Sailing...Take Me Away...For, Like, A Year

JENN McKINLAY: Hi, Kids! Welcome to my latest rabbit hole. How did I end up searching apartment rentals on cruises? Well, I was listening to the audio book Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan (our Debs recommended it and she's right, it's fabulous) and there's a character in the book who lives in an apartment on a cruise ship. I had no idea this was a thing!

And so I began searching apartments on cruise ships because now I know what I want to do with that 401K! Just kidding, I don't have a 401K. But still, I found the entire idea of living aboard a ship - permanently - absolutely fascinating. Here's a ship that features 165 residences from studio to three bedroom: https://aboardtheworld.com/residences/ 

Please note in the picture above they list a garden and a library as part of the amenities. I wonder if the library is hiring?  Here's the YouTube trailer if you need to see more:

One of the ships I saw even had pet exercise areas, so you can bring the furry ones with you! 

I also stumbled upon this blog post: https://judedeveraux.com/travel/ 

from the amazing Jude Deveraux where she talked about going on four-month-long world cruises every year from January-May for YEARS. And the most interesting part (to me) was that she said she got massive amounts of writing done. With no cooking or cleaning, or errands to run, well, of course she did! It's a brilliant plan, I tell ya!

Now I've only been on one cruise and since I was (surprise!) newly pregnant, I slept through most of it. I was three months along and the exhaustion was unreal. My memories are seriously of sleeping in a lounger poolside and then sleeping in my bed, snuggled up to my towel which had been magically folded into the shape of a frog (awwww) and that's about it. 

I imagine because you're traveling the world and surrounded by history, wildlife, geography, and because you wake up to a different incredible view every day, there's loads of inspiration everywhere you look (unless you're pregnant and sleep through it). Also, living on a floating village I'll bet your fellow passengers will give you plenty of writing material - good and bad. Bwa ha ha.

Now if only I could talk my publisher into letting me set a mystery series on board on of these ships...hmmm. 

How about you, Reds and Readers, any interest in living on a ship permanently? If you were to cruise, where would you go?

Six Hundred Pounds of Butter, Please

INGRID THOFT

It's tourist season in Seattle, which means the boats are back.  An industry that was a trickle when it started in 1999, and is now a flood in 2018, the cruise industry employs 4,000 people in our area and brings in $500 million dollars of revenue each cruise season.  This year, fifteen boats will be in and out of the port, varying in size from approximately 200 passengers to 3,100 passengers and a crew of 1,100.

Regardless of how you feel about cruising, it's hard to deny the engineering and logistical feats that are these massive ships.  My husband and I live in walking distance of one of the cruise ships docks (there are three total) and we often venture down midday on Saturday, have some lunch, and watch them load the supplies required for a week-long cruise to Alaska.  What are some of those supplies?  Here's a list courtesy of Princess Cruise Lines for the Royal Princess, a boat that carries 500 more passengers than the largest boat that visits Seattle.  Still.  The amounts are staggering!

• 600 pounds of butter used each day
• 1,500 pounds of flour is used each day to create the ship’s fresh-baked bread, homemade pasta and pastry shop treats
• 18,000 bottles of wine and champagne in the wine cellars
• 54,600 napkins washed per week
• 4,000 pieces of art on board

• 21,200 bath towels washed per week
• 250,000 eggs used per week
• 3 tons of ice -- used to carve 20 sculptures per cruise
• 170,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables consumed per cruise
• 900,000 pounds (about 20 truckloads) of supplies loaded every 10 days

A ship that recently made its Seattle debut was the Norwegian Bliss.  We were able to get some photos of this behemoth, which includes a go-kart track on the top deck and a water slide that ventures off the side of the boat over the open ocean.

The Norwegian Bliss as seen from 39 stories up.

See the go-kart track right behind the stack?  The water slide hangs off the boat on the right.

So Reds and readers, are you ready to come aboard?  How about that water slide?

"From the Comfort of My Couch"

INGRID THOFT
One day I was sitting with my sister and her daughter discussing books, and we started talking about autobiographies.  We mused about what we would entitle our autobiographies, and although I don't remember most of the conversation, I do remember my niece's suggestion for my sister's book.  She declared that it should be called "From the Comfort of My Couch," which cracks us up to this day.  

My sister is the most tenacious, courageous person I know—in matters of life, however, not thrill-seeking.  In fact, it has become a hobby of mine to find photos and videos that will get her feet sweating and prompt an unequivocal "heck no!" from her when I share them.  

Some of these photos and videos are from my own adventures.  My husband and I have made it our mission to take pictures while scuba diving that we're sure will get a reaction.  For instance, my encounter with a giant Potato Cod fish on the Great Barrier Reef freaks her out no matter how many times she's seen it.

On a recent scuba diving trip, we filmed a shark swimming towards us with the great deep blue sea behind him, which is another one of her favorites—sharks and the infinite creepiness of the ocean.

Photo courtesy of Video Vision 360/Natura Vive

I also like to bring travel opportunities to her attention, like the Natura Vive Skylodge in Peru.  What could go wrong, sleeping in a glass pod 1,312 feet above the floor of the Sacred Valley?  Her first question (and mine) was how do you answer the call of nature?!

And how about learning to wing walk on her next vacation?  That sounds exciting, and I'm sure it will get more than just her feet sweating!

Truth be told, I have no interest in sleeping cliff side in a glass pod or walking on an airplane wing mid-flight, but her reaction is so satisfying, I can't stop making these types of suggestions. 

I asked her if I could write about this, and she was happy to indulge me, but she insisted that I include two things that really give her the willies:

The perspective of looking up at cruise ship from below:

This is the best I could find!  Note the man in the tiny skiff.

and hot dog eating contests!

Go figure!

What do you say, Reds and Readers?  Do your feet sweat when you see a shark?  Do hot dog eating contests give you the willies?  Do you lovingly torment your siblings in a similar fashion?