The Polite Traveler

Our Room in the Comfort Inn Carmel by the Sea, CA Revised 4/2021 Dear Polite Traveler, Since this was our last stop of our California road trip—for now—we didn’t want to spend much on a hotel room when we would only be in town for two days.  Thus, we chose an inexpensive hotel near downtown Carmel.  It was much more important to us to be within walking distance of everything than to be surrounded by extravagance for such a short amount of time.  This Comfort Inn lived up to our expectations.  It is old, a bit tired, but adequate. Note : Follow CDC and county guidelines when visiting.  Always wear your face mask when in public.    First things first: the location. To absorb everything this top-10 rated city in the U.S. has to offer, it is best to get out and walk it making this motel choice perfect.  This small hotel is located on the main street that travels directly to the ocean.  Ocean St. is lined with numerous unique boutiques and restaurants.  The best of Carmel was

Last Leg of Our California Road Trip Revised 4/2021 Dear Polite Travelers, For those of you who have been following along with my latest road trip, the next few sentences probably read like, “Blah, blah, blah.”  However, for those of you who have just tuned in, here is a little background to my road trip series of posts. My Sis Cheryl My baby sister just turned 60 and wanted to spend her special day with family at the happiest place on earth.   Since LA is a mere seven hours from our California hamlet, we decided to drive and take the slow road home through some of the most beautiful places in our state.   Sounds great, huh?   Well, besides the southern California drive.   (SOCAL has crazy traffic!!) Note : Follow CDC and county guidelines when visiting.  Always wear your face mask when in public.    Smell that salt air. Leaving Paso Robles early in the morning, we headed up highway 101 to Monterey.  It is a lovely 2-1/2-hour (includes a short stop at a Starbucks

Comfy, Rocking Room on the Grand Princess Revised 4/2021 Dear Polite Traveler, What does a person really want in a cruise ship stateroom?  Well, I suppose the answer would be different with each passenger.  For my hubby and I, we wanted to be able to see the ocean and be comfortable.  Since this was a relatively chilly weather cruise, we skipped a balcony room and chose an outside cabin with a window.  Not many were available when we decided on an Alaskan cruise anyway.  Even so, I think ours was perfect.  Not too small and not too expensive.  After all, this is our second Alaskan cruise, so I did not feel it granted an extravagant suite.  We are not that type anyway. Note : Follow CDC and Princess guidelines when visiting.  Always wear your face mask when in public.  Where’s our room? We knew our room was on the Lido deck.  Check.  Nevertheless, we couldn’t find cabin 307.  Everyone would just point down the hall when asked, which it was.  That said, there were no cabins down the

Revised 4/2021 Because our past cruises were in the far past, we were astonished by the number of activities.  Many of them are educational and fascinating.  Many of them are just plain fun!  There are so many activities onboard that one cannot participate in everything.   Darn.  Thus, cruising on Princess today is more “What will I miss today?” Rather than, “What is available to do today?”  What follows is what I chose out of the endless possibilities.  Note : Follow CDC and Princess guidelines when visiting.  Always follow face mask rules when in public.    Zumba! I hear the lyrics “Zumba Changed My Life” in my head...all...the...time.  I suppose it is because our Zumba instructor was the very best I have had thus far.  Mark Cornish, an assistant cruise director/entertainer, enthusiastically guided my Zumba sisters, brothers, and me through 45 minutes of exhilarating dance.  My Fitbit was very happy, displaying that I burned roughly 400 calories per session.  Zumba reall

“Where the river is windin' big nuggets they're findin' North to Alaska go north the rush is on North to Alaska go north the rush is on” Songwriter: Mike Phillips Revised 4/2021 Yep, we went north to Alaska and it was amazing.  My husband wanted to surprise me with a birthday cruise.  Nice gift, sweetie.  However, there were scant choices for a July cruise out of San Francisco—our nearest port.  Thus, we were Alaska bound and it was memorable.  Note : Follow CDC and Princess guidelines when visiting.  Always wear your face mask when in public.   The Princess Cruise Line is a no-brainer choice for us, as it is the only cruise line we have tried and enjoyed every minute.  Why even consider another provider?  Silly really.  Our last two cruises were twenty-one and sixteen years ago.  Both ships were smaller and vastly less modern (obviously) than the Grand Princess, which, ironically, is considered in need of updating.  Regardless, we found her charming and