Going on a cruise
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My son says this is a fun job. He tours with Lee Ann Womack all the time and has played mandolin with John Prine in the past. If I was younger I would go to New Orleans and take the cruise.
That's pretty cool... I recently met a guy that goes on the KISS cruise that was mentioned in your article every year.... I had no idea they did such a thing....
I'm OK with cruises. My wife, not so much.
I've done the Alaska Inside Passage (Highly recommended) twice and then a Baltic cruise on a very small ship (54 suites, compared to several hundred suites on most cruise lines,) on a company paid for convention (Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Estonia, Copenhagen.)
That was a cool trip and well worth the money (esp. because my company paid for it 100%!) and the time. But neither of us are at all enthralled with the lack of freedom and the inability to set your own schedule that's required if you do a cruise.
I have never been on a cruise and you couldn't pay my wife to go on one. We will just have to depend on video to see our son playing music.
My wife and I are going on our first ever cruise in May..... Alaska.... out of Vancouver.... I'm going halibut fishing in Ketchikan and we have a land package at the end to Denali.....
Nva, My wife and I were going to go on that cruise this summer except it included Moscow. On the date we wanted to go it was full. Now, we decided to put that one off until 2019. Instead, we are taking the England, Wales and Scotland trip.
Big Bear you are going to see some great scenery. I fish in the straights of San Jaun off the tip of WA and have fished off the west side of Vancouver Island several times. The cruise ships generally go up the inside Georgia Straights and come back along the west coast of Vancouver Island.
I would not find myself trapped on a diseased environment like a cruise ship with middle class, almost, trailer park class "people" filled with germs. :)
Foxbo, I feel somewhat the same as you but my son is getting paid, big time, to do what he likes to do. I would go If I was in his shoes.
Been on a couple. Just a big floating hotel with small rooms and a 24 hour buffet. I spent the Alaska one on deck glassing and it was chilly so hardly anyone else was outside. Wife likes them and I would rather skip but...
I'd sooner take a beating than go on a cruise. My wife, who has always wanted to go on a cruise, thought an Alaskan cruise would be a compromise. More like torture - being in Alaska and looking at all places I
wasn't hunting. Joe Bonamassa has an annual "Keepin' the Blues Alive" cruise. I could do that one.:)
No disrespect shuteye. Hope you didn't take it that way. I just would never go on a cruise as I would never visit Disney World. It's for the people who don't know who they are, but their money is taken right before their eyes.
My wife wants to do a cruise. I told her I did almost 5 years cruising on Uncle Sams dime, didn't really want to pay to go to sea. lol.
I like to cruise in my canoe. I can start when and where I like, stop when and where I like to fish, explore, etc, or sometimes just lay there and relax. And BEST of all......NO *&^%$#/! SHOPPING!!!!
I'm doing it for my wife and daughter... she's coming with us.... they deserve nice vacations.... I've done a moose hunt and elk, caribou and bear.... it's the least I can do for my family....... and I'm going to love it too....
And if I'm going to go on a cruise I'd sure rather go see some of Alaska than some islands in the Caribbean.... I saw enough of that in the military..... And I am able to work a fishing trip into it........
For our budget we have done some pretty cool vacations........ This will be the vacation of a lifetime for us.....
We have been on two small ship cruises, about 100 people, one Alaska inside passage and one Costa Rica and Panama. Really nice way to travel, don't think I want herded like livestock on a 4,000 head ship. We were able to follow pods of whales and sneak into bays and watch bears on the tide flats Even chipped blueice off floaters and made fizzie drinks with it.
Since my wife is on anti rejection pills we can't do a cruise. I am thinking of doing one of those black bear hunts off a boat in Alaska like Homer Ocean Charters if that qualifies as a cruise. :>)
Went on a European Viking river cruise a couple years back. Nothing bad to say about that trip at all. Food was tremendous. I echo what KPC said. The cruise we were on had 16 nationalities represented for the workers. I learned to say "Hello" and "Thank You" in about 1/2 of them in the week on the boat.
Saw John Prine at the Winnipeg Folk Festival sometime in the late '80s. Shuteye - was your boy playing back then?
We're going on another excursion on a smaller boat to go whale watching in one of our ports..... and a train ride up to Denali where we'll get to spend some time there in the Denali Lodge....
We'll probably do the White Pass train tour while in Skagway too..... That looks to be a beautiful view...
Amoebus, he was playing back then but not on the road like the last several years. He has played all over the world but I think he will enjoy the cruise. It will be warm, lots of good food, many musician friends and getting paid. It amazes me how he travels all over with a stand up bass, a couple electric basses, a guitar and a mandolin. Plus all the stuff that hooks up to the instruments like amps and pedals.
Going on 2 cruises this year, San Diego to San Diego thru the Panama Canal twice. Hate being in a plane for extended periods of time. And an Alaskan Cruise with a trip to Mexico thrown in. So a 30 day cruise and a 21 day cruise. The Panama Canal Cruise will get us out of the House for the month of March, and the Alaska/Mexico trip is in August. Holland America, who seems to cater to older passengers.
Terry
Wow Terry.... That's a whole lot of vacation !!!!
Yes Kevin...... That's it !!
big Bear, wife and I did the Alaska land/sea trip last May/June, it was awesome. Sounds like you might be doing what we did in reverse! We started in Anchorage then into Denali, back out to Seward, got on the boat to Vancouver.
Aside from breathtaking mountains, all day hiking (stays light til after midnight!) the glaciers where our favorite part!
Yes that's what we're doing Bob.... When my wife booked it out of Vancouver instead of Seattle... We found out that we need passports.... It cost us a bit more but we get to spend a day in Vancouver before we get on the cruise. She booked with Princess.......And we have our passports already.....
A cruise is the cheapest way to take a nice vacation. Nobody has to cook, drive, navigate, etc. You can go on most for about $100/person/day, but sometimes they are much less if you shop and watch for bargains. I like the link to see what is available.
I had no interest in going on one until my parents took the family on one for their 50th anniversary. There were 26 of us and it was a great way to do a family event. There were several families on the same cruise. One family had over 100 people on that cruise.
We have been on three and enjoyed all, but Alaska far outshines the other two. We were on big ships, but not the mega-ships that have been built in the last few years.
A cruise is my idea of hell.........
^^^ How do you really feel ??
Was on a CGC cutter cruising the Caribbean and South America for a couple of years. Was stationed in PR and was able to get last minute deals out of San Juan pretty cheap. I guess the cruise meter is pegged. Maybe an Alaska cruise. Greenland would be cool. Seen a few cruise ships docking in Kulusuk when I was there. The ones I been on were pretty good. Way too much food to chew on. Cruise director said you come on as a pax and go off as cargo.
Seems to be a cruise out there for just about anything....music, gay, boob, swingers, industry, celebrity, etc. Not sure I would go on those but to each their own I guess.
I did a 3 day from Long Beach,CA to Mexico, it was my first and last and the wife agrees. Not our cup of tea. With that said, we did it for a family reunion and it was the perfect avenue, no dishes or mess to clean up, and no hotels to deal with.
Big Bear, we have slowed down. The year after my wife retired we took a 28 day bus trip around England, Scottland, and Ireland. Then a 50 day Med cruise, then a trip to Iceland that winter. Bus trips suck, living out of suitcase is no fun. Iceland was cool. Even got a snow storm with 70 mph winds the day we were supposed to go to the blue lagoon. The main reason to go was to see the northern lights, they didn't show. So will have to go back.
Terry
Big Bear, enjoy the cruise! Ireland was our favorite trip and Budapest was our favorite city. We plan on doing several more river cruises in Europe. New Zealand is beautiful. Especially the west coast and the Tasman sea. Viking is nice but don't overlook Avalon Cruise Lines. Think in 2020 we will do the Alaskan cruise and combine with a fishing trip.
My parents went to Ireland... Maybe I'll take my wife there some day.... I went to Scotland when I was in the Navy.... I wish I had taken more pictures....
I also saw Spain, Bermuda, Nova Scotia, Puerto Rico and Rio De Janeiro on uncle Sams dime......
Big Bear, one of the "free" excursions is probably a bus trip into Denali, these are cool, the bus will have a video camera for zooming in on animals and TVs in the bus. I do recommend upgrading to go further into the park! About the only animal we didn't see is wolves, we had a Grizzly at about 10 feet while in the bus, way cool! More moose than one can count. Dall sheep, caribou ptarmigan etc. It's most of a day, but then again the "day" runs about 20 hours! We did the "long" excursion into Denali, took a nap, ate dinner, then went to a sled dog camp (wife wanted to play with puppies) and learned about the iditarod, got back, went on a 5 mile hike up to a beaver pond (amazing scenery) came back, closed down the bar at midnight and sat on the back deck in the sunshine finishing our last drinks. Makes for a long day!
Very cool !! Thanks for all the info.....!!!
Went on our first cruise last month with 189 "friends" from a Non-profit organization that my wife is currently in charge of for our state. Our state had 60 of the 189 and rented 26 cabins from which we got $100 per cabin to donate to the ADA for diabetes research.
Had a great time, mostly because of all the people we knew socializing, and seeing some sights in the western Caribbean.
Like Big Bear mentioned we want to do Alaska from Vancouver one way and then take the train to Denali.
We have been on two fabulous cruises. We look at as a moving hotel room with food any time. We are very active, and book different activities for each port. Not through the ship. We are usually first off the boat and last on. We will often rent a car and drive to everything we want to do. St. Petersburg Russia, we hade our own private guide and driver. Wonderful. Every day you wake up in a different town.
Remember that a cruise is on water. Some passengers seem to have missed that little detail and are upset that the water moved when the wind blew.
Yendor, if you book your excursion through the cruise line they guarantee that you will get back on the boat. My AK fishing trip got back late and they held the boat for three of us. Gangplank was moving almost before we hit the deck.
That's exactly why we're booking our excursions through the cruise line......
If you are ever in Puerto Vallarta be sure and take in "Rhythm of the Night". About a 5 hour show. You take a boat and have about a 20 minute ride to the show. You will enjoy it. As good as the best Las Vegas productions. They even feed you and the food is good.
Terry
Never been a problem. Yes it is a risk, but we go the same places, see the same things and more. We are in much smaller groups, and often skip the local banter.
A good friend of ours took her parents on a cruise of the HI Islands, they flew to HI and boarded the ship.
On the second or third day after they ported, a fast moving nasty storm hit and the ship was smacking the dock and ship was told to pull off. They sounded the ship and sent crew to the local hot-spots for people to get back on board, the ones who did had to ride out a nasty storm and most got sick. Those who did get back in time were put up in a nice hotel and everything was paid for, the ship picked them up after the storm subsided.
