Well, I just finished experiencing my first cruise ever. I’ve actually never met a person who has done a vacation cruise and didn’t want to do it again. So, as a Christmas treat, Teresa and I arranged to take our sons, Alex and Joseph, for a trip through the Western Caribbean aboard the Navigator of the Seas sponsored by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Here’s my thoughts upon returning:
- There is no escaping it…. Cruises are all about food, food, and more food… There is food when you wake up, room service constantly available, buffets open at all hours, special dining seating in plush restaurant halls, small cafes in concourses…. In fact, there is so much food that I started to feel guilty if I didn’t eat it. It felt like I had to or… I’d not get the maximum value of my fare or I’d disappoint the executive Chef. In the end, I just decided what and when I wanted to eat. Then I’d eat until I was satisfied and then called it “quits”. Cruising can easily lead to gluttony. (I already struggle with my weight so I also made it a point to exercise every day – there was a nice fitness center on board)
- Port excursions were a nice diversion. When we were in Belize City, Belize (the former British Honduras), we purchased a side trip to the interior where we undertook an Aerial Trek aka zip-lining through the jungle canopy. After a brief lunch (more food), we then went tubing on a river that went underground through a cave system… really cool! My suggestion for excursions – do at least one that is unique. Something that you couldn’t do anytime or anywhere else. We also took a day in Cozumel, Mexico and just crashed at the beach on Christmas Day. Wintering in New England means that beaching on Christmas Day is a unique experience too!
- On this cruise, there was so much to do on ship. In fact, there was so much to do that we had
trouble, at times, deciding what to do. It was kinda like the pressure related to the overwhelming food. There were shows on stage, wine tastings, live music, rock wall climbing, multiple swimming pools and hot tubs, parades down the promenade, B-I-N-G-O, and so much more. You get the idea. My suggestion: just decide what’s important to you each day and mentally orient yourself towards attending. When the time comes, go if you’re inclined. Blow it off if you aren’t. Wander a little. Join in serendipitous moments as they occur. Just don’t feel pressured by the abundance of choices available. Sometimes too many choices can be a curse if you let the abundance become distractions to what you want or need.
- Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) expects new guests. As a result, they anticipate every step that might confuse a new guest and has designed easy pathways. Although, I often felt overwhelmed with the size of the ship, the diversity of activity, and the locations of areas, I was never anxious because they constantly engineered systems and placed personnel to guide me every step of the way. As a result, I felt totally relaxed and increased my potential enjoyment. This standard got me thinking… what would it be like if I invited RCCL to consider the needs of the new guest at my church. What suggestions would they give us? I suspect that most churches would do well to think about the needs of new guests more intentionally. Helping new guests to relax around our logistics would help our life-giving message to be received more easily. RCCL does what they do for financial profit; we do what we do for eternal profit.
- Avoid tenders. A “tender” is when your cruise ship pulls into a port but can not dock directly at the pier but must instead shuttle passengers back and forth from the ship to the pier. We tendered in Belize City. I hated it. It just ate up my day. I spent too much time waiting to get on the smaller transport boat…. too much time traveling on the tender… too much time waiting to return. Fortunately, our time in Cozumelwas non-tendered. I know this sounds like an odd analogy but… Sometimes, I think our Christian ghetto language, you know – the vocabulary that tells other Christians that you are a Christian and have the “inside language” down pat – is like a tendered boat. In order to help someone seeking spiritual truth, we feel the need to take them through our Christian ghetto language. Some people will put up with this delay – they’ll get in line, take the tender, and arrive at the destination. But most people are put off by this delay. They’d rather skip the step. Some ultimately refuse to get on the tender. Some will even refuse to take any cruise that has tenders. Like I said, an odd analogy but it ran through my mind…
- The staff on a cruise ship works H-A-R-D. They earn every penny of wage; every penny of tips. Our assigned waitress each evening was a wonderful Filipino woman named Fatima. As we got to know her better, we discovered that she was at the end of a six month contract that had her away from her 6 year old daughter over Christmas. She was delightful throughout our trip. Even though her job was to be our servant, there was a genuineness to her service and attitude that was very apparent. On our last evening, we customarily presented her with a tip envelope for her efforts. She received it graciously. As she turned to leave, I surprised her by presenting her with a second envelope with the instructions to bring something special home to her daughter when she returned home in January. Her response stunned us. She cried. All week long she had been smiling as she served but her heart and her mind was heavy with thoughts of her daughter over Christmas. Our remembrance of her daughter touched her deeply. That’s when she asked us, “Are you Christians?”. This really caught us off-guard because we had not done or said anything particularly “Christian” while in her presence. When we acknowledged our love for Jesus, she stated, “I knew it. I knew there was something about you that was different. I am a born again believer too!.” She took a few minutes to share with us the difficulty of meeting with other believer’s on board because of the unique work circumstances. She also testified about God’s faithfulness to her in the midst of a difficult lifestyle. We were humbled by her comments, happy to be united with a sister-in-Christ, and encouraged to feel God’s Providencein both of our lives.
These are just a few of my thoughts. If you ever think about going on a cruise, drop me a line and I’d be glad to share with you some more insights. Opinions… I’ve got them…. Whether they are good opinions or not… that’s up to you…
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