Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), representing more than 24 of the world's cruise lines and about 19,000 North American professional travel agencies, reported that approximately seven million people enjoyed a cruise vacation over the past year. I am also reminded that another reason is that two-thirds of the world is water.
Satisfied travelers report that the price of your ticket includes all of your meals and in-between snacks on-board; your stateroom, activities, parties and entertainment; plus an exciting voyage to some of the most enchanting and culturally enriching places in the world, in addition to being a floating resort with all the attractions and a chance to meet new friends who share the same tastes and interests as you. The hassles of an ordinary vacation are completely eliminated. A cruise is one convenient package. There is no need to make dinner or nightclub reservations, run to make flight connections as you travel from one destination to another, or to pack and unpack as you move from one hotel to another.
You can lie back, relax and be completely pampered. Or go non-stop. Dine like never before. Enjoy one show after another and let your cares float away. It's no wonder that more people are taking advantage of the lower cruise rates now during the recession. I do believe that cruising is the best vacation value and can suit every budget. You'll know what your vacation will end up costing you before you go. (Typically your only extra expenses will be for drinks, optional shore excursions, personal services such as massage or hairstyling, and gratuities when not included.
I've cruised on ships that ranged from intimate and yacht-like that included 100-plus passengers like the Seabourn, to vessels like those of the Carnival Cruise Lines stretching longer than three football fields accommodating as many as 3,000 passengers. You can sail with fewer than 150 fellow guests around Italy's Boot as I did on my very first cruise many years ago. And just outside of Malta on that cruise, a wave raised the ship and most of the passengers landed on the floor. But I was the only casualty that required three stitches to my forehead. However, that did not stop me from ascending from the Naples harbor to the lovely tiny Sicilian mountain town of Taormina, altitude 675 feet, for a view of Mount Etna. And that minor incident has not negated my love of the sea and cruising the Mediterranean, the Danube, the Yangtze and many other European and South American ports and trans-Atlantic crossings.
I prefer a more casual-atmosphere cruise to the more formal or classic style of the Cunard Line Ltd. that prefers the formality of male passengers wearing 'Black Tie' or tuxedos on two formal evenings. Special-interest cruises are also offered, featuring culinary demonstrations with renowned chefs and epicurean secrets of classic French cuisine, jazz festivals and classical music concerts, golf clinics with pros, current- events lectures by distinguished guest experts, strategic financial planning, in-depth presentations of Renaissance works of art, to murder mysteries at sea. There are also soft adventure expeditions to such unusual rustic frontiers as the Antarctic, the Amazon rain forest or African Serengeti. Other cruise itineraries of particular interest to me included destinations to culturally rich ports of call, like historic world-class treasures as the antiquities of classical Greece, the Polynesian paradise of Hawaii and the controversial story of Captain Cook in Hawaii or the fabled splendor of the Norwegian fjords.
For many, and that includes me, the perfect vacation includes the non-stop fun and sun of a tropical resort-style cruise to the Caribbean where we can sample a variety of island cultures and cuisines while working on a terrific sun tan. Boredom is not on any itinerary and being at sea can give you a feeling of total freedom that no land-based resort can offer. There's plenty of room on the ship, and it will probably take you two or three days just to discover everything that's on board, plus exploring the ports of call. There is always an exercise routine, a dance class, sports contest, tennis and golf lessons with a pro, and jogging decks just waiting for the active cruiser. I can't think of a better way to escape the frigid weather of the Northeast.
Consult your professional travel agent.
Copyright by Marcia Abramson
Email:mascribe@verizon.net
