Wrapping it up…Tom’s packing…

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The final “towel, pet” in our cabin aboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas.  Tomorrow morning we disembark.
The Gulf of Aden behind us as we head full speed toDubai, we are grateful for the incident free transit through these dangerous waters. 

Impressed with the manner in which the security of the ship and the safety of its passengers was handled, overall, we’ve been pleased with Royal Caribbean.

Without a doubt, we’d consider cruising with them in the future. Our favorite remains Celebrity which many passengers have also freely expressed in our endless discussions about the quality of various cruise lines. 

On CruiseCritic, there were a number of comments that this ship, Mariner of the Seas, is old and worn. We saw little evidence of that other than peeling paint on a metal brace on our balcony and a few signs of wear and tear in the Windjammer Cafe. Nothing major.

The service in the Windjammer Cafe each morning was exemplary, the dining room at night, a mish mash, sometimes great, sometimes not, depending upon the annoyance by the waiter of my “special order.” 

It appeared they were all overworked and overwhelmed by the number of guests that they had to serve each night, rushing our food to the table, attempting to clear our plates too soon and failing to take our drink orders.

I’d order two glasses of iced tea each night, knowing it would be impossible to get refills during dinner. Going to dinner at 7:00 pm most nights, we seldom stopped at the bar before dinner.

Tom hoped to order a cocktail during dinner. All in all, he was able to order a drink only 4 of the past 14 nights, unable to get a bar server to the table which is an offered service. 

Our cabin steward, Jing, was always friendly, warm and quick to respond to our requests, however few we had: ice twice a day, extra hangers when we moved in, handling our two bags of laundry.  Twice each day our cabin was cleaned and restocked with fresh towels.

Oddly, the only toiletries supplied by RC were the small bar soaps and body wash in a dispenser in the shower. Carnival had toothpaste, shavers, nail and sewing kits. Norwegian had few amenities, other than body wash in the shower plus we had to ask for bar soap. Celebrity supplied shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, plus all of the above. It speaks for itself.

None the less, sickness, service and food inconsistencies aside, we had a great time on this cruise, meeting many interesting travelers from all over the world, picking up some valuable tips and now, as we become more travel savvy (with much more to learn!), offering a few tips of our own. 

Tom is totally free of the illness. I’m still lingering, coughing, sore throat, hopefully turning the corner soon. Tom is currently packing with no help from me as I sit here hacking away.

Everyone at our table of six at dinner last night had been sick during this cruise with either Norovirus or this same respiratory illness.  I warned everyone that I was still ill. After five days, I doubt I am still contagious. No one at the table seemed concerned, they’d catch anything. After all, maybe as many as 40% of the passengers had some type of bug while on this cruise.

There’s nothing particular about cruising in itself that brings on illness. It’s the simple fact of lots of people in the same confined space, day after day, breathing the same recycled air conditioned air, touching handrails, elevator buttons, salt and pepper shakers, serving pieces, arm rests on seats in the theatre and on and on that creates a fertile breeding ground for contagions.

During each of our periods of illness, we’ve made every effort to be mindful of others, touching no common areas and washing our hands with soap and hot water many times each day. But as we ate our breakfast, the servers cleared our plates and with their bare hands clearing off our flatware and plates. Minutes later they were handing a guest a cup of coffee. No matter how hard one tries,there is no way to avoid transmitting illnesses.

The most annoying aspect of other sick passengers has been those coughing and sneezing into the air sending their toxins to everyone nearby. Certainly, carrying tissue, readily available in the cabin, is an easy alternative in addition to immediately washing one’s hands when coughing and sneezing into them or tissues.

Whatever precautions we may have implemented;  taking probiotics, vitamin C, staying healthy and active, and eating well, doesn’t seem to offer much insurance against our vulnerability. It’s the nature of the beast, much like being on an airplane, only to end up with a cold a day or two later.

Most likely in two days, I’ll feel well again, following the same course as Tom. In the interim, I’ve had little interest in taking photos, spending most of the past few days resting in our cabin, only leaving for breakfast to sit in our favorite comfy booth to eat and write our ongoing story and, for the few hours for dinner in the main dining room in the evenings.

Tonight, our bags will be placed outside our door for pickup between 7:00 and 11:00 pm. Breakfast will be served from 6:00 am to 9:00 am. Disembarking, a laborious process, will begin around 7:00 am. Again, we hope to be the last to disembark, resulting in less waiting time in Dubai to get into our condo at 2:00 pm.

Most likely, we won’t be writing tomorrow as we get situated in Dubai. But we’ll be back on
Wednesday with photos of our “home” for the next 13 nights, our trip to the market, views of the city and whatever other morsels we discover in our first 24 hours in the amazing city of Dubai.
Stay tuned, folks. 

Oh, oh…Shipboard illness…We’ve been snagged…

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In the past several days we’ve cruised past Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, Eritrea, Somalia, and today Oman.  “Another safe, uneventful night,” says Captain Fleming over the loud speaker this morning.

Within the next 40 hours, we’ll cruise by Pakistan and Iran. Oh.

Washing our hands no less than 20 times a day has not protected us from catching the virus running rampant on this ship.

Tom succumbed nine days ago, starting with a tickle in his throat, progressing to a sore throat, runny nose and cough.  It was worse than a cold, more like a flu. In a matter of days, he went through an entire $18.95 bottle of Daytime Nyquil, purchased in the gift shop.

With the excursion to Petra scheduled this past Tuesday, he was determined to make the trip, no matter how poorly he felt I’m amazed how well he did on the tortuous three hour hike and four hour bus ride considering how he was feeling.

When Wednesday arrived, the day after Petra, I made a lofty assumption that I had dodged a bullet. With five days passing since Tom’s onset of symptoms, I was yet to have any indications that I’d caught the illness in our tight quarters or while exposed to hundreds of other sick passengers on the bus or in the dining areas.

Alas, late Wednesday afternoon, a tickle started in my throat, later that night to turn into a raging sore throat. As had transpired with Tom, it seemed to get better the second day, only to return with a vengeance on the third.

Now, four days after the tickle began, I’m a mess; achy, tired, raging sore throat, worse at night, with a disgusting useless cough. I’m refusing to see the doctor (I wouldn’t have in our old life). Tom has served me all my food in the restaurant to ensure I don’t touch anything, as I did for him when he was sick.

In the past, I would have done as most of us do, see it through, pampering ourselves as much as we can, hoping it will turn the corner to returned good health.

With no fever or apparent bacterial infection, what would the doctor do? Prescribe antibiotics, which only reduce one’s immune system with the potential for intestinal distress? Plus, as we all know, antibiotics don’t work for viruses, only bacterial infections.

Other possible doctor treatment? Over the counter medications that really don’t do anything other than to reduce the severity of the symptoms for a few hours. As lousy as I feel, I don’t want to sit in the germ-filled medical clinic where we’ve heard that one must take a number resulting in waiting for hours to see the ship’s doctor.

Norovirus has been rampant on this ship. Many passengers we’ve met have gone for treatment, including one of whom had to have IV fluids for several hours. So far, we haven’t been subjected to the ravages of that particular illness on any of our seven past cruises beginning January 3, 2013. With one more cruise scheduled for June 4th, hopefully, we’ll continue to be safe from this dreadful intestinal illness.

Tomorrow, we’ll pack again, to leave our bags outside our cabin door by 10:00 pm, to be picked up and held until departure on Tuesday morning. As always, we’ll carry our two laptop bags and the cloth bag with our prescriptions, utilizing one of our two wheeling carts for ease of movement.

Today’s a day of rest, staying in our cabin, reading, writing and using up the remaining minutes of the packages we’d purchased for the ship’s WiFi. 

Tonight is the final of three dress up nights aboard this ship, Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas. Having donated the balance of our dress-up clothes to the charity in Barcelona, we’ll be dressing “casual, dressy,” Tom in dress slacks and shirt with me in a long casual dress. It will have to do. 

On this ship, 75% of the passengers dining in the main dining rooms have dressed up for these occasions. At this point, we feel fine dressing casual. Our ease of travel is much more important to us than us showing off wearing in fancy clothing.

As we wind down this cruise, we look forward to our time in Dubai, hoping to add yet another rich experience to our repertoire of worldwide adventures.

Dangerous waters, the sea!…

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Stingray barb. 

The ocean and its majestic wonder are daunting and uncertain. Many flock to its tempting water freely without reservation. That’s Tom. Others tiptoe at the shore hesitant to partake in its cooling waters, uncertain as the dangers that lurk beneath. That’s me.

Tom is rethinking his position today after yet another guest at LaruBeya was viciously stung by a stingray in her foot yesterday as we lounged in the shade on the veranda. We witnessed the young woman being dragged out of the water by two other swimmers, one on each arm as she writhed in pain.

All the swimmers cleared the water. The word was out. There was nothing we could do to help as she was quickly taken to her villa directly above ours, her husband following behind in an obviously frenzied state. 

Photo of stingray in the Belize coral reef.

Resort staff immediately went into action to come to aid in her care.  There are no urgent care facilities within hours of here.  The medical clinic in the village, five miles from here was closed.  The staff stated that the nurse from the clinic lived above the clinic and someone would go to find her. 

In these cases, the nurse will inject the site of the injury with Lidocaine to relieve the pain while the toxins

The treatment for a stingray “bite” is described here in this article. It’s not actually a bite, more so a puncture/scraping wound.  More information about stingrays, in general, can be found on National Geographic.

The barb of a stingray.  A misconception is that the barb in the actual tail when it fact in it along the tail.

We all recall the heartbreaking story of Steve Irwin‘s untimely death from the piercing of his heart by a stingray. A horrifying story. Yes, he took a risk playing with these and other potentially dangerous creatures. It was his life’s work.  He left a vast legacy of valuable information about our amazing animal world. 

As far as we’ve heard, the swimmer above us is recovering after a frightening experience, albeit with continuing pain in the bloody piercing and scraping from the barb and its toxins.

Last week, our Minnesota friend Nancy received a nasty jellyfish sting on her arm. Jellyfish are common in Belize based on its proximity to the massive coral reef. Having experienced a sting four years ago, Nancy was familiar with the procedures necessary to minimize the pain and risk of systemic illness. 

The last time she was stung, she developed a fever, vomiting, and body aches. With pain at the site and quick treatment, this time, she suffered only pain and redness at the site and a general feeling of malaise for a day. It took a few days for the redness and swelling to dissipate. This is the treatment Nancy used to reduce the discomfort and speed healing.

When we first arrived at our resort, another swimmer received a sting and was rushed away. With the knowledge of these potential risks in the warm water so the Caribbean Sea, we’ve spent little time in the ocean, having walked far out toward the reef only a few times. 

On our frequent walks along the beach, we’ve seen several stingrays swimming less than one foot from us, exercising caution not to disturb them.

With only two weeks left of our time in Belize, I think, for now, we won’t swim in the ocean. The coral reef attracts beautiful aquatic life, but along with it comes many potentially dangerous predators. 

The clear appearance of the jellyfish makes it difficult to see when swimming in the ocean.  Jellyfish don’t purposely sting.  They have no brain.  Stings often result from brushing up against them.

We’ve taken the biggest risk of our lives, leaving everyone and everything we’ve known and loved behind as we travel the world for the next 5-10 years.  In a concerted effort to avoid health risks and injuries, we tend to be more conservative than others may be on a two-week vacation. With a four hour drive to a major emergency facility, we’ve chosen to exercise caution in the areas “that we do know the present risk.” 

After all, it was only a little over two weeks ago, that we fell on the collapsing steps, averting potentially life and limb changing injuries. We had no way to know about that risk. Thus, we choose to steer clear of known risky situations. 

For most swimmers, nothing will occur. No stings, no bites, little risk. The waters of Belize are beautiful and generally safe for swimmers, scuba divers, and snorkelers.

But for us, does exercising such caution diminish our level of enjoyment?  Not at all. We’re engaging in exactly what we choose to do and at the moment, venturing out into the sea, not included. The pool is great.

Stuff happens…We’re injured…

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This is how the steps collapsed under our feet.

It was Thursday this week, the night of our anniversary. We came back to our villa after a lovely dinner to relax and enjoy the windy, bug free evening. It was 8:30 PM. 

Opening the wide sliding glass door, the  powerful ocean breezes rushed in filling our living room with the fresh scent of the ocean and the thick evening humidity, pleasing to our senses. 

Suddenly, I remembered that I’d left out a few kitchen towels to dry on the canvas lounge chair on the veranda. With the strong winds, I suggested to Tom that we venture outside to collect the towels and check out the status of the surf which wildly crashed in front of us.

Corner view of broken steps.

Still in our casual and comfortable dinner clothing as depicted in yesterday’s post with our anniversary photo, with me in flat sandals, we meandered out to the veranda in awe of the wind. The kitchen towels were about to blow away with one of them already on the ground. I grabbed two. Tom, gentleman that he is, grabbed the one askew on the ground.

Taking my hand, he led to off the wooden steps. As my foot hit the top step, a thought flashed through my mind, “Oh, I didn’t realize these sandals were wobbly.” I’d worn them many times and their flat arch support heels provided a stable step.  I don’t drink alcohol so I certainly wasn’t teetering.

Within a second, we were falling, crashing, banging.  In an instant, I found myself saying over and over, “Oh, my God!  Oh, my God!” On my way down, I hit my head on the strewn about wood, as the stairs broke apart, collapsing under us, then hit me mid-back and then…my tailbone. “Oh, my God,” I muttered again. Tom had also fallen. Immediately, our attention turned to one another.

Left view of the steps where we fell.
He’d cut and bruised his right shin, droplets of blood seeping through his white pants, one of the few white pants he wears on the cruise ships. How will I get the blood out, I thought, good laundress that I am, without a washer?

Lying in a pile atop the crumbled stairs, as Tom nervously gather me in his arms, I immediately assessed my situation,  My first thought, “Can I move my legs?” Yes, I can.  “Can I turn and move my torso?”  Yes, I can.  “Can I get up?” With Tom’s arms gently coaxing me to a standing position, I stood up. We went inside to assess our injuries.

Tom’s right shin was scraped and bruised, comparable to the knee scrapes we experienced as kids from falling off of our bikes.  No broken bones, no stitches required. My injuries were less obvious having banged my head, my mid-back and my tail bone on the jutting chunks of collapsed wood on the way down.

I could walk, I could bend, I could twist. There were no cuts, no obvious signs of injuries. Hopefully, I thought, my injuries would result in severe bruising. 

Should this accident have occurred at a resort in the US, ambulances would have been called, staff would have gathered around and perhaps, one might have contacted an attorney. The steps broke under two normal weight individuals.

Side view of steps.

We could have easily notified the security guard or the restaurant staff. Instead, we chose to tend to our injuries notifying management in the morning. These steps were for our exclusive use and could easily wait until morning. Most certainly, the salty air and intense humidity, rotted the wood and lessened the hold by the nails. We blame no one. 

Tom fashioned an inventive ice pack for me and I parked myself on the not-so-comfy sofa after taking two Aleve, for the remainder of the evening.  Without a doubt, we were both worried. Would my condition worsen over the night or the next few days? 

Much to my surprise I slept through the night, carefully lying on my side with a pillow propped up against my back to avoid turning over. Awakening at 6 am, the first thought in my mind was the frightening fall and secondly, the food I was yet to prepare for our share of the upcoming Minnesota Pot Luck Dinner with our Minnesota neighbors on either side of us. 

I didn’t feel up to cooking but decided that standing for 10 to 15 minutes at a time would do more good than harm while I’d take a break from the ice pack. Neither the sofa or nor the chairs in our villa provide good back support to warrant sitting for an extended period.

Tom helped in the kitchen and the time breezed by. By 10:30 am, we had most of the food prepared.  We decided it was time to inform management of our “accident” and the necessity of repairing the collapsed stairs. 

Of course, the conscientious staff was highly concerned and anxious to tend to our needs.  We only asked that they launder Tom’s bloody pants and repair the steps. Later in the day, Tom’s meticulously laundered and ironed pants were returned.

Within a matter of minutes, workers appeared at our villa to attend to the repairs.  With the loud noise of the hammering and pounding we decided to sit by the pool. Another gorgeous day was calling to us. 

Gingerly positioning myself on the un-padded lounge chair by the pool, I knew I wouldn’t last long. The cool water of the unheated pool provided some relief but less than an hour later, we walked back to our villa, determined to park myself with ice on the padded lounge chair on the veranda until it was time to shower and dress for the party. The workers were still pounding. We didn’t care. 

We were pleased with management’s handling of the situation. They were both respectful and very concerned, again checking with us over the next 48 hours.  There’s nothing more we would have asked of them.

On the way back to our villa, I dropped my smartphone on the cement cracking the screen in several places.

Having only purchased the no-contract phone for about $900 in December and now unable to easily read the Kindle app at night in bed, my heart sank.  My phone had been a constant companion while reading by the pool, the veranda or sitting in the chairs on the beach outside our door. Still able to receive a WiFi signal on our phones without a contract, I’d also been able to easily use Skype on my phone as discussed in the Skype post of several days ago.

Tom, bless his patient demeanor said nary a word, other than, “Don’t worry, lover. We’ll figure it out.” Gosh, I’m traveling the world with the right guy!

The remainder of the day whisked by and suddenly we realized it was time to get ready for the party.  Feeling better from the ice, the rest and the Aleve, I was confident we could go and have a good time.

It was not only a good time but a great time. The laughter, the chatter, the Minnesota stories got my mind off of my aching body. The drinks, the food, the ambiance in their lovely “owned” villa, found us all in a frenzy of endless story telling. We had a blast! 

Our new Minnesota friends kindly offered to mail my phone to a repair shop in the US when they return on March 22nd. I graciously declined, not wanting to impose. But after careful consideration, we came up with a plan. Maybe we would take them up on their generous offer.

Here’s our idea:
1.  Find a reputable smart phone screen repair company online.  Contact them alerting them that my phone will be arriving the week of March 23-30 for repair.
2.  Prepay by credit card for the repairs.
3.  Place the phone in a padded envelope with the repair company’s address.
4.  Give our Minnesota friends postage to mail our phone to the repair company.
5.  Instruct the repair company to rush the order, mailing it our mailing service…to go into the box being shipped to us for pickup on April 13th in Miami when our ship arrives.

This should work regarding the phone.  As for me, we’re hoping my injuries will resolve in a week or so, bringing me back to my former feeling-well self, cheerful, joyful without a worry in the world. 

In the interim, there’s no doubt that we’re guarded. Today, its more tender than yesterday, not uncommon in bruising injuries. I sit here, as we “speak” Tom’s nifty ice pack in tow, which he thoughtfully adjusts every 20 minutes or so, from my back to my neck to my tailbone.

Ah, yes.  _ _ _ _ happens!  Everywhere we go, there we are. We take with us, wherever we may be, all of life’s challenges, mishaps, heartbreaks and sorrows. No one is exempt. 

The difference for some, is the ability to tap into one’s well of strength and determination along with an innate desire to carry on.  I can only hope and pray that no matter what we encounter on our journey, that we’ll continue to strive for that strength and determination.

Be well, my friends.

Raining for days…

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A palm frond we discovered on the drive to Maya Beach

It’s rained almost nonstop the past three days.  With no screens on the windows, the humidity at 100%, the bugs are literally swarming around me biting every few minutes.  Trying not to scratch seems to reduce the longevity of the itching.

Both of us are making a concerted effort to stay cheerful and optimistic. We perceive this period of time as “training.”  Training to learn to live with the bites, the humidity, the inclement weather, the lack of hot water, often no water at all, and of course, the bugs. 

Beach at Maya Beach Hotel

It won’t be like this everywhere we’ve planned to visit, only a few.  In a little over 60 days, we’ll be aboard ship again for over a month.  That’s an easy life.

We had no delusions that this would be one long vacation. However, we hadn’t imagined we’d have this water issue.  Had we known, we would not have rented this small beach house.

Tom at Maya Beach

Apparently, the water problem is due to issues with the city trying to repair the lines.  They shut off the water frequently, not turning it back on for hours, sometimes days. When they finally do, its a mere trickle, not enough to flush the toilet. There is no hot water from any faucet. We showered, washing off our sweaty and bug spray covered skin under the cold trickle.

We have no options to move.  After days of looking, this being the high season, there isn’t a single habitable place for us in any of the decent areas.  Hotels are too expensive and have no vacancies as mentioned in a past post.  We have nine weeks to go.

Inviting

The golf cart sits in the driveway unattended.  We can’t wait to get out again.  It cleared for a little while yesterday early afternoon enabling us to drive the three miles to Maya Beach to check out some restaurants.  We’ve decided to eat out three times a week. It helps. The Maya Beach Hotel has the top-rated restaurant in the country of Belize, the Bistro.

Making a reservation for dinner for last night we sat at the bar, ordering a soda while perusing their unique menus, anxious to return in four hours to enjoy not only their epicurean delights but the inviting ambiance as well.  There were numerous options befitting our way of eating.  Tom cheats when we dine out, but with apparently no repercussions other than weight gain.  The next day he eats healthy balancing it all out.

Me at the Maya Beach Hotel.  Pockets filled with stuff as usual. 

We stopped along the return drive exploring the side streets, other restaurants, and the lush unusual vegetation. We stopped at the grocery store, miraculously finding a nonstick pizza pan wrapped in plastic, dusty in the back of a shelf, which will travel the world with us. 

When we originally packed, we laughed at the idea of bringing along a pizza pan.  But now, with a desire for a decent homemade meal with the limitations at the grocery stores, we’re grateful we found a pan. Our pizza requires parchment paper or Reynold’s No Stick foil. Neither of these exists in this country. Hopefully, the nonstick pan will suffice. They don’t sell mushrooms in Belize. 

The nicest grocery store near us

There’s little meat in the grocery stores only a few clumps of freezer-burned, frozen packages and literally no fresh meat. The grass-fed meat is all frozen.  We made steak.  It was thin and tough.  We ate it anyway. 

Mostly, the people of Belize eat beans, rice, pork, plantains, fried tortillas, a combination of many cultures. I’ve yet to see any seafood, fresh, or frozen in any of the three biggest grocery stores in the area. Yet, the restaurant’s menus are filled with seafood options.

A house we passed on the road to Maya Beach

On the ride back to the little house, the clouds rapidly changed from fluffy white to dark barreling cylinders.  We barely made it inside the door when the pouring rain returned.  If we were to make our 6:30 dinner reservation, we’d need to leave at 6:10. 

The rain never stopped. Dressed and ready to go at 6:00 PM we decided that we couldn’t risk it. The roof over the golf cart would provide no protection from the high winds and sideways rain. I contacted the restaurant online and canceled the reservation, promising to try again soon.  Today, actually.

Neither of us had eaten all day, not hungry after our huge buffet dinner the night before. There we were, not only hungry but needing to eat.  The tiny freezer held two items, Italian sausage for the pizza (quite the find) and two one-pound packages of ground grass-fed steak in funny skinny rolled packages less than 2″ in diameter.  Taking out the meat, it took but a few minutes to begin to defrost.

The Bistro at the Maya Beach Hotel rated Belize’s Top Rated Restaurant of the Year in 2012.  We tried to keep our reservation last night at 6:30 driving our golf cart the three miles, but were ‘rained out.” Trying again tonight! 

Tom said as I sliced the meat into well-shaped rounds, “Now we know why they serve so many “sliders” here.  They use this same meat!” We laughed.

First, cooking eight slices of bacon in my trusty frying pan, I placed the nine tiny burgers, well seasoned, into the pan carefully cooking them until fully done, more important now than ever. When done, we covered each mini burger with a chunk of sharp cheddar cheese and the cooked bacon. On the side, we had canned green beans made by Goya, a product line familiar in the US. 

Travel Nurse Marsha suggested we eat canned brand name vegetables as opposed to fresh to avoid the risk of waterborne disease and parasites.  The upscale resort restaurants have reverse osmosis systems to protect their hotel guests and customers. We never fail to ask. If so, we feel comfortable eating their cooked vegetables, although we refuse the raw vegetables which may be subject to mishandling, water parasites, and the like.  No salad while here. 

The only sickness we’ve experienced since leaving the US was the flu/cough/colds we contracted on the last cruise. Everyone was coughing. Mine still lingers, improving a little each day. 

We continue to boil a huge pot of water each day for washing dishes, hands, and faces. We drink only purified bottled water, five-gallon jugs for $3 US. Tom pours them into our smaller used purified water bottles, making them easier to handle. Both of us are feeling our shoulders in this humidity.

We fill empty bottles with tap water, keeping three or four large jugs in the bathroom to use for flushing the toilet, being extra careful never to mix them up since they all look alike. 

This morning the water ran long enough to do a load of laundry. A few days ago, it took six hours for one load, today only two. With the rain pelting, we hung the clothes indoors on the surprisingly available indoor clothesline.  I wondered why it was there when we first walked in the door almost a week ago. It will take two days for them to dry. Seriously. Did you ever use a bath towel hung in humidity to dry?  It hurts to wipe oneself! Guess it’s a good way to exfoliate after a refreshing cold shower.

As I write this the rain has stopped, although the dark clouds hover.  Our hope is to leave here at 5:00 PM today to head to The Bistro for a much-anticipated dinner by the sea. Bug spray before we dash out the door. The no-see-ums arrive at 5:00 pm. They have Crystal Lite Martguerita’s.  Hum….

Extra expenses while cruising…

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After seven days aboard ship, we’ve begun to get a handle on what we’re spending while cruising, over and above the cost of the cruise itself.

So far, based on cash remaining in our wallets for this cruise (which we’ve kept locked in our cabin safe) and the bill on the TV, we’ve spent $759 from the moment we arrived at the pier in San Diego. 

This total includes cash tips at the pier, tips throughout the cruise. Tips were included in the price of the cruise but we’ve experienced extraordinary service warranting some additional tipping. In addition, we’ve charged the $399 WiFi bill and bar tabs. Tom’s cocktails (Courvoisier and 7 UP) are $7 each and my diet tonic with lime i$2.  We each have two to three of these each day at most.

Coffee(too strong), milk (which we don’t drink), hot tea, iced tea (too strong), and “tap” water (purified, they say) are free. All bottled beverages vary in price, ranging from $2 to $5.

 To save on
the cost of beverages beside our cocktails, we brought along about 30 quart-sized powdered packets of our favorite beverage, Crystal Lite Iced Tea. Ice and water is provided in our cabin and available in the restaurants. 

With our trusty Contigo chill-holding, handled mugs in tow, we’re able to make our own iced tea to enjoy throughout the day, hauling them with us everywhere we go. We’ve calculated that we’ve saved no less than $300 for the entire cruise by having our own beverages on hand.

Yesterday, simply by buying and sending the six grandchildren one postcard each, as we’ll often do when entering new countries, we spent $16. 

Each night, we’ve given our waiter in the Grand Restaurant an “extra” $10 in cash although a 15% tip was added to the original cost of the cruise which totaled $ 5,545.48 (for both of us in a balcony cabin of 186 square feet).  

Dubrokov been amazing accommodating my strict gluten-free, grain-free, starch-free, and sugar-free diet, bringing me extra piles of steamed vegetables and larger portions of salad. Luckily, the menu references gluten and sugar-free options.

Everything we’ve heard about venturing out on any of our cruise ship’s offered excursions has made the idea
of spending $100 to $300 for the two of us has been unappealing. 

Yesterday, an excursion was offered for a “self-guided” tour of Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala for $48 per person.  The passengers were to gather in a designated area only ten minutes from the pier to be handed a map in order to travel about on their own. Duh? $96 (for two) for a map and a finger pointed in a direction?  No, thanks.

Oh yes, there were other excursions such as the $188 (for two) bus ride to the Western Highlands of Guatemala, to the home of the living Maya and the ancient city of Iximche, now in ruins.  This four-hour outing included lunch in a local restaurant.

Tuesday night we heard of a couple on the ship suffering from food poisoning after such an outing. This is not to say the local restaurants are selling “tainted” food but our tender tummies may not do well eating and drinking local fare, especially with no time to become adapted. 

Another offering for yesterday was a trip to visit a block of historical buildings on cobblestone streets. The cost was $199.50 per couple.

If this were our annual “vacation” we may have budgeted for some of the excursions and be enthusiastic to take advantage of every such opportunity. Knowing that in no time at all, we’ll be living in one interesting and historical locale after another, we’ve decided to wait to venture out on our own or with locals we meet along the way.

As I have mentioned in the past, our interests lie in “living” in the various countries from one month to four months (planned so far) allowing us to feel more like a resident than a tourist. 

We aren’t as much interested in familiar tourist attractions with long waiting lines and barking salespeople, although we will visit the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, Giza, the French Riviera, the Mayan ruins in
Belize and many more.

Although the ship has many stores offering high-end merchandise including clothing, jewelry, art, duty-free liquor, and various sundries, we are so well equipped, we don’t have a need or desire to purchase anything. 

Tom downloads the daily Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper and has many books, as do I, on the Kindle apps on our phones and computers. When not busy, we may spend an hour or two reading each afternoon.

As for the Internet, while at sea we use the ship’s pricey plan at $.24 a minute on the $399 plan, allowing each of us to stay in touch with family and friends for
about one hour per day. 

While in port, we can use the XCOM Global Wi-Fi device, which finally started working yesterday after the company’s tech support discovered they’d set up the device incorrectly for us. We are being credited for the days we were unable to connect at $14.95 a day.

In only four days, this Sunday, we’ll be seated at the bow of the ship at 4:00 or 5:00 am to get a first-hand view of the ship’s entrance into the Panama Canal, its locks and dams where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. This was our motive for selecting this particular 15-day cruise.

We’ve attended three of five aboard ship seminars thus far on its rich history, its politics, it’s culture, and its people along with the interesting story of the building of the canal. 

We were told by the presenter that this ship barely fits (by 24″ on each side) into the locks and dam system.  This will be an interesting sight to see through the 8 to 10-hour trip through the canal. Tom is excited that in
May, we’ll also cruise through the Suez Canal, another interesting bit of history we’ll also enjoy.

It all boils down to the tone of our new lives together: we’ll only experience that which appeals to us, not what a cruise ship director or travel agent may encourage us to do and not, “what everyone else may do.”  Yes, sometimes we will follow the mainstream, the crowd, doing the expected. 

More often, we’ll wander about in our own time, visiting with locals on our own schedule, living life, loving life, and enjoying this interesting end enriching time of our lives. 

All in all, cruising is expensive.  We’d budgeted $1400 for extra expenses on this cruise and no doubt we will end up in this range. That averages about $7000 for the 15 days for a daily average of $466, almost twice as much as we’ll spend on the other seven cruises we’ve booked so far.

This cruise was special as our first out of the chute as the first leg of our worldwide journey and especially meaningful to Tom, as a history buff with extensive knowledge of the Panama Canal all of which I now find fascinating. I had no idea how much he actually had already learned about the canal on his own over the years.

See…we learn new things about one another spending 24 hours a day together.  Not too bad, eh?

Footnote:  Norovirus is still raging aboard ship.  Now the waiters fill our plates in the breakfast/lunch buffet line as opposed to our scooping up our own choices. Also, a staff person stands at the entrance to every area, at each elevator, and in doorways holding huge pump bottles of hand sanitizers requiring every passer-by to partake.

In addition, we’ve been washing our hands before leaving and upon entering our cabin several times per day. We brought along 500 sanitizing wipes (having stuff pays off!) which we use to clean our phones, our mugs, and any other items we may touch. So good so far.

Norovirus and the sun…

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Last night while dressing for dinner we heard an announcement over the loudspeaker. Inaudible from our cabin, we brushed it off as most likely a promotion to spend money, dismissing our inability to hear it as insignificant.

Last night, while dining in the formal dining room, the Grand Restaurant, comfortably seated by the window at “our table” number two (the best waiter on the planet) with our over-sized navy blue cloth napkins on our laps, we were content. Suddenly, the boat seemed to lurch sideways, rocking from side to side for several minutes.
Tom reassured me, when he noted my obvious concern, that everything was in order and that in moments the ship would straighten out, back on course. Returning to a lively conversation with a lovely couple next to us, we never gave it a second thought.

After dinner, we scurried to the Celebrity Theatre for the 9:00 pm musical/comedy show, a medley of impersonations of past and current “divas.” I was reminded of Simon Cowell berating performers on both “American Idol” and “The X Factor” as to sounding comparable to a “second rate cruise ship act.”

However, cruise-ship-like the performance, we enjoyed every moment, chatting all the way back to our cabin as to the professional performances.  As we entered our cabin we noticed an envelope sitting atop the well-turned down bed.  Hum, we both thought, “another promo” as I tore open the envelope.

Not the case. Inside the envelope was a letter that began:
“January 7th, 2013

Dear Celebrity Century Guest,
During this sailing, there has been a small percentage of guests onboard who have experienced gastrointestinal illness, thought to be Norovirus.”

The content of the letter continued to make an earnest effort to minimize the potential hazards of such an outbreak on board, extol the virtues of frequent hand washing and inform us that attendants will be standing outside each restaurant, restroom, and elevator equipped with an ample supply of hand sanitizer.

We were encouraged to immediately contact the ship’s medical facility for a “complimentary consultation and treatment” should symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea be experienced to any degree.

As a captive audience, we can hardly jump into our car and head far away. Nor can we really stay away from other guests and public areas.  Caution on our part will prevail but, there were 11 days on this particular cruise.
This morning, while attending the second in a series of five seminars on the building of the Panama Canal, its history, its culture, its politics, and its people, an announcement was made before the presentation:  Last night, at dinner time, the ship was turned around subsequently heading to the nearest port of Acapulco to “emergency evac” of an unknown number of sick passengers.

That event was what distracted us during dinner, the sudden turning of the ship, and eventual landing at a pier to drop off the ailing passenger(s) to awaiting medical professionals. Do we need to worry? 

We’ve decided that we will exercise caution by excessive hand washing, avoiding touching our faces, frequent washing of our mugs both inside and out, washing our sunglasses, and making every effort to avoid touching railings, doorknobs, tabletops, and chair rails. 

It’s evident that the ship’s staff is on high alert while we also take responsibility for remaining diligent every step of the way including reminding each other of potential risks.

________________________________________________

Growing up in California, sunning has always been a favorite pastime of mine. Living on a lake in Minnesota these past 26 years has provided limited periods of time to lounge in a lawn chair, unpredictable weather a frequent deterrent during the short summer months.

Mindful of the dangers of excessive sun exposure these past few decades, I’ve limited my sun time to a few hours each week during the summer and weather permitting.  Tom, on the other hand, a pale Irish boy, burns easily, preferring to stay in the shade, slathered in sunscreen.

On occasion, we’d lounge together in the row of crisp white lounge chairs that lined our yard, laughing, talking, and taking in the warming effects of the sun. In less than 30 minutes, he’d be a rosy pink while I tanned easily.

As a vital part of “cruising life,” time spent lounging on the comfy padded lounge chairs by the various pools is both relaxing and enjoyable with some of the finest people-watching to be found. 

With many tropical locations as part of our worldwide adventures, we discussed how we’d manage our sun exposure to avoid the risks while enhancing our exposure to much needed Vitamin D. Besides, a bit of a healthy glow of a tan works well with our skimpier warm weather clothing.

We’ve mutually agreed that daily exposure of a maximum of one hour would not only be safe and healthful but would free us to enjoy other activities if we so choose. Today, day #5 aboard ship, we spent our usual one hour by the pool accompanied by a live band commencing their act with the song, “Love Boat.”

Lying on our stomachs to “work the backside” our faces squished into the navy blue cushions we looked at one another smiling, the little crinkles around our eyes accentuated by our positions, our sunglasses perched atop our heads. Tom asked, “Do you know that song?” as the well-played music blared from the nearby stage.

“Yes,” I laughed aloud.  “I know that song.” 

For a moment, time stood still as we gazed deeply into each other’s eyes, knowing that at exactly that moment we were thinking the same thing. “This is our new life. Not a vacation. Not a trip. But a new life that ends only when we want it to or, when it must end due to unforeseen reasons.

Whether its Norovirus or the hot sun, (soon we’ll be only 9 degrees north of the equator), cautious we shall be, not to the point of diminishing the quality of our experiences but enough to ensure we’ll make every effort to avoid these and other risks that we surely will face in this “new life” of ours.

Green Valley Ranch, Henderson, Nevada check in…

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Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas, to our vacation rental in Green Valley Ranch, a newer community with massive amounts of stores, restaurants, gated communities, and a  mere sprinkling of casinos. 

It doesn’t feel like Las Vegas with its slot machines in every gas station or public building.  Instead, it feels welcoming, safe, and low on tourists.

Entering the single-family home for the eight days we reserved over Tom’s birthday and Christmas, we knew immediately that we were “home.” A fresh smell wafted through the air (love that word!), welcoming us as we maneuvered through the door arms laden with “stuff.”

Unloading my arms onto the living room floor, I ran about from room to room squealing with delight. Each room had its own surprise to behold. 

From the stack of perfectly folded crisp white towels and washcloths in each of three bedrooms, two baths, and an ample linen closet, to the full-size bars of new soaps atop each stack, no stone was left unturned.  

The kitchen, fully stocked with every amenity, had a “working” ice machine, ground coffee, cream, some basic ingredients along with every small appliance we could possibly use.  Three flat-screen TVs, a pool table, stereo, and old fashioned boxed games were available for our entertainment.

The pool, although not heated and an extra $100 a day to heat (it’s too cold here now in the 30s!) has a free-use hot tub (forgot my suit) in a well-equipped yard with high top table, chairs, and a huge newer grill. Too bad it’s not 90 degrees!

The rent for the eight days, although much more than we’ll pay outside the US for most houses, was fair at $1500 which included a $250 cleaning deposit which we expect to get back.  We did the math.  Most likely we would have paid $165 a night for a hotel (including taxes) during the holidays, plus tips, valet parking, plus all meals in a restaurant, and how much lost with easy access to gambling.  Surely we would have spent at least $400 a day for an estimate of $3200.

Staying in this lovely home, cooking for Tom’s party, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day including our guests, our grocery and dining out budget is $1050, leaving us with a total of $2300 saving us $900 or more depending on how much we’d have lost gambling (we don’t usually gamble but when it’s at hand, it’s hard to resist). 

This is the first Christmas in my adult life that I won’t be shopping in a frenzy, wrapping gifts with elaborate hand made bows, baking a wide array of delectable cookies, and of course, decorating every corner of the house. In an odd way, it’s liberating.  We’ll miss family back in Minnesota and we’ll revel in family and friends here in Nevada.  Life is filled with trade-offs.

Soon, we’ll head to our two dentist appointments for our final cleanings, then off to the travel clinic for Tom’s final Twinrix vaccine.  Then, to the grocery store for the ingredients for the lesser amount of baking, I’ll do this year. 

It won’t be gluten-free, low carb, sugar-free, grain-free, starch-free.  It will be delicious, fattening, gooey, filling up this lovely home with smells that remind us of “home.”  I won’t take a taste.  Tom will take off a few days for this special time, his 60th birthday, and some of his favorite treats.

Hum. There’s no rolling pin. What shall I use in its place?

P.S. After writing the above this morning, then rushing out the door to the dentist’s office, I had yet to post it. Upon returning a few minutes ago, it was imperative that I amend it.  We just had the most amazing dental appointment in our lives, a referral from son Richard at Dr.Patrick Simone’s office in Henderson, Nevada.

Walking into his plush, well-appointed office puts me, a dental phobic, instantly at ease. From the elegant, upscale furnishings to the artwork to the well-equipped beverage bar and, the service, impeccable!  Even the restroom was a sight to behold with every imaginable accouterment. 

It almost felt as if we should tip not only the receptionist, but also Terry, the knowledgeable, personable, and thoughtful hygienist.  Instead of the usual hand performed cleaning, scraping away at our gums and teeth, Terry used a laser implement as an adjunct to the traditional cleaning. She used “before and after” photos that were shocking. 

After the cleaning, she performed what she referred to as “sandblasting” the surface of our teeth with a high powered baking soda spray.  The taste was awful.  The result, mind-blowing. My teeth hadn’t been this white since I was a toddler. We couldn’t be happier. 

As we paid our reasonable bill of $226 (for both of us), they thanked us profusely handing us a giant apple pie! Who gets an apple pie from the dentist?  I was thrilled with the bag of dental supplies Terry loaded up for our travel. And then, this giant pie. Wow! 

Need I say that we were impressed?  If you live near or around Henderson or are visiting Las Vegas and a dental situation arises, Dr. Simone’s office is the place to call.

Gee, for the eight days we’re, here in Henderson over the holidays, this does feel like home, minus the grandkids, the grown kids, the friends, the beautifully decorated tree, the elegantly wrapped gifts, the oversized glass jars filled with home-baked cookies, the Santa Bears adorning every corner and on and on.

Life will be different going forward.  Good, but, different.

Photos of upcoming vacation home in Nevada!…

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Pool and Spa
Pool and hot tub in Nevada house.
Living room
Living room.

Below are the photos of the Henderson, Nevada vacation rental we’ll be moving into this upcoming Wednesday after a five-hour drive across the desert. We posted these photos many months ago, doing so again today for our newer readers.

Master bedroom.
Second of three bedrooms.

A charming house with great reviews in VRBO.com located in the fabulous Green Valley Ranch area in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, will definitely serve our needs for eight days over the holidays with family and friends coming to visit for the three days between Tom’s 60th birthday on the 23rd and Christmas.  We couldn’t be more thrilled.

3rd bedroom
Third bedroom.

Over the next two days, we’ll busily pack for the eight days in Nevada, finish the balance of our paperwork, pack the food and cooking supplies we’ve accumulated while in Scottsdale, and the hardest part of all, decide what we’re leaving behind in one final bin we’ll leave at son Richard‘s house.

Kitchen, dining area.

This is the hardest part.  Once we leave the vacation house in Henderson on the 27th, we return to the vacation house in Scottsdale for our final packing before leaving on January 1st for San Diego to ultimately sail away on January 3rd.  Any items we don’t bring to Henderson now become a part of our luggage, an impossible scenario.

2nd Living room
Casual dining and lounge area off of the kitchen.

We have warm clothes that we aren’t bringing (Good thing we brought them along for the cold weather we’ve experienced lately), piles of papers to pass off to my sister Julie who’ll spend Tom’s birthday and Christmas with us as well. 

Pool Table
Pool table in the living area.

Julie will keep our medical files with test results, our health care directives, and stacks of legal documents that we completed on Friday.  We’ll leave our tax prep receipts in a banker’s box with Richard. 

Kitchen
The kitchen is dated, but serves our needs.

Oh, it goes on and on.  There’s so much to remember much of which I listed on a Nevada “to do” and others that require me walking around and “looking” at everything to further remind me. Thank goodness, my memory is serving me well. 

Living room
Main living room.

Not only will we move into the house below, but we’ll get ready for Christmas, baking (for guests), decorating (just a little), and go to our dentist appointments for final cleanings.  After the dentist, Tom has an appointment at a local travel clinic for his last TwinRix vaccine. 

Spa
Hot tub as part of the pool.

Plus, we’ll complete the arrangements for the sale of Tom’s car (prospective buyer in the works), hopefully, to transpire while we’re in San Diego over the last two days.  If that doesn’t work out for any reason, of course, we have a Plan B. 

On January 2, we’ll take the SUV to a local dealer and sell it for whatever they’ll give us.  Apparently, there’s a shortage of clean used vehicles. After pricing it at Edmunds, we feel confident that we will sell it for close to the dealer’s wholesale price. It’s a 2010 model and in perfect condition.  We’re already prepared for a low offer accepting this reality as part of the process, especially after doing so poorly at our estate sale. Ouch!  Nobody cares to pay what we feel “our stuff” is worth.  

Here’s the link to the details and photos about the Henderson home.  (Please excuse the formatting issues. It’s rather tricky copying and pasting photos from other web sites.  As I’ve mentioned in the past, web design is not my forte).
http://www.vrbo.com/301335

Oh, no!…Tom’s clothes don’t fit…

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The risk was real.  Tom was losing weight while I packed for our 5-10 years on the road, traveling the world.  Some suggested we bring one duffel bag each. If we were going for a weekend, that would have made sense. 

We have no home to go back to and repack.  We have no place to go and do laundry and get ready for another round.  Dirty clothes, travel with us.  So, we packed big.  When we arrive at our various vacation homes, we’ll wash clothes.  On ships, we’ll place them in a cloth laundry bag to haul to our next location.

We are OK with this. It’s been discussed at length. So we each have three bags, a carry-on, a computer bag, a purse and, two 250 pound capacity wheeling carts that hold it all.  Once we go to Africa and return to Europe, we’ll mail our big boots and Africa clothes back to Nevada in order to lighten the load (thanks again, son Richard).

We had decided that toward the end of our time in Scottsdale that we would repack, suctioning the air out of our Space Bags, sorting cruise suitcases from the others. This way we’d only have to open one or two bags each during the cruise.  This idea came to us only after the bags were already packed months ago.

When I shopped for Tom last summer, he was down about 30 pounds.  The weight loss had slowed to a snail’s pace and honesty, I didn’t think for a moment that he’d lose another 20 pounds.  We were enjoying our way of eating (low carb, grain-free, sugar-free, starch-free) and he was losing about one pound a month at that point.  Who knew?

When he started eating this way 16 months ago, he wore size 44 pants, mainly due to his belly, certainly not the rest.  When I purchased his new clothes, I purchased size 38 pants and XL shirts figuring at the very most he’d lose another three or four pounds until we left the US, thus not affecting the fit. 

Since shortly before we left Minnesota, he’s since lost another 20 pounds now down a total of almost 50.  Wow!

Who cares about clothes?  My man is healthy and slim! His health had a complete turnaround.  He’s now a size 34.  Yesterday, we unpacked all of his clothes.  There are 18 (yes, 18) pairs of a combination of shorts, casual khaki pants, dress khaki pants, jeans, and dress/suit pants (for formal nights on cruises) that would fall off him if he wore them. And I mean falling off! They look ridiculous! 

We can salvage the swimsuits. They have the string ties in the waistbands. OK. Guys wear baggy swimwear, don’t they? But the pants have to go! 

Today we are taking everything to an alterations shop in Old Town with the thought that we’ll only have the dress pants altered.  We’re bringing along the other 15 items.  Maybe, just maybe, the tailor will be willing to give us a deal on the lot of them, getting them done in less than three weeks  Unlikely.  It will probably cost less to start over.

If the tailor is not cooperative, we’ll go shopping this week in Scottsdale to replace everything.  There’s no time to shop online with only a week until we leave for Henderson, Nevada for eight days for Christmas with family.  We’ll have no time while we’re there.  Plus sales tax is higher in NV as opposed to AZ.

Tom despises shopping but I’m fast. He can wait in a try-on room while I’ll throw the pants at him. He can bring his phone and play Angry Birds while he’s waiting.  It will be OK.

Hum, 10 inches lost in the waist. Remarkable! Better health. Amazing! Perfect colonoscopy and endoscopy results.  Astounding!  No more IBS.  Impressive!

Able to carry bags without puffing and panting. Yeah! Who cares about buying new pants? No one.