Lately, I haven't been able to dedicate as much time as I used to for this blog. So, I apologize if the quality of my entries has suffered a little bit.
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For a couple of months, I've been tracking the prices of several cruises. The April ones on my list have barely moved, and I don't expect to see any significant price drops. However, I expect to see movement in the cruises scheduled for the second half of the year. So I will start pruning this list, so that I can have more room for other cruises I might want to take.
Recently, MSC has announced a group of 2023 sailings out of the Red Hook, Brooklyn cruise terminal. Normally, I would not consider traveling to Brooklyn for a cruise, given the headaches of getting to the terminal from where I live. However, MSC will match the loyalty status of customers from other cruise lines as a tool to get them to start cruising MSC. Since I expect to graduate into NCL's Platinum loyalty level with my upcoming Hawaii cruise, why not consider doing the loyalty match sometime next spring, and seeing if I can take a cruise with a new line?
My vacation options are not limited to cruising. I am also looking at doing another cross country trip by train. My nephew lives in the Pacific Northwest, and I've been looking for excuses to visit both Seattle and Portland. So this might be a trip that hits two birds with a single stone. In the Fall, I could see myself taking a trip to Chicago, onward to New Orleans, then back home - all on Amtrak. Each leg on Amtrak could be done in coach, and my big expenses would be food and lodging in the two cities.
Lastly, I have friends from my Texas zoom meetup that I have yet to meet in person. This is the least likely of my trips, as I'd have to do more traveling as Mario than I would like. Since I am not enamored of the climate in Texas in regard to being transgender, I am not sure whether I'd be safe there in Marian mode. Hopefully, one (or two) of them will make it up to NYC for one of their vacations soon....
