[Worldtrippers home] [World Cruise home]
Russell writes…
We have been presented with the decision of either continuing our world cruise with a substantially altered (and unconfirmed) itinerary, or cutting our trip short and heading directly home from Perth, Australia. Like everyone else, we have two days to decide.
After a long discussion yesterday, we decided to stay. But Russell and Gail have different thought processes. Russell tends to make up his mind once. Gail tends to deliberate continuously.
This morning, Gail was thinking of going home. Her concern was that we may not ultimately be able to enter many (or any) of the unconfirmed ports. After further conversation with Russell, she decided to remain onboard.
The captain and executive crew held a Q&A session in the theater this morning. The one-hour session ended up running an hour and a half. Most of the passenger questions had no ready answer. The crew hopes to follow up with Regent headquarters in Miami. The ship stressed that sanitary measures will continue to remain at an extremely high level.
But we were also given the strong message that passengers who remain onboard will experience a substantially different cruise.
After the Q&A, Gail was thinking again of going home. Her concern was that we might spend two months at sea with no ports and nothing to do. After further conversation with Russell, she decided to remain onboard.
Russell’s feeling is that we are in the middle of an historic event. A month from now, we may be the only cruise ship still at sea. Being on this ship may be safer than being on land in the US – and once we get off, we cannot get back on. We might regret it if we miss this extraordinary adventure of a lifetime.
We also have plenty to do aboard ship, regardless of the curtailed activities. Russell brought a box full of boardgames, and both members of his board gaming group are remaining aboard. He still has half a dozen lectures to research and write. (His track record has been abysmal so far, given all the sea day activities distracting him.) Gail has several craft kits, and her original plan was to lay out by the pool with a book on sea days anyway.
But most of all, Gail simply doesn’t want to get on a plane right now. There is the logistical challenge of getting us and our massive amount of luggage on a flight back to the US. But aside from schedule and cost, Gail is sick with a cold. Getting on a plane from Australia to California would probably cause a hospitalization-level migraine. She believes that staying aboard ship is the best course of action for our overall health and well-being.
We spoke with another couple where he may remain on board while she goes home. This scenario is not an option for us; we will stay together no matter what we do.
And we still have one more day to deliberate further…
