Some photos of the successful trip were posted on our Cardon Families group facebook page.
Thanks Becky, for another spectacular tour!!!
Below are some of the notes about the planning of the trip.
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2018 Cardon Family Trip! I said I wasn’t going to do an Italy trip again but I decided to do it once more. I am definitely promising that this was the last time I plan a trip to Piedmont! However, because the Rome Temple was nearing completion and also due to a gentle twist of the arm from members of my immediate family, we did it one last time. Please note that there was no guarantee that we would be able to go into the Rome Temple. It was scheduled to be completed mid year of 2018 but it is Italy and as we know, things never go at the pace you’d think. Therefore, the temple was not complete when we went over in September. It was also possible that the temple could’ve been open but that we were there on a week that it was closed for cleaning. So, no one considered this trip if they were going to be disappointed when we were not able to do a session in the Rome Temple. I guaranteed that we would go by and stop and take pictures, but no there were no guarantees that we could get in either the visitors’ center or the temple.
The Piedmont portion of the trip was Wednesday, Sept. 19th, 2018 thru Sunday, Sept. 23rd, 2018. Everyone on this portion will flew out on Wednesday, and arrived Thursday morning in Milan. We then drove from the Milan Airport in rented vans and up to Torre Pellice where we saw the Cardon/Waldensian sites. Please see attachment for more detailed itinerary. We returned Sunday evening to the Milan airport and stay at a hotel closeby. Anticipated cost for this portion was about $750 per person.
On Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2018, our custom Globus tour began. We traveled by deluxe coach to Milan, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Siena, and Rome. See attachment for more details. The tour was priced by Globus in dollars but some of the additional costs were in Euros. Anticipated cost for this 7-day portion was about $2,000 per person. Those not continuing flew home from Rome on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018.
Those continuing (Sept. 30 – Oct. 2) visited Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri. See attachment for more details. The tour bus returned to Rome for flights home on Tuesday, October 2, 2018. Anticipated cost for this portion was about $650 per person.
There are several other important bits of information:
- I was only able to secure 16 rooms in the hotel at Torre Pellice. (We were in first position for any others that become available.) Brother Cena needed a room so we were limited prior to the trip to 30 people in the Piedmont portion. Those doing the Piedmont portion as well as the Globus tour were given priority as I needed 44 individuals to fill the Globus Rome segment. Those wanting to do Piedmont only were put on a list and I will took from the top to fill any openings left. I anticipated that some who had done the Piedmont portion before would only want to do the Globus tour.
- Air was not available far out so initial pricing was not given. I anticipatee it would be $1,000 to $1,400 per person. I reserved some group air when it became available.
- Tour pricing listed was for double occupancy. Single occupancy was at an additional cost.
- We realized that it may be too hard to do all 3 segments of the tour, which is why we gave you the option to stop after Rome or continue on to the Amalfi Coast.
- The pricing for each portion was approximate. However, I needed $100 per person to secure your spot on the tour. I have already had to make some deposits to reserve the tour, lodging, etc. This deposit was fully refundable until I sent out reservation forms with more specific pricing (anticipated near end of 2017).
- We started taking names for the tour on Saturday, April 15, 2017. Email starting that day to let me know names and which portions of the tour you wee planning on. Deposit were not sent until an email from me let you know that you were on the tour. Once the tours were full, I made a backup list. I anticipated some would cancel, and I took from the top of the cancellation list to fill any openings.
- Please feel free to email me now if you have specific questions.
I am sent this out to the family via the Cardon website so encouraged participants to forward the information to family members not yet registered. I encouraged you to encourage everyone to get registered now. Important information was sent out by Carl Goodman to those registered.
Ciao!
Becky Cardon Smith
beckyandgreg@msn.com