Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Cruisin' With Spunky Senior, Mona Risk


From the Nile Cruise

Cruises are becoming the most common way to see the world and unwind in an enjoyable surrounding. My husband calculated that it was cheaper to board a ship from Fort Lauderdale and go on a week cruise than pay airfare, hotel, restaurants and entertainments.
Carnaval offers good family rate and you see a lot of children on Carnaval ships, especially around school holiday.

Royal Caribbean’s latest creation is a humongous ship called Oasis. Friends told us they felt they were in a fancy hotel with a huge market area, but they lost the special pleasure of the ocean view from every corner as many lounges are set in the middle of the ship. In addition, with so many people on board the service lacked the VIP treatment offered on smaller ships.

My favorite cruise line is Princess. We cruise with them over ten times in the Caribbean, Mediterranean Sea, South America, and Polynesian Islands. I highly appreciate their accommodations, shows and food. Beside, they have special accommodations, wider rooms and bathrooms in addition to wheel chairs for senior citizens and handicaps. Their frequent cruisers are often upgraded to better rooms or suits with vase of flowers, fruits baskets and drinks set in their rooms to greet them.

The Royal Palace in Budapest

Two years ago, we discovered the River Cruise lines: Memphis, to cruise the Nile River in Egypt and visit the monuments of Luxor, Karnack and Abou Simble—what a magnificent treat. And two weeks ago, Avalon to cruise the Danube from Bucharest, Romania, to Vienna, Austria. We also visited Bulgaria nd the Black Sea, stopped in Belgrade, Serbia, and Budapest, Hungary, an unforgettable trip I blogged about twice on www.monarisk.blogspot.com

During one of our cruises, we met a woman in her seventies who lives ten months a year on a cruise ship. She sold her house and her car, and explained that on a cruise ship she doesn’t have to fix her room, or prepare her meals. She enjoys movies and performances without having to drive to a theater. She has plenty of books to read, a laptop to connect with the world and makes friends with other travelers. The doctor on board knows her well and takes care of her little problems. Sometimes she joins a tour and visits a new place. Twice a year she spends a month at her children and goes through all her medical checkups, buys her supply of medicine and reserves the next cruise. She told me she was writing her memoirs.
Would you be able to live on a ship?
If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances.
I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with passion.

10 comments:

  1. Mona, Good for you!!

    You do more than enough traveling for the both of us!

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

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  2. I've been preaching the wonders of cruising for decades. Love to cruise, best vacation ever. Stressed out? The cost of a day cruising is less expensive than a hospital stay.
    My book, Downsized To Death, is about a travel agent. Those good people who help book the best one for you because they know so much about all of them.
    Just got back from the first cruise my grandkids have ever been on. Looking good for a family thing!
    Patricia Gulley
    www.patgulley.com
    Would have used Google account, but it doesn't like me on this blog.

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  3. My wife and I have never been on an ocean cruise. My biggest fear is that we'll overeat. Other than that, it sounds wonderful.

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  4. Bob, The overeating thing would probably be my downfall, too. If the food tastes good, it's there to eat, not leave.

    And Pat, I constantly have trouble with Blogger. Sometimes if I hit Preview, then it will give me the captcha letters and it goes through. It always makes people play around with it. Also, I can never save my username and password, because then it takes me in circles and my comments never go through.

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

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  5. Mona,
    Ah...you're livin' the life I dream of. Enjoy.

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  6. Hi Morgan, thank you for inviting me to your fun blog.

    Pat, I bet you had a lot of fun with the grandkids. I'm sure their parents took this opportunity to ask you to babysit while they went to the shows and disco. Mine disappeared all day and left me with the little ones. I loved it.

    Bob you have to try a cruise. Offer it to your wife for your anniversary. Of course you can overeat, but my husband and I are very careful now. We don't load our plates, just what we would eat at home. Also we do a few laps around the deck or go to the gym.

    Keena, you're still too young to lead the life of a senior lazy bun, although I work at my computer 14 hours a day. LOL. And my husband has so much to do, we hardly see each other.

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  7. I couldn't see me living on a ship, but a cruise would be nice.

    Thanks for sharing the great photos.

    Cheryl

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  8. Hi Cheryl, the maximum I ever spent on a ship was three weeks during a cruise in the China Sea. It was long and I was happy to go home.

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  9. Hi, Mona, sounds like you have discovered lots of settings for your international romances! Unfortunately, not too many cruises leave out of my town...so just getting to the ship is a challenge!

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  10. Hi Liana, there are cruises leaving from Manhattan to Bermuda and the Caribbean. Think about it :)

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