sid_9169

Of course, we all know the story that followed. A nearly immediate “pause” in cruise operations, that soon became a situation that nearly destroyed the entire industry as we knew it. It would be 16 long months before the cruise lines finally emerged from hibernation, and it looked like things were finally becoming right with the World. Little by little, ships began to sail again, and everything was going great for a while. The new cruise protocols, which included vaccinations, testing, and masks brought the nearly defunct industry back from the brink of extinction. The rise of the omicron variant, which was considerably more transmissible than prior variants, threatened to bring cruising to a standstill once again. In the second week of January this year, I finally had my turn dealing with the dreaded Omicron… Fortunately, my bout with the virus was mild by comparison, and I ended up staying home from work for a week watching TV and eating. I didn’t have a single adult beverage for eight straight days, which is my current record for the past several years. My symptoms began with a fever and night sweats, and a terrible headache that lasted several days. I lost my sense of taste and smell, and the things that I could smell had the scent of ammonia. I still suffer from a sort of “brain fog”, which others have described, but at least I never got really sick or ended up in the hospital.

Looks like it wasn't going to give me enough room in the title for the dates, so this will be covering the May 27th - June 1st sailing, followed by the June 1st - June 5th cruise... It's safe to say that this one has been a long time in the making......... *Another stolen from the internet photo*

*Cue opening credits… {Music plays in the background “Do it Again” by Steely Dan.} Kramerica Industries presents… A Sacamano / Farbman Production… (If I were an A-List writer, this would be the point where my name would crawl across the screen, five feet tall and luminous…) Instead, a cardboard sign reading: “Written, Directed, and Produced by Sid James” Cut to a scene inside a small apartment in Atlanta where I prepare to embark on another epic journey upon Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady… The origins of this cruise date all the way back to the very early days of the ongoing pandemic… In fact, when this entire adventure began, the corona virus still hadn’t even been detected on US shores… January 2020 seems like such a long time ago now, and the World is such a different place than it was prior to the virus that altered nearly everything in our lives for much longer than anyone ever could have predicted or imagined. The Scarlet Lady was still under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste Italy, and her planned first sailing was still a few months away. I wanted to try out something “new & different”, and this new quirky cruise line seemed like just the ticket out of my comfort zone that I had settled into with Carnival and NCL. I found a sailing that occurred during my “usual” cruise week of Memorial Day / early June, and pulled the trigger on a five night cruise to Cozumel and Bimini… Little did we all know how all our lives were about to be disrupted in ways that we never thought imaginable… Out of the blue, the virus quickly spread throughout the entire Planet, and we soon found ourselves immersed in a situation that encompassed nearly every aspect of our lives.

I've seen him in concert with all four different bands... Too bad that he had to go the way that he did...

With all that picture taking going on up there, you're bound to end up in someone's vacation photo album...

I've never flown first class, but hopefully some day...

I've been to one years ago in Texas, but I didn't check out the restrooms. We just had one open in the far suburbs of Atlanta, so I'll have to go and check it out:)

I've read the entire Cruise Confidential series, and it's a good read if you haven't. A guy who gets a job on a cruise ship trying to chase a girl, but he gets a lot more than he bargained for. Me and the author used to be friends on ****book, but he quit social media a few years ago...

Cartwright four...

I'm going to make a note of this hotel... That Radisson Resort at the Port wasn't very nice at all... Looking forward to the rest...

I remember hearing this riding in the truck with my dad as a little kid back in the 70's... Have an awesome cruise. I'll be on board another ship in the Caribbean while you're up there, but I'll check in...

Run, don't walk, directly to Shaq's Big Chicken and consume a chicken sandwich and fries... Repeat as necessary...

I board exactly two weeks from today for a back to back. You're going to love the food on board...

I'm a month out from sailing the Scarlet Lady, and so far they haven't announced any sort of itinerary change. For those who have sailed recently, has Virgin Voyages porting at Key West? My first cruise on the Scarlet Lady in October 2021 ended up being switched to Nassau. Thanks in advance for any insight...