I really tried to resist the urge to write a post about vacation. It’s been a while since my last commentary on being in exotic places and marveling at the contrast in pharmacy services (or lack thereof) in many resort countries and cruise ports. This time around, I still have a few observations to make on that topic, but will intersperse them with more of a general narrative on trying to free the mind of real life, at least for a week or two.

This cruise was planned in celebration of a best friend’s 40th. The thinking went that the kids are getting to the ages where the term ‘family vacation’ may start to become taboo. Maybe it’s that we’re closing in on two decades in our chosen profession, or perhaps watching your generation stepping perilously close to the chasm of middle age is enough to appreciate times when you are absolved of things like responsibility, routine, and maturity. Starting in February when part of my birthday gift was an eye patch for each of the four adult travelers, our adventure on the high seas featured plenty of entertainment. Much of this was not from the on-board shows, but rather the sight of us bouncing around for a week like a pair of giddy goofballs.

Now for the uninitiated, a few observations about cruising:

• When you’re floating in the middle of the sea, hundreds of miles from land with flat, blue horizon all around, it makes you feel extremely small and insignificant. Paradoxically, it can also be quite a claustrophobic experience; if you follow the routine during sea days, every shop, attraction, buffet, restaurant and bar resembles rows of army ants inching forward in line.
• Walking preteens through the casino and then having to explain the difference between the slot machines and the games in the arcade upstairs is harder to do than you would think. Essentially the bright lights and colors of the machines just entice you to blow $20 in about 15 minutes and call it ‘fun’.
• The experience is amazingly multi-cultural. Not just the ports, mind you, but the employees on all parts of the ship have name tags highlighting their native country. We decided to unfurl a world map in our stateroom and have geography lessons with our girls every time we returned from an outing. We met an attendant from Indonesia that works 8 months straight of 12-hour days, 6-days a week. He Skypes home to his young family when the ship is in port and high-speed wi-fi is available. Another one of our waiters hailing from the Philippines jumped up with the house band and performed an admirable rendition of Celine Dion’s ‘Because You Loved Me’.
• There is this thing called the unlimited drink package. On first blush, it seems to be quite popular for mysterious reasons….hmmmm. Ah, those bars. Perfectly distanced so that you’re never more than 30 paces from a restroom, accessible from the inside and outer deck of the ship, and each seemingly equipped with their own gravity; drawing you close to peruse their unique menu of concoctions.

In part 2, I’ll have some pictures to share and thoughts on pharmacy overseas mixed in with other random observations.

Vacation is always welcome, but it’s good to be back!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, employer or affiliation.