Cruising

[cbMcruiser]

Carol & I came late to cruise vacations. Our idea of vacations was packing everyone in the family vehicle and heading to Ocean City MD for a week.

 

Out first cruise was a gift from our children/family for a combination of significant wedding anniversaries/a reaction to an upcoming medical procedure and thanks for (above and beyond) taking care of grandchildren.

 

But if I am truly honest, the real reason was that our daughter had become hooked and she knew that we would also...and she was right!

 

Carol & I have been on 6 cruises together (two with other family members) and five on Carnival. We have never had a "bad" cruise. We have woken up docked at ports that we would never have gotten to see any other way. We have spoken to people from lands we would have never known. We have marveled at the Caribbean, its power and its beauty.

 

Our first cruise we drove to Florida, it was in the aftermath of three hurricanes. We got to see first hand the devastation of these storms. We also got to experience the "dance" the cruise lines do to get around these storms (three more were coming) and keep everyone safe yet entertained. As I have stated in prior posts, our first cruise was booked as a western, but we wound up going to St Maartin/St Thomas and Nassau. That didn't make us mad, diminish the experience or leave anything but great memories for us!

 

We have been saddened by seeing conditions that some people live under but elated to see those same people's spirit shine above their status.

 

We have been fed well, entertained well (by paid performers, crew members and passengers :D) and allowed to shed the rigors of life for seven wonderful days at a time.

 

We long for another cruise, this has been a tough year financially for us and for family members. We have one planned for 2/2014, but we really want to get back on a ship in 2013.

 

We need to be pampered, we need WCMC, We need a great martini before dinner while watching the sun set on the Lido. We need to laugh at people laughing at themselves in karaoki. We need to try and walk up the stairs to the steakhouse on the clear glass steps of the Legend. We need to get to the "southern" caribbean. We need to get to Hawaii. We'd like to get to the Mediterranean.

 

The heck with Calgon...Carnival take me away!