Friday Reads: The Holiday Cruise

The Holiday Cruise by Victoria Cooke

I'm continuing on my quest to read armchair travel books with a holiday theme and this week I'm venturing into the tropical waters of the Caribbean to spend Christmas aboard a cruise ship in The Holiday Cruise by Victoria Cooke.

Most of the novels I've read that are set aboard a cruise ship are told from the viewpoint of the passengers but Cooke tells the story of 30-something Hannah who jets off to Miami to begin a nine-month contract working in a ship's spa after her life back at home in England falls apart. She spends Christmas (very briefly) in the Caribbean but come spring will head across the Atlantic to cruise the Mediterranean.

Cruise Ship in Villefranche Bay, France

Cruise Ship on the Cote d'Azur, France

Cruise Ship in Venice, Italy

I've never been on a cruise like this but I found it a bit unsettling to see huge ships plying the waters of the fragile city of Venice. The much smaller vessels now cruising the Po River seem better suited to the aging city's canals, even the wide Giudecca Canal.

River Cruise Vessel on the Guidecca Canal, Venice

Working on a cruise ship sounds like a dream job although I'm sure the reality is quite different. And since I prefer the more intimate experience of a river cruise to life onboard a large ship, a job like that the one Hannah has just begun would offer me all of the negatives and very few of the perks. But I'm happy to read all about it in The Holiday Cruise.

Victoria Cooke's web site is victoria-cooke.com.

Do you know anyone who has worked on a cruise ship?

Related Post:
Avalon River Cruising