Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Royal Princess Sea Day: Only Because the Stars Aligned


We didn’t have any idea we would be making this trip. Sure, I needed to figure out the whole mobility scooter-solo-traveler thingy, but we thought we’d be tied to home. Between hubby, kiddo, and me, these last few months have found us knee deep in medical “stuff”. Appointments and tests and X-rays and MRIs. Multiple diagnoses. (That's plural for diagnosis. Who knew?) Surgery consults and scheduling. And let’s not forget last week's emergency room visit. While the moment we get back we are booked even more solid with surgeries and consults and such (and the upcoming jury duty week), somehow the stars aligned and have allowed us two full weeks of a clear schedule. 

If we were going to go away, it had to fit not only within our timeframe but some criteria:

  • Short flight time, preferable under 2 hours. And no stopovers. Gotta reduce the risk of scooter damage by the airlines. 
  • It had to be warm. With snow on the ground and temperatures hitting the single digits overnight our old bones needed warmth.
  • It needed to be somewhere we’ve been before. We have had to learn about conditions and diseases we didn’t even know existed. We didn’t want to have to learn something new while on vacation, too. 
  • Handicap accessibility was crucial. How am I going to prove myself otherwise?
10 days on the Royal Princess out of San Francisco - to Mexico - fit the bill perfectly. Since we booked the cruise very, very last minute the only handicapped cabin left was a suite. Even more perfect.

The stars aligned even more when we found out just two days ago a couple of special crew members were joining the ship on the exact same day we were. Can’t get more perfect than that.

And while our home security cameras show snow on the ground at home, the view from my seat at this very moment on this first day of February is nothing short of perfect.

Thank you for aligning, stars.

And a prime rib dinner on the balcony at sunset? 
Yup, perfect.