So it is freezing rain today. Instead of hitting and sliding down my windshield on the way to work, it splattered and shattered into a hundred pieces to be swooshed away by my wipers. Just this past Monday I got back from a cruise on the Crown Princess, which was a Christmas present from my Dad to my sister, my mom and I. I had never been on a cruise and was apprehensive about the possible motion sickness I would encounter from the rocking of the boat. People I spoke to had assured me that ‘no, you do not feel the motion of the ocean on the cruise’ and so I had gone on this big mother of a boat, somewhat unprepared. I bought the motion sickness patch which is good for 2ish days and I had two of them. And then I had herbal motion sickness pills.
Let me tell you what I have learned about cruises, because I consider myself to be an expert now. If you are going on a cruise and you are under the age of 35- GO CHEAP. That’s right….no denying, this ship was gorgeous, of titanic proportions. Gold hand railings and Persian carpets down spiralling staircases with crystal chandeliers hanging every couple of feet, but the more expensive the cruise and the nice the ship, THE OLDER THE CROWD. No body under the age of 30. There were maybe 10 kids on the entire cruise ship of 3500 people and maybe all of 4% of the ships population was under 60. My father thought he was doing us a favour by getting us onto such a beautiful and prestigious ships….but it is in fact better to go cheap and find a younger ‘hipper’ cruise crowd.
ALSO- do not be swayed by what people tell you about the ship ‘swaying’. You feel it. You feel it like you would feel the elevation changing on a plane. The butterflies of a rollercoaster. And if you don’t come prepared with enough motion sickness medication to last you for the entire cruise, you WILL be hugging the toilet in the miniature bathroom of your stateroom that isn’t even big enough for you to lay on the floor in all your agony and like me, you will be forced to crawl onto the top bunk in your tiny stateroom and count the waves and rolling of the ocean until blessed sleep claims you.
Now don’t count all this as me being ungrateful. I mean who wouldn’t be happy to leave the monotony of every day life to escape to the Caribbean and explore exotic ports of call like St. Maartin and St. Thomas and beautiful Princess Cays. Just don’t expect that if you spend the last 3 days of your cruise hiding out in your stateroom, to come home with a Tan. I have hacked it all up to be an experience; one that I am not likely to repeat any time soon, but an experience, just the same.
On to other news and upcoming attractions- This Monday is Family Day. Note that I did not mention Valentines Day, first because I consider it to be an event of disappointment. You never receive the roses or chocolates or jewellery that you want from your partner..and if you do, it is true without fail that normally the romance itself is lacking. It is a holiday of broken expectations and depression for those who are still ‘unattached’. It is a time when every ship and store window is decked out in red sheer fabric and everything red or pink gets a nice little price hike. Family day, though less superficial is just as much as a fraud. Sure, it doesn’t boast to have a colour or action or feeling to be its’ flag, but it certainly creates an unrealistic expectation of the people of our country. I mean, honestly- it is a government holiday- everyone gets it off- even the unattached, single childless people who will go shopping. Birth rates are down and marriage rates are dropping. So really this whole day is a ploy to boost the economy. Get people out of work and into the malls. Even those who DO have families…what are they going to do- stay home and play board games? No. They will go shopping- if they even DO the quality time thing, which most won’t. Kids don’t want to be coerced into spending time with their parents. But again, even I will be greatful for the downtime. Maybe get caught up on my reading or get into the gym. Maybe the next government ploy will be ‘Dog Day’ with the saying ‘ Let the day go to the dogs’ and everyone will have to walk their pets and play with them and the underlying hope of the holiday is to combat obesity and get people moving. I may just bring it to the House of Commons.
Let me tell you what I have learned about cruises, because I consider myself to be an expert now. If you are going on a cruise and you are under the age of 35- GO CHEAP. That’s right….no denying, this ship was gorgeous, of titanic proportions. Gold hand railings and Persian carpets down spiralling staircases with crystal chandeliers hanging every couple of feet, but the more expensive the cruise and the nice the ship, THE OLDER THE CROWD. No body under the age of 30. There were maybe 10 kids on the entire cruise ship of 3500 people and maybe all of 4% of the ships population was under 60. My father thought he was doing us a favour by getting us onto such a beautiful and prestigious ships….but it is in fact better to go cheap and find a younger ‘hipper’ cruise crowd.
ALSO- do not be swayed by what people tell you about the ship ‘swaying’. You feel it. You feel it like you would feel the elevation changing on a plane. The butterflies of a rollercoaster. And if you don’t come prepared with enough motion sickness medication to last you for the entire cruise, you WILL be hugging the toilet in the miniature bathroom of your stateroom that isn’t even big enough for you to lay on the floor in all your agony and like me, you will be forced to crawl onto the top bunk in your tiny stateroom and count the waves and rolling of the ocean until blessed sleep claims you.
Now don’t count all this as me being ungrateful. I mean who wouldn’t be happy to leave the monotony of every day life to escape to the Caribbean and explore exotic ports of call like St. Maartin and St. Thomas and beautiful Princess Cays. Just don’t expect that if you spend the last 3 days of your cruise hiding out in your stateroom, to come home with a Tan. I have hacked it all up to be an experience; one that I am not likely to repeat any time soon, but an experience, just the same.
On to other news and upcoming attractions- This Monday is Family Day. Note that I did not mention Valentines Day, first because I consider it to be an event of disappointment. You never receive the roses or chocolates or jewellery that you want from your partner..and if you do, it is true without fail that normally the romance itself is lacking. It is a holiday of broken expectations and depression for those who are still ‘unattached’. It is a time when every ship and store window is decked out in red sheer fabric and everything red or pink gets a nice little price hike. Family day, though less superficial is just as much as a fraud. Sure, it doesn’t boast to have a colour or action or feeling to be its’ flag, but it certainly creates an unrealistic expectation of the people of our country. I mean, honestly- it is a government holiday- everyone gets it off- even the unattached, single childless people who will go shopping. Birth rates are down and marriage rates are dropping. So really this whole day is a ploy to boost the economy. Get people out of work and into the malls. Even those who DO have families…what are they going to do- stay home and play board games? No. They will go shopping- if they even DO the quality time thing, which most won’t. Kids don’t want to be coerced into spending time with their parents. But again, even I will be greatful for the downtime. Maybe get caught up on my reading or get into the gym. Maybe the next government ploy will be ‘Dog Day’ with the saying ‘ Let the day go to the dogs’ and everyone will have to walk their pets and play with them and the underlying hope of the holiday is to combat obesity and get people moving. I may just bring it to the House of Commons.
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