Cruising, Bruising, Drama, Mama

Have you ever been on a cruise? I just came back from my first one, it was a mixture of both good and bad experiences. Would I go on another cruise someday? Maybe, but I would do things a little differently the next time. I need a staycation to recover from my vacation.

View of the ship from the Catalina shore

The Captain’s announcements with dolphins swimming in the ocean 🐬🐬🐬

The Good:

Synchronicity song! This retro song which mentions “Soul Sister” plays often when I’m on a trip to visit with my family, there are no accidents 🤗

Catalina Island is cute, reminds me of an Italian seaside villa

• Favorite part of the cruise was a short but sweet day trip to Catalina Island which is off of the coast of California
• Mostly smooth sailing (no nausea), beautiful views of the ocean from our private balcony
• Unlimited cruise food on board
• Complimentary airline and 4 day cruise tickets (my sister paid for the trip and gave me spending money before and after the cruise)
• Moments of synchronicity with God and my mom while onboard
• Insight about my relationship with my sister, spiritual message of patience and compassion
• My Brother-in-law got a doctor’s appointment for me with his friend, who referred me to a knee specialist. My knee was x-rayed and drained after the cruise

The Bad:

• Had to travel with a swollen knee injury, couldn’t sleep or walk easily for the entire trip
• Didn’t visit Encenada, Mexico because my relatives said it was dangerous there
• Last full day of cruise had turbulent waves
• Rainy weather for half of the trip
• Unlimited cruise food had little variety (mostly fast food cuisine, tasty but unhealthy)
• With complimentary tickets, I felt obligated to coordinate/defer all decisions with my sister who has very different preferences from me
• Fought mid-cruise with my sister over petty issues
• Lack of personal space/privacy

Again this song played 🤗✝️

April Fool’s Drama:

Then on my return flight to San Antonio via Delta Airlines I experienced double layered drama on April Fools Day after Delta canceled my flight. We were driving to the airport to catch my 9am flight when we received the dreaded message, “Your flight has been cancelled but don’t worry we rebooked your flight.”

Drama #1: Cancel Airline Culture

I was so sleep deprived that I thought they meant they rebooked it for 8am that morning, so we rushed to the airport. Upon arrival there was a zig zagged line of disgruntled passengers at the Delta counter but fortunately I spoke with an agent who upon realizing that my knee was injured, gave me an inside tip. If you’re injured, request wheelchair assistance. You’ll receive VIP/front-of-the-line treatment and an escorted route to your departing gate! While the rest of the passengers had to wait for over 2 hrs in line + another hr on the phone—my flight was rescheduled in minutes. I wasn’t the only one either. there were several heavy set folks in the wheelchair assistance line. Why carry your bags if someone else will? No one checked for a doctor’s note or medical validation, so I bet that certain unscrupulous obese people regularly use this loophole service to their advantage. I’m not trying to be a jerk, I guess being obese is a legitimate handicap?

Long story short, I ended up waiting at the airport for most of the day. LAX was a boring disappointment. I haven’t been to many airports but LAX has terrible shops and restaurants. I expect overpriced food at terminals but they should at least be somewhat tasty. I usually have one alcoholic drink at the airport bar because I dislike flying (ear popping + claustrophobic seating) but this time I avoided pre-flight libations because I worried that with my sleep deprivation I might somehow miss my rescheduled flight.

At the gate I talked with fellow rebooked passengers who had been booted off of our original flight and it helped to pass the wait time. I like having long and meaningful conversations with strangers when I’m traveling, it’s part of the journey experience for me. I’ve always viewed traveling as a learning opportunity of opening up to new cultures and people. One particular passenger told me about how they like to travel with their aging parents, because they don’t want to regret any lost time of bonding.

Drama #2: “Cruising for a Bruising”

My seats were VIP compared to the rest of the passengers because my super smart nephew helped me to pick a seat that was next to empty ones. It was a fully booked flight but somehow only my row was luxuriously empty. I felt like God was helping me to have much needed space for my injured knee. Thank you, God 💖 but as we landed the passengers that were seated across the aisle next to me started DRAMA with me (I think the root cause was jealousy of my rock star seating).

Praise the Lord🤗!

Immediately after I carefully retrieved my suitcase from the overhead bin that was located above my head (on my side of the row far away from her). I hadn’t touched or bumped this Drama Queen passenger in any way. I was contained within my own seat’s space but she went off on a verbal rampage saying, “Excuse yourself! You can’t say excuse me?!” At first I ignored her, but when she wouldn’t stop rambling on, I stated, “You’re making drama over nothing. That’s probably what you always do. You create drama where there is none.” I said this while looking directly in her eyes. She seemed surprised that I could speak English without an accent and horrified that I would respond to her tirade. She had a crew of family/friends who joined her in saying more junk about proper excuse-me-etiquette but I dismissed them all. “Waste of time and energy—drama over nothing!” I kept saying while moving forward with my bags. There was a flight attendant close by who stayed silent but I felt safer knowing that I had a neutral witness to the ridiculous scene. I think it truly shocked the Drama Queen passengers that an unassumingly quiet, silver-haired, middle-aged, asian woman had the balls to call them out on their nonsense.

This video reminds me if the unnecessary Drama that the Drama Queen passenger wanted to start with me, but I don’t play that way.

Save the drama for your mama!

😅

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