Kmom on Carnival Radiance Semi-Live May 30-June 3, 2022 - FOURTH time on Carnival since resumption of cruising

[ninjacat123]

8 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Hello hello. We are getting close to this little California jaunt and yet it feels far away as life has been insisting on shoving its way into our plans. 

 

 

The Carnival website gives us this exciting message above, but at home back in Illinois there is still much to fret about during these last few days.

 

1. My mom, who is 78 and lives with us and has fallen 3 times in the past six months, fell again on Tuesday afternoon and this time fractured her arm just below the ball and socket joint of her shoulder. Does she use a cane or a walker?  Balance issues are a big thing as one ages...

 

2. My dad and stepmom, who are back up this way in their summer home nearby (they are snowbirds who winter in Florida), have graciously agreed to come visit with her every day while we are gone and help with whatever she may need. They actually have a lot to deal with this summer as they are in the process of moving out of their longtime, too-big property into a more age appropriate, lower maintenance local home that they bought last fall before heading south.  However this is exactly the kind of purpose-filled mission they love, so they are ready to deploy.

Nice that they are available and nice your mom is amenable.

3. I went to Walmart yesterday for Mom's injury-related prescriptions and bought about 30 tiny Michelina's, Banquet, and other microwave meals which she actually loves and can manage with her "good" arm while we are gone. She wasted NO time making use of them. Good job Mom taking charge of her meals

 

4. I am thinking I need to adopt Mick Jagger's workout routine if I don't want to end up in generally deteriorated and hobbly condition by mom's age. I don't really have 3 hours a day to work out, but 15 minutes of weights and 15 minutes of actual panting cardio seems reasonable. DO IT!!  Make sure you stretch as well so you maintain flexibility

 

5. None of these 3 elders feels able to take care of the 5 minutes a day of cat chores - scooping two boxes with lightweight litter, topping off 3 electric water fountain dishes and two dry food bowls, so I have hired a really nice neighbor 17 year-old who has been a classmate (friendly but not close friends) of my teen to come do it.  Both kids are honors level students and they were in our district's gifted program together since third grade, but he is a bit more mature and responsible than mine.  He can walk to the house or drive around the corner to our place. He's coming over this afternoon to go over the routine. I will need him to come 9 days in a row and I am planning to offer him a flat Benjamin for the whole job. You got a deal!  I usually pay more but I have a dog to take care of as well.  

 

6. Tomorrow, Friday, Mom has to go see an orthopedic surgeon about the arm, but honestly I think she will just prescribe more comfort management meds and keeping the arm as still as possible. Not sure if my dad or I will bring her to that as I am still supposed to be working full time (remote) until the EOB Friday. We spent six hours at the ER Tuesday afternoon / evening, 5:30-11:30 and during that time she received: An X-ray, one weak painkiller tablet and one muscle relaxer tablet, a sling to replace the makeshift one I tied up out of a gauze women's scarf, a new bandage to replace the one I put on her scraped elbow, and orders to go see a specialist who might be able to do something for her. 3 days later was the soonest we could get in. Sending good thoughts for a quick recovery

 

7. We have rapid NAAT tests booked for tomorrow morning at Walgreens. I ordered Binax home tests over the weekend when I panicked because they changed the booking down window to 3 days, and it was rumored on CC that they were ending all tests permanently this week. The Binax tests have not arrived but "should" today, however if they do come today or tomorrow I am considering them a backup and we will bring them to CAL with us. Hope your luck is better than mine with Walgreens

 

8. I think this is going to be the last cruise for us until the mandatory Covid tests are removed. The last 3 cruises - Legend at Christmas, Vista in April, and now this one, have had another level of stress added to the logistics as we don't even know today whether we will be allowed on the ship. If we lived an hour from port as my dad does in Florida, we probably wouldn't much care as the only thing to cancel besides the cruise, would be our plans to drive over to the port that morning.  We have rides to and from the airport, the flights, rental car, our guest's plans to come from another starting point via train to meet us in LA, pre-cruise hotel.  It's complicated enough for my tolerance level already without the worries about getting negative test results. I AGREE!

 

[KmomChicago]

41 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

1. My mom, who is 78 and lives with us and has fallen 3 times in the past six months, fell again on Tuesday afternoon and this time fractured her arm just below the ball and socket joint of her shoulder. Does she use a cane or a walker?  Balance issues are a big thing as one ages...

She uses both canes and walkers as fits the situation.

 

2. My dad and stepmom, who are back up this way in their summer home nearby (they are snowbirds who winter in Florida), have graciously agreed to come visit with her every day while we are gone and help with whatever she may need. They actually have a lot to deal with this summer as they are in the process of moving out of their longtime, too-big property into a more age appropriate, lower maintenance local home that they bought last fall before heading south.  However this is exactly the kind of purpose-filled mission they love, so they are ready to deploy.

Nice that they are available and nice your mom is amenable. Agreed!

 

3. I went to Walmart yesterday for Mom's injury-related prescriptions and bought about 30 tiny Michelina's, Banquet, and other microwave meals which she actually loves and can manage with her "good" arm while we are gone. She wasted NO time making use of them. Good job Mom taking charge of her meals. Yes this is a good solution.

 

4. I am thinking I need to adopt Mick Jagger's workout routine if I don't want to end up in generally deteriorated and hobbly condition by mom's age. I don't really have 3 hours a day to work out, but 15 minutes of weights and 15 minutes of actual panting cardio seems reasonable. DO IT!!  Make sure you stretch as well so you maintain flexibility Right, I know!

 

5. None of these 3 elders feels able to take care of the 5 minutes a day of cat chores - scooping two boxes with lightweight litter, topping off 3 electric water fountain dishes and two dry food bowls, so I have hired a really nice neighbor 17 year-old who has been a classmate (friendly but not close friends) of my teen to come do it.  Both kids are honors level students and they were in our district's gifted program together since third grade, but he is a bit more mature and responsible than mine.  He can walk to the house or drive around the corner to our place. He's coming over this afternoon to go over the routine. I will need him to come 9 days in a row and I am planning to offer him a flat Benjamin for the whole job. You got a deal!  I usually pay more but I have a dog to take care of as well.  I would pay more if he had to travel further and we'll see if he thinks it's fair.

 

6. Tomorrow, Friday, Mom has to go see an orthopedic surgeon about the arm, but honestly I think she will just prescribe more comfort management meds and keeping the arm as still as possible. Not sure if my dad or I will bring her to that as I am still supposed to be working full time (remote) until the EOB Friday. We spent six hours at the ER Tuesday afternoon / evening, 5:30-11:30 and during that time she received: An X-ray, one weak painkiller tablet and one muscle relaxer tablet, a sling to replace the makeshift one I tied up out of a gauze women's scarf, a new bandage to replace the one I put on her scraped elbow, and orders to go see a specialist who might be able to do something for her. 3 days later was the soonest we could get in. Sending good thoughts for a quick recovery Thanks, impossible to predict right now. 

 

7. We have rapid NAAT tests booked for tomorrow morning at Walgreens. I ordered Binax home tests over the weekend when I panicked because they changed the booking down window to 3 days, and it was rumored on CC that they were ending all tests permanently this week. The Binax tests have not arrived but "should" today, however if they do come today or tomorrow I am considering them a backup and we will bring them to CAL with us. Hope your luck is better than mine with Walgreens I just received the Binax home proctored tests about an hour ago, so definitely taking them along. We should be able to use them right up until Monday morning, I believe. 

 

8. I think this is going to be the last cruise for us until the mandatory Covid tests are removed. The last 3 cruises - Legend at Christmas, Vista in April, and now this one, have had another level of stress added to the logistics as we don't even know today whether we will be allowed on the ship. If we lived an hour from port as my dad does in Florida, we probably wouldn't much care as the only thing to cancel besides the cruise, would be our plans to drive over to the port that morning.  We have rides to and from the airport, the flights, rental car, our guest's plans to come from another starting point via train to meet us in LA, pre-cruise hotel.  It's complicated enough for my tolerance level already without the worries about getting negative test results. I AGREE! Thanks, I always try to spin this stuff as positive as possible and not whine, but I have had enough for many reasons for a while. 

 

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Funny you should say that, Kpark.  My husband is at a fast clinic right now because he thinks he has:

 

SHINGLES!

 

And he's home, and Shingles is confirmed, and it is near his eye so he needs to see an optometrist in the next 24 hours or go to the ER to have that further assessed.

[karriec]

50 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

And he's home, and Shingles is confirmed, and it is near his eye so he needs to see an optometrist in the next 24 hours or go to the ER to have that further assessed.

So sorry to hear that Kmom.  

[luvcruzing]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

 

And he's home, and Shingles is confirmed, and it is near his eye so he needs to see an optometrist in the next 24 hours or go to the ER to have that further assessed.

Holy crap, Kmom!  This is not good at all!  

[KmomChicago]

Well as of now we are still going forward with everything. I guess we will know more tomorrow after all of our medical appointments:

 

3 Covid Tests

1 Optometrist

1 Orthopedic Surgeon

And a partridge in a pear tree. 

 

Somehow as messed up as my life gets, usually things work out miraculously so I guess we shall see. 

 

I already prepaid the kid for the kitty chores and he is solid!

[KmomChicago]

I recommend everyone head over to read Jamman, Saint Greg, or Sid's reviews until further notice!

 

🙂

[ninjacat123]

2 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I recommend everyone head over to read Jamman, Saint Greg, or Sid's reviews until further notice!

 

🙂

Shingles sucks!  I've had it, not near my eyes and it's itchy and painful.  Sending lots of healing thoughts your way.  FYI, my DDs and I tested negative so we will be on the oldest ship in Carnival's fleet....Ecstasy!  Driving 9 hours tomorrow😱

[KmomChicago]

12 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Shingles sucks!  I've had it, not near my eyes and it's itchy and painful.  Sending lots of healing thoughts your way.  FYI, my DDs and I tested negative so we will be on the oldest ship in Carnival's fleet....Ecstasy!  Driving 9 hours tomorrow😱

Have an awesome time and DRIVE SAFE. I know you’ve been looking forward to it for a while! Are you live reviewing?

 

DH is kinda too young for shingles, 42nd birthday is actually tomorrow so he is too young for the vaxx which I just got last year. He’s on Humira though which suppresses your immune system and he’s been very stressed at work lately. 

Edited May 27, 2022 by KmomChicago

[KmomChicago]

On 5/8/2022 at 3:35 PM, JGB said:

I have been on the Radiance twice now and have 2 more paid for😀 One the 3 day just before your cruise. Needless to say I love this ship. 

So you are boarding tomorrow! Have a great time!

[ninjacat123]

5 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

Have an awesome time and DRIVE SAFE. I know you’ve been looking forward to it for a while! Are you live reviewing?

 

DH is kinda too young for shingles, 42nd birthday is actually tomorrow so he is too young for the vaxx which I just got last year. He’s on Humira though which suppresses your immune system and he’s been very stressed at work lately. 

I will be doing my usual mini review but I might include pics!! If DDs allow it and we don't drown (the weather is predicted to be rainy and thunderstormy) but that's ok...We are on a cruise!!😀

[KmomChicago]

On 5/8/2022 at 3:57 PM, cruisin*tigger said:

I was on the very last sailing.  We actually just made it back before cruising was halted.  Really loved the seahorse decor.  Wanted to ask for one of the little seahorse tables from the atrium lol.  Want to cruise Radiance at some point, but don't like the current short itineraries.

 

Am hoping @KmomChicago will share pics.  😊

How cool to be on the last sailing of Victory. I’ll look for these seahorses as I expect maybe some remnants of the old decor???

[KmomChicago]

On 5/16/2022 at 4:55 PM, ninjacat123 said:

Did you have reservations for specialty restaurants for your upcoming cruise?  I don't because Ecstasy has nada, nothing, zilch in the way of specialty restaurants😁my DDs and I will be all MDR all the time😜

We still aren’t doing any fancy meals but we did book parasailing on Catalina island.

[ninjacat123]

2 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

We still aren’t doing any fancy meals but we did book parasailing on Catalina island.

LOVE Catalina Island! The casino/movie theatre is iconic and I loved the feeling of being on an island 26 miles away from busy SoCal.  I hope you get a chance to wander the island, and check it out😎

[KmomChicago]

I need to share my mindset sitch because it may color everything else for the next 2 weeks. 
 

When we sailed Adventure of the Seas in August 2019 to Canada, we had a good experience but no other cruises booked after that. 
 

We had nothing canceled due to the pandemic because we had no pending booking to cancel.

 

Around November 2020 we booked August 7, 2021 on Mardi Gras on a wing and a prayer. And of course Kmom’s magical crystal ball. Vaccines were promised right around the corner but still make believe. Mardi Gras was sitting around I guess getting final touches,  vacant and unused near some coastline somewhere on the planet. We paid published fares. I thought there was a plausible hope of sailing the last week before teen had to go back to school for the fall. 

We sailed against all odds, perhaps the only people onboard who were neither Ultra casino guests and who had not had a single cruise cancellation. The logistics were hard on me for the first day or so and getting home on the back end, but in the end it was a really fabulous time. We were on a vaccinated cruise, hardly any small children onboard, the last sailing before Covid tests were required. 

We then booked Legend, Vista and Radiance. I quickly realized I’m noticing diminishing returns. I’m not sick of cruises but I’m sick of the travel to do so.

 

We have a lot of moving parts coming up for this next trip and now the broken arm and shingles. I don’t like leaving our cats or those at the rescue. 
 

I don’t sleep great in the best of times and I’m pretty stressed out at the moment. 
 

I wouldn’t say I quite regret this one, but I’m ambivalent at best. I could easily not be doing this right now and there’d be zero FOMO, zero sense of, “I should have booked a cruise from Long Beach, California this week.”

 

[KmomChicago]

I went to Vegas with my kid and our teen guest the last week of March, then almost 2 weeks away for the Vista cruise last week of April followed by a professional conference in San Antonio first week of May. Now this one, 11 days Saturday to following Tuesday with a 4 night cruise at the center. 
 

The second trip was booked last and quickly grew from a 4 day jaunt, Sunday to Wednesday alone, to almost 2 weeks, Friday to following Wednesday partly with hubby. 
 

This is obviously too much travel in too short a time for a full time working mom with a sandwich household and busy volunteer commitment.
 

First world problems but I have basically drunk too much vacation and now I’m fighting a bit of a hangover, apparently trying to cure it with some stiff bloody Mary’s. I literally have the headache this morning and not feeling nearly as smart or smug as I want the internet to see me.

[jbhcw]

It will all turn out as it's supposed to...whether you go or not...my first cruise in almost four years without my dear husband...was only so so at best....the stress from covid...testing..etc etc....and then sailing on a nearly empty ship...that was weird to me....I'm glad I did it...with oldest son and dil...and I might cruise again...but am just pretty wishy washy at this point in time....

Your Mom will be okay...she has people.....the kitties will be okay....Shingles near the eye can be tricky...my dil had shingles a few months ago...also too young for the shot.. I think..and it's pretty uncomfortable....

Whatever turns up...it will all be okay!!!!  Sending some positive vibes to you this am...oh...and we are under tornado watch here today...I am so over this spring weather....

[KmomChicago]

19 minutes ago, jbhcw said:

It will all turn out as it's supposed to...whether you go or not...my first cruise in almost four years without my dear husband...was only so so at best....the stress from covid...testing..etc etc....and then sailing on a nearly empty ship...that was weird to me....I'm glad I did it...with oldest son and dil...and I might cruise again...but am just pretty wishy washy at this point in time....

Your Mom will be okay...she has people.....the kitties will be okay....Shingles near the eye can be tricky...my dil had shingles a few months ago...also too young for the shot.. I think..and it's pretty uncomfortable....

Whatever turns up...it will all be okay!!!!  Sending some positive vibes to you this am...oh...and we are under tornado watch here today...I am so over this spring weather....

Thanks @jbhcw. Be safe with the weather. That’s been bonkers too this spring for most of us. 

[KmomChicago]

Good news; three negative NAAT rapid tests at Walgreens and results came nice and quickly. 

 

However, we are having a lot of trouble getting the results into VeriFLY.  I did a manual review upload of the screen shot of the test PDF file, which was just accepted so I am complete. My husband printed out the test, photographed it and uploaded and is now Pending. Teen is doing the same. They both tried loading the QR code and it didn't take it. 

 

Eye doctor said husband is at very low risk of any trouble related to his eye from his case of shingles, keep taking strong doses of the antivirals and go ahead and go on your vacation. If you have any eye trouble go to the infirmary on the ship and they will have antibiotic eyedrops that will help.

 

Husband has confirmed he wants to do so; he hopes the discomfort will start to decline within a day or two but even if it stays as is the whole time, as long as it gets no worse, yes, he would rather be on vacation than not.

 

Mom is at her appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. My dad and stepmom brought her so we are still standing by on that verdict; she has settled into as much of a little routine as one can in this kind of situation and could be left alone and manage, but the other two will be available as much or as little as she wants their help.

[purpleally]

On 5/26/2022 at 1:54 PM, KmomChicago said:

 

Funny you should say that, Kpark.  My husband is at a fast clinic right now because he thinks he has:

 

SHINGLES!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!😱

[kpark895]

On 5/26/2022 at 1:54 PM, KmomChicago said:

 

Funny you should say that, Kpark.  My husband is at a fast clinic right now because he thinks he has:

 

SHINGLES!

 

OMG - I feel like I jinxed you.  But it is good to hear that his case of shingles isn't going to stop you from cruising and that you all have negative Covid tests.  I'm not doing anymore "hoping" for you, LOL!

[KmomChicago]

10 minutes ago, kpark895 said:

 

OMG - I feel like I jinxed you.  But it is good to hear that his case of shingles isn't going to stop you from cruising and that you all have negative Covid tests.  I'm not doing anymore "hoping" for you, LOL!

 

No worries. We almost ALWAYS buy the cruise line insurance and never have used it, but that's what it's for. 

 

In this case I didn't really want to cancel because I had invested a lot of time in multi-stage details and the thought of undoing it all and redoing all, plus disappointing the teens, just was gonna be a drag. 

[TrqoisWtrs]

20 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I’ll look for these seahorses as I expect maybe some remnants of the old decor???

Yes, lots of seahorses.😊  That last one is the table I wanted to steal lol.  Wonder how much of it they kept for the new decor.

 

And sorry to hear about the hubby.  Hope it doesn't ruin the trip too much.  

[ninjacat123]

I’m chilling in Mobile with my dds after a delicious repast at The New South. Yum yum! And only 5 minutes walk from our hotel. Tomorrow embarkation on the oldest ship in Carnival’s fleet.😎😁👍

[KmomChicago]

8 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

I’m chilling in Mobile with my dds after a delicious repast at The New South. Yum yum! And only 5 minutes walk from our hotel. Tomorrow embarkation on the oldest ship in Carnival’s fleet.😎😁👍

 

Awesome; glad the hardest part is over. Travel day for us; we will be navigating O'Hare around the time you are boarding.