Since I don't have a Facebook page - several friends suggested I set up a blog as an easy way for them to follow our upcoming world cruise. This made sense to me as you could just read it - when or if - we were in any port that interested to you. This is mainly journaling, as a reminder for me - as my kids will tell you, I can't remember being in Cozumel if we make more than one stop on the way home ... so don't expect brilliance. Since we were told contact would be expensive and difficult much of the trip, I thought I would give this a try. Please note - I cannot proof my own writing so just add, subtract, change or fill in words as needed!
First, the getting ready concerns
The first challenge of course is how you pack for a trip lasting from January to May. I understand layering - but hot, cold, formal, casual, swim wear, remembering to take a head scarf for Muslim countries as I have no hijab in my current wardrobe etc. There is a site for people taking this particular cruise. Imagine my surprise when I read that quite a number of couples have taken this “once in a lifetime" cruise 2 or 3 times before! They are the ones saying be sure to remember to pack power strips, tape, a night light etc. A night light? I haven't even figured out the basics yet like how many bottles of vitamins and fish oil do I need to pack? Will my black slacks still fit after the first month of cruise dining? I do have a weakness for shoes, so this is a problem. For someone who once owned a closet full of shoes - packing 5 or 6 pairs will be a challenge. Of course I had shoes dating back to the 70's, in colors they have known better than to make for last 30 years. I finally made a Goodwill run and am down to a reasonable number to select from now. Do you take the shampoo you like or make do with what they have in your stateroom? (Stateroom - that sounds sooo much larger than it is.) Do you try to take toiletries for the whole trip or just until the next "shoppable" port? Does Shanghai or Mumbai carry Arid extra dry? Can you buy Crossword Puzzle books in Slovenia? These are just some of the questions I am pondering. Having lived overseas I pretty much got over brand loyalties so I suspect these won't be my biggest concerns. I am saving my real worries for the more crucial things – like, is the cabin size going to shrink a little with every passing week? Could I decorate the balcony and make it into a sitting room? It is a long trip, what if, we realize we have heard our table mates best stories - twice already - and we are still in week one of the cruise. So this then becomes my first attempt at blogging. There is only about a 50/50 chance that I will be able to find this site again to continue. Should I find it again - I will post more later.
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