I will be aboard a ship heading for the Caribbean. I have to ask myself why, after 3 years of living in Hawaii, I'm going on a tropical vacation instead of doing something I've never done before.
I've been to warm places in the winter. I've lived the island lifestyle. So why go back to the tropics just a little over a year since I left them?
I dunno. Seemed like the thing to do at the time. 🙂
This will only be my second cruise, and I'm ambivalent. The first one was okay, nothing spectacular. You're onboard a floating hotel with a couple-thousand other people. You eat, sleep, drink, and breathe the unique atmosphere that a cruise experience provides. This isn't authentic travel, like driving across a foreign country alone or backpacking through Europe. This is luxury travel, no matter whether you have the cheapest room in the belly of the ship or the penthouse. You are taken care of, catered to. I'm not sure I enjoy that non-stop for a week. (Weird huh?)
So I'm trying it again, just to see how I feel this time. I thought about swearing off cruising the last time, but that wasn't fair. This is the second chance, though I doubt the cruise industry will miss me if I decide I prefer a different mode of travel, one that allows me to explore a country rather than float into and out of it without experiencing the authenticity of the place.
Are there any vacation experiences you prefer? If you've cruised, do you like it or are you ambivalent like me? (Oh, I will enjoy myself — last time, we tried to do too much; this time we're vegging by the pool with books and umbrella drinks, which should help a lot.) What's the one must-have item you take with you when you travel?
I love to cruise. I’ve taken 5 cruises, all with different people and I had a great time on them all. I actually got my PW blog gig because I met Karen Holt, the Deputy Editor of PW on an Author’s at Sea cruise.
I always have to have a book with me whenever I travel. There’s the wait time at the airport, the cab ride to the hotel, in line for your room and of course, before you go to sleep.
I think purses should come with a special compartment to hold a book.
Hi, Barbara! I think an Authors at Sea cruise would be fun. 🙂 Writers, books, pampering, and swimming pools — does it get any better?
I agree with you about the book! A special book compartment would be awesome. Sometimes, my purse is way too small. *sigh* The things we do for fashion. 😉
Hi Lynn,
Have fun wih the cruise.
We like to get into the car and drive around. Sometimes it is a daytrip and other times it can be two-three days. We take pictures.
Kind of a photo safari.
Cyn
Okay then, YOU stay here and run the first grade Christmas party and assist with the pageant on Christmas Eve, and I will sip a beverage by the pool.
Sound like a plan?
Cyn, I love day trips in the car! I love meandering down side roads and coming upon interesting sites you might not realize are there. Mike, however, isn’t a big meanderer. 🙁 My parents have always been that way, so I guess my enjoyment stems from my childhood when we’d just go exploring. They always made it an adventure. In Europe, we found more castle ruins that way. Mike meandered well in Europe, but he’s fallen off a bit since moving back to the U.S.
PC, LOL! Okay, point taken. I will enjoy myself immensely. I will lift a drink in your honor as I imagine you wrangling first graders. 🙂
I haven’t been on vacation in years. I can’t even imagine going. Yeah, that’s how long it’s been. LOL!
Lynn,
I’ve nominated you for a blog award. Come See. 🙂