Well, we're partway there.
Some of you who have followed us in the past may know that 2019 was not a banner year for travel for us. We had one good vacation to Europe with our friends, mainly staying in England and France, and everything else we tried came to nothing.
We had a grand two-week, two-cruise adventure planned on the brand new Sky Princess cruise ship in October, which we wound up cancelling not once, but twice because we had booked it as separate cruises. We lost money on hotel rooms in Athens, Greece and Barcelona, Spain because of cancelling so late, and even paid pickup drivers for rides we did not take. All in all, it was a huge disappointment.
Fast forward to this month. This cruise. This trip.
It's been preceded by a lot of worry about health – will we avoid the nasty American 'flu that everyone seems to have? Will we – especially Pete – be well enough to actually go on the cruise?
And then, Coronavirus.
For awhile, we dithered. Should we go? Is the risk something we will be sorry we took? Is it more prudent to stay in our tiny town and play it safe?
We talked to a lot of people. I ran it by my Bible study group. Go, they said. We ran it by the Facebook Princess Elite forum, and the consensus was, mostly, go. We ran it by our excellent travel agent, and she was, mostly, go.
So we're going.
We hit up Dulles Airport just before a “winter weather event,” and now we're in Ft. Lauderdale, just miles from the cruise port, in one of our favorite hotels in the world, the Victoria Park Hotel. It's a lovely little hotel, reminiscent of the Florida hotels of the 1940s and 50s, but updated. It's got a cute pool and hot tub, it's in a good area for food and services, and most of all, it has the amazing Billy at the front desk. This is our third time here, and we couldn't be happier.
Now the challenge is to stay healthy to pass the Princess screening to get on the Regal Princess when it docks in Port Everglades on Sunday. Because of Coronavirus, Princess is pulling out the stops to ensure the safety of its passengers, and they are promising health screenings before boarding that are more than the typical self-report form. We are perfectly well right now, and we intend to stay that way. Hopefully there is nothing in the current global health crisis that will cause Princess Cruises to change anything, too.
So … we're almost there. So far, so good.
UPDATE:
We made it onto the ship, and, thanks to our ROCK STAR travel agent, we also got an upgrade to an “obstructed” balcony cabin, which isn't really. We are both healthy and well, and taking common sense steps to stay that way. We are really looking forward to the Princess Guinness Book of World Records vow renewal ceremony this afternoon …
So stay tuned for more about that!!!