Can Cruising Be Boring?

We’ve been cruising for quite a long while, and for some reason it seems to me that I’m getting kind of tired of it.  I’m not tired of being on a ship, I love ship life, but I do get tired of seeing the same ports over and over and over sometimes.  I know….poor me….  I’ve had to visit all these wonderful Caribbean ports too many times.

But I think I’m ready for something new, someplace that I’ve never seen before, something fresh. Have you ever felt that way? Like you’re in a rut? And so starts the search for more variety in our cruising.

We’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of ports

We’ve been to almost all of the “regular” ports that you can go to out of Florida or South Carolina.  We’ve been to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Martin, Nassau, Freeport, Grand Turk, and Cozumel multiple times.  We’ve also been to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Key West, Belize, and Roatan.  I suppose that we could go back to all of these ports and find something new to see by doing a different excursion, or taking a taxi somewhere that we haven’t been before.

Or I could be more adventurous and do something to test my limits a bit.  And, in time I’m sure that we’ll do all of that…but I want something new and different for our next cruise.   I just need a change.

Alaska?

I’d love to take an Alaskan cruise, but since we’re in the Carolinas, it would end up costing too much.  First you’d have to fly to the West Coast to take the cruise.  And of course, I’d want to take the train through Canada after the cruise.  I absolutely love trains, so that’s a must do.  And then we’d have to fly back home.  Wish that was in my budget, but it’s not.  But some day…….  It’s on my bucket list.

Or Europe?

Or, I’d give anything to take a cruise to Europe.  I did some research on that, and it was amazing how little it cost to take a ship from Miami to Europe.  For a two week cruise, it was similar in price to a cruise to the Caribbean.  But……the catch……you had to fly home.  It was a one way cruise.  Not so bad until I priced the cost of flying home from Southampton, England.  Yikes!  It would be cheaper to take another cruise home, too bad I don’t get a one month vacation from work.  Guess I’m going to have to relegate that one to my bucket list too.

Cuba?

And Cuba sounds really interesting.  I’d really like to visit there.  For right now though it’s kind of confusing, and I’m not convinced that if I book a cruise to Cuba, that it will actually take place, because it’s still not technically legal.  There are politics happening constantly when it comes to Cuba.

At this point you actually have to have a reason to travel to Cuba, and you have to buy a Tourist Visa, in addition to your passport, just to get in.  (Right now you can’t sail to Cuba, but hopefully that will change in the future.)

Also, from what I hear you have to convert your money to Cuban currency, and if you’re using US dollars to do that, you have to pay  a 10% fee.  For some reason, other currency does not have a surcharge to convert.  You will need a special license to enter Cuba, and there are twelve categories of licenses to choose from. Medical insurance is also required to enter Cuba. I believe that you buy that directly from the cruise line. So, basically, it seems like more trouble than it’s worth to me.  Maybe someday regulations will relax a bit, and then we can check it out.

Netherlands Antilles or Dutch West Indies?

And pretty much that leaves the Netherlands Antilles or Dutch West Indies: Aruba and Curacao.  And that’s what we’re looking to book next.  At this point the only cruise line that I can afford that goes there is Carnival.  And since we want to go out of Port Canaveral, we’re thinking of booking on the Carnival Sunshine.  We’ve never sailed on the Sunshine, so it would be fun to explore a new ship.

In looking at pictures of Aruba and Curacao, they look like beautiful picturesque Dutch towns, full of vibrancy and color.  I don’t think that I’m even going to have to venture away from the port towns to find things to do and see.  We’re not beach people, so we’ll explore the towns and check out the shopping.  I’m so ready for a new adventure! Time for something new!