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Ah… The Panama Canal.

                   Easily the most famous canal in the world.

                   The Suez Canal is older (the project was started in the 1850’s) and longer (about 120 miles vs about 50 miles) but as far as an engineering project goes, it pales in comparison.

                   But lets not get too haughty here, there is a canal in China that is both older and longer….. by a lot! The Grand Canal or the Jing-Hang Grand Canal was started in the 5^th century B.C. (Ok, that’s a lot older!) and was completed in about 600 A.D. and from the 1200’s to the 1600’s it was substantially improved and restored. It links the Yangtze River with the Yellow River and runs for an astonishing 1100 miles, employing 24 locks and 60 bridges. The Chinese are credited with designing and utilizing the first canal lock over a 1000 years ago. The Jing-Hang Canal is on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list, for all the right reasons.

                   Back to Central America.

                   We barely fit through the locks in the Canal. The locks are 110 feet wide, and our ship is 106, leaving just two feet on each side. This is obviously by design, the maximum beam (width) of modern ships has been dictated by the locks here in Panama. The giant tankers of the world mainly use the Suez Canal which does not have any locks, it is a “Sea Level” canal. A giant ditch was dug between the northern terminus of the Red Sea and the shore of the Mediterranean near the city of Port Said. Large ships can pass through here, even if one must lay up until another one passes. It was not until 2016 when the widening of the Panama Canal was completed that the ships larger than the previous PanaMax size could transit the canal. The new locks are 180’ wide and 1400’ long. Now the Biggies can transit the Panama Canal and all our Amazon stuff from China can get to us that much quicker!

It’s not cheap to use the canal, it cost Princess about $350,000 for us to get through. It’s a good thing that our EZ Pass was in its little aluminum pouch so that it couldn’t be detected as we went through the toll booth!

          We tried our best to find an advantageous spot to watch this entire process and I believe that we were successful. Down on Deck 8, all the way Aft, there is a small deck of sorts that runs the width of the ship and is fully open, with a railing. This allowed us to be up front and personal with the locks and their operation. Most folks were up top looking forward, which I’m sure was fun, but they had to view everything through semi-transparent (because of all the saltwater spray) windscreens. We (as you will see) had a seagull’s eye view of the entire process.

                             It takes the better part of the day to go across from ocean to ocean. Waiting in the locks (and for the locks) takes up a good amount of time. But we needed to cross Gatun Lake and a few other waterways in between, so zooming around at 21 knots is definitely frowned upon. As a matter of fact, we needed to have a Panama Canal Pilot on board for the entire transit. The number of ships, both moving and at anchor, is substantial, so having a pilot who is knowledgeable about the local waters and maritime customs is mandatory.

I will leave you with a few bits of trivia.

          First, the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea can never mix!

          Why?

          Because Gatun Lake is the source of the waters that gravity feed the locks on both sides. So that means that the waters flow downward from the lake into both the Pacific and Caribbean.

          Second, did you know that when you enter the canal from the eastern side (Caribbean) that when you exit on the western side (Pacific) you are actually further East than when you entered?

          Yup!

Take a look at a map.

Because of the way that Panama is shaped, and where the canal is located on the isthmus, the entrances and exits (depending on which way you are travelling) are actually further east or west than the way that you entered!

                   Now go play that Trivial Pursuit game and don’t shy away from the Geography Category!

Cartagena is one of those cities that is like having a time machine. At least when it comes to visiting the “Old City”. The formidable, limestone battlements that surround the original part of the city contain all of the old buildings that comprise this UNESCO World Heritage site. Cartagena was the gateway to South America way before any official countries were established. Being situated on the Caribbean Sea, it was a prime target for Pirates….

…..Wait for it…….

…..of the Caribbean!!!

          Sorry! I couldn’t pass that one up!

          Actually, it was not Captain Jack Sparrow who gave them fits, it was none other than Sir Francis Drake, one of the more famous “Privateers” of the times. All that meant was that he had a “License to Steal” granted by the Crown (England).

 Privateers were just legal pirates, provided with Letters of Mark to show the authorities when they got caught. Until the Crown wanted to do away with them and then they conveniently forgot that they had issued said letters.

Just ask Captain William Kidd.

          No, don’t do that, the Crown had him hung!

Can you tell I like Pirates?  (September 19^th is “Talk like a Pirate Day”, so mark your calendars…. Aaaarggg!)

Anyway, we boarded our bus with 38 of our shipmates and Raphael, our Guide, for a short jaunt into the Old City. We walked on that wall that was constructed after Sir Francis Drake ravaged the city (Oops!) in 1586 and made off with all of it’s gold. Spain finally got tired of the French and English pirates attacking the city that they poured an enormous amount of money into building the defenses of Cartagena. In today’s money it would be equivalent to two trillion (yes, that is correct!) dollars!

          This neighborhood of Cartagena probably has 85% of it’s original buildings, mainly constructed in the late 1500’s and early 1600’s. The streets are narrow, I mean, like how wide is a horse and cart anyway? But that obviously just adds to the charm of the area. Colors abound, reminiscent of other Latin American islands and cities. Practically everything is made of either limestone or coral with the favorite wood being mahogany, better suited to use because of its resistance to rotting and termite infestations. Note in the photos how most of the balconies are made from Mahogony.

Being just a few degrees off the Equator, the flowers and plants were nothing short of magnificent! Shown below!

The people here are friendly and polite, even the “Entrepreneurs” that sell their wares on the streets will not bother you after a smile and a polite, “No, Gracias” is spoken to them.

A small part of town is named Getsemani, yes it takes its name from that famous garden just outside Jerusalem, Gethsemane. Seen here just before they take down all of their Christmas decorations. Their Christmas Season ends on this Monday.

          We spent about four hours in total on that tour and when we were deposited back at the Cruise Terminal, we found ourselves in a rather unique area set up by Cartagena’s Tourism Committee. They have established a walk-through zoo of sorts that has mainly the birds of the area for our enjoyment. It was a fun way to end the morning.

Another Day at Sea

                   Not much to report

                   We basically killed time between meals  😊

                   I attended a lecture on older, fondly remembered cruise ships, the highlights of the lecture were the Star of Bermuda, the Queen Elizabeth II, and the France. The gentleman who gave the lecture is aboard for at least the first leg of the cruise and will talk on some other topics, all having to do with ships, including my favorite guy, Captain James Cook, who’s voyages of discovery in the 18tgh century stand out as having as much impact on our knowledge of the unknown as the Apollo missions did hundreds of years later. It will be interesting!

                   Paula attended a large gathering of Bridge enthusiasts and quickly found out that the Brits play by some different rules. Paula did her best to keep our good relationship with the Empire intact!

                   Two naps (Each! There was a first nap and a second nap) later we found ourselves waiting on a line to get into the dining room. More on that situation as I go undercover as a Foodservice Crewmember and bring you the real story!

                   Film at 11.

                   Anyway, we found ourselves with two older couples, one of which was much older, like ancient!

                   But here’s the lesson we learned, “Don’t judge a couple by their walkers!” The older couple were on their seventh World Cruise! How they get around is a sight to behold. The gentleman is the one using the walker and his speed is akin to the proverbial snail. His wife could be the sweetest person we’ve ever met. Both had great careers, his was in aerospace technology and she taught surgeons and wound care specialists how to do their jobs. She had some high-ranking position at Rutgers in the Medical School. They’ve been EVERYWHERE but couldn’t get enough of what everyone else had done with their lives. Their attitude was actually quite inspirational and we wouldn’t hesitate to sit with them in the future. We were able to get a small hike in on the Promenade Deck. There was some maintenance being done so half of it was closed, hence the shorter walk.

                   But it did provide a good photo op! The results of which are displayed here.

                   As I write this, I can see the lights of Cartagena on the horizon. It’s still dark here (we are still in the Eastern Time Zone as we basically sailed due south since embarkation.) Old and historic, Cartagena promises to give a taste of what the New World looked like back in the day. The old city and its ramparts are a UNESCO World Heritage Site as examples of what typical old fortifications looked like when the likes of Sir Francis Drake attacked the city, so Spain poured a ton of money into building fortifications.

                   It’s these fortifications and the Old City, which they surround, that will be the subjects of our Excursion in Cartagena.

I am not alone.

                   There is no one here, but…..

                   I can feel their presence,

                    Calling me, like the Mariners of yore….

                   The distant whispers of the Sirens of the Sea….

                   Or, in my case……

                   The Pastries…..

                   It’s Day Two of being up here in my Early Morning Office.

          The Culinary Staff has been hard at work long before even I got up. A mélange of aromas come wafting out of the kitchen doors every time a cook sweeps in or out of the galley.

                   And it’s driving me crazy!

                   I promise you that I am trying my best to meter my intake of this Fabulous Fare that is presented daily (hourly?) for our glutenous gastronomic delight. It’s a good thing that the portions are totally manageable.

                   If…. You take just one…..

                   There is no one stopping you from multiple portions.

                   Except Paula.

          The Portion Queen is trying her best to keep me from playing a part in Around the World in Eighty Days….

As the Balloon.

          Actually, compared to previous Cruises, I think that I’m doing rather well. It’s not that I have any more willpower, I think it’s the fact that there are so many mirrors between our room (which they smartly made look larger with mirrored walls) and the elevators have a mirrored finish in them.. well, let’s just say that the evidence is presented so clearly and concisely that any jury would convict me on the first try.

                   So, I’m a tryin’ to be good!

                    Last night we ventured to the Main Dining Room without making a reservation. I had wandered down there at lunchtime to ask the Maître d’ how dinner worked and I was assured that if we got there shortly after opening that we would not have a problem being seated. When we arrived, the line wrapped around the fountains and Grand Staircase but moved rather nicely. When we were asked about seating preferences we indicated “whatever works for you” and we found ourselves with two other couples that were traveling together. They were good company. The conversations came dangerously close to Politics and Religion, dabbling for sure in the latter, but all was good. (Phewf!)

                    By the time we left the dining room there was barely enough time to get to the Show. Knowing how the seating works in there and not wanting to fight our way anywhere, we elected to go up to the Hot Tubs where there was definitely no crowds and we had one all to ourselves.

A nice relaxing experience right before Zzzzzzz.

But!

Before we retired, we went through the Princess Patter, the daily “newsletter” of the ship so that we could plan out today nicely. There are so many things to do that invariably the times overlap. Trying to sift through all of the offerings was a formidable task but one that promises to fill up another Day at Sea. I am definitely looking forward to a seminar on veteran Ocean Liners while Paula will be honing her skills at Bridge.

          Oh, we also signed up for the Boat Building Contest. It’s kind of like a scavenger hunt for stuff that you can build a boat out of. Points awarded for originality, floatability, cargo carrying capacity, and “Name and Itinerary”

          They told us that we could not use any of the furniture or life preservers as materials.

Good thing I brought the Acme Boat Building Guide with me!

Day Numero Uno, Embarkation

                   Position: Somewhere off the north coast of Cuba

                   Heading: SE 131.57 Degrees

                   Winds at 20 knots out of the south

                   Enough of that stuff!

          After all of the preparation, angst over what to pack, questions about how much room would we have, plans for surmounting unforeseen delays and roadblocks, I am happy to report…

                   Nothing.

          If you were waiting for an exciting story about transfers gone awry, Pre-Boarding Nightmares, or Official Snafu’s I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you.

          EVERYTHING went about as smoothly as it possibly could have gone and as I sit up here in the extremely early morning, no one else here, Horizon Court buffet area, even the seas are uncomfortably calm.

                   What?

                   Yes, I’m one of those that revels in the pitch and yaw of a bow ploughing through a rolling sea!

                   But no worries! We still have 110 days to go so there is still hope! (I hope Paula doesn’t read this because even though she has come nautical miles from her early seasick days, she still harbors some motion issues) *

                   *(Please note how I deftly worked two marine-related words into that last statement!)

                    We did arrive about as early as we could, there were only a few others in front of us so boarding was a snap. Arriving at our stateroom we were pleasantly surprised that we were not surprised. It looked and felt just as it was pictured and described. Having steeled ourselves for the worst, this came as a nice realization and Paula was about as excited with all of the storage space as she is with our storage on the motorhome!

                   It took a while to get somewhat organized and thankfully Paula’s scouring of the internet for “Cruise Packing and Storage Hacks”, the results of which proved to be perfect. With two full days at sea in front of us, we will have plenty of time to fine-tune our mini-abode.

                   We went topside for awhile as the ship left port.

                   The “Sail Away” party as it were.

                   This is where you get to meet the Cruise Director for the first time and watch those Disneyesque singers and dancers that perform the production shows during the voyage. I say Disneyesque with all of the esteem and grand acknowledgement that I can muster.

It ain’t easy doing that stuff!

You will note from these photos our strategic location was on the second deck above the pool area where the production was staged. I say strategic for two reasons, the obvious one is the visibility of the show. The second one is that I have way too many cruises under my belt, and I know that one of those dancing cuties is gonna dive into the audience and drag me out kicking and screaming trying to get me to participate in some sort of dance routine.

          I can’t even do YMCA.

          But I can hear it now… “Attention everyone, this is the Captain speaking, please stop the ship and all of you crewmen and staff, along with any passengers not already up by the pool, please come up here and watch this bozo try and do the Macarena!”

          The next announcement would be for “Man Overboard” as I dove over the railing.

          Fortunately, I escaped the ‘Conscription of the Innocents’ because I elected to stand in line with everyone else trying to procure ‘Libations for the Festivities’. Twenty minutes later with a Pina Colada and Bloody Mary in hand, we strode to the bow and played Jack and Rose.

                   Not really, the bow is Off Limits to everyone except the crew. This is where their outside area is located, they even have a small pool up there. Well-deserved, I’m sure.

          Dinner last night was at one of the specialty venues, Sabatini’s, their Italian Themed restaurant. Think Olive Garden goes to Sea, but this wasn’t your average Chicken Parm type place. The menu was filled with unpronounceable tid-bits and sauces that were delicious! The Specialty Dining places fill up quickly during the regular part of the trip and Paula had heard that one trick was to book it on the first night, so that’s what we did.

          Off then to the Show, a comedian, he was really good, I can’t relay his act to you here because not only is this a Family Friendly Post, but he was a big Black man and there’s no way to do that justice!

          Today promises to be sunny and warm, not a storm in sight!  ☹

          We remember it well…..

                   It was a mere 704 days ago we decided that a World Cruise would be a good idea.

                   No…. make that a GREAT idea!

The countdown was started and tracked by Princess every time we logged onto the website dedicated to our booking and this Cruise. Initially the number was 340 days until departure.

                   We got down to 110 days to go and then it came.

The “Announcement”.

“Due to all of the ramifications of Covid 19 in several of the countries that we will be visiting, and since there are no assurances that any of the travel restrictions that are currently in place will be lifted, we regret to inform you that our 2022 World Cruise is being cancelled in its entirety.”

We had a hastily called meeting of the WWW (World-Wide Winnebago) Cruise Committee (us!) and it was unanimously decided to try and procure some berths on the next years cruise slated for January of 2023.

We quickly rang up Carol, our Princess Cruise Consultant who sprang into action in order to secure a stateroom for us (the bookings had already begun for the 2023 Cruise) and she assured us that they (Princess) would hold the prices for us so that we would not have an increase.

          Clock restart: 475 days to go.

          I could say that “It seems like only yesterday….” But that would be a lie!

475 is a long time!

With lots of other Winnebago-type Travel Plans staring at us!

But now we can say that it’s all in the past, and yes… today…. ‘God willing and the creek don’t rise…..’ we will climb the gangway of the Island Princess, make our way to the Central Elevators, punch the Aloha Deck button, and find our way to our stateroom, where hopefully the luggage that was shipped almost two weeks ago has found its way back to us……. like the three lost pets in the Incredible Journey, and we will have not only a joyful reunion, but fresh underwear as well!

We will then report to the Galley Master for our rowing assignments along with the other ‘passengers’. I hear that the views out of the rowing ports is quite nice if the weather is good!

After a few days at sea, our first ‘Port of Call’ will be Cartagena, Columbia.

          See you on board!

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment and welcome a passel of new crewmembers to the blog! The Galley Master offered us a bounty for going out and beating the bushes to find new Rowers. It seems that a bunch jumped ship at the previous Port so…. the latest additions to our illustrious company are (in no particular order) Evan, Looper, Lindsey, Rick, Barb, Carol, Donald, Barbara, Cathleen, Dino, Nancy, Kim, Matt, Claire, Tommy, Nadia, Anne, and Aubrey.

          Please be nice and say Hi to these dupes, (oops! I mean fine examples of humanity!) when they sit down next to you and pick up their oars!

          I really hate to do this to you but, yes…. just before embarkation, we are going back to class. Not just any class, we’re going to attend a small seminar on Cruise Ships Sizes and the Relative Differences Between Them (101).

                   No worries, this is the only level of this course available, so you will not have a second semester to contend with!

          Ever since the Love Boat premiered on ABC Television in 1977, we’ve (the collective we) been enamored with Cruising. It is my humble opinion that The Love Boat single-handedly was responsible for the surge in that industry’s popularity, which continues to this day.

          The difference is in the dimensions of the ships that are now creeping up on the size of small cities!

                   Let’s start with the original Pacific Princess, aka The Love Boat. This veteran cruise ship, which was a good representative of the industry in the early 1970’s, was 550’ long and had about 700 passengers aboard. She was also a registered 19,000 Gross Tons.

                   My first cruise was in 1983, aboard Holland-America’s MS Volendam which was a staggering 574’ long and a whopping 14,000 gross tons!  😊 Aboard were 550 of my new best friends. The Volendam was, at that time, becoming one of the smaller cruise ships as the industry was really blossoming and the ships had already started to grow. The MS Volendam can be forgiven for her relative pint-size as her keel was laid way back in 1957 for the old Moore-McCormack Line as the SS Brasil (yes, that spelling is correct!) One advantage to her size was that she was still the right size for many ports and their docks. The infrastructure of most ports had not yet caught up with the sizes of the newer ships. Consequently, the latest ones needed to anchor offshore and ferry their passengers into port in their tenders.

          Besides, the naval architects had yet to figure out how to make their giant floating hotels look anything like a sleek ocean liner and were left with these “Boxes on Barges”

                   Jumping to present day to give a comparison, the Island Princess which will be carrying all of us on this voyage is 964’ long, 93,000 Gross Tons, and will have about 2200 souls aboard (this number will increase as more and more of you sign on to this blog!) Our home ship is 20+ years old and is a good example of ships from that era.

                    Nowadays things are getting crazy!

                   Royal Caribbean has some of the largest ships afloat. The Wonder of the Seas comes in at 230,000 Gross Tons, is 1086’ long, and keeps over 7000 (!) voyagers safely within its bulkheads, along with on-board rollercoasters, waterslides, mini-golf courses, and twenty different eating establishments!

                   I can hear that undercurrent of murmurings from the class, as you all forgot to mute your microphones “What in King Neptune’s name is a Gross Ton and how does all of this compare?

                   I can answer that Ariel!

                   Gross Tons are the way that ships are classified, registered, and generally compared. It is a measurement of the interior volume of a ship. So, The Wonder of the Seas is over twelve times the size of the original Love Boat and over two and a half times the size of our present ship, the Island Princess.

                   To put this all into crazy perspective, the Gerald R. Ford, our newest and largest aircraft carrier, is the first of ten proposed Gerald R. Ford Class Carriers (replacing the Nimitz Class) and it comes in at about 110,000 gross tons, barely worth a mention in the race for largest cruise ship. Although, she can cruise for over fifty years without ever stopping!

 Now that’s a World Cruise!

Class dismissed, please be on time for embarkation check-in scheduled for 12:30 EST in Fort Lauderdale. Remember, the ship will sail without you!

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…😊