A travel agency contacted me and asked if I would be interested in leading a cruise.
I remember thinking "Who would go?"
It didn't cost us anything, and I figured we could try it and if no one signed up, no biggie, we wouldn't go.
But people did sign up! We had about 20 people on our first cruise. We did three-days and went to Ensenada. I was so nervous - I threw my back out two weeks before we left. And then the day before, I came down with a horrible cold. I had to hide it from the cruisers, I didn't want to get them sick, so I held my sneezes and only blew my nose in hiding and used gobs of hand sanitizer!
These days, things are a lot more situated and smooth! I cap the cruise at 50 people. I do this because I like to hang out with everyone and get to know them. I like to see what they are making and answer questions and such. I love to talk to people and hear their stories. It fills my soul to share the experience with these creative people from all over the country. I'm corny, I know!
We get a lot of mother/daughters, grandmothers/mothers/granddaughters, husbands/wives; brothers/ sisters, best friends from different parts of the country. We get people who are venturing out on a solo adventure. I've had people come in honor of a loved one who passed away. I've had people come BY ACCIDENT who thought it was a scrapbooking cruise! They left the ship with a love of Mexican shrines! I love to meet people and learn about the reasons they decided to come on the cruise. We have some cruisers who have come EVERY year since the first time!
One of my favorite memories is the lady from Phoenix who signed up. She never came to the craft room the entire cruise. I was so worried about her. On the last day, she came to the craft room to pick up her supplies and told me:
"Kathy, thank you for having this cruise, it changed my life, I'm so happy I signed up for your craft cruise!"
I was so confused! Finally she explained that while she was checking in, she met a guy and they hit it off and spent the entire cruise together and fell in love!
My work here is done!
See pictures from past cruises here: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006
