Recently, my wife and I went on a 4 day cruise with Royal Caribbean Cruise lines. We had no idea what it was going to be like and as we boarded the ship and took our first look at the lunch menu - we knew we were in for a treat. At that moment, we both thought out loud, "wow - this would be so fun to share with some really good friends or our families." I guess that was the honeymoon because as the weekend went on, there were more and more aspects that began to bother me. Don't get me wrong - we enjoyed ourselves a lot. The frustrations came as each day unveiled the personality of cruising. More on this later!
1. I hope you were thinking about me at some point.
ReplyDelete2. I hope, if anything, you got a piece of what heaven is like, as well as hell.
3. I am pissed India didn't work out.
where's the "more on the is later" part?
ReplyDeletethis*
ReplyDeleteI do want to share but lost connection with the thoughts because we are so far removed. I will say that I liked it more the first day and each consecutive day after, I liked it less. The decadence drove me nuts. I enjoyed it but realized that it was unsustainable. The other side was that the discovery aspect of the trip was pre-packaged. The island we landed on first wasn't even a real island - it was purchased by the Cruise company and they made you fee like you it had all been put there for you - because it really had been built just for the customers to come and spend money - lots of money. The island empties at the end of the day and the "islanders" go home from work. I am not sure why yet, but I felt like a tool.
ReplyDeleteWe spoke with one lady who had cruised a lot and she said it's a good way to get a taste of different places and then one can go back and visit on their own later and do some real discovery. Because Abby and I have experienced a lot of travel prior to this then we were able to appreciate her comment. I believe that 80% of the people on that boat probably don't think that way though.
The nice aspect was that you didn't have to worry about anything and could take your mind off of everything and enjoy each day worry free (except for how much you were spending). Though nice to experience, it can be dangerous. It's tough to know exactly why I was uncomfortable with the whole experience. Something was missing - something real but at the same time, many people don't want reality.
Maybe cruising is like the pornography of travel. It's quick, convenient, lacks any real commitment except the money and there is little need to truly interact with the cultures that one encounters except if you want to buy something, be served or serviced. I'll stop now.