Alaskan Cruise

[Rich99]

Hi everybody,

Haven't thrown a thread out here in a long time, and there's been a lot of old names that have left, and a lot of new ones. Been a long time since first motorcycle riding first started, but even longer since I've been on a cruise, because I've never been on one. I know, guess I could have gone a long time ago, but the wife doesn't do water or ships, and that's why I've never gone. It always came down to double occupancy of which I couldn't do, and they don't have single cabins. But sort of fell into this cruise where my niece bought my sister a cabin for a birthday gift paying the double occupancy price (she's got the ) just for her. She asked if anybody else wanted to join the cruise, so I asked my sister if she'd like a cabin partner, and wala............ my first cruise. This will probably be my first and last cruise, and my niece bought a mini-suite for my sister, that's where dollar signs started appearing. So just wanted to spread the news of one of my last hoo-rahs in retirement. Wish me luck, and hope sea sickness doesn't set in, or some sort of virus shows up on ship. I'll just keep a and see what it's like to be waited on hand and foot.

[etcswjoe]

I did a cruise last year with a bunch of other riders, it was my first (non-Navy) and I enjoyed it but if I had been by myself I am not sure I would have.

[EasyRider]

Just don't swap the ride for a boat when you get back!!!

[bongobobny]

Rich, you may just find out you ENJOY cruising...

[Rich99]

I did a cruise last year with a bunch of other riders, it was my first (non-Navy) and I enjoyed it but if I had been by myself I am not sure I would have.

That's where I seem to come up on the losing end. 99% of everything I do is by myself. The only thing I do with the wife now is go out to dinner every Saturday night. But since she joined "Weight Watcher's" and lost 90 lbs., even that isn't any fun any more because we don't go to all the places we use to go and have fun picking anything on the menu. I've learned to live with it as she has a phobia of being afraid of everything and anything, so she just stays home and sews. crosswords, and soaps. I guess you could say that I'm honoring those marriage vows "for better or for worse", so we'll just leave it at that.

[etcswjoe]

That's where I seem to come up on the losing end. 99% of everything I do is by myself. The only thing I do with the wife now is go out to dinner every Saturday night. But since she joined "Weight Watcher's" and lost 90 lbs., even that isn't any fun any more because we don't go to all the places we use to go and have fun picking anything on the menu. I've learned to live with it as she has a phobia of being afraid of everything and anything, so she just stays home and sews. crosswords, and soaps. I guess you could say that I'm honoring those marriage vows "for better or for worse", so we'll just leave it at that.

 

 

You will have no issues with being able to enjoy your food on a cruise, I suggest you do the sit down dinner and breakfast. You can still have as much as you want but they bring it to you.

[Rich99]

Rich, you may just find out you ENJOY cruising...

You could be right, but with the amount of money it takes to do a cruise, it's not something for us poor people. Hitting the lotto would make it much easier!

[BigLenny]

That's where I seem to come up on the losing end. 99% of everything I do is by myself. The only thing I do with the wife now is go out to dinner every Saturday night. But since she joined "Weight Watcher's" and lost 90 lbs., even that isn't any fun any more because we don't go to all the places we use to go and have fun picking anything on the menu. I've learned to live with it as she has a phobia of being afraid of everything and anything, so she just stays home and sews. crosswords, and soaps. I guess you could say that I'm honoring those marriage vows "for better or for worse", so we'll just leave it at that.

 

Rich,

 

I went on my first cruise a few years back. I never had a remote desire to go cruising before I went. As a matter of fact, I was dreading it. Well, Wow! I had a blast, and it wound up being onw of my all time favorite vacations my wife and I have ever taken.

I hope it turns out being a good one for you too.

 

As far as your wife not wanting to do anything with you, well, I hate that for you. Not doing things with each other can put a serious strain on the relatonship. It kinda reminds me of my aunt and uncle. About 6-8 years ago she stopped travelling and experiencing things with him. Starting a few years before that, my uncle started openly griping about my aunt at family gatherings and such. If we were all together visiting, he would bring up something that bothers him about her and start airing it to the gathering with her sitting there embarrassed. He still does that till this day. About a year ago he was griping about her not ever wanting to go anywhere with him. So, I simply asked her why she doesn't. Her response was that for years and years he was fun to live with and experience life with. But in the last 10 years or so, he has became someone that gripes about everything. he gripes about everything from Cracker Barrell having too many customers, people driving too fast nowadays, her playing music in the vehicle, Obama, the government, Walmart is too crowded, the weather, people of different races, sexual preferences, how long it take for her to get ready, etc, etc, etc. The guy has just became a gripe gut, and she says being trapped in the vehicle with him on long trips is not fun, and she doesn't want to go though it anymore. They have been married well over 50 years and it has now turned into a sad scene where she knits, watches soaps, works crosswords, and sleeps in her own bedroom, while he sits on the front porch waiting for anyone to stop by so he can gripe about things. This is a couple that has travelled from one end of this country to the other together and had years of fun. As a matter of fact, he is who got me into motorcycling when I was young, and he still has a trike that he can't ride anymore. It's very obvious to the whole family that they should've put an end to the realationship years ago, or they should've been open to each other and put themselves on a serious track to repair the damaged realtionship. As it stands now they're in a stubborn holding pattern.

 

I hope your deal isn't this bad, but it just kinda struck me in the heart when I saw your words "I'm honoring those marriage vows for better or for worse".

 

That's no fun for sure.

[kevin-vic-b.c.]

Are you leaving out of the US ? If you are you will stop here in Victoria on the return, let me know.

My wife and I have been to Alaska via cruise ship and loved it. A great way to have fun. Ooh make sure there is lots of room on your Visa Card!

[etcswjoe]

Here are the photos from our cruise:

 

http://s760.photobucket.com/user/etcswjoe/library/Cruise

[Huggy]

My wife wants to do one of those European Viking River Cruses. We aren't turned on by those big ship cruses.

[Skid]

Same here. A cruise is something I had on my bucket list and since I just retired, I decided to go for it. I even let the wife join me, and the three kids. We all had a blast and I'm sure it won't be our last.

[cowpuc]

Hi Rich

After raising 4 kids to adulthood with both Tippy and I dumping our hearts out for the kids, we discovered that we had MAJORLY grown apart.. Marriage got so sticky that after +30 years of marriage, divorce papers came out..

After a lot of suffering and serious soul searching on Tippy's part (stupid me,, I caved and went back to drinking - BAD NEWS!!), she found this website called MarriageBuilders dot com.. From there she aquired a book called "His Needs/Her needs" and "Fall In Love, Stay In Love" - ya gotta read em brother!! By the grace of God and a LOT of rediscovering our marriage thru material from MarriageBuilders (like those two books) I stopped drinkin again, we went to work on our marriage and are now a great Marriage growth time - better than ever before!!

I will also add,, what you two are experiencing is VERY common and IS the main struggle that causes marriage issues.. I encourage you guys to take a really close look at what I suggested above,, your marriage is worth every ounce of opportunity you can give it to make it a good one - not just one you HAVE to stay in because you made a promise (although I agree with you - we should always keep our vows)!!

 

Godspeed

Puc and Tippy

[Stealthblade]

Puc, that was beautiful, thank you.

[cowpuc]

Puc, that was beautiful, thank you.

 

Your welcome Stealth,, and thanks for the comment.. The older I get the more I realize how common a lot of our problems as humans really are and how sometimes sharing something that worked for one of us can help someone else on a simular path..

Like what goes on here in the Watering Hole all the time,,,,, think thats what makes this VR family so special!!

[GAWildKat]

Mike and I have been together since 2001, married since 2003 and had everything thrown at us from the beginning. His parents didn't like me, my family didn't like him (Dad had already passed away and would have warmed up to him) Our "friends" didn't like one of us and often said we shouldn't be together. I was still mentally recovering from an abusive ex so I was often timid and walked on eggshells. I knew Mike was the one, and he knew the same about me. But with all the stresses of all of the above stuff and more I don't post here we were headed for divorce by 2008. We both had to learn to stop fighting the negs we saw in other and build on the positives. By the time Mike had the really bad wreck in 2009 with head injuries we were healing. In 2010 he wanted a motorcycle, something he had shied from previously because he knew his parents would give him a hard time about it. Our friend Howard, gnarly 1%er that he is, was Mike's influence in getting a bike. Mike looks up to him as much as he does with his Dad now. I hope those who have marriage problems can fix them.

[BigLenny]

I heard a comedian say one time; "Marriage is so tough, Nelson Mandela got a divorce! Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in one of the harshest prison systems in the world getting beaten and tortured on a regular basis, and came out of it with a positive attitude. He then spent the next 6 months with his wife and said, I can't take this S*@ anymore". LOL!

[Huggy]

Marriage is give and take. Some like me first wife only know how to take. After five years I called it quits. Now my second wife doesn't know when to STOP giving!!! So I have to make sure she gets a fair deal in this endeavor. She would go around bare foot and wearing a flour sack as long as I was happy. So I give her the things that I know deep in her heart she wants but refuses to ask for. It's not expensive gifts but just the little things in life that make her happy and I do through in the expensive gift now and then. And it makes us both happy.