“Take 2” 

January 5, 2023

As many people remember, Bob and I tried cruising around the world in 2020 (you all remember that year well!), but didn’t complete our journey.  “Take 2” – we’re trying again to circumnavigate and are confident our ‘wild hair journey’ will return us to Florida on April 27th.

Happy New Year to our friends and family!  We pray 2023 is going to be a healthy and happy year for you that is filled with good memories.  We would love to have you join us on our adventure around the world through our blog.

As you might imagine, preparing for a 4 month cruise is a challenge.  Not only deciding what to pack, but making your long list of what you need to take care of while you’re gone for 111 days.  I won’t get into that but you feel like you need a vacation once you’re done.  Lol.

Our beautiful, small ship from 2020 (Pacific Princess – ‘The Love Boat) was sold to another cruise company.  We will miss you Pacific Princess!  This year our home for the next 111 days is the Island Princess (midsize ship – Princess Cruiseline).  

We rented a car in Ocala and drove to Ft Lauderdale.  We had much preparation with documentation, travel ETAs and Covid test results to upload to an app before arrival.  It made for the smoothest embarkation ever.  We unloaded our luggage, walked into the terminal and met an agent that scanned our ‘medallions’ and walked onto the ship.  He thanked us for doing all our ‘homework’ ahead of time which made for an easy embarkation.  We were onboard in 10 minutes and exploring the ship.  Within 2 hours our luggage arrived in our stateroom and we were able to unpack and organize the cabin for our trip.

We left Ft Lauderdale with people waving from their homes and beach area.  Beautiful evening.  We were so happy to reunite with several friends that we met in 2020!  So thankful for each one.  There are 5 of us that reserved a dinner table together for every night.  As we met the first night, we joined hands, said a prayer of thankfulness that we’re together again to finish our adventure and make new memories.  It seriously was like picking up right where we left off!  Thank you Martha, Carmen and Pedro.  Love you guys.