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How It All Started


Huntm

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Hey everyone! This is my first blog here and I am super excited!! I stumbled across this site by chance and loved it! I hope my blogs will offer you some valuable tips as well as some fun entertainment.

I have never been a writer… nor thought I ever would be. I am a small town Texas girl who fell in love with cruising. The first time I saw the ocean, a magical calm came over me -- and it has been calling my name ever since. I can’t break that spell. Going to the ocean is my escape. I am by no means an expert, but researching cruises and information when I am on land fuels my passion and allows me to keep sane (somewhat) until my next cruise rolls around.

So this is how it all got started….

Our son was not quite 3. My husband and I never took a “real” honeymoon and were approaching our 5 year anniversary. To put it mildly… we were broke, but desperately needed to get away. Thankfully, a good ‘ole Texas spring storm came through and took down what was left of our sad, pitiful fence in the backyard. When we received the money from the insurance company to replace the fence, I got the bright idea that if we cooked some hamburgers and bought some beer, my husband and his friends could replace the fence themselves and save us a TON of money. (You’re welcome honey!) We could use what we saved to go on vacation!

Brilliant… I know!

My husband wanted to go to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. However, I was doing the research. Everything was so expensive… and all we had was leftover fence money! It looked like we could go to an all-inclusive resort, but we would have no money left over to actually DO anything. The extent of our vacation would be to drink ourselves silly on watered down drinks on a beach somewhere. Let’s be honest here… after a day or two…that would suck OR we could take a cruise. We would have enough money left over to still drink ourselves silly AND go on excursions in all 3 ports. Neither of us are ones to be bored so I thought this was the best deal! So I booked it. Non-refundable, of course.

I casually brought up the idea of a cruise to Mark (that’s my husband), thinking he would love the idea! This cruise thing sounded so like us! His response…no way on this earth was he ever getting on a boat for 7 days. Period.

Hmmm… what to do? What to do? … I couldn’t tell him I already spent all our money and I had no way of getting it back. I knew what was best for him… I just needed to figure out a way for him to know it too! I’m not one to lie, so I thought it best to say we couldn’t afford to do the Mexico thing so we were going to go to Galveston instead. I packed his bags (formal night clothes and all… cause that’s how awesome I am) and we set off.

Somewhere down the lonely stretch of road to Galveston from Fort Worth, I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer and let it slip that we were going on a cruise. Oh my Gracious! It got ugly in that car! By the time we reached Galveston we weren’t speaking. He finally agreed to get on the boat (thankfully because otherwise, I wouldn’t have had a ride home in a week!), but we were getting a divorce when we got off! True story.

Then something magical happened. We had the time of our lives!! The cruise ship was more than we could have ever imagined. We were upgraded from an inside cabin… to one with a porthole! We thought we had hit the lottery. Not even the waves crashing against the boat and threatening to come through the wall at any moment or the ridiculous vibration from the thrusters could spoil our fun! There was stuff to do everywhere! (Food, shows, shopping, casino, nightclubs, pools.) We fell in love with each other all over again!! Sappy… I know! We were already looking for the next cruise to book as soon as we got home. See…. I knew I was right!

That cruise in fact, probably saved our marriage. And so it began. Years later, we are still setting off together for our adventures at sea (only now he is a willing participant… minus the time I tried to move us all to St. Thomas, but that’s another blog… and now we can afford them!)

I look forward to sharing our cruising adventures with all of you!

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Hey Marci, thanks for joining us and I LOVE the story of how your passion for cruising began. Sounds like some tense moments prior to boarding the ship, but glad it all worked out.

Looking forward to your regular blog updates!

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What a wonderful, WONDERFUL story!!! Seems being spontaneous worked for you and your marriage! I kind of did the same thing this past April to my wife of 23 years. We weren't facing the "D" word but I like to surprise her once in awhile. She was in N.Y. visiting family and while she was gone, I got bored. So, what did I do....some research. We already had the Brilliance of the Seas booked for November but Chrissy and I work so hard, I felt we deserved it. A CRUISE that is..for May on a ship and with a line we have never sailed with before. I booked it, paid in full then posted it to Facebook knowing she would see it. At first I got the normal "YOUR AN IDIOT" response... but already knowing that I AM, her remark didn't really affect me much!! The best way to kindle or re-kindle a relationship is on a cruise. Just the way you did. No interference. No phones ringing and no "opinions"!! Congrats to you and your hubby and wishing the brightest future together ;)

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Thank you all! I enjoy sharing our stories and this one turned out well :)

Sarge: what a great surprise and gift for your wife! Congrats on 23 years! I'm sure the "your an idiot" response was met with a happy dance when you weren't looking! Lol

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Thanks so much for the story, Marci. It's a familiar story that I've heard from a number of my cruising friends and you did a wonderful jobs relaying it to us.

I, too, am totally enamored with the sea. Fortunately, my vastly better half was already a novice cruiser when we met so we avoided any trauma.

Like you, the sea is calming for me. I have done many AIs in the past and none of them can hold a candle to the experience of being AT sea... not gazing at it from shore.

Ciao!!

- Mach

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Wonderful story, Marci, and so glad everything worked out so well! Our first cruise was to Alaska and boy did I have to do some talking to get my husband to agree! But it was for our 25th wedding anniversary so he acquiesed, swearing that he was going to wear a tank top over his sweatshirt (he would have much rather been somewhere warm.) By the time we got home he was asking when and where our next cruise would be. I said Hawaii and he said "why would we ever want to go to Hawaii?" OMG! Needless to say, 15 or so cruises later he has quit doubting me and eagerly awaits our next adventure. And I will eagerly await your next installment!

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