To my way of thinking, there is no place I would rather be than Canada - in the summer!
But once Labour Day has come and gone and there is a decided chill in the morning air, my thoughts turn south and to warmer climates where all you have to worry about is overexposure to the sun, not whether the anti-freeze in your car's radiator will withstand the morning's sub-zero temperature.
So enjoy the great days of summer in this beautiful country of ours, but when Old Man Winter starts sending howling winds your way it's time to think of soft ocean breezes and people waiting to bring you fruit-laden drinks at the snap of your fingers.
Some people swear by Florida and that's fine. But you can only visit Mickey Mouse and his friends so many times before the excitement begins to wear a little thin.
Others head for Jamaica or Trinidad, but there are more and more reports of surly waitresses and short-changing bartenders (or worse), with the people of these islands feeling increased resentment towards the well-heeled vacationers who treat them like serfs. And those who would contemplate going to Mexico, after all the horrors stories that make Montezuma's revenge seem like a day at the beach, are out of their minds.
But you can have the best of both worlds - a visit to exotic, sunny places and the knowledge that even if you run into poor service or an uncomfortable situation, you won't be there long enough for it to ruin your whole vacation.
The answer is to book yourself on a cruise. That way, you get to visit two, three or even a half dozen sunny destinations - and you take your hotel along with you.
Cunard Lines used to have a slogan that stated: "Getting there is half the fun." On a cruise, getting there is almost incidental. Most of the fun is aboard ship.
Whether it's a cruise or a regular voyage between two points, ship travel has a lot going for it. From the moment you step on board, you are surrounded by scores of people whose job it is to see that you enjoy yourself.
If you're like most vacationers, you'll be operating on a fairly limited budget, so you probably will have booked one of the less expensive cabins. This will mean that your quarters will be a little cramped - shipping companies have a knack for making cabins look a lot bigger in the brochures - but that really isn't all that important because you'll be spending relatively little time in your cabin anyway.
Your time on board can be taken up in a variety of ways. Nightly dancing is featured in the ships' ballroom and, on many cruises, there are cabaret acts that rival Las Vegas. There are first-run movies, Costume Parties, Bridge tournaments, a well-stocked library, fitness classes and on and on. There is a great enough variety on board to keep even the easily-jaded passenger busy.
Unlike many vacation resorts where the host or hostess has to justify his or her existence by nagging you into taking ballroom dancing lessons or whatever, you can do as little or as much as you want to on board your cruise ship. Nobody bothers you.
If you want to spend the entire cruise doing crossword puzzles in your cabin, feel free to do so. Or if all you want to do is lie out by the ship's pool and soak up the sun, no one will think anything of it.
Like most vacations, your diet will take a beating on a cruise ship. Many cruises bill themselves as a Gourmet's Delight - and live up to that promise with as many as five different meals a day, including a midnight buffet.
If you've never before gone anywhere by ship, your first meal aboard will be quite an experience. The dining room looks like - and for that matter IS - an elegant restaurant where the maitre d', the waiters, the wine steward and even the busboys are there to see that your every whim is attended to.
The menu looks like an abridged version of War and Peace and what makes it particularly tempting is that since meals are included in the price of your ticket, you don't have to worry about hawking your first-born to come up with enough cash to pay the cheque.
You can make yourself feel a little less guilty about all those calories by promising to get up early every morning and jogging around the deck or working out in the ship's gym - and of course you won't!
Another enjoyable feature of cruising is that there are various ports of call where you can spend the day ashore, bargain-hunting for souvenirs and seeing the sights. You can arrange for an escorted tour before reaching port - or you can go it alone at your own pace.
Like the man says, how much you enjoy your cruise is entirely up to you. The opportunities are there - you just have to take advantage of them.
One thing is fairly certain though. After a week or two in the sun, another winter of shovelling driveways, high heating bills and scraping windshields will be a little easier to take.
Photo by Tom Douglas
Article appeared in Travellers Check Magazine
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