In praise of cruise holidays

While many travel addicts went into hibernation during the pandemic, as public health scolds around the world turned our joyful compulsion into a sin, I kept roving despite the hassles. On an Easter Week trip to the Dominican Republic in 2021, I watched police battalions forcibly remove masked people from the streets of Santo Domingo at the 8 p.m. curfew. I spent a fortune on Covid tests for visits to Germany, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and various Caribbean ports. And I was badgered about wearing masks, even outdoors, on three continents.

During Covid, the cost of car rentals soared, airlines found ways to make flying even less pleasant than it already was, and hotels cut corners – eliminating free breakfasts, in-room coffee, daily housekeeping and other perks, all under the illusory guise of public safety. Service suffered too, as travel industry employers struggled to find quality staff at a time of government largesse and as tensions over mask use and other issues boiled over.