A brief review for the nonagenarian demographic

[Sand and Seas]

I can't wait to read more! 

Have been retired for a couple of years now and I my goal will be to cruise for at least another 30 years too😊

[FitchburgWIFamily]

I am hooked.  I travel with my mom, she cruised with us last November at age 90.   Can’t wait to read about your experiences!

 

 

[AKR2011]

I'm really enjoying your review and look forward to more 🙂

[Greenpea2]

You are my hero(ine). Your spirit and humor are so wonderful! My dad is 98 and not mobile enough to cruise. If my mom was still alive she would be 94 and she would cruise with me and love it! Aprille is so lucky to still have you (as I’m guessing she knows).  
 

I want to hear anything you want to say! 

[mimmy52]

46 minutes ago, sunsetsoon said:

 

Now I have a problem. I'm forced to tell you that Marty will be 65 in September. I'm usually the one that makes that kind of mistake. But she also insisted on calling our butler Hugo. His name was Yogi.

 

 

Now I am in stitches.  So Aprille and Marty are still youngsters.  Thank you, Aprille, and I'm pleased you'll be contributing too.

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

Very interesting review keep it coming, I appreciate hearing your perspectives on your cruise and enjoy your humor as we'll 

[sunsetsoon]

I've turned off the TV - it gets tiresome really fast. And I'm not ready to start working on my diamond painting. It's my most recent hobby and I love it. I stopped counting how many I have done when I got to 40. I just keep on painting. It keeps me out of mischief. I define mischief as driving to Walmart and spending money. Believe it or not - I'm still legal to drive. But in Texas you have to show up at the DMV every other year to renew your license - and this is my year. I hope my old car lasts as long as I do. Our combined age is 110.

 

I seem to have gotten completely off subject. The subject is "My 24 hours in NOLA". Aprille and Marty had been there for 3 days and had a big head start on fine dining. It's not that I had never been in New Orleans. We had to drive through it on our way to Disney World. WDW was our favorite destination before we discovered cruising. And just so you know - we would never have gone cruising if Disney hadn't built some cruise ships. Glenn (my husband) would only go cruising if we went on a Disney ship. Not a problem. Incidentally, they treat old people really well on those ships. They made us feel like rock stars.

 

Okay - off subject again.

 

My scary pusher finally got me to the place where drivers were holding up cards with names on them. I didn't see my name but I saw A Magill and that was close enough for me but not for Jason (the driver). He wanted to know when A Magill would show up. I finally convinced him I was A Magill's mom and she was waiting for me at the hotel. He was a proud native of New Orleans and entertained me with stories - mostly about the best food and where to find it - all the way to the hotel. It was good to see Marty in the street jumping up and down and waving his arms like a windmill. He does things like that because he is glad to see me. I really believe that. Aprille couldn't do that because she was in the lobby in her wheel chair. But she was glad to see me too.  She checked me in and a free breakfast comes with your first night. For some reason they gave me 2 coupons. I didn't even notice it until the next morning. So Marty and I got the free ones and Aprille had to pay for hers. It was a tough call but he's a good son-in-law. Aprille is a good daughter but not that great as a sister. Can't remember what we ate. We were too busy talking and catching up.

 

So now I need to back up and tell you about our evening. We had decided ahead of time that we would dine at the Red Fish Grill and that's what we did. Aprille does a lot of research on where to dine and it works out well. We all enjoy eating - especially fine dining. But first I will tell you my fine dining background. We recently had a fine dining disaster in the tiny town where I live. The local Dairy Queen was severely damaged by a fire in the kitchen. There was much moaning and groaning but Jesse's Piza and Subway were happy for the extra business. I was happy to be informed just before I left town that the Dairy Queen will reopen the end of this month. I'm just kidding. When I desire fine dining I go to Amarillo and eat at the Texas Roadhouse. They serve really good bread. Bread is my favorite food group. But the Dairy Queen really was severely damaged and really will reopen at the end of the month.

 

The Red Fish Grill was a busy place as were all the restaurants. Their specialty is oysters but we just skipped right over that part of the menu. Aprille and I had Shrimp and Grits and it was so good. Can't remember what Marty had. I know he had wine. He always has wine. He had food too - I just can't remember what it was. I do remember we shared dessert. It was Boozy Bourbon Pecan Pie and it was beyond delicious - and I don't even like pecan pie. Or I didn't until I tasted this one. The restaurant was on Bourbon Street and I was eager to see a little bit of Bourbon Street. We walked around a little bit and I didn't want to spend much more time on Bourbon Street. It's unique to say the least. It's very narrow. There were cars and people everywhere. And it was cold. So I've seen Bourbon Street and now you don't have to because I told you all about it. I was very happy when Aprille made a deal with Uber to come pick us up. 

 

Tomorrow I will tell you about the Embarkation from Hell. It was kinda fun.

 

 

[Aprille]

For those who like visual aids:

 

Me and Mom

 

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Aprille

[Aprille]

And not to leave Marty out:

 

 

[joejoe 59]

Loving your review thank's. I hope I have your attitude as I get older.

[sunsetsoon]

Thank you dear daughter for posting those pictures.  Next time you get the extra free breakfast.

[stefmaia]

Cant wait for the next bit. You should record your adventures as a podcast, I would subscribe.

[E@syPe@zy]

1 hour ago, Aprille said:

And not to leave Marty out:

 

 

Oh yea...you like you enjoy a good "pot stirrin'"!  Just kidding...well, not really!?!

My dear....you are a brilliant comedian!  I am loving this so much!😹

[sunsetsoon]

It's finally time to head for the dock and get aboard that beautiful ship. Aprille had arranged for car service since we had so much luggage plus walker and wheel chair. The drivers have to be creative when they haul us. The wheel chair wound up in the front seat. We had room for a couple more people but definitely no more luggage. Our driver's name was TK and he was also a proud native of New Orleans. I enjoyed all our drivers - both car service and Uber - but I did sometimes cringe at how casual they were about driving in heavy and somewhat erratic traffic. Aprille and Marty laugh at my idea of a traffic jam. If I have to wait for more than 2 cars to pass before I can get on highway 136 I consider that a traffic jam. A few days ago I had to wait for 12 vehicles heading toward Borger and 3 vehicles heading toward Amarillo. I debated about whether I really needed to go to town that day. I could go back home and try again another day. But I told myself I could do it - and I did. Once I get on 136 it's 12 miles of smooth sailing to Walmart in Borger - except on Howdy Neighbor Day. But that's another story and has nothing to do with cruising.

 

The NO dock area is different from any other I have been in. I read many posts on CC about it and tended to worry a little bit but Aprille told me not to worry - she didn't say it exactly like that but I decided not to worry or at least not to let her know I was worried. She doesn't like for me to worry. Truth is - she gets a little irritated if she catches me worrying so I try to not let her catch me. TK spent the last few minutes of our journey explaining (to Aprille of course) how to contact him when we debarked. It sounded complicated so I quit listening and decided not to worry about it. We turned our luggage over to a porter, Marty pushed the wheel chair and I pushed the walker. Turns out the walker was a handy crutch for me for the next few hours. We were pointed toward a door and stepped inside hoping to see a Haven check in line. What we found was a room about half full of people ranging in attitude from confused to irritated. We joined the crowd and tried to find out what was going on. A lady that had been there since 8 AM (it was now almost 11) said the ship had docked 2 hours late. I sure would like to know why that lady got there at 8 AM.  It was a while longer before we found out the port had closed the night before because of gale force winds. It was getting a bit chaotic and folks were still coming in. The dock workers were trying to keep them out but they were dealing with people that were determined to come in. The room was now overcapacitated and a new group of people came through in single file and hauling a lot of luggage. These were the people that were debarking and they had to come through to get to the airport busses lined up outside. I must day these people did not look happy. So us happy people that were eventually going to embark made a lane for them to get to the bus. A lot of folks missed their flights that day and I begin to wor . . .. no no not worry but think about what I would do if that happened to me. And I figured it out. I would let Aprille tell me what to do. That's her job. So we people watched and visited with the folks around us and waited - and waited. The dock workers were in panic mode and I thought for sure there would be physical fights - among the dock workers not the passengers. A dock worker walked in the room, looked around, said "oh my god" and walked back out of the room. Never saw him again.

 

It'a almost 5 AM in Fritch TX and time for me to go step on the scales. It's a long time habit of mine so excuse me for just a minute.

 

Okay I'm back and don't even think about asking.

 

We overheard an official looking guy tell a dock worker they had to get some of the people out of the room. It seems there were too many of us (you could have fooled me) and we were a fire hazard - or something like that. No one left the room but more came in. We were in two groups - couldn't possibly say we were in a line - more like herded into a pack. We watched one lady in the other pack walk up to the front of "the line", unfold a camp chair and sit down. A worker approached her and they conversed briefly. I swear I saw his eyes roll as he walked away. She sat there for a while then got up, folded her chair and got back "in line". Turns out she was staying in the Haven and that entitled her to be first in line. Heard another couple explaining they were Platinum and got Priority Boarding. Turns out that a cruise ship that docks 2 hours late is a great equalizer. Keeps us humble.

 

It was announced several times that no one would be allowed to board the ship before 1PM. Must say - they got that one right. But they did finally try to get people in 2 single lines. It didn't happen but at least we were moving. We were allowed to go first because of the wheel chair and walker but other people got ahead of us. Didn't matter because no one was getting on that ship before 1 PM. There was a Haven line around the corner so we got in it and waited our turn to go to a check in desk. We were handed 2 forms to fill out declaring where we had been lately. If you hadn't been to China in the past few days you were good to go. We got checked in and THEN we were led to the Haven waiting area. It wasn't fancy to say the least but at least there were chairs - in single lines - and snacks and COFFEE. We waited some more - hey, we were getting real good at it. Finally our concierge came in - and big surprise. It was David - our concierge from the Bliss. Aprille asked him if he remembered us and he swore he did. I believe him because we are pretty rememberable - at least one of us is and it's not me and it's not Marty.

 

Several people began walking into the room carrying signs that said "Haven". A happy happening indeed. We were ushered out in small groups. We waited until last because it didn't matter who went first. We were finally getting onboard the Getaway.

 

 

[cruisersMandW]

15 hours ago, sunsetsoon said:

I just returned from a 9 day Caribbean cruise on the Getaway out of New Orleans and would love to talk about it but not sure if there are any more nonagenarians on CC that would be interested in a 90 year old widow's idea of cruising fun. So I will keep it short and hopefully sweet.   My daughter, Aprille, does all the planning. My son-in-law, Marty goes along with whatever she plans - his only request is "don't tell me how much it costs". I go along with whatever she plans and my only request is "tell me where and when". The 3 of us have cruised on the Jade, the Bliss and the Getaway. We have stayed in the Haven each time. Which brings to mind - affordability. I only planned for 20 years of retirement and I'm almost up to 30 years so you can see why affordability comes to mind. But Aprille finds these deals where the 3rd party is free - had to fight Marty over who got to be third party but I won when I told him there was some kind of free drink package for guests 1 and 2. I didn't tell him (as so many have pointed out) it really isn't free but he never reads the fine print.   We were in a 2 bedroom suite on the Jade and thought it was grand. We splurged on a DOS on the Bliss and can you say "WOW!" Once again I was 3rd party and once again Aprille honored Marty's request and didn't tell him how much it cost. We stayed in a 2 bedroom on the Getaway and Aprille commented it was "a step down from that DOS on the Bliss" but it was quite nice. We had a great location - across the hall from the concierge desk, the lounge/bar and the restaurant.   Okay, that's enough background. I'm going to check my notes and write some more if there are any more nonagenarians out there - or any one else that just hopes to be a nonagenarian some day and wants to know what it's like from someone whose living it and loving it.

You're my hero!  May you continue to enjoy your travels for a long time to come!

[texasgirl29]

This is the best thing I've read on Cruise Critic in a long time. I think you should submit the manuscript to your hometown newspaper. 

And you can't beat the fine dining at Dairy Queen -- steak fingers and a Dr Pepper. 

And that Marty sounds like a swell guy.

 

JoAnn 

Another Texan from Waco

 

 

[worktocruise610]

Loving your review!!! You really are a great writer, you should definitely do podcasts as another CCer suggested. Can't wait to hear more about your adventures. I wish I had as much energy & love for life now as you do lol! 

[disneylover89]

Loving this review!  I can't stop laughing! Looking forward to more!

[KarlChilders]

You are a hoot. You make me miss my Mom, she wasn't as funny as you, but she had her moments! 

[sunsetsoon]

I love all the kind words. I'm having lots of fun writing about our wonderful time on the Getaway. But I haven't even got to that part yet so I'm coming back later today.

 

I had to take time out this morning to bake a batch of Fiber One muffins. That's my morning snack. I will have my one adult drink of the day soon - a high protein Ensure smoothie. They really should have these things available on cruise ships since there are so many of us older folks cruising these days.

 

I had planned to pick up my mail yesterday and made sure to get there before 11:30. The reason that is important is because our PO closes for lunch from 11:30 - 12:30. And home delivery means you have to drive half a mile to your assigned box in a cluster of boxes to get your mail. They actually call it "home delivery". If you get a package that won't fit in the P box (I think the P stands for parcel but don't quote me) you get a yellow card in your box and then you drive another half mile to the PO to pick up said package. I only tell you these things because it's part of my background. It's life in a tiny town and I love it. So okay, I get a little irritated that the PO closes for lunch but then I think - we are lucky to have a PO. Some tiny towns don't.

 

I've decided to not try and post our ship experience by the day. My memory isn't sharp enough for that. And I didn't really take notes like I said earlier. So the categories will be Food, Entertainment, Shopping, Food, Kindle Time, Nap Time, Food and I might devote a paragraph to my commode. It had a fascinating flush sequence. Truth be known it was more irritating than fascinating but no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

 

I've got to run now. It's 11:09 and you know what happens at 11:30.

 

 

[MrsKC08]

Absolutely loving this and joining in for the full ride! We sail on the Getaway in 10 days and I cannot wait to hear your take on it.

[jaxw17]

Well you have me gripped loving in and cant wait for the next instalment.

I wonder what my Mum would make of cruising. She died so young at 56. She would have been nearer your age now. I am also 62 so will you  be my surrogate Mum for the duration of the report. I know I am from the UK but we will pretend I have lived there for a while.

Loving it. 

[IRMO12HD]

@jaxw17, I love your idea!  I, too, lost my mom way too soon (she was 65 when she passed), so am hoping @sunsetsoon will 'adopt' me as well :-)  @sunsetsoon, you and your posts and your attitude are AWESOME :-).  

 

[DinaS]

23 hours ago, sunsetsoon said:

I just returned from a 9 day Caribbean cruise on the Getaway out of New Orleans and would love to talk about it but not sure if there are any more nonagenarians on CC that would be interested in a 90 year old widow's idea of cruising fun. So I will keep it short and hopefully sweet.   My daughter, Aprille, does all the planning. My son-in-law, Marty goes along with whatever she plans - his only request is "don't tell me how much it costs". I go along with whatever she plans and my only request is "tell me where and when". The 3 of us have cruised on the Jade, the Bliss and the Getaway. We have stayed in the Haven each time. Which brings to mind - affordability. I only planned for 20 years of retirement and I'm almost up to 30 years so you can see why affordability comes to mind. But Aprille finds these deals where the 3rd party is free - had to fight Marty over who got to be third party but I won when I told him there was some kind of free drink package for guests 1 and 2. I didn't tell him (as so many have pointed out) it really isn't free but he never reads the fine print.   We were in a 2 bedroom suite on the Jade and thought it was grand. We splurged on a DOS on the Bliss and can you say "WOW!" Once again I was 3rd party and once again Aprille honored Marty's request and didn't tell him how much it cost. We stayed in a 2 bedroom on the Getaway and Aprille commented it was "a step down from that DOS on the Bliss" but it was quite nice. We had a great location - across the hall from the concierge desk, the lounge/bar and the restaurant.   Okay, that's enough background. I'm going to check my notes and write some more if there are any more nonagenarians out there - or any one else that just hopes to be a nonagenarian some day and wants to know what it's like from someone whose living it and loving it.

 

Love to hear about your experience and I plan to tell my dad about it as well.  He's going to be 90 this year, and he's a widower 😉   Lives alone in the house we grew up in, in NYC.

 

By the way, I would love for my dad to take a cruise with us - but he wants nothing to do with it...LOL

 

I can hear the famous tune playing now.... "matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match...find me a find...catch me a catch..."

 

LOL

 

 

[sunsetsoon]

Oksy I'm back and ready to write. I picked up my mail and was a little embarrassed - only 6 items in 10 days and 1 was my brother-in-law's NRA magazine. I get all his NRA mail because he can't remember his house number but he remembers mine. It's no biggie because he lives next door and comes over every morning for coffee and conversation - and to pick up his mail.

 

We are in our suite now - 16122 - and checking it out. The small bedroom is much better arranged than the one on the Jade. There's a lot of storage space - more than I need. The closet is large enough that I can hang all my clothes and the suit case fits in the bottom of the closet. I left it open for easy access to the things I didn't hang. There are corner shelves all the way from the floor to the ceiling. I only used a couple of them. Of course if there were 3 people sharing this room - it would be 2 too many. The couch just lets out into a wide single bed. I had Micheal leave it out all the time. I wanted it to be handy for napping. The bathroom was very nice and big enough. The shower was large even with a bath bench in it. It only took me 2 days to figure out how to turn on the water and another day to figure out how to get the right temperature. There was ample shelf space for one person. So I might as well tell you about the commode. Why me I wonder. As you know, those things are scary anyway when they flush but the normal ones flush instantly so you know when that loud pop is going to happen. This one didn't work on any kind of schedule. Sometimes it would work instantly and sometimes it would just start a low, but annoying whistling sound. This would last for different periods of time before it would flush and pop. Sometimes it would flush as I washed my hands. sometimes as I stepped out of the bathroom, etc. If it didn't happen before I got to the door I would walk slower. I just accepted the situation with as much grace as I could muster and decided I wouldn't let it ruin my vacation. That's a joke. We would laugh about some of the things that people allow to "ruin their vacation". I talked to Michael - our cabin attendant - and he tried to explain how it works but I didn't really care about that. He said he would report it and I'm sure he did. No one ever came to check it and I didn't want to make a big deal out of it since it always flushed before I completely left the room. Truly not a big deal and I wish I hadn't used up so many of my words even talking about it. I really loved my room and highly recommend the 2 bedroom suite for a party of 3 adults. There were 6 adults in the suite next door to us on the Jade. A couple, their 3 teen aged daughters and one of the daughter's boyfriend. The dad stepped out of his room the same time as I stepped out of ours on the first day. He slammed his door and yelled - "I'm going to sleep in the galley" and stomped away. It's possible he may have let that ruin his vacation.

 

Aprille wasn't thrilled with the master bedroom. It was smaller than expected. Keep in mind, we had stayed in one of the DOS suites on the Bliss on our last cruise so most any other suite would pale in comparison. Somehow Marty got their 4 large bags unpacked and got all the bags under the bed. Aprille had Marty collapse the walker and put it in the bath tub. He didn't do it right of course. The legs stuck out where she bumped into them each time she stepped into the shower. But she didn't say anything to hm. She just muttered under her breath each time she bumped into them. Now for goodness sake, don't tell her I said anything about the walker in the bathtub. By the way, their commode flushed like a champ - every time. And another by the way, Micheal brought her a nicer bath bench than mine. But I didn't let it ruin my vacation.

 

The living area was fine - the couch was roomy enough for 3 people to sit comfortably but the 3 of us never sat on it at the same time. I preferred a dining room chair with my feet propped on another dining chair. Yogi - aka Hugo - always carefully arranged the chairs around the table and I carefully rearranged them as soon as he left. Marty and I enjoyed the coffee maker. He always got a saucer and spoon with his cup while I just got a cup. Saucers and spoons just get in the way.

 

The balcony was very small as expected. It had 2 chairs and a small table. There was enough room for the 3 of us to stand at the rail and watch the dockings and sail aways - and whatever else. Actually there wasn't much to see when we were just sailing except water and sky.

 

I didn't intend to write such a long chapter about our suite but sometimes I just can't find a period. There - I found one. I haven't decided what the next chapter will be about. I'm going to take a break but will come back soon.