My wife and I took our first cruise in the late 1990s. Even though it was only a short 4-day cruise with Carnival Cruises, we were immediately hooked on this way of traveling.

The ocean breeze, meeting new people, being in multiple destinations without packing, enjoying the fantastic food and all the fun onboard activities, what a wonderful way to travel.

It wasn’t long before we took a second cruise, this time with Disney Cruise Line.

I love being on the ocean and listening to the sound of the sea. I can really enjoy admiring the waves and shutting myself off from the rest of the world.

I also love the feeling of freedom that only cruising can give me. Cruising is a great way to meet new people. Over all these years, I have made many friends from all over the world.

Mostly people who share my passion for travel. I also like to only unpack and pack once, and it’s so nice to wake up in a different place every day and discover new things.

Cruising is also one of the only ways to see certain destinations, such as Antarctica and some glaciers in Alaska that can only be admired by ship.

Mostly I’ve only been doing cruises lately, but I love to travel. Other trips I do regularly are city trips or weekends to go hiking.
A longer country-based trip I did recently is Lapland in Finland.

In the past I have taken many round trips with a rental car. I have traveled to western Canada, the west and midwest of America, New Zealand and South Africa. I also visited several world cities such as New York, San Francisco, London, Barcelona and Rome.

One tip I can give you is to spend a few days or a week before or after a cruise in the place of departure or arrival. For example, I have personally spent an extended time before a cruise in Bali, Singapore, Athens and Sint Maarten, and an extended time after a cruise in Rio de Janeiro, Abu Dhabi, Rome and Venice.

Personally, I love cruising the Caribbean or the Mediterranean.

Both destinations are easily accessible to most cruise enthusiasts and offer either beautiful paradise beaches, relaxation and visits to unique natural areas, or cultural gems of cities and many historical sites.

Cruises in the caribbean are also cheaper than voyages in remote areas and destinations, so that’s also something to consider.

I have already visited the 7 continents but the destinations that have given me the most wow factor are French Polynesia with the paradise islands of Bora Bora and Mo’orea, the Seychelles with the wonderful La Digue and the Greek Islands with the whitewashed houses and the famous village of Oia on Santorini.

And recently, I took an expedition cruise to Antarctica.

Seeing Antarctica was a big travel bucket list destination for me, and it and it fulfilled all my expectations. It was one of the most EPIC voyages I have ever taken.

It was such an extraordinary experience to see the most breathtaking scenery with snow-capped mountains everywhere, huge glaciers and spectacular icebergs. And to see so many wild animals, including Antarctica’s famous penguins, whales and seals.