teddy

I’ve never really cared what other people think anyway. 🙂 As far as cruising, people who ask me about it get an explanation of why we enjoy it so much. I’ve actually been able to educate some people who knew nothing about cruising but had all kinds of opinions. We will have no concerns going on our next cruises (first is in November). I’m considered “essential” since I’m a butcher/meat cutter for a large regional grocery chain. Our reality is that I’m risking exposure to all kinds of things daily. I’m probably safer on a ship. 🙂

It's interesting to hear all the anti-cruise rhetoric from the media and people who listen to them. I came back from my last cruise on Feb 1. I felt fine all day traveling, but when we were on the bus a couple hours from home, I started feeling miserable. By the time we arrived at the local station, I had to be helped out to my truck, and my son had to drive us home. On Feb 2, I tested positive for Influenza...then I tried to go back to work too soon and got pneumonia, but that's another story. All of the doctors I interacted with were of the same thought...cruising isn't as big a deal as flying. My own doctor told me that she sees many people who get sick after flying or being in contact with someone who recently flew. If we were lucky enough to be able to cruise in the next few months, the only thing I'd consider doing differently is driving to the port instead of flying. I would cruise in a heartbeat if we could get the time off with such short notice.

I work retail in a supermarket. Give me a cruise any day of the week over people who don't even pay attention to me at work. We are the proverbial flies on the wall. So many times people will be shopping and turn their head to sneeze or cough....right on me. ...back to the issue of cruising getting a bad rap....it's a perfect time to be a good ambassador for cruising. Something as simple as the tv in our break room showing a news story about coronovirus and cruising is an opening to educate people.

Toilet paper is in short supply in a lot of places.

My wife and I did the tour on Vision and enjoyed it. My son did the tour on Adventure and enjoyed it as well. I think it's worthwhile to do once to see what happens behind the scenes.

This is what I've found to be the case when we've done gty. The eDocs link isn't always up to date.

Just added Navigator of the Seas - November 9, 2020 Little less than half as many days away as Liberty. Makes things a bit more palatable. 🙃

Just set up your Uber ride for multiple stops

On my b2b in January on Adventure, my muster station was in the Imperial Lounge...Deck 5 Fwd. It was awesome.

....there's something fun about booking a cruise while on a cruise.....

My mini review. 🙂 We went there for the first time last month. All we reserved was a Beach Lounger for Two. We originally paid $45.99 but found it at $34.99 around Black Friday. I'm glad we reserved the lounger....there were plenty of lounge chairs available first come, first served, but we liked not having to chase the shade. We felt comfortable leaving our belongings in the lounger while we went exploring We really enjoyed Labadee, although we are kind of boring people and are content sitting on the beach and occasionally going in the water. The beach immediately in front of the loungers was not the best for swimming....not overly protected and there was a lot of surf that day. We would walk over the the right (as we faced the water) and that area was well protected. Great place to hang out in the water. We don't drink, so I can't say anything about the service, but the guy who took us to our lounger told us to let him know if we wanted anything at any time. I spoke my rusty Quebecois to him, and he really appreciated it. We ate the complementary lunch, and it was good...Windjammer quality stuff. I ate more there than I usually do at the Windjammer. There was plenty of room to sit under the canopies, and the lines moved very quickly. One thing I realized right off was that everyone lined up at the first place to get plates/silverware, but there were at least two more places to get them and start in on the buffet. Both my wife and I are in agreement that an itinerary with Labadee will be a priority for us in the future. I will do the zip line next time. It looked awesome. 😄

Our first cruise was a 5 night on newly amp’d Mariner. It was definitely a “toe in the water” kind of thing. Our experience was great and since that cruise in Jan 2019, we’ve done three more. Their business strategy works 😃 As far as Navigator and short cruises, we just booked that 4 nighter on her to bridge the gap to the two weeks on Liberty we’ve booked in 2021.

...and I'm okay with it. 🙂 My wife came home yesterday and said she was looking at short cruises for this fall (we are already booked for two weeks in 2021). Tonight we emailed our TA to go on a 4-night on Navigator in November. Up until this happened, I thought I was the cruise monster in the relationship.

Everyone has their own criteria and comfort levels. For us, it's about getting on the ship. An inside room allowed me to do a b2b last month, and is allowing me to do another in Aug/Sept 2021. Right now we are seriously considering grabbing a 4-night to Cozumel from Galveston this coming fall for $207 pp (inside gty).

Portland is easily navigated on foot. Uber and Lyft have a good presence in the area as well if you're interested in going a but further.