Rx for Winter Blues: Sunshine...and Vitamin Sea

Combine a long cold winter with a pandemic and you have a sure case of the "winter blues". That pretty much sums up what the last two winter seasons have been like here in Minnesota for me. 

While the pandemic is becoming "endemic" (or so the news reporters say) nothing has changed about Minnesota winters. Last summer I was already starting to dread the short daylight hours, extreme cold, snow and ice that begins in November and lasts until at least March...or April. I knew my mental health was at risk if I didn't find a way to escape.

After our week long cruise to Alaska last spring, I wasn't sure I wanted to cruise again until life felt normal once more. We avoided getting sick on the ship by being super diligent, but it meant missing out on some of the best aspects of cruising and what fun is that? But the ironic part is that about three weeks AFTER our cruise, we both got covid anyway. 

Late last summer I got an email from Holland America Line (HAL) offering private fares on some cruises. One that caught my eye was a full transit of the Panama Canal from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale. Having only visited San Diego as a port stop in 2018, I thought it might be fun to return and explore a little more. And then I got the great idea that if we booked a cruise ending at Port Everglades, we could tack on a second cruise on a different ship. And that is what got the ball rolling.

Two cruises were booked. First, fourteen days on the Zaandam from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale. One of HAL's older ships, the Zaandam would be like "going home" since we have already spent a total of 45 days on the ship. 

For the next cruise we would transfer to the Nieuw Statendam when we arrived at Port Everglades on February 4th for a one week eastern Caribbean cruise. We have never been on any of HAL's newest Pinnacle Class ships and it would mean seven more days of warmth! 

Over the next few weeks and months I was able to get pretty good deals on airfare and by monitoring the cruise prices and offers, I was able to get price adjustments and a sizable amount of onboard credit (OBC). This was in addition to the credits for being a retired teacher and the shareholder credits we get for holding stock in the Carnival Corporation (HAL's parent company.)

I love to share my travels with others via this blog. Hopefully my posts will be at least a little interesting and perhaps useful if you are planning to travel. BUT...my main goal is to create a travel journal to preserve MY memories. I can get very long winded, but if the posts are too excessive for you, just skip through and enjoy the photos. 

If you notice the dates on each post you will realize that this trip has already happened. I updated my blog notes each and every night while we were on the cruise (a first for me!) but waited to post online until I got home and could take time to edit my photos.

Thanks for reading. Come along as we do our 2023 winter getaway!