(Originally posted in Facebook on May 28, 2019)
We’re back!
Whew – we did it. There were a few days I wasn’t sure we were going to make it, but we did and we had a wonderful time! We really, truly did. I can’t recommend this trip enough. Holland America is a fabulous cruise line and our travel agent, Go Forth Travel, did a marvelous job of keeping us in the right place at the right time.
M did pretty well on the trip. Being away from home and the disruption of his daily routine was an issue for him, as I had been afraid of. I found that if I warned him ahead of time and told him “tomorrow we’re going to be doing these three things, it’s going to take this amount of time and we’re going to be away from the ship from this time until this time,” he handled the day much better.
The toughest part of the trip was getting through security at the airport and then getting through the security scanner each time we came back on the ship. I didn’t realize M would have such a hard time with this process and wasn’t prepared to get myself through and coach him through the process. Once I realized what was happening, I handled it better and things went more smoothly.
I think the closest I came to having a breakdown was getting through US Customs in Vancouver. We had taken a bus from Seattle to Vancouver and had gone through Canadian customs with no problems. But, before we could board the ship, we had to go through US Customs – I don’t know why. The line was long, we had already had a long day and nerves were frayed. About halfway through the line, M decides he’s had enough and starts pitching a fit, raising his voice and letting everyone know that “THIS IS RIDICULOUS.” Okay, yes – it is ridiculous, but standing in line, waiting for US Customs to give us approval to board a ship that we have paid A LOT of money to get on is NOT the time to let everyone know that. If there were ever a time to just hush and take one for the team, this would be it. Of course, all my snacks and candy were in another bag and I didn’t have anything to try to make things better except the promise it wouldn’t be much longer. I still don’t know how we got out of there.
Mr. Grizzly Bear says “aarrgg!”
So now we’re back, well rested and on our regular schedules again. No more “all you can eat” buffets. No more room stewards making the bed and cleaning the room. I think I could get used to that kind of life. But I’ve learned that having M in a regular routine is very important. I’ve also learned that I need someone else with me if we ever travel again – having all the responsibility for him is too much.