Cruising Into the New Year: Discovering the Magic of Travel at 20 Knots
By 2016, I had built a life. A career. A family. I had rebuilt myself more than once. But travel—the kind that lights you up and slows you down all at once—was still calling.
That’s when I found a new way to answer it.
A friend suggested a cruise. I wasn’t sold. Something about the idea didn’t quite sit right with me. Too commercial, too crowded, too… floating buffet?
But I said yes. It was a short one—4 nights on Carnival, sailing over New Year’s with some good friends. We hit the Cayman Islands and Cozumel, two stops that sounded fine, but it was the “sea days” that intrigued me most. Days with no port, no plan, just sky, ocean, and whatever you made of it.
What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with it.
Sea Days, My Way
Turns out, I’m a little odd when it comes to cruises. Most people live for the ports, the excursions, the shopping, the drinks with tiny umbrellas. Me? I live for the sea days.
Give me a deck, a breeze, and a horizon that goes on forever, and I’m happy. Happier still if it’s early. Like, pre-dawn early. 4 AM early.
That’s my time.
The ship is quiet, humming gently as it cuts through the water. The party crowd is asleep. The sun’s still hiding. And I’m out there, walking the deck, audiobook in my ears, coffee in hand (hopefully), and nothing but ocean in every direction.
The Coffee Story
The first morning of my first cruise, I went in search of that sacred morning elixir. There was no coffee out yet. Just a few crew members moving silently about the decks.
One of them noticed me and asked if I was looking for coffee. I nodded, maybe a little too eagerly.
He smiled and said, “Come with me.”
He led me to a tucked-away galley, poured a fresh cup from a still-warming pot, and asked if I’d be up that early again the next morning.
“Probably,” I said.
The next morning, he greeted me by name—with a fresh pot already waiting.
That’s when I realized something: this is what cruising is really about.
It’s not just the food or the entertainment or the towel animals (though I’ve come to love those too). It’s the service. The attention. The sense that you’re being looked after—not as a number, but as a person.
That feeling stuck with me. I’ve cruised several times since then, including more New Year’s voyages at sea. It’s now one of my favorite ways to travel—and oddly enough, one of the most peaceful.
Why It Works
Cruising lets you unpack once and wake up somewhere new every day. It lets you be social or solitary. You can go full-tourist at port or go full-introvert at sea. You can dress up or wear flip-flops. You can disappear into a book or dance until 2 AM.
For someone who’s done road trips, backpacking, speaking tours, and boat deliveries, cruising is a welcome kind of freedom.
And in a life that’s had its share of hard resets and fast climbs, a few slow days, or weeks at sea are exactly what the doctor ordered.
Cheers,
CL
About Cpt CLRogerson
Traveler. Storyteller. Salty soul. Cpt CLRogerson helps others transition from obligation to exploration through curated travel advice, personal coaching, and real-life tales from the road, sea, and sky.
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