Page 18 - 2025 May June Magazine

Won't you let me take you on a cRUISE?
Your room will be taken care of while you are out of it. You’ll
come back to a freshly made-up room after breakfast. You can
have your clothes sent out to be cleaned or on many cruises
there will be a laundromat available.
You really won’t need to have cash on hand on most typical
cruises. You’ll have a card or some sort of token that you use
on board. You will however want money to use at the ports of
call.5
What do you do in the port of call? Most cruise lines will have
an extensive list of available activities. Depending on where
you are you can book city tours, ‘adventure’ tours—snorkeling,
rafting and the like, or forest or historic tours, shopping or
visiting local sorts of industries. On our cruises we have toured
Mayan ruins, Panama City, and Cartagena, Colombia, swam
with sea lions and visited nature parks. These tours will cost
money.6 In many places you’ll be able to get off the boat, and if
you want, you can book local non-affiliated tours. Sometimes it
can be fun just to get off the boat and wander through the local
city.7
One of the disadvantages of a cruise is that you will likely be
able to do only one thing in each port of call. If you are the
kind of person who likes to visit someplace and see all there is
to see in the locale, a cruise is not for you.
Ok, you’re back on the ship. You have an evening ahead and
perhaps depending on your cruise one or more “sea days.” 8
What is there to do besides lie in the sun, eat, and read? You
may recall Lauren Tewes as Julie McCoy—the perky cruise
director on the ‘Love Boat’. Well, there’s a similar person on
cruises, along with a lot of others to keep you occupied. The
cruises I’ve been on have had movies, magic shows, comedy
shows, musical reviews, art auctions, lectures on upcoming
ports and the history of the area you’re cruising, dance
lessons, karaoke, bingo games, spas, basketball, putting and
trivia contests. There will often be a casino on board and
entertainment in some of the restaurants and bars. Since
cruising is now more of a family activity there are likely to
be special events and activities for teenagers and younger
children. One Carnival cruise ship we saw recently had a water
park and a roller coaster on its top deck.
5 Many stores will accept credit cards (though you may pay an exchange premium
and in the Caribbean most places take dollars.
6 Some cruises, especially river cruises, may have a basic tour included in the fare.
7 This may depend on your own comfort level and command of the language
8 Cruises to Hawaii have lots of sea days.
1 8 P I E R C E C O U N T Y L A W Y E R | M a y /J u n e 2 0 2 5
Should you think about cruising? Think about what you like
to do. If a vacation for you is golfing and riding horses or
hiking—probably not a cruise. Again, If you like to get to a
place and fully explore it, don’t cruise. If you enjoy seeing new
places, not worrying about the travel between them and enjoy
down time, try a cruise. River9 and coastal10 cruises don’t have
as many ‘river’ or ‘sea’ days; you’ll get to new place almost
every day.
There are so many types of cruises that if
you are interested you should be able to find
one that tempts you.
John Weaver is a retired Professor of Law from
Seattle University School of Law. He began
teaching at UPS School of Law in 1972. He is
a resident of Tacoma and serves as the Law
School Liaison to the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar
Association. He is an honorary life-time member
of the TPCBA.
9 In North America you can cruise the Columbia, the Mississippi (with side trips on
the Missouri and Ohio) and the St. Lawrence Seaway. In Europe, the Rhine, the Seine
and the Danube.
10 For instance, around the British Isles, or up the North Atlantic Coast, or the Fjords
of Scandavia
Join Me in Leaving a
Legacy of Justice
As a fifty plus year
member of WSBA, there
was no question in my mind
about joining the Justice Society
and naming the Endowment for
Equal Justice in my will. I want
to make sure that people who
need legal representation at critical times in their
lives can access it, no matter how meager their
resources. The Endowment is working to take some
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The Endowment provides support in perpetuity for
the Legal Foundation of Washington in making
our communities more equitable places to
live, work and raise a family. Please join me.
— DICK MANNING,
EEJ Justice Society Member since 2003
The only sustainable fund for
civil legal aid in Washington.
legalfoundation.org/endowment
annie@legalfoundation.org