Let the countdown officially begin! We are less than a week away from setting sail on the 3rd annual Katinas & Friends Cruise. When we first came up with the idea of hosting our own cruise we weren’t quite sure what we were getting into. Although we have been and continue to be involved with some of the larger Christian music cruises it is a whole new ballgame when you are the one solely responsible for the planning, promoting, and production. Our initial goals were to make the cruise family friendly, affordable, and intimate. It was also extremely important for us to provide the right balance of spiritually edifying activities and also give everyone the opportunity to just let go and have fun, this is a vacation after all! It has been a learning experience for us but according to the feedback we have received from the first two cruises we succeeded in providing a memorable experience and everyone has said it was a good investment of their time and money.

Perhaps the one description that comes up the most from previous cruisers is “intimate”. Through the course of the cruise our group partakes in morning devotions, daily activities, meals, and evening celebrations that consist of music, games, and fellowship. When we embark on the cruise we arrive as a diverse group of strangers, however by the time the cruise is over there truly is a unique bond shared by all and we are truly a family. We are reminded of this bond whenever we run into one of our past cruisers when we are on tour at a church service or concert, it is like seeing an old friend or family member.

While we are well aware of the times and economic stressed you are under, we want to encourage you to pray about participating in our 4th annual Katinas & Friends Cruise in 2010. Being a whole year away there is plenty of time to start budgeting right now to make it happen. Several of the families on the cruises have told us they plan on scaling down their Christmas festivities and apply that money towards making the cruise an annual family tradition. Their reasoning is that the experience and memories from the cruise will last longer than any clothes, toys, etc. that they would be spending money on at Christmas. Regardless of your financial strategy, we promise that the sacrifices you make to be a part of this memorable event will be worth it!