This is us…

Merry Christmas to me! On January 8th, my DH & I are heading out for a 7 day cruise out of New Orleans on the Carnival Dream. We’ll make stops in Cozumel, Belize & Roatan (an island off Honduras). We love cruising. This trip will bring our days afloat to 110!

There’s just one teensy, weensy problem.

This is us…
My DH retired (a little early) in January 2015 and that’s me with the supplemental  O2 cannula elegantly draped from behind my ears and down my chest. We’re all about having adventures, but we’re not exactly party people. We'd be voted least likely to wind up with a lampshade on our heads.



We usually cruise with lines that cater to older clientele (75 of our 103 sea days are with Holland America.) We’ve had lovely times dining with nonegenarians, partly because they have fascinating stories to tell and partly because it makes us feel like the young guns.

The demographics on Carnival ships is much younger. For this cruise, WE are in serious danger of being the old farts at the table!

So to combat the case of “old-itis” I feel coming on, I’ve compiled a bucket list of things to do on this cruise that will shock me out of the feeling that I’m over the hill. Here goes:

1. Slide down the big water slides!  This is going to be a bigger deal for me than it may seem. You see, I have a lung condition that means I require supplemental O2 when I’m active (read: doing anything but the imitation of a rock.) My POC (portable oxygen concentrator) doesn’t like to get wet. It will short out. Soooo, I’ll either have to climb the stairs to the top with all the speed of a three-toed sloth without my POC, or my Dear Husband will have to carry it up for me & then carry it back down to meet me when I reach the bottom. Either way, I intend to do it at least once.
2. Dance at the disco. Years ago, the DH & I took ballroom dancing lessons. It was great fun. The DH loved it because the man is always in charge on the dance floor.  Now, doing an underarm turn means we get hopelessly tangled up with my cannula, but I can still bust a move if I dance pretty much in one place. It’s worth a try.
3. Sing karioke. I’m a classically trained soprano. I sing all the time, but the idea of doing it to canned accompaniment without any rehearsal makes my heart flutter a bit.

Anyway, even with our challenges, I’m sure we’ll enjoy this cruise as much as any of the others we’ve taken. After all, when the deck is swaying beneath my feet, I know I’m on vacation.
And when you’re on vacation, you should never sweat the small stuff. In the grand scheme of things, being an old fart is exceedingly small.