What’s in the box?!?

I love getting packages in the mail. Always have and I hope I always will. If you know me, you know that I owned Enchanted Gardens in Stockbridge, GA for 28 years. My favorite time of day was when packages arrived for the store. I would order merchandise a few times a year, and it would ship from vendors when it became ready. So, I never knew exactly when something would arrive. When it finally arrived on North Henry Blvd., it was like a mini-Christmas! I enjoyed unboxing everything to see all of the cool things that I had bought. Now, packages arrive less frequently, but I still love opening them, whatever their contents. Now, it’s probably a box of destination brochures for work, or maybe the latest Marvel or Disney Blu-Ray movie I’ve purchased with Amazon Prime. Usually those are brought by the mailman via USPS.

Imagine my surprise when the doorbell rang and DHL was at the door with a small box for me. My first thought was “I didn’t order anything to be shipped from DHL!”. Then I looked at the return address. This box was from Singapore. Super Cool!

But, wait. I didn’t order anything (not even travel brochures) from China. Now, I do have a cruise planned for China, but that’s not until next year. But that is 442 days away.  Yes, I’m counting the days. It will be my first trip to Asia.  Third continent visited <North America, South America, Europe>, 4th continent “seen” — I cruised through the Strait of Gibraltar and have a selfie of me with Africa in the background…see that line of lights a few miles away from the Disney Magic?  That’s Africa.  I was “this” close.  I’ll get back one day.  But for now, back to the box…

 

What’s in the box?

I couldn’t open it any faster.

(Yes, one of the poinsettias around the pool is still in full bloom, this picture was taken on Feb. 18…I wonder how long it will stay in bloom…I purchased it the second week of December)

It is my Ocean Medallion for my upcoming Caribbean cruise on the Regal Princess. I get “Mickey Mail” several times a year for one of my favorite destinations (Disney!!!) But I’ve never received “Princess Post” before! If you’ve been reading my blog, you know how much I love Princess Cruises. My first Princess Cruise was last November. It was my 26th cruise and may have been my favorite cruise.

For my 27th cruise, I’ll be experiencing several firsts:

This will be my first cruise without friends or family. I’ll be sailing solo on this trip.

This is also my first “Back to Back” cruise. The first week, I’ll be sailing the Eastern Caribbean and the second week, I’ll be visiting the Western Caribbean.

I’ll be visiting Princess Cays (Princess Cruises’ Private Island)

My first Ocean Medallion Cruise

I’m so very excited about what the Ocean Medallion will do! I’ve already downloaded the apps on my phone, and I’m now “Ocean Ready”.

All I need to do on Embarkation Day is show up with my Ocean Medallion, my passport and my luggage. I’m already checked in. At the terminal in Fort Lauderdale, a Princess Cruises representative will greet me, my photo & information that I’ve already uploaded via the Ocean Ready app will pop up on their iPad (because I’ll be close with my Ocean Medallion) and I can then board the ship when embarkation begins. How easy is that?

So, this small box contains a bit of magic. I cannot wait to try this new technology out for myself. Stay tuned, as I’ll be blogging about my Ocean Medallion Caribbean cruise on the Regal Princess in less than two weeks.

Questions about what the Ocean Medallion can do?  Princess Medallion Class Vacations are here!

TTFN