Wow, I had no idea!

The first rule of perennial cruisers is flaunt it. I'm not referring to couture but something way more outlandish. Cruisers seem to think the rest of us ordinary people care how much time they've spent on the high seas.

Case in point. There was a private, elaborate champagne reception during our first week aboard celebrating a couple's cruising milestone. They were celebrating their 14,000 day cruising! WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I'm afraid so. I would have thought they owned the cruise ship by now, but no. They did get their laundry done for free though.

Throughout the cruise we had random people ask us how many cruises we'd been on. When I said this was our first they choked on their breakfast, lunch or dinner. The standard comment was, "You're so brave." "Really, I'd say. We pretty much enjoy everything we do. So there is no reason to think otherwise."

So for the remainder of the cruise people were trying to impress us. But why should we have felt anything more than pity for the woman who said, "At the end of this cruise we'll have been aboard 300 days. I hate being home."Or the woman who'd been on this exact cruise four times. Or the couple who never got off the ship.

Our life is rich; woven of many fabrics. While the cruise was fantastic, I don't see ourselves turning our sole purpose in life over to Holland America, Princess, Norwegian, Windstar, Carnival or any other cruise ship line.

At least not yet.