It all started last night around 10pm when I checked my email one last time for the day. There was a surprising and unexpected email from Princess. They are over booked on the next cruise, and so were making a "move over" offer. If we gave up our next cruise, returning home on Monday, they'd refund our money AND give us a free cruise in a balcony cabin on a cruise March 7th or in April.
At first glance, it sounds like a no brainer. A free 10 night cruise in a balcony cabin!?! But we've been around long enough to know that free isn't always free.
We actually had tickets to fly home on Monday. And 10 days from Monday. (We booked the 2/6 flights using Southwest vouchers that are expiring Monday whether we use them or not). We originally planned to return home 2/6, but added the final 10 days once we were already on the ship.
So, the flight home was no issue. But we'd still have to pay for two round trip flights between home and Fort Lauderdale. And pay for a night pre-cruise in a hotel. And pay for transfers, and ask Martha to take us to the airport.
And (and this is the real deal breaker), we'd have to return home on Monday, just days after a major snowstorm.
We'd go from hot sun to snow shoveling in the blink of an eye. This held no appeal at all.
So we decided to pass on the offer. But, arriving at this decision took hours of debate. And, in getting there, we decided to book Alaska cruises this summer (yes, that was quite a detour). So we took care of that.
Add breakfast and lunch in the dining room, and wine tasting at 3pm (see photo), and you can see where the day went. We decided to skip formal night, skip Skywalkers, skip the show tonight, and spend sunset in a hot tub. Eventually, we may make our way to Cafe Caribe for dinner in shorts. Or maybe we'll have pizza or a burger by the pool. Or maybe we'll skip it all in favor of a movie and popcorn. Whatever...these are the kinds of evenings I love most.