2008 Letterboxing Cruise Update!

Our Dartmoor trip in September is just about set so I finally had some time to call Norwegian Cruise Lines about our Letterboxing Cruise in June of 2008.

One of the customer service people at the group desk told me that I was still a little early for this inquiry. Apparently, the are taking bookings until April of 2008 so there is a month or so before I can get pricing. The key, he said, is to keep calling since the best prices offered are just as soon as the June date book opens up. He told me that's what places like Travelocity and other travel sites do - they buy a block of 300 rooms at early (1 year out) booking rates and sell them at $100 to $200 off of the normal rates. The public is happy - not knowing what they actually paid for the rooms!

Our group will get 2 coordinators with whom I will work - a group administrator who handles the financial end of our booking like deposits, names, etc. and a ship coordinator who I will deal with for special things on board like a first night cocktail party, reserving a space for us to meet, reserving a portion of one of the restaurants on our last night so we can all eat together, etc. My main question is to find out from the ship coordinator is whether we will be allowed to letterbox on the ship - with security concerns and all.


When I mentioned what we do - letterboxing - to Randy, the group sales person with whom I spoke - he thought it was "cool" and also thought it would be OK but I still have to run it by the ship coordinator. I mentioned we'd even be willing to wear special t shirts or some kind of identifying garb to denote we were letterboxers and not terrorists!

We would all have to pay a $50 deposit fee per person once I book the cruise. Thirty days after that, another $250 per person would be due; with the balance payable 75 days before our departure - which means only $300 per person is due 30 days after I book - the balance will not be due until mid February 2008.

At this point, we have about 150 people minimum who have expressed interest in the cruise, pending rates. All rooms must have at least 2 people and can hold a maximum of 4, unless you book one of the pricier suites. From my experience, it's more cost effective to book 2 side-by-side rooms than a suite.

Besides that, we can mention some other things. We are planning to leave from New York City on the Sunday of the last full week in June 2008. This will allow families with school age children the ability to finish school if there are a lot of those pesky snow days.

We would be sailing on the Norwegian Crown - a smaller ship of about 1100 passengers. This is the same ship that Sue & I traveled with her family a few years ago. This ship is also home to our Travel letterbox that our attendees may have a chance to find!

The following is the itinerary for the 7 day cruise to Bermuda:

Sunday - Depart NYC at 4pm
Monday - At Sea
Tuesday - Arrive St. George, Bermuda 9am and remain docked overnight
Wednesday - Leave St. George at 7am and arrive Hamilton, Bermuda at 9am
Thursday -Leave Hamilton, Bermuda and arrive Kings Wharf, Bermuda
Friday - Depart Kings Wharf at noon
Saturday - At Sea
Sunday - Arrive New York City at 7am; with debarkation beginning at 9am

We're getting excited about this venture - which is a huge undertaking for us as tour directors. I have set up a special Yahoo talk list for this cruise which I will open shortly after we book the cruise. You may look for a room mate there if you are a single, ask questions, post clues, find suggestions of the best beaches, whatever. We can then discuss some of the activities we'll have planned for the week.

My thought was to have the days free to spend with our family when we're docked to sight see or visit one of Bermuda's wonderful pink sand beaches and meet before dinner possibly for a get together every night. Some of the ideas I've had for these get togethers are a stamp-carving class, log-book making class, how to clue a letterbox, etc. We might even have some of these during the day when we're at sea if you aren't worried about working on your tan on deck! More on these plans to come. Another nice idea would be to all get together for dinner on the last night, Friday night of our trip.

As a group, I was told, we get amenity points that can be "spent" in combination of 9 different ways. Some of those 9 ways include a bottle of wine in every room, a welcome cocktail party, group photos, on board ship credit by room, glass bottom boat trip to name a few possibilities. We'll discuss all of these possibilities and how best to utilize these amenity points. Of utmost importance will be how best will the amenities serve the entire group where some members may not drink alcohol so wine might not be a good choice, etc.
When I told Sue all we'd have to do, she asked "Are you sure you want to take on all of this?" My reply was "Sure - it's letterboxing!"



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