Cruising at Christmas

Sorry, sorry, sorry… Every year I say I’m going to continue posting on my regular schedule at Christmas, and I seem to disappear into the chaos that is Christmas around here. This year to add to the usual activity crush, I scheduled a Caribbean cruise for the 4 of us beginning on December 18. It was only a five day cruise and left from a nearby cruise port, so there was no flying to add to the stress of the vacation. I scheduled it because its becoming clear that there aren’t very many family vacations left for all of us. My kids are nearly adults and will have their own priorities and commitments for vacation time. My youngest applied for a summer camp job that will take up most of his summer, and my oldest spends as much time as he can with his new girlfriend- who lives several hours away. I also scheduled it to see if my husband and I would like cruising. The two cruises I have taken before I hadn’t enjoyed all that much, but I thought I might enjoy this one more since I’m retired. There are a lot of things I enjoy now that I didn’t when I was working.

Alas, I still don’t love it. And it was a miscalculation on my part to schedule a cruise at Christmas. It is THE most popular time to cruise. The ship was packed to the gills, and understaffed.

We did all enjoy doing different things and meeting up for dinner at the end of the day. The teenagers enjoyed the never-ending supply of food, and I enjoyed not having to be in the kitchen constantly. The entertainment was pretty good too! It turns out that my 18 year old particularly enjoys shows. My 15 year old was less enthusiastic, but at least now he knows he doesn’t love musicals…

I did not enjoy the crowds of people on the boat- everyone was pretty well behaved, but if you are seeking peace and quiet, a cruise ship probably isn’t the place for you. I thought the food was fine, but not spectacular. My favorite day was a port day in Cozumel. We took a cab to a local beach and went snorkeling, and it was like swimming in a fish tank. The meal at the little restaurant on the beach was wonderful, and the weather couldn’t have been nicer.

I can’t help thinking though, that we could have flown to Cozumel and stayed for 5 days for what the cruise cost. We thought we were avoiding hassle by not flying, but there was a parking shortage at the port that almost resulted in a whole lot of people missing the cruise- including us. It was incredibly stressful. I asked the family, and we all gave the cruise a barely passing grade for vacations. I think you have to keep trying things to figure out what you love, but I think I can scratch large cruise ships off of my list!

I had done all my prep for Christmas before I left, so Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were a pleasure. I will definitely do that next year! hope your holidays were everything you wanted them to be!

My favorite retirement activity was that I was able to take my mom to see an off-Broadway musical for her birthday. It was definitely a retirement activity because it took a day and a half. I left home at 8, picked her up at 10, parked and had lunch at noon, play at 2, then drove and spent the night at her house, and home the next day. Whew!

When I was little, she had season tickets to a theater with her friends, and whenever one of her friends couldn’t attend, she’d let me stay home from school and go to lunch and a play with her using the extra ticket. It is one of my fondest childhood memories with her. She’s 77 now, so I had to be sure to find a close by restaurant and parking garage, but we both enjoyed the day immensely. And I have to admit I teared up a little when I saw a little girl walk by in her fanciest Sunday dress holding her Mama’s hand. I wonder if she’ll take her mom to plays one day.