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| Just one more week! |
Welcome back! The pre-packing piles of stuff on every lateral surface in this house signal that we're close to leaving for another adventure at sea. But, before we do, I want to first answer some questions that I've received in emails since my last blog post. People remain curious about what we're doing; in fact, I was specifically asked to publish another round of FAQs...so here goes! You can find FAQs, Part 1 here:
How long will we continue to cruise as we do, for most of the winter?
I'm not being evasive here, because we really don't know, but we'll do this for as long as our winters at home are cold, we find it appealing and we are able to. Since we are unwilling to purchase a second home, and equally unwilling to move, winters at home will be cold for the foreseeable future. However, we are entering the stage of life where health is everything, and we hope that ours allows us many more years of travel. We know this opportunity is finite, and so for now, travel is a priority.
We know how fortunate we are.
I couldn't do this twelve months a year (my life has to have a bit more purpose than idle days spent on a ship), but during those months when days at home are short and nights are long and cold and wintry, a cruise ship is a wonderful place to be.
Still, we keep talking about splitting our time one winter between a condo in Hawaii and cruising. I can see that occurring at some point, and our decision about which we prefer may alter our plans. And that's the beauty of our situation...we are not locked into anything.
How do we manage to do this?
I'm never sure exactly what this question is asking, because it can be taken a few different ways.
I couldn't do this twelve months a year (my life has to have a bit more purpose than idle days spent on a ship), but during those months when days at home are short and nights are long and cold and wintry, a cruise ship is a wonderful place to be.
Still, we keep talking about splitting our time one winter between a condo in Hawaii and cruising. I can see that occurring at some point, and our decision about which we prefer may alter our plans. And that's the beauty of our situation...we are not locked into anything.
How do we manage to do this?
I'm never sure exactly what this question is asking, because it can be taken a few different ways.
From a bill-paying standpoint...when someone's first question to us is, "We want to do that! But how do you get your mail?", we kindly suggest they have their work cut out for them. Cruising for months gets easier every year, but we started working at it years ago. In 2004, G was away for military duty and I took a month long transpacific cruise with my friend Sheila. I spent quite a bit of time that year figuring out how to get bill paying as automated as possible. Now, everything, (well, nearly everything) can be done on our iPhones (and they are item #1 on our packing lists). Surprisingly, we have almost no bills automatically charged to a checking account; most are autocharged to a credit card (always looking for points!), but some (primarily the usage-based bills where we want to monitor trends) we manually pay every month using credit cards from our iPhones.
From a house standpoint...this, too, gets easier every year. We work from to-do lists, and do the same things every fall to close up the house. The Nest thermostat and security webcams we can access from our iPhones help us stay on top of things at home while we're away, but we have friends checking in on things all the time, too, and a handyman on call. We don't "winterize" the house in that we don't completely drain pipes and run anti-freeze in them, but they are gravity-drained when we leave and the heat is set to 45F. If we see that the weather at home will be extra cold for a prolonged period of time, or that snow or ice might cause power outages, we'll bump up the heat 10 or 15 degrees for a few days using wifi from our iPhones. We start working toward leaving about the same time summer is wrapping up, and it takes us that long to get everything done (generally because G decides we should tackle another major project...or two...or three just before we leave).
From a medical standpoint...it helps to be pretty healthy (my mom is choking at this, as I've had a rough few months as a result of a nasty sprained ankle (ouch) and a total body reaction to a Great Black Wasp sting (OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!) but, in the big scheme of things, I am. And G sets the standard for every man over 50). We've funneled our maintenance medical appointments into April and late September/early October. One of the last things I do is get a flu shot each fall, and I do that a couple of weeks before we leave (ouch).
We've already learned the hard way that we can rely on the ship's Medical Center to help us when things go wrong. I never knew, until I needed it, that Princess has a contracted dentist for crew and officers in Fort Lauderdale and that she's accustomed to Sunday morning appointments, and I'm sure they have contracts and/or contacts with other specialities in other cities, too. It makes sense...they have over 1000 crew members on most of their ships. They have to look out for their welfare, and that of passengers, as well. We always purchase travel insurance and then don't worry about what might happen.
From a financial standpoint...we make daily choices that help fund our travel, and are diligent at checking prices - cruise, air, hotel, excursions- to get the most value from the money we spend. The most helpful thing is that we are very like-minded when it comes to how we spend money, at home or on cruises. Splurges are rare, and well analyzed in advance, and when we cruise, we are quite content to stay for months in an inside cabin. We can cruise roughly 4 times as long as in a suite, 3 times as long as in a mini-suite, and twice as long as in a balcony cabin, but not many couples would be happy doing that.
We spend much of our time at home doing things ourselves instead of hiring them done, but since we enjoy the sense of accomplishment that accompanies every completed project, that's not a huge hardship (ok, that's not always true for me. But usually it is). We don't eat out except for a rare casual dining lunch or dinner. No movies, plays or concerts (unless they're outdoors and free); our entertainment at home is comprised largely of taking advantage of local sightseeing and activities and planning our next trip. Our cars are old (but low mileage, since we travel so much), and when the air conditioning on them needed to be recharged this summer, YouTube was our friend, and we successfully did it ourselves. YouTube is our friend for a lot of things...dryer repair, sliding patio door installation, house leveling (really!). It all adds up.
Most people who tell us they could never cruise for long periods of time feel that way because of pets or grandchildren or activities that make it hard to leave home. When our longest living rabbit died seven years ago, it was tough not to get another right away, but we knew what we wanted our future to look like. We also aren't involved in activities, such as bridge or tennis or golf, where others count on us to make a foursome.
Although leaving people at home remains the hardest part for me, I made my peace almost 30 years ago with the reality that I was never going to have all the people I love around me at one time, and would spend my life feeling like a part of my heart was walking around a thousand miles away. The thousand miles has grown to thousands, but the feeling is no different. It helps a great deal that we have a whole other world of cruise friendships, and there's always something to look forward to while we're cruising. And technology has shrunk the world in many ways, and I can talk and text daily with people at home, Internet permitting. But, in the interest of keeping it real, I'll confide that I do, at times, get homesick. Not that I want to be home; I just want parts of "home" to be with me on the ship.
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| This gave me a chuckle...texting with the twins has taken on a new twist- voice texts mixed with occasional typed words. It's like speaking two different languages simultaneously and is almost full circle back to having an actual phone conversation (but, doncha' know, no one under 18 actually talks on a cell phone!). Harious! |
What do I use to blog?
I use an iOS app called Blogger on my iPhone. It works fairly well, but has several limitations. I can't embed videos from the app- I have to do that using the Blogspot website via Chrome, and that's easiest from a laptop. Occasionally the font will change mid-post for no discernible reason, but I'm learning to live with this until I return home and can fix it. I can't center photos and I can't add captions from my iPhone (but can from my laptop). I can "save" what I've written without having internet access (actually, it's only saved on my device, but that's good enough), I can embed photos and add labels, which are helpful features, and I don't start using Internet minutes until I've actually finished preparing a post and upload it.
Every winter my blog posts have changed because internet on ships keep changing, generally for the better (but not always!). The first year I could only upload two or three photos per post, but by last year I was sometimes uploading eight or more. I'm sometimes tempted to wait until I get home to add photos, which would dramatically reduce my upload times, but I think they really do add to the posts, and, honestly, if I waited, it would never get done. Life is way too busy after being gone for several months to do that kind of catch up.
Every winter my blog posts have changed because internet on ships keep changing, generally for the better (but not always!). The first year I could only upload two or three photos per post, but by last year I was sometimes uploading eight or more. I'm sometimes tempted to wait until I get home to add photos, which would dramatically reduce my upload times, but I think they really do add to the posts, and, honestly, if I waited, it would never get done. Life is way too busy after being gone for several months to do that kind of catch up.
How much time do I spend writing the posts for this blog?
On average, I probably spend just over an hour each day, which I know sounds like a long time, but I'm two-fingered typing every post on my iPhone, so I'm hardly reaching the typing speed I can on my laptop. I've received many suggestions to use dictation software to compose my blog posts, but here's the thing- they all require Internet access. In fact, that's the biggest hurdle to writing a blog at sea; there are so many things that are simply set up assuming ubiquitous wifi (like iCloud!). That's the reason I use my iPhone to do it all- take photos, type posts and publish to the blog. At least everything resides in one place and I don't have to start the Internet clock until I upload.
On a good day, especially a sea day, I can start typing the post well before 10pm, while I'm waiting for a show to start, sitting on the Promenade Deck waiting for sailaway, even relaxing in a lounger in the shade while G uses a nearby hot tub. On a VERY good day, we've had so much fun and stayed so busy that I don't type the first word until I lay down in bed. Those are the nights I have to force myself not to let it slide. If I get more than a day behind, I'd never catch up. Regardless of whether I have Internet to publish a blog post, I write one. And that's another advantage in using my iPhone for everything: if I happen to be out and about and can snag some wifi, I have my phone- and my unpublished post- at hand, and can upload as Internet speed allows.
It occurred to me after I returned home last April that I had spent the equivalent of working a full time job for four+ weeks over the course of the winter writing blog posts. I'm glad I didn't realize that when I was just taking it one day at a time!
To the second...of course. Every night, in my husband's dreams. ;-)
Do I get paid to blog? Does Princess let us cruise for free?
To the first question, no, not a cent. I suppose I could monetize my blog by selling ad space, but it's my diary, not a travel guide, and I'd feel kind of funny turning my diary into a billboard. When I recommend a tour or a taxi driver, it's simply because we've had a great time with them, not because they've paid for the mention. In fact, just thinking about doing that kind of horrifies me. You get me, unshackled by any kind of editorial oversight (and maybe that horrifies you!).
To the second...of course. Every night, in my husband's dreams. ;-)
Does anyone from Princess read my blog?
I really have no idea. I've never received any feedback indicating that anyone does, and would be surprised if they did. Again, it's just my diary. And it's not just about Princess Cruises, although, admittedly, we do tend to gravitate towards Princess. But despite that, there's no relationship at all between me and Princess Cruises. On the ship, we're just regular Princess passengers, occasionally among the MTPs (Most Traveled Passengers with Princess), but not VIPs or MVPs or BMOSs or any of those "special" acronymal celebrities (and hopefully not PITAs either).
I really have no idea. I've never received any feedback indicating that anyone does, and would be surprised if they did. Again, it's just my diary. And it's not just about Princess Cruises, although, admittedly, we do tend to gravitate towards Princess. But despite that, there's no relationship at all between me and Princess Cruises. On the ship, we're just regular Princess passengers, occasionally among the MTPs (Most Traveled Passengers with Princess), but not VIPs or MVPs or BMOSs or any of those "special" acronymal celebrities (and hopefully not PITAs either).
Is Princess our favorite cruise line?
We find many things to love (and pretty much none to hate) about every single cruise we take, regardless of cruise line (someone once said that we'd have fun in a row boat, and I thought that was incredibly kind...but true, too). We started cruising on Royal Caribbean in 1997 and moved to mostly Celebrity for several years until we booked last minute cruises on our first Princess ship in 2003. It may not have been love at first sight, but we were immediately taken by their itineraries (our third Princess cruise was a transpacific, which was a rare offering in those days). These days, it's really the combinable on board credits (OBCs) and the self serve laundries, as well as the fact that, for us, stepping on a Princess ship is liking coming home after a long shore excursion that keep us fans. Given the economic realities of the cruise industry today, Princess does many things well, none poorly and always makes their passengers feel very welcome...but so do most of the other cruise lines we've sailed on, too.
Some people say you should cruise on just one cruise line to maximize your loyalty benefits; my advice is just the opposite. In our early years of cruising, we cruised the cruises we wanted to cruise without regard to cruise line (much easier done than said), knowing that we'd eventually have good loyalty benefits on several, and now we do. And we had a lot of fun getting there, and enjoyed some really amazing cruises along the way. This also allows us to remain objective about cruise lines (we're not married to any of them) and move around a bit to other, non-Princess lines. And even the absence of any loyalty benefits doesn't deter us from trying a different cruise line. We would have never known how much we enjoy Holland America if it did.
What determines how long our winter cruise season will be?
We always set out with a number of days/cruises and a budget in mind, but build in a lot of flexibility at the end. If things are going well, we stay longer. It's easy when we're cruising out of Fort Lauderdale... if something comes up in our lives or at home, or if the winter isn't going well, we can go home early. Honestly, last winter, there were three turnaround days where we awoke not certain if we were staying or going. (Thank you Southwest and Princess Vacation Protection with its Cancel For Any Reason coverage!!).
This will be our fifth winter where we've cruised for more than a month (knock on wood). The first winter we cruised 74 days (we went home for the holidays, and I didn't blog), then 100, 120 and 150 days in the subsequent three winters. I can say with 100% confidence right now that we will not be topping (and not even equaling) last year's tally, not that we didn't have the best winter ever, but because it was never our intention to stay away longer every year. Last year was the last time the Emerald Princess would be doing those 10-night Caribbean itineraries for the foreseeable future, and we just wanted to enjoy every moment. I've said 100 times...there is something special about the Emerald Princess, and I credit its people, first and foremost, for that.
Do we only cruise? Do we take land trips?
We have taken land trips- Europe and Asia, and dive trips (which I guess qualify as land trips because they weren't on cruises) and I've traveled to all 50 US states. We've also done a lot of camping in the past. When I was young, I was unaware that families took any other kind of vacation :-), and as kids we put a lot of miles on the family's 1959 Ford Fairlane- oh, the memories- and saw most of the Eastern US...one national forest at a time. Even in the early years of our marriage, G and I camped as often as possible, hauling along a canoe and bikes, and I think we'd both say that those were some of our favorite vacations. However, I think our camping days are long over. G's idea of roughing it now means using a hot tub with a temperature less than 102F. And mine includes any activity requiring a flashlight and a long walk for a middle of the night bathroom visit.
I'm sure we'll take land trips again, but neither of us is interested in a lot of driving anymore, and we're not quite old enough to want a steady diet of group travel. I also associate land travel with lots of packing and unpacking as we'd move from place to place, and while that's fine for a vacation, it's not something I'd want to do for an extended period of time. Living in the middle of the country, we're drawn to the ocean when we travel. In fact, right now, we're REALLY drawn to the ocean, into the ocean, as water sports and beaches are our favorite cruise activities.
Do we only/mostly cruise the Caribbean?
No, but I can see why people might think that. Actually, it wasn't until our 5th or 6th cruise that we even got to the Caribbean, although we did stop at St. Thomas on an early transatlantic cruise. At the same time we discovered cruising, we started to scuba dive, so we usually did several dive trips each year, and one cruise. Naturally, since we were getting a lot of water/island time while diving, our cruises tended more toward sightseeing: Alaska, Europe, Transatlantics, Transpacifics, Africa, South America.
It wasn't until 2007 or 2008 that we realized how much we enjoyed the Caribbean and how easy it was to cruise there. Moreover, it's comfortable to cruise there for several months; for us, the Caribbean is our second home.
Are there new (to us) cruise destinations we still want to visit?
Well, for me, an expedition cruise to Antarctica tops the list. Antarctica is the only continent I've not yet visited, and I need to walk on a continent to consider it "bagged". Therefore, I'll have to take an expedition cruise that does landings. G has no, not an ounce of, in fact negative interest in joining me (he says he can stay home and be cold for free; he's not going to pay for it), so I'll be going solo...unless I can talk you into it, Sheila! It will be really pricey. It's going to come down to determining which is the greater priority: granite kitchen countertops or a trip to Antarctica. I think Antarctica might win. I also need to do this while I can still easily hop in and out of Zodiac rafts and trudge through knee deep ice cold water. In other words, I'm late.
I'm sure we'll take land trips again, but neither of us is interested in a lot of driving anymore, and we're not quite old enough to want a steady diet of group travel. I also associate land travel with lots of packing and unpacking as we'd move from place to place, and while that's fine for a vacation, it's not something I'd want to do for an extended period of time. Living in the middle of the country, we're drawn to the ocean when we travel. In fact, right now, we're REALLY drawn to the ocean, into the ocean, as water sports and beaches are our favorite cruise activities.
Do we only/mostly cruise the Caribbean?
No, but I can see why people might think that. Actually, it wasn't until our 5th or 6th cruise that we even got to the Caribbean, although we did stop at St. Thomas on an early transatlantic cruise. At the same time we discovered cruising, we started to scuba dive, so we usually did several dive trips each year, and one cruise. Naturally, since we were getting a lot of water/island time while diving, our cruises tended more toward sightseeing: Alaska, Europe, Transatlantics, Transpacifics, Africa, South America.
It wasn't until 2007 or 2008 that we realized how much we enjoyed the Caribbean and how easy it was to cruise there. Moreover, it's comfortable to cruise there for several months; for us, the Caribbean is our second home.
Are there new (to us) cruise destinations we still want to visit?
Well, for me, an expedition cruise to Antarctica tops the list. Antarctica is the only continent I've not yet visited, and I need to walk on a continent to consider it "bagged". Therefore, I'll have to take an expedition cruise that does landings. G has no, not an ounce of, in fact negative interest in joining me (he says he can stay home and be cold for free; he's not going to pay for it), so I'll be going solo...unless I can talk you into it, Sheila! It will be really pricey. It's going to come down to determining which is the greater priority: granite kitchen countertops or a trip to Antarctica. I think Antarctica might win. I also need to do this while I can still easily hop in and out of Zodiac rafts and trudge through knee deep ice cold water. In other words, I'm late.
Eventually we'd like to cruise the Baltic and the British Isles, and Southeast Asia, and around Australia. G is getting more and more intrigued with the idea of doing river cruises in Europe, too (combining the best of a land trip with the ease of cruising). But I can see us taking the cruises we can do during our winter months before we do any summer cruises. We simply love being home from April to October.
And, finally, why haven't you responded to my "friend" request on Facebook?
I apologize for this. I'm not really "on" Facebook. Oh, I have an account and it's linked to my Google account, but I never look at my Facebook page. It simply exists related to my YouTube account and this blog. I'm not on Facebook under my real name, either. It's remarkably not my thing. For all the public exposure my travel diary receives, I'm really an extremely private person, and can confide as much as I do on my blog only because I remain anonymous while doing so. As two of my readers once said to me, "We don't know your name, your husband's name, where you live or even what time zone you live in, what you do/did for a living, if you have or how many kids you have or who the twins are and yet we feel we know you intimately. And somehow we don't think any of that is by accident."
Nope. Not by accident at all. :-)
Nope. Not by accident at all. :-)