Bad news for us. Perhaps good new for one of you.

[Gayle V]

If anyone is looking to change to a verandah cabin with a huge balcony, 8102 will most likely be available Monday.

We've been giving it a lot of thought, no matter how I twist it around in my head, it always comes down to us not going on this cruise.

It's not the money, it's a combination of things, but mostly it's due to the trouble I'm having with my ears. Like I've mentioned before, I had a lot of trouble with them on our last flight. It really hurt and then took nearly two months to get my hearing back, (and even then, not completely. Even now after four months, not completely.). I'm really hesitant to fly again

For our cruise next month we will be taking the train to NY, but getting to Tampa on the train would take two trains and a bus. And it would take way too long. And since we can only go for the second leg of the cruise. (only four days) taking the train there and then back, we'd be spending as much time on the train as on the ship.

It was hard enough to convince hubby to even fly all the way to Tampa for only four days on the ship. The convincing factor was the idea of spending three days in Tampa, before the cruise. I even considered having him fly, and I'd do the train alone, but I can't get enough time off work to get there more than one day early, by train.

So that's it. I won't be flying for a while. Maybe I'll risk my ears by flying again some time, but not real soon, and not for such a short trip..

So, if anyone here feels like switching to a cabin with a huge verandah, I'll be calling Lori on Monday to cancel out.

I know I'll be totally depressed, come debarkation day October, but I'll be wishing you all Bon Voyage, and waiting to hear all about it.

 

[nieciez]

Oh Gayle, that totally sucks as I was looking so forward to seeing you again. But I surely understand your decision as our health is so important. I hope your ears situation improves soon so that you can travel again. We'll miss you my and Vic.

 

[red stripe]

Gayle,
I am so sorry that we will not meet up with you again on this cruise, but understand.

What worries me the most is your hearing. Hopefully you are getting this checked out.

I have had trouble when I flew while experiencing a head cold, and it pushed the infection into the inner ear, but it was cleared up with antibiotics withing a couple of weeks.

So for you to be still having problems this far out seems to point to a far greater problem.
You do need to get to the bottom of it. Hopefully it is just a question of having your ears syringed out.

Too bad the train is out of the question for you.
We are fortunate, as we can travel overnight on just one of them. Having to change can be a real tiring problem, especially if the change is in the wee small hours.
Please get those ears thoroughly checked out.
hugs,
red

 

[Einstein]

Sorry to hear this news Gayle as we were definitely looking forward to seeing U & Vic again. That being said we certainly understand your reasons as flying is difficult enough under normal conditions. Flying with pain in your ears due to pressure differences is very painful. We hope that this problem disappears so that U & Vic can once again fly when necessary to begin your cruise ventures.

We had hopes that the shorter cruises from a Fla. port that is easily accessible would be popular. That being said we also knew that the longer cruises for groups tend to attract more interest. No different this time around as the 14 Night Grand cruise seems to be far more popular than the shorter 4 & 5 Night offerings on the Radiance right now. Travel obstacles that are now a part of air travel have made lots of folks rethink their vacation plans and will continue to I am sure.

We ourselves are probably going to be driving to Tampa and possibly to the Feb. cruise as well. While driving is a bit longer it does makes sense in certain situations. We will raise a toast to U two and hope that some time in the future our cruise paths will cross again. :doubleupossibly a NE/Canada Cruise or one out of New Orleans may better fit with your travel to port via train or car in the upcoming years if our future group plans come to fruitation. :boogie:

 

[Gayle V]

Hello all, Thanks for the kind words.

Denise, I too, was really looking forward to seeing you and all the gang again. That is the most disappointing part. I will cruise with the group again. Some day.

Red , Don't worry, I've definitely been to the doctor about the ears. I figure it's been a total of six visits already, about this one problem. Did the antibiotics a couple times. Even had a tube put in the left ear. (That was the worst one.) The doctor was inclined to do both ears, but I had tubes once before, and hated them. That was twenty or more years ago, so they have been long gone for most of that time. They helped but, I could always feel them. Annoying, till they fell out. The doctor says that the ears are basically OK now, just that it'll take time. He says there was so much fluid in the ears that it was absorbed into the porous bone of the area around the ear, and will take a long time to readjust. I would have thought four month would be long enough.

I did ask the doctor about the flying. He was totally non-committal in his reply. Basically left it up to me. He also was no help when i asked if there was anything i could do to prevent this next time. His only suggestions were stuff we all know about: chew gum, take a decongestant. He didn't even know about Ear Planes, which usually help a lot. But not so much on the last trip.

Hey, Einstein, those are good ideas. Maybe.

 

[maw]

Gayle had looked forward to cruising with you again so sorry you are having to cancel. Maybe one of next cruises?

 

[red stripe]

Gayle, I am glad that you are under a Doctors care.

about the "non committal".. these days when the world is law suit happy.. I think that they are afraid to tell you what they really feel.
And that is a shame, perhaps in other days he might have said that he felt flying was OK.. but in this day and age.. heaven help him if he gives that advice and the person has a problem.

I do hope that it all heals up well for you, hearing is so important. We see the downside to hearing loss every time we are around E's dad, who feels cut off by his inability to hear clearly.

Hang in there.. and hopefully our paths will cross again one of these days.