I am pivoting our blog to a “Beyond the Office” theme. The goal is to stimulate ideas for how to have fun beyond work — for the present and the future.

We went on a Crystal cruise in late October — kind of spur of the moment. One criteria was it had to be US to US, in our case Miami. We wanted to avoid any international flights or re-entry.

A big criteria was health safety. Everyone (crew and passengers) had to be fully vaccinated. Still all passengers were tested on the dock before being allowed to board. Contact tracking bracelets were issued. Crew and officer had to always be masked. Temperatures were checked upon entrance to every dining venue, and every entry to the ship.

Our first moment of truth was when, after all of this, we arrived in the ship’s foyer and were told that mask wearing was recommended but not required on the ship. It was the first time in a year and half that it was possible to be with strangers and not wearing a mask, and we had to ponder for a bit. We went to the elevator with our mask on, then went to our stateroom, then decided to leave our mask there. How freeing to not have it on your wrist!

The other delighter was that our ship had a capacity of about 1,000 passengers, and there were only 250 on board. We could have any lounge we wanted around the pool, and dine anywhere. It was like a private yacht. Not good for profits for the cruise line, yet everything was top drawer. The speakers, entertainers and crew. We love to dance, and had the dance trio to ourselves. They quickly learned the dances we do, and just played those rhythms.

Net is that we were so happy we took the chance. It was wonderful to be free for a week, in the Caribbean, just relaxing and soaking up the sun. And we felt safer that week regarding health risks than we had for more than a year.