Cruise vacations offer ample opportunities for people to forge lasting friendships and meet new people while luxuriating in the rich ambience of a passenger ship.

A cruise liner is a majestically built ship and resembles a luxury hotel with numerous decks, swimming pools, jacuzzis, theater, casino and dining rooms. It can carry up to 2500 or more passengers and around 1000 crewmembers. The staterooms are fairly large with enough closet space and an attached balcony with chairs. As expected the food is laid out in a buffet and is available round the clock besides the theme eateries like an Asian noodle shop or the delicatessen that serves sandwiches made to order. The dining rooms though, boast of a small menu have an extensive wine list from which one can order. Once the passengers have gorged the delectable food and drunk the best wines they need to work off those calories too! And for that the ship is equipped with a gym and there are special Yoga, Spinning and Pilates classes which can be quite full, so, either one has to book early or make do with the jogging track that is meant for the sheer pleasure of walking those calories off while luxuriating in the fresh sea breeze.

The concept of ‘having fun ` on a cruise lies with group activities, which are listed in the daily cruise newsletter. One can attend an art auction or a wine tasting session besides joining in group games and sing-along sessions at the bar. The night comes and the casino and the night clubs, pubs and bars come alive, you can hear the slot machines from the casino and jazz, hip hop and top forties belting out from the clubs. You can pub-crawl to your heart’s content, as well.

Not everything on a ship is for free, however. In general, the juice stations offer round the clock juice service, on the house, but often, soft drinks and ice cream have an extra charge attached to them. The rates of the spa treatment on the ship are pretty steep compared to what we pay ashore and telephone calls are very expensive so it’s always better to use the Internet cafes at the port of calls.

Going on a cruise not only hones your traveling skills, but also provides you with new friends and memories you will cherish forever!