NOTE: For those of you visiting the Blog for the first time the welcome post is just below this one explaining the layout of the Blog and our approach to the Blog.
We are often asked how can you be away on one cruise for such along time? This certainly a good question. We never thought we would take such a long journey. In our early days of cruising, we usually cruised for seven days until we took our first twelve-day cruise of the Mediterranean in 1998. Shortly after Keith retired, we took one cruise of 18 days in length and loved it. Still, we could not comprehend the thought of a World Cruise, let alone a cruise of half that length.
In 2005, we took a back-to-back cruise on the Crystal Serenity. A back-to-back cruise consists of two or more consecutive cruises on the same ship. Those two cruises totaled twenty-four days in duration, and during that cruise we met another couple who had sailed on the 2005 Crystal World Cruise earlier that year. We got together with them a few times, and one evening over dinner they walked us through that World Cruise. It sounded absolutely wonderful and we realized that the Crystal Serenity would be a perfect ship for a World Cruise given its spacious public areas, the outside wrap-around promenade deck along with diverse set of activities that Crystal offers its guests.
After thinking it through for a couple of days, we said to ourselves where do we sign up and that is exactly what we did. We booked the 2007 World Cruise with the on-board booking consultant even before the itinerary was available and as they say the rest is history. Never in our wildest dreams did we ever imagine that we would take one World Cruise, let alone that we would do this several times.
We quickly learned on that very first World Cruise that a World Cruise is unlike any other cruise we had ever taken. It isn't just a cruise. Rather we think of it as an adventure and a journey.
A World Cruise provides the opportunity to not only visit a diverse set of countries and to enjoy an array of special events on and off the ship, but also the opportunity to share this adventure with many of our fellow guests and crew members. Although we had traveled a great deal for pleasure, and Keith had traveled extensively for business, we really grew a great deal from that first adventure in so many ways. The first and then the subsequent World Cruises gave us a great appreciation for the world we live in with all of its diverse cultures and diverse geography. It also gave us confidence to explore the many ports that we have had the opportunity to visit. All of this became clearer to us because we experienced so much diversity in a relatively short amount of time. We also learned so much from the on-board enrichment program and we built strong bonds and friendships with many people traveling on the ship from the guests to the crew to lecturers and other enrichment personnel.
Taking such a journey is not only a major financial commitment but requires a major chunk of time. We actually prefer to take such a journey in one extended time-frame rather then taking several shorter duration trips. For us this just works best where we can pretty much move onto the ship and settle in for a long period of time.
As such, we do get into a routine which is a bit different than being on board for one or two voyages. We are also mindful when it comes to eating. Before our first World Cruise we realized that on a 12 day voyage it's not uncommon for the average person to gain between 5 to 7 pounds. We realized we could not do that for an extended period of time. As such, we are mindful of what we eat but we still can indulge more than when at home by increasing our exercising which we do. It's all about balance.
We are thankful for today's technology which allows us to stay connected with family and friends. This includes keeping in-touch via e-mail, telephone and more recently with applications such as FaceTime. Without these capabilities it truly would make taking such a journey much more challenging. This technology also allows us to keep on top of so much while we are away.
As to our adventure, we loved that first World Cruise so much that this journey represents our seventh full World Cruise and our eighth sailing on a World Cruise. We have so much to be thankful for and we enjoy each journey as if is our very first.
Coming next: "Planning & More Planning". We will share our thoughts and insights on how to plan for long adventures such as our upcoming voyage.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY...........
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." - Lau Tzu
Keith and Anne Marie
In 2005, we took a back-to-back cruise on the Crystal Serenity. A back-to-back cruise consists of two or more consecutive cruises on the same ship. Those two cruises totaled twenty-four days in duration, and during that cruise we met another couple who had sailed on the 2005 Crystal World Cruise earlier that year. We got together with them a few times, and one evening over dinner they walked us through that World Cruise. It sounded absolutely wonderful and we realized that the Crystal Serenity would be a perfect ship for a World Cruise given its spacious public areas, the outside wrap-around promenade deck along with diverse set of activities that Crystal offers its guests.
After thinking it through for a couple of days, we said to ourselves where do we sign up and that is exactly what we did. We booked the 2007 World Cruise with the on-board booking consultant even before the itinerary was available and as they say the rest is history. Never in our wildest dreams did we ever imagine that we would take one World Cruise, let alone that we would do this several times.
We quickly learned on that very first World Cruise that a World Cruise is unlike any other cruise we had ever taken. It isn't just a cruise. Rather we think of it as an adventure and a journey.
A World Cruise provides the opportunity to not only visit a diverse set of countries and to enjoy an array of special events on and off the ship, but also the opportunity to share this adventure with many of our fellow guests and crew members. Although we had traveled a great deal for pleasure, and Keith had traveled extensively for business, we really grew a great deal from that first adventure in so many ways. The first and then the subsequent World Cruises gave us a great appreciation for the world we live in with all of its diverse cultures and diverse geography. It also gave us confidence to explore the many ports that we have had the opportunity to visit. All of this became clearer to us because we experienced so much diversity in a relatively short amount of time. We also learned so much from the on-board enrichment program and we built strong bonds and friendships with many people traveling on the ship from the guests to the crew to lecturers and other enrichment personnel.
Taking such a journey is not only a major financial commitment but requires a major chunk of time. We actually prefer to take such a journey in one extended time-frame rather then taking several shorter duration trips. For us this just works best where we can pretty much move onto the ship and settle in for a long period of time.
As such, we do get into a routine which is a bit different than being on board for one or two voyages. We are also mindful when it comes to eating. Before our first World Cruise we realized that on a 12 day voyage it's not uncommon for the average person to gain between 5 to 7 pounds. We realized we could not do that for an extended period of time. As such, we are mindful of what we eat but we still can indulge more than when at home by increasing our exercising which we do. It's all about balance.
We are thankful for today's technology which allows us to stay connected with family and friends. This includes keeping in-touch via e-mail, telephone and more recently with applications such as FaceTime. Without these capabilities it truly would make taking such a journey much more challenging. This technology also allows us to keep on top of so much while we are away.
As to our adventure, we loved that first World Cruise so much that this journey represents our seventh full World Cruise and our eighth sailing on a World Cruise. We have so much to be thankful for and we enjoy each journey as if is our very first.
Coming next: "Planning & More Planning". We will share our thoughts and insights on how to plan for long adventures such as our upcoming voyage.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY...........
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." - Lau Tzu
Keith and Anne Marie
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