Just got back from a 10-day Princess Cruise to Alaska aboard the Grand Princess. What a trip!
What an experience of a lifetime, a most memorable maritime adventure of a lifetime! Utterly beyond my expectations! This has been the most exciting, at the same time, most relaxing and rejuvenating vacation, I've ever had in my life. So far, I'd like to say, and I hope to have this same kind of experience for the rest of my life. If this can happen all the time, what a life that would be!
I didn't know what to expect from a cruise, although I've had sailed when I was a teenager as part of the crew, part of the entertainment program, that sailed twice around Asia, gosh, many years ago...
Forward to this trip, as an adult and passenger this time, I had no expectations at all. Norman and I had been wanting to do an Alaska cruise for many years. But it really was just a wish as our schedules did not always coincide to be able to get away together for a long time. But as Nature is the best organizer, his brother, Joel, and wife, Sarah, saw an ad about April on an AK cruise starting off at San Francisco in August, we had to do it, we just had to do it. I didn't know how I could make this happen as I had just come back from a 2-month vacation from MNL and the Holy Land last February to April, yes, 2 months!, so who knows when I could take another vacation from work! But Norman wanted this trip so badly, and we had to make reservations asap to be able to join his brother. I just had to desire it intently, yet innocently. I timed it in June to talk to my boss about the trip, and as Nature would plan it, I got another time off!
With my busy work schedule, however, the trip was the last thing in my mind even as I was packing the night before. I didn't even know where to put my cosmetics as I was concerned about luggage overweight and liquid limitations, until it hit me that I was taking a cruise and there were no limits to baggage, etc.
And the Grand Princess begins its cruise! From Pier 35 at the Port of San Francisco, it was exciting approaching the Golden Gate Bridge as we were leaving! OMG, we were really at sea, on a cruise! Suddenly, I realized that this wasn't just a floating tour. The cruise liner was actually going to stop at piers in some of Alaska's port cities, and passengers disembark for tours and excursions, experience its history and culture, as well as recreation and relaxation. I knew that, but it didn't hit me till we were actually asea. Not just a cruise but also land tours - a double treat!
And there were the majestic glaciers, waterfalls in Juneau, salmons on creek, (that's another story!), an eagle actually devouring a salmon... train ride in Skagway... shopping at the port of Kechican... a drizzling early morning walk on the boardwalk of Victoria, Canada, (yes, we went to Canada, too!) morning tea at the majestic Empress Hotel, (Norman has been wanting to go to the world-famous Empress in Victoria!), plus a tour of British Columbua's Historic Museum - a triple treat!
And yes, we saw whales and dolphins. Dolphins seem to just come towards the ship, perhaps, drawn to it, I don't know, but, oh, what a sight! Both those mammals created excitement on the ship whenever the passengers saw them. You'd hear ooohs and aaaahs, cameras clicking everywhere, and people running towards the decks to get a view, the ship looked like it was going down on one side. Oh, but so magical!
There were lots of activities and entertainment on the ship, you just had to work out your schedule and, yes, never a shortage of food! Abundance or rather, over abundance, is the more appropriate word!
But the most most most unforgettable experience for me was the experience of deep deep rest throughout this entire cruise! It was like my TM retreats. Usually, I try to do TM regularly and whenever I miss, I can get cranky, agitated, but with this cruising experience, it was deeper than sleep, it was relaxation and rejuvenation to its fullest, I didn't feel a need to pause from activity to meditate. In fact, this whole cruise, I hardly did TM. The whole experience was "meditation in motion". It was transcendence. Unbelievable!
PRINCESS CRUISE' slogan is "escape completely". It sure lived up to that, and so did I! This has been a totally transcendental experience for me. I saw a picture frame on the ship that says,"Sleep, Eat, Cruise."
That's the way life should be. That's how I want my life to be. That's what I want to do.
ALL ABOARD!
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