Cruises of a Lifetime!
Winter has not long to go here in the United States, and what better way is there to spend an evening than sitting around with a pile of travel brochures looking at cruises. It is going to be a tough decision this year, how does one beat the Alaska cruise that we all took last Summer? This is the question on all our minds, and now that the benchmark is set so high, it is going to be a hard act to follow. Getting us all to agree is also going to be a task in itself. Aunty fancies the Caribbean, Ma & Pa thought that it would be fun to take a Celebrity Cruise, but me, well I'm all for traveling "downunder" and trying out something really different called the Australia Cruise. Cruises seem to have taken a firm hold of our family. Our yearly vacations have usually been on dry land either touring around Europe or staying at one of the condos in Hawaii. These were great holidays but lets face it, you have to really want to go somewhere today to put up with all the hassles at the airport. We seemed to be forever waiting - for the plane, our luggage, our check-in, through customs, and so on. We were so fed up last time that we decided we had to do something different the following year, and so we did. We took a cruise to Mexico. What a different perspective that was, visiting on a cruise liner.
Our travel agent had special cruise deals that first year we went, it was on a new cruise ship that had just joined the Caribbean Cruise Line. We had no idea at the time just what fun we were going to have. My main worry was that we were going to get bored sitting on a cruise ship all day, but that idea was soon put to rest. We didn't stop all day, there was always something to do, or see. The cruise vacation was organised so well that if we wanted, there was something to do every minute of the day, and if we wanted to just sleep on the deck or read a book then we could find a quiet corner and do that too. We have been on two cruises now and this last one was better than the first, and our first cruise was excellent too. The meals were fantastic and the accommodation and service were all first class. Of course we knew sort of what to expect by then, but it was run by a different cruise line and there was a big difference in the on-board facilities such as the entertainment. They really are just big floating hotels you know, except they move as well, and provide great food, and great stops along the way. Looking at the cruise brochures all over the table tells me that it is going to be a long time before any decision is made. One thing we have found though, is that cruises seem to offer something for everybody. Specific age-groups are catered for, even child-minding centers so that mums and dads can have some quality time together, and the kids can have some supervised fun. We like dancing, but the oldies in our group are more likely to head off to see a movie or visit the casino. We all meet up again for breakfast though, ready and willing for whatever the day provides.
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