See, just last month I insisted that pirates would not attack an MSC Cruise Line because I wanted her to agree to go with me and my son on a Greek cruise on the MSC Musica. My mother balked at first. She wondered about pirates. “Oh, Mom,” I said. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Then there was the fire.

Two summers ago, I told her there wasn’t any chance that we were going to be in the midst of the fires that were blazing in Montana the same time that we were heading there. Never mind that the fires were making the national news.

Do the fires that were blazing right next to the highway count? They weren’t dangerous. All they were doing were burning up sections of hillside a few feet from the road when we passed. We did follow the warning sign that flashed “Don’t stop.” My daughter was able to snap this picture, however. Neat, huh?

Then there was the earthquake. I told my mom that Taiwan was perfectly safe and sound when my husband and I decided to move there with our then 6-year-old daughter. Three weeks after we moved to Hsinchu, I woke up in the middle of the night with the bed shaking like the tornado scene in the Wizard of Oz.. It wasn’t like we were at the epicenter, just close enough that objects spilled off shelves, we lost electricity for four days and most of the TVs at the swank Hsinchu Royal Hotel down the street took a tumble and broke. You might remember that earthquake. It made national news and there was a girl on the cover of Time Magazine with her head bandaged up and building rubble in the background.

It’s not that I plan to fib. It’s just that when one goes out in the world things happen. I’m thinking that since one MSC cruise had a run-in with pirates, our cruise should be excitement free. The pirates aren’t near Greece anyway. Right?

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