Page 17 - 2025 May June Magazine

Won't you let
me take you on a cRUISE?
BY PROFESSOR
JOHN WEAVER, RET.
Old Man Rhythm is-a in my shoes
It’s no use sittin’ here singin’ the blues
So be my guest, you’ve got nothin’ to lose
Won’t you let me take you on a sea cruise?
Past issues of this magazine let our readers travel to many
places: South Africa, New Zealand, Egypt, France,
Eastern Washington, Belize, Puerto Rico, and American
baseball parks, among others. This issue will add more places.
These stories were mostly about places those writers had
traveled to.
For a change of pace, I decided to tell you about a different
kind of travel—cruising.
days. I have been to
the Mexican Riviera,
Hawaii, the Caribbean,
through the Panama
Canal and along the
U.S. and Canadian East
Coasts. I have cruised
only on Princess
Cruises (a division of
Carnival.) I’ll tell you
a little about what you
might expect on these cruises and why
you might or might not want to try one.
Sea cruise?
Love boat! Love, exciting and new. Come aboard, we’re expecting you.
Love, life’s sweetest reward, let if flow, it floats back to you.
The love boat soon will be making another run
The love boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure, Your mind on a new romance.
Love won’t hurt anymore, it’s an open smile on a friendly shore...
For cruising, the destinations are important, but so is the
journey. For my purposes cruising means traveling by ship to
various ports of call and enjoying attractions and activities at
or near those ports of call and the activities on board the ships.
The first modern cruise ship was built in the late 19th century by
the Hamburg American Line and sailed from Europe to ports
in the West Indies and Venezuela.2 Before World War II most
ocean travel was to reach destinations—think of the original
Queen Elizabeth, and (sadly) the Titanic.
After World War II international travel by air largely replaced
travel by ship to Europe, Hawaii, and Asia. Passenger ship lines
began to convert their liners to cruise ships and offered warm
weather cruises and what we now may think of as adventure
cruises. Cruising became less of a luxury in the latter third of
the previous century. Today, there are cruises that can take half
a year and get you mostly around the world, or take six days up
the Columbia, or even to Antarctica. There are 300 or so cruise
ships and 60 or more major cruise lines in the world, although
three major companies (Carnival, Royal Caribbean and
Norwegian Cruises) handle more than 75% of all passengers.
My cruise experiences are on what might be thought of as
middle-of-the- road (ocean?) cruises. My longest was 14
For most cruises you must first travel to your departure point
and again home.3 This can be a long flight if you’re going to
do a European cruise or something in Asia or South America.
You may want to make that trip part of your cruise and enjoy
something along the way.
Once you and your fellow passengers4 are aboard the first thing
to do is unpack. This is one of the advantages of cruising. You
get on the ship, you go to a port of call; you have fun; you get
back on the boat, change for dinner (or not); go to bed and the
next day or so you are in a new port of call. No repacking in the
morning or driving to your next destination or getting to the
airport.
What about eating? On a larger cruise ship you will have a
variety of meal choices. Your fare will include a basic meal plan.
We usually frequented the buffet. On our most recent cruise
the buffet had, among other choices, ‘healthy’ choices (salads
and light fare), vegan and vegetarian options, various ethnic
styles, and a kids’ section (chicken tenders, fries, etc.) which
was popular with all age ranges. There were also pizza bars,
sandwich stops, ice cream shops, a seafood restaurant, a fancy
restaurant (which costs extra), and other choices.
Continued on next page.
1 “See Cruise” by Huey Smith, sung by Frankie Ford
2 The Odyssey might be thought of as a cruise, though an involuntary one. In the 16th
century one Richard Hore organized what might be considered a cruise from Bristol
to the Newfoundland Banks. It did not end well. See Morrison, the European Discover
of America The Northern Voyages (1971). Nor did that first modern cruise ship: it ran
aground off Jamaica
3 There are Alaska cruises that leave from Seattle and Columbia River cruises from
Portland.
4 There may be as few as 16 passengers or as many as 5,700 (or more)
M a y /J u n e 2 0 2 5 | P I E R C E C O U N T Y L A W Y E R 1 7