Like most other people in this country I’ve had enough of the cold weather, and a circular received from one of the cruise lines reminds me that there is something called summer.
A cruise has always been my favourite holiday. One can do as much or, as in my case, as little as one wants. Everything is included in the fare except drinks and shore tours and all you have to do is to relax. Cruising has grown in popularity in this country for the last fifteen years and this is no surprise when you compare the fares with what one might expect to pay in a hotel for a fortnight for instance.
There is, of course, another incentive to a holiday by cruise ship, and that is the increasing dangers involved in a traditional British seaside holiday. Dangers you might ask?
Well, for a start, there’s the tremendous increase in the number of stinging jellyfish that have recently appeared in our coastal waters. There’s the Weaver fish that hide in the sand with three spines protruding which give excruciating pain when they are trodden on. Spiny sea urchins and Stingrays also give intense pain when they are trodden on. And, since 2006, Great White sharks are said to have regularly been spotted in our waters.
Isn’t that enough to put you off a seaside holiday? If not, there’s another new menace to consider and that is the emergence in our waters of the Mantis Shrimp, also known as the Toe-splitter Shrimp.
These little fellows, which can grow to as much as twelve inches, lie in wait on the seabed and either smash or spear their prey with their heavily calcified claws. They are said to be incredibly fast when they strike and, unbelievably, can smash their way through aquarium glass. In fact, three specimens caught off the Kent coast recently are being housed in a reinforced tank in an aquarium in Hastings.
Though these creatures are said to be rare, the experts acknowledge that these and other creatures being seen more frequently in our waters are evidence of global warming. Given the current cold weather, this is hard to believe.
Nonetheless, it all goes to show that a cruise is quite a good holiday idea!
.
A cruise has always been my favourite holiday. One can do as much or, as in my case, as little as one wants. Everything is included in the fare except drinks and shore tours and all you have to do is to relax. Cruising has grown in popularity in this country for the last fifteen years and this is no surprise when you compare the fares with what one might expect to pay in a hotel for a fortnight for instance.
There is, of course, another incentive to a holiday by cruise ship, and that is the increasing dangers involved in a traditional British seaside holiday. Dangers you might ask?
Well, for a start, there’s the tremendous increase in the number of stinging jellyfish that have recently appeared in our coastal waters. There’s the Weaver fish that hide in the sand with three spines protruding which give excruciating pain when they are trodden on. Spiny sea urchins and Stingrays also give intense pain when they are trodden on. And, since 2006, Great White sharks are said to have regularly been spotted in our waters.
Isn’t that enough to put you off a seaside holiday? If not, there’s another new menace to consider and that is the emergence in our waters of the Mantis Shrimp, also known as the Toe-splitter Shrimp.
These little fellows, which can grow to as much as twelve inches, lie in wait on the seabed and either smash or spear their prey with their heavily calcified claws. They are said to be incredibly fast when they strike and, unbelievably, can smash their way through aquarium glass. In fact, three specimens caught off the Kent coast recently are being housed in a reinforced tank in an aquarium in Hastings.
Though these creatures are said to be rare, the experts acknowledge that these and other creatures being seen more frequently in our waters are evidence of global warming. Given the current cold weather, this is hard to believe.
Nonetheless, it all goes to show that a cruise is quite a good holiday idea!
.
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