FLAGS of our PORTS

Our SASA Cruise Begins and Ends in the USA 

Flag of United States of America

Long Beach, Calif  

Flag of Mexico

Cabo San Lucas

Huatulco

Flag of Guatemala

Puerto Quetzal

Flag of Ecuador

Quito

Flag of  Peru

Lima

 Flag of Chile

Arica

Valpariso

Puerto Montt

Punta Arenas

Flag of  Argentina

Ushuaia

Puerto Madryn

Buenos Aires

Flag of Uruguay

Montevideo

Flag of Brazil

Rio

Salvador

Recife Olinda

Forteleza

Flag of Barbados

Flag of Turks and Caicos Islands

Flag of United States of America

New York, New York

What to do on a sea day.........

Yellow Fever and Vaccines

Temperatures for SASA ports

TEMPERATURES FOR SPLENDOR AROUND SOUTH AMERICA PORTS

Packing has meant considering the range of temperatures and potential rain that we might experience in our trip. We will go from sunny hot beach weather to ice floating near the ship, (and 50lbs limit per suitcase for airplanes).

Two of our SASA group members (fscharry/Harry and JWMiddleton/John) have put together information on average temperatures for us.

Packing Secrets & Penguin Poop Protectors . . .

From our Cruise Critic Message Board

Feb 3, Feb 20th, Mar 5 

South America around the Horn Pt2

. . . Our Packing Secrets . . .

Ghjohnson

"I have two suitcases open & being packed at 2 different homes - 2 completely different Cruise Staging Areas.  My home and the Home I work in.   I have done this about 3 times now on past cruises & each time it gets a little easier.   I just hope I do not forget anything. "

Jigjager 

"Man wears 70 clothing items to avoid baggage fees"

jlhtraveler

"old underwear so I can throw as I go"

Mdeering

 "I am sure everyone has heard about cross packing. Put part your clothes and part spouses clothes in each bag. If a bag is lost, everyone still has clothes.  I do the same every though I am traveling by myself. Every bag has an equal selections of casual clothes, dress clothes, etc. So if a bag is lost, I can still enjoy the cruise.  I pack in the carry-on 3 complete outfits, shoes, etc. If both of my check bags are lost, I could still be OK."

mikewrit 

"Somebody suggested packing two big bags full then packing a carry-on with the essentials in case one or both of the big bags gets lost. So just pack the carry-on and tell fashionistas your other bags were lost."<!--[endif]-->

scrabblefan

Our guest room has become my packing "staging area." I don't know how all of this is going to fit in a 44 pound suitcase. I say 44 pounds because we are leaving The Splendor after leg 2 and and spending some time in Buenos Aires. The flights between there and Igaussu Falls and from there to Rio have 44 pound limits on bags or there is an extra charge. I can wear the same 3 outfits for 30 days or splurge and pay the extra baggage fee. DH says not to worry. In addition, we're bringing some items to our missionary friends in Santiago who will be our tour guides on Feb. 20. Living in Chile they can't get certain vitamins,pop tarts and chocolate chips... Luckily we can board the ship in Long Beach (45 minutes from home) with all of the goodies we want except more than the specified amount of wine of course. We may look like the Beverly Hillbillies boarding with all of these extras, so you won't be able to miss us. How to keep penguin poop off our shoes was one dilemma I hadn't planned on until tonight. We'll all need a vacation from all of the logistics we're tackling right now. DH has the right idea. He will pack a few days before we leave. Now what am I forgetting? I need a vacation!

Cruisingshabob 

"Why did I pack 2 weeks ago? I had a dream... (Really) that I was in a car with 3 lady friends - just in my nightgown, and sleeping in the car. When I woke up (still dreaming) we were in New Jersey (I live in Michigan) and I had no clothes with me, not even a toothbrush! I was so upset! When I woke up for real, I started packing. And on another note - good thing we got started trying on and sorting clothes, because we discarded several things that I had planned on bringing. We had to go buy new slacks for hubby and a couple of new tops for me. But we are now packed! Excited about the trip and ready to go!"

Everything you ever wanted to know about

~ Penguin Poop Protectors ~

CRUISINGGRANMA 

"Was looking at the Princess Roll call and some people are bringing on penguin poop protectors for over their shoes, boots. Someone is bringing them on board and selling for $1 each. Maybe something to think about?"

ghjohnson

"This I gotta see ~ What the heck is a penguin poop protector?"

cotatica

"What a great way to pay for your cruise, selling penguin pooper protectors. Is this like a snake oil salesman?"

CRUISINGGRANMA

"I think they are like the paper-like throw away booties they wear in the OR"

browneyes7

"You could probably just tie two Walmart bags around your shoes, and they would work just as well"

lousk 

"I'll go barefoot.i heard penguin poop is good for prevention of toe rot, athletes foot, bunions, & spurs"

Mulege

"If you will be walking on a rocky beach area they won't last but a few minutes. They are not sturdy at all. But maybe worth a try"

Joyce From Yardley

"I have been collecting those shower caps that the hotels give out for free (at least at the Holiday Inn's we stay at.)  In the past I've used them for bowl covers now I guess they have another use. Penguin poop protectors. So if you don't have any maybe you can ask the hotel you are staying at for this trip for some extras & you too can keep your shoes free of poop."

* Please add your Packing Secrets

or 

anything else cruise related below

We would love to hear from ~ YOU!

Passports, Visas and entry fees

An example of fees required is shown in the diagram.

The fees in diagram below are similar for Australians & Canadians.

Who's MickeyLive?

  
Father of Kennily

Mickey, Kennily & Grafetti


 Lecturer, Teacher, Naturalist, Photographer, Techie, MC, Designer, Printer &  More . . .


MickeyLive Pre Cruise Meet and Greet
~  2 / 2 / 2013  ~
Who's coming?
Location: Buono's Pizza
250 W. Ocean Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90802
http://www.buonospizza.com/ 
Time: 6 PM to Close
Cost:- $11 Per Person
Menu: All you can eat, pizza, 
pasta and salad bar.

Buono's Pizza : a short distance from the ship port and all major hotels. 
Easily accessed from the free Passport 
bus line in Long Beach

Plan Your Sea Days

Location ~ Location ~ Location

You can find me every sea day in the 

Spectacular Spectacular Main Lounge 

at 2 PM. 

Doors open at 1:30 

and 

I'll have the lounge for 30 mins after for extended Q&A. 

~.~


*Splendor Latin America Lecture Series*

~.~

*SnapShot Rally* 
 A SnapShot Rally is all about sharing your one special shot in each port. The collection of all the images will become part of live show on the ship and a final Data CD at the end of our adventure. 
It's time to Rally

~.~

*SASA GPS Trackers*
Join the GPS Trackers as we plot the ships course around Latin America. If you have a car or outdoor GPS, bring it! MickeyLive will show you how to share way points and to connect them in a route. 
Learn neat GPS tips and tricks as we go. 
No GPS required to join in the fun.
GPS Trackers will meet every sea day at  3:30 PM

~.~

*Cruise Critic Events*

  MickeyLive Q&A

Cruise Critic on Steroids

Plan with Me!

  Port Preview

BIG Birthday Event

*Times & Location's TBA*

~.~

~ Name tags ~

~ Door Signs ~

Now,
~ How did the following wind up in 
My mail box? ~

Postcard Creations by MickeyLive ~
Beyond the Shelf,
Sneak Peak . . .
into the Splendor Gift Shop
. . . before we sail . . .

Shhh!

T Shirts, too!

~.~

~ Introducing the Chiquitas ~

Creators of the BreatheFriendsSeaWrite Blog

Elsie / Searaider 

retired accountant; part-time potter
resides: Vancouver Island, BC Canada

~ . ~

Barbara / BGONE08 

After retiring in 2008 from a career in education Barbara spends her time traveling, volunteering in the community, reading and gardening. 
 Resides in Franklin, NC. 

~ . ~

Judy / Jigjager

Married 43 years. Recent widow. 
BS of Science, Biochemistry.
Entrepreneur: Business owner. 
Volunteer in non-profit service organization. 
Tour planner and organizer. 
Proud fan of LSU, living in Alabama.

~ . ~

Grace / Amazingrace

Single, 
Licensed Vocational Nurse, 
Director of Staff Development, Personal Assistant, Home Care Manager, Caregiver, Travel Nurse 
& Consultant, Hospice Care, Therapeutic Touch, Writer.
Loves to Cruise. 

Resides in Santa Barbara, Calif.

~ . ~

Let The Shopping Begin . . .

Local Currency

TOURS FOR OUR 'TRIP OF A LIFETIME'

For those of us sailing on all 3 legs, 
we have 19 port stops in 48 days, or 21 if you add 
Los Angeles and New York.  

Tour planning in each port has been a high priority, 
and tours have been one of the most discussed topics 
within the group.

Many members of our SASA group organized and are leading small group private tours 
with local tour guides.

Some members are leading many tours. 
The tours range from very small group of 3 to larger group of 25. They include historical, cultural and scenic trips and include snorkeling, horse back riding, and winery tours.

Wanting to find a tour to sign up for means checking the
roll call on Cruise Critic regularly.

Regularly in some cases may mean hourly, as some tours have filled in less than an hour after posting on the roll call. 
Most are taking a day or two, and some still have a spot or two available.

Currently there are 65 tours listed on the SASA grid, 
with more being added almost daily. 

Tours have been announced and organized using the SASA grid 
to hold information and emails between tour participants to finalize the tour.

Leg 1- Los Angeles to Valparaiso (Santiago)	7 ports in 17 days	23 different tours
Leg 2 - Santiago to Buenos Aires	6 ports in 13 days	26 different tours
Leg 3 - Buenos Aires to New York	6 ports in 18 days	16 different tours

As well, there have been tours announced and planned on the 
roll call on Cruise Critic that have not added to the grid. 
For those tours, 
the information is communicated and maintained by the tour leader.

For our SASA group, 
some are only taking tours our group has organized, some are taking
Carnival Splendor organized tours, and some a mix of both.

We still have 3 weeks until we sail, and expect that as everyone finalizes all the loose ends, more tours will be added and fill up.