Mother's Day: A Daughter's Love Letter, The Today Show, and Alaska Cruise On Holland America Line; 6/5 The Joy of Cruising Podcast

On this bonus episode of The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Stephanie and her mom, Marineda.  A few weeks ago I did a fun episode called The Godmother and referred to it as a modern-day fairy tale. Well, I just learned of another modern-day fairy tale—a sweet Mother's Day oriented tale that I would have found compelling in and of itself. What made it extra special for me was when I clicked on a Holland America Line blog post, I recognized in the accompanying photo of Stephanie and Marineda, that I knew Marineda from when we worked together in Florida where I lived for nine years. And, we are Facebook friends. When I read the post, some other considerations made me that much more interested in their story. First of all, Marineda and I both grew up in Brooklyn, and moved to Long Island, NY. The blog post discussed a Holland American Line Westerdam cruise to Alaska that Stephanie and her mom sailed. We recently did a podcast episode, Fire & Ice, which detailed our own cruise to Alaska in May so I couldn’t wait to compare and contrast Alaska experiences with them. Stephanie and Marineda’s Westerdam cruise was the result of a touching letter Stephanie sent to the NBC Today Show about her relationship with her mom in response to a Mother’s Day Brunch challenge. Perhaps most amazingly, I learned from the blog post that Marineda was 88—which means we worked together when Marineda was 85! I’d have never guessed that!
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I am so appreciative they agreed to share such a beautiful story with the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast.

​www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com