First, the daily word thing fell apart. We had used so.many, and the words which remained were difficult to choose. We weren't in the beginning of this journey any more, and the daily words were a great introduction. That part is behind us now.
Further, my thoughts became dominated by the need to prepare for the cruise. I had never been on one, and I was nervous about the while thing. Would I forget something critical? Would I hate cruising but be unable to come home? Would Elaine have a crisis, say, a spiked fever, when I was a thousand miles away?
My cruise companions were not old friends, except for my roommate. Would we all get along?
Somehow I convinced myself that the cruise was actually a day shorter than it really was. So a doctor's appointment had been made that I couldn't attend. Some number of Facebook messages later, my sister-in-law signed on to get Elaine in. Unknown to me, since he lost his cell phone AGAIN, my husband was livid. He was boiling mad at me, but he didn't come driving down immediately either. Glad I was out of the mix. I didn't know of his rage until I was home and heard his angry voice. Yep, he was pissed! What did he think I should do? Throw away hundreds of dollars over 24 hours difference? No.
Before I was even onboard, Elaine had posted how bad she was feeling on Facebook. That didn't help either. Her selfish bitch mother was blithely boarding the Fun Ship while her cancer patient daughter was suffering at home. I had even taken her car, so she was TRAPPED at home. I was the villain all around. Tough. I went anyway.
As it turned out, Elaine was no sicker than usual. The visitors who were scheduled to come on Sunday did. It was all good. Monday's visitor cancelled, because she had a cold. Elaine was alone Monday through Thursday noon when I got in. She was dealing with everything by herself. I don't think that's a bad lesson for her or anyone else. This is a temporary situation. The day will come when I go to West Virginia for months. That's our real life. My living here full time is going to end.
Now, as for the cruise... First of all, I needn't have worried about the group I traveled with. The 7 other ladies were all great. We were always happy to see each other, but we could also go out own way if that is what pleased us. The group dynamic couldn't have been better. I made 6 new friends basically. We hope to do it again sometime.
I took Dramamine like it was breath mints, beginning the day before the cruise and ending it after a full day home. That wasn't pleasant, and it cut down the amount of the always available food I ate and enjoyed. I never even tried the pizza which was available 24 hours a day. I only threw up once, on the dive boat, but I dealt with others who were very ill. I didn't eat anything all day for two of the five days, except for supper. I didn't clean my plate then either.
I only had 3 cocktails on the ship .Sure glad we didn't get the drinks package! I drank all afternoon in Cozumel, but those drinks must have been pretty weak. The food at the beach club was fantastic, though. The dinners on the ship were great, too, as was my Guy Fieri hamburger. The buffet reminded me of Golden Corral. Not as good as I had hoped.
I slept fine on the ship, only waking as we approached port and they changed the engine for that. Otherwise the rocking boat pulled me into peaceful slumber.
I loved having a balcony room, and I stayed out there, reading 2 books and watching the sunset or the stars. Our room was near the rooms of the others in the party, and we were constantly in contact, although we weren't constantly together. It must have been something like living in a dorm. Our fellow passengers were always cordial. It WAS a Fun Ship.
The down side of that could be summed up in the person of Brandon.Our cruise director. His constant over the top enthusiasm wore thin quickly, and the announcements he made over the PA were extremely annoying. I wasn't sure at first that something important wasn't being said, so I stopped what I was doing to listen. It was never anything but another opportunity for us to spend money, so I learned to groan and ignore them.
The islands and the Caribbean surrounding them were gorgeous. I was so pleased that I got to see Sting Ray City, but the sea was so rough that I had to go back on the boat. I threw up, fortunately in the trash can. The captain, who was a blustery South African, said that I should have headed to the back of the boat to "feed the fishes." That was where I was headed, but I didn't make it that far.
The sting rays were everywhere, as promised. I especially liked looking at them through my mask, as they dodged around the couple of hundred people on the sand bar. I touched some, and I watched as the mates held some for us to.look over. I didn't even try to get off the boat at the second stop. No one stayed in long. It was too rough.
We learned lots about life in the Caymans from the crew. We saw several of the invasive green marine iguanas and heard about the attempt to cut down their population to save the native blue iguanas. We heard about the cost of living in the paradise there.
The Beach Club was an outstanding afternoon. It was just what we wanted, with beautiful beach, shaded by palms with a gentle breeze. We had unlimited food and drinks with our waiter, Paco, making sure we never ran out. I got a seaside pedicure, and some of the others got massages. Susan made friends with other travelers, and the rest of us just chilled.
The shows onboard were fantastic. We went to the 80's rock and other rock show. I really wanted to go to the Latin dance one, but it was the day I threw up. I took a Compazine and couldn't keep my eyes open. I slept ten hours! Their performers were excellent! They could sing, and could they dance! We also saw the two comics. The adult only shows were hysterical, but the PG rated one was meh.
Cruise life is not for me. I wouldn't say that I will never go again, but I still like the trips I plan better. Even without the constant threat of nausea, I just prefer nature and quiet to busy, busy, busy.
Since my return, I have taken it easy as I recovered from the seasickness. I forced myself to go to Wal-Mart for supplies, and I walked the dogs plus took a walk in the park looking for the cat who escaped when I put the trash out.
That's another story... We didn't realize she was out until after dark, so we couldn't look for her. By morning I was thinking we might not ever see her again. I called and called, even talked to a neighbor, but nothing. Then I let Rocky out while I put my suitcase in the shed. Rocky was trying to dig under the shed. OMG! That's where the cat was! I called Elaine, and we tried to get her out. I could see her, but she wouldn't come out. We tried poking her with a broomstick. She would move but still not come out. I finally had to get the hose and force her out with water. But now she's home and safe.
So that's it for now. It's Saturday morning, a week later. Chemo is scheduled for Wednesday, and we're praying that it goes as scheduled this time. Ron is coming down Tuesday or Wednesday to be here on Thanksgiving.
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