Cruising Among Giants

I spent most of my life struggling to balance out two seemingly impossible and contradictory tendencies: I love traveling in fabulous style, enjoying gourmet food and great entertainment. I am also an Orthodox Jewess, for whom kashrut and yiddishkeit are pillars of my existence. So you can imagine how my appetite left me every time I had to unwrap those unsavory, defrosted tin foiled portions on my previous cruise experiences. In addition, often I could not participate in cruise events since they involved immodest activities. Today, this is no longer the case. The observant traveler is now catered and sought after by the travel industry.

The cruise industry has experienced a boom in the last 10 years. They are seeing a new traveler, the frum traveler. To accommodate this latest consumer, cruises are going all out by providing Jewish passengers with gourmet glatt kosher meals, minyanim, rabbinical lectures, world famous cantorial concerts, separate swimming, etc. The cruise industry has always been very secular, but thanks to specialty cruise companies, it's now truly accessible to all.

Last year I discovered heaven on earth, when I booked passage for my family on a Kosherica Cruise to Alaska. No longer is vacation a tin foil experience but rather, a superb glatt kosher dining experience, with fine china and elegant service. We were fed some of the most memorable meals, prepared by a gifted Michelin five-star rated chef. Our day would start with incredible breakfast and lunch buffets, then an afternoon nosh and then dinner. The hardest part was choosing what not to eat. Shall I have the churrasco steak, rack of veal, chicken, fresh fish or a vegetarian option? So many decisions, so little time. I usually had a bit of each and justified it by walking off a few calories to the midnight buffet.

The food was wonderful, but the worldclass entertainment was the real icing on the cake. It made the whole experience especially superb. Typical cruises offer Broadway-style shows and entertainers, which often include scantily dressed women, immodest dancing or singing, and off-color comedic entertainment inappropriate for children. But on the Kosherica cruise, this frum traveler has the option of hearing Dudu Fisher (star of Les Miserable on Broadway) perform live. His Jewish Elvis medley far surpassed the secular Broadway version.

The Shabbat service was no longer a semi-religious prayer gathering, but rather a sectioned off Orthodox service preformed by renowned chazzanim. On this particular cruise, we listened to Shlomo Simcha and Benzion Miller daven while sailing past ancient, majestic glaciers. It's amazing how much your prayers improve once you're surrounded by evidence of G-d's powers. The experience brought a greater appreciation for the beauty of the world that Hashem created.

Who would have thought that I would be off to Alaska with Dudu Fisher, Benzion Miller and Shlomo Simcha. One minute I'm hearing an unbelievable Lecha Dodi rendition and the next we are cruising past a stunning glacier. Cantorial giants among nature's giants. The exquisite beauty of it all made me say a silent prayer to be merit all of this cornucopia.

Rather than just going to ice carving classes, we had daf yomis that inspired our lives. It was wonderful to hear Rabbi Lamm talk about the power of hope while looking out the window and witnessing a whale swimming in the wake of the boat. Our group even had separate swimming in the mornings and separate Israeli dance classes every afternoon.

JSinglesCruise, a singles division of Kosherica, was also onboard with its group of over 100 Jewish singles. It was enchanting to see single Jewish people connecting and finally finding a no-pressure environment designed to bring them closer. It was also a perfect way for single members of a family to join the family cruise and also have time to meet and mingle with other Jewish singles.

I had a wonderful opportunity to bond with my family. Together, we met interesting people from around the world. We went on a helicopter ride in the Misty Fjords, whale watching, dogsleding on glaciers, and took city tours at every port. But we really became close during Shabbos when we realized how blessed we were that we were experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime adventure in a heimishe environment.

Kosherica embarks on its summer getaways to Alaska, July 10-17, 2005 and August 19-26, 2005. It features Dudu Fisher, Mordechai Ben David, Shlomo Simcha, Yeedle Wirdiger, Michael Schnitzler and Benzion Miller, Daniel Gildar, Heshi Kuhnreich, Shai Bachar and Yehuda Shifman. In addition, there are all the minyanim, Daf Yomi shiurim and highly regarded speakers. For more information call 877-724- 5567 or visit www.Kosherica.com. Singles can call 917- 952-4033/ 323-640-7230 or visit www.JSingles Cruise.com.