I just asked a long time friend, fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, and Duke University retiree, David Jarmul, what he and his wife thought of the cruise industry? David is the author of Not Exactly Retired: A Life-Changing Journey on the Road and in the Peace Corps. Not Exactly Retired is also the name of his ten year old travel blog. I asked him the question because I’ve recently added Norwegian Cruise Lines to my full time travel schedule. It’s been a really great resource for food, lodging, and entertainment.

He agreed that adding cruise travel was a good way to complement on the ground travel. I’m now in Miami, after my final cruise of 2025. I’ve racked up eleven, since June 2024. This year was my race to NCL Platinum status. After my “failed” Caribbean cruise, last September, I flew from New York to Las Vegas. I booked two nights in Sin City for a dental appointment. Then, I flew to Los Angeles and killed time before my repositioning cruise from Vancouver. While in Hollywood, I caught Renee Felice Smith (Nell Jones on NCIS Los Angeles) and Matt Jones (Dorney on NCIS) at a comedy-talent show.

From Los Angeles, I flew to Vancouver for the repositioning cruise. The itinerary included a few stops in Alaska and then continued with stops along the west coast. I lived in Alaska, as an AmeriCorps member, during the pandemic. Sitka was on the itinerary, when I booked this cruise. It was removed, by the sailing. My first three cruises with the line included a seven day Alaskan Cruise, a Fjord Cruise (from Oslo Norway), and a Mexican Riviera Cruise, in 2024. This year, after a back to back MSC Western Europe cruises, my NCL year kicked off, from Southampton, with my first Transatlantic on the NCL Bliss.

I landed in Miami, late February, and flew to Baltimore. After a quick visit with a Peace Corps Kenya friend, I flew back to the UK, early March. I had a short stay, in London, chasing down buses with the Boss ONE Bodywear ads, featuring David Beckham. Next, I took the EuroStar train to Paris. From there, I traveled by train and spent the month visiting Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, and finally Budapest. After all that train travel, I took a long haul FlixBus bus, through Slovenia, to Italy. Once in Trieste, I took a five day travel break, before my Mediterranean cruise. When the cruise was over, I flew to Turkey and rested, on the European side, in Istanbul. Then, I headed to the Asian side, for my flight to Yerevan, Armenia.

After watching the latest cohort of Peace Corps trainees swear-in as volunteers and also visiting old friends, I flew to London for my flight back to Baltimore. I then took Amtrak down to Durham, for my annual medical exam. From there, I rode back up to WDC and headed to Chicago, where I continued on to St. Paul. After visiting friends, in Minneapolis, I took Amtrak back to WDC and then on to New York, for my failed NCL Caribbean cruise. Due to Hurricane Erin, we sat in Manhattan harbor for three days. Next, it was announced that three stops, (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Saint Maarten) were canceled.

Two stops in the Bahamas were add and our final stop in Bermuda remained. After the cruise I flew back to Las Vegas (for a few days) and then to Los Angeles. After a short visit and lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant, in Hermosa Beach, I flew to Vancouver for the Repositioning cruise. After debarking in San Diego, I took the train to Los Angeles. That’s when I decided on flying from Los Angeles to Lisbon and walking the final 100 km of the Portuguese Camino. Two years ago, on my 67th birthday, I walked the entire French Way, from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela (in Spain). The 790 km took me forty days.

My new Platinum Status, on NCL, includes a free bag of laundry. This came in handy, on my Transatlantic cruise from Barcelona. By walking the Camino first, all my belongings had to fit into a REI Co-op Flash 22. It’s sold as the perfect size backpack for day hikes. My Camino “hike” would take me 100 km and then on two cruises. Well, the November cold, rain (in Spain), and my bone on bone knee arthritis had other plans. After 60 km, I took the train to Santiago de Compostela. I rested a few days and then flew to Barcelona. At the airport, I purchased a pair of flip flops, five rubber ducks (to hide around the ship), and a Jurassic Park mug, from Popeye’s Chicken. I gifted the mug to my cabin attendant, for his young daughter. She also received one of the ducks.

On the Transatlantic cruise, my body was still cold from the Camino! My Thermal Spa pass purchase, on the ship, was worth every penny. After stops in Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Funchal (Madeira) and then six sea days, we reached Miami. My Panama Canal cruise was four days later. So, I guess I’ve now answered my own question about cruise travel. Yes, as David said, it’s a nice addition to full time travel. At 88 countries visited, (44 of them since my retirement in 2017), I should be able to reach my 100 country goal next year. There are 195 recognized countries. I’ll need to decide how many of the remaining 95 I can actually visit.

Although there’s a certain level of “safety” with cruise travel, the half day excursions (for me) don’t come close to traveling around a country on my own. For example, I didn’t have any issues with visiting all seven countries in Central America last year. And, I got so much more out of those visits than I ever would with just day excursions on a cruise. But, now that I’ve reached platinum status, with NCL, I’ll be able to better judge the possibly of spending half the month on land and the rest of my time at sea. When I add on my military discount, traveling via Norwegian Cruise Lines makes a lot of sense!

It’s been almost ten years since I retired. I went from Durham, North Carolina to Peace Corps service in Armenia, then Peace Corps service in Ethiopia. I was evacuated due to the 2020 Pandemic and then volunteered with AmeriCorps in Sitka, Alaska, for two years. When that service ended, I headed back to the lower 48 that May. I had a short wait, to reach full social security age. Once I did, (and the first check was deposited into my bank account) I flew from Hawaii to Guam and my life as a full time travel junkie began.

Hitting my 100 country goal next year will force me to come up with another goal … or not. Maybe, I’m beyond the travel “goal” stage. Maybe … I am “Exactly” Retired and just on the road, again! XOXO—GGT