I can vividly remember watching Titanic for the first time after it had just come out. I was about 13. The forbidden love story of Jack and Rose captivated my attention for the larger part of the movie, yet it was the images of the sinking ‘unsinkable’ ship that made the biggest impression on me. It was right then, right there, in my parents’ ‘big bed’, with my hand frozen into the large bucket of popcorn, and my eyes glued to the screen – that I swore it to myself:

I will never, ever, EVER go on such a big ship.

Because look what happens: the watchmen don’t watch, the tip of the iceberg is just that – the tip – with the larger part still hidden below. An unsinkable ship can sink. Like Jack, I could very easily find my grave on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, with the eerie sounds of a string quartet fading away slowly as my last breath of air bubbles to the surface.

Yes, that is how dramatic teenager-me thought.

I am almost exactly twice the age I was then, and as of yet, I have not broken my own promise to my teenager-self. Apart from the odd small boat trip in Turkish waters, and apart from paddling around on the French lakes in the rubber duck my parents religiously took with on camping holidays (read: How I learned to love camping), I have stayed true to my mini-me; I still have not boarded a ship comparable in size to the Titanic. But that is about to change.

I am just a few weeks short of being a “Mrs” (oh yeah – this Rose has found her Jack).

My fiancé and I are both globetrotters in our own right. We have travelled together extensively ever since we first met. In fact, you could call us without exaggeration world-devourers. My Jack’s VW Polo has exceeded its manufacturers’ expectations, as it recently took us safely over the Zuurberg Mountains in Addo. We passed ‘4×4 only’ signs and I could swear I heard the Polo’s little engine huff and puff as its tyres struggled to find grip on the with mud covered rocks. Mind, this wasn’t the route we wanted to take, we got lost. It was a very familiar episode of ‘blame it on the GPS’. I’m sure you’ve been there, done that. So don’t judge us.

We also once spent a December holiday traveling thousands of kilometers throughout South Africa – allegedly to show my parents our beautiful nation, but in fact probably more likely to still our own hunger for travel.

And our most recent trip to Europe included scenes that could have featured in an episode on The Amazing Race. For example when I tried to use my limited knowledge of Spanish to try communicate with the Italian, which was interesting.

For our honeymoon, we wanted to find a travel destination that would quench both our wanderlust,  go somewhere neither one of us had ever been before, and exceed all our previous travel experiences. This was not an easy task.

Eventually we opted for a cruise. The size of the MSC Divina – the cruise ship that will take us through the Mediterranean – could make the Titanic of 1912 blush in comparison. We will get to see five different cities, in four different countries that neither one of us has visited before, and on top of that, we will return to our favourite city, Venice (read: Venice: the most romantic city in Europe).

MSC Divina. Photo by albeiro2006

So, please forgive me, thirteen-year-old me. I will have to break our promise. And actually, I don’t care. This bride-to-be just cannot wait to marry her Jack. We are going to rock this boat.

And my heart will go on.

Fancy taking a cruise? Visit cruises.getaway.co.za or call

0861 555 274

Main image by readontheroad