The Macs’ Big Adventure

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.

As of today, this is our cruise itinerary. I read somewhere that world cruise itineraries are set in Jello, so I’m sure that there will be changes down the line. Ports can be missed due to weather, ocean conditions and political unrest. We are just happy to go wherever the ship takes us!

Day & Date	Destination	Duration
Thu, 01/19/23	Los Angeles, California	Sailing – 3:00pm
Fri, 01/20/23	At Sea
Sat, 01/21/23	At Sea
Sun, 01/22/23	At Sea
Mon, 01/23/23	At Sea
Tue, 01/24/23	Honolulu, Hawaii	9:00am – 11:00pm
Wed, 01/25/23	Kauai (Nawiliwili), Hawaii	8:00am – 5:00pm
Thu, 01/26/23	At Sea
Fri, 01/27/23	At Sea
Sat, 01/28/23	At Sea
Sun, 01/29/23	At Sea
Mon, 01/30/23	At Sea
Tue, 01/31/23	Tahiti (Papeete), French Polynesia Departs After Midnight overnight	7:00am
Wed, 02/01/23	Tahiti (Papeete), French Polynesia	– 4:00am
Wed, 02/01/23	Moorea, French Polynesia Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	8:00am – 5:00pm
Thu, 02/02/23	At Sea
Fri, 02/03/23	At Sea
Sat, 02/04/23	Pago Pago, American Samoa	9:00am – 6:00pm
Sun, 02/05/23	At Sea
Mon, 02/06/23	Cross International Date Line Cross Int’L Dateline	12:00pm – 1:00pm
Wed, 02/08/23	At Sea
Thu, 02/09/23	Bay Of Islands, New Zealand Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	8:00am – 6:00pm
Fri, 02/10/23	Auckland, New Zealand	6:30am – 6:00pm
Sat, 02/11/23	Tauranga, New Zealand	6:15am – 7:45pm
Sun, 02/12/23	At Sea
Mon, 02/13/23	Picton, New Zealand	7:00am – 6:00pm
Tue, 02/14/23	Wellington, New Zealand	7:00am – 5:00pm
Wed, 02/15/23	New Plymouth, New Zealand	7:00am – 5:00pm
Thu, 02/16/23	At Sea
Fri, 02/17/23	At Sea
Sat, 02/18/23	Sydney, Australia	7:00am – 9:00pm
Sun, 02/19/23	At Sea
Mon, 02/20/23	Moreton Island, Australia Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	7:00am – 6:00pm
Tue, 02/21/23	At Sea
Wed, 02/22/23	Airlie Beach, Australia Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	7:00am – 4:00pm
Thu, 02/23/23	Cairns, Australia	10:00am – 8:00pm
Fri, 02/24/23	At Sea
Sat, 02/25/23	At Sea
Sun, 02/26/23	At Sea
Mon, 02/27/23	Darwin, Australia	8:00am – 10:00pm
Tue, 02/28/23	At Sea
Wed, 03/01/23	At Sea
Thu, 03/02/23	Komodo Island, Indonesia Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	7:00am – 5:00pm
Fri, 03/03/23	At Sea
Sat, 03/04/23	At Sea
Sun, 03/05/23	Singapore	9:00am – 10:00pm
Mon, 03/06/23	At Sea
Tue, 03/07/23	Langkawi, Malaysia	7:00am – 6:00pm
Wed, 03/08/23	Phuket, Thailand Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	7:00am – 5:00pm
Thu, 03/09/23	At Sea
Fri, 03/10/23	At Sea
Sat, 03/11/23	Colombo, Sri Lanka	7:00am – 7:00pm
Sun, 03/12/23	At Sea
Mon, 03/13/23	At Sea
Tue, 03/14/23	At Sea
Wed, 03/15/23	At Sea
Thu, 03/16/23	Dubai, United Arab Emirates Overnight	7:00am
Fri, 03/17/23	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	– 2:00pm
Sat, 03/18/23	Muscat (mina Qaboos), Oman	9:00am – 6:00pm
Sun, 03/19/23	At Sea
Mon, 03/20/23	At Sea
Tue, 03/21/23	At Sea
Wed, 03/22/23	At Sea
Thu, 03/23/23	At Sea
Fri, 03/24/23	Aqaba (Petra), Jordan	7:00am – 11:00pm
Sat, 03/25/23	Transit The Suez Canal, Egypt Scenic Cruising overnight	5:00pm
Sun, 03/26/23	Transit The Suez Canal, Egypt Scenic Cruising	– 5:00pm
Mon, 03/27/23	Jerusalem/Bethlehem (Ashdod), Israel	7:00am – 8:00pm
Tue, 03/28/23	At Sea
Wed, 03/29/23	Kusadasi, Turkey (for Ephesus)	8:00am – 5:00pm
Thu, 03/30/23	Gythion (for Sparta), Greece Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	9:00am – 5:00pm
Fri, 03/31/23	At Sea
Sat, 04/01/23	Ravenna, Italy Overnight	8:00am
Sun, 04/02/23	Ravenna, Italy Check-In Begins At 1:00pm	– 10:00pm
Mon, 04/03/23	Ljubljana (koper), Slovenia	8:00am – 6:00pm
Tue, 04/04/23	Split, Croatia	8:00am – 6:00pm
Wed, 04/05/23	Kotor, Montenegro Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	7:00am – 5:00pm
Thu, 04/06/23	At Sea
Fri, 04/07/23	Valletta, Malta	7:00am – 9:00pm
Sat, 04/08/23	Sicily (Catania), Italy	7:00am – 5:00pm
Sun, 04/09/23	Sorrento, Italy (for Capri & Pompeii) Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	7:00am – 8:00pm
Mon, 04/10/23	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	7:00am – 7:00pm
Tue, 04/11/23	Villefranche, France Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	8:00am – 7:00pm
Wed, 04/12/23	Marseille (Provence), France	8:00am – 6:00pm
Thu, 04/13/23	Barcelona, Spain	8:00am – 10:00pm
Fri, 04/14/23	At Sea
Sat, 04/15/23	Malaga, Spain	7:00am – 6:00pm
Sun, 04/16/23	Casablanca, Morocco (for Marrakech)	8:00am – 10:00pm
Mon, 04/17/23	At Sea
Tue, 04/18/23	Lanzarote (Arrecife), Canary Islands	7:00am – 5:00pm
Wed, 04/19/23	La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain	7:00am – 5:00pm
Thu, 04/20/23	At Sea
Fri, 04/21/23	At Sea
Sat, 04/22/23	At Sea
Sun, 04/23/23	At Sea
Mon, 04/24/23	At Sea
Tue, 04/25/23	At Sea
Wed, 04/26/23	At Sea
Thu, 04/27/23	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	7:00am – 3:00pm
Fri, 04/28/23	At Sea
Sat, 04/29/23	At Sea
Sun, 04/30/23	Cartagena, Colombia	7:00am – 3:00pm
Mon, 05/01/23	Panama Canal Full Transit Historic Locks Scenic Cruising	6:00am – 4:30pm
Tue, 05/02/23	At Sea
Wed, 05/03/23	Puntarenas, Costa Rica	7:00am – 7:00pm
Thu, 05/04/23	San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua Water Shuttle Required wheelchair Access Limited	7:00am – 6:00pm
Fri, 05/05/23	At Sea
Sat, 05/06/23	Huatulco, Mexico	8:00am – 5:00pm
Sun, 05/07/23	At Sea
Mon, 05/08/23	Puerto Vallarta, Mexico	8:00am – 5:00pm
Tue, 05/09/23	At Sea
Wed, 05/10/23	At Sea
Thu, 05/11/23	Los Angeles, California	7:00am

Many of you know that Brian is a guitar player and being away from home for nearly four months without his guitar would be a no go. He wasn’t really thrilled with the idea of trusting his good guitars to the airlines, so he found an inexpensive travel guitar (with a backpack case) to take. The sound is good and he will enjoy lots of time playing on sea days. The blue bag on the table behind the guitar is full of music, along with more things to be packed.

Three weeks from today we set sail on our World Cruise and there are still many things left for us to do. We’re deciding what clothes to pack and trying them on to make sure they fit, figuring out how much cash to take for expeditions we need to pay for in some of the ports, and getting enough of our maintenance medications to cover the whole trip! Extra toiletries can be purchased in port. We’ll also need to put our cable and wifi on a vacation hold, arrange for our mail to be picked up and our house plants watered. Whew!

However, progress is being made. We have the visas we need to board and Covid tests to take before the cruise are ready to be packed. Brian has a handy to-do list we check every day. It feels good to get it whittled down. We’re trying not to stress to much. Everything will work out!

We went out for a Chinese dinner before Christmas, and this is what was in Brian’s fortune cookie! It became something to hold onto over the next few days.

We had decided to put in new windows a few months ago to highlight our ocean view. They were ordered and came in 8 weeks later the wrong size. They had been measured incorrectly. During that same time we found wood rot around one window that had to be taken care off. In the meantime, the manufacturer of the windows no longer made the ones we wanted in the size we wanted. More fast decisions and the windows were reordered.

Our old windows had been reinstalled and, because the seal was broken, they leaked when it rained so they were covered with plastic. Another six weeks later, the new windows came in. They were installed, we were told they were watertight and all was good. Spoiler alert, they weren’t.

It started raining and blowing on Christmas Eve and got worse on Christmas Day. There were window leaks everywhere. We averaged about 4 hours sleep the next two nights as we dealt with the water. The window company wasn’t available until Tuesday due to the holidays. It was a long 3 days. Yesterday, the installers were here all day trying to get them sealed. They worked in the driving rain and got the job done. We are so grateful!

This, of course, is a first world problem. The Pacific Northwest is rainy and windy but not cold. We were safe and sound albeit stressed. Our inside trim may not be done. The new siding outside where the wood rot was fixed won’t be painted and the trimming on the outside will have to wait for a dry day. However, we are incredibly blessed to be able to have this grand adventure to look forward to and enjoy! The next big hurdle is passing the Covid test before we board.