And We're Off!

 January 15, 2023

Thanks for joining me on our world cruise! I’m creating this blog primarily as a trip diary and a way to preserve our memories and experiences. Additionally I can take along our friends and family who’d like to join us on this “bucket list” adventure. As I begin this journal, we’re somewhere in the Pacific, headed south toward our first stop - Ensenada, Mexico. 

Our trip from College Station to Houston and then on to San Francisco yesterday was totally uneventful - the best kind. It was rainy, cold and almost dinner time by the time we got checked into our hotel room. Our tummies were still on Texas time (2 hours ahead) and we were hungry so we decided to walk to a nearby restaurant where we celebrated my birthday with pizza and pasta. We were both exhausted and slept like rocks that night. 

Landing in San Francisco

Sunday morning we woke too early and not wanting to pay $45pp for breakfast at the hotel, we decided to walk a few blocks to Rosy’s Cafe. A few blocks doesn’t sound too bad – unless you’re in downtown San Francisco! Going down the steep hills was fine (I did tell Ronnie that if I fell, I would probably keep rolling till I hit the bottom!) but the downhill trek was accompanied by the dread of knowing that I would soon have to climb back up those hills to get back to the hotel. 

San Francisco trolley car

As predicted, I had to stop and rest a few times on our return, but we made it back to the hotel just in time to hustle our luggage downstairs where we boarded a bus along with other Oceania passengers for our ride to the ship terminal. Check-in at the ship was actually pretty painless - basically a short wait, then answering a few covid related questions and leaving our passports with ship personnel who will keep them for the duration of the cruise.

At booking, we had opted to upgrade our room due to the length of time we planned to be gone – definitely a good decision! Our room was spacious (as cruise ship rooms go) with a king bed (actually 2 twins pushed together to look like a king), a love seat (which we wish was a sofa), a table with 2 chairs, some long cabinetry with a desk/working area and a balcony with a table and 2 chairs. As you might imagine, storage space is a premium and we were pleased to learn that our bags could be stored elsewhere on the ship. Included with our room is 24 hour room service and laundry service. No cooking and no laundry for 6 months – I could get used to that! Hopefully we won’t get covid but if I had to be sick, I can’t imagine a better place to be. Ha! 

Our home away from home for the next 6 months

January 16, 2023

We departed San Francisco last night at 10 p.m. and within 15 minutes or so we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. I was hoping to snap some photos of it all lit up at night but it was cold, windy and raining so I wasn’t inclined to go outside. You’ll laugh when you see the 2 photos I did get.

Golden Gate Bridge on a rainy night (lol)

Leaving the port

We’re aboard Oceania’s Insignia. Oceania dubs itself as having “the finest cuisine on the sea.” We’ve already eaten 3 or 4 meals on the ship, and even Ronnie (aka Mr. Picky) says the food is good. On the downside, the ship’s internet service is the pits! Unless things improve greatly, this may be the reason we won’t be recommending Oceania. Their internet service and offerings are far below par for 2023 – a huge disappointment! The ship’s personnel are all very professional and get this - we have our own butler! His name is Vishant Chandrahosa Poojary and he is very nice (he even wears tails)! Our cabin attendant is a sweet little girl from Russia, Irina Gilmanshina whose name I’ve so far been unable to pronounce correctly. It looks easy enough but the way she says it is not something my tongue wants to do!

Sunset from our balcony

We learned that only 386 persons on this ship are taking the full world cruise; the remainder are only doing a portion of it. We’ve chatted with a few folks and I’m sure we’ll get to know many more, given the length of this cruise. In addition to the regular eateries and dining room, each guest is allowed to make 23 reservations at one of two specialty restaurants onboard. Because we were so late in making ours, we were only able to book one night with a table for two; the rest of the time we’ll be seated at tables of maybe 8 or 10. So there will be lots of opportunities to get to know other passengers along the way. *A note about the clientele - I wasn’t sure what they would be like, but so far most everyone looks and acts like regular folks. Ha! There are a few that I might label “characters” but overall I’m guessing we’ll find most of them to be just normal people. And most are as old if not older than we are - pretty much what you would expect. There are a few I would consider “young folks” who look as if they’re accompanying a parent or grandparent, although we did notice 2 forty-something couples eating next to us at dinner last night.

A word about seasickness. I normally don’t get queasy on a cruise ship but today was the exception. Between the size of the ship (maybe half to third smaller than most we’ve been on, plus being higher up on the ship (8th floor) and the sea being rough and choppy, I was feeling a little green. Once I was convinced it wasn’t just a passing thing, I broke out the Meclizine (for motion sickness) and within maybe a couple hours things started to turn around. The sea is much calmer this afternoon so that has helped as well. The prospect of enduring that on all of our (sixty) sea days was too much to even think about. Normally we would opt for a room much lower on the ship (where less motion is felt) but we were very lucky to get the one we did. We only booked this cruise at the end of last June. One couple we visited with yesterday said they booked theirs 2 years ago! They couldn’t believe we were able to book at that late date, and actually we did get it due to someone's cancellation.

I’ve probably bored you enough for one day. More tomorrow.