British Isles Cruise 2026 - Reflections (09/08/26)

A little over two weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go on my cruise.  It'd have been a great shame if I had not done so.  In it's own way, this cruise opened up my eyes a bit more in seeing the world.

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When I went off to take this cruise, I was not sure if my legs and back would hold out through the cruise and get me home.  While on the cruise, my leg/back problem was always on my mind.  I'd get up in the morning and wonder whether I'd be able to make it to breakfast, not even sure if I'd have the ability to go on any of the upcoming shore excursions.  And I had good reason for doubt.  

In Cobh (the port for Cork), I could barely move.  It was a long walk from the ship to the Cobh Heritage Center, and I was constantly looking for places to sit while touring the museum.  Would I be able to make it on other shore excursions we had already paid for?  Dublin would prove that with a little help, I could make it through a long day's shore excursion, as I was able to tour Malahide Castle by using a portable collapsing stool provided by the castle.

Now that I had proof that I could deal with the pain, Liverpool may have been the worst pain I had to deal with before things got easier for me.  We had scheduled a walking tour of Beatles' Liverpool, and knew we couldn't keep up the pace.  We still walked over to the Beatles Museum on Mathew Street (about 1 km away), and got a little lost going back to the ship.  When I looked at the fitness tracker on my phone, we had walked about 2 miles that day.

Things started to become easier for me when we went to the Giant's Causeway and to Skara Brae.  Walking a distance wasn't that bad, as long as I found places where I could take a rest now and then.  By the time we were ready to go home, I could have walked a couple of miles and survived the effort.

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Strangely enough, on our trip home, RQS had arranged for us to get mobility assistance from the airline, getting us from the check-in counter, through Heathrow security, to the Handicapped persons' waiting room, and then to the gate.  And in New York, the same assistance was provided getting us from the plane to customs, luggage pickup, and to the ride share pickup.

In short, I found that I was capable of much more than I thought I was capable of doing. And by taking on the challenge of this trip, I enjoyed experiences I never would have enjoyed had I given in.

 

British Isles Cruise 2026 - Disembarkation / Flight Home (09/07/26)

Today was a lot of "Hurry up and Waiting."  RQS and I had requested special help from the airline to get us through the airport, and I'm glad she did so.  

But first...

We got up around 6 am, so that we could get showered and dressed, and out of our cabin by 7:30 am.  And we did just that, even though we had a disembarkation time of 9:15 am.  Our first stop was the restaurant at the back of the ship, so that we;d be able to have a leisurely breakfast and have a place to wait until our disembarkation group was called sometime after breakfast.

Waiting, waiting, and waiting....  We moved closer to the gangway around 9:00 am and waited.  At 9:15 am, we took the long walk through another restaurant at the back of the ship, through the long ramps to enter the cruise terminal, then on another path to the luggage pickup area.  Once we found our luggage, we then started another long process to find the bus to take us to the airport.  And that was a stop and go process until we got to the bus that would take us to the airport.

They were loading buses based on the departure terminal, and we had to wait again to get a free bus and have our luggage loaded for the trip to the airport.  Unlike most buses, this one had a trailer to hold our luggage - and ours was loaded in the rear, meaning first in, last out.  This would be a problem later on, as both of us needed to take bio-breaks before we reached the airport, and couldn't do so until we got our luggage back.

When we finally had our luggage in hand, we rushed to the toilets for our much needed bio-breaks.  And then to the desk to check in for our flight.  RQS had requested wheelchair help, knowing that it was both a long distance to walk through Heathrow to get to the plane, and a long distance to walk through JFK in New York to get to the ride share area.  And again, we had to wait for wheelchair assistance which would take us to and through security, and then to the handicapped waiting room.  Unfortunately, we were escorted through security by two different people and deposited to two different destinations.  And RQS had problems finding me.

Our hurry up and waiting at Heathrow didn't end there.  There is a cart that is used to take mobility challenged people to the gates, and they wanted us to share the cart with 3 other people, with no provisions for our luggage.  They thought it strange that we'd each have a carry-on and a personal bag, and for both of us to be carrying medical bags of different sizes.  (My bag was bigger, as I use a CPAP machine.)  So we had to wait again to get a cart to deliver the 2 of us to another waiting area near the departure gate.  And that still wasn't the end of our waiting, as another person had to deliver the 2 of us to the departure gate, and to the plane.

The flight was uneventful.  But there was one thing of note.  A large number of ultraconservative Jews were on the plane, and one was standing up and praying in the middle of the flight.  If that wasn't strange enough, another man came along the aisle and was asking every man he found whether he was Jewish or not.  By the time the plane landed, my butt was aching and I couldn't wait to get to RQS's place.

Neither of us were in a rush to get off the plane.  We had nowhere to go but home.  And, when we got off the plane, two wheelchairs were waiting for us.  And then, we were separately wheeled through customs, then to the baggage claim area.  The gentleman wheeling me around shared a conversation about dual citizenship, and I mentioned my foreign birth registration, and he noted his dual citizenship.  Eventually, we were dropped off at the ride share area.

The Uber ride to RQS's place was quick, and the driver helped us deposit our bags at RQS's front door.  I was lucky - my legs weren't failing me, and I had all the strength I needed to get ALL our bags upstairs.  It was a long day, and I was glad it was finally over!