When we were cruising, Michelle and I turned our noses up at those poor suckers on the big ol' cruise ships we would occasionally encounter. They were missing so much of the adventure! How could we not feel sorry for them?

Our attitude changed somewhat one night on a bumpy passage to Mayaguana Island in the Bahamian Out Islands. In the middle of the night a cruise ship appeared on our radar - we knew it was a cruise ship because it was so brightly lit, it appeared as though a piece of the sun was lying on the horizon.

Unlike the vast majority of freighters, cruise ships almost always answer calls via the VHF. We had no reason to call them but it was dark, we were a long way from anywhere and we thought it would be fun to talk to them. They answered, telling us they would be in the Virgin Islands before we would even drop our hook at Mayaguana. We chatted for a while and then wished each other fair winds. Soon, the ship was over the horizon.

Afterwards, as we bounced along in the waves and wind just a little too strong for the sail we had up, Michelle and I talked about how the people on the ship could go get a brownie anytime they wanted. We didn't have any brownies on Hetty Brace just then. Bouncing around in the dark Atlantic, brownies sounded pretty good at that time.

Fast forward several years: We were looking for something to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We thought about making another trip to George Town, we called around for cabins in the mountains of North Carolina but we ended up buying tickets for a Western Caribbean cruise. Let me tell you - I wasn't particularly excited about it. On the long drive to the Port of Miami from our home near Tampa Bay, I kept thinking that we had made a horrible mistake. I could already envision Julie the Cruise Director from the Love Boat jumping us as we boarded the ship and signing us up for all kinds of things we'd hate to do.

But what we found was entirely different - we found that we loved being aboard a cruise ship. No, it isn't a replacement for cruising aboard your own boat but somehow that experienced only served to enhance our time on the cruise ship. We were lucky to have a balcony cabin - we spent much of the cruise out there just enjoying ourselves as we watched the ocean sail by. It was, literally, as close to heaven as we could get without being on our own boat.

And yes, we could get brownies anytime we wanted. In fact, the brownies were nothing compared to the other kinds of dessert we could get just for the asking. It's probably a good thing we didn't know about that on the trip to Mayaguana...

If you need an ocean and island fix, being on a cruise ship is not a bad way to go. As a sailor, you'll only appreciate it more.

For anyone curious, here's a link to a story I wrote about it.

I'd like to thank you for the emails over the past few months - I truly enjoy hearing from you.

Fair Winds, everyone!

Mitch

Our ship, Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas.

Michelle waving goodbye to passengers on a sister ship in the Port of Miami.

The captain and officers of the bridge just of Grand Cayman.