Hello,
Beautiful souls.
This is Barbara,
And welcome to an amazing night's sleep.
Thanks for being here for another in the series of Bedtime with Barbara,
Written by June B.
Today we will do one of my favorite things to do,
Take a cruise.
Let's begin.
So get into your favorite sleeping position.
Making sure you are comfortable.
Close your eyes.
Relax your muscles.
And slowly imagine yourself melting into the bed.
Now let's go to your breathing.
Slowing down the heart rate,
And let's take some nourishing breaths together.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Just breath in.
Breath out.
Settle in now.
Get comfortable.
Let go of everything that happened today.
And let's relax together.
Let yourself focus on my voice.
If your mind wanders,
It's okay.
Bring it back to the sound of my voice.
Keep your breath slow and steady.
Let's go on our journey together.
I am so excited today because here I'm on a cruise.
I absolutely love cruising.
Have you ever been on one?
Get ready for a fun adventure with me.
We will not only learn all about cruising,
We will imagine all the fun we can have on this wonderful moving hotel.
So first of all,
I am here on the deck and the sun is slowly starting to go down.
I can hear the gentle purr of the huge engine that is transporting over 100 people on this particular cruise.
The sound of the splashing of the waves on the side of this magnificent ship as it cuts through the water like a hot knife glides through cold butter.
I can hear the steel pan music softly playing in the background,
Wafting its way to me like a cheeky little friend as I slowly sway from side to side.
There is something about steel pan music that always conjures up visions of sun,
Sea,
And happiness no matter where you are.
It could be the most miserable day and you hear some steel pan music playing.
You can't help it.
You gotta shake what your mama gave you.
Looking up,
I can see birds in the sky as they are making their way home to tuck into their nest and relax for another night.
Flying up so high and in tandem,
Making the beautiful shape of an arrow as they fly by.
It is like an air show,
One of which is sometimes displayed by the famous UK aeroplane pilots of the Red Arrows.
The Red Arrows,
Officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team,
Is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force in the UK.
Their displays of amazing aerobatics have,
I'm sure,
Been taken from beautiful and majestic birds in flight.
And some of the amazing things that these birds do whilst we are watching with awe and delight.
Standing here now feeling the perfectly warm gentle breeze that softly caresses my face,
It has a fresh smell to it as most sea air does and the pleasing and comforting feeling as it surrounds everything that passes through it.
The peaceful feelings I have now are relieving and invigorating.
Here standing on the upper deck,
Watching all the hundreds of people below enjoying themselves in the many different ways you can on this home-away-from-home ship.
As the people below are having a party,
Dancing with the steelpan band playing at full energy,
And some guests doing the conga line around one of the many pools,
I think about all the numerous benefits of going on a cruise.
The one thing that is so great about this type of holiday is the fact that you can visit many different destinations in one holiday without having to sort out all of the connections,
Flights,
Transfers,
And logistics of a self-planned multi-destination trip.
Then one of my favorite things about a cruise is the fact that you only have to unpack once.
This may seem like a small thing to some.
Have you ever been to more than one destination on a holiday?
Oh man,
What a drag to pack before you go.
Unpack at destination one.
Pack up again to go to destination two.
Unpack there.
Pack up again when it is time to leave.
And you really need help if you're going to more than two different destinations in one trip.
So on a cruise,
You can unpack once,
And then Bob's your uncle,
You're done.
For me,
That is a massive plus.
Now the next plus of a cruise is the multitude of activities on board.
It is astounding.
I can't comprehend how anyone could ever get bored.
Now for me,
I enjoy watching other people enjoy themselves.
Catching one of the amazing shows that are part of Broadway quality without a doubt.
And also,
Partaking of the calming and healing spa properties with saunas,
Steam rooms,
Jacuzzis,
And hot tubs beyond your wildest dreams.
For others,
More energetic,
There are so many other things like swimming pools,
And bigger ships have water parks on board even.
Fully stocked gyms,
Tracks to run miles around the ship,
Mini golf,
Basketball,
Table tennis,
Rock climbing,
Even zip lining on some ships.
Great to watch,
And not for me,
Of course.
Even the more gentle pursuits of competitions on deck.
Bingo,
Comedy clubs,
Piano lounges,
Broadway productions,
And many have cinemas.
Not to mention,
You could actually do a bar crawl,
Because nearly all ships have at least 5 bars minimum,
All with different themes.
The next thing about a cruise is it is easy to meet people and socialize,
If that is your kind of thing to do on holiday.
I remember once I was on holiday and met an English couple who seemed to be in a bit of a bother.
They needed help,
And me and my partner assisted them in getting what they needed.
They came back to where we were the next year,
And we became great friends for many years,
Seeing each other every time they came over.
So you can make lifelong friends on a ship,
Too.
Being on a ship is super relaxing,
Once you don't get the dreaded seasickness.
Although most of the modern ships are so huge that the motion of the sea is hardly felt,
And most times you feel like you're on dry land.
The opportunity to lay about and do nothing,
If that is your jam,
And then go handpick from one of the many types of cuisine on board,
Makes for a stress-free adventure for sure.
And oh man,
Is there a huge amount of food on board.
You could eat all day and still find more to eat throughout the night.
Lastly,
I think what does it for me is the way it makes me feel.
It is that feeling of traveling to somewhere exotic and being able to peek into different cultures all in one fantastic and very informative trip.
How could you not learn something by seeing how other people do things in different parts of the world?
You get a taste of many places in one trip,
And the ability to choose one that you may want to go back to and explore in depth some more at a later date.
You can't help but learn many things when you go.
Even if you have been to the same place before,
You will come away feeling accomplished,
And that trip was not only good for you mentally and physically,
Also emotionally too.
Now that's what I call a win-win.
I'm not sure about you.
I'm getting sleepy even thinking about it.
So I'm ready to let go fully and surrender to sleep.
Thank you for joining me tonight.
And as you slowly drift away,
Have yourself a great night's sleep and looking forward to seeing you again for another in the series of Bedtime with Barbara,
Written by June B.
Good night.
