Logistics ✔️

With the cruise booked, it was time to turn my attention to the logistics.

But wait. There was one more piece of information I needed.

Honestly. How could we think about going all the way to Athens on our cruise and not spend time in Turkey visiting family? We couldn’t. So, we hemmed and hawed, scribbled some calculations to work around existing plans. And came up with a block of time that worked.

Our visit won’t be a long one this time. Not like the four months we spent in Turkey last year. Perhaps because of that lengthy stay, however, we’re OK with just three weeks or so this year.

With the dates set, it was now time to work on the logistics.

I’ve got our airfare booked to get us from Colorado Springs to Miami … going in a day early as we usually do. Our United Airlines [UA] award tickets are out of DEN [Denver International Airport] … non-stop beats connecting flights from our smaller airport even if we do have to start our day with a 1-hour+ drive to get to DEN.

We also have a place to stay the night before we embark Insignia. Since we don’t plan to rent a car, we wanted a hotel that was centrally located near the port … convenient to restaurants. After researching options, we settled on the YVE Miami. It’s located across from Bayfront Park and will serve us well I believe.

We were hoping to disembark Insignia in İstanbul when the ship overnights there before continuing on to Athens. Turns out that’s a no-go during COVID-19 times. So, we have booked our airfare to get us from Athens to İzmir. Alas, the schedule for the only airline that flies nonstop to İzmir did not work for us. So, we’ll be flying THY through İstanbul instead.

The flights that will return us to the US following our add-on family visit are booked as well … UA award tickets that will fly us to Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport [IAH] and home from there. We’ll need to stay overnight in Houston as we did last year … we don’t have enough time after the long haul flight lands to make the connection to COS [Colorado Springs Airport]. We’re used to that. I’ve already booked a room at the Houston Marriott at IAH … convenient.

Now to begin planning shore excursions.Read more