Linda and I went on an 8-day cruise to Southern Mexico on the Norwegian Bliss.  Need I say more?

Okay, I will.

We boarded the Norwegian Bliss on a beautiful Sunday afternoon from Southern California heading out to sea to Southern Mexico.  I was immediately taken by the thousands of faces from hundreds of places who all began to express their own “bliss”. And with the first of many Margaritas in hand, we sat by the main pool, watching old fat men in their tight speedos and others dancing to a Gloria Estefan cover band. There were kids playing on a huge water slide and every adult, like me, with a drink in their hand.

The entire trip was glorious. Every need was anticipated; unlimited food and drink; entertainment, activities, extravagant shopping centers, gambling of every kind, and a bar seemingly every hundred feet or so.  There were also quiet, separated areas where one could play cards or read or just…be.

I am an observant person by nature as well as an “eavesdropper”.  It’s amazing to me what people will tell strangers with a glass of whiskey in their hands and I took it all in. And there were hundreds of families with several children on board some of which I overheard talking about the strangest concerns or routines.  I saw one mother of five trying to round-up her children at noon-ish because it was “time for prayer.”  The kids were not having it.

Bliss is different for every person, and I respect that experience whatever that may be.  But what I found is this; for all of the unlimited access to things; the best moments of the cruise were when Linda and I stood beneath a brilliant harvest moon holding each other in peace.  It reminded me that no matter how wonderful and exciting, dull, mundane, or routine life can be, Linda makes everything complete and utterly; bliss.