Delightful Havens Voyage on Azamara's Quest, (22 aug - 9 sep, 2015)

I thought the epitome of our cruising lives would be the penthouse suite on Celebrity's Summit back in 2013 but following our Bermuda cruise last year with Wade and Charlie, I'm afraid we've escalated even further by booking a cruise this summer on the Azamara Quest.  We booked a 14-night Delightful Havens Voyage in a Club Ocean Suite (to the tune of about $25,000).  From the Azamara site:

DELIGHTFUL HAVENS & VINEYARDS OF FRANCE, SPAIN & PORTUGAL

Raise a toast to world-class wines and gorgeous landscapes in France, Spain and Portugal when the vineyards are heavy with fruit. Sail the Gironde Estuary—off-limits to big ships—to the heart of Bordeaux, one of the most exquisite of French cities. Walk to town for dinner, then join Land Discoveries® to world-famous St. Émilion the next day. An overnight stay in Saint-Jean-de-Luz gives you a taste of French Basque country, the upscale resort of Biarritz, and delectable chocolates and hams of Bayonne. Don’t miss a visit to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao where you can also savor regional Rioja wines and tapas. Sip exquisite ports in Porto, and take a trip to the scenic Duoro River Valley wine country. You’ll also enjoy a day in Lisbon’s historic old quarters, cafés and shops, with another well-placed sea day before an overnight in Barcelona. Don’t miss a flamenco show and the fantastic nightlife on Las Ramblas.

This is going to be the longest (and most expensive so far) cruise that we've ever taken.  I've only just started the planning for this trip and have an awful lot of reading to do but the ports on this trip are all new to us and promise to be an incredible experience for us enophiles.  

First and foremost, we insist on flying business class overseas.  I found some very reasonable fares online after booking our cruise and, in retrospect, should have booked the flights right away but, instead, I waited about a month and when I looked again, the prices had gone up.  After doing a mind-boggling number of searches, the most helpful site was tripadvisor where I found a business class flight on an airline that I've never heard of which will actually take us through Ireland.

Aer Lingus is advertising their "new business class" which looks really nice featuring lie flat seating and complimentary wi-fi during the flight.  I did have to book us separately from Wichita to Boston (via Chicago) on United ($634) and then from Boston to London (via Shannon, Ireland) on Aer Lingus ($4574).  It's going to be a really long day of flying. On our return, we go through Dublin, Ireland, and we'll need to spend a night in Boston before taking a flight the next morning back home.

We have a 6-hour layover in Boston so we will take advantage of the Aer Lingus lounge at Boston Logan Airport.

Next up, planning excursions....