Well, it has been over a month since we disembarked the Balmoral in Southampton, so now it is time to pack those suitcases again!

Back in 2017 I completed the Princess Academy travel advisor training program, and in recognition of me knowing all things Princess, I earned a free graduation cruise on Princess.

In 2019 I decided that I really should take advantage of this, and found a splendid Singapore to Southampton cruise for the summer 2020. Great alliteration.

However, I knew when we were evicted from Queen Mary 2 in Fremantle in March 2020 that this cruise was unlikely to happen, and sure enough it was cancelled, and the free graduation cruise program was discontinued.

I was so disappointed. However, the program was back up and running by 2023, so I searched the available cruises, and found the perfect one going from Buenos Aires to Los Angeles. I mean, what’s not to love about llamas, penguins and Machu Pichu? So I immediately signed us up, and started looking at options for shore excursions.

Although it is a “free” cruise there turned out to be quite a few expenses involved. Airfare to Buenos Aires, no onboard credit, upgrade from an inside cabin to an obstructed ocean view cabin, port fees and taxes, gratuities, travel insurance, WiFi, shore excursions, not to mention the bar bill – you can’t take a case of Veuve Clicquot with you on board Princess ships. I could see that Brian’s enthusiasm for the cruise was dwindling.

There had to be a way to make it work.

There is due to be a total eclipse of the sun on April 8^th. We were on the cusp of the previous one in Coeur d’Alene, but our children who were right in the path of the eclipse waxed lyrical about the experience. Brian is into all things celestial, so failing to be directly in the path for this eclipse was not an option.

We looked at  going to Niagara on the Lake as we have family in Toronto, and it would be fun to visit them as well. But we decided that the risk of rain and cloud cover was a problem. No April trip to Canada for us.

Then we looked at Killeen in Texas. Right in the path with a good chance of sunny skies. I booked us a flight to Dallas, reserved a rental car, and made a booking for an overpriced motel in Killeen. We were all set for eclipse watching, and Brian sent away for the special glasses on Amazon.

Then, just as I was feeling that the South America cruise was not in our future, Brian suddenly announced that Mazatlán in Mexico was also in the direct path of the eclipse. Were there any cruises going near there?

Were there any indeed? Coincidently the Emerald Princess was due to leave Los Angeles for its eclipse cruise on the same day that the Sapphire Princess was due to arrive in Los Angeles. The celestial bodies had aligned. It was a sign.

We could do the around South America cruise on the Sapphire Princess, and then in Los Angeles, transfer to the Emerald Princess for the eclipse cruise. I saw it as a message that we needed to do both cruises.

Brian was not so sure about the alignment of celestial bodies, but was very good natured about the whole thing. He gave the go ahead to book the 2 cruises.

We get to see llamas, penguins and Machu Pichu AND the eclipse. Throw in the Chilean Fjords and a visit to the Panama hat factory in Ecuador. It just had to happen. That is why we are currently flying to Miami, to catch our flight to Buenos Aires, and embark on another adventure!

The Itinerary