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Planning and Taking your first Euro Trip; A Ugandan Perspective

The year: 2018

The month – Mid May

The Setting  – Somewhere in Europe

Having recently returned from one of the best trips of my life, (France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Croatia and Greece) many of my friends have been asking me to write about it or give a few tips on how to plan and ‘make happen’ a Euro trip. Since I love to write and I also loved my time there, here goes:

The Before:

Planning

Planning group trips is stressful. Have you ever made plans to have lunch with your friends and it takes a while before anyone has any suggestions on where you could go? Picture that when you’re planning to see Europe. When my girlfriends and I planned to take this trip, our plans kept on changing until they acquired a personality of their own. The dates changed, the places we wanted to see changed and so did the way we wanted to see it. If this ever happens to you I would like you to remember  a few things:

  1. This happens to everyone
  2. You will not die
  3. After the trip, it will all be worth it

What I’m saying is enjoy the process, argue on whether you’d rather see Portugal or Greece until you finally make a plan or in our case pick a cruise that seems to cover all your must-sees.

Monte Carlo, Monaco. A place we didn’t plan to visit but the cruise chose for us and it was well worth it.

Who are you?

In my opinion, there are two types of travelers. The ones that want to see every inch of the new place they’ve gone to and try every activity there and the ones who’d rather sit at a cafe, read a novel or stay indoors. Figure out where you lie and choose a cruise that suits you. Look at what each Cruise Line is famous for, is it an older crowd? A party house? Does it have the best excursions? Best onboard activites? Make sure you read all the terms and conditions of the cruise, for example, we had a $14.5 daily service charge that we had not really cared to read about in detail. If it’s group travel then let me remind you that they’ll be a lot of compromising for everyone.

Save, save, save:

There’s no cheap way to see six countries. Depending on who you are even the cheapest way will be somewhat expensive, so plan, pray, put money aside and then bite the bullet. Some things just work themselves out. People will tell you Europe is expensive. IT IS! In Ug terms, every meal will be a minimum of 45,000=. I kept thinking how in Uganda that’s a really nice restaurant meal and we once took a cab that cost $188…I nearly had a heart attack.

Schengen Visas

Schengen visas are usually pretty easy to get as long as you have all the requirements. Plan a simple Itinerary to show at your interview then after confirming the visa you can pan out the details. Check out Agoda, Hostelworld, Airbnb and the like, book a hotel or place to stay for your visa application and make sure you have read their cancellation policies. After you get the visa, you can cancel those bookings and let the real planning begin.

Pick the cruise

If it’s a choice between moving from country to country or cruising, pick the cruise. It’s better to see a place on a cruise rather than moving from place to place on your own. How do I know this? I’m glad you asked… Well, we had a few short stints moving from Paris to Barcelona and Venice to home and not only were those small trips exhausting but the cruise was a way more fun way to travel. Also, the cruises travel at night and it’s exciting to wake up to a new country every morning.

San Marco, Italy. I woke up here!

Packing

Do not over pack. You’ve seen this before. You’ve read this before but you will still over pack. Don’t do it. Try dragging your suitcase in Venice for a reasonable distance and you’ll wish you had no luggage. There will be lots and lots of walking, getting lost and the less you have the better. Pack a few nice clothes for the cruise though because there will be some dressy nights and some cruisers that are dressy every night. (On ours there’s a day someone had a dress with a train…anything other than a dress with a train is underdressed when someone has a dress with a train). That’s a real tongue twister over there.

I’m not kidding about that suitcase thing

The During:

Get out of your shell

Ugandans are not friendly people. Polite,  yes, hospitable, hell yeah but somehow we freeze when we face strangers. The possibility of freezing gets higher if the stranger is a foreigner. I’ve always thought I was a friendly person until this trip, I found myself trying to come up with words and saying nothing, sharing a hot tub with a group of people and playing dumb. Taking an elevator and staring straight ahead. My advice if you take the cruise is to be friendly, chat up strangers, chat up old people, kids…you’re on holiday and no one really cares.  Get out of your shell and you’ll meet so many amazing people.

Pictures with strangers 

Cruise alcohol is expensive

Yup, a bottle of gin on the cruise was about $145 and between my friends and I and lots of punching it didn’t last more than three days. My girlfriends and I aren’t even regular drinkers but let us just say that we needed more. The cocktails weren’t cheap either, the exchange rate did not help. My advice: let me put this in Luganda. Linya cruise ne box ya Ug sachets. Mbu abe bweru tebabutegera. Or prepare for the cost or don’t drink. Whichever works. I read a blog where someone said you should carry an opaque bottle so you can sneak alcohol in, let’s just say I’m not telling you to break the rules

Lots and lots of punching.

Cruises have loads and loads of Activities

Cruises have loads and loads of activities. Even though you dock somewhere you’ve already been, you can always use the time to stay on board and try just about anything. From swimming to hot tubs, basketball, running and walking courts. Game shows, performances, you name it, they have it. You’ll be spoilt for choice. I don’t know about you but I’d say don’t carry too many workout clothes:

  1. You’ll walk a lot and that’s exercise enough
  2. You’ll plan to use the gym but with all the activity you might never do it

A Backpack is a must-have, especially since sometimes the ship will not dock close to land and you’ll have to use tenders to get to land. Free hands make it all easier.

Try out different restaurants on the cruise. It’s easy to get comfortable with one restaurant or get too lazy to go to the ones that need a reservation. Don’t be lazy, you aren’t on a cruise every day after all.

Walking

In our case, we landed in Paris, flew to Barcelona and took the cruise from Barcelona. I have never walked as much as I walked the four days I spent in Paris. Carry comfortable walking shoes, lots of socks and a water bottle. The ship later docked in Venice and that amounted to some more walking as well. Depending on what your cruise itinerary is, you may dock in countries where there will be some walking. So basically make sure you are mentally and physically prepared to walk.

Excursions

The cruise will have excursions but if you can’t afford those, just look for a taxi everytime you dock, negotiate hard and you’ll see the same city at half the price. Get off the ship with other cruisers and that may cut your taxi fare in half if you have someone to share the taxi with. Keep time when you hire a taxi, no one wants to be stranded in a foreign country.

Dance your heart out, thank the deejay after.

Don’t order room service. Unless saving money is not really your thing in which case, by all means, order room service.

Europe’s great for history buffs but you don’t have to be one to enjoy it.

You’re not going to find the love of your life on the cruise…I take that back, maybe you will.

The After:

Document your trip, post pictures and give everyone more ideas on how they can make their travel even better. Be like Joan. Joan has blogged about her trip:-)

P.S: This is a shout out to Cathy (on her request) for taking most of the great photos here. Take a screenshot of this babe, when I’m a famous writer this might be the only proof that we were once friends!!!

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