Still pondering why we didn't enjoy our cruise more than we did. I want to know WHY. This week I had a helpful insight provided in a roundabout way by someone I've never met. This lady was thinking about going to Disneyland and then heard about Disney cruises. It turns out she didn't realize that Disney cruises actually MOVE. She thought of it more as a stationary-but-floating theme hotel.
I took it from there. Imagine if you could get on a ship in San Francisco, sail out to just beyond the Golden Gate Bridge, or maybe as far as the Farallon Islands, and then anchor. That's it. No getting off the boat. You'd be waited on and pampered, and you could get drunk and go to a spa and have as much soft ice cream as you wanted (Tina Fey says, "Isn't that what cruising's about? Soft ice cream and alcohol?"). You'd be with a jumble of people you didn't know, and you could chat with them or not, but you couldn't complain about being stuck on a boat because you knew what you were getting into and, besides, everyone else seems to be loving it.
You could also gamble, go to a casino, take a bare-bones art class or a cooking class. You could read books from the ship library. You could hit golf balls around a teeny course on the top deck in the strong wind. For 10 days, those are your choices. Also, shuffleboard and paddle tennis. You would have (expensive) internet. Oh, and baristas and biscotti.
I laid this out for Jerry, and we both nearly had to be resuscitated. I ventured that they'd have to send a helicopter to rescue us. He agreed. I know he was thinking about whether he could bring a wheelbarrow full of moths to pin and manuscripts to read, plus a computer and maybe a microscope. I was wondering if I could wedge part of my fabric stash and a small sewing machine into our cabin.
In essence, for much of our cruise, we felt as though we were on this fantasy trip. Yes, we could get off every day, but sometimes for only a few hours. Sometimes it was as though we were released to explore the Farallons (which would definitely be interesting) but it was cold and windy and two or four other ships had the same idea that day. We didn't know anyone on board and shy away from small talk, anyway.
Alas, we are not cruisers. I just re-read the thick book-like brochure that seduced me in the first place. It sounds so groovy. All those places and no bother! Romantic, adventurous, with everything-at-our-fingertips. And for some people it works out that way. Thousands of people love it. But it's not for us.
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