One Cruise at a Time – The first step is admitting you have a cruising problem.

Monday Mantra

I need a fix… I need a fix… I need a fix…

One Cruise at a Time

The first step is admitting you have a cruising problem.

On one hand, there are the casual cruise vacationers. They are those who might mention they’re going on a cruise but, when pressed for details, won’t be able to recall the name of the ship, only that it sails from Tampa and visits Cozumel.

On the other hand, there is the cruise addict. Like me. Ask about my upcoming cruise — and there always will be one — and you’ll hear the name of the ship, the cruise line, the tonnage, and precisely where my cabin is located in relation to elevators, dining rooms, and the casino.

It takes a while to make the leap from casual cruise vacationer to full addiction, but one day you’ll realize that cruising has become more than a simple vacation. It has become an all-consuming, vital part of your existence. Like breathing.

How do you know you’re hooked? Look around and you’ll likely see signs similar to my own:

– Nearly every window in my home is dressed with wooden blinds, something that I fell in love with during a cruise aboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Mariner.

– I met my husband on a cruise. (Which probably should rate significantly higher than the wooden blinds, but I’m listing things as they come to me and I really love those blinds.)

– My favorite color is green, something I decided in the 1980s as I sat in Queen Elizabeth 2’s Midships Bar surrounded by the rich emerald hues of its wall fabrics and accents.

– Online, my Facebook profile photo is my head cropped out of a shot with a ship’s captain, most of my passwords relate to cruising, and I spend time each day on eBay searching for the Ferragamo shampoo I fell in love with on Silversea Cruises.

– I don’t buy any article of clothing that won’t work on a cruise and so I often find myself in the office wearing a Jams World camp shirt emblazoned with a martini glass design or a Lafayette 148 top in a Portofino coast print.

– I have spent a ridiculous amount of money on exotic mushrooms as I try to duplicate Crystal Cruises’ mushroom soup.

– I tend to evaluate a person based on his or her cruise ship preferences and believe that the 7-day sailing is for amateurs.

– I will not part with my collection of little toiletries swiped from cruise ship bathrooms even though some are 20 years old and their color has changed.

Cruising is like a drug. Some people can get a taste and remain casual about it for years while others, like me, quickly become hooked.

Drug addiction might be a whole lot cheaper.

 

— Judi Cuervo