Next Cruise Booked?

Our neighbors in cabin 7340 boarded with us in Hamburg in December. They are always friendly when we meet, but we have not really connected.

I had occasion to chat with them this morning as we waited together in the lounge for the end of a sea rescue drill. We talked about the approaching end of our journey. When I somewhat jokingly asked if they had already booked their next cruise, they replied, ”Yes, we have booked the world cruise leaving Germany in December, 2025.”  

Wow. The route takes them in 146 days through the northern hemisphere, with only a couple of ports duplicating those of our current trip. Hard to imagine. 

Eve and I are ready to be home. It will be a while, if ever, before we do another cruise. For us, this cruise is a once in a lifetime experience. We have been to so much of the world that would have remained otherwise distant, not in the intellectual sense but rather in the physical sense. We have walked on remote soils, seen and touched unknown flora and fauna, and breathed foreign air. 

We have made some good friends on this trip. We connected slowly over the early weeks as we talked about our lives in Germany, and the projects and plans each of us have. The friends we made all left the ship to go home a month or two ago. They follow our continuing travels on WhatsApp. 

As payment for this experience, we have given up the comfortable and known. We have had no physical contact with family and friends for five months. We have had little to no responsibility for anything in our lives, except maybe showing up on time for dinner. Both Eve and I are ready to get involved with stuff again, and make plans with other people and have projects to do. We will certainly continue to travel, but on shorter trips and with more daily decision making and effort on our part. 

We have talked with many of the “regulars” who travel once or twice a year on a cruise. Most are old friends of the hotel staff from previous trips. The cruise line is fond of saying, “Welcome home” to guests as they board after a daily outing. Indeed, after 5 months of living on the ship, it does feel like a bit like home, with its daily routines. 

For these regulars, cruising is a lifestyle, and we can see the charms it might hold. But I am not sure it is for us.