This afternoon, FEDEX delivered our passports with the new 1-year, Multi-Entry Chinese Visas. This was the last visa we needed for the upcoming world cruise with the exception of visas that the ship will obtain for everyone (Australia, Vietnam, Dubai, Jordan, Egypt). There wasn't any requirement for us to obtain a visa from India, since ours is a 10-year and still in effect.
With the visa preparation out of the way, it's on to deciding what we really need and what can stay at home. On the last world cruise we prepared a list near the end of the cruise of items that we really needed and the quantity for each. This has come in handy for getting everything together in one room for sorting and packing. When you are planning for a total of 119 days on board a ship at sea it is important to really do a little planning so something isn't left behind. Of course if you aren't careful this can lead to taking too many items as well!!
We went online to the US Postal Service (USPS) yesterday and setup a Temporary Change Of Address to our Daughter's home. All our mail will go to her during the time we are gone. This is important since the USPS will only hold mail for 30 days. One good thing about a temporary change of address is that the USPS won't forward "junk mail".
Several administrative items were taken care of yesterday. We made arrangements with our Cable TV and Internet Provider to put each of them on "Vacation Hold". This allows us to keep these services in an inactive status and not have to pay the normal bill for services and not incur any reconnection fees. In December we will do a similar thing with our automobiles and their insurance coverage. Insurance companies allow a procedure called "Garaging". In our state our insurance company allows you to remove most of the coverage with the exception of limited comprehensive coverage with substantial savings.
One administrative item that has not been accomplished is our Taxes. The forms to file an extension of the filing date are already available from the Internal Revenue Service. However, we won't have the exact figures to use for filing until sometime in January.
