To Cruise or Not To Cruise--That is the question.

I have come to the conclusion that ocean cruises are one of the greatest

examples of mass salesmanship ever foisted on the consuming public. Who doesn’t dream of a leisurely voyage to the Bahamas, Hawaii, or Alaska. Well I recently completed my first and probably my last

cruise from Los Angeles, to Catalina Island, to Ensenada Mexico and back. Here are my observations. 

1. If you think the lines in airports are long and the security excessive try boarding a cruise ship. We had to wait in line for thirty or forty minutes so we could be moved to another line where we could wait for an additional half hour to forty five minutes so you could prove you were a US citizen and get the little plastic card that actually let you onto the ship and into your room (DON’T LOSE THE CARD).

2. The reverse was true when you debarked after the cruise. It is done deck by deck (there were 9 decks). First by those who want to carry their own bags off the ship (we didn’t), followed by those who wanted their bags carried off for them (we did). These were also called deck by deck and deck 9 (that was us) was last to be called. 

3. If:

·       you don’t want to be charged $5 for each soda you drink (buy the endless bubbles plan) or pay $5 for the 79 cent bottle of water in your cabin (don’t open it)

·       you don’t drink alcohol (there was a lot of booze available)

·       you don’t gamble

·       you don’t want to get in a hot tub with a group of total strangers

·       you don’t want to lie in the sun and get baked with a bunch of overweight people who should really keep their cloths on

·       you are trying to watch your weight (there is a huge amount of mediocre calorie laden food available)

·       you are an early to bed person

·       you don’t want to see mindless entertainment

·       you don’t want to swim in salt water pools

·       you don’t like the floor beneath you to move in odd directions

Then a cruise may not be for you.