We’re on our
98th day of the World Cruise and Michael has been wanting to go home
for about three weeks now – he’s missing his recliner. For me, I said on Day One that on May 11th
I will be very unhappy to leave the ship.
I’m still holding that opinion and cannot imagine grocery shopping,
doing laundry, making the bed, fixing meals, etc., etc. and I will surely miss
that knock on the door from room service bringing me prune juice and muesli
every morning.
Except for a
short time in Europe, the weather has been hot and usually humid. We’re now approaching Curacao and again
experiencing tropical weather. I’ve
already told Michael, who has been in his glory for the past three months in
this hot weather (you all know how obsessed he is with weather and,
particularly, Pacific Northwest rain), that he is not permitted to
talk/complain about Seattle weather for at least a year. You probably all know, as well, that I don’t
tolerate temperatures above 65 degrees so the one thing I will not miss about
living on a cruise ship is the hot and humid climes.
One of the
very first articles I wrote on this travel blog was about my preparations for
this cruise. We brought on three boxes
of consumables which are pretty much gone.
I accurately projected just about everything, except for my toothpaste
and had to buy two extra tubes as well as one additional bottle of hand
shop. Of course, the ship has soaps,
shampoos and shower gels but I’m accustomed to my favorites. I
brought too many q-tips and deodorant but I will leave everything we don’t use with
the gals at the spa when we leave.
We’ve also
been asked that if we have any clothing that doesn’t fit/we don’t want/we’re
sorry we bought we can turn it in for distribution to various charities in
ports we’ll be visiting during this segment.
As usual, I
don’t really know why I bother bringing a bathing suit or a cover-up because I
seldom, if ever, use it. On this cruise,
I pulled my bathing suit out once in Europe to use the hot tub. Although, in the past, I have absolutely
loved the saunas aboard and, of course, need the bathing suit, I just couldn’t
bear going into a hot and humid steam room when all I have to do is go out on
the deck. Saunas are great in cooler
climates.
I only
realized a couple of months ago that blueberries are, in fact, available. However, they do run out quickly and new
deliveries are made only at certain ports.
I did bring three very large cans of freeze dried blueberries and,
thanks to my wonderful waiter who not only gives me berries in the evening for
dessert but also gives me a bowl for my breakfast the following day, I still
have about a third of a can left. I also
alternate between rice milk available on the ship and the 24 cans of coconut
milk I brought with me – so I actually have three cans remaining which will be
used up by the time we leave.
I had
prepared my wardrobe, bringing around 35 evening outfits and 12 formal outfits,
each marked meticulously on a calendar. I
really didn’t need to bring those extra Chicos tops in different styles “just
in case.” I hadn’t realized that there
would be so many great places to shop and, thus, some of my original evening
clothes have only been worn two times because it’s just too much fun to wear unique
clothing bought in exotic locales.
We are
planning to book the World Cruise for 2018 but whether we actually do it will
be decided sometime next year. (Quite a
few people do this cruise every year and we actually know one gal who’s done it
7 times.) We do, however, want to take
advantage of the amenities offered by booking early and can always cancel
before the final payment is due.
If we do
come again in 2018, I would probably take less “daytime” clothes because I tend
to wear my favorites and I don’t really need five pairs of white and black
pants because we have laundry service onboard.
We actually
thought there was dry cleaning aboard and when Michael sent in one of his suits
for cleaning, our cabin steward returned it and said it cannot be dry cleaned
and the laundry master, of course, would not wash it. We have since learned there is no “dry
cleaning” onboard because of the chemicals and the environment, but, probably
more so because of the expense. Of
course, the maître d, head waiters and waiters all have tuxes, etc. and I asked
the people “in the know” how are these uniforms cleaned? Obviously, they can’t be washed. What we were told is that they are
“refreshed” – meaning that they’re sprayed with something to freshen them up. (I’m
not convinced that dry cleaning isn’t available to the crew and bridge staff,
but, hey, that’s what we were told.) As
a result, Michael is now in search of washable suits, sports coats, etc.
Michael’s Observations: I brought way too many clothes. I brought four suits, two sport coats, three
tuxedoes and forty-two shirts, six pairs of shorts, four pairs of dance shoes
and six pairs of tennis and other shoes.
I now realize that I only need a couple of sport coats to wear a
combination of white shirts and ties and my fancy silk and rayon shirts. I’m looking at TravelSmith for sport coats –
they actually have a line of washable wool sport coats. So, in the future, I would only bring white
and black washable sport coats, one tuxedo, two tuxedo shirts, two white shirts
and my fancy Jams World rayon shirts.
I’ve been
very pleased with the laundry service.
They’ve done a superb job on my shirts – some of which are custom-made
and quite costly. Underwear and socks
have all come back in excellent condition and, in three months, only one of a
pair of Leona’s socks has gone missing.
In terms of
consumables, Leona did an excellent job of predicting our needs and, as she
said, we will leave any unopened products with the spa staff.
Because this
is an older ship, the closet is incredibly small – probably no more than 3’
wide, so I’ve made good use of 3Ms removable hooks which have been
strategically placed around the cabin. Additionally,
I can take these with me and buy new backings for future cruises. Under these living conditions, you have to
find every nook and cranny available to tuck things away and out of sight.
The walls of
the cabins are all metal so they have also been used for the many new magnets
that will be added to our collection.
Leona’s Observations: I hear what Michael is saying about his clothing but I will
be VERY surprised if he doesn’t bring at least one of his suits. No way can this guy go anywhere without a
suit – he’s worn suits for over 40 years and is extremely comfortable in
them. Also, I doubt whether the number
of shirts/ties will decrease substantially because he has (at least secretly)
enjoyed all the wonderful comments he has gotten from numerous passengers about
his colorful collection of shirts and ties.
People who don’t even know his name will say, “you’re the guy with the
great shirts!”
So, when
he’s packed for the next cruise, seeing will be believing as far as I’m
concerned.
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