Before I was married, or even before we had children, planning our holiday was a simple, enjoyable and argument-free procedure. Pacific highway? Let’s go. Gourmet tour of Liguria? I’m packed. Alaska cruise? Off we go.
But for the past couple of weeks, as it feels as though the Ice Age has hit Dorset and holidays are high on the agenda, holidays are all we talk about, or row about.
Holidays now are all about choice – choice of destination, choice of accommodation and choice of price. Sometimes though, the amount of choice available becomes somewhat overwhelming and it’s difficult to actually make a decision on what to do and where to go. Holiday planning is now dividing our household.
Top of my wife’s wish list is a transatlantic cruise on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 with a few days added on in the Hamptons so she can live the life of US TV cook Ina Garten, better known as the Barefoot Contessa. She says she wants to relax for a week on the crossing, enjoy the renowned Grills food on board and then visit the boutiques of the other Southampton (the very expensive one!), enjoying beach barbecues and staying in quaint B&Bs which certainly don’t have quaint prices to match.
All very nice, but I forsee a very costly week and one which certainly won’t appeal to my eight year old daughter Tilly and younger brother Hal.
Slime of our life
Now, the children, in fact, have their own very definite idea of what they’d like to do – thanks to the power of TV. They are longing to go on Norwegian Epic on July 24 on the Nickelodeon at Sea iCarly All Access cruise.
iCarly, for those either without young children or for those with better parenting skills than I have, is the newest cult live-action show on satellite TV channel Nickelodeon.
They’ve seen the programme, read the brochure and now want the t-shirt, literally. They want to meet and have their photos taken with the stars of the show, play Slime Time Live! (whatever that may be but it sounds rather messy) and enjoy special viewings and premieres of new episodes of iCarly and their other favourite show, Victorious.
With the first Ice bar at sea, 21 restaurants, curvy cabins, Legends in Concert and the Blue Man Group for entertainment, Norwegian Cruise Line’s newcomer Epic does sound very appealing, but I know that the multiple water slides would hold more than a few anxious moments for my wife and I as our fearless six year old, who can’t yet swim, begs to be allowed on them.
Dad time
I have my own opinion, not that I’m likely to be able to air it. Call me boring, but I’d like to do what we did last year and go back on Azura with P&O Cruises.
Not just for the itinerary or for the fantastic food, but just so that I can go back to Olly Smith’s Glass House wine bar and eatery and sample some of the 32 wines I didn’t try last summer (no, I’m not saying how many I did taste!)
Flamboyant TV wine expert Olly and Michelin starred chef Atul Kochhar are both travelling this summer and together they make a very jolly pair in the theatre demonstrations.
The Canadian fizz, Peller Ice, the Marmora pinot noir and the Blind River sauvignon were my favourites but I feel I should branch out and try Olly’s recommendation of the crisp ultra-dry Greek wine called Assyrtiko, hailing from the beautiful volcanic isle of Santorini. I’m also keen to see whether Olly can persuade P&O Cruises to introduce his latest find to the Glass House – a Japanese white apparently a natural to complement seafood.
Besides Azura’s vino and culinary pleasures, there’s also the chance for me to escape to watch footie on the multiple screens in Brodie’s pub, knowing that my wife can chill out and read a book under the Cabanas of the Retreat safe in the knowledge that the youngsters are being kept occupied by the many activities in the supervised children’s club.
And so, after three weeks of decisions, er arguments, it’s all agreed, not very democratically but certainly creating harmony at home.
Slime and water slides here we come…
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