Warm Breezes

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.

I'll be doing the same thing. See you there.

I always go to check my credit balance the last night and then go to the casino and down load that amount into my casino account before I cash out my casino account with the casino cashier.

Same here. I am waiting for my funds to become available before purchasing CCL and NCL stock.

We are booked in December so no plans for us to cancel. However, friends of ours were scheduled to sail on March 22 and are cancelling today. They are cancelling because of the fear they could get quaranteened on the ship for 2 weeks not for fear of getting the virus. Quite frankly if this was next year at this time, after I retire in January, we would be looking to book a cheap cruise.

Two things I already bring which is extra medicine (although I may need to rethink that in future and pack more than a 1 week extra supply) and my iPad loaded with books for reading. The other thing, which I usually never bring, is my work laptop so I could work from the ship. However since I will be retiring in January that would only be an extra item to bring on our next cruise in December...won't be needing it after that.

Our first 2 cruises were on Disney. Our kids were 4 and 7 for the first one and 7 and 10 for the second. We went with friends who had kids the same age. These cruises were expensive but great for kids that age. It also got us addicted to cruising. Our friends, who were cruise veterans, planned both of those cruises. I switched to Carnival for our 3rd cruise when I found a fantastic deal. I didn't realize before that how inexpensive could be. We did a few more Carnival cruises before trying NCL. It was slightly more expensive than Carnival but we wanted to try something different. We loved the Freestyle concept. We did some a few more cruises going back and forth between Carnival and NCL with the kids as they grew up. When the oldest was in College and the youngest in High School we took our first adult only cruise on NCL. We decided to try Princess after flipping back and forth with Carnival and NCL with just the 2 of us a few times. We were in our late 40's at that time and felt like we were the youngsters on that cruise filled with snow birds and retirement village groups. Since then we have been flipping between NCL and Carnival again. We do super cheap Casino cruises on Carnival and NCL (in inside and OV) and we do more expensive larger ships (like Getaway and our upcoming Mardi Gras in Aft Balconies) and everything in between. It all depends on the deals we find, the time we have and what we feel like doing. I would try other cruise lines if the price and ship met what we wanted out of our vacation. We've done a few more vacations with the kids but have done mostly Carnival with them just because it is usually the cheaper option without the drink package. Since DS, who is 25 doesn't drink and I don't drink that much, it is usually the best option when we sail as a family. On Carnival we usually get free Drinks on Us in the Casino with just the 2 of us and on NCL we get the drink package in the Promo for the 2 of us.

After 20 cruises, most to the Caribbean/Mexico, DH and I find port days on the ship to be most relaxing. We still get off when we sail to a port we have never been to or a port we really enjoy and when we sail with family and friends, but if it is just the 2 of us and we are at a port we have been to a few times already we look forward to a quiet day on the ship. Usually we spend some time in an empty jacuzzi or laying out in places where the sight and sounds are all ocean, just like the beach, without the hassle of getting to the beach or dealing with all the people or sand at the beach. I come back from these types of cruises so relaxed and refreshed.

First thing I do when I get home from work is take of shoes/socks/sandals and go bare foot. Same thing happens on a ship. I'm still alive to talk about and never gotten sick over it. If only I could do it at work too. I do slip my feet out of shoes under my desk every once in a while where no one can see my shoeless feet. Socks stay on though.

Port days are my days to break out the swimsuit and find empty jacuzzi's and lounge chairs in the adult only areas.