Cruising enables you to cover a lot of territory with minimal effort – kind of a ‘sampler’. Once you board, you unpack once, you’re pampered everywhere you go…. the cabin steward knows you by name and welcomes you each morning as you go to breakfast, or better yet, call room service and have breakfast (at least coffee) delivered to your stateroom for free, in most cases. Every morning, you will wake up in a completely different culture! If you are in port, you can do a shore excursion through the ship or go out on your own and just ‘wander’ – I DO recommend that you experience the local culture, after all, isn’t that why you are there?

If you have an ‘at sea’ day, this is what I call ‘forced relaxation’ – since you no longer get cell service, and, depending on the weather and where you are (since the internet is by satellite), you may or may not even get internet, but that’s OK because every department onboard has daily specials. Have a massage, participate in a Zumba class, compete in a trivia contest or just hang out at the pool or on your balcony… the day is completely open for you to ‘do what YOU want’! (my hubby catches up on movies and takes lots of naps).

Early evening, you will be entertained by musicians scattered throughout the ship. You might have opportunities to have formal photos taken with your family … with no obligation (typically, couples only get formal shots at class reunions), so this is a great opportunity to ‘get dressed up’ and take advantage of professional photographers!

If you have traditional dining, you have the same wait staff throughout the cruise, so they know your preferences after the first night, so they don’t have to ask whether you want decaf or regular coffee with dessert. If you have flexible dining, you can dine whenever is convenient for YOU, depending on when you want to have dinner. After dinner, you might take in a show in the theatre, enjoy the musicians in the lounge or go up to the top deck and have a nightcap. The views are pretty stellar from up there.