zauberflote

@jiminoregon There is no shame in choosing one method of transport over another! You want to cruise because it seems to you the best way to get what you want. I would tend to agree with you on that, and don't think your plan is at all weird. I am neither a frequent flyer nor frequent cruiser, but either method can beat rowing your own boat across the ocean, right? 😁 I don't think you owe it to a single soul to give away any of your secrets. If some stranger asks why you cruise, say you enjoy it over other ways to get there! All the best planning what sounds like a fabulous retirement project!

My hat is off to you, mama!!! At seven, my autistic son (now 33) was starving himself rather than try any of the "allergy food challenge" foods I offered. We took a family cruise when he was 19, and he'd outgrown most of the noise problems, but there we were in Ketchikan Alaska shopping for the right bread, the right peanut butter, the right jelly because a steady diet of hot dogs cooked the way he liked them was not available, and all dessert all the time was not available either... I'm sure you know, prepare for any and every tiny little thing. My son loved that cruise, and still talks about it.

I'm a Land's End tankini fan too. I tend to get the solid dark bottom and have fun with the tops, although I find that the tan that matches my clothes "lines" the best comes from the simplest top-- straight-across cut bodice, thin straps. Very comfy but as others have said, take a while to dry. I don't much mind a damp suit if it's sunny out though.