My Ever-Changing Love Affair With Cruising

My decades long love affair with cruising is an ever changing romance fit for the ages. I hadn’t realized how much this love affair had changed and evolved over the years until I started writing this blog and interacting with other cruisers online. Sometimes self evaluation takes time. Trying to understand the reasons for why things change takes time, too. My love for and taste for cruising has changed and evolved throughout these decades. This is the story of my ever-changing love affair with cruising.

I recently put up a poll on Twitter about how people pick out which cruise to go on. There were three very simplified options 1) the ship, 2) the itinerary, or 3) whatever is least expensive.

This poll is a bit indicative of how my feelings about cruising, this decades long relationship, has changed over those years. Over the years I have cruised for the ship, for the itinerary, and yes, at times for the least expensive option that go me on the sea and away from it all.

Phase I: The Family Vacation – Happy With the Least Expensive Cruise That Got Us on a Boat

Cruising for me started out as a fun family vacation. My mom liked it which was key – she was the one bringing us (myself and my brother) on these vacations – but, I also liked it because I got a bit of freedom around the ship and I could meet people from around the world. Seeing new places was fun, but the experience onboard and the people I met were paramount in my cruise ship experience for the first chapter of my cruise ship love. At this point it wasn’t about the ship, per-se, being on any ship was thrill enough, so which cruise we went on was largely the one that was affordable and worked with my moms work schedule and our school vacation schedule.

My early cruises were also scattered between new and old ships. My first cruise was on the Big Red Boat, or the Oceanic, an older ship – she was built in 1963 – to not long after being on the Grand Princess, which was practically new at the time and built in 1998. I had a great time on both ships. One was not better than the other because one ship was bigger and newer and the other was older. Our next family cruise was on Carnival’s now long-since-sold Holiday, the smaller version of the last of the hold-outs (looking at you Fantasy-Class ships) of Carnival’s ship design of the late 80’s and early 90’s.

It became apparent that I loved cruising not for the ships. Though the ships were wonderful, it was obvious that the love affair was with the cruise experience itself.

At that point in time cruising to me was a great way to go on family vacation. (It’s still a great way to go on family vacation by the way!) My mom got to do her thing, I got some independence, met new friends, and I got to dress up and feel fancy. I certainly loved being at sea and visiting new places, but the ship and the cruise experience was the vacation for me. The ports were in some ways secondary. This is in part because at that time pretty much every port was new and I was just so dang excited to be on a ship it was like, “okay, we’re going on a cruise to the Caribbean, woohoo!” not, “which ports is the ship stopping at, I only want to go if it stops in San Juan!” I was just happy to go on vacation.

Now, realistically, should each of these early cruise experiences be lumped together in one broad category? Probably not. We went on a pretty wide variety of ship designs and ages. And, during this time my love of cruising was already starting to shift. Over time as I cruised more two things happened – I had traveled more, and with that travel experience I started looking a bit more at which itinerary would bring us to a new island. More so at that time though I got a little bit obsessed with ship design. Now, it didn’t mean that we went on the newest ships, but the ship itself, and the ships design, were a big part of the appeal to me.

Phase II: Love of Ship Design

I happened to start cruising right at the precipice of the modern era of cruising. The older re-purposed ocean liners were being phased out and ships were coming out with balconies lining their sides. This was around the time that you saw the switch from the lifeboats being positioned towards the top of the ship to being in the middle/lower half of the ship. This switch was prompted in part to free up space on the top decks but also (and so much more importantly) to keep the lifeboats closer to the water allowing for a quicker and easier emergency disembarkation. For the longest time that was the easiest way to quickly tell an approximate age of a ship – or at least if it was new or not.

Cruise ship design was on the move and making big waves. Cruising was getting more and more mainstream and there was a race to be the biggest ship out there. I think that my love affair with ship design can be traced back to the timing of this. If I had started cruising well into the modern era of ships I may have simply though this was how it was. But, with my dial-up modem and cruise brochures procured from our local AAA office I watched as cruise lines worked to outbuild each other. The Grand Princess debuted as the largest cruise ship in the world. Shortly after that Royal Caribbean brought out the Voyager of the Seas, the first in her Voyager-class of ships and in my mind the ship that launched the mega ships of today. She was the first to have previously unheard of features like an ice skating rink on it.

A year or two later while in port in Puerto Rico we were docked next to the Adventure of the Seas (I think I may have been on the Celebrity Millenium – a ship amongst the pioneers of the Panamax craze of the early to mid 2000’s) and I must have gone through an entire throw-away camera worth of film taking pictures of her. No, I didn’t get to visit her for the day, instead I was on the ship across the dock from her taking pictures like the absolute fan-girl of ship design that I was. It was my first time seeing this true mega-ship, and not to diminish the beauty and sophistication of the ship I was on, but looking at her across the dock I was awe-struck.

Ship design continued advancing over these years. Around this time Cunard came out with the Queen Mary 2. Somehow, even though I convinced a teacher in high school to let me write a report about the QM2, I’ve still never sailed on her. She has lines and majesty like cruise ships of yesteryear. An interesting throwback so early in this design renaissance, but seemingly fitting for Cunard and certainly to this day a show-stopper. She has an incredible double hull design and the thought that went into her design always impressed me.

While she didn’t have the rock climbing walls of Royal Caribbean, she was advancing cruising (even though she is an ocean liner) in other ways. Her cabin designs were innovative for the time – some spanning multiple decks. She was also one of the first to bring back a bit of a class system onboard, with slightly separate areas for guests in the highest level of suites. While this is somewhat commonplace now with “suites only” areas of the ship and often a whole deck area and even private pools. But, back then this was less common. For better or worse this stuck around.

At this time I loved ship design. But, if you’ll notice from my examples that doesn’t mean I always went on the newest ship. I was still equipped with the knowledge that I could have fun on pretty much any ship and the price definitely still played a big roll. I also wanted to see new places. As I traveled more and more the travel bug was starting to get me but in a much bigger way than staying within my own time zone. My cruising sphere at this point was largely in the Caribbean, and aside from one trip to Baja California my cruising experience was entirely within the Caribbean. Around this time, let’s call it the late 00’s I started shifting from my obsession with cruise design and into a bigger interest

Phase III: The Itinerary

Around this time, let’s call it the late 00’s I started shifting from my obsession with cruise design and into a bigger interest in the travel aspect of cruising. This may have been because real ship advancement seemed to momentarily stall. Yes, there were changes happening, but at the time it seemed to be a revamp of current designs. Nothing as monumental or revolutionary as the Grand-Class ships or the Voyager-Class were debuting. The exception to this came with Royal Caribbean’s debut of the Oasis of the Seas, but save for that the changes were modest.

Again timing in life is everything, so as there was a bit of a pause in dramatic ship design I was nearing the end of my college career. A few trips in college to Europe had solidified my love of travel and I became more eager to see the world. Suddenly willing to put the cost of multiple cruises into one European adventure my focus had shifted.

There were design elements I still enjoyed and looked for and certainly ships that I was eager to explore, but the places were beginning to become the fascination. The door had opened to the rest of the world and I wanted to keep going.

Phase IV: Working Onboard – A Whole Different Kind of Love

When I graduated from college I still loved cruising. It had changed over time, from an easy family vacation to fascination and love of ship design to an opportunity to see the world, but I had no idea how much of an opportunity to see the world I would end up having.

I decided, a bit on a whim, that I would apply to work for a cruise line. I enjoyed sailing on cruise ships and wanted to see the world. Cruise ships seemed like a great way to do that (especially on the budget or lack-of-budget of a recent college grad.)

I spent a few minutes researching, “which cruise lines are best to work for?” and started applying. I happened to be looking for work at the right time and a few days later I had an email asking for a phone interview, the phone interview turned into a job offer. Off to Seattle and Alaska I went. I couldn’t believe I was going to go to Alaska! Incredible! What an opportunity.

At this point in time my love affair with cruising changed in just about every way. There’s nothing that will change your perspective on something quite as much as, to use such a succinct and eloquent term – see how the sausage gets made.

It’s a bit like dating someone for a long time and then you finally live together. You’ve gone on vacation together, maybe spent a week in Europe, you’d visited each others families. Those times were always short though and then you’d have your own space. Going from being a passenger on a cruise ship to working on one is a bit like that. You’ve moved in with your significant other and your entire perspective on them and your relationship with them – changes.

In my case this was one of those transitions that is mostly super happy and wonderful. I loved working on cruise ships. I felt like I belonged, like I had found the thing that made sense to me. While I didn’t always like the rank system I loved that I had a rule book to follow and there was basically no ambiguity to it. Was it limiting at times? Absolutely. Was it just what people pleaser me needed to keep everything in order? Absolutely.

At this point ship design was neither here nor there. I wanted to be on ships going to cool places and maybe on a ship where my friends were. Suddenly I was getting flown to Hawaii and Venice and Rotterdam and holy crap, how did this become my life?

Phase V: New Ship Vs Old Ship

I thought that my cruising priorities had shifted away from ship design and the draw of a new and shiny ship. I thought that my mindset was on incredible itineraries. But, then, something happened that made me realize that I was not immune to the shiny new things. I end up getting a contract for the inaugural season of a new ship. It was fun and it was shiny and new. It had new features and it was such an honor to be there. I liked being on the newest ship.

Then, right after I realize that, “oh wait, I like brand new shiny ships” I found out I was getting transferred to a ship that was twenty years old. I was deflated. It wasn’t just that the new ship had shiny things, I thought that going to a smaller ship wasn’t going to challenge me in my job.

This older ship was much smaller than the ship I was on, it held less passengers, and, as I was in charge of the kids club onboard, a lot less kids. I love a challenge and had a healthily inflated ego about my work performance (with the appraisals and passenger comments to support said ego), and could not understand how my skills, knowledge, and work ethic could be going to a ship that was half the size and twenty years old.

It’s amazing how preconceived notions of things can be so absolutely wrong. Was that contract on a smaller ship easier? Not even a little bit. And, had I just gone into my own memories I could have easily remembered that none of the contracts I’ve had – whether on a newer and larger ship or an older and smaller ship were particularly “easy”.

I hadn’t realized how snobbish I could be about ships until then. I even asked my corporate supervisor if maybe she should send me to a ship scheduled to be busier with kids, with more staff for me to supervise, with more of a challenge. (Fun fact, less kids but also with less staff = often times just as much of a challenge).

I thought my love affair had been changing – that I was far more interested in the destinations than the ship. It’s lucky that my supervisor didn’t let me change ships though, as that smaller, 20 year old ship is where I met my husband.

Interestingly, I went from a ship where a lot of the crew thought they were the best and oh-so-special because they were on a new ship to a ship where a lot of crew thought they were the best and oh-so-special because they worked on the World Cruise. It’s a totally different version of snobbery and it definitely exists. For those at home unaware of this – crew members can be pretentious about the cruises they’ve worked on just like passengers can be.

That smaller, twenty year old ship though eventually became my home and it showed me more of the world than I ever thought I would see. Once again I love affair with cruising had shifted. This time it was in a different way though – that ship showed me the world and the itinerary was still important, but more so were the people onboard. We had our happy little friendship group that went back year after year. I’m romanticizing it a bit because there were also crew that went back year after year that drove me kind of nuts, but overall it was a nice happy home. I didn’t feel like that twenty year old ship wasn’t good enough or flashy enough or shiny enough. It had people that I cared about – and it took me around the world – so I was happy.

Phase VI: The Pandemic Shuffle

Then the pandemic hit and where does that leave my love affair? How did I feel about cruising when cruising stopped?

Well, my love affair with cruising has changed over the course of the pandemic, probably like most people have changed, too.

I’ve only sailed on three cruises as a passenger since starting working on ships over a decade ago – and now I am looking again, like, really looking. This pandemic has certainly for me reminded me that life is short and you don’t know what’s going to happen so you need to take advantage of it when you can. So, I am looking at cruises to sail on as a passenger. But, as my love affair with cruising has changed over the decades, where has it landed now?

Well, of course there is the part of me that wants to be on the same ship my husband is on. That part is neither here nor there for the time being though thanks to the pandemic and some ships still not being operational, etc., etc.

When I’m looking at cruises it’s a split combination of going on ships I’ve always dreamed of and just finding the best deal somewhere warm and sunny!

The top of my ship list? Is it any of the new ships that are coming out (there’s a lot this year!), or is it experiencing the new ship style with lots of outdoor spaces closer to the water? Nope, towards the top of my list is a nearly twenty year old ship/dream – finally experiencing the Queen Mary 2.

Now: Decades In and I Still Love Cruising

When I put up my little (saying “little” is not to denounce it as unimportant, but rather to describe the small amount of people that responded) poll on Twitter I wasn’t sure what I would get for results but I had a guess. And, while I only had six responses half of them voted for the ship. That the ship was the most important element in picking out a cruise.

Recently a number of new cruise ships have launched with roller coasters and everything. People are posting pictures of all of the new features and I realize my love affair isn’t there, either.

The newest to me isn’t the best. I don’t feel the need to be the first on a ship. And, realistically am I going to pay $15 to ride that roller coaster? Probably not.

I like to see how cruise ship design is evolving and I like exploring new ships, but experience has taught me that I can be equally happy at sea on an older ship (arguably happier even) or a brand new one.

Who knows how my love affair with cruising will change in the years to come. Maybe I will become obsessed with the features on new ships and want to be at every ship debut. Maybe I will exclusively only sail on ships with full wrap around promenade decks, or only go on cruises that stop in at least one port I haven’t been.

Truthfully I don’t think any of those things will happen. I think I will still cruise for the love of being at sea, for the joy of being in a fancy restaurant, dressed up, eating fancy things and not having to pay extra for them.

My love of cruising has changed over time. I’ve seen how the sausage gets made, and I still love it and love all parts of it. I love the ships, the design, the imagination and creation that goes into them. I love seeing the world and exploring new places. And, I love the people onboard a ship. At this point I’m just happy to enjoy a vacation with some people that I love and see where it all takes me. New ship, old ship, red ship, blue ship, in the Caribbean or Antartica (still a dream cruise), I’d be a happy camper.

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