Travel Exchange your land-based winter getaway for a floating vacation home Until this year, the idea of going on an extended cruise rather than retreating to a southern locale never occurred to us. We knew that several cruise lines offered small discounts for back-to-back cruises but, when we saw “up to 66%” discounts with Oceania Cruises, we did a double take. Clearly, they wanted business from us chilled-to-the-bone northern baby boomers – so much so that they named their 74-, 83- and 116-day Caribbean cruises “Snowbirds in Residence Voyages.” Oceania Cruises’ fleet of four 684-passenger ships and two 1,250-passenger ships are small enough to dock in smaller ports that are inaccessible tomega-ships. Arriving in a new destination nearly every day appealed to us. So did never having to worry about meals, entertainment, housekeeping, laundry, fitness opportunities and leisure activities. How do you describe a winter at sea? Spoiled is the word that comes to mind – not in a pretentious way, but more the feeling of being a guest in a friend’s home. Oceania aptly describes the ambiance as country club casual. We were happy that we didn’t have to pack suits, formal wear and high heels. Snowbirds in Residence Story and photos by Barb & Ron Kroll Oceania Cruises ship docked by pier Arriving in a new destination Musicians perform for Snowbirds in Residence 18 | www.snowbirds.org
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