Another party, another conversation about Easter travel plans. This time, the person asking was going on a Mediterranean cruise.

I was somewhat taken aback – I have always had visions of the people who like cruises as being retired; old people for whom the holiday is about what happens on the ship, and not about the places you see when you are off it. The person I was having the conversation with was far from old – in fact, younger than me.

I’ve also pooh-poohed them as not a real experience of a place; something that recently I’ve been a bit ashamed of myself with hurried weekends in capital cities across Eastern Europe, and even the summer trip involving far too many countries in far too short a time. I could be considered as just ‘ticking off’ countries as much as anyone who takes a cruise around the Med.

Listening to K talk about her upcoming cruise with excitement, I wondered just what it was that she was looking forward to. It appears that a week on a ship being pampered and taken care of is only half of the story; she likes not having to organise everything, she likes not having to work out a route, she likes being able to see a sample of a lot of places without having to unpack and repack every few days. She likes not waiting for public transport, she likes not walking miles to find a restaurant that ends up not being very good, she likes being able to swim and go to the gym, she likes the flexibility of wondering around a place or taking an organised trip. She likes the relaxation of it all. Would I like all that I wondered?

At first, I thought not. In fact, I thought ‘no way!’. I don’t think the cruise thing would ever suit us as a couple. While I can sit with a book and make my own entertainment for a day or two, N would be like a caged animal.

But, what about going it alone when he is away? I started to wonder if it would be a good way of relaxing and seeing a few places without the risks of solo travel (but without the excitement either perhaps?). My friend was cruising around Greece and Turkey. All of a sudden, I remembered that most of the places I have in mind to try and visit while N is away are in the Med. Maybe, just maybe, a cruise is a solution – or are they really just for old people?