These are the times when it seems as if you hold the fate of the world in your hands. So what will it be? How can you possibly choose between tropical beaches and Mickey Mouse? Last year was a disaster and you know that you only have one more year to redeem yourself before the decision making is taken out of your hands forever. You can feel the weight of defeat pressing down on your shoulders. How can you possibly please everyone? Someone is bound to rebel; there’s just no way around it.

Where in the world are you going to take your family on vacation? The choices are obvious. The kids want to go to Disney Land, and your partner is not opposed. There are golf courses nearby, right? You would really love to lounge on a brilliant, white tropical beach, cool drink in hand. Maybe tour ancient ruins and see a little bit of the world. There is always Vegas and the strip. And you have been talking about a casino vacation for quite sometime. The options are endless, but you can’t possibly book the vacation of everyone’s dreams on your budget and during your timeframe; can you?

Actually there is a way that you can do everything on your family’s vacation wish list without breaking the bank and taking the next six months off of work. The answer lies in a floating hotel paradise, otherwise called a cruise ship.

If you book a cruise vacation with a popular cruise line such as Princess Cruise Lines, you will be able to squeeze a whole lot of vacation into a small time frame. And there’s no repacking and traveling from destination to destination as is required in many multi-faceted vacations. All you have to do is board, unpack, and let the vacation of a lifetime unfurl before your very eyes.

One of the main reasons that people decide to spend their vacation this way is that they can do so much in a small time amount of time. On just one, one-week trip, it is possible to enjoy fine dining and entertainment nightly, try your luck at casino gambling, lie on the beach for hours, tour great ancient ruins, golf on world-famous greens, shop in the open markets of the world, and give the kids an amazing vacation that will blow the amusement park right out of the water.

In addition to all of this, you never have to unpack. Your luxurious, floating palace will provide you with all of the amenities of a five-star hotel plus some. There will be several restaurants to choose from, (Plus 24 hour room service!) and on-board activities that will keep you entertained and make you wish that you never had to leave the ship. But you will be able to leave the ship if you choose, and believe me, you’ll want to. The shore excursions offer you fabulous adventures at exotic locales.

Maybe, just maybe, you will be able to rouse yourself from sunning on the decks just long enough to dip your toes into the sapphire waters of the Caribbean. Or you might trade an afternoon of on-board spa treatments for a breathtaking, underwater view of a nearby coral reef. Sounds tempting, doesn’t it?

Cruises are also very affordable if you book in advance and know where to look for great deals. Granted, the price tag per head might seem a little hefty at first. But after you take into consideration the cost of flying to the numerous locations that your cruise will visit, hotel accommodations once you get there, money for food and entertainment, and added costs for each activity that you do, a cruise is a great deal.

When you book a cruise for the family, the only cost that you pay is the price of the cruise ticket. Meals and entertainment are included as well as many amenities aboard ship. In many cases, the cost of the cruise also includes excursions and scheduled activities at exotic ports. The truth of the matter is this: If you paid for each individual item that is included in a cruise package, you would have to cancel your next five vacations to pay for it.

Regardless of the latest media frenzy, cruises are also extremely safe. Sadly, many hot tourist locations all over the world are home to ruthless thieves that are just waiting to prey on an unsuspecting traveler. A cruise ship can shelter you from crime by providing you with a safe haven and vehicle of travel while at the same time providing you with a support group to travel with while docked. As you can imagine, touring the local markets with a large group of people is much safer than going it alone.

So why take a cruise? Because there is no other vacation that can encompass so many different activities and please the whole family like a voyage with Princess Cruise Lines can. It’s inexpensive and it is safe. So, if you want to book a dream vacation that will please the whole family, maybe you should think about taking a cruise this year. I can hear the warm, pristine beaches calling, can you? Oh, and I think I saw a martini at the bar with your name on it.

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For those who have not experienced the joys of luxury cruising, imagine your favourite five star resort. Now, picture waking up each morning and finding your resort has arrived as another exotic or sun-drenched location – all without the challenges of international air travel. Add to that attentive service and you get the picture of what it is like to travel on a luxury cruise.

Popular destinations include: the coasts of Alaska, Scandinavia, South-East Asia, Europe, Australia, and New England; China, Egypt, North America; and numerous other places.

As for ship facilities, all luxury ships have at least one swimming pool and comfortable deck chairs aplenty. Cruise ship entertainment includes: comedians, Vegas style musical shows, magicians, new release movies, etc. Most ships have a complete gym and some ships now offer putting greens, golf simulators, and basketball/tennis courts. For travellers who enjoy a bit of pampering, extensive spa facilities are available on all cruise ships.

All luxury cruise ships have high guest to staff ratios – to ensure discrete attentive service and response to your every whim and need. You also find luxury cruises have greater private space for guests, greater numbers of tables for two as well as on-board hosts to ensure all women guests never are in need of a dance partner to dance the night away.

A daily roster of activities is planned for each ship. These might include art auctions, cooking schools, lectures, language lessons, book clubs, arts and crafts, plus much more. All ships have extensive libraries to while away the hours in comfortable chairs enjoying great novels and non-fiction books.

With regards to food, luxury cruises have exceptional dining choices. You can choose to dine at the main dining room, or one of the more exclusive speciality restaurants on board ship. There are also a number of coffee shops and juice bars on most ships to help cater to those needing high tea or a latte.

Cabins on luxury cruises tend to be generously proportioned, with multi-room suites available with private decks and balconies, exquisite bathrooms, lounge and bar areas, and your own private waiter.

When onshore, the shore excursions office offers a variety of sightseeing tours and activities such as cultural tours, snorkelling, museum tours and more, at each port of call.

There are many fabulous luxury cruise lines to select. Cunard Lines are the most well known for their liners which allow people to travel in supreme luxury.

The Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria and the Queen Elizabeth provide the highest class of ocean travel. The interior design and fit outs of each of these cruise ships hark back to a bygone era and complement the on board experience where people dress for dinner in black-tie and cocktail gowns and enjoy elegant soirees with some of the premiere world entertainers. Priceless art works enrich the senses, while Oxford Professors and guest expert lecturers enrich the mind with their seminars and lectures.

Cunard voyages include Transatlantic, the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Northern Europe and luxury Around the World cruises and range from as little as 4 days to extended stays.

For more relaxed elegance you may enjoy travel on Crystal cruises, with all of the amenities of a luxury resort. Teak decks, silk wall hangings, crystal chandeliers and polished marble all add to the ambience.

Silversea Cruises have a well deserved reputation for exquisite dining and all inclusive fares. The meals on Silversea Cruise lines rival the top Michelin starred restaurants in the world, with a non-sell atmosphere common on many other cruise ships.

The Holland America line also provides classic luxury, fabulous food and understated elegance. Teak desks, impressive state rooms, and exceptional service define the Holland America line. It cruises to destinations including Alaska, Panama Canal, Northern Europe, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Australia and the Asia Pacific.

North Star Cruises offers luxury cruises around the remote northern parts of Australia through the Kimberley region, and comes complete with its own private helicopter to allow guests to explore this rugged wilderness in comfort.

Other exceptional luxury cruises can be found on Fred Olsen Cruise lines, The World of Residensea, Wings Nile Cruises, Princess Cruises, Hebridean International Cruises, Regent Seven Seas and Orion Expedition Cruises.

Example: For $500.00 two of you can take a cruise to Mexico for 4 nights. Wow, 4 nights lodging in most vacation spots would easily run $400.00. Then the price of food for 2 people for 4 days, conservatively say, $200.00, and entertainment could easily run over $200.00 more. On a cruise, all this is included!

Get all dressed up and enjoy a memorable evening out in the cruise ship’s formal dining room or ordering room service, the choice is yours! On a cruise, you can expect to be waited on hand and foot!

Cruise Ships offer many different forms of entertainment. Dinner and dancing under the stars to live music, games, swimming or relaxing in the hot tub, stroll the deck and enjoy the ocean view with its cool breeze and fresh air, see dolphins and whales, or many of the other cruise activities will keep you entertained while on your cruise.

Most cruise ships have shows, casinos and spas to pamper yourself. Indulge yourself with a soothing massage or facial and try your luck at the ship’s casino slots or gaming tables.

Photography buffs will be thoroughly thrilled by the photo opportunities…imagine the most amazing sunsets!

For the competitive cruisers there are contest and tournaments to join, while the athletic health conscious persons work out at the fitness center.

When the cruise ship pulls into port, you can get off the ship and explore the port city, and shop for souvenirs, or lay on the beach. Shore excursion activities and tours can be arranged, but are an extra charge.

A cruise has something for everybody! All inclusive!
Now doesn’t this make a cruise affordable?
Take a cruise and enjoy the most thrilling vacation of your life!

My proposed remedy for his suburban stress was the somewhat unoriginal recipe of a Caribbean island, gorgeous weather, a seaworthy vessel, and copious amounts of rum. His unexpected response after six years of rewarding lock-down, was, “I’m in!”

After arriving at the Moorings marina in Road Town, the capitol of Tortola, home to our sleek 55-foot monohull, we were introduced to our captain and chef, Australian couple Tom and Jaquie. But shortly after we toured our elegantly appointed cabins, Barry started with queries of cell phone availability and Internet service. Mildly discouraged, I still had faith that the sun, the sand, the cool island breeze and life, in general, on our new floating villa would soon dismantle his daily worries of life back home.

Our seven-day voyage began on the island of Tortola, the largest of the 60 islands that comprise the British Virgin Island chain. Located in the northern Caribbean, Tortola is chock-a-block with soft, white sandy beaches and lush mountains. It also has a protected harbor strewn with a multitude of yachts in all shapes and sizes.

Our first visit was the Bright at Norman Island, just seven nautical miles south of Tortola. Helping to form the Southern perimeter of the Francis Drake Channel, Norman Island is often referred to as Treasure Island because of the vast number of pirates that once claimed these waters. One of its unique features is an area called The Caves, rumored to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s book Treasure Island. Now if the beauty of the British Virgin Islands isn’t enough to loosen the knots of suburban life, I’m not sure what is.

However with the balmy breeze offering a most refreshing relief to the beating sun, Jaquie’s uncanny timing as she delivered a cold rum and Ting with some of our favorite bites, I could see Barry beginning to unravel. We launched ourselves overboard into a turquoise sea, swimming and snorkeling in and around the rock formations called the Indians, easily imagining what glorious treasures might have been sunken in the depths beneath our treading toes. Just below was the Rhone, a British steamer, which sank in 1867 during a hurricane and is now considered to be one of the very best wreck dives in all of the Caribbean.

We made our next stop at a floating bar/restaurant called the Willie-T. Yeah, this one’s hard to describe without sounding shameless and irresponsible. Take yourself back, if you will, to your junior year of college. You’ve been drinking, life’s pretty good, and no dare seems unreasonable. Got it? Now stick this local, anything goes-watering hole on a boat in the middle of the Caribbean and there you have it – the Willie-T. This I knew, of all things, would peak my brother’s interest. You see the Willie-T has only one way to obtain the bar’s famed t-shirt, and no, not with your credit card. You have to earn it by taking a topless dive off the top deck and strolling back across to collect your clothes. He may be a lawyer but he’s still a guy and lucky for him there were some eager takers.

Sailing approximately 11 nautical miles from Norman Island, we reached Jost Van Dyke, a small and picturesque harbor protected by 1000 foot peaks, and home to the world famous Foxy’s beach restaurant and bar. As fate would have it, Foxy himself was “in the house” as we anchored for a visit. It was an open-air, picnic table meets cabaret type party. We sat next to strangers, ate freshly caught Mahi Mahi, drank rum-inspired cocktails and shopped shamelessly at Foxy’s beach-side boutique. Before we knew it, the magic hour began to fall upon us, and Foxy, with guitar in hand, lit up the night. We danced in our bare feet and celebrated life and the glorious sense of freedom before falling into hammocks hitched to coconut palms that lined the beach.

It was now and new and glorious morning filled with exceptionally blue skies. It must have been 11 a.m. when my brother surfaced from his mahogany cocoon below, which was a telling sign that my plan was working. The day ahead was filled with adventures at sea. The Caribbean was like a giant, wet wonderland where we would kayak, windsurf, swim and snorkel. Barry kayaked over to a tiny island known as Sandy Spit, which couldn’t have been more than a few acres from end to end. He carried with him only a book, a towel and suntan oil. Yes oil, not block or screen. This was an ongoing comedy routine throughout the trip. He wanted a tan – refusing to consider that he might benefit from starting off with a higher screen, allowing the sun to do its thing slowly and methodically but instead he chose SPF 8 oil on day one of our trip. At Sandy Spit, we were down to a mere SPF 4. Two hours later I found an electric red Barry snoring beneath a lone palm.

Considered to be one of the most beautiful anchorages in all of the BVI, our next stop was Cane Garden Bay. We whiled away the hours, frolicking in the sea before happy hour at Myettes, a lively hotel, restaurant and bar. Starting off slow, the bar had just a few guests, and we could see that there was a wedding taking place down by the water. A band arrived, sort of Jimmy Buffet meets Bob Marley meets Motown kind of thing. I vaguely remember a rum-tasting session, becoming the official tambourine player for the band, and Barry, now two sheets to the wind, on the microphone with our Jimmy Buffet look-alike, singing his own special version of Mustang Sally. It was official. He was de-stressed. The eventful happy hour was followed by a feast of fresh crab and lobster, then a dinghy ride back to our bobbing home under the stars.

Our mornings were refreshing and lucid. Next stop: Marina Cay, located near Guana Island. This cay is roughly 10 nautical miles from Cane Garden Bay and is a picture postcard island, just minutes from Trellis Bay and the airport, making it a wonderful pit-stop for island shopping at Pussers company store, refueling, or buying a drink and taking in the sunset. We opted to grab a bite at Monkey Point then carry on to Virgin Gorda, which gets its name from its shape. Columbus described the island as resembling a plump woman with her belly in the air. There, our journey called notice to the luxury resorts of Little Dix Bay with its incredible spa and Biras Creek, an elegant bungalow style resort; the Bitter End Yacht Club, which offers a wonderful sailing school; and Baraka Point Villa, which comes with its own chef and crew.

Our last stops before heading back to Road Town were Cooper Island and the private island resort of Peter Island, where we took a swim at Deadman’s Bay. But it was the mysterious Baths at Spanish Town, back on Virgin Gorda, which melted away the last faded wrinkles of city stress. At the Baths, giant granite boulders strewn throughout the beach and along the water’s edge create stunning grottos, caves, wading rock pools and trails that lead to magnificent beaches. Believed to have been a spiritual and physical cleansing place for the Amerindians, the Baths remain a calming place that calls for meditation. On our way back to the boat, we discovered the Mad Dog bar. We ordered their famous frozen pina coladas and pondered the meaning of life, love — and with a chuckle, how well Barry’s law firm might do based on Tortola.

As I dropped a very dark, funny red version of Barry at the airport, I noticed that he was also a much more relaxed, looser version. We joked about leaving empty handed with all the talk of buried treasure. But teary-eyed and full of laughter we both knew where to find the treasures in our lives, and he was heading home to his.