But this is not about the workshops, it’s about the cruise. In all my years I have never had much interest in cruises. I had a picture in my mind of The Love Boat and that certainly didn’t hold a great deal of interest. I’m also prone to sea sickness. However, when the opportunity to attend these workshops came, we took it. On Saturday we got on the plane at the crack of dawn in Dallas to fly to San Diego. We took a cab to the pier and there she was, Holland America’s Oosterdam. She was pretty and big.
We were directed into this warehouse-like space about an hour before the schedule said we could embark. Well, not all of the “celebrities” had arrived and we had to wait for them. It was hot and uncomfortable and loud. It was also very confusing because we kept getting the wrong signals. It was not very long before I was sure I had made a mistake and could not imagine how I was going to like this cattle car mentality.
Well, the high muckety mucks all finally arrived and we got on the ship a couple of hours late. First, however, we were herded into another room in the warehouse where we were lined up like at Disney World to check in. We finally got our room and ID cards and were directed to get on that floating city.
I have to tell you. Once I walked through that door in the side of the ship I was in another world. Everyone was there to help. We were guided to an elevator and told exactly where are rooms were. We went to our room and when I went in I was hooked again. It wasn’t particularly large, but it had a glass wall and balcony that stretched the full width of the room. A young man came in with our luggage and introduced himself as our cabin attendant for the duration of the cruise.
A door opened to the balcony and two chairs and a table were there so you could sit and read or watch the ocean going by. I also sat on this balcony during more than one undocking and added my help to make sure the captain did it right. At least I think he might have seen me helping.
The rest of the room was ok. Clean, neat, and arranged nicely. There was a TV that had cable and movies but, more importantly, would be showing all of the keynote speakers for the entire trip. That was very informative and entertaining.
After a while we left the room and went to the Lido deck for a late lunch. When I got into line and saw the chef carving from a huge steamship round of beef I knew I was home. Oh, there was always really good food available and room service was available 24 hours a day. I was lucky, though, I gained only four pounds. It must have been all of that work I did when the ship undocked.
The classes were great. The food was great. The staff was great. I have never felt so pampered in my life and want to do it again. We cruised down the Mexican Riviera and stopped at Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallerta, and Manzanillo. We got off in Manzanillo only. We’ve seen a lot of Mexico in the past and why leave the luxury of the ship?
After Rhoda’s party on Saturday and fortified with a few drinks, a group of us decided we would develop an assisted living cruise ship for retirees. Anyone know where I can get a really nice cruise ship cheap?