Dearest Rachel –
It’s become something of a running joke in the audio-visual booth at church, where the guys know and deal with my erratic schedule; every time I return from a trip to my duties back there, I’m immediately asked, “so, when’s your next cruise?” as if I have something already in the pipeline at all times. Of course, the real punch line to the joke is that, rather than a simple, modest “aw, nothing,” an honest answer from me will require listing off at least a trip or two within the next six months.
This is what comes of having travel as a priority during one’s retirement while one still can, while also having the time and money to engage in that priority. Although, to be fair, over the last few months – and in the coming month – some of that travel has been specifically connected to the church in the first place; November saw Daniel and I with a large group of fellow congregants in Israel, and by this time next month, I’ll be back down in Honduras on a mission trip, hopefully teaching kids about compound interest and how it’s better to save than to borrow (although I doubt I’ll be able to get into investing, where the real money – and some real risk – lies). So it’s not all cruising around with drinks on the beach or anything like that – not that such a vacation has ever really been my speed.
In fact, now that I mention it, I haven’t had a cruise on my travel plans since Daniel and I got back from Boston in September. So I suppose I could fob off the question about my ‘next cruise’ for a while there. However, as of today (well, this past weekend, but today’s important with regard to it), that changes, as I’ve officially added one to my schedule after all.
You see, right after Christmas, I got an ad in my email from this one cruise line that I’ve been on once for about an hour. It’s one of many such emails I get; they come in pretty regularly every week, as they do from nearly every cruise line I’ve been on – and a few that I haven’t, come to think of it (although at the same time, it’s amusing to acknowledge that the one line Daniel and I toured Japan on very rarely bothers to contact me; I’m not sure why).
Now normally, I just file the offers into a folder marked ‘Travel’ and move on with my day, but for whatever reason, I decided to take a look at this one in particular, because it mentioned ‘free airfare’ to places like Tokyo and Sydney as part of their package deal. Now, if you know anything about traveling to the other side of the world, you know that the airfare is as expensive as the rest of the stay; that’s quite literally the case with our upcoming trip in March, although that may be because the tour itself is geared toward being economical, with members of the group having the option to tack on this or that experience on our own on an a la carte basis later.
However, in this case, the amenities on this trip include most of the things that would be considered add-on options with other lines I’ve voyaged with; such as a drinks package that would require a loyalty program such as mine on another line; internet access included throughout the trip, rather than an additional (and fairly steep) charge; and shore excursions at every port that are part and parcel of the trip, rather than being a separate item to shop for. Granted, that last might be limited, in comparison to other lines – one doesn’t get a dozen alternatives to pick from, but rather, a handful of options that the entire ship’s worth of passengers head out on – but it’s all part of the trip, which is exactly the sort of thing I like to take in.
Which is why, upon seeing it, I did what I could to sell it to Daniel. As you know, he isn’t much for getting out of the house (despite claiming that the U.S. is his favorite country, he’s in no real hurry to see much of it), but when you tell him about the possibility of visiting his second-favorite country (or maybe third; I’m not always sure as to where Japan and Israel fall, given their vastly different natures and the places they hold in his heart), there’s a good chance that he’ll be open to it. And after chatting with our AI advisor about Tokyo and Sapporo, in particular – including the possibility of a game platter dinner of our own, not unlike down in Australia (but substituting crocodile with bear, perhaps) – I think he was amenable enough for me to get on with this.
And get on with it I had to, as – according to the advertisement – the sale on this and a number of other possible trips with the cruise line would be ending with the year – which is to say, today. So I got in touch with our agent, and she set us up with a cabin, complete with a veranda (apparently, all the cabins on this ship have them; it’s de rigueur for modern cruise ships, and this one is only seven years old), and we’re good to go.
It turns out that this particular trip is basically a repositioning cruise – which explains why it’s so difficult to track down this particular route, and why it might be so likely to go on sale – but given the stops (particularly at the beginning), I’m not going to complain about it. I guess I’m just a sucker for these ads when I bother to look at them (which is why I usually file them away without reading them at this point), but I’m glad I took the time to look into this one. Now, if only I could work the same kind of persuading magic on the rest of the group at some point…
And with that having been said, honey, I’d appreciate it if you’d keep an eye on me (and Daniel), and wish us both luck. I’m sure we’re going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 