Hubby has been retired for 13 days.  Although considering the amount of work he has been doing around the house, retirement might be a strong word to use. 

He is also getting ready to teach his first class for DW Clarity Group, which is exciting. 

The projects and classes will soon be interrupted by his shoulder surgery though, which will have him out of commission for several weeks.  But to-do lists, classes and surgery are not on the only things on tap for retirement. 

Travel is also on the docket over the next year+.  Specifically, cruising!  Not that cruising hasn’t been a normal part of pre-retirement, but we’re taking it up a notch. More like a few notches.

Here are the cruises and travel plans currently on the agenda.

Cruise #1 – We will be sailing on Allure of the Seas. 

We sailed on this ship years ago and loved it.  It was our first cruise in a balcony room, and it was our first time sailing an Oasis Class ship.  Recently, Allure went through refurbishment and we’re excited to sail on her again and see all the changes.  We will also be visiting four ports, three of which we’ve never visited before – Aruba, Curacao, Dominican Republic are the new to U.S. ports. Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas) is a port we’ve visited a couple times before. Friends will be joining us, which we very much enjoy.

Cruise #2 – Royal Caribbean is known for their mega ships and innovation.  A couple of years ago they came out with their first Icon class ship, bigger than any of their other ships. Bigger than any cruise ship sailing today. About a year later they released their second ship is that class, Star of the Seas, which is a bit bigger than Icon. We will be sailing on Star in a few months.

While the ports will not be new, this class of ship will be a first for us and we plan to spend more time on the ship then in the ports. 

Cruise #3 – We will be back on Navigator of the Seas, and like last time, we will be visiting all new ports. 

At least new ports for us and a very different experience.

We’ll be leaving the U.S. and flying to Singapore for this cruise. Our plan is to explore Singapore for a few days before embarkation. Cruise ports will include stops in Hong Kong, Taiwan and several in Japan with disembarkation in Tokyo.  We will spend time exploring Tokyo hopefully with a visit to Tokyo Disney. Fingers crossed.

Cruise #4 – Although this cruise will have ‘me’ back on Freedom of the Seas, it will be the first time on this ship for the rest of the family. 

We will be heading over the pond to the U.K. for a few days before setting sail on a cruise along the Norwegian Fjords with port stops in Norway.  After the cruise we will fly to Scotland for a few days and then on to Ireland to finish out our trip.

Cruise #5 – This is another cruise that will be full of firsts.  Our first time in Vancouver BC.  Our first time on Anthem of the Seas.  Our first time visiting Alaska. 

These cruises cross off several travel bucket list items for us, and we are anxious to set sail again. 

While retirement came a bit earlier than we had planned, it made us realize that we were being presented with an opportunity to travel more. Eventually, travel may become more challenging, so we want to take advantage of this opportunity while we’re still able.

Here’s hoping that life allows us even more chances to see this big beautiful world.