It's On! We're Cruising - Take 2.....

How hard can it be to take a cruise? Maybe harder than you think. Regular readers may remember that last year, for our 40th Anniversary, my wife and I had planned to go on our first cruise. We haven't done much international travel, and had never been on a cruise ship. So we decided to try it.

MSC Seaside

We researched the cruise lines, and locations and decided  on a Caribbean cruise with the MSC line. MSC is an Italian cruise line that in recent years has made it to the new world. While European in style, the ships appear to be most elegant.

Everything was set. Airline tickets to Miami - check. New suitcase - check. Hurricane Irma - check. That's right. One of the most powerful and destructive storms in history was tearing it's way across the Atlantic and headed for Miami. We followed The Weather Channel like it was a soap opera. We were hoping for the best, but we knew what would happen. The cruise line cancelled our cruise totally on Wednesday before we were to depart on Saturday.

Hurricane Irma - vacation wrecker.

We were totally refunded our money. The cruise line even gave us a 25% discount coupon toward a future cruise. But what should we do for our Anniversary? We still had a vacation to take. I had 48 hours to come up with a Plan B. I decided we would fly to Phoenix, Arizona, rent a car, and tour across Arizona. There are no hurricanes in Arizona. Hell, I don't even know if it rains. It was very beautiful, and very hot. We missed the cruise, buy enjoyed Arizona a great deal. But what about that discount coupon from the cruise line?

The Mrs. and I started to consider a cruise a few weeks ago. The coupon is very tempting. Plus, how likely is a hurricane 2 years in a row. Never mind. Don't answer that. We even considered a Mediterranean cruise. I have never been to Europe, and it would be cool to visit sights you've only seen on tv and the movies. The actual prices of those cruises weren't too bad. But roundtrip airline tickets to Europe were as expensive as the cruise itself. So we decided to stay with the Caribbean cruise.

This gives me some anxiety about cruise tours.

We will be visiting exotic locations like Jamaica, Cozumel, and The Bahamas. A few hours at a time. That's a little bit of a dilemma for me. There are a number of great shore excursions you can take. But they take pretty much the entire time the ship is in port. The excursions are attractive, but very touristy things to do. But a part of me wants to explore on my own. Mingle with the locals. Get a more real flavor of the place. Many of these islands are independent nations that I probably will never visit again. I mean, can you say you've visited Florida if you've only been to Disneyworld?

I would be happy to hear any ideas or suggestions for cruising or visiting the Caribbean. Just use the comment section below.

I gotta admit. I'm starting to get hyped for this!