“The Big Birthday Cruise”
Raise your hand if you love to travel.
I recently had a wonderful opportunity, to attend a girls’ trip on the Carnival Breeze cruise ship to celebrate a friend’s big birthday. This was no ordinary vacation, as if any cruise vacation during the Coronavirus pandemic could be ordinary, but this was a girls’ trip. As general rule, spouses and littles were not in attendance. There were nearly 20 of us who went. For many of us, this was a ‘taking’ trip. A trip only for pleasure and fellowship and celebration. We left behind the daily grind, the responsibilities, the stress, for a moment in time for ourselves.
The 5-day sail date was chosen, staterooms were booked, travel plans commenced, excursions were confirmed, and shenanigans were planned for the special birthday Lady. Our subset group of 5 – me, my 2 sisters, our good friend, and her co-worker, set off in 2 vehicles for Galveston port on Friday morning for our Saturday sail date. The drive down was just nice. We gabbed about lady things, and further discussed our next few days, stopped frequently as ladies do, occasionally at a roadside stop with an attached casino, and had an uneventful trip down to our hotel in Houston that night.
I believe I must include a special excerpt about the famous roadside stop in Texas called “Buc-ees”. Now, I was a Buc-ees rookie, as were 3 of the other 4 in my group. Our friend insisted that we MUST stop at Buc-ees on the way. We would have lunch, fill up the tank, do some shopping, yada yada yada. Now, I was skeptical. After all, we’ve all seen nice road stops. What is the big deal with this place? When we arrived, I saw what the big deal was. This place was ridiculous. No less than 30 gas pumps, and that’s a conservative estimate, you guys. It was probably like twice that. When you walk in, it’s like a combination of convenience store, restaurant, county fair, souvenir shop, and much more. The place was packed! I’m pretty sure everyone drives on fumes just so they can wait to stop at Buc-ees. Ok, I was impressed. They have their own large line of souvenirs, everything from key chains to hoodies. They smoke their own barbeque. They have a jerky bar, y’all! Not just jerky, like 30 kinds of jerky! And the restrooms were very large, visually appealing, and clean. So yep, in the future, I’ll be Googling these along my route and stopping there if at all possible. And from what I saw in our Cruse FB group chats, most folks do the same.
In general, embarkation went extremely smoothly. The cruise line required arrival appointments. We arrived during our appointment window and could not find anything to complain about regarding Carnival’s embarkation process. Once we found our room, attended the emergency presentation, and settled in, the group met on the Lido deck for the traditional sail-away party, and the festivities were under way. Due to Covid-19, the ship was only at around 60% capacity. Passengers and staff were required to be vaccinated, masks were required during embarkation, and so on and so forth. Caution was taken at every turn in hopes that the cruise ship and the cruise line could once again return to the voyages so many had enjoyed in the past. Much ado the whole cruise was made about being ‘back’ to cruising.
The trip was magical. The boat felt nearly empty, which gave each passenger the luxury of having significant space in a time where space and physical distancing between strangers is highly valued. We ate. And we danced. And we drank. And we forged new friendships. And we sang. And we swam. And we sunbathed. And we tried new things. And we played silly games like bingo and trivia. And we shopped. And we watched fun live shows. And we talked. We talked about girly, trivial things. We talked about hair, and makeup, and clothes. And we talked about important things. We talked about our dreams, and our families, and our fears. And we ate. And we drank. And we laughed. And we learned. We learned about ourselves. We learned about our new friends. We learned about the sea, and other cultures, and the amazing world in which we live.
And we relaxed. We recharged. We regrouped. We reset. As each minute brought us closer to our arrival back on land, we planned. We dreamed of future trips. We exchanged contact information. We ensured we had what we needed to make it back home safely. And then, as all good things do, our voyage came to an end. We left the sea behind and came home to the daily grind. To dishes in the sink. To piles of laundry. To the gathering of school supplies. To the endless responsibilities of our lives. To people and pets who love us, and who we love with every fiber of our being. And we sighed, and we smiled, and we gave hugs. And we rolled up our sleeves and dove into the tasks that needed doing. Because, while this trip was a ‘taking’ trip, ultimately, we are givers. It is in our nature. It is who we are. And we will continue to give happily, with love in our hearts. And we will relish the opportunities. And, for a moment in time, we were carefree Goddesses of the Sea.
