The Macs’ Big Adventure

This was my view for some of the day yesterday and I lay on a lounge and read. Not bad duty!

Our day started with a self-administered Covid test. Brian and I were negative and, after showing the results to our room steward, we were free to begin our day of doing not much of anything. There is a real laid back feel to this cruise in contrast to others we’ve been on. The trip is long and it feels like we have all the time in the world. We have to remind ourselves what day it is and it doesn’t help that, on each of the last two nights, we’ve turned the clock back an hour! The weather is warming and the seas aren’t bad.

Below are the scheduled activities for the day. In fine print, I see we are no longer required to wear masks except at our discretion. There is a lot to do, if one was so inclined to be busy. I have choir practice but, beyond that, who knows? Brian walks, reads and finds a quiet place to play his guitar. There is a lot of music around the ship and it is fun to sit and listen.

January 21, 2023

Yesterday was our first full day on board Island Princess. We were able to find places for everything we brought and decorated our door to remind us of home.

Our wall of hats made possible by the use of magnetic hooks.

The first night and some of the next day, we got to enjoy the motion of the ocean. Sleeping that night was like trying to nap on a roller coaster! It took some care to walk around the ship. Luckily, neither Brian nor I suffer from seasickness (although I did pack some medication just in case—you never know!).

The weather was cool and the pools were closed, so the outside decks were basically deserted. We sat outside for a bit while Brian used a hot tub that was more of a warm tub. I wrapped myself in towels and read. We did some more exploring and I joined the Pop Choir directed by David Crathorne who is one of the ship’s entertainers. There was a turnout of 108 people, so not a small group. We will do a concert each segment of the world cruise and out first concert will be before our first port in New Zealand. Evidently, there is a crack of dawn concert as we pull into Sydney, Australia and sail by the Opera House. You can do that performance in your bathrobe!

During our first dinner onboard, we were seated randomly at a table with 3 other couples and, we enjoyed each other’s company so much, we decided to eat together each night. We will eat at the same table and, hopefully, have the same wait staff.

There is a mask mandate on the ship. Everyone must wear a mask indoors except when you’re eating or drinking or in your cabin or in a large crowd outdoors. Most people are complying. Today everyone is taking a self administered Covid test between 8 and 11 am. Depending on the results, the mask mandate may go away. One can hope!

When I woke up this morning and looked out the balcony door, I saw a whale spout. The ocean is so smooth, there is no doubt that was what it was. Life is good!

January 19, 2023

Brian and I are sitting in our cabin waiting for our two last pieces of luggage to arrive. We are going to have to do a lot of organization to be able to put everything away in our small area. There are also an extremely limited amount of outlets, so we’re going to have to work out a system to be able to charge all our devices. That’s one disadvantage to sailing on an older ship.

Here are a few pictures of our cabin before we unpacked anything.

Use Brian as a reference for the size of the shower!

We’re off now to have a pre-dinner drink and then to the dining room. It has been a great day!

We are sitting in the Seattle-Tacoma airport waiting for our flight to Los Angeles to start our world cruise that has been long in the planning.  Too many thoughts are running through my head to share them all.

But last night as I was falling asleep I was reminded of how much feelings of guilt affect our lives (bear with me.)  Over twenty years ago, when I was in the financial planning business, I used to listen to a lot of motivational tape series.  One of those was Mike Wicket, who covered a variety of subjects, but his talk on guilt has always stuck with me.  Paraphrasing, he said that guilt is a vile, worthless, destructive emotion and we should make every effort to rid our lives of it.

From that time on I did work on that, improved my dealings with it, but still can’t totally rid myself its effects.  Of course we all live around a high percentage of people who are, by nature, guilt “dispensers”, which doesn’t help our individual efforts to cope with it.

In 2018 we were booked on a two week Caribbean cruise that sailed in November, including Kristine’s birthday.  Three days before, I (as trustee and POA) received a call from the nursing home where my Dad had been for the past nine years.  His condition had declined to the point they suggested putting him on hospice care in place at the home.  I made the calls, signed the paperwork, and made the decision (with plenty of efforts to make me feel guilty coming in from various sources) to continue our trip. My main point of reference on hospice being recommended was Kristine’s stepmother who was on and off in hospice for two to three years before she passed.  Three days into our trip my Dad passed (such a blessing as he had not known any of us and had been getting violent at times for several years) and we continued on our trip.

Today we are leaving on another, much longer trip.  Over the past few weeks, we have been dealing with the decline in health of my Mom, who turned 95 in November, and the declining health of our 16+ year old terrier (Charlie) who we have had since he was 8 weeks old.

As my Mom worked to recover from Covid that she contracted in June, her health declined to the point we needed to move her from her assisted living apartment into a skilled nursing home.  In October and November, we thought we were going to lose her several times.  Kristine and I talked often whether we should postpone our world cruise.  I was back and forth to South Dakota numerous times dealing with things between May and December.  We were fortunate to have wonderful family offer to keep Charlie, so the main factor was my Mom.

But here we are.  Kristine and I are both cancer survivors, and we know there are only so many years and chances out there ahead for us to do the traveling that had always been our plan in retirement.  I have made arrangements with my sisters on how we will handle things should my Mom pass while we are gone (we will continue our cruise and hold a memorial/celebration of life service when we return,) and while the twinges are there for me (the big G), I do feel we are doing the right thing, though again I am sure some do not agree with our decision.

Ultimately, we all face difficult decisions every day, week, month, and year, and I feel good about where I am sitting this morning.

All the hoops have been jumped through and we are ready to go!

We drove north to Tacoma yesterday with a full car. We had some precious cargo in the back.

There was a good omen as we drove along the coast.

We had our fingers crossed that there was a World Cruise at the end of that rainbow.

We are sitting at my brother’s house doing a little day drinking to celebrate. We have to keep in practice for when we’re on board and using our drinks package! Tomorrow our journey south commences with a noon flight from Seattle to Los Angeles. We are pretty darn excited!

I’m sitting on my couch tonight, the day before we start our big adventure, worrying about our Covid test on Tuesday. We are so excited about our trip, but we are tempering our excitement. There is one more hurdle to be jumped, and I’m the type of person who is certain that whatever can go wrong, will. We’re heading north tomorrow early and taking our Covid test on Tuesday. Brian and I have had so many trips cancelled over the last few years. We’ve had trips planned to Alaska, Ireland, Arizona and a trans-Atlantic cruise cancelled.

This is my anxiety talking and I know that the odds are in our favor that our test will be negative. How do you handle your anxiety? I’d be interested to know. Leave a comment if you can give me any advice.

Meet our dog Charlie. He is 16 years old and beginning to show his age. My brother and sister-in-law in Tacoma have invited him to stay with them while we’re gone. There is no better place for him to be than with them and their pets. He loves it there and, frankly, he may not want to come home with us when we return! It takes special people to offer to take care of a very elderly dog and all that goes with that. We know that he will be loved and coddled and that eases our minds.

We are driving up to Tacoma on Monday, taking our Covid test Tuesday, and, if all goes well, flying to Los Angeles on Wednesday. We’ll board the ship on Thursday and head towards Hawaii.

Over that last few days, we’ve been in a waiting mode. Everything is packed except for the last minute items. Yesterday, we took Charlie to get groomed so that he won’t be stinky for Don and Laura. Today, we’re cleaning the refrigerator out and I’m getting my hair cut and colored. The color will last through the trip but I’m going to have to get very expensive haircuts while we’re on board. We do have some generous shipboard credit from our travel agent to use for items like this.

Tomorrow evening, we are going to a gathering of a small group of friends to celebrate the first soak. That is the day all the commercial crab boats go out, three days before Dungeness crab season opens, to drop their traps. Unfortunately, crab season opened very late this year and we are going to miss the fresh Dungeness! When you look at the ocean at night, you see all the boats lit up like a string of jewels. In order to make our get together as safe as can possibly be, our friends are all taking Covid tests before they attend.

We will miss our friends while we’re gone. We’re lucky to have so many great people nearby. We do love where we live!

Yesterday, we received our Princess Medallions in the mail. These little pieces of technology are what we’ll use for everything on the Island Princess. Brian and I will wear the medallions on a lanyard or wristband. They are what allow us to board the ship. The medallions will unlock our stateroom door as we walk up to it. We will scan them whenever we want to purchase anything on board and the cost will be charged to our shipboard account or our drinks package.

It was exciting to get them in the mail as a tangible indication of our upcoming adventure. Our window project is still having ups and downs. While the windows aren’t leaking anymore, the project is nowhere near done. Dear friends have offered to oversee the ongoing saga while Brian and I are away. We can’t thank them enough!

We are 90% packed and ready to go!

Photo by Rob Vargo

The World Cruise officially started yesterday for the folks sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. Bon voyage to them. Our ride is on its way to LA. It’s our turn soon!

When Brian and I go to bed at night, we look at each other and giggle like children on Christmas Eve. We have never been as excited for an adventure as we are for this one! We have planned and dreamed for two years and it’s sometimes hard to believe the cruise is almost here. The image above is the home screen of the Princess Medallion app on my phone. We have watched the days tick down over the last few months.

I have suffered from anxiety all of my life. It’s easy for me to think of all the things that can go wrong. Planning a world cruise is a whole different animal. Will we forget some important paperwork? Do we have everything we need for our electronic devices? And most importantly, will we test positive on our Covid test on the 17th? If one of us tests positive, can we join the cruise down the line or will we need to cancel? I have been dealing with plantar fasciitis for the last few weeks. Will I be able to do all the walking and exploring I want?

Lists are my friend. Imaging different scenarios and figuring out responses helps a lot. We’re hunkering down and not going out unless we have to in order to limit our exposure to illness. Letting go of things out of my control is a biggie. Brian is great at keeping me on track.

All will be well. I do believe that! Two weeks from today we will be onboard the Island Princess for the adventure of a lifetime.