| Subject: Never say Never when it comes to travel |
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Hi Ziners: I wonder how many of you have said, at some time, I will
never do this or that or go here or there relative to travel. I know I
have....and would have missed a fantastic experience if I had not been
more or less forced into one of my nevers. As many of you know, last
summer, after Bill and I had signed up and paid deposits on a trip
largely via a small, adventure-type ship from Santiago, around Cape
Horn, to Buenos Aires--3 1/2 weeks of exciting adventure,taking in
Patagonia, the Chilean Lake District and fjords, the Cape, the
Falklands, the Argentinian deserts and ranchlands, Iguazu Falls, etc.,
we learned that our small ship had been sold and decomissioned and that
we had been transferred to a large 1700-passenger ship, the Norwegian
Dream. Here comes the Never -- both of us had said that we would
NEVER go on a big passenger cruise ship....little adventure ships were
great ways to see exciting places like Spitsbergen, the coast of
Labrador, Iceland the the Faroes, the Azores, but NEVER a mega-ship. We
almost cancelled....and boy, are we glad we didn't!! Even though the
ship was full, we never felt crowded, we loved the freestyle
dining---casual when we wanted to be casual, more formal when we chose,
Italian if we wanted it, deck b-bque maybe, classic French cuisine
maybe....whatever, eating at a table for 2 or with friends, as we chose.
We had the nicest, biggest cabin we have ever had---and not a
high-priced one---king-size bed, sitting area with sofa and 2
upholstered easy chairs, a table, a huge view window, optional breakfast
each morning in our room. We met some of the most interesting people
who were passengers. Getting on and off the ship was very efficient.
More later about the joys of the areas visited.
The big ship was no problem at all. I still prefer very small ships and will hunt out adventure ships (now looking at a small freighter that makes a run from Tahiti to the Marquesas for 2 weeks), but both Bill and I tell everyone that saying never is really sort of dumb....now we plan to keep a more open mind. Have any of you Ziners had a similar experience in which your NEVER has turned into something unexpectedly delightful? Cheers, Pat in Baltimore |