Ride along with the Chang Gang: May 2025

In the world of cruising, hubby and I are clear newbies. I’ve got a lifetime of 4 cruises to my name (with one being some 35+ years ago!) and Hubby has just one prior cruise under his belt (which was to Alaska- where we pretty much just followed the lead of our more seasoned cruising friends…J&L).

FAQs of Adventure Across the Atlantic

You have how many days at sea? In total 9 full days at sea.

Won’t you go a little bonkers? Maybe…

As we prepared for our adventure- two distinct responses came from folks. A few thought it sounded lovely but most thought this was the definition of insanity. Endless days at sea, no guarantee that the sun would be out or the seas would be calm. Just throw me over board now was one person’s reply.

Not gonna lie: there were a few moments in the early days where I thought “Oh crap, what did we just sign up for?” I found that I needed to breathe in/breathe out and recalibrate my mindset. I needed to give myself permission that for now-and the next week or so-there was nothing that had to be done-and I had all day to do it. Such “self talks” are something I’ve found myself doing from time to time-be it when I’m at home or in the RV. The beauty of this location was that here on the ship- someone else did the cooking, the cleaning and even the laundry.

What does one do while at sea? Short answer-a little bit of everything!

There was coffee and my kindle..

In my favorite cafe…

I stitched a little here

And there..

We strolled the promenade deck..

As the views simply couldn’t be beat

And of course we ate..

Room service- check

Sunday brunch-check

Why have one entree

When they’ll happily bring you two?

High tea at three

And fancy dinners at night..

Hope you saved room for dessert..

For on a cruise…

if you go hungry..

It really is your own darn fault.

One could fill their day with all sorts of slower paced fun..

From shuffle board-

To pickleball

Swimming

And shows..

And while not necessarily the high energy offering of other cruise lines..

Every performance I attended was just right..

Isn’t Holland America like-for you know- seniors? Yes…yes it is..

Upon seeing these fellas…I knew immediately…I was with my father’s “people”.

Here’s another “not gonna lie” reflection…while we knew going into this, that HAL catered to a more mature crowd, it was really something one had to see to believe. I’d say the average age on this cruise was individuals who were well past their mid 70s. Scooters and walkers would be parked along the dining room walls- much like congested stroller parking areas at Disney.

And so?

There were upsides to being the “young ones” on this cruise

We got our work out taking the stairs- as the elevators always had queue

And in doing so- we were treated to some creative expressions

By both the passengers..

And the HAL art curators..

We never had a problem scoring a table for two..

As long as we avoided the 5 o’clock shuffle rush..

And I got to put my creative writing talents to work

As I came up with the Problem Passenger of the Day..

(Warning-snarky sassy Martha is entering the chat…)

Problem passenger contenders included Suddenly Stops Sam- who would just suddenly stop in front of you. I may have laughed out loud when he did so in front of his own family and they ran right into him.

There was Jingle Jack(ass)-who decided we all would like to be entertained by solo renditions of made up lyrics to the Muzak that was playing overhead as we waited to go thru UK customs. In the words of Hubby- the song Put Me in Coach- is forever ruined thanks to Jack…

And let’s not forget Can’t Hear Ya-Ketchup Complainer- who on the one time we were asked to share a table due to staffing shortages- first announced to us that he was very hard of hearing but then continued to harass the poor limited staff with the fact that he asked for ketchup in a LARGE bowl. Ridiculous that the wait staff thought 3 small bowls would satisfy his request.

Finally- there was Montessori Man from Montreal. Pictured above…he was a very proud Canadian who thought he was being sneaky trying to introduce politics into tea time. Lucky for me- I saw where he was headed and created a quick detour (default to “Have you cruised before?”). And while he as the only one who brought up politics, after this encounter, Hubby announced I was on my own come tea time. Can’t say I blame him.

And your point is?

My take away lesson from this- Hubby is indeed right to cringe when I start to strike up a conversation with a stranger on a cruise. The odd ducks just all seemed to come gravitate towards me.

Fortunately- the cruise gods smiled down on this by nature extrovert- by having a friend on board that enjoyed the social scene just as much as I do.

Remember-DS- My phone a friend from the last blog posting

Well, when I texted her to tell her thank you for sharing her cruise wisdom and told her which cruise we’d booked, she phoned me right away. Yep- she was on the same cruise as we were- not planned- totally accidental.

Oh wait- did I tell this tale already? See- 14 days at sea with the senior sect- and you start to behave like them…