Trying Solo Cruising Post Brain Surgery

 

First off, I want to thank those of you (you know who you are!) who have contributed to my December blog fundraiser. I'm currently halfway to my goal! If you'd like to learn more, click here, or if you'd just like to donate, click here. And now onto what I'd like to share about today...

I've been looking forward to sharing with you about my recent solo cruise I took at the end of October/beginning of November. If you've been with me for a long time, then you might remember that I took my first solo cruise in November of 2022 on the MSC Meraviglia. This was also my first cruise taken on a line other than Norwegian and my first time in an inside cabin. I don't do things by halves! I had planned to continue this in 2023, and even had a couple of cruises booked, but my plans were stopped short when I learned in February of 2023 that I had a brain tumor. I underwent surgery to resect as much of it as possible, and then two more surgeries to deal with the side effects of the first one, then I spent the remainder of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 recovering. It really wasn't until the summer of 2024 that I started to get back some of my energy and verve. By the fall I was ready to try solo cruising once again, but it took a little finessing to convince my husband of this! He was more than a little trepidatious at the though of me going on a trip alone with my health and even more so on a ship out in the ocean visiting foreign countries. He consented though and so I was off!

I flew down to LA on October 28th, the day before my cruise departed. If you're sailing out of anything other than a port within 50 miles of you, it's so important to arrive the day before. Airlines are notorious lately for overbooking, delaying and cancelling flights and you'd never want to miss your vacation over this! I am the mother of an airline employee, so I have the privilege of flying standby for free (thank you sweet daughter!). This goes a long way in making travel affordable, but I'm also learning about points and miles and hoping to expand these opportunities (more on this in future posts)! I was able to make it on the first flight I tried for and arrived in LA in the late morning. 

I had decided to stay near the cruise port rather than the airport so I had to take an Uber. This was my first time taking an Uber from LAX and while it's not super complicated, I wouldn't say it's simple either. I had researched it beforehand so I had a little idea of what to expect, but I still thought it wise to ask at the information booth. The attendant kindly pointed me to where to catch the shuttle to the Rideshare pickup lot and let me know that they came by frequently. What I learned is that while they do come by frequently, they don't often have room left on them when they get down to the last pickup areas. They will just drive right on past you if they're full, with a couple did before one finally stopped for me. I hopped on and grabbed one of the few remaining seats. I had to hold my luggage since the luggage racks were full, but at least I got to sit as the shuttle quickly filled up with people standing in the aisle. 

It took about ten minutes to get over to the Rideshare pickup lot where I followed the signs to the Uber area. I had already compared prices between Uber and Lyft at that time and decided it was the best option. I sat down on my seat cane and requested a ride, entering the pickup stop I was at. I was thankful I could sit as the wait extended, but eventually my ride arrived. I made sure to match the picture of the driver and the license plate with my Uber app and hopped in. The ride to the cruise port neighborhood was only about half an hour as there was little traffic at that time of day.

I had opted to stay at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles because they were close and advertised a cruise shuttle that would save me an additional Uber ride. I'm so glad I did! This is definitely going to be my go-to hotel for future cruises going out of LA/San Pedro, in fact we already have a booking for the night before our anniversary cruise in February. 

  

I really enjoyed the neighborhood, Historic Little Italy, that the hotel is in and felt perfectly safe walking around during the day as a woman alone. I popped down to the waterfront and saw the fish market, the outside of the Maritime Museum (I didn't take the opportunity to go in) and walked down the boardwalk a bit to see the Tall Ships. I sat and enjoyed the beautiful, sunny day while chatting with my son on the phone. By the time I returned to the hotel my room was ready!

 

They put me on the 10th floor which had a lovely view! I didn't technically travel alone as I had Captain Hudson with me! I ordered him from a fundraiser another cruise blogger was running for Mercy Ships. I bought him with the intention of bringing him with me on all my upcoming adventures and then my adventuring ground to a halt with my surgeries. That's why he's wearing the Princess medallion around his neck. I was booked in April on my first Princess cruise and I was so excited about it because I had snagged a crazy deal on a solo balcony room including tips, drinks and wifi for only $333. Unfortunately I had to cancel it, since I was in the ICU when it sailed, but they had already sent me the medallion so Captain Hudson is wearing it to remind me of where I've come from and how God provides for those things we've lost. I ate dinner at the hotel restaurant which was passable and then thought it would be a good idea to take a walk around the block. I mentioned that it felt safe to walk in this neighborhood in the daytime, and it did, but I was decidedly uncomfortable after dark, so I think I'd skip that in the future.

For breakfast the next morning, after a lovely night's sleep, I tried out the diner around the corner because the hotel breakfast was really expensive and had a line out the restaurant waiting for it. I had also read reviews saying that Happy Diner was the place to go! I'm so glad I did because they were the sweetest people and their gluten free pancakes were the best I've ever had! Since I was on a solo trip and not needing to worry about anyone else's preferences (like my husband who likes to be SUPER early for everything) I decided to sign up for the 11am cruise shuttle and hang out in my really nice room till checkout time. Checking out and getting on the cruise shuttle went very smoothly. They dropped us off right at the baggage check in area, so I was able to drop off my bags. I'm so glad that I travel with these luggage tags * because I watched other cruise passengers searching desperately for a stapler to put theirs on and, in Seattle, I've watched them fall right off in the rain! Using these tags, I've never had a bag not get delivered to my room in 11 cruises.

After a quick check-in, I was directed to use the elevator instead of the escalators, since they saw that I was using a cane. To my surprise, when I got off the elevator instead of directing me to the waiting area, they invited me to board right away! Another bonus was that since the ship had sailed down empty from Seattle to LA just before this cruise, all the rooms were ready right away when we boarded. 

Captain Hudson and I went to check out the room, which was lovely! My husband had splurged and upgraded me to a balcony, wanting to set me up for the best as he was a little anxious about how I'd do on this trip. While we were checking things out, some chocolate covered strawberries were delivered thanks to my Norwegian Latitudes Platinum status, which quickly became my lunch 😁.

I attended the Sail Away Party, which was really fun to watch, and we were on our way!

Don't worry, I'm not going to blow-by-blow the next five day, but I'll share some of the highlights:

I attended my first art auction and WON the raffle!

 I got to read the first book I've finished in years.

I got to celebrate Halloween on a cruise ship for the first time

 I watched a new cruise ship game show that had me ROFLing!

I had a crazy winning streak in the casino (more to follow)

 I took a tour in Ensenada and WON a margarita!

I want to clarify about the casino and the drink as I am not necessarily encouraging gambling or alcohol here. Everyone has their own things that God is working on them with and, with me, He is working on moderation. I am an extremist, AND I have very addictive tendencies. In the past I have just avoided things like these entirely for fear of falling off an edge. Over the last few years, though, God has been encouraging me to listen to Him and follow His lead rather than cutting out everything I am tempted by (which is a very long list including fiction novels and chocolate 😳) This has been a good exercise in learning when to stop, knowing my limits, and listening to the Holy Spirit. So I played A LITTLE in the casino (the first night I made one $0.80 bet). I had a couple of drinks, including that margarita. And I read a book. Oh yeah, and I had chocolate covered strawberries for lunch ONCE.

Here's the Thing: All told, I had a SUPER BLESSED trip! I missed my family, but I got to talk with them a little thanks to Wifi and sometimes its good to take the opportunity to miss people so you can appreciate them more! I was able to relax and refresh SO MUCH! What's the one thing I'll do different next time? I'm bringing this mattress topper * with me on my next cruise in January because my back HURT so bad on this one.

*As an Amazon Affiliate I will receive a small payment if you purchase through my links. This in no way affects the price you will pay, it just helps me out!