Christmas by Amazon

Cruise is booked. I was going to book through Interliner.com. I emailed all the details and was ready to book...then I saw the contract. They initially quoted a "booking" fee of $10 per person. On the contract they had $25 per cabin. There are 7 people going in 3 cabins. The difference was just $5....but it irked me.

I then read through the contract and saw all kinds of fees. There is a $10 fee to call and ask a question about airline ID verification. A $20 fee to call and ask about charges. Lots of fees. That really irked me.

Of course the rooms I wanted were put on hold by Interliner.com so I couldn't book them if I went with someone else. No big deal, I used Interlinerates.com to book 3 rooms on the same deck but the opposite side of the ship. Two rooms are together while one is just down the hall.

I still have to fax/email in a copy of my employee ID.

Each cruise line has a different policy on friends and family bookings. Interlinerates.com really breaks it down so it's easy to understand. On Norwegian only my Dad, Parents in law, kids and Kelli qualify by themselves. In order for anyone else to go they must be booked in a cabin with a qualifying person. Thus I am booked with my sister in laws girlfriend Kelly. While Kelli (notice the I) is booked in the room with my sister in law Jami and my niece Haley. Peggy and John, my parents in law, are in their own cabin.

I sold my old radio on eBay. The final value was $412. This is perfect as I was charged $12 in paypal fees so I got he $400 I wanted in the first place. Even better is that I didn't include my backup camera in the sale.

The money will go toward a Christmas gift for Kelli and I to enjoy. Our current home theater receiver is over 7 years old. Adequate...but old. I am going to replace it with an Onkyo HT-RC160. It's a very nice 7.2 surround sound receiver. Initially I will have just 5.1 setup. Maybe for my birthday I will get 7.2 speakers. The Onkyo has 5 HDMI ports and can do HDMI audio pass thru as well as switching. The old receiver will move down the hall to my man cave.

For Christmas my dad bought Kelli a 3 position Crockpot slow cooker. She can now prepare three meals at the same time. My idea was too cook three meals one night versus one meal each night. Eh. He bought me a nice laptop bag that I can easily store a weekend of clothes in. The bag will fit under the seat in front of me, perfect for our getaways.

I will post what I got him after he gets it.

For my nieces I bought each of them the brand new Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure DVD. I love Amazon.com! Two day shipping AND gift wrapping free. I was going to buy them cotton candy....but I will save that for Birthdays.