Fun New Year’s Resolutions

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Lose weight. Exercise more. Earn more. De-clutter. Repair those broken things around the house. The typical New Year’s resolutions rarely involve anything fun; they usually amount to drudgery. It’s no wonder that so many people quickly abandon their resolutions. So what are the alternatives? Scrap your boring resolutions right now and replace them with these fun cruising resolutions.

Don’t scrap your exercise resolutions. There’s a gym on the ship.

Try your first cruise.
I haven’t forgotten my initial feelings about cruising. Certain that I would be herded around, following an intense schedule, which would include daily bingo, I never had any desire to cruise. I enjoy my freedom and free time and didn’t want anybody telling me what I should do during the day. And being confined on a ship with a thousand or more other cruisers. No thanks. But then I had a chance to sail on the now defunct Renaissance Cruise Lines in French Polynesia no less. I decided I could have an itinerary, I would sit through bingo and be a part of the big crowd on the ship. I could suck it up and suffer through this.

Much to my surprise my impressions didn’t mirror reality at all. I could play bingo if and when I wanted. I could set my own schedule. And those 1000 other guests really weren’t all that noticeable. I got hooked.

Others have delayed cruising because they worried that they would get sea sick. Ships are more stable these days and there are medications, patches, pressure bands and herbals like ginger that decrease the likelihood of getting sea sick. In addition to the prophylactic treatments, several other factors can reduce your chance of sea sickness:

If you worry about seasickness, think you will be bored or have another reason i for not cruising, consider taking a 2 or 3 day cruise just to try it out. Several cruise lines and ports offer these shorter options, which are often a very good value as well. You may find yourself wishing that you had booked a longer cruise.

Next resolution: Try a different cruise line.

Sail Away