• Trip: London and Cruise through Norway (RC’s Anthem of the Seas)
  Dates: August 26 – September 7, 2022
  Who: Me (Jess), Lisa My Mom, Brittany, Rebecca, Gigi, and Rachel

After almost a year and a half of looking forward to this trip, it was finally the week that we were heading to London! Brittany, Gigi, and Rachel left on Monday for their Scotland adventure. Unfortunately, there was a major hiccup on the US side of things….

A close family member of Lisa’s had a medical emergency over the weekend. At first, she was going to play it by ear and wait until Thursday to make a decision. However, as the week went on, it became clear that things weren’t righting themselves quickly. She just didn’t feel comfortable heading over the Atlantic with things as they were. On Wednesday, she made the call – she wasn’t going on the trip.

As a double hit, she hadn’t bought trip insurance – Note: Always get the insurance – and would be out quite a bit of money. We called Royal Caribbean and they said she could either No Show or we could switch the name to someone else if we did it within 24 hours. Either way, she wasn’t getting her money back. British Airways offered her a voucher in the amount of the flight.

At that point, my Mom (who is retired and does have a more flexible schedule….. and who, you might remember, briefly thought about going on the trip) said, “If we can get me to London, I’ll go.” She was willing to pay Lisa for the cruise portion of the trip. The only thing was getting her to London with 48 hours’ notice.

The ideal situation would be getting her a seat on our flight. She decided to come back a day early, but having never gone overseas (and us having tours planned when we arrived), it would be best for her to fly with us. Booking direct meant paying over double what we originally paid, so that was out. When I say that we spent ALL day trying to find an option, I’m not exaggerating. At one point, my mom was at the hairstylist….. while she was processing, my mom was on her phone looking, her hairstylist was on her phone looking, and I was looking at my desk at work.

It was NOT looking good. Then, by some miracle…. at 8pm that night…. I came across something. I told my mom, “This is crazy, but it will actually work.” We found a flight that would take her from Orlando to Miami to Tampa and then on our flight to London. You read that right. If my mom would fly around the state of Florida, she could get on our overnight flight to London. Her flight back would be nonstop to Tampa. It was also less than what we paid for our flight, so doable.

This was CRAZY, but she booked it and started packing. As it was the summer of 2022, traveling was notorious for lost luggage. My mom was SUPER nervous about her luggage making it on three flights. The good news was that I got a free checked bag and was planning on keeping it to carry-on only. Like I said, all summer long there were horror stories of lost bags, so I’d been carefully planning my packing. So, the plan became that I would bring her bag to the airport with me and check it. She would just take her carry on (which also allowed me to slip in a couple of items that I wasn’t originally going to be able to fit/bring).

After all of that panic, my mom was officially part of the trip AND was leaving in 36 hours.

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London/Norway 2022 Trip Report (August 26 – September 7, 2022)
– The Beginning (Wild Hair)
– The Planning Process (England)
– The Planning Process (Norway)
– Pre-Trip Panic (August 24, 2022)
– Day 0: Leave for London (August 26, 2022)
– Day 1: London Arrival and Tour of Countryside (August 27, 2022)
– Day 2: Southampton and Board the Anthem (August 28, 2022)
– Day 3: Sea Day (August 29, 2022)
– Day 4: Stavanger, Norway (August 30, 2022)
– Day 5: Flam, Norway (August 31, 2022)
– Day 6: Olden, Norway (September 1, 2022)
– Day 7: Bergen, Norway (September 2, 2022)
– Day 8: Sea Day (September 3, 2022)
– Day 9: Disembark and Downton Abbey Tour (September 4, 2022)
– Day 10: London: Buckingham Palace and Covent Garden (September 5, 2022)
– Day 11: London: Hop On, Hop Off and West End (September 6, 2022)
– Day 12: Leaving London (September 7, 2022)
– Trip Wrap-Up: Final Thoughts

Related Reviews
– International Friends (Private Tour: Winchester, Stonehenge, and Salisbury)
– International Friends (Private Tour: Downton Abbey filming locations, Cotswolds & Highclere Castle)
– Moxy Southampton Hotel
– Royal Caribbean – Anthem of the Seas
– Strand Palace Hotel