Tag Archives: Cruising

Cruise Memories-Part 1

13 Nov

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

My husband and I enjoy cruise getaways. But it wasn’t always the case. Twenty five years ago, we were offered a chance to go on a three day Bahama cruise at a reasonable price. My husband wasn’t thrilled and reluctantly agreed to go. By the end of the cruise, he was hooked and looking forward to a seven night cruise.

Since then we have enjoyed many seven night cruises, some even longer. Earlier this month our daughter invited us to join her on a 4 night cruise. I was a little disappointed it was so short but wasn’t going to turn it down.

She lives within easy driving distance to the cruise terminal and it was an easy drive until we arrived at the terminal. I don’t know what their problem was but traffic was jammed up. We barely made it onto the ship before it was time for the Emergency drill.

Disney Destiny

Fortunately, our muster station dismissed us as soon the drill was completed even though announcements were being given. We dashed to deck 11 in search of food, having missed lunch. What we didn’t realize was that due to scheduling everyone missed lunch. Deck 11 is set up similar to a food court only much cooler. We made our food choices and secured seating before the rest of the passengers arrived. Those were some long lines!

We had set our hearts on ice cream for dessert but oh my, the ice cream line was two deep. Never one to miss dessert we retired to our room and ordered our favorite room service treat.

Two pots of coffee and chocolate chip cookies.

Our first and only port stop was Castaway Cay, the cruise line’s private island. It was a gorgeous day and the island is beautiful. These days our favorite place on the island is the cook shack. From the ship we made our way to the dining pavilion and claimed a prime spot. (With an ice cream machine view.)

Most people fill a cone with ice cream. Husband filled a drinking cup. To his credit, he didn’t go back for seconds.

For this cruise we rented a Feather Light brand mobility scooter. It collapses by pressing a button. Once collapsed it was easy to store in our cabin when not in use. On a previous cruise we had to leave the scooter at Guest services when not in use, a royal pain. It was also easy to put on the tram that transports passengers on the private island and the crew were very accommodating.

I only took these pictures on the island, not sure why. Being there brought to mind previous cruises when our grandchildren were young. Good memories.

It’s getting late and I have an early start tomorrow. We are back into the swing of our active social life, you know, doctor visits. Will continue the post next week.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2025 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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And Yet Another Cruise-Part 5

25 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Our stateroom was typical of most of the Disney ships…perhaps just a smidgen larger than the older ships.  But it has all the amenities that the other ships has.  Over the bed was a print of a scene from the movie Frozen.

Over the sleeper-sofa is a print from Frozen as well – Anna and Elsa.

There is always a TV in the room – and always with our stateroom number (6664) and our name on it.

We could watch TV movies, see where the ship is headed, the weather, the activities onboard, etc.  A wealth of information at our fingertips. 

The remainder of the room is much like all others – desk with built-in shelves and drawers, along with a small refrigerator. 

 Also the closet…two sides separated by shelves with a safe.

And the two separate “bathrooms” that we enjoy so much.  One side with the tub/shower (this one had a glass door rather than a shower curtain!  Yay) along with a sink, mirror, and glass shelves.

Separated by a wall is the other room – with the toilet, a sink, mirror, and glass shelves.

So easy for us both to get ready for the day with our own mirror and sink.  One of the greatest aspects of Disney ships!

We had a room with a veranda, but the weather was cool/windy enough that we didn’t have opportunity to take advantage of the veranda.  Shucks!

There are three main dining rooms/restaurants on each ship – excluding Palo and Remy, the high-end eateries that cost above the cost of the cruise.  One interesting thing about the Disney restaurants – the servers “follow” those eating at their assigned tables from restaurant-to-restaurant each night.  So you get to know your servers, and they get to know you and your eating habits.  For instance, we had been assigned table number 119.  We sat at table 119 in whatever restaurant we were assigned each night.  We also had the same table mates at each restaurant.

Our first night, we were assigned to eat at Arendelle, table 119.   Here is our table number in brass.

There is some of the “decorations” on that brass, that goes along with Frozen.  It is the same as that flower embroidered on the napkin.

 And here is the sign for Arendelle.

I think we sat “in the round” surrounding an elevated stage, for when we were eating, the performers were above us, and we were seated around the stage.  Interesting.

The second night we were at a more “formal” restaurant – Roy Disney 1923.  I neglected to get a picture of the sign for the restaurant, but here is a dinner plate and salt and pepper shakers with 1923 on them. 

 I tried to get a picture of our table number (119), but the lamp was not lit, so it’s difficult to see it.

Our third night was at World of Marvel restaurant. 

 Here is Fred holding up our table number. 

Since neither Fred nor I have seen any of the Marvel movies, this “interactive” restaurant was a bit of a disappointment to us.  Not the food nor the table mates nor the servers.  But there really wasn’t much “interactive” going on – not like Animator’s Palate on the older ships.  However, toward the end of the meal, Spiderman made his appearance – and the children loved it!  He would go to the table where there were children and strike a pose with the children so their parents could take a picture.  Cute.

The food is always good on a Disney ship…that’s something you can count on, and we always enjoy our meals.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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And Yet Another Cruise-2

4 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

We’ve been on the four older Disney ships many times, and were looking forward to sailing on the Disney Wish this time.  We had heard great things about it.  So let me just say …it is a COMPLETELY different ship than the others!  The Disney Wish, the Disney Treasure, and the Disney Adventure are the three newest ships in the Disney Cruise Line, and are in a different “class” from the four older ships.

We found that it’s the “little things” that make up the difference.  

        1.  The four older ships have the “Cabanas” on deck 11 – most cruise lines would call that the Lido deck.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

It is a buffet for all three meals each day.  On the Wish, it is called Marceline Market.  If you know Disney’s story, you know that his family lived in Marceline, Missouri for a while, and Walt loved that town.  The Cabanas has a “beach” feel to it.

The Cabanas – picture credit Judy Wills

Marceline Market has a lot of wood and separate areas for seating.

Marceline Market – picture credit Judy Wills

In the Cabanas, I can help myself to what I want to eat – in the Marceline Market, it is handed to me.  There is a lack of “freedom” there that is strange….not bad, just different.

            2.  All four of the older ships have similar three eateries – Animators Palate is on all four of the ships, and the Enchanted Garden is on at least two or three of the ships.  

Photo credit – Judy Wills

Photo credit – Judy Wills

There is usually a more “formal” restaurant, such as the Royal Court or RoyalPalace,

Photo credit – Judy Wills

 but it is different on each ship.  It is not as formal as Palo or Remy, which are the high-end restaurants whose cost is extra, but has the feel of “formal.”

            3.   On the older ships, on deck 11, there is the huge screen where there is constantly showing either a Disney movie, or something “Disney.”  That is the same on the Wish.  That is also the deck where the pool is, so one can sunbathe, swim, eat – whether snack or a full meal – and watch a movie all at the same time.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

On the older ships, whenever I wanted a soft-serve ice cream cone, I could just go and get it – as many as I wanted.  On the Wish, someone gets it for me and hands it to me.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

Again, the lack of “freedom” is there.  I guess I’m spoiled in that respect.  Fred suggested that it is a “health” or “cleanliness” issue.  I’ll go along with that.

Okay, I’ll stop whining now.  The Wish is a great ship, and we did enjoy our cruise.  The stateroom seems to be just a tiny bit larger than the ones on the older ships.  Not much, but enough to be apparent.  And we did have the split bathrooms again, so that was nice.

There were some fascinating things about Marceline Market – the “dividers” between the eating sections had glass cases that held such things as very antique toys, clocks, and one had a metronome in it.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

 Others had bakery goods – bread loaves, etc.  One had different types of cookware in it. 

Photo credit – Judy Wills

One off-shoot from the main eating area was a bit small, and held small round tables just for two people.  We never ate in there, but it looked cozy.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

We liked the place they arranged the glassware (actually plastic glasses) where we could grab a glass and get our own drinks from a machine.  Look closely in this picture and you will see the area half-filled with glasses.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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And Yet Another Cruise

28 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Recently, Fred and I took another cruise.  I really enjoy cruising.  I can’t really verbalize just why that is – is it because I grew up in a land-locked state?  Is it because I like the motion of the boat/ship in the water?  So many questions with so few answers.

I think the first time I was ever on a boat, it was a sailboat.  We were living on Tyndall AFB, Florida (Panama City) at the time, just preparing to move to another base.

Photo Credit Google Search

 We had spent an entire week cleaning the apartment we’d lived in for five years, and were exhausted. 

Photo Credit Judy Wills – our half of the duplex

A fellow worker in Fred’s unit had use of a sailboat for the owners, and had the permission of the owners to take it out any time he wanted.  So he took our family and two single men from the unit out our last day in town.  It was wonderful!  The sail was up, the wind was off the Gulf of Mexico, the sun was out – and there was no sound other than the wind and the waves.  Peaceful and quiet.  Just what we needed.  Our Janet was an adventurous little thing in those days, and she was allowed to “steer” the boat at one point.

It took a while for me to convince Fred to just try cruising.  His parents wanted to take a sea/land tour of Alaska, and wanted the family to go with them.  The cruising part was only for three days, but that was enough for Fred to realize that today’s cruising was not anything like the troop ship he was on when he was a teenager.

And so, once Fred was able to experience “cruising”’ – he fell in love with it as much as I had.  We have done some sailing with other cruise lines – Holland America (one of our favorites – especially the one to Alaska!) and Norwegian Cruise Line.  We sailed to Bermuda with Holland America for our 50th Wedding Anniversary, with both daughters and their families with us.  That was a great cruise!

However, we’ve discovered that our favorite cruise line is Disney.  A major decision is that there is no casino on board the ship!  No smoke-filled room one must walk through to get anywhere else on the ship!  Yay!  We like the fact that the children on board have activities that can keep them occupied nearly all day – and they love it!  Disney ships have two smokestacks.  Only one is actually a smokestack – the second one is built specifically for a place for the teenagers to be entertained.  Amazing!

This most recent cruise we were on was our 10th with the Disney Cruise Line. 

Photo credit Judy Wills – The Disney Wish

The fact it was our 10th Disney cruise kicks us up into a higher category of Disney travelers.  We get a few more “perks” from now on that we didn’t have before.  Just a few:  we can check-in quicker and earlier; we have a free meal in Palo – one of the high-end restaurants on the ship that we normally avoid because of the cost.  There are others, but I forget what they are at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 3

14 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

Our second morning began again with breakfast. We shared our table with Tina and Bob.

We had sailed overnight to Cologne, Germany, and arrived about 10:30 a.m. Shortly thereafter, we began the walking tour of the historical center of the city. Our guide told us that Cologne is the oldest city in Germany. It dates back to around AD 50, when the Romans established a major settlement.   We had a really interesting guide. He told us how the Romans conquered one side of the river – the side we were on – but couldn’t get across to the other side. They called the people on the other side “barbarians.” Now, the politically correct people call them the “cross-eyed” people instead.

In 1709, Italian expat and Cologne resident Giovani Farina created a citrus-scented toiletry he dubbed “Eau de Cologne” in honor of his adopted city. Other perfumeries followed, especially Wilhelm Meulhens, who founded the famous “4711″ brand (named after the address of his manufacturing building). There are several museums in the area, as well as a Chocolate Museum – which we didn’t get to!

Because it was Sunday we could not get into the cathedral until after services, so we walked around the outside of it and the square. Our guide told us about the cathedral, how long it took to build which part, which was the oldest, etc. He gave us other information about Cologne. He was a very interesting man.

 

Many years ago, while we were living in Germany and took our own tours of the country, we visited Cologne, and found a fountain that depicted an interesting and funny story about German workers.

Judy in front of fountain 1969
In front of fountain 1983

 

While on our tour, we walked right up to the fountain – called the Elves of Cologne. We were so excited! We thought we would have to find it on our own, and there it was! Wikipedia says: The Heinzelmännchen are a race of creatures appearing in a tale connected with the city of Cologne in Germany. The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day. According to the legend, this went on until a tailor’s wife got so curious to see the gnomes that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. The gnomes, being infuriated, disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves.

 

After lunch and naps on the ship, Fred and I went back out into Cologne to find a book on the Elves of Cologne, which we found in the “information” building. The story is essentially what I remember about it.

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Our dinner companions that night were an Australian couple, Velma and Jeff.

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We also had Jill and Roy from Albuquerque, New Mexico (actually Belen). He is a retired veterinarian, and she is a retired nurse. We had a most interesting talk about Albuquerque   We also had dinner with Rich and Mary from Pennsylvania who we ate with the first night on board.

Back to the room and relatively early to bed. These are long days, and we still aren’t over our jet-lag.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

 

 

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Finding the Richness of Life

15 Feb His Way

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Janet wrote a powerful post this week on her blog, and I am sharing it on Old Things R New. Be sure to click below to read the rest of the story-Onisha

“You got to write about that,” my friend said on the phone.

“Naw…people will think I’m a religious nut.

“No, they won’t.” She argued and won. So here I go.

As most of you know I dedicate Mondays to fasting and prayer. Not that I’m trying to be a holy roller, but I genuinely want to concentrate in my efforts to lift in prayer the heart-wrenching requests that come my way on a regular basis.

Fasting (water and a few slices of bread for the day) is immensely rewarding and doable for me. Unless…my routine changes. And a few weeks ago, it changed drastically. Hubby and I along with friends boarded a cruise ship. And just FYI, I have the habit of judging the caliber of a cruise by three vital criteria: the quality of the food, the food, and the food! –

See more at: http://www.janetperezeckles.com/finding-the-richness-of-life/#sthash.PS0oGmpG.dpuf

 

 

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Our Cruise to Mexico-Part 4

31 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

Judy

Our last port of call was Key West.  Fred had been there on one of his Air Force business trips, but it was new to me.  I knew there were a lot of bars there, and that was of no interest to me.  But I also knew there was a lot of history there, and was eager to see the sights. We docked at a good time, but for some reason, they wouldn’t let us off the ship for two hours!  There were people in boats below us yelling for us to “come on down!”  And we wished we could.

And so, when we finally were able to disembark, everything BUT the bars was closed!  We had no opportunity to see Hemingway’s house,

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or the lighthouse and keeper’s house,

 

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or the Key West Museum of Art and History

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– or just about anything else.  We were quite disappointed.  But it was still daylight enough to see the outsides of the buildings and bronze plaques annotating the sites.

We were able to see the southern most house in the U.S.,

 

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and the southern most point in the continental U.S.,

 

7and other things.  We saw the Mile Marker 0 (Zero) sign for U.S. 1.  That was important to Fred and me, since we had seen the other end of it when we lived in northern Maine.

 

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There was a “street party” going on that lasted past the sundown, which was fun and interesting.  We wandered our way through that, and around some shops, then watched the sun sink slowly behind the horizon.  Our last glimpse was of a tall ship, which was really pretty against the setting sun.

 

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Back to the ship and head for Charleston and home.

We had always been delighted and amused while on board cruises, to find the “towel animals” that the crew put together – and on our bed each night.  Most were fairly recognizable – some required some imagination.  But it was fun to see what animal was going to greet us as we returned to our stateroom each evening.  What do you think?

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OUR CRUISE TO MEXICO – Part 2

17 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

                                                   

JudyFirst port of call was George Town, Grand Cayman Islands, British West Indies.

 

We had to tender into town from the ship, as the port wasn’t deep enough for the ships to anchor there.  There were four cruise ships in port at one time – I know of our ship – the Norwegian Majesty, with Norwegian Cruise Lines, and the Disney Magic with the Disney Cruise Line.  It was a busy port.

 

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George Town was like a lot of tropical port cities – lots of “inexpensive” jewelry stores.  I guess our tastes aren’t very complicated, because that “inexpensive” jewelry seemed awfully expensive to us!!  And so we escaped unscathed!

Fred and I walked around the town quite a bit, just to see what was there.  We came upon a monument dedicated to King George V.  Interesting…..

 

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Not far from that monument, we came upon a very unique tree.  The shape made us wonder whether or not it had been “shaped” or if it actually grew that way.  It was a huge tree and gave some much-welcomed shade.  It was really HOT in George Town!

 

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We had signed up for a type of glass-bottom boat tour, and were eager to see it.  It was similar to the regular glass-bottom boats you would think of, but this one was different.  While there were areas to sit up top, the main viewing section was downstairs.  The lower part of the boat was underwater, and glassed-in, with huge windows.  Almost 360-degree viewing!  They called it a “semi-sub.”  It was a most enjoyable ride, and they had a diver that came along and fed the fish for us.  So we were able to see a lot of fish – some known to us, and some unique.

 

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After the semi-sub ride, it was time to return to the ship, so we got in line to catch the tender back.  The line was quite long.  As I was looking ahead of us, I spotted a young man in a red t-shirt that had on the back “4est” – and I knew that Karen and her family were there.  Our grandson’s name is Forrest, by the way.  So we “cut in line” and were able to catch an earlier tender than we would have if we had stayed in that long line.

 

More to come……….

 

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OUR CRUISE TO MEXICO – Part 1

10 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES 

Judy Wills

Judy

After our first cruise – to Alaska – we were ready to go again….anywhere!  One of our sons-in-law loves to travel, and is a great “planner” of trips, whether it be by van, or car, or ship.

For Spring Break in 2007, he planned a cruise to Mexico with his family, and invited us to accompany them.  We were delighted to accept.

We drove to Charleston, South Carolina (where we would pick up the ship) by way of St. Augustine, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia.  We had not been to St. Augustine in many years, and it was fun to see it again.  Brian called us while we were there, to say they had a flat tire, and wouldn’t be getting to Charleston until very late.

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We drove from St. Augustine to Savannah.  We had never been to Savannah, and were intrigued to see all the flowers (it was Springtime, so the azaleas were in full bloom), and the monuments to famous people, especially from that area.

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Our daughter and her family arrived very late at night (from Chicago, and with the flat tire en route), and we had adjoining rooms at the hotel.  We met up for breakfast, then headed out for a tour of Charleston – another first for us.  Fascinating city.  We took a tour over to Fort Sumter to see the remains of the fort.

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When it was time to board the ship, Brian dropped us all off at the dock and went to park the car, then joined us on board.

One of the first things we learned was that we were required to “hand sanitize” everywhere we went on board – especially into the eating areas.  They had supplied “balls” of sanitizer for our convenience – just place your hand under the ball, and out squirts just the right amount for your use.  Neat little thing.  We also had to sanitize as we left the ship in port, and before we could go back on board after being in port.

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Since there were just the six of us, another couple was assigned to our table.  It’s always fun for us to get acquainted with people from other areas, so we were pleased to meet Fred and Carol Ann.  At our first meal together, we “excused” ourselves to them, and asked God’s blessings on the food.  As we lifted our heads, we were pleased to see Fred and Carol Ann lifting their heads, as well.  They said it was “refreshing” to find others who exhibited their faith in public.  We knew we had met fellow believers and were overjoyed!

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We had a day at sea before we made landfall again.

 

To be continued……………

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OUR FIRST CRUISE

11 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

 

                                                   

Have you ever been on a cruise?  It’s one of the delights of our life…..now.

I thought I would NEVER get Fred on a cruise.  You see, when his family was moving from California to Japan in the 1950’s, they traveled on a troop ship, and it took 21 days to get there, which included three long stops at islands along the way.  Not only was it a long trip, but Fred was unable to stay with his family – not enough room in the staterooms.  So he had to bunk with the sailors.  He slept on the top bunk of a three-tier set of bunks, with his face only inches away from the ceiling.  He also had to do some of the “chores” that the sailors had to do – polishing the brass, swabbing the decks, etc.  It was NOT a fun trip for him!

And so, whenever the subject of a cruise came up, he was almost violently opposed to the idea!  The rest of his siblings – and his parents – had been on many cruises and raved about how much fun they had.  Fred wouldn’t even consider it.

As his parents began to age, they decided to take two more major trips, and invited the children to join them.  The first was a trip to England/Scotland.  We jumped at the chance, since we had lived in Europe for six years, and hadn’t been back.  And England is one of our favorite places to visit.

The second trip was a cruise to Alaska.  As it turned out, it was a three-day cruise, with the remainder of the trip being by bendy-bus (articulated bus) and train.  With my womanly wiles, I cajoled him:  It’s only THREE DAYS CRUISING…..it will give you a “taste” of what cruising is like….. It’s only THREE DAYS CRUISING…..we’ve always wanted to go to Alaska, and this is a great chance to go with family……It’s only THREE DAYS CRUISING……it’s in the summer…. It’s only THREE DAYS CRUISING …..etc.

I was finally able to win him over with those reasonings, and we signed up.

We had a grand time.  Both of Fred’s sisters and their husbands were able to sail with us, as well as our oldest daughter and her husband – 10 of us all together.  The cruising was so much fun – for land-lubbers like us, it was a wonderful experience.  I wished we could have sailed more than just those three days.

But for just a “taste” of cruising – we both were sold.  We’ve been able to go on a cruise nearly every year since then.  And Fred is always asking…would you like to sail to Alaska again?  In a heartbeat!

 

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