Author: donhall930

It came to me last night that there must be some sadistic Marketing Executives hard at work within the Cruise Industry.

                   Who else would schedule a Multi-Month-Around-the-World Twenty-Four-Hour-Feeding-Frenzy directly after the Holidays?

                   I’ll be honest with you….

                   We tried our best.

                   Months ago, we decided to put our best efforts into trying to slim down, get more exercise, shed a few pounds, and generally get ready for three-squares-a-day (with someone else doing all the work!)  for the better part of four months.

                    We mapped out routes here at home, down in town, and over at the local lake. Off we went as quick as two somewhat agile (one with a bad knee, one with compressed discs) could muster.

                   We were mildly successful, we kept our weights under control, even dipping lower from time to time.

                    Then it happened.

                   Cookies.

                   And all of the other accoutrements that go with them like buttered vegetables, Pillsbury Croissants (with butter), mashed potatoes (with butter) and even Prime Rib that always roasts up better when slathered with a nice coating of butter. Make it a Compound Butter if you want to feel like it’s for the spices, but it’s still butter.

                   As you are all well aware, this Dairy-Heaven-on-Earth goes on ad infinitum until we are all glowing with yellow buttery-looking skin, somewhat akin to jaundice, but much more satisfying.

                   Now….. Let’s go on that Cruise!

                   We are lucky if we even come close to that “Starting Weight” that we benchmarked all those months ago!

                   But who cares?

                   There is a Walking Track on board!

                   We can hit that puppy first thing, get our miles and miles in just walking around the Promenade Deck, shedding all of those extra pounds that crept up on us over the last few weeks and promise to stay with us (and then some) as we go forward….. if…..we are not ever vigilant, keeping a wary eye peeled for an attack of Dark Chocolate Mousse, or worse yet, the endless supply of freshly baked and warmed cookies that are always out at the local equivalent of the onboard Starbucks.

                   I feel an immense sense of Failure looming over me.

                   But as long as it’s Dark Chocolate, I don’t really care!

Happy New Year everyone! We wish all of you a great one! We are glad that you are our friends!

          Well, we’re at that point…..

          It’s called “Hurry up and Wait”

          It’s like a NASA hold on a countdown until launch, everything is in limbo.

          We’ve gone over our prep lists a dozen times looking for things to check off but it’s impossible to complete this process until it’s time to GO!

          The entire motorhome interior needs to be deep cleaned, top to bottom, inside out, and every other way possible because if not, we risk the distinct possibility of coming home to “Mold and Mildew City.”

          We do not want to live there.

          Many an article has been published (and read by us) as to the downfalls of not preparing a motorhome properly for winter storage. This is a first for us as the longest we’ve ever been “not at home” is only a few days. So, clean cloths and disinfecting all-purpose cleaners in hand, we are ready to do battle with all those nasty invisible creepies that attach themselves to any surface that has even the remotest vestige of organic material clinging to it.

Think “Greasy Fingerprints” and go up from there.

We are quite sure that we can do this correctly, but there is no way to do it until we are finally exiting.

          That, along with fridge and freezer cleaning, freshly laundered sheets, etc. and sparkling bathrooms, make for a busy last day here at the Home Port.  

          The fridge and freezer emptying has been the most fun. They will be left turned on while we’re gone for all the right reasons but having unnecessary items left inside is not in the plan. So, our meal planning discussions sound something like this, “Would you like the cauliflower pancakes with the pierogies or the chicken cilantro wontons and chocolate croissants?”

          That’s an easy one, always choose the chocolate croissants with anything!

Our front seats and dinette benches are being extricated and brought up to College Station for a much-needed re-upholstery job. This will take several weeks so it’s good that we won’t be around using the motorhome. It’s hard to travel when your Pilot’s Chair is not in place. Folding chairs or orange crates would probably not be good replacement!

 But…. they can’t be removed until we make our final trip to the Dump Station which needs to be, you guessed it…. right before we button everything up and are no longer using it!

          Hence, more “Hurry up and Wait.”

Remember those Princess Medallions that I’ve been describing?

The ones that communicate with our stateroom door, the Bartenders, and each other?

Well, they have finally arrived and not a moment too soon! They were mailed three weeks ago from California but got delayed somewhere along the line. They’re kind of nifty, they have our names on them, the ship, and the sailing date. I guess that they can be used for Christmas Tree ornaments when it’s all over (?)

 They come in the colors of the level of the Captains Circle that we are presently in. I have a few more “Princess” sailing days than Paula so my Medallion is Ruby colored while Paula’s is Gold.

          She thinks it looks like Yellow and does not like it!

          We will attain the next two levels of this program while we are on board. Unfortunately, one is not eligible for the benefits of the next levels until the completion of the present voyage.

          Maybe I can make friends with the right people and at least get Paula the next color up while we are aboard.

You all will be the first to know 😊

Well, I just logged on to the Princess website dedicated to our Voyage Number and it informed me that there are only six days left until that Voyage commences.

          This comes as no surprise to me as I have been logging onto this site for the past two years or so, and the “Countdown” has faithfully been decreasing, albeit the anticipation becomes substantially heightened when the number is “Six” instead of “Five Hundred Six”.

          “Six’ is until the ship’s horn loudly proclaims to anyone on the quay,

“We’re outa here!”

“Adios, Hasta la vista, (Baby)!”

“Arrivederci!”

“Au revoir!”

“Hooroo!”

“Mae Alsalama!”

          Our real number is 4.762.

Knowing full well the trials and tribulations that may befall the unwary prospective passenger that travels on the day of departure, we wisely decided to enter the Friendly Skies on the previous day.

Wiggle Room as it were….  and if this recent bout of Weather Anomalies has taught us anything, an extra day could still be cutting it close.  But, even if flights were being jettisoned with reckless abandon because of nationwide issues, (read this past week) it only takes 17 hours and 47 minutes to drive from here in Texas to the Port of Fort Lauderdale. Two drivers, a case of Monster Energy Drinks and the determination of two highly motivated peeps should be enough to get us there come the proverbial, “Hell or High Water.”

          Hopefully this scenario will not need to be the subject of a future post!

          We have further elected to close up shop by end of day on Tuesday the 3^rd and make our way to the airport on that night instead of the next morning. This is because we have moved the “Closing Ceremonies of the Winterization of the Motorhome” up a day mainly for the reason that the networks requested this, as our original timeline interfered with all of their Morning Show programing.

          That, and its far easier to spend a full day closing everything up, ensuring that all the systems are correctly put to sleep, exit calmly, go out to dinner, and then drive to the airport and stay overnight, than wake up, still need to put it all to sleep, then drive to the airport and board our Escape Jet and wing it to Florida.

          In the meantime, communiques from Princess have been pouring into my Inbox like ‘Letters to Santa’ a few days before Christmas. Some are just regular reminders pertaining to Pre-Embarkation details like Covid tests and the like, some are actual changes (good) to our Cruise. Back in the Excursion Phase you may recall that not every tour was available for a myriad of reasons and or, excuses(?) We found ourselves “Waitlisted” for several of these Excursions, but true to form, the illustrious Excursions Department at Princess has scrounged up, beaten into submission, or indeed, conjured up some type of folks willing to lead unsuspecting tourons (us) into the wilds of these exotic locales.

          We may never be heard from again.

You all will be the first to know as these posts will suddenly disappear, only to be replaced with re-runs of Gilligan’s Island.

          Here’s hoping that these travelogues don’t get so boring that you all find yourselves wishing for the latter!

          We are now at 4.439 and counting…😊

All hail Marty Cooper!

                   Who?

                   Marty Cooper!

                    You know….. the inventor of the cell phone as we know it!    He’s the one responsible for us having to be constantly in touch with everything and everyone, all the time.

          Even when we don’t want to be.

          Because…. someone will get quite anxious that we haven’t picked up on the third ring and call the police to put out an APB on us!

          That brings me to the quandaries and processes of trying to stay in communication with everyone for an extended period of time while being at sea for half of it and being in foreign countries for the other half.  It’s not that it’s hard to do…. In fact, it’s quite easy! The problem is doing it without having to take out a second mortgage on the ranch!

          There are many workarounds for this issue….. Face Time, What’s App, Google phone, and many others. The trick is NOT to turn your phone on when you are near any land as it will automatically try and pick up a cellular signal and could incur lots of crazy charges.

          “Airplane Mode” will be our best friend!

          On board, there is a fairly good Wi-Fi system that allows us to just stay on the Internet and not use the cellular part of the phone. If that were not the case, then as soon as a random text from your pharmacy happens to get sent to you (or was being stored for you until you got off of Airplane Mode), a $10/24hour period starts in which you can make calls and texts.

          All of that is fine if only you control it, but here comes that random spam text and Bam! Charged you get!

          So, let’s do THAT math….. 111 days, $10 a day…. Yikes!

          So, Yay!!! How we love Airplane Mode!

          Navigating through all of these different processes will take just a little bit of time I suspect. But I’m quite sure that we will arrive at the best way to stay somewhat in touch without going too crazy. The Onboard Internet issue seems to be under control and if one can believe the company propaganda on how reliable and fast the system is, then we don’t have much to be concerned about. The way it sounds is that everyone on board can stream their favorite movie, all at the same time, and there won’t be a problem with that.

          Yea, sure.

          Maybe it’s more like “there shouldn’t be a problem with that.”

          I watched the video on the Princess website and they do seem to have a nice system, but there were a few caveats, such as where in the world we are, and of course, weather. Otherwise, there should be enough bandwidth for us to check emails, etc. and for me to keep you all up to date with posts on this blog. This, I believe, should be fairly easy as I am usually writing this stuff when everyone else is still sleeping and not using the internet, which leaves tons of bandwidth for me to play around in!

          We shall see.

          And so shall you!

          To say that I am looking forward to having an excuse to write this drivel almost daily, with fresh subjects constantly being thrown at me, would be the proverbial understatement!

          So, get ready to climb the gangway with us as there are (as I write this) only 20 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes, and 44 seconds until we embark.

          (But who’s counting!)

          We are! And luckily the Princess folks have a nifty app that (for now) acts as a countdown device and then switches to that Medallion thing when on board.

          I suggest that you all start packing as time is growing short!

          Please let me know how much luggage you will be bringing with you as there is just so much storage under the bed.

          By the way, Mr. Marty Cooper will be on board as he is presently 93 years old and somewhat retired after a marvelous career with the giants of the telecommunications industry such as Motorola and AT&T.

          He will have his phone on Airplane Mode as well.

Dateline: Fort Lauderdale 

The somewhat nebulous seafaring accommodations of a certain couple have finally been secured. An email arrived just yesterday informing them that they had been awarded an upgrade in their stateroom selection and it was at no extra charge! 

The couple, Don Hall and Paula McCarthy, had been waiting patiently (?) for the fine folks at Princess Cruises to sort out the mess that was created when two almost fully booked voyages were combined due to the cancellation of the first Covid Containment Cruise. 

They had been informed on many an occasion (whenever they called Princess) that they were not to worry, that they were in the “Guaranteed” status of bookings and that a stateroom assignment would be forthcoming as soon as possible. The ranges of “As soon as possible” varied greatly as the first Voyage Voyeur informed them that it would be by September (last) and as the timeline progressed, the prognostication was pushed to the breaking point of, “You’ll find out upon Embarkation,” which translates into something like arriving at the gangplank, suitcases in hand, and asking Captain Stubing, Julie the Cruise Director, and Gopher….. “Hi, we’re Paula and Don, could you please inform us as to where we will be living for the next four months?” and then having Isaac the Bartender show us the way to our stateroom. 

In a momentous random checking of email yesterday, one fairly jumped off of the screen as it was entitled “Upgrade” and it was from Princess! Visions of palatial Suites ran rampantly through their feeble brains as they searched the diagrams of deck plans when they logged onto the Princess Cruises website. 

A re-examination of the categories of compartments within the existing types of staterooms bears some further explanation here. Mind you, it involves just a tad of physics, albeit it of the “playground” variety, so here goes….. 

These ships, even as good as the modern ones are, still have a certain amount of movement to them as they charge forward through all kinds of seas. Mill ponds to tempests, these modern marvels of hotels at sea, use every bit of technology available to them in order to further ensure a somewhat stable voyage for their passengers, which hopefully, negates the possibility of running to the rail in order to help “chum the waters” for any fishermen aboard, if you get my ‘drift’. 

But physics being what it is, and boats being what they are, and water being the fluid medium that it is, makes for some uncertain bedfellows when it comes to guaranteeing a perfectly smooth sailing. So, back to our playground and the see-saw. If you want a fun ride, you clamper aboard one of the ends so that you can swing up and down with reckless abandon, laughing all the way. If you desire to have a smooth ride and still be part of the fun, you sit in the middle, the fulcrum as it were, and watch your playmates from a more stable platform. Now, let’s add another element to our see-saw and give it another axis from which to rotate on and that would be from side to side. Again, here you are still in the middle, but the effect of the side-to-side movement is enhanced when you try and stand up and get further away from your best friend, that center of gravity, the fulcrum, which coincidently, on a ship, is situated more towards the center of the ship or ‘midships’ in the vernacular of the maritime folks. 

Now let’s reboard our big hotel-on-the-sea and assign categories to staterooms, throwing into this confusing algorithm other variables such as distance from the elevators, proximity to possible ‘noisier’ locations, and levels (or decks) of the ship itself. While some of this process is relatively straightforward, some of it is also obviously very subjective. 

Let’s take the level or deck to which you may be assigned. The higher you go, the more ‘prestigious’ it may be considered? No one ever built the castle way down low when that very enticing hill was nearby, right? We never played ‘King of the Valley’ did we? It was always ‘King of the Hill’ or (Queen of the Hill in more modern times😊) 

So, on a ship, the more desirable locations are the elevated ones, the ones furthest away from the Galley Slaves and their oars, further away from the Bilge Rats, and other stinky aspects of a seafaring life. 

So, these variables all get tossed into the mix and we end up with levels within each type of stateroom. Suites are always the best and vary very little as they are always in a good location. Strangely these locations are often at the forward and rear ends on the ships where “Corner Views” may be had. “Damn the See-Saw” has been heard from many a veranda of these many-roomed, incredibly expensive, envy of all on board, accommodations.  

So, let’s get to the more plentiful, average staterooms that Mr. and Mrs. Regular Peeps can afford, namely the Balcony, Ocean View, and Inside cabins. These are the ones that are the most plentiful and get most of the gradations by category. We were originally assigned an I (Inside) E. Now these gradations range from A to F and when located on board it was mostly difficult to ascertain why one stateroom enjoyed a status that its neighbor did not. But I guess that’s where that Algorithm comes in. It’s kind of like trying to understand exactly what goes into what makes up your credit score. Too much available credit is scary to lenders, too little is a sign that no one trusts you. Not having any balances to pay off doesn’t give them enough information to which evaluate you while having a lot of payments (all on time) makes you a bad guy. So, where’s the middle ground. No one knows! And so, it goes with these categories of staterooms.  

Now for the exciting part! 

We had been given an upgrade (at no extra charge) which means that they were not able to find an unoccupied cabin in our category (that someone was willing to give up) and therefore, they needed to find somewhere to stow us and all our baggage. We were luckily able to vault all the way up in category status to a…… (Drum roll please!)……… 

An I-C! 

 Which means we jumped all the way over the peons assigned the hovels in I-D! We frantically searched our assigned deck, Aloha (A), way up on top, looking down on all the other losers. Well, not really, because since we have an inside cabin, there is no way to look down on anything! We may as well be down rowing with the aforementioned Galley Slaves! 

But at least we will be able to announce when boarding one of the elevators, “Aloha Deck please” and leave all the others behind as they exit before we do and sneak down the companionway to dive into A-423! 

It looks like we are going to have a Private Tour of Venice as well as Jerusalem.  

The backstory. 

Venice was originally on the itinerary, and we could not have been more excited. I had been there about twenty years ago, and it is on Paula’s ‘Bucket List”, so the anticipation began. 

Until. 

Until we received an email from Princess announcing that Venice was being replaced with Ravenna, a very nice old coastal town about a hundred miles south of Venice. 

Boo! 

We waited an inordinately long time for “Excursions” to be posted for this port. No one could shed any light on what was going on or why it was taking so long. We figured that they were trying their best to figure out a way to get us from Ravenna to Venice. We are scheduled to be in this Port two days so we figured that it would be easy, at least for the first day, as we could arrive back at the ship later in the evening without risking delaying any departure. 

Well, we were wrong. 

The Excursions finally got posted and not one of them came anywhere near Venice. While Ravenna has some very nice sites of its own, it would be a mistake to classify it in the same category as Venice. Emphasis on Category. 

It is here that we discovered what the rub was. 

Venice is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, having had this honor bestowed on it back in 1987. It was this very distinction and title that was at risk if the City did not demonstrate that it was serious about keeping the City safe from being overrun with too many people and creating more damage to its fragile lagoon (to which the Cruise Ships added). 

So, the obvious, and immediate, solution was to ban Cruise Ships from docking at Venice. If you’ve ever been to Venice, you know how small it really is and can imagine it being overrun with boatloads of folks on any given day. The Town Fathers took all this Economic Consternation into account and decided that the long-term effect was what they were looking for and safeguarding their Hometown Treasure was paramount. And besides…. there was enough terrestrial traffic to more than support their local economy and the sidebar of their decision was that everyone from townspeople to tourists actually had a better experience. 

But, what’s a Tourist to do that REALLY wanted to visit? 

Yup! Another call to Tour’s by Locals was placed and we are now safely in the capable hands of Isabella and her driver who will pick us up in Ravenna and safely deposit us back there later that same evening. The plan is to find a nice Venetian Restaurant and have dinner.  

While originally being slightly miffed that the Cruise Line did not schedule any excursions to Venice, I understood a tad better after speaking to one of the Excursion Experts. It seems that the Cruise Industry is not going to go out of its way to give any additional business to a City that has effectively banned them. 

Ok, I can see that point. 

But, wouldn’t it have been better to fully explain the factors that led to all of this? I did not understand it all until I had an email exchange with Isabella, who eloquently explained the whole situation. Then I understood completely and wished that I had known more to begin with. 

I now side with Venice and their attempt to preserve their World Heritage Site designation for all those in the future. 

So, we now know what we will be doing for Venice and cannot wait to finally meet Isabella and have her introduce us to her hometown! 

Meanwhile back at the Ranch…. (I’ve always wanted to use that phrase!)  Paula and I are trying to walk 10 miles every day so that we will be able to trek around without collapsing. 

  Oops! Did I say 10? I meant 1! Those pesky zeros get in the way all the time! Seriously, we do not have any long hikes scheduled but as the aforementioned Venice excursion is an example of, there will be plenty of walking around cities! 

Our time now is spent honing down the Preparedness Lists and double-checking things.  

And waiting. 

Around here, things go on. Last night we went to the local (Brenham) town parade. Madison was on one of the floats along with the rest of her little dance troupe, waving to the crowds of folks lining the downtown area.  

This is a big damn deal! 

My guess is there were close to 10,000 folks there supporting friends and family that were in the Parade of over seventy floats or just sitting with their families and watching the festivities! Any local organization is welcome to participate so all the usual suspects were there, especially the local churches. 

In this unabashedly Christian locale, there were no shortage of floats depicting the Nativity and other aspects of the Christmas Season 🙂 

So Don, If the title of this Post has to do with packing for the trip, why then are you showing us random photos?

          Because….. I’m still practicing with the lenses and setting on my new-fangled camera, and these are a few examples of what I’ve done!

          Anyway, the packing is FINISHED!

          Well, almost finished.

          Really, not actually, finished, but in the grand scheme of things we have gotten a lot closer to the finish line than we’ve been so far.

          We decided to get those big-sucker-out-the-air packing bags. For those of you that have used these things, you know what I speak of.  For those of you that have not had the opportunity to use these apparati, the only thing that I can tell you is if you are ever worried about fitting everything into your suitcases….

          Fear Not!

          After sucking out all of the available air you are left with something that looks like those vacuum-packed packages of beef jerky found in the checkout lane. It will save you over half of your available capacity!

          We saved so much room that we are now going out to purchase tons more clothes to bring with us!

There are just a few updates to the subject of our upcoming Cruise that bear reporting. None of these are earth-shattering, and after reading them you may wonder why I even reported them.

          The answer is easy,

          It’s 4:30 AM and I’m bored, so it’s time to write!

          I find that I need answers to questions that the Cruise Help Desk has difficulty answering. This may be because since that industry took it on the chin that they lost a good portion of their staff, and the newer folks just don’t have the requisite experience to satisfy my need for an answer.

          Or it may be that I ask questions that most folks don’t give a hoot about, therefore, they don’t get asked with any regularity.

          Probably a combination of the two is the answer.

          But it doesn’t stop me from calling!

          I am now an expert at navigating through the Menu that Miss Princess Electronic Answering Voice has waiting for me when I dial the 800 number. One of my favorite parts of the call is identifying our Booking Number.

          I inform the Cruise Answer person, “Our Booking Number is 6 Victor Golf Victor Golf Tango.”

          Or,,,, 6VGVGT

          The way of identifying the alpha part of the sequence with the appropriate nomenclature is an old hold-out from my days flying out of Sussex Airport. In both military and commercial aviation, the name that a letter is given is quite specific. Someone who is not familiar with this sequence would do the same thing, but say something like this, “B as in Boy”, “H as in Hat” and so on. There is a correct way to do this, but you need to know the correct crossover in order to communicate successfully.

          I flew mainly in two different Cherokee 140’s when I was learning to fly. They were identified by the last three alpha-numeric “N” numbers on the fuselage. My favorite plane was “13 Fox”(short for “Foxtrot” which obviously represents the letter ‘F’) So when on the Unicom/radio, it went something like this, “Sussex Unicom, this is Cherokee 13 Fox entering downwind, Runway 3 Sussex”

          I’ll bet that all of us would say  “F as in Frank, D as in Dog” and so on. We would all be laughed out of the Control Tower if we tried that!

          After we get through the Cruise Number Identification Procedure and some additional “Identifying Questions”, we get to the part where I try and unintentionally stump them. Really, I do not ask questions just to see if they have the answer, I/we really want/need to know the answers! Some questions are strictly for convenience. Others are quite important.

          Examples:

                   Convenience Question – “Do you know if among the provided bath accessories if there is a body wash or are there bars of soap?”

          See? Not that important, just wondering, do we want/need to bring body wash with us? It’s a good thing that this is not an important question that needs answering because apparently no one has asked it before so nowhere is it indicated which one it is!

          The suspense is killing us.

                   Important Question – “Is the ‘one device’ per wi-fi package needed to be used for your phone so that you can effectively use the ‘Medallion App’ (that I explained previously) or is there a stand-alone network for the App?” (Thus, freeing up that ‘One Device per package’ for a laptop needed to be used for writing and posting to this blog!)

          That answer was quite nebulous, depending on who we spoke to. I was finally able to ascertain that answer myself by digging up some instructions on how to use the App, that identified which wi-fi network to use for the App (available in Airplane Mode) which means that it is strictly a local network, not needing the wi-fi package.) This answer was quite important because even though an additional wi-fi package could be purchased on board, it would have been an additional $1000 + for a voyage of this length. I would have need to find “$$$ponsors” for the blog!

          One of the “Hanging Chads” of our Excursion Booking Dilemma was Jerusalem. Way back in the beginning I told Paula that Jerusalem was way too important a city to be shuffled around with forty of our new best friends. I decided that we needed a Private Tour and that I would be happy to incur the extra expense since it was my unwillingness to experience it any other way that led us to book an excursion this way.

          This is somewhat of a gamble as since it is not through Princess. They make it quite clear that they have zero responsibility when it comes to getting you back on board in time for departure. I did use an organization that they ‘recommended’ called Tours by Locals and judging by their ratings and comments, we are in good hands.  The first time that I tried to book something though, I hit a wall as the guides were all strictly based in Jerusalem. We arrive in Ashod, a port on the coast which is about an hour away. These guys do not pick folks up at the port. Ouch! I put that one down for a while fully intending to pick it back up more sooner than later. Well, sooner turned into later and it was just this past week that I finally called their headquarters and spoke to a Help Desk person who successfully put me in touch with several Shore Excursion tour guides! These guys are equipped to pick up their clients at the ports and start and end their days accordingly.

          The procedure is that you list the day, port, time, and anything else that may be of importance and the Tours by Locals folks put it out to the appropriate Local Tour Guides who then get back to you with their availability. You then get a chance to sift through each guides specialties, languages, reviews, etc. and pick one that will suit your needs.

          I picked one.

          His name is Aladdin S.

          We are expecting quite the tour!

Over the last two years I have from time to time alluded to what it was like to live in Texas. From its vastness to its unabashed patriotism, both for our country and the State, it is quite the experience.

          I need to be careful here because no matter how much I’ve traveled around this great country, I’ve found that you really can’t get to get a “feel” for a place until you’ve spent a decent amount of time there (I don’t want to leave anywhere else out, it’s just that this is what I’ve found here).

          That’s no surprise, the Immersion Factor has been around for as long as folks have been traveling. So, I will just go on with my observations and say that the level of the aforementioned Patriotism, adding in a good, down home, genteel, country way of life, is probably unsurpassed anywhere else in the USA. That’s not to say that there may be some places equal to Texas, but I’m fairly sure that there are probably none better at exhibiting this.

          Especially when it comes to the State of Texas.

          I’ve made this observation before and it bears repeating, the Lone Star Flag is flown EVERYWHERE!

           Sometimes all by itself.

          That Star of Texas is EVERYWHERE, homes, barns, chicken coops, big ranch gates, municipal buildings, floral gardens, you name it, it’s there.

          So Don, what brings about this latest re-observation?

          Well, it is this…. We had the opportunity to be at a local quilting club “meeting” this past week. The Friendship Quilt Guild of Brenham is a thirty-odd year-old organization that started with a handful of members and now boasts close to fifty quilters that meet monthly in order to make quilts for members of the community, especially Veterans. It was for this reason that we attended the meeting as both Dan and Kaitie are Veterans. Dan had four Tours of Duty (two in Iraq and two in Afghanistan) while Kaitie had one Tour in Iraq. They were being presented with the quilts that were made just for them during a ceremony that included several other Veterans, two from Korea and two others from Iraq and Afghanistan. Each Vet was brought up front where their active duty was explained, and their medals and awards were listed.  They were then presented with their very own “work of art” (aka, “quilt”) and were wrapped up in it to the delight, respect, and appreciation of all that were there.

          It was quite the experience.

          Another rather unique Texas character is of the four-legged, two -horned variety, and that is the Texas Longhorn. This breed is the oldest one in the United States, coming from the south more than five-hundred years ago. It is the ubiquitous symbol of the Old West, with the horns and skulls decorating everything from the hoods of Cadillacs to the doorways of barns.

          They are so cool to see!

          And….. apparently one of the easier breeds to raise. They are very adapting, hardy, and they look great on your ranch or front lawn! Imagine having a herd of these in Sussex County….. yes, they will survive the winter and how much fun would it be to have traffic jams, cars lined up for miles with Tourons taking photos!

          Just ask us and we’ll bring a few back with us next year!

          So, we finally took a good look a representative diagram of our stateroom. I say representative because these rooms are very similar, most are identical, but due to their possible location on board, they may differ slightly. Ships today are built in modules and then welded together. This method needs to have a certain amount of conformity, hence the rooms being somewhat modules themselves. Anyway, we went onto the website and really took a good look. We used the “Virtual Tour” video thing where you can “walk “ through the room by clicking your mouse on the arrow and advancing your way through the room , doing a 180 anytime you wanted to.

          Here’s our tour,

          “There’s two drawers in the nightstand.”

          “Are there two nightstands?”

          “Yea, one on each side.”

          “Ok, swing that thing around, let’s take a look at the dresser.”

          “Wait, there is no dresser! Just the “desk” area, it has just three drawers and the mini fridge!”

          “Well, what about the closet? Scoot this thing over there!”

          Click, advance, click, advance, twirl around, twirl around.

          “That’s it? Just those shelves there and the hanging up part?”

          “Looks like it.”

          Gulp.

          Well, it looks like we will be storing a fair amount of our stuff under the bed, in our suitcases. That’s not so bad. The beds are made now to handle the larger suitcases under them. Back in the day, your Room Steward needed to collect your empty luggage and stow it for the duration of your voyage and then bring it back to you for re-packing before disembarking. But even with all of that we realize that we will be somewhat “cramped” for this trip. We are rationalizing our future comfort (discomfort?) level by saying that It’s a good thing we are used to the size of the motorhome. We feel that this “stepped down” theory of getting used to a smaller living quarters will be beneficial, and it probably will be, but……

          After my last couple of posts about packing, etc. we have received many tidbits of traveling and packing advice from several of your fellow readers. My sister Kathy, and my sister-in-law Karen sent us suggestions and advice. Karen is the most travelled person that I know. She is ALWAYS on a trip to some far-flung corner of the world, usually on an “expedition’ of sorts. She travels with small groups put together by the likes of The Smithsonian, National Geographic, and The Museum of Natural History in New York. She’s kind of like having “Indiana Jones” adventures while the rest of us are content to sit poolside and worry if we’ll like the selections that the Chef has planned for us at Dinner. Her “minimalist” take on what to bring has been very helpful. She did take a cruise to Antarctica last year but I’m pretty sure that the only Tuxedos she saw were the ones the Penguins were sporting!

          I reported to you that I thought that this cruise was severely over-booked because of cramming two years of cruises into one trip. Well, it looks like I may have been mistaken. It seems that you can go online right now and book any class of room that you may desire (except the Suites)  and you will find something that will likely be suitable for you. The selection is not extensive, but you will find something. (Feel free to book…. It will be nice to have someone along that we know!)

          What we don’t know is how may others are sitting out there in “Limbo-Room Land” like we are. As of yet, we have not been assigned a stateroom. Remember, we were supposed to be on this cruise last year, but that’s all Covid history now. I did call them up and ask if we could be booked into one of the available interior rooms that were open. Apparently there are no rooms of our Type that are open. You may think that since (as I stated earlier) all these rooms are almost, if not close to 100% identical, what difference would it make?

          Well just hold on there Mr. Algorithm! Apparently there are many criteria that go into assigning a “Level” to each room within its type, Interior, Ocean View, Balcony Obstructed, Balcony, Mini-Suite, and Suite. This algorithm takes into account such factors as position in the ship, (mid-ships is preferred) how far from the elevators and stairs, and other similar variables. Mix them all together and you end up with a designation of room type.

          They know exactly how many of us Limbo-Land folks there are. I’m fairly sure that they are waiting to see which of these open rooms may sell and then figure everything out, make offers to folks to hold their cruise (As we did several years ago with outstanding results!) and then fit us in. The worst that can happen is that we get upgraded to a room that we can’t tell the difference between what we booked, and what we are assigned. Unless of course, they want to be extremely generous and move us to the Captain’s Cabin!

          Any way we look at it, it is going to require a certain amount of organization, (which Paula excels at!) and resignation to our quarters, that will play a role in just how content we can stay for four months. We really are looking at the positives which are obviously many. The next level up would have been prohibitively expensive, so we have decided that we will have the mentality of “How bad can this possibly be?” as we wind our way through the streets of Casablanca, Jerusalem, and Sydney!

          One of the benefits of trying to stick with a particular Cruise Line is their Loyalty Program. Some may be better than others, but they all have benefits and perks built into them. Since most of my Cruise History had been on Princess, I am at their Ruby Level. Paula is at their Gold Level, and we will both get to Platinum sometime on this cruise. When we are finished I will need only six more cruise days to qualify for the Elite Level which is fifteen cruises or one hundred fifty Cruise Days. I presently have seventy-nine Cruise Days, of which thirty-three are on Princess. When you attain each next level they add on to the previous level with such things as upgraded wi-fi, complimentary specialty dining, Spa treatments, free mini-bars, priority boarding, special excursions, and the list goes on and on. But the main reason the I want to get to that Elite Level is because I will then find two Chocolates placed on my pillow upon retiring for the evening!