By now, I would have been reporting about a 10 day cruise

 

This is how I looked over 6 years ago.  I now have a better hair style, and I have a partner that I can count on.  But picture is a reminder that no swimsuit is going to make me look like something other than a transgender woman when presenting as a female.

Why do I mention this?

RQS and I will be spending a few days away from home, as our cruising has been postponed for a while.  Any short, inexpensive trip we take will have me presenting as a female, and will be in hotels which have a swimming pool.  So, I'll finally be able to break out and use this swimsuit again.

Right now, we're looking at places we can reach within a 3-4 hour drive, an inexpensive train ride, or by a cheap flight.  One of these places is Mystic, Connecticut.  A person can easily spend a day viewing the maritime museum at Mystic Seaport, and visiting the nearby Aquarium  But, what else is nearby?  Do we want to spend an evening at the casino?  I'm not so sure if that's the best way to spend an evening or two.  If we were in Mystic, we could do a day trip to Newport, RI.and view a couple of the Gilded Age mansions there.  This would force us to leave on a Monday, and return on a Friday.  Is this practical for us?

Where else could we go?   Philly?  Boston?  Toronto?  Looking at these options, I found that these options would be more costly, as we'd be buying tickets and reserving everything at the last minute. I know one thing - we will discuss this when we're next together.

Second Cruise - Day 2: Newport, RI.

 

 

Day 2: Newport, RI.

I found it hard to believe that I awoke at 6 am, and didn’t fall back to sleep.  The motion sensor nightlight worked like a charm, and RQS was glad that I brought it along for the trip.  After showering and dressing, we had a quick breakfast and got on the tender boat to Newport.

It seemed to take forever to get to Newport, as there were more people trying to get to Newport than the tenders could deliver to the landing in a rapid manner. Once there, we decided not to go to the Breakers.  Instead, we decided to walk around town and go into a chocolate shop.  Yum!  Both of us picked up some stuff to spike our blood sugar levels later on.

Once we returned to the ship, we rested before dinner.  Tonight, it was the main dining room, where we were seated with other people.  It would have been nice to be able to chat with the older couple who were sitting next to us.  Unfortunately, the band playing in the background was too loud to shout over, and we had to make do with understanding snippets of chat around the table.

When dinner was done, we relaxed a little, and then went to a show in the main theater.  It was an NCL production of modern ballroom dancing that could be best described as random modern tunes organized for dancing without a meaningless plot from a Hollywood musical or Broadway play.  Would I have paid to see this performance?  No!  Although the performers did a great job, it is not the type of performance I’d gravitate to.  At least, Sue enjoyed this show more than she did watching Flashdance on our prior cruise.

You'll likely think we're a little crazy.

 

I find it hard to believe that RQS is interested in taking another cruise so soon after our first cruise together.  As much as a late season cruise along the above route seems appealing, I'm not sure of whether this would be the best use of a second cruise together in a short time.  But at a rate of roughly $75/night pp, the price is almost too good to pass up.

- - - - - -

Most people would look at cruises in different regions at this time of year.  But this cruise was priced so low, that we didn't want to pass it up.  So we booked it, and will have taken a second Eastern Canada / New England cruise by the time you read this post.

If this cruise is offered again next year, I will strongly suggest that we go somewhere else.  One can easily get bored with a destination if one is there too often.  However, since this cruise goes to Newport, RI and Bar Harbor, ME, I feel that we will be able to explore new places when visiting these ports.  For example, Newport has a group of mansions that are worth visiting.  Bar Harbor has both good restaurants and a National Park.  I've been to both places before, and will enjoy visiting them again.

If it weren't for RQS's cats, we'd likely be taking a different cruise in a different region.  But, we can only do so much without imposing too much on our friends and family.  Until the last cat has passed away, we will only be able to go away for 7 days at a time.  This is a minor issue that we will need to deal with for a few years at most.