From January 23 to February 2, 2016, 33 travelers went on the Oceania Cruise Lines’ Caribbean cruise called Island Paradise, and it truly did take us to paradise!
The bonding by our travelers, though, was what stood out for me. We had a fun group that played trivia daily under the name of — what else but? — the Wisconsin Badgers. Earning those O points was fun, but we never knew there were so many words that end in -ology!
It was our great pleasure to continually hear the other guests talk about “that group from Wisconsin.” Among the things that I absolutely love about our travel program — aside from the bonding — are the connections and stories that are shared. Here’s one that I’ll share with you!
As we were socializing one night, a woman named Karen Cofar Rubin came up to me and said that she was also from Wisconsin. I asked where she lives now, and she said, “Maryland.” I told her that I had a friend on the cruise — Janet Ziffer ’67 — who’s also from Maryland. Karen said that she went to school with a Janet Ziffer, so I introduced them. It turns out that Karen, Janet, and Janet’s travel companion, Susan Grosse, all went to school together in Milwaukee — grade school through high school! Who would have thought that they would reconnect on a Caribbean cruise more than 50 years later?!
I hope you enjoy this glimpse at our fantastic voyage!