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Cruise Ships – Conversation Lesson

AJ: I’m thinking of, or have actually been thinking of taking my mom on a cruise because I think that it’s the kind of thing that she might enjoy. It’s easy physically. It’s a nice little vacation. It’s kind of all about decadence. I just think it’s the kind of thing she might like but the only problem is I’ve mentioned it to her and she’s afraid of…she’s afraid of boats a little bit. I think it’s because of the movie Titanic, which is crazy. But otherwise, I think she might enjoy it.

Kristin: Knowing your mom, I think she would, too. Does your mom get seasick?

AJ: Not to my knowledge. I don’t think so. And, y’know, it’s…I think the great thing about it, I’ve done a few, obviously you’ve done a few, is that, y’know, there’s so much going on on the ship if you want to do the things, it’s just…everything’s contained. It’s like a little resort on the water and I think it especially caters to people like in my mom’s age group.

Kristin: Well, the reason I was asking about her getting seasick is you can actually feel the rocking of the boat. I noticed this and, of course, y’know, the cruise ships are all different sizes but the last one I was on, which you and Tomoe were on as well, I would notice it especially at night. I’d be kind of rocking side to side in my bed. And I can imagine someone like Joe, who gets seasick, it might bother him. But then, y’know, my very first cruise we actually were crazy for some reason, we went on the cruise in hurricane season so we hit a storm coming back and everybody was in their cabins. Nobody was out doing anything because the boat was rocking so much. People were throwing up everywhere. It was awful. So something like that would definitely affect, y’know, someone who doesn’t even necessarily get seasick. Luckily, I didn’t get sick but it wasn’t very much fun because everybody was holed up in their cabins.

Joe: It’s funny that you’re mentioning this now because anytime that you’ve talked about going on a cruise where you were trying to plant the seed in my mind about doing it, you always told me, “Oh, those boats are so big. You’d never have to worry about getting seasick, so don’t even worry about it.” And now, the truth is being told. It’s coming out.

Kristin: Well, maybe, also though, Joe, there’s so many distractions on the boat you wouldn’t notice. Honestly, I notice it mostly at night going to bed, like I said. But it doesn’t bother me. I kind of like it.

AJ: Yeah, no, it never bothered me. It seems very subtle to me. But, unless there’s a storm, I guess. I’ve never been in a storm in one. I think, y’know, actually when I think about it, it is a good sort of a

family vacation because it’s a good way to get everybody in one place. They can’t go anywhere else. And you’ve got entertainment and things to do because I notice, for example, when I go to visit my family, go to Indiana where a lot of them live, but still lots of my relatives, they’re busy. So they’re all still doing whatever they do in their own lives and it’s actually not so easy to get everyone together. And I know that, y’know, I went on one with you and your family, Kristin, and that was one of the nice things. Your brothers were there. Your parents were there. So it was kind of a nice multigenerational vacation.

Joe: I actually think that would be one of the worst parts of it, the fact that no one can leave, as you were saying. Because, y’know, what if you’re just like, “Oh, my god, this…I just can’t take this anymore.” But then again, I guess there are excursions that do allow you to leave the boat, so, y’know, technically you can leave the boat. But I guess just for most of the time, you’re all together.

Kristin: But that…that said, Joe, you could go the whole day on the boat and not even see your family until dinner, when you all come…

Joe: Because it’s so big?

Kristin: Yeah, it’s so big and there’s so many things going on. So my aunt would be in the casino, like the one that AJ and I were on. My aunt was in the casino and, y’know, maybe I was out at the pool and my mom was, I don’t know, y’know, playing a game somewhere. There’s just all sorts…there’s classes. There’s… AJ: Entertainment.

Kristin: Entertainment, there’s, yeah entertainment like comedians. There are Las Vegas type shows. There’s also like ice sculpting. There’s all sorts of things. You get a program every day of what’s going on. And then when you get to port, then you’ve got all these shore excursions to choose from as well.

Joe: It sounds like Las Vegas in the water to me, kind of, in some ways.

AJ: It’s kind of like, yeah, Club Med on the water instead of on a beach or something. It’s not the kind of, obviously not the kind of travel I personally like to do or that I know that you all like to do or that my wife Tomoe and I like to do. But the kind of things I like to do, my mom’s not going to do. Probably not my dad, certainly not my grandmother, who’s 90. So that’s the, I think, the thing about it that the only time I think about maybe doing a cruise would be, oh, it might be good if I could get my sister and her kids and my mom and maybe aunts, uncles, grandparents…y’know, it could be an opportunity because there’s such a variety of things. So if you just want to lay around on the boat, you can. If you want to be more active and go onto shore and do more adventurous things, you can also do that. So, yeah, it’s not really my thing personally but I do see the appeal, especially for families.

Joe: The only time I ever considered going on a cruise, and it was really just a short idea in my mind, was Jam Cruise is what it’s called. And it’s something that they do I think every year, or at least they’ve been doing it for the last 12 years or so, maybe even more at this point. But it’s basically a cruise that leaves from somewhere in southern Florida and there is all these jambands that are on the cruise and they all perform at different times. So it’s really just like going to a music festival but it’s on a boat out at sea.

Kristin: Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard of Jam Cruise and there’s…y’know, there’s different types of themed cruises. Like there’s a Disney Cruise, I think, and I’ve heard of others like maybe one where it’s…it’s like a dating cruise or something. Y’know, it’s all singles going trying to meet someone.

AJ: Business seminars.

Kristin: Business seminars, AJ and I obviously and Tomoe with my mom went on that cruise with…that had Brian Weiss on it. So, yeah, there’s all different kinds. As well, and I think different cruise ships cater to different kinds of people. Like Carnival, which is one of the cheaper cruises, caters towards younger, more fun, y’know, there’s a little discotheque on the ship, although I guess a lot of them have that. But anyway, it caters towards younger people.

Joe: Well, one of the reasons I was saying that it seems like Vegas on a boat was you mentioned gambling for your aunt and AJ was mentioning shows and pools, y’know, they have in Vegas. But also one of the things I’ve heard about cruise ships is that they have these enormous buffets.

Kristin: Yes.

Joe: And people just eat and drink so much and…

Kristin: Yes.

Joe: …so just the thought of overindulgence and that is kind of what I think about Las Vegas.

Kristin: There are, y’know, you get breakfast, lunch, dinner, but then you can eat in between those meals at various places on the boat. So there’s always food. Even, if everything is closed, let’s say it’s past midnight, you could get room service even. So you can always find a place on the ship that’s serving food or call it in to be brought to your cabin. And it’s, yeah, it is…there’s a lot of food and… AJ: Yeah, it’s not for losing weight.