Your Favorite Ship

Sailor again, hi everyone!  I had this great idea about what I would write, but then I got a phone call and now I’ve forgotten.  Let’s see if I can dig it up.

Oh right, got it.  You know, as I walk my Dorothy around the neighborhood we frequently get asked “What’s your favorite ship?”  Well, I’m a dog, and being a dog, everything is my favorite.  Walking is my favorite thing!  Sleeping – my favorite thing!  Dinner, my favorite thing!  Going for a ride in the car – my favorite thing!  That’s just how dogs are. 

Dorothy, is a bit like me in that all cruise ships are her favorite, because whatever cruise she’s on, she’s having a great time and while she’s on board, the ship she is sailing on is her favorite one!   But there’s really no “favorite”  ship that she can recommend to someone else because everybody has different tastes and requirements.  If you like mega-ships with casinos, Broadway shows and Las Vegas revues  then she is not going to recommend a river cruise ship.  If you want to sail with other passengers who are mostly American, she might recommend AMA Waterways, Uniworld or Viking River Cruises; and if you love being with Australians then you’d be barking up the right tree by choosing Scenic Cruises.

Then there’s the food (my favorite thing!).  Dorothy is no gastronome.  Her eating habits are hopeless, with Diet Coke figuring very prominently on her menu.  So she’s really not one to advise when it comes to the “best food”.  I have to say though, that food on board the river cruises – all river cruises,  is outstanding.  Chefs aboard the ships shop locally for fresh vegetables and produce and on some of Viking River Cruises’ new ships they even grow their own herbs on the top deck!  There are even “food and wine cruises” that focus on regional specialties and on which you can watch demonstrations and go to the market with the chef.  

Your favorite cruise ship is the one that meets the requirements for YOUR vacation: your budget, your timing, your destination.  Even narrowing it down by those three factors you may still have several ships to choose from.  Ask my Dorothy, she can help.

Until next time, keep your nose to the wind and all four paws on deck!

Dorothy Flannery is president of Top Sail Journeys, Sailor C. Flannery is Director of Public Relations and all around dogsbody.  If you would like to learn more about European river cruises, check out their sites at http://cruisethedanube.com and http://cruisetherhine.com or for special event cruises go to http://eventcruises.co.