2026 NCL PRIMA PLANNING STAGES

It's been awhile...a L-O-N-G while. Didn't I mention it's been too long? By the time this cruise rolls around, it will have been 11 months since we had a real vacation (say it ain't so) and I've been questioning my life choices during this entire time. I have developed a disease called "Travitude" which is when you start to get grumpy with an attitude because you miss traveling and have no vacations planned. I'm in full force Travitude these days. It's all I talk about (and remind my family of it). My mind has been rebelling against everything I've known...well, at least since 2010 I suppose. It will actually be over a year since we've done a cruise and if I'm honest, I'm starting to enjoy our land vacations to the Caribbean a little more than cruising. But, because of certain circumstances, we have managed to do neither. We have been to almost every port, multiple times, and after awhile, I just run out of "new" things to do.

So, what's been the hold up you might ask? If you aren't a regular follower, I'll give a short run down. Well, I'll at least attempt it since you all know how long winded I can be. Our dear "Karl" (whose name really isn't Karl but he adopted that name due to my sons girlfriend calling him that because she said he looked like a "Karl" to her years ago. Yes, he answers to it and yes, we call him that all the time) had a devastating accident last year a few weeks after we returned from our St Maarten land vacation in August. Oh, I guess I should say who "Karl" is to those that don't know...he's my youngest daughters boyfriend of several years but they've known (and worked) together for even longer. Anyhow, he was riding his motorcycle with a group of friends and a car cut him off. He tried to avoid running into it and instead plowed into a curb/street light and flipped multiple times across the intersection and head on into another car coming in the opposite direction. Completely destroyed the bike and the car he hit. And, well it destroyed him as well. The car that cut him off...ran and was never located.

"Karl" ended up spending 3 months in the hospital and he is paralyzed from above the nipple line and down. He has plates in his back. It's been a devastating event in our life. Sakari did not take it well and was struggling for months. She didn't want to go anywhere or do anything...including any vacations. Some days she didn't want to leave his side and other days it was too much to handle. Their future was up in the air. He has done months and months of PT 3x weekly and he's learned a lot about how to get around and how to do things for himself with his "new life". He's the most positive person I've ever met and still hopeful for the future...including hoping for some type of miracle or studies that will eventually repair his spinal cord.

So, we decided to all stay home from traveling until he was ready. Well, he was ready to do a "trial run" this past February. We all headed to Vegas for an extended weekend for my birthday (Review located HERE). It actually turned out pretty good. We only managed to throw him out of his wheelchair once. Not too shabby right? Hey, in my defense, I told him multiple times to put his seatbelt on and he just didn't listen. (He managed to do it again at Sakari's senior dinner at school in May but we weren't the ones at the "wheel" this time...it was him. Maybe he's just trying to get more sympathy from us because it only seems to happen when he's with us). 😂 Attention seeker I tell ya!

Since that short trip went well he stated that he's ready for more of a vacation.

He seemed to think that a cruise would work better than a land vacation. Honestly, I'm not sure why. I feel the complete opposite but I'm just the cranky old get off my lawn lady because I haven't had a vacation in awhile. I'm up for anything...even if that meant another cruise to the same old places. Just get me OUTTA HERE! Please and thank you.

I went into a deep dive search mode and dared anyone to disturb me. I knew that we had an abundant amount of cruise certificates still with NCL and I've really wanted to use those up. So, it was NCL or bust! And trust me "bust" was not on my agenda. We haven't been on Prima yet and it was a newer ship. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing as I feel like the bigger ships are more crowded with people but they would be more accessible for him. I guess we'll find out. I went back and forth between two different dates to different places.

Since the "kids" are "adults" we decided to book them their own room. However, since they are not "adults" to the cruise line we would end up booking a room for me and Sakari and a room for the hubby and Karl (which I believe have some advantages to it as well that I will get into later). Aww, Karl's so happy for daddy B time. 🤣

They were having a "double up" promotion which meant I would be able to use 4 of my certificates up and I feel like my trigger finger was twitching and I panic booked before the sale went away.

I managed to snag an interior ADA room and tried to justify booking an interior room for us. Trust me, I argued with myself about how we like pulling into port and being on the balcony or just relaxing out there when we want to unwind and don't feel peopley at any given moment. The other side of me was telling myself that we used to cruise interiors all the time and had no problem with it because we really don't spend a lot of time in the room. Then it happened, I found a balcony almost right across from the kids interior and my trigger finger got happy again. Yes, we are getting a balcony room again. I tried to convince myself that I did this on accident and got the room numbers mixed up. But, this was no accident. Shhh, don't tell the hubby. This was leadership and I patted myself on the back justifying it by saying we were able to apply those cruise certificates! Karl said he would be spending a lot of time in our room since we had the balcony and then gave me that I'm gonna bug you this entire cruise look that he always does. 😶

This is what I ended up booking:

So much more goes into a booking/vacation with someone who is handicapped. I'm learning, but it takes a whole lot more research on my part to pull it off. #pattingselfonbackagain

This would be our location:

Shortly after booking we would receive an "Accessibility Questionnaire" to fill out for "Karl". This took awhile to gather information because they wanted to know everything they could about his wheelchair from open and closed W x H x D and so on. I guess he'll get to keep his room once on board. 😁

I'm doing something I have never done before while cruising...cashing in some points for OBC. I've had a NCL credit card for years with points building up and I guess I didn't realize that they DO expire at some point...5 years actually. I noticed that I had points expiring in May and needed to use some up. So I managed to cash in a few and get $250 OBC. I'm hoping they show up on my account once on board because I've read that they will not show up on your booking prior to the cruise. At least I'll have my receipt to show it. Score! Hey, every little bit helps me keep money in my pocket for the next vaca right?

Time to check flights. We've had a Spirit card for awhile now and used points to book our flights multiple times. We had enough points to book our flights there but would have to pay coming home. Again, handicapped takes some planning and the quicker we can get there and less transfers the best it would be for everyone. I found a non-stop flight there and back and booked.

Then this happened months later...

Wait, what?!? This is for real this time? Are you serious??? UGH! What happens to our money? I assume that we would lose all our points but what about the money? I immediately logged on to my Spirit account and got the following:

I guess that put my mind at ease a little but I would still check daily for that so called refund they promised for the next few weeks like it was the only job I had in life. To my surprise, the refund came. I know a lot of people said Spirit was the Walmart of airlines but I never had one problem, that I can think of, with them and it got us from point A to point B for a cheaper price than any other airlines...and hey, I'm all about cheap as much as we vacation every little bit helps. Still, I'm so sad this happened to them.

Time to go back to my regular airline...Southwest. Since I've had a card with them for so long we still get a lot of benefits booking with them including upgraded seats, free luggage and so on. I managed to snag a non-stop flight that actually works better for us (as far as the times we arrive in Orlando which will be 15:35 instead of the Spirit 20:22 at night). I like that it wasn't a very early morning flight...that gave us plenty of time to get "Karl" up and ready with all the transfers at the airport. Winning if I do say so myself. Even though it would cost more (another $727 more actually) but I did have points that I could apply to bring that cost down as well and brought that down to $120/pp extra instead)

Prior to Spirit going out of business, I had decided to book the Hyatt Regency, located within the airport in Orlando, for convenience. We would have been arriving somewhat late and after getting our luggage, trying to figure out transportation (either ADA or potentially using 2 taxi's) to a hotel off site and then back again in the morning....it just made more sense to stay there. We would have places to eat within the airport and less mental trauma for everyone.

Now we have stayed at this Hyatt twice now. I remember the first time we snagged a really good deal (around $100 or so) but the second time it had significantly went up in price (more than doubled). Well this time 😲I about decided we would spend the night on the airport benches outside to prevent breaking into the 401k fund. Like holy moly what the heck! After having a mental breakdown, I would once again reason with myself, reminding myself that I would not have to pay for transfers to another hotel or transfers back and we would be less stressed the following morning and booked it anyhow. This hotel would cost a whopping $441.01 for ONE NIGHT!!! Geesh. Luckily we play the points game with our credit cards and are able to pay with points for a lot of our vacationing and didn't have to pay anything for the room (at least I trick my brain into thinking that because I am well aware you have to spend the money to earn the points to begin with...but who doesn't spend money in every day life...still winning). Whew! I guess that made my blood pressure come back to normal after awhile but I still would have liked to use some of those points on something different. The only thing that could go wrong is that it is not an ADA room. "Karl" said he would manage for one night and would be fine. If that meant the hubby and I leaving the room while he did his nightly cath and bowel program then so be it. Sakari would just have the job of carrying him to the bathroom...or dragging him, depending on if he's aggravated her too much that day. 😁

Alrighty then, we were set with the cruise, flights and a room. Now on to do more research on HOW we are getting to the port. Yikes! I'm beginning to second guess this cruise and flying into Orlando. We would now have a very long ride to the cruise port...with a wheelchair. So, I guess no taxi's for us. I looks like using an Uber XL (as we normally would) would be close to $100 if not more on a cruse day...it's hard to tell.

Now "Karl" can transfer from wheelchair to a car (or suv) without a problem as long as he is able to get to the front seat. He would not be able to get into a seat if it's a van with a step and the seat smaller in a second row. I researched ADA rides with Airport Canaveral ($28.25/pp), GoPort ($29.99/pp) and NCL's transportation ($79/pp). Yes, these are all one way. I decided to throw caution to the wind and just be adventurous and hail a Lyft instead. What am I getting myself into?

Time for the daunting task of trying to figure out what we're going to do in each port that will allow "Karl" to participate. Then I would discover a few things after receiving a heartfelt notice from NCL regarding tenders...

Great Stirrup Cay had built a pier HOWEVER...they didn't finish it (after ships were already using it) and decided they would close it down to finish it...which meant now they are back to using the tenders. Well, I'm just going to assume that they don't have an accessible tender for those in a wheelchair. So, there's that. Mistake number one.

Jamaica: not my favorite place to go...at all. I mean I've been a few times but the pushiness of people on the island wanting you to buy drugs just makes you never want to go back and it also makes you feel unsafe. I've never been to Falmouth before (been to Montego Bay and Ocho Rios) and it would be really nice to be able to do something but, I think in order to feel safe with "Karl" it would need to be a cruise ship excursion. Do you think they have anything for someone in a wheelchair? NOPE! I did read that the "in thing" to do here is the bamboo raft ride at Martha Brae River. THAT would be what I would pick if we didn't have someone in a wheelchair. I did read up that you can book on your own and they do offer services were they would carry those in a wheelchair (staff) but onto the raft? I'm not sure. I didn't want to chance it. The other issue is that I read a review saying a family went on this excursion and the person pushing one them on the raft wouldn't even let him off until he gave him a tip and was real pushy and didn't like the amount he was being given (over 20%) but he wanted double the amount. Yea, I'm not about to deal with that. It looks like we may have to just stay within the port. Bummer! Mistake number two.

Grand Cayman: well geesh, here we are at yet another tender port. WHAT WAS I THINKING?? I'm a failure so far! Yes, GC has tender they can use that is accessible but there's no guarantee that those will be the tenders that are being used that day. Mistake number three.

Cozumel: Well here's hoping that we actually get to dock at this port because we have been on a cruise in the past that we were unable to dock and had to tender. This would also be the first time we've ever received a notice regarding traveling to Mexico as well.

I guess I really didn't think this itinerary through too well before booking. Oopsie! I promise I'm not always a train wreck...just kidding... toot toot. Either way, we'll be able to eat our way to happiness on the ship and regret those life choices afterwards.

After a long talk with "Karl" I asked him how he felt about staying on the ship one of the days we were in port and us going to shore to go diving. He knows I'm really adamant about diving at least once during our vacation each time. He says "As long as there's food, I will be fine". Who is he kidding? He doesn't have an appetite anymore and can't feel when he's hungry and only eats because he knows he has too. Then he states "Wait! What do you mean you're going diving? I WANNA GO TOO!". Um... dear "Karl" I'm not sure that's possible.

When "Karl" first had his accident one of the first things he said to me was "I'll never get to dive again" and was very sad. You see "Karl" was planning on getting certified after we returned from that vacation. Ok, time for more research. I would find out that in fact you CAN go diving and be paralyzed. Wait what?!? I read up on it then started reaching out to dive shops in Cozumel and managed to find 2 shops that were certified to take ADA divers out. I immediately started communication and one dive shop stood out to me with a book full of information. We communicated back and forth for months. She was really going out of her way to make sure he would be able to dive again...either by boat or pulling the boat up to the dock, putting him on it, then getting him into the water. Whatever it took. The shop had been diving with adaptive divers for over 10 years. They would get him 2 buddy divers (the instructor and owner of the shop and an additional divemaster). They have taken groups of over 60 divers, including 16 chairs, plus amputees and they work with a group called Livewaters, which is primarily quadriplegics and Dive Pirates (which is a variety of adaptive divers). That made us feel very comfortable and decided we would end up using them for our Cozumel stop. "KARL" IS GOING DIVING AGAIN!!

After a lot of discussion back and forth, the dive shop suggested maybe we should get "Karl" back in the water, in his new life state, before the cruise to make sure he will get used to it. She had a lot of resources and found us a dive shop here to reach out to. After discussion with their adaptive dive instructor "Karl" decides "I'm going to just go ahead and get certified" and stated he can't wait to tell everyone he encounters that "Yes, I'm a paraplegic and yes I'm a certified diver!" Like I said, the most positive person I know and nothing will stop him. Well...except maybe now all of a sudden he has to have surgery for bladder stones they discovered. Geesh...it never ends. Attention seeker.

As if "Karl" needing surgery prior to the cruise wasn't enough I received bad news that my sister had a major stroke involving the brain stem and cerebellum and was on life support. We were told there was no hope for her and if they were to keep her alive she would need 24/7 care in a facility, have to have a trach to breathe, a peg tube for feeding, she would never wake up again, talk again, walk again or have any function. As 2 grueling weeks went by her 5 sons decided it was time to take her off life support. She is an organ donor and they arranged for her to be removed from life support with Lifeline. Multiple family members and friends gathered that evening as we wheeled her into the OR to remove all care. We were told she had 60 minutes to pass and then they would race her to the OR next to us to take her vital organs. Everything was removed. She was struggling. We watched her heart rate go up to 122bpm, respirations decrease, bp go down to 64/40 and oxygen decrease to 34%. An hour had passed and at that point they said they would no longer be able to harvest her vital organs and they were taking her back up to her room to pass. They would at least be able to get organs such as tissue, eyes and so on.

Once she was back in her room, her heart rate went back to normal (92), bp came back up to normal (113/80) and believe it or not her oxygen came back up once they raised the head of the bed and I requested a nasal cannula be put on her. After all, that is part of comfort care. Her oxygen was in the 90's by the time I left the hospital the next day. Nothing happened the way they said. She's breathing on her own. I can tell you I have an entirely different perspective on how organ donation works. The look of disgust on the staff and the rep from Lifeline when she didn't pass was concerning. They were routing for her death. They wanted those organs. Their whole demeaner changed...including the sweet little voice the Lifeline lady once had when she was pushing for the kids to donate donate donate, do it now, this is what is going to happen, we want those organs quickly. Being in the healthcare field I have always been an organ donor. If my death can benefit other lives, I'm all for it. But after witnessing what I have now with my sister, I'm changing my mind. I don't like how it is ran. It's like a business. They want to make money and you are the key. It really has me thinking about things. It also makes me wonder if you are a donor, do they really try everything to keep you alive and give you a chance in certain circumstances? I worked in the ER for years and I know during trauma's that was one of the first things they would ask...are they an organ donor.

Days went by and she was still breathing on her own with stable vitals but some apnea breathing. They moved her to inpatient hospice to continue the waiting game where she continued to breathe on her own still for another 6 days until passing. She was a fighter. She wasn't letting go. Being a hospice nurse myself and being on the other side of things you don't think straight. Every little thing gives you hope that they will eventually come out of it. I have a whole new perspective on things now being on the other end. My sister is no longer suffering and at peace now with my brother who also passed 4 years ago of a blood clot after surgery. I had the same thing after my surgery but caught it in time. Now I have lost my brother, sister and mother all from blood clots between the ages of 59-62. It scares me for sure. I'm right there with them. I will be getting genetic testing done to see if it is a predisposing in my family next month. They were going to do it back when I had my blood clots but once I arrived they said since there wasn't any other deaths besides my mom back in the 80's that they didn't think it was necessary. I'm now kicking myself for not insisting back then. Always live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment. You never know when it's your turn. 😢

Well it's almost time and since I've been so busy it was about time to pull out the luggage and pack. Normally this is started months ahead of time because momma didn't raise no procrastinator. But, this time, I was days away from leaving. I discovered our clear ship tags were pretty much destroyed from not removing the paper inside of them and it getting wet. I'm pretty sure I have stock in Amazon Prime at this point and I had next day delivery for some brand new luggage tags that were shaped like a ship. Sometimes I go a little over the top and fixate on something I think is spiffy and a "gotta have it" item. This would be my impulse by for the day.

You have to admit, they are cute right? I did good right?

Ok, packed and ready to go. It's time to check the weather for the week.

OH EM GEE! Let's hope these are little sprinkles and then goes away.