Who cares, I don't need permission, I'll bounce anyway! ?????
We have finally booked our honeymoon, but it's not been a smooth process.
We've both always wanted to see the Aurora Borealis, so we decided we wanted to do a Norwegian cruise for our honeymoon. Sounded simple to start with, so we got a quote in the spring, and it all looked good other than we were told we couldn't book until October because they don't set dates that far in advance. So we added the cost to our budget and waited.
Last week I noticed their website had the winter 2011/2012 dates available so I phoned them to book, and got a slightly different message. The price we were originally quoted was for a basic cabin - bunk beds with a loo and sink and a shared bathroom, and didn't include the flights, and obviously the sales girl hadn't told us this 8 months ago when we first enquired. So I asked for a quote for a double bed cabin, with flights, and was told we'd have to upgrade to a suite to get a double bed - they couldn't give us a free upgrade even though its our honeymoon.
The quote he gave me was £2000 more than the original price - I called my OH and we both cried. We were gutted that our dream honeymoon was out of our reach and we'd have to think again - we just couldn't magic up that amount of extra cash, even given 11 months to do it.
So we reconsidered our options and decided to go for a week instead of a fortnight, and we'd cut a few other items on our budget to make the shortfall. We were still about £1000 down, but we could manage to save that much extra in a year if we cut out a few luxuries.
My OH (bless him) checked out his investment ISA that he uses to save for emergencies, and said he would put that into the pot, meaning we didn't have to cut back too much, and might even be able to add a couple of extras to our trip. I was happy with that - it was a decent compromise.
Then I told my Mum the whole story last night, and she said she'd give us £1000 towards out honeymoon! ? Thanks Mum! That means we're back on for the 2 weeks cruise - woo hoo!
So when I phoned up again today to book they gave us a 15% discount for early booking, noted down 'honeymoon' on our reciept and said we'd be first in line for a free upgrade from minisuite (double bed with shower) to master suite (kingsize bed, better view) if it came up! And then the sales guy said he could give us a 5% discount on any excursions, so we booked for a guided tour of Trondheim, a viking feast at the viking museum, and a trip to the russian border museum too!
So we've both been bouncing all evening ?????
One very happy Jude and one very happy Simon at our house tonight ?
