Warm Breezes

I have 2 cruises currently booked. The first is to replace our Mardi Gras cruise that was canceled for December and we rebooked for Oct. 2021. Then I booked NCL Encore for Feb. 2022 to use our Cruise Next certificates that expire in 2022. Money was already invested in both, so no harm in getting them booked early and getting the rooms we wanted (Aft Balcony on Mardi Gras and Large Balcony on Encore.) I highly doubt I will ever book another cruise without a balcony. The only way I'd want to be stranded on a ship for a few weeks.😁😉

We stayed 4 nights in Medora. The campgrounds in the NP were not open so we stayed at Medora Campground for 3 nights and the Red Trail Campground for 1 night as we added the last night a week prior and Medora Campground couldn't accommodate us for another night. Having stayed at both I would have booked our entire stay at the Red Trail Campground in hindsight since the sights were much nicer. We took my son's car to go through the NP North and South Loop. The kids rented bikes in Medora and road the trails around there and my daughter and her boyfriend did some golfing at Bully Pulpit golf course in the Badlands at sunset. Medora is about 3 hours from where DS lives in Minot so it made for a nice family getaway with him.

No. We were at the same park a couple of years ago with my mother and it was much busier. Having said that we were there mid-week this time (not sure about last time).

So far we have been on Epic, Escape, and Getaway. Of those Escape was my favorite followed closely by Getaway. We will be trying Encore in 2022.

We rented a motor home and drove out to ND to visit DS and sight see at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Came home and booked a cruise in October 2021 to replace our Carnival Mardi Gras cruise that just got cancelled for December and another one for February 2022 on NCL Encore to use our Cruise Next certificates that expire in October 2022. No other vacations are currently planned. We were lucky enough to sneak a trip to Las Vegas in at the end of February right before everything shut down.

We happened to get back from a Las Vegas vacation at the end of February before everything shut down. We just got back from a trip to ND to see our DS. We rented a motor home so we could travel as safe as possible. We made a side trip with DS to Medora, ND to see Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Got my camping itch taken care of for a few years. Came back and rebooked my December Carnival Mardi Gras cruise that got cancelled just before we left to October 2021 and booked a new cruise on NCL Encore for February 2022. I'm sure we will try to get some kind of land vacation in before our October 2021 cruise but we will wait and see for now.

Since I posted this our Carnival Mardi Gras cruise in December got cancelled. We just returned from our motor home trip and I rebooked our Mardi Gras cruise for October 2021 and then booked a NCL Encore cruise for February 2022. While I enjoyed getting a chance to visit with DS, my camping fix is done for a long time...I really want to get back on a ship.

We rented a motor home and are about to head to ND to visit DS and doing some biking/golf/camping in Medora. It may be our only chance to see him this year. He was going to be coming home to be in our best friends son's wedding in September but they just decided this weekend to go with a small wedding in Vegas and renew their vows and have a reception September 2021 instead. So now DS will be heading to Vegas instead of coming home to MI for a visit😔

We currently have a cruise booked on the Mardi Gras for December. I have a strong feeling it will be canceled and even if it doesn't we will likely push it back to October of next year. In it's place we have decided to rent a 35 ft motor home and are heading out to ND to visit our DS next month. DD and her boyfriend will be coming with us. The plan is to pick DS up in Minot and head out to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Medora for some sightseeing, biking and golfing. This, IMHO, is the safest way to travel right now. We don't have to stop anywhere to use public restrooms since we will be self contained and I will make sure to have all groceries picked up curb side before we leave. This will be as safe as we can go and I will get to see my son whom I haven't seen since Christmas. But I will definitely miss my cruise and we will be booking the same room, same ship and try again for next year. Not canceling just pushing it back a year. I have to say that this trip to ND is ending up being much more expensive than our booked cruise with an Aft Balcony room was and we have to do all the cooking and cleaning (ughh). But we have 2 more people going with us, plus the dog and the cat, and picking up a 3rd so I guess that evens that out a little bit. So we will see if our vacation turns out a little more like RV (with Robin Williams) than National Lampoon's Vacation 😅.

Did not choose to share a table before Covid-19. Will not choose to share a table after Covid-19.

First, to get to a really nice affordable AI I would probably need to fly there. Flying is definitely not appealing to me any time soon. We can drive, which we don’t mind doing, to many different cruise ports. Second, an AI could never rock me to sleep like a cruise ship can. An important part of being on the ocean. For me, my favorite place to enjoy the ocean is on a cruise ship with a large balcony room. My favorite place to enjoy land would be to head to the canyons and mountains out west in a motor home. Those are my 2 favorite places to be. I’m not a beach person (I burn easily, don’t like swimming with creatures, and hate sand getting into everything), nor do I like the snow (can’t wait until we can leave Michigan behind), nor am I fan of big cities. To each his own.

First, I doubt I will ever book and inside or oceanview room again. It will be at least a balcony with an Aft Balcony being preferred. If I am going to be stuck on a ship I want to be able to get some fresh air and see the ocean. Second, I will start carrying my prescriptions in their bottles with at least 2-3 more weeks more than my vacation plans. Third, not any different, but we will continue to dine with just our cruising companions. Fourth, when going to public events we will be more diligent in finding areas to sit that away from the crowds or we will skip them if we can't find a place. We pretty much kept to ourselves to begin with but will do more so now. We don't cruise to socialize. We cruise to relax and spend time with each other in a place where we are pampered and taken care of. All I need is a place to sit and enjoy the ocean.

Cozumel

Our next cruise is booked on Carnival Mardi Gras in December. Aft Balcony.

We have an Aft Balcony booked on deck 14. Currently working from home and dreaming of December.