I shall be posting my thoughts and insights into the world of cruise vacations/holidays in the coming weeks. If you are thinking of “doing a cruise”, I hope that my little tales will help you decide whether cruising is suitable for you and your family.
If your idea of a holiday is leisurely, then cruising is for you. A cruise is where everything is optional. No doubt you have heard about the big marketing slogan of “unpack once”. It’s more than that. It’s all about doing something or doing nothing. Just an aside, there is a big push from the book “eat pray love” to learn the sweetness of doing nothing and enjoying life’s simple pleasures. The last big trip we did (which was to California), was riddled with stress. Missing flights, airport stress, getting lost and jetlag. Don’t get me wrong, I also love an adventure like the next person. Cruising, however, is simply … a relaxed holiday. Hence, senior people love it. Me? I love that I did it sooner than later. More and more young families are getting into it. There were 300 kids on our cruise. Mums and Dads are finding that having an expense “cap” (it’s an all-inclusive holiday plus $10 daily gratuity per adult) makes absolute sense!
Now I can just hear you say, “but what If I get sea sick”? I’ll write about that topic separately.
Let’s talk about the good bits first. They pamper you here. Mums all over will love this. There is no cooking and no cleaning up afterwards. Your bed is made while you are having breakfast. Turn down service happens every night too. Someone gives you fresh towels everyday and even folds them in cute little shapes. You get freshly baked cookies in the afternoon and chocolates on your pillow. And for people who love getting letters in their mailbox (like me), you will get one every evening advising you of the next day’s port of call and activities. What do you want to eat for dinner? The buffet or fine dining? Or perhaps you fancy a pizza or a steak? Where do you want to read your book? Beside the pool or on a deck chair with endless water views. Do you want to sleep all day or spend the day in the gym? If you are a running nut you may want to run the entire perimeter of the ship. There are yoga and pilates classes; line dancing or disco dancing; photography or ceramics classes. A massage or facial at the spa. Nails or hair at the salon. The desserts on offer are to die for. Try the German chocolate cake or the bread and butter pudding with warm vanilla sauce or the tiramisu or the scones at an afternoon tea party (how very English!).
Let’s talk about how to get those “ship pounds”.