So now there's a "cruise addiction:" I like traveling by ship (realistically ocean liner) and I've now done 2 repositioning crossings. I went from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona on a transatlantic repositioning (sadly not on Cunard) in April. The ports of call were the Azores, Madeira, and Gibraltar. I'd been to Gibraltar before. The cable car up to the top was being refurbished, so I didn't get off the ship. It's really interesting, but it can wear on you. Port days are great but you have to pace things. I prefer sea days, where you've got the whole day to relax. There is too much food, and most of it is good. You will gain 5+pounds. Some of the people on board are weird. There are a lot of single older women, by being widowed, divorced, or never married. Some are way too friendly and you have to balance being polite and conveying being unavailable. If they didn't get their act together when they were younger, they shouldn't be putting this burden on someone now. You do ship travel with a significant other, if you have one. You should not do it expecting to meet someone because it's probably not going to happen, especially when someone has hit the wall. Some of these people are crazy - they go on one cruise right after another. I've come to realize it's an escape for some people. If you're always at sea, or in ports, or going to the dining room, shows, and planned events, you don't have to face anything you should be dealing with psychologically. You get assigned to a dinner table and, because it's 6 to 8 people, you have to be a little guarded ... I can't tell most of my jokes and make most of the comments I'd ordinarily make with friends. Everyone is usually likable enough, but, toward the end, you have to stiffen up a little bit as you disengage from any of these groups. They all have to make sure that as they go on to their next cruise, and the next one, they haven't exchanged contact information with anyone. I've done so with only a few people and that's because they'd be the kind of people you'd probably socialize with anyway. https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/21-signs-youre-a-cruise-addict I have 7 of these 21, and some aren't even that pronounced: 2 - my desktop wallpaper is indeed a ship 5 - it's not so much post cruise "blues" as it is adjusting to a different schedule and having to make or buy food 7 - I have rank with just one line and that's Cunard (which operates Queen Mary 2) 8 - people don't come to me for advice about cruises; people I know approach me for all kinds of travel advice ... I don't have a sign on my head, but people know I like to travel 9 - I have bought exactly one item on each trip, so less than 10 items total 11 - I've memorized the layout of a few ships, but that's also what most of my jobs have required doing, and it wasn't about the layout of ships 15 - I could spend hours on cruise sites, but I could also spend hours on many travel and transportation sites I had November 2026 booked (Europe to the States) and am not going to go, so I will lose a small deposit. I redeemed frequent flyer miles and will be flying. But I'm keeping a reservef U.S. to Europe crossing for spring 2027. I only go transatlantic - it's to go from point A to point B. If you choose a basic cabin, t's not much more than the combination of a one way air ticket, lodging, and restaurant costs. The last true ocean liner - Queen Mary 2 - so they had to make it beautiful and not have it look like a floating condominium tower. I stay in the black hull area and in a simple cabin. I love this ship.
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