The Cruise Web

In Rob Reiner’s film The Bucket List, Jack Nicholson’s and Morgan Freeman’s characters meet in a crowded hospital room, having just been diagnosed with terminal illnesses and prognoses of less than a year to live. The two become unlikely friends, and set off together to climb the Pyramids, traverse the Great Wall of China, safari in Africa, and share all the things on their list before they “kick the bucket!”
With respects to legends Reiner, Nicholson and Freeman, and to those who have actually lived out final year bucket lists, I have to argue that this is the ‘old’ way about a Bucket List! The New Bucket List concept is quite different … and it’s ageless! First of all, very few of us are given one year’s ‘advance notice’ on our life expectancy, and then also have the time, resources and health, to knock off a list of 20 worldly pursuits in under a year.

Last summer, I took my then 6 and 9 year old boys to the little southern Swedish coastal village of Falsterbo. Falsterbo and neighboring Skanör are small old fishing villages that have turned into popular summer vacation spots for many Swedes, and have always been favorites of my children’s Swedish born “Farmor” (literally translated “fathers’ mother”).
As this was the first trip for my boys to the home country of many of their ancestors, we packed an active itinerary into our 10-day vacation. However, almost every morning, we made time for the beach! Waking in a family friends’ summer home as immaculate as every building and home in these pristine villages, the three of us would eat our Swedish porridge and then board our old-fashion rented bicycles – baskets, bells, and all – to bike 10-15 minutes to the crisp and breezy water of the Baltic Sea.

This month’s Current theme, “cruise cuisine,” reminds me of my first ever dining experience in a cruise line’s specialty steak house.
I was among a few guests invited to dine with one of a leading cruise line’s corporate executives for an inaugural dinner aboard a new vessel that was debuting its first steakhouse at sea. Wow — while the company was terrific, the dining experience was even better!

My personal itinerary in New York City did include a show, but just as I prefer to do when on a cruise vacation, I enjoyed mixing in a variety of different activities. However, unlike the high cost and sometimes challenging access of many activities in the Big Apple, cruising includes a myriad of activities for little or no extra cost that are right there on your own floating city!