One of the main reasons a person picks a particular cruise is for the exotic port stops the ship makes. In our case, we knew we wanted to head towards warmer weather (January in Chicago? A little cold.). We’ve always wanted to visit Key West, and so for us it was a no-brainer. In fact, before Jim suggested that we go on a cruise, I had already checked on the cost of a trip to Key West, staying in a hotel for a few nights. It was extremely cost-prohibitive. The cruise was perfect, even though we just got a five-hour taste of Key West: better than nothing! Cozumel was never…
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Pictures For Sail
In light of the recent news of a cruise ship (the Costa Concordia) hitting a reef just two hours after departure, I thought it would be a good idea to point out that, though so very tragic for all involved, the accident was a freak, rare occurrence in light of how many cruises there are on any given day. I would still cruise again. I also thought that I would bring cruising back to the positive today, by showing you more pictures from my trip. (This helps me too, since I’m in the middle of a very busy couple of days!) Tomorrow? Key West and Cozumel!
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12 Cruise Tips For Newbies And Wannabes
I learned so much while planning (and taking) our first cruise that I thought I’d share some of the knowledge I’ve gained over the past few months with you. Just so you know in advance, THIS IS A REALLY LONG POST, even for Suburban Scrawl. (Sorry!) Our cruise was the best value-for-the-money vacation we’ve ever experienced, which was great news for me because I am pretty frugal, always looking for the better deal or a different way of doing something in order to save some money. Some of these cruise tips, which range from saving money to just making things easier, came from the “First time cruiser” forum on my…
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The Love Boat
Back in the late 70’s through the mid 80’s, my sister and I were always in the same place on Saturday nights: in front of the television, watching “The Love Boat”. The weekly adventures of Captain Merrill Stubing (Your Ship’s Captain), Julie McCoy (Your Cruise Director), Issac Washington (Your Bartender), Doc Brinker (Your Ship’s Doctor), Gopher Smith (Your Yeoman Purser), and the parade of special guest stars that appeared each week (like Charo, Meredith Baxter Birney, Florence Henderson, Sonny Bono, and so many others) kept us glued to our seats from the intro song–which, at nearly two minutes, was clearly created in the days when the powers-that-be weren’t concerned about…
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A Cheesy Visit To The Mars Cheese Castle In Kenosha, Wisconsin
Since this is a week in which so many are traveling, I thought it would be fun to tell you about a very famous tourist attraction that is just over the Illinois/Wisconsin border, off the stretch of Interstate 94 between Chicagoland and Milwaukee. It’s the Mars Cheese Castle. The “Mars Cheese Castle” has been there for more than forty-five years. The owners recently built an actual “castle” just west of the land on which the original building stood. Regardless (and even though it’s not *right* on the border but actually about eight-ish miles north of it), when you see that sign you know for sure you’re in Wisconsin. The mouse,…