To me, cruising seems to be a love it or hate it kind of vacation. If that’s true, you can ink me into the hate column. This isn’t based on personal experience; I’ve never been on a cruise. And in truth, I know very little about them. When I talk to people who recently returned from a cruise, they always mention one or more of the following: binge drinking, binge eating and/or binge gambling. Back in the eighties, an acquaintance took a three-day cruise to the Bahamas and apparently snorted coke for seventy-two straight hours. Cruises seem to be about excess.
The image I’m referring to comes from the article: Why this viral photo of the world’s largest cruise ship is polarizing opinion. I read it on the CNN website. When it sets sail in January, the “Icon of the Seas” will be the biggest cruise ship in the world. The topic of the article isn’t about the ship itself, but the negative reaction so many people have to this photo. Here’s a sampling of collected comments:
- A monstrosity
- A pile of decadence
- Should be called the Icon of Disease
- Intricately tacky and vulgar
- A floating Walmart
Those last two strike me as a little classist, but I get the point. Clearly this type of vacation doesn’t appeal to everyone. The deal-breaker for me is the ship’s capacity of ten thousand people. That’s almost fifty percent more people than my hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. And sometimes Gettysburg is too crowded for me.
In the nineties, my coworker Eric seemed go on a cruise with his wife every seven or eight months. For the four or five years I worked with him, he came back with the same story every time. “We met the nicest couple, and we hung out with them the entire time.” His address book was littered with these lifelong friends he just met. I view his comment through two lenses. Part of me is envious that they can make friends so easily and forge what appears to be a lasting relationship over the course of five days. The other part of me cringes at the idea of spending my vacation, my annual opportunity to recharge in the throes of the arduous task of being nice to strangers. Susan and I don’t even vacation with our siblings.
Because CNN is an awesome news site and prides itself on balanced reporting, they consulted psychology professor Tom Davis for some insight on the allure of cruise ships. “For some, a vessel this size with so much packed on it likely represents a lot of fun with ongoing activities and freedom from boredom.” Freedom from boredom—that phrase is what prompted me to write this essay. What’s wrong with a little boredom on vacation?
Next week, Susan and I are going to Chincoteague Island on the Virginia coast for four days. Until this year, we’ve always taken a summer family vacation, sometimes flying across country with our Southwest credit card points, and sometimes driving to the Delaware beaches four hours away. I’m sad to say, it looks like those days are gone, at least for now. Sophie and Eli are simply too busy with their burgeoning careers this summer to take a break. You probably heard of Chincoteague when you were a kid. A series of books and a beloved children’s movie chronicle the adventures of a pony named Misty caught wild on the island.
Other than sighting the herds of wild ponies strolling around the island, nothing much goes on there. I googled the top ten things to do on Chincoteague Island and got a list of seven activities. Of course, the ponies were listed, as well as taking a chartered fishing trip, but the list rounded out with eat in a restaurant, go shopping, and watch the sunset.
We’ll travel with kayaks and bikes, and have an active part of each day, including epic walks around any neighborhoods we can find, but our primary activity will probably be reading. Of course, there’s a beach, but it’s part of a national wildlife refuge. No boardwalk, no boardwalk fries, no minigolf. Just trees and surf. The point of this vacation is to sit and chill, to sit and talk. The point of this vacation is to avoid hubbub, to recharge. I’m looking for a healthy dose of Vitamin D and to keep my feet buried in warm sand.
The world is populated by introverts and extroverts. I understand some people recharge through camaraderie and hullabaloo. That’s fine… for them. Solitude and introspection do this for me. Fortunately, Susan is the same way. For our trip to Chincoteague, I wouldn’t say we are running towards boredom, but freedom from it? We aren’t seeking that, either.
The Other Stuff 
I hope you enjoy Chincoteague, and that it’s not overrun by introverts!
(HaHa).
~
A very well written piece.
Thanks
DD
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PS: I’ve no interest in cruises.
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One of the big activities on Chincoteague is birding. I think introverts will be everywhere which is fantastic with me. Thank you for that compliment.
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Cruises at ok for going from point A to B or Alaska’s inner passage, but otherwise they seem to be cesspools of conspicuous consumption. They do have nice health club facilities, though. I prefer camping on Assateague or traveling cross country in our ‘88 Subaru powered Vanagon, but nobody ever accused me of being normal.
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I’m envious of your vanagon. I honestly don’t think I could deal with the close proximity of people on a cruise ship. I’d have to escape to my teeny cabin to read. Hi to you and Katie.
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I’m with you. Before and after Covid, the idea of a cruise and all of those people makes me queasy. Your Chincoteague vacation sounds heavenly. Btw, the movie Triangle of Sadness (released last year) includes some scenes (on and off a cruise ship) that fully support your position. You and Susan might enjoy the film.
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Neat, I’ll have to look up that movie. After all those people got trapped on cruise ships for weeks and weeks at the start of covid, I find it hard to believe that anyone wants to go on one. We last went to Chincoteague immediately after our wedding. I’m looking forward to seeing it again.
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What will you be reading?
I like how you can make an important observation about a familiar topic using fresh language. I enjoyed this.
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You have no idea the depth of your question. I’ve really struggled with reading since the pandemic started and then I couldn’t read for months because of vision problems. I plan to take three short story collections and a novel (not sure which one, but one of my own because I don’t want to screw up a library book on the beach). Thank you for that compliment. I find comments like that to be great motivators.
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I hope you have a good vacation. And I hope that your reading leads to writing.
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The boat looks like a wedding cake! Makes me think of a funny David Foster Wallace essay about him on a cruise ship. “A supposedly fun thing I’ll never do again” I think. Yeah I don’t care for that tagline freedom from boredom because it seems to speak to some cultural monkey mind thing I’m trying to avoid and resist, that feels related to our constant influx of stimulation ; seems to fly in the face of reflection or spiritual depth but I realize I sound like a DB saying that ha. Been to the ass-ateague as it were but not its cousin. Have fun! We are here bored shitless now at Government Camp, bottom of the road leading up to Mt Hood. And yes planning to watch The Shining tonight (where they filmed the exterior shots, at Timberline Lodge). Happy Friday Jeff!
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Fun to watch the shining there. I read a blog post not long ago about a guy going to the town where they filmed Groundhog Day *on* Groundhog Day and taking a tour of all the iconic places in the movie. I love the life imitates art aspect of such activities. I totally get what you’re saying, and I think you sound more like a hopeless intellectual than a DB. Happy Friday to you too.
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Kind of you Jeff! Thanks for this and glad tidings!
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Yes that’s the title. I just grabbed the book from the free library in the laundry room of my building. I’m intrigued that someone in my bldg reads David Foster Wallace.
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Yes the DFW connection is unexpected (and perhaps strange, in a good way!). My favorite in that collection is an essay about the Iowa state fair I hope you’ll enjoy.
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I went on a cruise last year and I’ve never been on one before. I think it was a different experience because we went to Alaska and most people were on it to get a taste of what the state has to offer rather than party though they did have some concerts and gambling. It might have been subdued since it was one of the first cruises since Covid
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I imagine you get a very different set of clientele on an Alaskan cruise. Seems much more palatable, but still probably too claustrophobic for me.
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It was fun but expensive.
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Thanks for another chunk of good writing. I went to Chincoteague in the 1970s with Aunt Joanne Dorsey who lived in Bethany Beach. She was a salty old cuss as sarcastic and mean as any self-respecting native New Jerseyan. It was hard for most to sustain love for Joanne. Not for me. She’s the only person who understood my childhood obsession. Misty. I NEEDED to see those ponies. I loved her til the day she bled out in the bathroom of her assisted living home in Lewes. And still now. I trust you’ll write about the boredom of birdwatching.
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When was that? The fifties or sixties? Chincoteague must have been quite remote back then. Even the street we stayed on in ocean city in the sixties looked like a sleepy little beach town. Bethany beach must have been really cool back then.
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1970s. Still. Quiet. Sandy. Good food. All the souvenirs were handmade by locals.
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My sister just got back from a cruise to Greece. She came home with Covid. And the trip was amazing. I’ve been on 2 cruises, they were ok. I’m a staycation kind of person at the current phase of my life. I like routine so I’m never bored. Before I turned 50 I would have never guessed I’d be happy and content with a quieter life. Now that I have it I don’t ever want to trade it.
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I’m the same way. My wife loves to travel and it stresses me out. Happily she has no interest in cruises. I couldn’t do it.
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