Still here, but things change soon

I promised I’d pop back on here when we knew more, and, as of last night, we finally do. But first, to recap the week, we did not spend it as we had planned. I ended up with pneumonia (from that sick, sick ship), and really was quite ill for a few days. We started the week with the idea that I would rest for one day and then be ready do some sightseeing, but that is not the way this has gone. It is now Friday and I finally feel able to be out and about…but the motorcycle rally is in full force everywhere on this island and I’m not feeling quite that “out and about”. G, meanwhile, has finally left me to go look at bikes and the goings-ons. We’ve been in our room making big decisions and canceling and booking lots of things and he kept running to the balcony to see what was making that noise and that noise and…well, he is amongst his people now, and I have some peace.

On Wednesday afternoon, Princess canceled the next cruise on the Regal Princess. This was the second of the four 7-night, round trip cruises we were booked to do. We are getting the same refund and the same 25% FCC, but we cannot find anyone in a position to address our unique situation. We are being told that if we cancel the final two cruises and just go home, we will be charged a 100% cancellation penalty, mostly recoverable for FCCs via travel insurance, but I am resisting going that route. None of this situation is of our making. I would want a cash refund!

So we were prepared to stay here another week, thinking that I would finally be well enough to take advantage of what the island has to offer. And that is where we left it until yesterday (Thursday) when G started making noises about that not being satisfactory after all, and he really wanted to get on a different cruise ship leaving out of Galveston this weekend. 

I was not having it. In fact, the words “If I leave this hotel, I’m either going to the Regal Princess or I’m going home” may have been were definitely mentioned. So I did nothing to help with this “find another cruise” thing until it started to look inevitable and then I figured I’d better have some input, as minimal and inconsequential as it might be. 

His our first choice was to get on a Royal Caribbean ship, since we are Diamond in their loyalty program and that means free drinks every day. And the Harmony of the Seas did have one cabin left, a Junior Suite, for $5600 total (for six days!  Do people really pay that much for a Royal Caribbean cruise?). Moving on. 

There was a Carnival ship, the Carnival Jubilee, leaving Saturday on a 7-night cruise, but we couldn’t find a single website, including Carnival’s, that showed any availability at all. Finally, G found one cabin with one online cruise company (the cabin is so far inside that even the cabin across the hall is an inside cabin), but I remained skeptical it really existed until we had a booking number, and I could see the booking on their website.

We’ve never cruised on Carnival before, and I was pretty disturbed by this move on our part until I saw that this is a brand new ship, and not one of their old rust buckets. It also has 21 dining establishments, which sounds great, but at least 14 of them heavily feature fast food items such as burgers, pizzas, chicken sandwiches and tenders, BBQ brisket, other sandwiches and fries. Lots and lots of fries. In fact, I watched a YouTube video about the Jubilee’s food options and I saw a single piece of broccoli, in a stir fry covered with sauce, and that was it for veggies, but I saw buns and breads and meat and fries galore. Oh boy. 

Still, there’s bound to be healthy food somewhere on the ship. I may just be eating a lot of meals in the dining room and buffet. If I can find them. This ship is massive, about 6000 passengers and 1800 crew. I think it will be the largest ship we’ve ever been on, or it will at least be comparable to the Oasis of the Seas. 

So, to recap, I’ll be spending election week on a Carnival mega ship dripping with French fry oil and loaded with Texans. As a friend asked, “Have you completely lost your mind?”  

Yeah, I may have. But, barring any drunken brawls or political melees, I’ll survive and spill the beans when I return. I’m going radio silent for a week (not buying internet on board), but I’ll keep writing so I can easily catch up.

As for what happens after that…we still have no idea, but we will be returning to this hotel for at least one night. They’re allowing us to store luggage here for a week, which is great. We really don’t need the clothes we packed for Europe or a tuxedo on the Carnival Jubilee. In fact,  I’m not altogether certain I’ll ever get out of shorts. 

Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. 

Life is good. :)