Teresa and I went on a 6 day cruise along the coast of Maine. My parents came along as well.
Good things:
Location – Maine is beautiful this time of year. I love the ocean. Only one day of fog/rain.
Quality time with my beloved spouse.
Drinks didn’t cost extra on this cruise. (I’d say “free booze!” but that just doesn’t sound right.)
40 passengers total.
Did you know Maine has many, many lobsters?
Bad things:
Lobster served only 1 night on the boat. (Are you kidding me??? You were in MAINE in the height of lobster season!!!!)
All the fresh-faced, energetic college kids who were on the service staff went back to school and were replaced by college drop-outs and 18-year-old slackers.
Room wasn’t clean when we boarded.
Dining was always at a table for six, so every meal included socializing with other passengers (I was fine for a couple of days, then couldn’t take the superficial chatter with strangers. I started meals by saying “Vienna, Virginia – married 3 years – no kids yet – 2 cats, 1 dog – software company”)
Two words: Galley Fire. Ruined the beef for the night, we ate Haddock instead. Haddock is a fish for those of you who are unfamiliar with non-Salmon or non-Tuna fish types. It doesn’t have the tasty qualities of salmon or tuna.
Sous chef – fired after 3 days. Turned out he liked the free booze too much. Had caused the gallery fire and started to ruin breakfast the next day.
Boat was shaped like a house boat – so ocean travel was a little rough. I like rough, but there were several hip-replacements waiting to happen so one harbor visit needed to be cancelled due to high seas.