Ginger no advice re the cruise.

(However, I'd like to point out that, in case of extreme distress, pushing someone who's already unsteady on their feet overboard is easy and leaves little, if any, mess.)

Ginger, you have mail.

On the cruise note (and having met your mother and sister), may I suggest two rooms. A lot of cruises deal with older people, so you shouldn't have too much trouble. They even have cruises where you can do dialysis on board. I don't have any advice on cruising, since the idea of being trapped on a boat makes my skin crawl, and irritates me because it's so expensive.

That pig IS made of awesome. And thankfully their sausages won't be made of that pig.

It's so tiny.... and it reminds me, we saw a second pet pig in our neighborhood. The first is about 200 lbs. and wearing a tutu. But this one was smaller and being walked on a leash.

This is the from the transcript of the speech, whcih is different than the article quotes:

You know, sometimes I’ll go to an eighth-grade graduation and there’s all that pomp and circumstance and gowns and flowers. And I think to myself, it’s just eighth grade. To really compete, they need to graduate high school, and then they need to graduate college, and they probably need a graduate degree too. An eighth-grade education doesn’t cut it today. Let’s give them a handshake and tell them to get their butts back in the library!

I love the last sentence. CRACKS ME UP.

How do you pick a cruise?

Travel agent?

If I'm in a small room with my mother and sister, will we all be alive after seven days or will the headlines read "Bloodbath on the High Seas?"

I feel your pain. I'm about to spend a week at the beach in a 6-bedroom house with The Boy and -- count 'em -- *13* of his family members, 7 of whom are neices and nephews.

I'm wondering if I stay drunk the whole week, will it be obvious?

Todd has a good point.

My mother went on a Maritimes cruise like that a few years ago. She isn't feeble, but I can ask her about the rest. All I recall right now is that there were slot machines on the boat.

There are a lot of cruise websites, maybe start there. From what I've seen on 2 cruises, they are very accessible for people with little mobility and they allow one to be as active or not active as one wishes.

On one cruise I shared a small interior room and we were rarely in there. On my cruise alone (work cruise) I was in a larger room with a balcony and I spend much more time there. If your family is one to require everyone spend all the time together, I think a shared room might make you crazy.

There was access on both cruises, but it was occassionally spotty. You should be fine if you are in a port everyday.

When they were mobile and very active, my grandparents were on cruises and land tours with this company: [link] something like that may work for you all.

Somehow, I missed the tutu.

(work cruise)

The words make sense individually, but together...

Ginger, I think a cruise would be an easy way to go. They're very used to people with mobility issues. As for picking one, you should probably talk to a travel agent. I can talk to my husband's family -- they go on a lot of cruises, have difficulty walking, and like their food plentiful and blandish [in my opinion] -- to see if they have any recommendations.

I wonder if consumer reports has any recommendations? Let me check...