Norwegian Star

As a day at sea – you are probably expecting a picture show, description of the ship, and finally an update on the knitting. After all – you have read more than one of my cruise trips.

This time brace yourself for a bit of a detour.

Back in 2000, George in a flash of brilliance gave me, as a birthday present, a gift certificate for Ballroom Dancing lessons for the two of us. At the time I was stationed with the Germans who were always having one kind of formal event or another; all of which involved some serious dancing. George, being the normal obtuse American male had finally figured out that the traditional American attitude “real men don’t dance” was, in fact, bullshit. Real, educated German men all danced. Every last flipping one of them along with speaking two or more foreign languages, understanding history, geography, math and physics. It was part of the education package along with music and art.

Some how he managed to get us out of Munich without ever redeeming his promise. Our first couple of years in Heidelberg came and went; so did I to Kuwait and back. Our three youngest all learned dancing with their classmates and he kept saying that we would manage.

The Windstar cruise was small and didn’t have formal lessons or entertainment. I had quietly thought that perhaps on this cruise I could get him to cooperate for at least a couple of evenings.

Now, it is Sat morning and we are on our way to the light rail. As we load the suitcases into the back of the van at the hotel I feel something bright, zinging and breath stealing go snap in my back. Caught with the suitcase half way up, all I can do is gasp and use my upper body strength to boost it in the rest of the way.

I can’t move. Unfortunately for George, I can talk, moan and complain. The light rail gets us to town. He manages the luggage and we cab rather than walk to the Pier. For the first time in my life, I am panicked about being in a crowd and getting bumped.

Shall we just skip ahead to getting on the ship?

We find the cabin. For some miraculous reason we have an accessible cabin. Rather than running perpendicular to the long axis of the ship, it is parallel. There is space on both sides of the bed, the door to the bathroom is wide and there are railings.

So this means that I am not having a really good time, not walking around the ship, not climbing up and down stairs and certainly not dancing……. drugs, not dancing.

Bummer. I am going to think of it as savings! No fancy or expensive excursions for me – just a bit of wander on the pier and photos….

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6 Responses to Norwegian Star

  1. Ann says:

    So, we can do a Norway cruise in a few years when Ira is available!! Now he wants to go to Iceland for the week between xmas and new year. Did you read Michener? I bet if you look at the folks on the deck chairs you’ll see more than a few copies being read. Too bad you’re missing Sitka. The train ride in Skagway is excellent if your back still needs to be pampered. What else are you doing off ship? We dashed to the Alaska museum in Juneau and it was well worth the time (of course, on the AMH you might only have a few hours in a town!). We toured Sitka at about 2am. It was amazing.

  2. Vera says:

    Keeping my fingers crossed for your back to heal VERY fast and give you and George a chance to waltz on the ship.

  3. Janet says:

    I am so sorry to hear about your back. Any idea what you did? The cruise to Alaska is fantastic, and I would willingly do it again just for the views. Jim and I went in 2003 and promised ourselves we would go back… We also trained across to Denali and went up the mountains…Definitely a trip to avoid with pain, as the frost heaves the tracks and the trip is quite bumpy. Enjoy the views and get better quick.

  4. Angelua says:

    OMG Holly, I’m so sorry about your back. Been there, done that, survived. But it’s miserable while it lasts.

    Ah, dancing. My Hungarian husband wasn’t very talented, but he surely made an effort. Lot’s of waltzing. I had to dance Csardas with friends and relatives, though. Remember fondly all the old men lining up to dance with me at the big ball in Vienna, and at the yearly Hungarian Debutante’s Ball in DC. They danced me half to death; all the old exiled politicos and aristocrats from pre-communist times. So dancing and living history in one evening.

    Hope you get to feeling better. Is there a chiropractor on the ship? Actually, with the worst back mishap I had, massage made it much worse. But a therapist who got behind me, had me cross my arms over my chest and drop my head forward, then lifted me by my elbows and jiggled me a bit to decompress whatever it was worked the best. Good luck.

    Hope you get back to the dancing soon. At least you should be cool. It’s 110F plus here every day! Sweaty. No real rain since last year. Can’t wait to get to Vermont.

  5. Ruth says:

    I am, sadly, all too familiar with the ‘snap” you referenced. Not happy to hear you got it ever, let alone on the cusp of boarding the cruise (of which I am terribly jealous)…glad to day finds you doing a bit better. Hope you can find a Dr to write you a scrip for some muscle relaxants…unless you prefer to drink yours. 🙂

  6. Steven says:

    Great pics; sorry you ain’t dancin’. Hope you feel better soon. I REALLY appreciate the first-hand accessible cabin review.

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