Seatrade Cruise Shipping Miami is “your passport to success”. Says so on the big disply right above where you sign in and get your badge. Things have moved on since The Love Boat was topping the bill on network TV. Get on one of these big beautiful babies (stand one on end and it’s like a seagoing skyscraper), and there’s more on offer than just a leisurely game of shuffleboard with the senior citizens. You could bring back more than a tan and a straw donkey in a Mexican tasselled sombrero, too: like how about your mega-winnings from playing the slots? Or a new spouse? Or a certificate saying you’re now a qualified salsa dancer? The 4-day conference program was kind of a virtual cruise in its own right, particularly with all that audience participation and interactivity. There is actually some justification to the often-heard claim that cruise vacationing is the last recession-proof business on earth. Wait, that’s my favorite song! Jimmy Buffett singing “Boat Drinks”…
