Lesinindy
January 28th, 2010, 12:58 PM
Well the date is almost here. We leave for FLL on Friday afternoon and hopefully the weather holds out so that we can get out of town and make the ship on Saturday.
I thought I would give an update after rereading some of the posts that I did over the last month. When I looked at my first post on Jan. 11th the sense of fear is very evident to me. I was scared to death, the diagnosis of breast cancer is something you don’t want to hear, especially when it is your wife.
From the very beginning the care and concern of the folks on this board was very touching to me.
On Jan 13th I posted that the doctor said that we should go on the cruise and I asked for suggestions as to how to make this trip special. Again I was touched by the love that came through the posts. As a result from your suggestions:
1. I booked some low impact excursions (the rain forest in San Jaun and the Park in St. John).
2. Will order room service and spend mornings on the balcony with coffee and rolls.
3. Booked the Tamarind Restaurant for one evening’s meal.
4. Picked up a new suit for Formal Night.
5. Ordered the renewal of vows from HAL,(the wife has no idea that this is coming and she gets the invite at dinner the first night).
6. Will spend evenings walking on deck, looking at stars and sneaking a kiss or two.
7. When we are on Grand Turk I plan to find a nice secluded spot and ???
8. Flowers will be a constant companion in our room.
On Jan 20th I made a list of what I was taking and not taking on the cruise. That list has not changed on bit. I must admit that the one thing I was bringing that I had second thoughts about was “A total lack of concern for my credit card bill (ok a little concern, but no sweating the small details”. As soon as the bills started to come in, I was worried about whether this was a good idea (to spend money), today we got the word that my wife is in line to get a bonus (would never have expected that with this economy). This will go a long ways to offsetting our percentage of the bills that Insurance will not cover. Looking over the replies I am once again struck by the caring and heartfelt concerns of the folks on this forum.
I am also very lucky to have picked Holland America for this cruise. Large corporations get a bad rap in today’s society and my faith in corporate America was bolstered by a caring individual at HAL. Taking the time to contact me directly and opening up to me a personal experience helped more than that person will ever know. One email that came from that individual brought me to tears.
Now the wait is almost over, the packing has begun, the hassle of the airports is about to begin, but this trip is different, this cruise is different or lives are suddenly much different. Her surgery is scheduled for the Monday after we return (Feb 8th), so we have a short additional wait on top of waiting to leave on the cruise.
Thank you all for being here during this time and the sound you hear on Saturday will be the large sigh of relief when we board. Will post a cruise review when we return.
Too hip gotta go. Les
I thought I would give an update after rereading some of the posts that I did over the last month. When I looked at my first post on Jan. 11th the sense of fear is very evident to me. I was scared to death, the diagnosis of breast cancer is something you don’t want to hear, especially when it is your wife.
From the very beginning the care and concern of the folks on this board was very touching to me.
On Jan 13th I posted that the doctor said that we should go on the cruise and I asked for suggestions as to how to make this trip special. Again I was touched by the love that came through the posts. As a result from your suggestions:
1. I booked some low impact excursions (the rain forest in San Jaun and the Park in St. John).
2. Will order room service and spend mornings on the balcony with coffee and rolls.
3. Booked the Tamarind Restaurant for one evening’s meal.
4. Picked up a new suit for Formal Night.
5. Ordered the renewal of vows from HAL,(the wife has no idea that this is coming and she gets the invite at dinner the first night).
6. Will spend evenings walking on deck, looking at stars and sneaking a kiss or two.
7. When we are on Grand Turk I plan to find a nice secluded spot and ???
8. Flowers will be a constant companion in our room.
On Jan 20th I made a list of what I was taking and not taking on the cruise. That list has not changed on bit. I must admit that the one thing I was bringing that I had second thoughts about was “A total lack of concern for my credit card bill (ok a little concern, but no sweating the small details”. As soon as the bills started to come in, I was worried about whether this was a good idea (to spend money), today we got the word that my wife is in line to get a bonus (would never have expected that with this economy). This will go a long ways to offsetting our percentage of the bills that Insurance will not cover. Looking over the replies I am once again struck by the caring and heartfelt concerns of the folks on this forum.
I am also very lucky to have picked Holland America for this cruise. Large corporations get a bad rap in today’s society and my faith in corporate America was bolstered by a caring individual at HAL. Taking the time to contact me directly and opening up to me a personal experience helped more than that person will ever know. One email that came from that individual brought me to tears.
Now the wait is almost over, the packing has begun, the hassle of the airports is about to begin, but this trip is different, this cruise is different or lives are suddenly much different. Her surgery is scheduled for the Monday after we return (Feb 8th), so we have a short additional wait on top of waiting to leave on the cruise.
Thank you all for being here during this time and the sound you hear on Saturday will be the large sigh of relief when we board. Will post a cruise review when we return.
Too hip gotta go. Les