I Miss Cruising and Can't Wait to Cruise Again!

 

It has been about 2 ½ years since my last cruise. The withdrawal is killing me! I can’t take it much longer….I need to get onboard a ship soon!  We’ve actually started traveling again, and in June spent two weeks driving, hiking and flying around Alaska.  It was absolutely wonderful, however it didn’t quench my desire for an extended stay at sea aboard one of my many favorite cruise ships. For me it’s all about the ship experience.  Here’s what I miss most.

These days I’ve been practicing intermittent fasting, so there’s been no breakfast for me.  But on a cruise vacation I abandon self-denial dieting. I can’t wait to sit down in the dining room each morning to a full breakfast.  Pancakes with warm syrup and crispy bacon, eggs benedict accompanied by golden brown toast and fresh squeezed juice or maybe Belgian waffles topped with blueberries, strawberries and a dollop of fresh whip cream! Cappuccino to replace my usual cup of quickly brewed coffee from my Keurig! Ah….

I want to sit on my balcony, the horizon stretching across my field of vision, listening to the water lapping against the ship.  I never tire of the awe and wonder that comes over me when I realize that I’m just this little blip of nothingness in this vast ocean!  And that crisp, briny smell in the air! Being at sea is just good for my soul. Even in chilly weather it’s so nice to sit out there wrapped in a blanket!

 

Bucket List Cruises: Asia

 

Asia has long been on my travel bucket list. But how do you begin to plan an itinerary that encompasses such a huge area?  One solution is cruising.  There are many options as far as cruise lines to sail with, length of sailing, and of course there are many ports of calls spread out between many countries. Let me share with you why an Asia cruise made my bucket-list.

 Southeast Asia is packed with ancient forts, historic cities, and towering temples. With the wide range of religions in Asia, (Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism & Islam to name a few), there’s impressive architecture all around. Temples and worship sites incorporate the influence of nature, even being carved as tunnels out of mountainsides. Most of Southeast Asia’s great temples were built by the 13th century! There are the pagodas of Bagan in Myanmar, the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and thousands of ancient temples and war relics in Vietnam.

Bucket List Cruises: The Galapagos Islands & Machu Picchu

 

The Galapagos Islands is on my cruise bucket-list destination for good reason: This archipelago 620 miles off Ecuador’s coast in the Pacific Ocean is a double World Heritage site (both land and sea are protected) and served as the inspiration for Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. And when I found out Celebrity Cruises had a land extension package to Peru which included Machu Picchu I was doubly excited!

 There is so much to do on a Galapagos Island cruise vacation.  Hiking, bird watching, beach snorkeling, kayaking, and scuba diving immediately come to mind. But I confess, the biggest reason for why I want visit the Galapagos Islands is definitely to see the animals! Most of those animals in the Galapagos Islands can only ever be found on these islands.

 The Galápagos sea lion is a species of sea lion that breeds on the islands. They’re pretty social critters and are often spotted sun-bathing on sandy shores or rock groups or swimming through the surf. I’ve heard them called the unofficial welcoming party of the Galapagos Islands!

Bucket List Cruises; South Africa

 

With travel at an almost standstill since March of 2020, I’ve done a lot of dreaming of faraway lands.

There has been plenty of time for my husband and I to fine tune our travel wish-list, and with cruising being our preferred type of vacation, we came up with our top bucket list cruises.

 Norwegian Cruise Line has made the top of my list with their 12-night Norwegian Jade cruise departing from Cape Town. I love having the opportunity to explore a portion of this exotic continent and still being able to return to the comfort of this beautiful ship. This cruise lets me check-off everything on my South Africa to-do list; wine tasting, safari and beach time. 

The Celebrity Retreat Experience

 

For suite guests aboard a Celebrity Cruise Line ship, the Retreat offers a vacation experience that rivals any high-end resort.

The exclusivity of the Retreat experience becomes apparent as soon as you arrive at the cruise terminal.There is a reserved pre-boarding area for expedited, escorted service onto the ship, and a personal butler waiting for you to do your unpacking. But if you’d rather not have a stranger going through your suitcase, no worries, that’s not all your butler does. He can arrange to have dinner delivered to your suite, will expertly serve it, course by course, and even prepare a complimentary espresso or cappuccino. Now that I like! I’ll have mine on the balcony, please.

Playing the Waiting Game until My Next Cruise

 

It has been well over a year since I boarded a cruise ship to sail away on vacation! Gosh I miss it! Waking up every morning in a different city or island, gourmet dining, an evening show…I know, I know, you’re feeling it too! Aside from scrolling through the Direct Line Cruises website for future itineraries, here’s what I’ve been up to while playing the waiting game.   

I have become an armchair travel.  I’ve always been a voracious reader and now I let every book I read whisk me away to some wonderful foreign destination.  Within the last months I’ve been to Barbados, (“The Summer Country” by Lauren Willig), an island off the coast of Ireland (“The Guest List” by Lucy Foley), Australia (“ Exiles” by Christina Baker Kline), India (“Mother Land” by Leah Franqui) and Cuba (“When we Left Cuba” by Chanel Cleeton). That is just a sampling of a very long list. Not quite the same as being there, but almost as enjoyable, though in quite a different way.

Ready to Cruise?

 

I don’t know about you but I’m sick and tired of mourning the vacations I had planned but never happened in 2020. The two weeks in June that were to be spent wandering through the small towns in France and the fall cruise to the Mediterranean that was not to be,  left me with travel funds that are itching to be spent!

 Then I caught the new commercial released by NorwegianCruise Line that uses the song by Queen, “I Want to Break Free,” (so apropos…if you haven’t seen it you can check it out on YouTube). The spot acknowledges some of the realities that COVID inflicted on our lives, but then looks ahead, raising hopes of cruising in 2021.

 That was the push I needed. I was on my computer almost immediately booking cruises for the new year! I now have a trip to Alaska planned for June as well as a cruise to Norway, and another to the British Isles in the fall.  And I am not the only one who was ready to take action.  In the office this weekend the phone was ringing literally non-stop! It was a pleasure listening to our sales agents chat about their favorite destinations as clients planned their future cruise vacations.

 So what about you?  Are you ready to turn the page on 2020 and plan your next cruise vacation?