The plan is to celebrate both my own and NYBoy P’s retirements. There will be four of us on this adventure the regular four. Lady D will be accompanying me in my cabin, and the boys will have their own. Unusually on the other side of the ship as it turns out. it was NYBoy F’s turn to book the cruise that would fit with our joint high expectations, that is to say, it needed to be on the sea and have a drinks package. So when he returned after booking the cabins, he explained that the Travel agent must’ve made a mistake, because we had to have been booked into cabins, not just on a different floor, but on the other side of the ship from each other. I suspect there was no mistake by the travel agent, but rather the boys felt they should give us the space, to make enough noise that we won’t disturb them. That’s what being friends for decades does, it allows you the bandwidth to say “how can I ever miss you? If you don’t go away” and I know they really love you but 9 days at sea with even good friends might be a tad claustrophobic.
Good friends are one of the real blessings of growing older. We understand each other more, we appreciate each other more, and worry about each other more. However whether we listen to each other more I’m not so sure as we have packed plenty of books and earplugs, which would imply, being good friends means sitting together and ignoring each other is also good. As the only expectation is to be together (even if sometimes floors apart) and make memories.
Although Lady D and I are excitement about having a balcony, it’s the first time for us. Yes, we have splashed out and got a room with a view and a minor chance of falling overboard. Although I think it would have to be a strong wind to get either of us over side. However, I am beginning to wonder how much we’re gonna be able to sit on it, given we’re leaving from Southampton crossing the Atlantic Ocean in November, and then arriving in hurricane season in the Caribbean. No problem, Lady D is taking her cardi and I have my gagoole.
So the adventures begin with a rendezvous at Southampton Premier Inn, where we’ll spend the night, have a drink (as you can’t start drinking too early, when you’re anticipating a ‘drinks package’ for 14 days) and try to avoid a mild panic about what we’ve forgotten, even though we know we can buy everything on the ship.
wherethehellisgillian 