Although this trip had been planned for a long time, I had not been scheduled to participate
due to lack of a cabinmate and lack of funds to go it alone. As a "just in case", I called to
see if there were any last minute deals and found one balcony left at a totally unreasonable
price (to me ) for one person...$1100 and some change. No way was I going.
It was sometime Sunday night before the cruise was to leave, I was Skyping with my sister-in-law Debbie
and brother John and told them I had looked. but couldn't afford the last available stateroom.
They asked how much it was and then offerred to pay for a stateroom for me. Woo hoo! I
was excited until I started investigating and learned there were no longer any
staterooms available, not a single place anywhere
on the ship for this sailing. The one I had found on Friday was already gone. Bummer....
So for the next week, I called two or three times a day
in hope of finding a cancellation. Nothing. I had been added to a waitlist but they will only
accept a name in one cabin category. I picked an inside cabin category L because that was the
most available on this ship. Still nothing.
On Friday morning, as time was running out before
the cruise line set the final manifest and no one else could be added for the sailing, I called
once again. Nope, the ship was full. You'd think at least one of the 3100+ passengers
scheduled for this ship would get sick, wouldn't you? Even if they said "Yes" right now, I
still had to pack and drive to Galveston to board the ship. I went back to sleep. When I woke up around noon or a little
after one, ready to write off this great opportunity, I phoned one more time. "Do you have any staterooms
available on this sailing?"
"Yes, we have a Junior Suite!"
"REALLY? How much is it for a single?
"$2,6353.73." Now that's more than twice as much as the balcony stateroom I had missed on Friday.
There goes that opportunity. I asked if I could hold the suite so I could check with John and Debbie. Yes.
They would hold it for an hour. I called John. Nobody answered his cell phone.
Then, Debbie called me right back as I was dialing her number. She and John were in a store
and he was somewhere on another aisle. She had his phone so she couldn't call him. So,
Debbie went up and down every aisle looking for him to ask if this suite would be okay.
Debbie found John and called me back. It was okay. Woo Hoo, again! In the mean
time, I had decide if I could go, I'd let my
niece Crystal and her husband Chris have the larger Junior Suite (with the bath tub I didn't know about)
and I would take their inside cabin (with the silo shower) for myself. So I got all that settled.
I was now on the manifest. Then I started thinking...
for the price of port charges and taxes, I could ask someone else to go with me if they could get
away for a week and leave in 24 hours. I called one high school friend. She would have to give 24 hours
notice for leave from work and it was too late for her to do that. Then I called my high school
friend, Cindy, who hads been pulling her hair out helping sell her mother's house, pack, and move into
an assisted living apartment. I didn't think she'd be able to go, but it would be more fun to have
someone else in the room.
"Let me check with my husband and I'll call you right back," Cindy said.
Wait. Wait. Wait.
"Yes! I can go," Cindy said. Yea! Cindy lived in Pearland, so she actually had a day (my driving day) to wind
things up, knowing the closing appointment for her mom's house sale wouldn't be until
February 29.
So, I called Royal Caribbean back and booked her, thankfully before they closed
the manifest.
Now it's pack pack pack. The phone rings and I get two bookings on my upcoming Diva
cruise in September that I had to reserve and fill out paperwork for.
Pack pack. Eat all the perishibles in the refrigerator, none of which are on my
two week old diet where I've already lost 10 pounds. Pack pack.
A 9:30 PM email arrives. One of my website clients wants an update done right
away, if possible! With more to come in a few days. I called him and told him
I was on my way out of town for a week. But I made his current updates while we talked
for 15 minutes. (Talented, aren't I?) I updated my books and email him his bill.
His other updates would have to wait.
Pack pack pack. Eat some more. Everything but the actual clothes were in one
suitcase, but dresses, slcks, nd blouses were hanging all around the 4-poster bed curtain
frame. All of that wouldn't fit in my carry on. Hmmm. Wait! I have another BIG
suitcase and I'm not flying. Woo hoo! I opened the second big suitcase, took the
clothes, hangers and all, and rippled them into the suitcase. Done. It closes.
And there's even room for my pillow in another compartment.
Time to go to bed. And it's only 2:00 AM! The alarm's set for 7:30 AM. Oh, no!
Gotta take a bath first! Sleep at last.
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