Never say never

Never in a million years did I ever think I would be a “cruise person.” For one thing, I am terribly afraid of water. I don't even like going in the deep end of swimming pools. And by “deep end” I mean anything over 5 feet. Plus, well, cruises seem so...so...old. Old people go on cruises. Or, people who like to get all gussied up and be social with strangers. Or people who like to have everything taken care of for them so they don't have to bother with the adventure of researching hotels and restaurants and “must dos” for a city. Since I wouldn't describe myself as any of those things, it is indeed quite a shock to my self-image to admit: I love to cruise.

I think it's the back-friendliness of it all. We only have to deal with lugging suitcases once; after they are unpacked, they disappear under the bed until the cruise is over. I also have a bed available to me at all times. Cranky back from sitting through a waste-of-time “Port and Shopping Show”? No problem! After a nice lap or seven around the Promenade Deck to loosen things up, I can retire to our room and lay down. With a self-imposed “There Shall Be No Elevator Use” rule, I get lots of quad-building stair-master exercise. And while I'm busy relaxing and wandering, my floating hotel is chugging along to bring me a new city with new sights and lots more opportunities to walk and make my back happy.

And so here I lay on our moderately comfortable bed in our stateroom on a long and narrow boat, watching Cuba drift by on the starboard side. It was about 2.5 years ago that Rob and I took our first (and we assumed only) cruise. About three days into that Alaskan adventure, we looked at our traveling companions and said, “This is a blast! Where do we want to go next?” Without much discussion, the four of us agreed that we would love to sail through the Panama Canal. And so that's where we...and perhaps the four other cruise ships we left Florida with yesterday...are heading. Several ports along the way, lots of “at sea” days which will either prove to be insanely relaxing or will prompt claustrophobia in the middle of oceany nowhere, and hopefully enough time to eventually be able to ditch the ship's map I am still carrying in my pocket. Stay tuned!