what do you read while you are cruising?

[Jeanie821]

I'm a pretty avid reader with little time to read for fun. So when I travel, cruise or not, this is what usually goes in the carry-on bag for the plane, hotel and ship:

 

* My Bible (I also cruise with other Christian singles, and there's always a Bible study on board)

 

* Two or three magazines I've been meaning to read and haven't gotten around to

 

* A paperback, usually the latest Ann Rule (or other true crime paperback), Faye Kellerman or V.C. Andrews

 

I also occasionally pick up a good read in a gift shop. On the last cruise I was on, I found myself in a lounge chair on deck reading a book I'd picked up in Key West - Von Cosel by Tom Swicegood. (It's a true story about a Key West occurrence.)

[ciderapple]

1. Menu

   
   

2. Contract for cruise booked on-board

   
   

3. Menu

   
   

4. Sea Pass Account Docs.

   
   

5. Menu

   
   

6. Bingo Card

   
   

7. Menu

   
   

8. Price Tags

   
   

9. Menu

   
   

10. Port Maps

    
    

11. Did I mention menus?

    
    

 

Think that will be me too!

 

I am lucky that I work in a bookshop. I shall probably grab a couple of free advance copies to take with me on the cruise and then I will just pass them on.

 

I like something light (even trashy!) to read round a pool area where there are other distractions and interruptions. I may take something with more depth to read on the plane and in privacy on our balcony.

 

I just finished 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield (excellent) and am now listening to Gentlemen & Players by Joanna Harris on CD.

 

May try some Carl Hiaasen for this cruise, seems like light stuff.

[noobiecruiser]

I'm reading Memoirs of a Geisha now ... packed away for my cruise are Son of a Witch and Stephen King's Cell.

[Quiltingbluecat]

A week of reading will be bliss! I have purchased The Historian and Skinny Dip. But I have about 10 novels waiting to be read that I got to read when I was recovering from knee replacement surgery (what was I thinking? I could not retain a thought for two seconds!). My daughter will also bring a couple of books so we will share. I'll donate the books to the ship library or other folks when we are finished with them.

[Tmeister]

Another vote for Carl Hiassen! He's just what I need to escape the seriousness of what I do when I'm not vacationing (I'm a lawyer). I may bring some great literature with me as well, but Hiassen always helps me unwind.

[theonlyjoie]

Being a voracious reader, I always ran into a problem packing sufficent books to keep me amused and/or bemused on vacation. I solved my problem by getting a PDA (Palm or Mobile PC) and downloading e-books before I go. Even on a PDA with limited memory, you can store 10 books or more. Plus, you can load crossword puzzles, Sudoku, card games, and other fun stuff. You can keep your travel itinerary, addresses for sending postcards and such, your medical information, currency exchange rates, etc. Slighty pricier models give you a (not great, but..) camera, MP3 capabilities, video recording/playback, and WiFi access. They're small enough to fit anywhere, and you can stick them in a ziplock bag if water is a concern.

 

I've been using a Palm PDA for the last 8 years or so, and wouldn't go anywhere without it.

 

If you're traveling with others that have PDAs, you can play card games, Scrabble, chess, etc., with them using the units' built-in infra-red capabilities.

 

As to what I read? You name it, I'll read it. Instruction manuals, cereal boxes, warning labels...:D:p

[packercruising]

As I have mentioned before, the 256 card has about 30 books on it with room for more, and unless you want new releases they are very cheap. As Joie mentioned you also can put games on there too! I have a Zire 72 which has a camera. Very handy!

 

Also, if you have a 1 gig card you can put 2 full length movies on it.

[trish1c]

Alas -- this upcoming trip I will most likely be reading the text book for the class I'm teaching in the spring. :o

 

I like checking out the ship's library to find something to read. While it's rarely current, I can usually find something I haven't read & I don't have to pack / carry the books. I will bring a romance novel for the plane.

[NAS-KARR]

Whatever pertains to the ports of call on my itinerary.

[Genessa]

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As to what I read? You name it, I'll read it. Instruction manuals, cereal boxes, warning labels...:D:p

 

LOL! Me too! When I was a kid, I accidentally memorized both the Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies boxes. I can read writing in a mirror and upside down - comes from having to read everything ;).

 

Oddly enough, I can't stand reading a book on a screen - I need to hold the book in my hand.

[michmike]

Genessa - I'm with you.. maybe an age thing, but I can't imagine reading a book on a screen. I do listen to books on tape in the car all the time, but otherwise I want the physical presence of the book in my hands and a bookmark keeping my place when I leave. But hey, I've been doing it that way for 50+ yrs now, so maybe old habits are hard to break. Plus I like the presence of books on the shelf at home.. makes a house look lived in..

 

Grandfather was an avid reader and it's the most cherished gift he passed on to all of us grandkids, the wondrous adventure of opening a book and being transported. He always brought books for us when he visited or when we went to see him, typically picked up in a used bookstore somewhere. It's still a joy to wander the rows of a musty old used book store and emerge 3 or 4 hours later with $75 worth of treasures.

 

Thankfully we managed to raise our now 27 yr old to be a reader as well. Too many of that generation are missing something magical in not reading.

 

 

quilting - good luck w/ The Historian. I guess I succumbed to the hype when it first came out and had unrealistic expectations, but I found it rather slow going and only moderately satisfying.

[Genessa]

Grandfather was an avid reader and it's the most cherished gift he passed on to all of us grandkids, the wondrous adventure of opening a book and being transported. He always brought books for us when he visited or when we went to see him, typically picked up in a used bookstore somewhere. It's still a joy to wander the rows of a musty old used book store and emerge 3 or 4 hours later with $75 worth of treasures.

 

Thankfully we managed to raise our now 27 yr old to be a reader as well. Too many of that generation are missing something magical in not reading.

.

 

You're right - reading is magical!

 

thanks to my mother and her father, my sister, one brother and I are all avid readers. I've managed to pass it on to two of my three, as well. Plus, between my sister and I, my 2 year old granddaughter has a book collection worthy of an entire pre-school library ;).

 

DH likes to joke that there are more books in our house than in the nearest bookstore and most days he wouldn't be wrong. My only problem lately is I have to watch the musty old books - they irritate my sinuses :( .

[cupidsarrrow]

If you stick them in the oven for 5 to 10 mins you will get rid of the musty smell. Just on the lowest setting..dont forget they are in there!!!

[theonlyjoie]

Funny you saying about reading upside-down and mirrored; I can do that, too!:) Wonder where that comes from? I was reading at age 5; maybe starting to read before going to formal school frees up your head from other people's expectations and restrictions:confused:;) BTW, my brother and sister are also big readers, as are their kids. I can spend hours in Borders and Barnes & Noble...we really don't have any used book stores where I live now:(

 

Hmmmm...come to think of it, my home looks like a used book store. Reference books, dictionaries in several languages, science (fact & fiction), medical, novels, philosophy, and "fast-food" (y'know, quick reads). And I, too, prefer having an actual book in my hands. But it's (the PDA) the only thing that works for me so I don't have to carry (fill in a number) books around. I admit it: I'm a wuss:p

[Genessa]

If you stick them in the oven for 5 to 10 mins you will get rid of the musty smell. Just on the lowest setting..dont forget they are in there!!!

 

I'll definitely try that! Thanks for the tip!

[Genessa]

Funny you saying about reading upside-down and mirrored; I can do that, too!:) Wonder where that comes from? I was reading at age 5; maybe starting to read before going to formal school frees up your head from other people's expectations and restrictions:confused:;) BTW, my brother and sister are also big readers, as are their kids. I can spend hours in Borders and Barnes & Noble...we really don't have any used book stores where I live now:(

 

Hmmmm...come to think of it, my home looks like a used book store. Reference books, dictionaries in several languages, science (fact & fiction), medical, novels, philosophy, and "fast-food" (y'know, quick reads). And I, too, prefer having an actual book in my hands. But it's (the PDA) the only thing that works for me so I don't have to carry (fill in a number) books around. I admit it: I'm a wuss:p

 

I'm not sure when I started reading, but once I did, I couldn't stop. I'm not a snoop, but if I'm in your office and not actively involved in doing something, I will read everything in sight. I amazed the woman who used to highlight my hair by reading all her posters/signs in the mirror.

 

If the airlines keep putting weight restrictions on, I might just have to resort to a PDA. JUst not the same thing, though.

[misty57]

I'm not sure when I started reading, but once I did, I couldn't stop. I'm not a snoop, but if I'm in your office and not actively involved in doing something, I will read everything in sight. I amazed the woman who used to highlight my hair by reading all her posters/signs in the mirror.

 

If the airlines keep putting weight restrictions on, I might just have to resort to a PDA. JUst not the same thing, though.

 

I had to laugh when I read this post. My daughter ( now 24) Starting reading at age 3. I would find her in her closet with a book at night reading when she was supposed to be sleeping:D . She also will read anything available. If she is sitting in a car and has nothing at hand, she will read the operating manual! I have seen her read telephone books! In junior high, her social studies teacher was very boring so she sat in the back of the room and read the textbook cover to cover. ( We can ask her just about anything related to history now and she knows the answer!) I guess she comes by it honestly. I almost never leave home without a book- and could ( much to my husband's disdain) spend days in a book store. WHen I was in high school, I was "fired" from my volunteer job in the library for reading the books when I was supposed to be shelving them :p . I ususally take 2- 3 books with me on a cruise and sometimes leave them for others on the plane or the ship when I'm finished.

[Genessa]

]I had to laugh when I read this post. My daughter ( now 24) Starting reading at age 3. I would find her in her closet with a book at night reading when she was supposed to be sleeping:D . She also will read anything available. If she is sitting in a car and has nothing at hand, she will read the operating manual!

 

 

Doesn't everybody??? ;) I'm always the official "navigator" as I read the TripTick books, maps (you can always find something new to do with a map), etc.

 

I have seen her read telephone books!

 

Very interesting reads, when you are bored, but too heavy to bring on a cruise ;). However if you need to know how many Sm...s there are in Brooklyn, just ask.

 

 

I guess she comes by it honestly. I almost never leave home without a book- and could ( much to my husband's disdain) spend days in a book store. WHen I was in high school, I was "fired" from my volunteer job in the library for reading the books when I was supposed to be shelving them :p . I ususally take 2- 3 books with me on a cruise and sometimes leave them for others on the plane or the ship when I'm finished

 

 

 

 

never buy a pocketbook that a paperback won't fit into ;).

[theonlyjoie]

I keep at least one book and some crossword & sudoku puzzles in my car, too. Even though I have my PDA with me (great for reading while waiting in check-out lines at the store), if I'm outdoors and the sun is shining, the screen is quite difficult to read.:(

 

I used to do the old "flashlight-under-the-covers" when I was supposed to asleep, too.:D

 

Genessa-you mentioned Brooklyn...that's where I come from originally. I now live in Colorado. And you?

[AWED23]

Menus Menus Menus

[Nightwind]

I'm a voracious reader, as well, with eclectic tastes. I like to read everything from comedy sci-fi/fantasy to professional astronomy and archaeology journals (And I'm neither an astronomer nor an archaeologist) to weighty non-fiction tomes about medieval history to historical fiction to a few "popular" novels here and there and all the way back to Star Trek novels.

 

On cruises and other vacations, though, I tend to give my brain a break along with my body and stick to lighter reading material. Last cruise, I read "Sleeping with Schubert" by Bonnie Marson as my first book. (I usually read anywhere from 1-5 books on a cruise, depending on how much interest I have in doing things in port.) It was about an ordinary woman who while shopping in a mall becomes possessed by the spirit of the composer Franz Schubert and subsequently becomes a brilliant, overnight-sensation pianist. As a classical musician myself (only I play cello, not piano), I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I highly recommend it even if you're not a musician. :) It's written in a humorous, fun way, from a first-person perspective. I found it to be perfect cruise reading.

 

I still haven't decided what I'm going to read on my cruise coming up in February, though... Maybe I'll re-read a Sharon Kay Penman, although her novels are rather hefty to schlep around...

 

To the person bringing along The Historian...I loved that book! I had my doubts after reading some reviews of it, but I ended up really liking it. It's kind of slow-paced, and the end, I felt, was a bit anti-climactic, but it was absorbing nonetheless. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[flag fan]

When traveling I always take a few books and switch between them. I like mysteries (light, but interesting, reading) and a book or two related to where I am traveling (the general region, if not the exact destination). On the cruise I went on last month, I brought two books set on a cruise--Buzz Cut by James W. Hall (didn't really like it, it was about a serial killer on a cruise ship) and Mysterious Places, Mysterious Dreams by Steven Rivellino (a great book; a memoir about the author as a young man working aboard the Saga Rose (although it had a different name at the time) during a world cruise; it painted a great picture of what it was like to cruise 20-30 years ago among the well-off (it also has a gay sub-theme). I was going to London so I also read (but haven't yet finished Brideshead Revisited and a Scottish mystery book (very good, but I don't remember the name or the author).

[packercruising]

If you like Christian Authors, T. Davis Bunn writes some really good mystery novels.

[Genessa]

Genessa-you mentioned Brooklyn...that's where I come from originally. I now live in Colorado. And you?

 

Third generation Brooklynite and still living here ;).

 

My great greats had all the wanderlust :).

[sea_breaze]

I found a book last year that talked about the history of the cruise ship industry and how it got to where it is today. Can't remember the name of it but what an interesting read while you're actually on a cruise ship.

 

It covered the competiviness/hatred between between Richard Fain(CEO of RCCL) and Micky Arison(CEO of Carnival) and how they were both jockeying to try to become the industry leader. According to the book, Carnival going public with it's stock before RCCL gave them the money to move ahead of RCCL with their many acquisitions of other cruise lines.

 

The acquisition of P&O(Princess) was particularly interesting as RCCL had this all but wrapped up but knew that they had to keep it a secret from Carnival because if Carnival knew P&O was looking to sell they would come in with a much higher offer that RCCL couldn't match. Well we know what happened here.

 

The other interesting fact that came out of this book was how Carnival Corp was started. I don't want to give too much of the book away but I was on a Carnival ship @ the time of the reading and let's just say I was wishing I'd booked an NCL cruise instead (I've since gotten over this and realize business is business).

 

If anybody knows the name of this book, could you share it. I think any cruise lover would really enjoy it. I tried to google Cruise Books and couldn't find it.