Life on the High Seas!

Here is a post from my favorite senior, my mom!  She's talking about one of her favorite modes of travel; cruising!

My husband and I have just finished a week of cruising the Caribbean listening to the most wonderful collection of jazz musicians you can imagine. One of the many advantages of living comfortably retired is the luxury to take off on a trip at will. Cruising is currently a very popular way to travel and there are many reasons for this, not least of which is the ease of travel. Not for the cruiser packing and unpacking every one, two or three days or spending long hours on a tour bus, except by choice. Meals, entertainment, lazing about watching the world go by are all part of the package. The cruiser gets aboard, unpacks and settles in for the duration of the voyage, choosing whether or not to explore ashore as the occasion arises. As one ages, this becomes even more attractive.


    Your ship arrives in port early in the morning at the end of the previous cruise, all the returning passengers are shooed ashore as fast as possible so that cabins can be cleaned and readied for the arriving passengers. A huge task for the cabin crews - they are very good at it, too.


    If you are lucky, your stateroom is ready (it might be a penthouse, a suite, a verandah stateroom or an interior) and you can go directly there, deposit your carry-on luggage, and go to the Lido deck where a buffet lunch is being served. By all means eat! Eating too much is a prerequisite of a cruise. Next you get unpacked and finally, around 5 o’clock or so, it’s time for the Sail-away Party on the largest open deck (one of the pool decks) with a free drink and appetizer snacks as the ship moves ponderously away from the dock. And your long-awaited cruise has begun - hooray!!


    Our first cruise was over 25 years ago - a Transatlantic crossing on Cunard’s QEII from England to New York in December as part of a delightful 25^th anniversary trip. There were a lot of things we liked about it but ultimately, in the North Atlantic, it was like being shut up in a luxury hotel for six days, as only the die-hards were out exercising in the wind. We didn’t try it again for a long time and were resolved that this time it would be a cruise in warmer weather with ports of call to break up all of the sea days. We’ve taken a cruise from Barcelona around Italy to Venice; one from Santiago around the bottom of South America ending in Rio de Janeiro; and the Inside Passage of Alaska (not warm!) as well as several in the Caribbean.


    I’ve also had two absolutely delightful short cruises with our three daughters - it is so lovely for me that they include me as their fourth. They are great travel companions and all I have to do is go along with them wherever. I love it almost as much as I love them!


    Now, back to the cruise we just completed. My spouse and I are fans of what is referred to as straight-ahead jazz. What a delight to us to learn of this St. Louis company, www.jazzcruisesllc.com which annually charters a whole ship for a week-long cruise in the Caribbean, hiring a large contingent of top notch professional jazz musicians who perform in various venues all over the ship each day, usually starting in early afternoon and continuing into the wee hours. There are ports of call but, in this instance, the passengers care little which ports they are as they have come for the music. Many people stay aboard for the entire week. This company also organizes smooth jazz cruises, which are very popular with a younger crowd, and whatever other music-oriented ideas they can come up with. The cruise line they use, Holland America, does an excellent job. It’s a fun week and we get to absorb all the quality music we wish.

    We’re not big exercisers or spa users, so mostly we read and/or sit on our verandah when we are not listening to jazz or eating. This time I brought my laptop along - I don’t get on the internet as the cost for that is more than I want to pay but I am always behind in cataloging my digital photos among other things and I did spend some time at that. If you choose, you can socialize with a lot of the really nice people aboard. Some people meet new buddies with whom they hook up the next time they want to go cruising.

    Does this sound like your cup of tea? Just collect some cruise line brochures from your travel agent or order them online and for the rest of your life you will have more choices than you can imagine!  Bon Voyage, everyone.