Five Cruise Rituals to do Before Your Next Cruise

What do you do in-between cruises? How do you wait for the time to pass from cruise to cruise? And then when it gets closer to the cruise, what preparations do you begin to make? What about cruise rituals - you know those things you do in preparation of the next cruise, especially after you've received your "docs" and are doing the happy dance? Let's see what some people do:

Shop for new cruise attire several weeks ahead of the cruise. You may want some cool new shorts, a new swimsuit, or cocktail dress.

Pamper yourself by getting a manicure and/or pedicure or spending some time in the tanning salon to look fabulous on the cruise. Others wait until they get onboard the cruise to begin the pampering. If you're coming from a cold-weather location, I recommend the latter.

Diet & Exercise is another common activity. You may be trying to fit into a cocktail dress or just anticipating the cruise weight-gain so you can indulge yourself while on the cruise.

Entertain yourself or others by playingfavorite musical selections and serving tropical drinks and snack foods on "cruise nights" while at home or serenading your partner on the drive to the airport or cruise port, getting in the mood.

Read everything you can get your hands on: cruise guides, novels, reviews, magazines, etc. for months or even a year until your next cruise.

While I've been known to do all of the above, I especially enjoy reading magazines such as Cruise Travelin-between cruises. I've subscribed to that magazine for years and have hauled my old copies from state-to-state as I've moved across the country and back. But reading almost anything is necessary for me. I browse the book stores for the latest "cruise" book releases--either nonfiction or fiction. I love to stop in at the airport gift shop or book store to pick up a book for the plane trip and cruise. Because there's nothing like reading a good book while relaxing out by the pool or on some quiet deck such as the promenade deck.

TV shows are another way I get a fix for my cruise addiction. I set the TiVO for "cruise" and it's surprising what television shows and/or movies appear.

Cruisers are a lot like Disney addicts--we must feed our addiction whenever we're not cruising. Because, unlike other hobbies, we can only participate in our favorite activity during select days each year, if we're lucky. I can move from the west coast all the way to Orlando, buy an annual pass, and go to Disney as often as I wish. And I did. But it's a little more difficult for a cruiser to satisfy our longing. The closest I could do on a regular basis was to visit a cruise port and have a margarita while watching the ships sail in and out.

But I'm a writer of many things: articles, books, blogs, technical manuals, and novels. It was inevitable that I would eventually write a novel set on a cruise. I placed my office out on the screened-lanai of my Florida home, complete with laptop and CD player, blasted Jimmy Buffet and Caribbean Steel Drums music, and slathered on Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen. It was one of the best cruises I ever had not onboard a ship.

But whatever your cruise ritual, whether it's shopping, pampering, dieting, exercising, tanning, entertaining, and/or reading, I hope you have a great cruise. Bon Voyage!