Chat with Deb—Our Great Northern Cruise, Part 1

Boston, Massachusetts

Deb and I splurged last year and invested¹ in a 25-day cruise with Holland America Line (HAL). Seventeen ports of call, not including the departure/terminus port, Boston, Massachusetts.

Chat with Deb—Grab the Money and Run

Our ports of call (graphic courtesy of Holland America Lines)

This was a new way of packing for us. Three checked suitcases weighing 47, 36, and 28 pounds (after some creative rearranging to avoid going over 50 pounds) to get through a month (almost) of travel, with climates predicting temperatures ranging from mid-90s (ºF) in Boston to upper 30s in Iceland. Pills for a month, plus another week (HAL recommended).

The good news was that we could get laundry done on the ship, so we didn’t need more underwear and socks than either of us owned.

DEB: If we send out laundry once a week, I figure probably ten days should work, right?

ME: Um, sure?

We booked a ride to take us to Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) for our flight to Boston. Both of us like to allow for Things To Go Wrong so we got there a few…