Cruisin’ Together

Kenn and I have long had a cruise to Alaska on our bucket list. Cruise-savvy friends pointed out that, if we haven’t been on a cruise before, we’d probably want to start with something shorter to make sure we actually enjoy cruising before signing up for something lasting seven to ten days. Good point! Kenn has never been on a cruise and I’ve only been on one – when I was twelve. We looked into cruises and discussed several options. At Christmas, we pulled the trigger and booked a four day cruise. We departed Tampa, Florida onboard the Norwegian Star on March 12th and made stops in Key West and Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas before returning to Tampa on March 16th. I’ll write separate posts for our shore excursions.

We learned a few things along the way:

While neither of us had problems with seasickness, I was prepared with Dramamine, acupressure wrist bands, and inhalers just in case. (My daughter-in-law and a couple of the grandkids suffer from carsickness, so I have passed everything on to them.) However, I have now been warned that the Pacific tends to be rougher than the Atlantic, so we shouldn’t skimp on preparations whenever we go to Alaska.😬 Long-lasting patches have been recommended so I’ll add them to our anti-seasickness kit next time around.

We have also agreed that paying for a stateroom with a balcony was worth the extra cost. I don’t think either one of us would have done well without having a view.

Paying for valet parking at Port Tampa Bay was the way to go. We dropped off our car and the parking crew handled getting our luggage to the ship. When we returned, our car was brought to us. Easy-peasy.

“Checking” our luggage the last night of the cruise worked like a charm. It allowed us to disembark without wrestling our luggage through all of the various checkpoints. Our luggage was waiting for us in the baggage claim area, which was the next to the last stop. Also, Kenn’s bright orange suitcase and my bright blue one were easy to find amongst the sea of black and maroon luggage.

While we had no major problems with Norwegian Cruise Lines, our next cruise will probably be on a different line so we can see how things vary.

Have you been on a cruise (or cruises)? What cruise line did you use? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?

Do you smell something?

We’ve all heard the old adage that opposites attract. Kenn and I are just beginning to realize just how opposite we are in one area. What area is that? My sense of smell leaves a lot to be desired while Kenn’s is excellent. This disparity leads to a lot of “Do you smell something?” conversations that leave me feeling like I’m being forced to take a pop quiz that I know I’m going to fail.

A few months ago, I walked into the kitchen to be greeted with the dreaded question. “Do you smell something?” In response, my brain went into overdrive: Obviously there’s something I’m supposed to smell, but I don’t, so I’m going to fail the quiz. Ugh. Why do we have to do this? Hedging my bets I replied, “Maybe? But not really. Give me a hint. What am I supposed to be smelling?” “Oh, one of the eyes on the stove was on and it melted the plastic container that was on the stove top.” 🙄 Okay then. This incident lead to several responses: 1) Removing the melted plastic, which was a whole process on its own. 2) I ordered these stove knob locks so that we don’t have any more instances of eyes getting turned on accidentally, and 3) We had a discussion about if Kenn can please just tell me what an issue is without first quizzing me on my sense of smell.

Image from depositphotos.com

Another incident (example?) occurred last month on our drive to South Carolina. We were cruising down a back road when Kenn wrinkled his nose and made a noise. Of course I asked what that was all about. Kenn looked at me and said, “Skunk. Don’t you smell it?” My response is apparently going down in family history. I said, “What do you think? Do I ever smell whatever it is you’re asking me if I smell? No. So, no. I don’t smell the skunk.” Kenn laughed so hard and for so long, I thought he was going to have to pull over; the man had tears running down his face. Every time he would get himself under control, he’d mutter “What do you think?” and go back off into gales of laughter. He finally managed to gasp, “There was just so much contempt in that one phrase.” Even now, a month later, Kenn still laughs about it. And, any time the topic of a scent/smell comes up, I now have a standard answer: “What do you think?”

In what ways are you and your partner opposites?