I know how much you Torontonians hate “Harold the Jewelry Buyer” commercials but I couldn’t resist. We are actually going on a cruise. SharkBoy let it out of the bag yesterday in his post.

Y’see, old SharkBoy and I have had a KD Summer. By that I mean with his strike pay and my “Workshare 4 days a week paycheque” we’ve really been stressed about money all summer. Now that it’s all over we started to look into a nice winter vacation to pump money back into somebody’s economy.

Since it’s announcement of delivery from it’s Nordic shipyards, SharkBoy has been wispfully dreaming of the massive, oil tanker of a cruise ship: Royal Caribbean’s The Oasis of the Seas. I have too – the thought of drinking in an overgrown elevator bar gets me kind of alcoholic:

While I think the ship is amazing, I had reservations that the first couple months of this ship’s life would be like owning a first generation Apple product. And we all know that any first gen Apple product doesn’t resolve certain issues until it’s third reincarnation (see: iMac growing from bulbous Bondi blue to the swinging iBoob to the current simplistic flat design; or follow iPhones up to the 3GS; iPods arrived with a click wheel, to touch pad then back to a physical wheel; and finally Steve Jobs himself with his fancy new liver). I’m concerned that if we were to go on The Oasis inside it’s first 6 months of operation we’d end up with a malfunctioning something/anything. I’m not being a doomsayer Titanic freak here, I’m just saying “lets let the other people iron out the kinks first”. We do plan to sail on her in the next couple years, promise.

So what to do? Quick! To the Internet! I found us an interesting 12 day Caribbean cruise at the same price as a 7-day inside room on The Oasis. But this had two deal breakers, ladies, that sealed the deal:

One – it’s on the Explorer of the Seas, my first cruise ship. The same ship we discovered that SharkBoy and I are totally “travel compatible” and can vacation together in love and harmony with a minimum of over-togetherness snark. But know that SharkBoy does take up a lot of space in a cramped ship cabin. He’s a clothes horse.

And Two: the ship leaves from NYC. Well actually New Jersey, but it’s just a hop across the river via the PATH and we’re on the Island of Manhattan. We’re going to wander NYC like saucer-eyed tourists the day before and the last day of our trip. We’re equally excited about this portion of our vacation as much as the whole cruise itself.

Add to the fact that I found a great hotel in Jersey City AND a Porter flight deal, this vacation seems to be playing itself out in front of us. Kismet!

Expect updates and blubbering for the next 90 days.