As many of my readers know, I have a pen pal in Ontario who only knows me as Marian. The other day, she sent me an email (in response to one of my emails) telling me that she is on this cruise this week. While her parents may be going home at the end of the cruise (I'm not sure of this), she's booking a second cruise on the same ship and suggested that I buy a cheap inside cabin and join her on her second trip to Bermuda. I'm not sure if I want to tell her that I am still legally Mario if we were to meet up for a cruise, even though we'd be in separate rooms.
As much as I'd like to join her in Bermuda, I'm a bit leery of getting off the boat as Marian in a place I've never visited before. All my ID says "Mario!" and this could get me into big trouble in some areas of the world. I figure that I might scope out this trip one day in Mario mode, then take it again as Marian if things go smoothly when getting off and back onto the ship.
This is a cruise I'd like to take some day, but not one that I'd go far out of my way to take. The Hawaii and the Panama Canal cruises are higher on my list of trips to take. Yet, I could see this trip as a test to find out whether a special person and I could travel well together....
Too bad that I don't feel safe in getting off the ship at many ports as Rhonda did on her cruise. I'm not sure if she has legally transitioned or not, but she has a much easier time than I do going about the world as a woman. (I should ask her one day, as I'd like to know if she has any advice for me in getting out at the same ports as she did on her cruise.) At least, she knows how to dress well and up on a cruise.....
