I was torn between calling this blog the ‘C’ word, for ‘cruising’, or the ‘P’ word, for ‘preconceived’. Naturally I went for the ‘C’ word because I wanted your attention!

In fact they go hand in hand as the ‘P’ word is what prevents people from trying something – like the ‘C’ word – that they have already decided they won’t like when it comes to a new kind of holiday experience. Indeed they may well go to the grave missing out on something that might have brought them many happy memories.

It is exactly the same for skiing; unless you have actually been on a skiing holiday, you have absolutely no idea, really, of what it is all about.

The usual reasons given by those who have already decided that they won’t like it is that they think it will be cold, and that holidays should be all about going somewhere hot.

Well, it can be cold, but you dress appropriately and there is so much more to it; it is a totally different genre which has to be experienced in order to be able to understand it (that said, of course not everyone likes it).

The cruise holiday is also something that many people will not even entertain the idea of trying.

The usual reasons given are:

1. They are for old people
2. I’d get bored and go stir crazy

I, too, thought that a cruise holiday really wouldn’t be my kind of thing, but I gave it a go, and loved it. My wife Debbie describes it as like staying in a five star hotel that takes you to lots of different, lovely places.

In fact, so enthused was I following our first Cunard cruise (we’re about to go on our eighth) that I generated three pieces of national press coverage for the Queen Victoria for fun, helping out journalist friends who were researching features.

My own brother Chris, said “what do you do all day?” – he needs to see the daily programme; there aren’t enough hours in the day for all the things that I want to do, whilst Debbie prefers to relax and read books.

Cruising provides the perfect opportunity to compromise; one area where we don’t need to compromise is eating and the food on Cunard is fabulous!

Also, when we cruise I like to keep the wheels of Travel Dog PR turning; the business centres make it easy to keep in touch and make sure that no opportunities are missed to generate press coverage for clients. That’s really important to me.

So, if there’s a holiday type that you have put the blocks on, have another think and maybe give it a go. It might be a trek up a mountain, an Arctic cruise, or a desert safari.

Go on, give it a go, you might just surprise yourself.

Oh, and Travel Dog PR doesn’t have a cruise company on board (no pun intended) so if you’re looking 🙂