Not Quite as Smooth a Cruise as Last Year!

I'll be trying to make a short, fun, but rather uneventful cruise longer and more exciting! Brave Susan and I drove to Galveston to sail for 5 nights on the Mariner of the Seas again. This is our same cruise as the one last May, but with more mishaps and complications! Right off we were notified that there was a problem with boarding, so we needed to delay our arrival by 2 hours.  Frustrated looks were exchanged between us...we could have slept later. Instead we stopped at Starbucks for a coffee break.

Now one of the mantras I have developed about travel is NOT to report on the problems of the trip first! That would be hard to avoid on this blog, since the first day was kinda nothing but problems. First problem: a wheelchair to get me onto the ship. The fact that this worked flawlessly last year seems to have been a fluke. Two many missteps to relate. It was an extended mess.

Susan parked me while she went to check out our room!

My pina colada matched my outfit!

Our room was smaller (only one available as late as I booked) but to our great relief the rented oxygenator was there, along with a spare. Only thing was when Susan plugged it in, the first would not work--at all! So we switched to the second, realizing that we now had no back up.

Jamie's, the Italian specialty restaurant saved the day for us! Neither of us had ever eaten at Jamie's, and we called it the best shipboard meal we had ever had. And...we were the only patrons in the restaurant, so we were not lacking in attention! They thanked us for "reserving the place for the night!"

 I won't bore you with all our delightful courses, but...

These were my entreés. Delicious prawn linguine with a side of the best lasagna I ever tasted.

Susan's dessert

So went to bed full and happy, but the day was not through with us yet! Before I even got to sleep, a noxious odor began coming through my nasal cannula. It smelled very strongly like some kind of paint odor. I woke Susan and since we did not have a backup oxygenator, she went down to Guest Services at midnight  for help. Amazingly, the ship had one oxygenator and it was not in use. They had to open the infirmary for her, and a doctor had to approve--at midnight. I count this as another miracle in my life. The oxygen company did not have an outlet at either of our stops. I could have used my portable oxygen machine, but it is not a continuous flow like I require at night.

For the remainder of our trip we had three (3!) oxygenators in our small room. Well, one was in our even smaller closet.

They do not seem as small as they look here when one is having to navigate around them. That's one back there in the corner. And the white one is the ship's.

The best part of our room:

Our balcony

We had breakfast out here!

And look who we were thinking of!

My lunches were, shall we say, unusual. Susan got them for me, and she knows just what I like! Both these plates are mine

We love the Windjammer. We can get whatever wild combo we want! Her plates looked much the same, only with some healthier stuff!

It was hard not to think about what would be facing us when we got home on Saturday. Susan watched the weather all week. She and Rob decided he would fly down to Houston, pick up my car, and drive us home if possible.

On formal night we had dinner and saw a production show.

The show was outstanding and very entertaining!

We saw the ice show, too, always a favorite!

Just no pictures because wheelchair seating is up in the rafters. 

My driver toured me around frequently. We were on the 7th floor, and each floor had a little overlook.

"Free ice cream!" 

The last day...I went back to Jamie's!

I loved wearing the blue Royal Caribbean hoodie that I bought on the cruise last year! It is sparkly on the back! And carrying the little blue purse that Madeline bought me on the Disney Magic! My favorite OOTD!

Picture sparklies!

Our last dinner! Picture taken by the cutest waiter--we could just tell he would do a good job!

Getting off was as much of a beating as getting on!

But we made it with the help of Rob and his brother-in-law Todd.

The weather wasn't too bad until we got close to home. Then it looked like this!

We are so thankful for getting home safely. I'm especially thankful to my lady in waiting. For the midnight trip to Guest Services, and for all the impossible threshholds to wheel me over, all the appliances to keep charged up, for the trips to get my food, etc., etc., etc. Oh...and for fixing the back of my hair daily!
I couldn't have done a bit of it without my Susan!