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Times
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Times
I went on a cruise with my partner of four months — here's what happened
It's a rite of passage to think you know love too young. First at 15, maybe, then again and again if you're lucky and optimistic and can keep piecing your experienced heart back together. I was 34 when I boarded the 394-passenger Club Med 2 in Rome last summer with my new boyfriend and love was an old, if slightly distrusted, friend by then. It was our first cruise together and that morning my excitement had turned into doubt that it would be as romantic as I'd hoped. The night before, we'd arrived in Rome and checked into the dreamiest hotel I'd ever seen. The First Arte was so close to the Spanish steps that Cupid could have passed his arrows to the couples that lounged there. Upstairs, things got even better. There was a private hot tub on the huge balcony of our suite— love bubbled as easily in the water as the bubbles in the glasses of prosecco in our hands. How could anything compete, we wondered as we stepped onto Club Med 2 the next morning. I didn't know how much I was about to learn about love while we sailed. Our Mediterranean Campania to Sicily route set off in typical Club Med 2 tradition, departing each port in style. As Vangelis's Conquest of Paradise blared, I realised love was a lifejacket. A small round eightysomething (I guessed) was parting the passengers near me like Moses did the Red Sea. The huge, red U-bend of a lifejacket we'd worn for a safety demonstration two hours previously hung around her neck and shoulders like a python, increasing her orbit threefold. Under one arm was a second lifejacket, cord trailing and tripping up half the passengers she passed. I followed her path and saw a disgruntled man of similar vintage sitting near the pool: her husband, who'd obviously refused to wear a lifejacket any longer than necessary. She'd decided to carry it with her, just in case something happened on night one. Love, I smiled, was buoyant. Love was a lifejacket. After that I started to feel like Richard Curtis, seeing that love was everywhere in 100 different forms. The truth was, I'd been so put through the mill in my twenties in my search for love that I doubted by 30 that I was made for love in the long term. The first time I'd ever been on a cruise was earlier that year. My plus one, the guy I was seeing, dumped me two days before departure. Love could also come in friendship form, and his predecessor, Marco, came with me instead. Marco put up with a lot of early, upset bedtimes on board that ship as I cried over someone else. He let me get drunk and get over it, while always being there, a strange crutch but a lifejacket either way. Commitment wasn't for me, I'd decided, but Marco had become a good friend. Maybe friendship was all the love I was good for? Then I met this guy — Scotland, we'll call him — and my belief in love, real love, was returning. 'How long have you guys been together?' we were asked by our new friends on board. 'Not long,' I'd say, self-consciously. 'Four…' 'Four years?' someone would usually cut in. 'Months,' I'd correct them. Apparently we already looked like a married couple and for the first time in my life the idea of being one didn't feel like something I'd dislike. Not if marriage looked like it did for the other couples on board Club Med 2. One night on the dancefloor, after dinner, Scotland and I met Frank and Tomas, who lived in Paris and had been together for more than 20 years. Frank, tall and tanned and with a mischievous shut-mouth smile, was a night owl. Tomas, ever-Ralph Lauren flannel-shirted and with round glasses and a bursting laugh that looked as if it surprised even him, danced and drank champagne too. More introverted than Frank, he wanted to go to bed earlier and get up earlier for other things like scuba diving. Love was letting your husband dance all night and nurse his champagne head the next morning. Then sharing a glass of rosé at lunch and planning that day's excursion. Love was two personalities slotting together and letting the other come alive in the way it needed to, knowing it (they) would always come back to you. 'Did you see any fish?' I asked Tomas, after his dive each morning. 'Not a single one,' he said happily. It turned out even the Clinton's cards stuff was true and Roger, the ship's jester, knew it before I did. Roger and Nikki, his brilliant wife, had left the UK for Australia almost two decades previously, Nikki told me late one night as our newly formed crew of couples, drunk on wine and sun, danced like wind socks in front of us. 'Two young children, a job offer in Australia — he said, 'What do you think? Shall we have an adventure?'' Nikki said. That's love, I agreed. Halfway through the week, Roger gave Nikki a card that just said 'I love you'. 'She's still the person I want to spend all my time with,' he told me. 'She's the best company of anyone I know, even after all these years.' As we sailed from Rome to Santa Manza in Corsica and then the island of Ponza, without even stepping foot off the ship, I wondered if Scotland and I would reach dry land at any point on the trip. It was a floating honeymoon and we had our first couples massage in a spa overlooking the water and ate lobster opposite a live volcano somewhere, which luckily failed to erupt into any kind of fireworks display. Scotland wasn't carrying my lifejacket under his arm like the lady we'd met on the first night, although being together was making me feel more buoyant by the day. During our last few days on one of the biggest sailing ships in the world, its five masts stretching above us as we lay on the top deck to watch the glittering Italian coastline become clearer, we decided that Amalfi would be worth a stroll that day. Why Amalfi in August seemed a good idea, I'm not sure because despite always wanting to go, it wasn't long before the temperatures and the tourists were simmering a tension between us and Scotland and I found ourselves bickering in the heat. We sat down in the shade for water and wine and the familiar relationship nerves returned. Was I wrong again? Was this not love at all but just something that I hoped could be? Then I remembered everything I'd been taught on board. I'd learnt that love was a lifejacket. That love was resilient. That love was ups and downs, because I'd seen those on board too — those moments when spending every minute with someone made a little space a necessity. I'd learnt that love was two people choosing to spend every day with each other because they thought the other was the best company in the world and understanding that they'd continue to choose the same thing the next day and the one after that. As Phillippe, another new French friend of ours, also married for more than 20 years, put it: 'Love is taking one day at a time.' I reached through our wine glasses for Scotland's hand in this overcrowded Mediterranean town. 'Let's go back to the boat,' I told him. The only thing all at sea here was Club Med 2. Lucy Holden was a guest of the First Arte, which has B&B doubles from £463 ( and Club Med, which has an all-inclusive two-night cruise from Nice to Portofino from £712pp, departing on September 11 ( Fly to Nice
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Man who went on 2,000-person nude cruise reveals the golden rule 'everyone knew' they had to follow
A traveller on a cruise ship carrying 2,000 fellow nudists has revealed the one golden rule everyone taking part knew they must follow. The 67-year-old man opened up about his experiences as he urged internet users to 'ask me anything' about his naked jaunt across the waters with like-minded naturists. He insisted everyone taking part was 'pretty well-behaved' - and key to their common sense of purpose was an implicit agreement about not taking photographs. The passenger had booked a cruise via the Texas-based travel company Bare Necessities, which has been operating clothing-optional ship charters since 1990. And writing anonymously on website Reddit, the man invited questions from other users about the experience - prompting further tips about best behaviour on board. While there have been group photographs taken and shared online, filming was kept to a minimum out of respect for others, he suggested. The poster insisted: 'These are pretty well-behaved nudists and they know the rules - no photos without express permission.' He described the 2,000-strong travelling party as 'a crowd with lots of nudist experience'. He added: 'Everyone knows you can't take pictures of other people. I was much less worried here than I have been at nude beaches. 'Almost no one had phones with them outside their cabin. There were many signs posted. 'There were a lot of staff from the charter company whose job it was to enforce good naturist etiquette. 'And I've spent time online researching nudism and I've never a single online photograph from the cruise except for the group shots that people voluntarily pose for. For those reasons, I wasn't concerned.' The unnamed man told of being on a 2,000-passenger Carnival cruise liner with his 61-year-old wife for a seven-day round trip from Tampa in Florida, with stops in Mexico and Honduras along the way. He reiterated to other Reddit users that the trip - his first ever nudist cruise - was 'not a swingers cruise or a sex positive environment' and 'this was a crowd with lots of nudist experience'. Explaining the ins and outs of nudist cruising, he revealed that the captain 'generally makes an announcement after exiting a port when clothes can be removed' and 'usually it's about thirty minutes'. The same then happens in reverse, when the ship starts nearing its next port of call. He added that people 'usually take advantage of the opportunity to be nude since that's the point of the cruise'. The man also told how all cruise vessel employees were clothed 'except for one male/female duo' who performed in the theatre. He said that from his understanding, no employee from the cruise line is 'obligated' to work on the nude charters if they did not feel comfortable. He added: 'Unquestionably, there were relatively few younger couples [and] it definitely skewed older. 'Certainly most were in their 50s to 70s. Many gay men. Not many gay women that I could tell, but I would think they would be comfortable. It's an accepting crowd.' Other commonly accepted rules he described included an agreement that people would not sit on surfaces naked without placing a towel beneath them. He wrote: 'That's not a difficult concept. Nudists are as interested in hygiene as much as if not more than the next guy.' He also tried to explain the apparent appeal of stripping off for a cruise trip, saying: 'The "why" is because it's a nice feeling to be nude, just like it's a nice feeling for a man to be without a shirt at the beach. The Reddit poster faced a seris of follow-up questions and comments about his revelations 'Skinny dipping is great. Being nude at some of the world's nicest beaches is great. 'Most people who try nudism love it. YOLO. Please don't write that the only people who are on nude beaches are the ones who shouldn't be there. That's crabbed and trite.' His Reddit debate seemed to provoke plenty of intrigue, while there were mixed emotions about whether such a holiday would appeal. One commenter said: 'I went to a nude beach a few years ago and actually enjoyed myself. 'I was not comfortable going fully nude but my experience was basically what you are describing - very chill and people were nice in a non sexual way. 'I think people do think about it the wrong way, it was a very non sexual experience and I enjoyed it! 'No one was weird or creepy as we were quite young females at the time. 10/10 experience.' Another wrote: 'I'm jealous, I love being nude, but not so sure about wanting to be nude around 100s of other people. So glad you had fun and this AMA has been super interesting.' Further comments included questions such as 'Anyone actually attractive?' and 'How do you get into this? Asking for a friend'. The initial poster was also told: 'Hope you remembered to get dressed before disembarking.' Unimpressed sceptics included one person who replied: 'That would be disgusting. Don't know why you would do this when you could just wear clothes.' And another wrote: 'What's fun about watching people being nude? Not trying to be rude, just trying to wrap my head around this as an activity.'
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Living to Die Well
My patient, stoic and pensive, told me that he'd made it through his last year of work by dreaming of the European cruise he and his wife planned to take the week after he retired. 'I thought I'd paid my dues,' he whispered. 'I was just waiting for the best part of life to finally start.' He rarely took time off and had pushed through nausea and occasional abdominal pain that had worsened during his final months of work. Freedom, he'd thought, lay just beyond the newly visible finish line. But a diagnosis of stomach cancer, which had spread to his liver and lungs, had left him too breathless to walk, too nauseous to endure a boat ride, too weak to dress himself. Instead of living out his dreams, he was living out his death. I thought of him recently after watching 'Dying for Sex,' a television series in which a woman named Molly is diagnosed with incurable breast cancer. Realizing that she is dying, Molly decides to leave her husband and seeks sexual fulfillment before her death in hospice care. Loosely based on a true story, the show illustrates how mortality forces clarity about how we truly wish to live. But it also illuminates another fact: Many of us do not ask ourselves what it means to live fully and authentically until death is both certain and soon. We live alongside death. It speeds down highways recklessly and blooms clandestinely within our bodies. We have no idea when we will meet death, or how. Living with an awareness of this specific uncertainty can be terrifying, yet I've found that death also shimmers with a singular magnificence: the possibility of living freely. Popular culture would have us believe in cliché bucket lists, which call to mind outlandish activities that defy the physical limitations imposed by illness or the emotional limitations of common sense. Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson skydive in 'The Bucket List,' despite terminal lung cancer. Queen Latifah withdraws her life savings and jets to Europe after learning she has weeks to live in 'Last Holiday.' Greeting death with the fantasia of daredevil activities or adopting a newly carefree persona is a tempting salve for our fear of that last great unknown. But in my experience, considered reflection on mortality nudges people toward a more complicated version of the ordinary, not novel permutations of extremes. I often hear variations on similar wishes: A daughter wants a small wedding ceremony in the hospital so her dying parent can attend. A brother calls an estranged sister, asking her to visit so that he can say goodbye. I have heard uncommon goals too: wanting to take a long-postponed trip to the Alamo, to write a romance novel, to breed one last litter of puppies and inhale, one final time, the milky sweet of their young fur. These wishes are at their core the same desire, reconciling the differences between the life we have and the one we longed for. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Mystery of 'Budweiser Girl' murder could finally be solved as lurking suspect emerges from the shadows
It was raining the afternoon that Jessica Richardson found her mother, Cheryl Williams Frady, dead in the basement of her Georgia home in 2008 - a single gunshot wound to the head ending a life just hours away from a highly anticipated escape. The mother and daughter had planned to spend the day shopping, gathering last-minute essentials for a cruise to the Bahamas they were set to embark on the following morning.
Travel Weekly
2 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
All paws on deck! Meet Royal Caribbean's 'chief dog officers'
Royal Caribbean International's next ship, Star of the Seas, is getting ever closer to its debut. And one of its most important crew members has sounded her first "woof." Sailor, a 3-month-old golden retriever, will be the ship's resident puppy and the cruise line's second "chief dog officer." The concept debuted with chief dog officer Rover on the Icon of the Seas, the first ship in the Icon class, as a way to bring a different element of joy and fun onboard for guests and crew members, said Kara Wallace, Royal Caribbean International's chief marketing officer. Rover has since become a cruise highlight for many young guests, and the two canines are social media celebrities, thanks in part to an Instagram page that has garnered more than 50,000 followers. Kara Wallace "We build big, iconic, bold ships with features that people can't really even dream up, but we don't let the small things go to waste," Wallace said. "There's always an opportunity to bring depth and richness to the experiences, and this is another way that we did it." Rover, and soon Sailor, don't have meet-and-greets or special schedules to interact with guests, making those interactions spontaneous and organic, Wallace said. She said the dogs are not mascots but crew members that might serve as a pet at sea for the human crew and similarly help young guests who might be missing their companions while on vacation. "That was the primary driver of it," Wallace said, "creating this home away from home." It's cruising cats and dogs Having animals on cruise ships isn't entirely novel but is certainly rare. Bug Naked, a hairless cat, could for years be found onboard Celebrity ships, Royal's sister line, thanks to Capt. Kate McCue, who brought Bug on as a companion in 2017. Like Rover, Bug became a ship celebrity and darling of the crew. Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 allows transatlantic guests to bring pets on as passengers via 24 kennels that are in high demand. But Royal's decision to bring animals onboard for guest and crew enjoyment is likely a first. It's a small offering compared to other projects Royal is investing in simultaneously, like building the tallest waterslides in North America and new private destinations across the world. But that attention to offering small details is a point of pride for Royal, Wallace said. Though Wallace said she thinks it's unlikely that guests will book cruises with Royal just because of Rover or Sailor, they are a differentiator. "I have colleagues here who have young kids, and they came back and all they could talk about was, 'We met Rover,'" she said. "It was an amazing ship that went to all these places, but it was one of the highlights of their cruise. … I think that that's a testament to the power of bringing this warm, family-oriented addition to round out that whole experience." Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley was the one to posit the idea of having a dog onboard, Wallace said. From there, the team explored the possibility with the American Humane Society, which has been its partner in the program ever since. There was plenty of planning involved, from choosing a breed to designing the dogs' accommodations and selecting a designated onboard caretaker. What started as one more way to enhance the guest and crew experience expanded into an opportunity to keep the Icon experience in guests' social media feeds every week, as they watch Sailor grow and Rover travel the world. On their Instagram page (@chiefdogofficers), you'll find a video of Sailor being lovingly cuddled and cooed at during her first visit to Royal Caribbean's corporate office as well as videos comically captioned in typical TikTok and Instagram form (in a recent post, a video of Sailor dozing off is accompanied by the text "How I sleep knowing I have a full-time job secured"). "We were just going to see what happens and see how people responded," Wallace said of the social media account. "I don't know that there was really an expectation in terms of, 'Oh, we're going to grow this to be a million followers.' That's not why we did this, but it's more kind of, 'How can we share Sailor and Rover with the world and let people see what we see?'"
