Adapting to the New Normal

[PG Cruiser]

Cruising has been my go-to vacation activity for years now.  These days, I have to face the sad reality that I won’t be confident enough to go on a cruise until a reliable vaccine is made available.  I have asthma and I’m in my mid-50s.

What other recreational activities can be done at a time like this?

[RCIfan1912]

Well after our rescheduled cruise of Sept was cancelled we were looking into hopping on Amtrak to somewhere in this beautiful country. First idea was taking the Amtrak Vermonter to Vermont obviously but due to the virus Amtrak is only going as far as Connecticut. Next we thought of going to Maine again on Amtrak because we have been there twice on cruises and LOVED the state. In the end we just gave up the idea, it became a hassle and we figured, no cruise, save the money. We are gonna have a bunch to buy for out L and S cruise for August 2021. 

[Mrs. Thomas]

Not be a downer, but not really anything to do anymore unless you want to just sit and do nothing. Most attractions are closed in many states. We have opted for a hotel at Oak Island, NC, because as long as we have the water, we're good. We also have some friends and family in the area we plan on seeing as well. You may look into Pigeon Forge, TN. I know a lot of people who love that place. Mountain air is good for you too. I hope you find something.

[Lovetocruise2002]

34 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

Cruising has been my go-to vacation activity for years now.

Same! I seriously feel you pain.  This summer is our first staycation in I don’t even remember how long. It feels weird.

Our solution? Desperate times and too long in dry dock make you do crazy things. With nowhere to go, we are building a pool, hot tub, and cabana right in our backyard! All inspired by Oasis Lagoon of course. Excavation just happened two days ago. You can take the cruise away from the girl, but you cannot take away the love.

[Rose City Cruiser]

Been kayaking in the Detroit River/Lake St. Clair at least once a week.  Did a weekender backpacking trip along the Bruce Trail in Ontario.  We have a cottage booked for a week next to a lake in August.  

[PattiHere]

7 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Well after our rescheduled cruise of Sept was cancelled we were looking into hoping on Amtrak to somewhere in this beautiful country. First idea was taking the Amtrak Vermonter to Vermont obviously but due to the virus Amtrak is only going as far as Connecticut. Next we thought of going to Maine again on Amtrak because we have been there twice on cruises and LOVED the state. In the end we just gave up the idea, it became a hassle and we figured, no cruise, save the money. We are gonna have a bunch to buy for out L and S cruise for August 2021. 

People talk about taking USA vacations, but where would one go, there are still so many restrictions, and some of the cities I always dreamed of visiting or returning to see are now going through high crime, like NYC, Chicago, etc,.   I live in Florida, outside of Tampa, two weeks ago drove over to the east coast, stayed at a hotel, it was totally different than before the virus.  No breakfast, had to find a restaurant, but on the week end the seating is limited, so it was a wait.   Going out to dinner is not the same either, limited menus, (although the staff were very welcoming and so happy to serve us), we came home feeling like we may just stay home, it didn't even feel like a vacation.   So sad, I wonder when and if we will be able to enjoy our leisure lives, and the people in the hospitality industry do want to see everyone come back and have fun.   So many people have loss jobs and businesses.

It is strange, this virus is bad, but yet many people have to be tested to know if they have it.   

 I am in my seventies, I want to get back on a cruise ship and wonder if it will ever happen.   Will the CDC ever let us go on with our lives without living in fear.   There will always be viruses and germs, but I can't live in a bubble or fear for the rest of my remaining life.  I wear a mask, and read we will have to wear a mask for many more years, that is scary.   My friend is 89, she has seen a lot of life and illnesses (polio, swine flu, etc.) and has never seen such fear.   She wears a mask, but goes out with friends, three weeks ago her son died suddenly at age 60, not CoVid, although my friend feels he died from the stress of losing his business (he owned a catering business)  and not being able to get out and be with his friends, or his church community.  He had a massive heart attack.  No one knows when it is our time, but sitting around waiting for there to be no more viruses or germs, and living in constant fear, is not how my friend wants to live her senior years.  My friend is active and healthy, no medication, just uses a walker so she won't fall, she wants to celebrate her 90th birthday, in June, on a cruise ship.   I certainly hope it will happen.    

[WAAAYTOOO]

We’re just staying put for now.  Truly, aside from missing cruising, I really don’t mind staying home.  My work life was such a whirlwind the past few years - so much travel.  I’m glad to be home for a change.  Dan is busy as a bee with yard work and I’m cooking waaay more than I ever have before. I’m content.

For now, I am happy just seeing all of this <cancelled> cruise money come pouring back in !  I will stay home, put my money in the bank and wait until it’s time to cruise again.

[Jax]

Not sure if you are a golfer ‍ but that has been a blessing for many in our town, allowing people of all ages a relatively safe way to get out, socialize and get some sun. We have the Rocky Mountains within an hour drive so many are enjoying what the mountains and national parks have to offer. (Hiking, kayaking, camping) 

[Jax]

39 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Same! I seriously feel you pain.  This summer is our first staycation in I don’t even remember how long. It feels weird.

Our solution? Desperate times and too long in dry dock make you do crazy things. With nowhere to go, we are building a pool, hot tub, and cabana right in our backyard! All inspired by Oasis Lagoon of course. Excavation just happened two days ago. You can take the cruise away from the girl, but you cannot take away the love.

If only Ontario wasn’t soooo far away

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 minute ago, Jax said:

If only Ontario wasn’t soooo far away

Message me when you make your way to our part of Canada lol.

[Jax]

1 minute ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Message me when you make your way to our part of Canada lol.

Does a 14 day quarantine stay seem too much LOL 

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 minutes ago, Jax said:

Does a 14 day quarantine stay seem too much LOL 

Maybe just a tad 

[teddy]

Lots of people coming to Maine this summer.

While not as many tourists as usual with the US/Canada border closed to casual travel, I see a ton of out of state plates when going to/from work.  

I hope more people come.  We need the business.

 

[HeWhoWaits]

1 hour ago, PG Cruiser said:

Cruising has been my go-to vacation activity for years now.  These days, I have to face the sad reality that I won’t be confident enough to go on a cruise until a reliable vaccine is made available.  I have asthma and I’m in my mid-50s.

What other recreational activities can be done at a time like this?

I too am a mid-50s asthmatic. I'm ready to get on a ship any time cruising is available and my schedule permits.

To answer your question - visit a State Park for a hike (level of difficulty your choice). Do some wine tastings - many wineries are open with limited space availability (which hasn't been an issue relative to the number of people visiting in our recent experience).

[Jill]

We’re thinking of renting a houseboat! About as close as we can get to cruising. 

[Ampurp85]

I feel your pain and feel comfortable enough to share this..... Been dealing with clinical depression since I was 16, traveling always made me feel better. I always took some sort of cruise, river, day, etc. There is something about water that makes me extremely happy. Those memories could last long enough to get me through.  I had three plan this year and was hoping to get in 5 for 2021. Had to move my January's and couldn't do March thanks to company restrictions. On top of that I had COVID don't want to get it again. My lasting side effect is extreme fatigue, so would have loved to just lay out on a cruise deck and read my books. I don't think I would be able to hike or be as active as I once was. As a Chicagoan I was stoked to be able to do day cruises on the Chicago river.....not happening since we rolled back phases. Now some of my only options are: a staycation or staying in a bed and breakfast in Galena IL. Neither hold a candle to cruising.

[SpeedNoodles]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Same! I seriously feel you pain.  This summer is our first staycation in I don’t even remember how long. It feels weird.

Our solution? Desperate times and too long in dry dock make you do crazy things. With nowhere to go, we are building a pool, hot tub, and cabana right in our backyard! All inspired by Oasis Lagoon of course. Excavation just happened two days ago. You can take the cruise away from the girl, but you cannot take away the love.

We're gonna need pics when it's all done!

[Lovetocruise2002]

12 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

We're gonna need pics when it's all done!

 I’m going to need @twangster for that.

[twangster]

18 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 I’m going to need @twangster for that.

Rats, can't enter Canada right now...  

[Lovetocruise2002]

16 minutes ago, twangster said:

Rats, can't enter Canada right now...  

It’s ok. That cabana will be a while still

[FionaMG]

Well, I love being on holiday but asbsolutely hate the travelling to get there, especially flying which freaks me out to the extent that I usually need to take some tranquilizers for a couple of days beforehand.

So, depite being gutted at losing 3 trips this year to Covid, I have decided to enjoy the fact that, for once, I don't have to get on a plane and I will finally take advantage of the fact that I live in a tourist hot spot that people pay good (and sometimes lots of) money to visit. I have lived here for 34 years and have never truly made the most of it. I guess this is going to be the year to put that to rights, so I have decided I'm going to´stop lamenting our Covid-cancellations and put as much effort into planning our staycation in the Algarve as I do into planning our cruises!

And I totally intend to do no housework and eat out or order in every day!

(Can I post a staycation live blog???) 

[MichelleB1234]

Going to the Berkshires in MA.  Going to visit family and relax.  Hubby and son are going to golf.

[MichelleB1234]

3 hours ago, teddy said:

Lots of people coming to Maine this summer.

While not as many tourists as usual with the US/Canada border closed to casual travel, I see a ton of out of state plates when going to/from work.  

I hope more people come.  We need the business.

 

Visited Maine Summer 2018.  It's so beautiful there.

[JLMoran]

Im using the enforced lack of vacation options to pay down accumulated medical debts, instead of having a bajillion different $100-a-month payment plans for anywhere from 6 months to 6 more years.

Hoping this will leave me debt-free by the time I get my annual bonus in Feb 2021, so I can book a cruise for summer 2022 (if the outlook looks rosy enough by then). Would be the last chance for a trip with the whole family. Mediterranean if no Iceland offerings available, but for sure something more exotic and longer duration.

[Dan Curtis]

WE have been visiting the bourbon trail, we’re not even huge bourbon fans, but the country side in Ky is so beautiful and all the horse farms near Lexington are nice to visit, also enjoy the Smokey Mountians, we had a cruise canceled in May, have not tried to rebook anything yet. 

[Baked Alaska]

6 hours ago, Rose City Cruiser said:

Been kayaking in the Detroit River/Lake St. Clair at least once a week.  Did a weekender backpacking trip along the Bruce Trail in Ontario.  We have a cottage booked for a week next to a lake in August.  

Ditto this here in the Ozarks. A lot of kayaking, hiking and fishing. There is plenty to do. Get outside!

[SteveinSC]

I guess were blessed to be so close to the beach. My parents have a condo over there, and we get to go often enough. We went down a couple weeks ago for the week, and enjoyed some great family time on the beach.  We ordered pick up from the restaurants, and went to do the fun kid stuff early to avoid any crowds. Didnt really feel like a different beach trip, all in all.....headed to the mountains this weekend.

Ultimately, we are definitely spending more time doing FAMILY things together......and that aint all bad! 

 

 

[jticarruthers]

Hit EPCOT for the "food and wine lite festival" on wednesday to celebrate losing my 8th cruise.

It was a fun day but was also the first time i really felt the "wow this is creepy" factor of the zombie apocalypse.

If I had to guess i would say probably 500 or so total guests in EPCOT ... extremely surreal to stand and realize you literally cant see anyone in any direction.

[RCIfan1912]

3 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

Hit EPCOT for the "food and wine lite festival" on wednesday to celebrate losing my 8th cruise.

It was a fun day but was also the first time i really felt the "wow this is creepy" factor of the zombie apocalypse.

If I had to guess i would say probably 500 or so total guests in EPCOT ... extremely surreal to stand and realize you literally cant see anyone in any direction.

Oh wow 500 people. That is not good for business. I've been watching a ton of videos on the reopening of the theme parks in Florida and yeah it doesn't look super busy. Some videos not busy, some pretty busy but not of course what it was. I guess people are just not comfortable enough yet and that is sad and scary because the question is when will they be? 

I've never been through a pandemic but this really sucks. The whole thing just sucks. No one is happy go lucky anymore. I mean I don't blame them or us but it just stinks. 

[SteveinSC]

12 hours ago, Dan Curtis said:

WE have been visiting the bourbon trail, we’re not even huge bourbon fans, but the country side in Ky is so beautiful and all the horse farms near Lexington are nice to visit, also enjoy the Smokey Mountians, we had a cruise canceled in May, have not tried to rebook anything yet. 

Ive done the bourbon trail....well.....a good portion of it. Woodford, Buffalo Trace, Makers, Wild Turkey, Evan Williams, Heaven Hill (makes a lot of different ones), and Willett!  LOVED IT!!!! 

[jticarruthers]

1 minute ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Oh wow 500 people. That is not good for business. I've been watching a ton of videos on the reopening of the theme parks in Florida and yeah it doesn't look super busy. Some videos not busy, some pretty busy but not of course what it was. I guess people are just not comfortable enough yet and that is sad and scary because the question is when will they be? 

I've never been through a pandemic but this really sucks. The whole thing just sucks. No one is happy go lucky anymore. I mean I don't blame them or us but it just stinks. 

My thought is they know the only way to get the crowds back up is to be open and trying but yeah they had more employees on hand than guests.

Admittedly this was a Wednesday so crowds are probably stronger on the weekend, etc. but still it was probably the strangest day of my life to stand there and where i would usually see thousands of people see maybe 2-3.

Rode Soarin with a total of 6 people on the ride ... and nobody standing in line when we got off.

[RCIfan1912]

9 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

My thought is they know the only way to get the crowds back up is to be open and trying but yeah they had more employees on hand than guests.

Admittedly this was a Wednesday so crowds are probably stronger on the weekend, etc. but still it was probably the strangest day of my life to stand there and where i would usually see thousands of people see maybe 2-3.

Rode Soarin with a total of 6 people on the ride ... and nobody standing in line when we got off.

That is another I see in these reopening videos, no lines to get on rides. I'd say 99% of the time in these videos no wait to get on rides that I would guess back 7 months ago would take hours to get on. 

[JLMoran]

31 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I've never been through a pandemic

This is the problem for all of us, unfortunately. Sure, we've gone through the SARS and 2009 Swine Flu outbreaks, both classified as pandemics; and they weren't fun, they also weren't the wildfires that this disease has become. The only people who've been through a pandemic like this one are the survivors of the 1918 Spanish Flu. The ones still alive today (if we have any) would have been babies at the time, and in an elder-care facility now, celebrating their 102nd+ birthday.

Honestly, I'm glad things of this severity aren't something a majority of people over many generations can say they've been through, even looking back at our history well before we had the technological advancements of our present day. And I'm glad that even with all the screw-ups US leadership has made in its handling, as a planet we're handling this one in a way that would have absolutely stunned the people of 1918, or during the Bubonic Plague, or other highly contagious and deadly pandemics.

Between our near-instant communications, our scientific knowledge and ability to do research, and a (mostly) general willingness by the populace to do what's best for the community, we really have done an incredible amount to mitigate the spread, misery, and deaths this disease would have otherwise caused.

[KJ1231]

36 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

That is another I see in these reopening videos, no lines to get on rides. I'd say 99% of the time in these videos no wait to get on rides that I would guess back 7 months ago would take hours to get on. 

We were at Disney the last week of February before cruising the first week in March (yea - we were on CocoCay on 3/1). The lines for Star Wars rides were hours if you didn't have fast pass......

[FManke]

Since we did a L&S of our Greek Isle cruise until Oct '21, we will be spending our 30th wedding anniversary at a nice B&B for 4 nights. Not the same, but what are you going to do. We'll have to wait until our 31st for Greece. It will be nice to get away and relax. Next year will be a busy one for us with our upcoming cruise and our oldest sons wedding. His fiancé is from the Boston area and they are getting married next April in Salem, MA. God willing!

[SteveinSC]

23 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

we really have done an incredible amount to mitigate the spread, misery, and deaths this disease would have otherwise caused.

Kinda feel like this gets lost in all of the other garbage...weve done unheard of things. 

[sk8erguy1978]

19 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

we are building a pool, hot tub, and cabana right in our backyard!

We started the pool conversation, had the hot tub last year but decided maybe not for us (rather cool down vs heat up). The conversation started with "hey a simple round pool and big old deck around it could be neat and affordable" but is slowly headed to -- "well, with no kids and no plans for kids and just wanting a pool to sit in, maybe a small 10x20 cocktail in-ground with an area big enough to put loungers in the pool (think that two inch of water on some of the Anthem / Oasis / pools). Our backyard is flat, it's just asking for it ... I fear it's getting too late in the season to start a pool project like that and get to enjoy it this summer.

Edited July 24, 2020 by sk8erguy1978
typo

[sk8erguy1978]

13 hours ago, Dan Curtis said:

WE have been visiting the bourbon trail, we’re not even huge bourbon fans, but the country side in Ky is so beautiful and all the horse farms near Lexington are nice to visit, also enjoy the Smokey Mountians, we had a cruise canceled in May, have not tried to rebook anything yet. 

 

1 hour ago, SteveinSC said:

Ive done the bourbon trail....well.....a good portion of it. Woodford, Buffalo Trace, Makers, Wild Turkey, Evan Williams, Heaven Hill (makes a lot of different ones), and Willett!  LOVED IT!!!! 

Good friend is trying to get me to go ... Got to be on the next 'guys trip' idea list for sure! 

[sk8erguy1978]

Going to take a ride to NJ Beach (Wildwood) for a short break (5 nights) next weekend (Friday - Wednesday). My wife & her family co-own a cabin in the NY Adirondacks, think we will head up there for a few nights around labor day. 

Other than that - try and carry a few vacation days over next year and use a few to finally clean out the garage. 

[Kathleen]

We will be on the October 10, 2021 Greek Isles cruise which we also lifted and shifted from 2020. Once again, looking forward to it. Which sailing are you celebrating 31 years on? Happy Anniversary BTW.