Getting that "itch"

No - not the seven year itch -but getting the "cruise itch". Time to see our travel agent and look into something for January. I was a bit hesitant because of my recent health issues, but I'm doing well, feel good, and since life is short we're going to look into our annual cruise. It's our biggest luxury. Anyone want to join us? I ask this every year, but so far no takers. How about it--- a TCS cruise?

Goodness, I would be SO into doing that.  Unfortunately, there are no vacation plans this coming year.  My BF started college last year (age? 55!!!) and he is about to start his 2nd year.  The only time off he gets is a holiday break in December and Spring Break in April.  Last semester, they actually loaded him down with homework because we had so much snow and the school kept closing.  Catch up was necessary.  He has off summers, but neither of us are big on being away summertime - it's just too darn hot everywhere.  

We LOVE cruising.  I've been on 2 with him, and several more with other people.  I think it's my favorite way to vacation. A little bit of everything, and a lot of relaxation 

Whenever someone tells me they have an itch I think babies.  Or kittens.  But at this stage of my life; it's babies.  Fortunately for me; my toddler and preschooler keep my feet on the ground with both of those! 

I'd love a cruise!  But we are looking to do the big Disney trip in the next year or two.  We haven't looked up the cost just yet so I'm not sure how soon we will go.  I do hear wonderful things about Disney cruises; but with a DD into princesses right now; we need to see that castle!   

I think I would be interested in the river cruises because they spend more free time exploring things on land.  Viking also has Asian river cruises, the only ones I have seen advertised are the European ones.  I was stationed in Germany 5 years and did a lot of traveling while there so I think I would be more interested in the Asian ones.  

I am very hesitant in considering a cruise. Mostly because of all of the horror stories of everyone getting incredibly sick on them lately. Other than that I'm way too broke to go on a cruise, and, the sun and I are enemies  .

When I think of "getting the itch", it's time for a new tattoo.   Going on a cruise has never been on my "to do" list. The idea of being stranded out at sea with thousands of strange humans doesn't do anything for me.

I've been "itching" for years!  We got 2 through college, one is still an undergrad, and one is in her last year of vet school.  Hopefully, that far off light at the end of the tunnel is the search light on a very big ship!

IMO, cruising is the absolute best vacation for a Mom!  Some days, we would only see the kids at breakfast and dinnertime because of the many planned activities for them.  On the boat, they never ran out of things to do and on port days, we had so many shared, wonderful experiences!  Plus, food is available 24 hours/day so nobody ever said, "Mom, I'm hungry."  Cruising is the only vacation where Mom gets true relaxation without worrying if everyone is safe, happy and full!

After many cruises, no one ever got seasick (since we always got a mid-ship cabin).  No one ever got one of the ship-wide illnesses since we always washed our hand AFTER filling our plates at buffets (the germs on all those spoons, ugh), never let the lip of our glasses touch the push arm on drink machines, tried our best not to use handrails, and sanitized our hands every time we came into the cabin or used a public restroom.  Personally, I've read that many more people get sick with the same kind of viruses on land-based vacations but because so many people in the same location at the same time get sick, the media is all over it.  Statistically in the same vein, many, many more people die in small plane crashes year after year but the big crashes get the media's attention.

I don't think that I could ever do a out-of-country "destination" vacation again.  Cruising from country to country has offered so many amazing experiences that we would have never had if we just flew to one place and stayed in one hotel.

Different strokes for different folks but for us, cruising definitely strokes us!

Southern Belle hit it on the head about cruises. We do the same thing --- wash hands with Purell, definitely mid-ship cabin. I can see you are veteran cruiser since you know all the right things to do. I was seasick once on a cruise but it was a trip that hit exceptionally rocky weather, and the seasickness didn't last very long. We find it's the best, most relaxing, and best value for your money of any vacation. You can do as much or as little as you want, and we meet wonderful people from all over the world. I think we're going to check with our travel agent tomorrow. Will let you know what happens.

I'm "jelly" as the kids say (jealous)!

My favorite cruise was a 10 day Southern Caribbean (plus a few extra days exploring Puerto Rico), but we especially loved the island of Caruso! However, my future goal is a long Mediterranean voyage during warm weather. Friends and family loved their Alaskan and northern European cruises but I can't imagine paying hard earned money to go some place that less than 80 degrees!

Please keep us updated!

Saw travel agent today and he suggested waiting til the end of Sept. when the prices might possibly go down. We plan to go in Jan. so we have plenty of time. Carnival still has the best prices. The Carnival Dream does an 8 day eastern caribben trip which we might do. Holland America caters to an "old" crowd. Ok - I know we're senior citizens, but I just can't relate to an all "old" crowd. While Holland america is trying to change its image, I understand you see a procession of walkers and wheel chairs, and hardly any younger people. We like a variety of ages, so that's not for us (yet yet anyway!!!). I agree with Southern Belle about warm weather, we live in Florida, so we always have warm weather, but I just don't like the cold. I would be curious to do an Alaskan cruise someday as I've heard they're fabulous. A friend of ours was on a Mediterranean cruise recently with her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter and they loved it. I really don't want to fly anyplace far away with all the airline horrors that have been occurring. So we'll talk to the agent the end of Sept and see how the prices are at that time. Maybe Southern Belle would like to join us?????

I was just wondering a couple of days ago if there were still travel agents.  With all the travel sites and everything that can be done online, I thought maybe they no longer existed.

Denice said:

 
I was just wondering a couple of days ago if there were still travel agents.  With all the travel sites and everything that can be done online, I thought maybe they no longer existed.

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Yep, there are.  My sister is one. Right now she works for AMEX, but was in a small agency prior for many years.  You'd be amazed how many people still use them. Even me, as internet savvy as as I am will seek her advice now and then.  I even had my administrative assistant give her a call when she was having major issues getting flights for our boss.

We used to do on-line booking, but I still enjoy face-to-face meeting with a rep.