A few days ago, I delved into that little home video library we all have thanks to the urge to get video cameras as gifts. Usually, those little tapes you can only watch if you still have the camera are full of Christmas and end-of-year school plays, the occasional birth announcement, and vacation footage. I'm not much of a collector of tapes or photos, or of "rewatching" them, but children are usually curious, and we don't want to lose any images from previous years. Well, on one of those masochistic afternoons of marathon viewings, amidst Christmas carols and costumes, I found the tape we recorded during my first cruise. I remember it perfectly. Back then, I wasn't working in the industry, and I was invited as a companion. I didn't feel like going. It didn't appeal to me, and besides, since I suffer from vertigo, I was convinced I'd get seasick. In the end, I took the plunge, requested a week's vacation, and went on a cruise through the Greek Islands that ended in Venice. As passengers, we were travel agents and members of the press—a perfect familiarization trip, complete with an awards ceremony. To give you some context, I should mention that until then I hadn't been on a cruise, but I had traveled extensively and had worked for years in the hotel industry, specifically in the high-end sector. It was October 2007. A spectacular month and time for a cruise. When I boarded, I knew it wasn't a luxury ship or cruise line, but I couldn't have been more impressed by what I experienced that week. I remember special moments that I've recounted countless times to my friends. Having breakfast in the sun, gazing at Santorini in the distance, while texting friends with something akin to a selfie, though it hadn't been invented yet. Getting ready to go down to dinner, taking your time and looking forward to it. Having a drink on deck, listening to the sea and gazing at the horizon where the lights of the coast are visible in the distance. Entering Venice through the Giudecca Canal as Ravel's "Bolero" plays, bringing tears to your eyes and giving you goosebumps. Paying 14 euros for a beer in St. Mark's Square—it's St. Mark's Square!—and then having dinner in a tiny trattoria, enjoying the best pasta you can remember. Moussaka in Rhodes, a seafood feast in Dubrovnik, and nights of endless conversations with your newly met fellow travelers. Saying a sad goodbye to your cabin steward because it's been so long since you and your belongings were treated with such exquisite care. These are some of the moments you know you couldn't have experienced any other way. They were intrinsic to that moment, that trip, that ship, that companion. The first cruise, the one you recommend to like-minded people, the one you either love or hate. At that point, you don't know if there are better or worse cruises, or how many cruises there are, but you know you would have paid a fortune for that one.
Virginia López Valiente,
General Director, CruisesNews Media Group
