Last Updated on August 19, 2014
Our first (and only) cruise experience
When we went on our first cruise two years ago, we had no idea what to expect. Would the ship be filled with blue-haired seniors playing bingo each night? Would the pool serve as a week-long babysitter for hundreds of kids whose parents were checked out in deck chairs? What kind of food would be served and what is there to do on board all day, we wondered.
There was no need to worry at all and it turned out we loved the experience – the guests were a mix of young and old and while there were not many childless couples our age, all that really meant was we had the spa area almost entirely to ourselves most days.
At this point, we are actually dreaming of a cruise vacation. We need a digital detox and some relaxation, and a cruise is the best way to get both.
In need of a vacation
Traveling and working full time across multiple time zones makes it almost impossible to switch off. Even without cell phones, we are constantly connected.
Emails, Tweets, Facebook comments stream in constantly to our iPod touches, and those little notification noises have us well-trained to check them, even when it’s 1am and we’re clearly trying to go to sleep. This already started happening when we were working in London before we escaped the rat race. I was checking my Blackberry all morning before even reaching the office and now it is 24/7 – the only difference being that I love my job everyday!
That’s why we’re thinking about going on a cruise. The first time around, prices were sky-high just to use the ship’s computers, and prices for Wi-Fi were even higher. Rather than freak out at the inflated cost, we accepted our fate and went on our forced digital detox.Best.thing.ever. We were refreshed, recharged and relieved for the week off. Judging by the increasing popularity of cell phone and laptop free resorts and hotels, we are not the only ones out there who actually have to be forced to switch off occasionally.
Worry-free on the sea
It was hard to imagine at the start what there was to do without running the website and eating away valuable hours on social media, but it turns out we just enjoyed our time on board. We hung out in the spa, read in the library for hours, laid on the sun deck, played mini-golf, splurged at the buffet and then worked it all off in the gym later.
For eight days and seven nights the ship brought us to a different town every day and we didn’t have to take care of a thing. This particular aspect is also attracting us to the idea of cruise this summer.
The last three months of our travels through South America really wore us out. We were moving fast from place to place, which meant we had to book hotels and transportation almost every day and arriving to a new place so often meant always searching out the sights, restaurants and hidden gems for a more interesting experience. On the cruise, the food, the gym, the pool, the spa never moves and our beds are perfectly made everyday. If we didn’t want to visit one of the towns we were docked in, we could just stay on board and enjoy the ship even more.
Especially on a Caribbean cruise we wouldn’t have to worry about any sightseeing – we would just grab our beach towels and visit the closest beach, knowing that it would be picture-perfect.
We still have a couple of weeks to fill in between our time in Europe and our return to the States, and we are looking into 2013 last minute cruise deals to see if we can fit in a week cruising through the Mediterranean or the Caribbean!
Have you ever done a digital detox?
