Evaluation Argument Essay

Feb. 28, 2011

For the Love of Cruises

I grew up during The Love Boat era. In case you are too young to remember it, The Love Boat was a show on ABC that aired from 1977 – 1987. Every episode took place on a cruise ship. The episode began with people boarding the ship at the beginning of the cruise, and ended when they debarked after their week-long cruise. The regulars on the show were the cruise staff – captain, cruise director, purser, bartender, and doctor. The rest of the cast changed every week. When the show first began airing, I was an impressionable 14-yr-old girl. The show made a huge impression on me. The cruises seemed glamorous and opulent. The ship was beautiful. The cabins looked spacious. Everybody dressed for dinner. It was all so romantic. People embarked at the beginning with some sort of problem going on in their lives, and were missing love. By the end of the cruise, the problems were solved, couples fell in love, and often they were planning marriage. The message I took away from the show was that going on a cruise meant you would find love, and all your problems would be resolved. It was my not-so-secret wish that I could go on a cruise, meet a young man, fall in love, and live happily ever after. Little did I know that while I wouldn’t actually meet a man that way, I would fall in love with cruising itself, beginning with my first cruise in 1983.

The first cruise I ever took was with my parents and my sister. I had a wonderful time. Although it turned out not to be a love boat for me, I did meet a few kids my age, and I did get to experience the joy of cruising. The cabin I shared with my sister wasn’t spacious, like on The Love Boat, but it was comfortable. We ate gourmet meals every night in the restaurant onboard, where we dressed for dinner. There was even a formal night where we got to wear fancy clothes. I spent time sunning on deck where comfortable chaise lounges were lined up in rows, and...