Cruising – Offering Everything You Could Want in a Holiday

Every time I open Facebook or Twitter I get bombarded with fairly horrific pictures of flooding, dark rain clouds, frozen over lakes and more. It seems that the weather systems in some areas have gone cuckoo and to be honest it is fairly depressing!

Roy and I were talking the other night about beggaring off somewhere and once again the idea of a cruise came up. I have always been anti-cruise because I can’t swim very well. Thinking about that now I realise that is actually one of the most pathetic excuses not to try something new even I’ve ever heard. I don’t drive but that doesn’t mean I don’t get into a car.

Quite a few of my Facebook friends have posted fabulous pictures and accounts about cruise holidays and to be honest I hadn’t realised just how family friendly they can be. I always thought of a cruise as something singles or couples of a certain age did however it appears that I’ve been ever so slightly off the mark with that assumption.

What we like is the fact that we would not be going on holiday to Turkey, or Italy or wherever, we would be enjoying time on a constantly travelling holiday base and would still get to see plenty of new and previously unseen (by us) destinations. Having a browse online at cruise holidays 2014 it has become clear that there are a vast number of destinations available.

 I like the idea of relaxing (or enjoying a load of activities!) for a few days in luxurious surroundings and then docking for a day or more in one place only to re-board, enjoy the joys of the ship and then disembark elsewhere. I suppose for someone trying to add extra flags to the map showing where they’d visited in the world, cruising would be a good way to do this.

From what I can gather the bathrooms alone on the ships I’ve browsed are bigger than mine at home and the number of different types of food available is staggering. Having got my head around the fact that the ship IS the holiday and not simply a rather sparkly way to travel to different countries for visits I’ve started to really come around to the idea, especially as it means no driving for Roy. The added bonus is that there are so many options for fun and/or relaxation that we could tailor our holiday according to what we fancy doing on any given day.

My question for you today is this: Have you been on a cruise, with or without children? I’d love to hear what you thought about it and whether you would book again. It does seem to tick all of the boxes as far as being what we are looking for and actually isn’t quite as expensive as I’d previously imagined.

Cruise versus Sun |Photo credit

*This post has been written in collaboration with the mentioned company yet is true to my own thoughts, feelings and experiences

Nicki’s Notes #1

For the teenage girls running up and down our street drunk on Xmas Eve…. Shouting “He isn’t real, Santa isn’t real. It is your Mummy and Daddy who buys the presents!” full blast is very clever and grown up. I’m so glad to have such mature young adults around for my children to see and learn from.
Thanks.

On the M&S carry-on. The posts on the M&S Facebook page are appalling and those that start “I’m not racist but….” beyond a joke. This whole “situation” speaks a lot more to UK predujices than the validity of M&S policy. A fabulous post which mirrors my thoughts exactly comes from the well known Who’s the Mummy author Sally.

My poor, poor body. I’m sorry. I understand your bleurgh-dom. I’ve booked us in for some serious New Year detoxing and slimming. Stay strong. Not long now.

Dear Advent Calendar makers. My children are still asking to open the doors on their calendars. They understand Christmas is over and all that but they did love the daily ritual. Personally I think you are missing a huge marketing opportunity here, surely there is a healthy way to extend the calendars all year?

Excuse me gale force winds. I have original sash windows and many fireplaces. You are making a hell of a noise battering the windows and roaring down the chimneys. My three year old spent an hour this morning guarding the lounge fireplace from the dragon he could hear “up there”. It could perhaps be time to wind it down a little.

A brief collection of notes this week as most of it has been spent listening to new and unusual music creations from the boys, testing all new art and craft supplies, eating, dozing and playing (ermm helping) the boys with their new toys. I have to end though with a huge thank you to my family. What a fantastic Christmas!

ckeekytxmas