Impressive ship — let’s hope she’s seaworthy! Time to board and get this 41-day cruise started! Ahoy there!!!
Tag Mariner of the Seas
Sailing, Sailing over the ocean blue…
This is the tune I’ve been busily humming to myself the past few days!
The excitement level around here is sky-high and climbing. It will culminate on Sunday, when we are actually on the shuttle bus that will drop us at the Port of Galveston, where we will board The Mariner of the Seas!
Kudos to Kingwood Travel for arranging transportation to Galveston for approximately 30 travelers from my area that are embarking on this 41-day cruise to Singapore. Parking our car near the port for six weeks would not be an acceptable option
Not only is Kingwood Travel arranging our shuttle, they have also planned a Bon Voyage cocktail party for our group on board The Mariner of the Seas at 4:30 Sunday evening. Then we will truly know that this unbelievable journey of a lifetime is actually happening!
Royal Caribbean International Cruise Lines allows us to bring two bottles of wine per stateroom, per each leg of the cruise – or six bottles for the bon voyage celebrations! We’ve chosen a couple of bottles of celebratory wine — bringing just a little bit of southern comfort from Texas with us.
A favorite Texas wine!
Every day this week was spent either sorting and packing or shopping for the last minute have-to-haves. I’m certain we don’t need half of what we’re taking.
Another chunk of time was spent with AT&T customer service sorting out what we need for calls and texting on the other side of the world! Jodi did a good job helping us out. Let’s just hope we made the right choices!
Did I mention that we are excited? Our son and his family live nearby and will drive us to our shuttle bus. They will have fun using the pool and looking after our place while we’re gone. They have promised not to throw too many parties!
We’re looking forward to chatting with our family members via Skype from exotic ports of call such as Medeira, Portugal, Barcelona, Alexandria, Egypt, Dubai and Singapore to name a few.
I’m also excited that my newspaper publisher has linked my blog to http://www.ourtribune.com!
Just two nights and one day left!
Journey of a lifetime! Finally getting those ducks in a row!
This 41-day, trans-Atlantic cruise has been booked for months and I can’t believe it’s now only 1 1/2 weeks away!
In just 11 days a group of 30 random people from my hometown in Texas will board The Mariner of the Seas in Galveston to begin an exciting voyage half way around the world — from Galveston to Singapore! Of course, thousands of other travelers will also board.
At first the mere thought of packing for such an ambitious undertaking seemed insurmountable. After brainstorming with a few friends and doing some online research, the lightbulb finally came on.
It suddenly occurred to me that packing for 41 days with the idea of flying back was truly impossible. However, my eyes suddenly opened with the realization that this voyage is literally three, two-week cruises combined to make one voyage.
So, all I need to do is pack for one, two-week cruise, then recycle everything for the next leg and, finally, the last leg of the cruise. Ta-Da! Now I’m ready to put this packing dilemma down.
Now, to take this idea of “packing light” one step further. One of my friends suggested that I consult an online list for packing light on http://www.rIcksteves.com, so I did. This list is not specifically for cruises, so I’ve had to modify somewhat, but it’s very helpful. Rick Steves suggests that you pack for 4-5 days no matter how long your trip. It’s a little different when you’re on a cruise because of the variety of activities calling for both casual and dressy attire.
A big sigh of relief! Packing for two weeks is the plan — including medications and toiletries for six weeks is manageable. And, we’ll be packing a hand-held scale to weigh the packed luggage before heading to the airport in Singapore.
Can’t wait!
It’s official now…a world cruise is in my future.
Planning, packing and putting all my affairs in order is the plan of attack for the next three weeks.
I’m excited, nervous and anxious, all in one, but mostly I’m thrilled to be taking a journey of a lifetime.
I’ll set sail on the Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean International Cruise Lines) in three weeks and I hope to take you along with me…in my blog.
We set sail from the Port of Galveston and will end the journey in Singapore with many stops along the way: Bahamas, Portugal, Spain, Egypt, Jordan, India, Malaysia and Singapore, to name a few.
Hope you’ll come with me for the ride…
Trilla's Travels 