Three Generations, One Ship, Zero Regrets (Well, Almost)

When my mom first suggested a three-generation family cruise, I thought she was joking. My 78-year-old grandmother, my parents in their early 60s, my two kids (ages 8 and 11), and my wife—seven of us sharing cabins and deck space for seven days? It sounded like a recipe for disaster. But here we are, back from the Marina, and I'm already thinking about booking again. Don't ask me why. The trouble started before we even stepped foot on the ship. My mom had spent three weeks researching Oceania Cruises, convinced that they were "the thinking person's cruise line." She kept sending me articles about their superior cuisine and port selections. My wife, ever the pragmatist, just wanted to know if there were babysitting services. My grandmother, meanwhile, was concerned about whether she could bring her full CPAP machine setup—answer: yes, though it involved some creative electrical outlet management in our cabin. We chose the Marina specifically because Mom had read that it was smaller and more elegant than mega-ships, carrying about 1,250 passengers instead of 6,000. "More intimate," she kept saying. What she didn't mention was that "more intimate" also means "there's literally nowher…