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Hitchhiker’s guide to cruising - Serenade Live

Tree_skier

By Tree_skier,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Sunshine3601

Sunshine3601

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Sadly, the Outback franchise near our friends place is a Covid casualty and has permanently closed. So we chose a second round of Red Lobster. If you have never had their Cajun Salmon you are missing out.  It is to die for.  It is nice to have good friends to share a day with.  They'll be driving us to the port tomorrow! 

 

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is really going to come.  I know some of you have already been on multiple cruises out of Nassau or Florida and this is all just old hat but for me this feels like a really big deal.

 

For those whom i have posted with on other threads you may already know most of this... My wife and I are Canadian expats.  We have lived in the US full time since April of 2016. We now make our home in California's Central Valley. A year and a half ago (Feb 2020) we returned to Canada for, what was supposed to be, a brief 3 week visit with family and a final sorting of some business affairs I had left at loose ends for to long.  While in Canada those few weeks several unexpected and unfortunate things happened that delayed our departure. Then, in March, the world changed and we all locked down.  We made the best of the situation but it was clearly less than ideal. Over the course of the next 351 days we were forced to move 5 different times. During that time my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and we buried my mom.  While she went through surgery and radiation treatment I had my work, which is my passion, extremely curtailed  and I was left with very little to do.  I made the best of it but I was never so thankful to put a year in the rearview mirror as I was 2020.

 

February 2021 we were finally able to extricate ourselves for our former home and return to our new and permanent home.  My wife has been given a clean bill of health and we have returned, for the most part, to our normal life.  It may seem hyperbolic to some but this cruise is a celebration for me.  I felt like I lost a year of my life. 

 

I'm getting that lost year back.

 

Tomorrow I'm boarding Serenade of the Seas, while all in the world is not right, in my little world it is going to be as right as right can be.

 

See you tomorrow in the Schooner.

 

1676712242_ScreenShot2021-08-22at7_35_26AM.thumb.png.46408f0c01b5d60a8a3aa2c5e263db1a.png

Best wishes for your best cruise ever!   So Happy that your best friend is with you to enjoy life too🥰

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HBE4

HBE4

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Any suggestions for the first drink onboard?  I'm leaning towards the BBC 🙂 

 

Normally, I would stop at the very first bar and ask for whatever the quickest drink the bartender can put in my hand.....which is usually Miller or Bud Lite...uh, no.....so how about the Drink of the Day?

 

All of my cruises have been Caribbean so my first drink is usually something tropical. Since you are going to Alaska, idk, Hot Toddy or Mulled wine? 😉

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ONECRUISER

ONECRUISER

Posted
Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Sadly, the Outback franchise near our friends place is a Covid casualty and has permanently closed.

 

1676712242_ScreenShot2021-08-22at7_35_26AM.thumb.png.46408f0c01b5d60a8a3aa2c5e263db1a.png

Just had Outback last nite, first time in 18+ yrs. Still Good!!!

Edited by ONECRUISER
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ONECRUISER

ONECRUISER

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Coralc said:

 

Your AARP card will give you a discount at Outback. :classic_biggrin:

Funny, thanks... At that age(56) where some places give Senior Discounts, though still have better luck with those giving Military. Ain't ashamed to ask for any and all Discounts

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Tree_skier "Live from...." Rare

Tree_skier

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821141409_ScreenShot2021-08-23at6_12_09AM.thumb.png.dd9ae5f98f020a85830fd0455a900231.png

 

Today is the day!  Like a kid on Christmas morning i'm up before the sun.  It is overcast but the forecast is for a little sun by noon and more sun than cloud by sailaway.  Here's hoping the weatherman is right for a change.

 

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but we aren't actually staying in Seattle. We are in a suburb on the Peninsula called Port Orchard.  If you are visiting Seattle pre or post cruise I highly recommend you spend a day or two on the Peninsula.  You can tour a couple naval museums, visit Poulsbo (a quaint Norwegian themed village) or drive north to Olympic National Park in Port Angeles.  I love this area of the PNW and think it is vastly under rated and under acknowledged by tourists who come to Seattle.  Not that there isn't tonnes to see and do in Seattle but if you are willing to set aside a day for this I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

That being said, that means we are about an hour from Pier 91.  Instead of driving around and down through Tacoma and battling the horrible traffic from Tacoma north towards the Seattle pier we are going to have a little cruise on a ferry from Bremerton across to Seattle.  The ferry drops you about 10 minutes from the cruise port.  It'll be a neat way to start this cruise.  

 

In the mean time I sit and wait for DW to wake up so I can finish packing.  I've still got all my electronics, my CPAP and toiletries to pack.

 

To all those who have sent us well wishes thank you they are greatly appreciated. Thanks for following along.  It makes doing these live reviews so much more fun and rewarding when you received interesting comments along the way. I don't think I've looked this forward to a vacation this much since I was a kid.

 

I wanted to give a special shout out to my Cruise Critic friend @HBE4 We have posted together here for about 3 years. Thanks for following.  Thoughts and prayers are with you.

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ATG

ATG

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, StanleyandGus said:

Have a fantastic cruise, TreeSkier and Mrs TreeSkier! No advice or questions, but I will read every post. 

I second that.   Have a wonderful, much deserved cruise.  I’ll check several times a day to see what wonderful things are happening.

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HBE4

HBE4

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I wanted to give a special shout out to my Cruise Critic friend @HBE4 We have posted together here for about 3 years. Thanks for following.  Thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

Thank you for the shout out, my friend. There was no way I was going to miss this live review. One of our most favorite cruises was on Serenade when she sailed out of San Juan, PR back in 2009 or 2010. Smallest ship we've ever sailed on. And one of our next cruises on the bucket list was to be Alaska after sailing the Caribbean exclusively.  Put those two things together, along with your superb narrating skills, and it was meant to be! 👍

 

Looking forward to it.  Enjoy, you deserve it and more.

Edited by HBE4
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tonto524

tonto524

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

4DCF73F5-DA08-43F6-B4F3-744C055B3688.thumb.jpeg.cdce2b47a67237c2d9734add64a1e8f0.jpegThe cruise ( Washington State Ferry ) begins

 

 

Beautiful !!!! Have the best time - the feeling when you walk onto the ship from the gangway after all this time is AMAZING !!!!

Cheers (G & T is my sailaway choice),

Linda

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