DETOUR - 2GO Travel

A Cruise to Happiness by Lala Dimaano“What am I doing here?” As I stepped onto thepassenger terminal, I found myself staring at agigantic ship. I was still on dry, stable land, butI was already feeling nauseous. I just recentlystayed at a beach resort alone. I snorkeled, I sailed, Ikayaked. But, as I made my way up the gangplank to boardthe ship, I thought that maybe I was pushing it a bit toofar this time. How can a non-swimmer like me spend 22hours in the open sea? I reached into my bag and poppeda motion sickness pill into my mouth and prayed forsurvival.I looked over my shoulder and saw Willan and Jacanimatedly talking to each other. This seemed so naturalto them. Willan and Jac are from 2GO Travel’s marketingteam, and they were travelling with me to introduce meto the joy of cruising in the Philippines. This 2GO Travelvessel was to take us from Manila to Cebu City. It wasmy first time to travel for more than two hours by sea, ina ship this big. I’ve been in the travel industry for sevenyears, and I’ve taken countless bus and plane rides. Butnever have I crossed the seas on a ship. Maybe this was mychristening. My chance to be a real traveler.I was assigned a stateroom which was tastefully-donein shades of pink and magenta, and had two beds, a couch,a 32-inch LCD TV, a cabinet, a dresser, a toilet and bathwith a tub. It looked like a floating hotel. At this point,I realized that I was about to travel to my destination inluxury and told myself that I had nothing to worry andcomplain about.2GO Travel’s SF12 vessel has two dining areas—theHorizon Restaurant and Café for those who are travellingfirst-class, and Island Fiesta for economy passengers. Onthe way to Horizon, Willan, Jac, our photographer, Karl,and I passed the economy room. I saw dozens of people allbunked in one large room. Each passenger was assigned asingle bed and most of them had a lot of baggage. I saw onepassenger who had a sealed stand fan box, a bayong, a bigcan of assorted biscuits, and a huge bag. I knew then whya lot of people prefer to travel by sea. Those who come toManila to work and have the chance to visit their familiesin the province for only a few times a year would of coursewant to bring with them pasalubong, just like OverseasFilipino Workers who load their bags with lots of importeditems when they come home to the Philippines. Domesticairlines allow a baggage limit of only 15 kilograms perpassenger. If these people flew from Manila to Cebu, apartfrom the more expensive fare, they would have to payextra for their excess baggage. So the better option wouldbe to ride a ship where each passenger has a baggageallowance of 75 kilograms – five times more than what isallowed on a plane.april - june 2012 travel time 77