Despite warnings of financial woes and worse to come, it appears many of us are determined to do just that.

If rushing off to a hot climate and relaxing in the lap of luxury seems like your idea of heaven, then two Falkirk-based experts can help turn the dream into reality.

Between them, Norman Lewis and Carolanne McDonald have an amazing 66 YEARS experience in the travel trade. The pair have worked together for most of that time and now literally know everything you need to know about cruising on the ocean waves.

More than a quarter century after stepping aboard his first holiday liner, Norman has sailed around the world several times ... and believes a cruise is the perfect place to spend any long-awaited vacation.

He said: "People are a bit worried about the financial climate just now but they are still booking for next summer. They've maybe decided not to get a new car but they're still having their holiday.

"In fact, we've already taken bookings for February and March 2010.
Customers are telling us that in the present climate, they feel it's important to have something to look forward to."

Falkirk born and bred, Norman (59) left school and began work with the National Commercial Bank in the town. After a couple of years, he moved through to Glasgow to work in travel firm Thomas Cook's foreign exchange.

"My girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife, was training to be a teacher and had all these long holidays. But during the summer we were working all the hours in the foreign exchange so I decided if I wanted to see her, to move over to the travel agency side and really enjoyed it," he said.

In 1968 the package holiday boom was just taking off with the majority of people heading to Majorca or the Spanish Costas.

After a spell in Glasgow, Norman moved back through to Falkirk initially working with Thomas Stirling before going to Ellermann Travel in Manor Street. He was then at AT Mays for a number of years, working alongside Carolanne (55), with the pair currently running the cruise department at Thomas Cook in the town's High Street.

Norman added: "When I started in the travel trade, cruising was very much seen as the holiday for the rich and elderly but that has changed completely. Now lots of families go and it's definitely the type of holiday that once you've experienced it, you rarely want to do anything else.

"My first experience was about 25 years ago when my sons were just three and five. We travelled down to Southampton to join the Canberra for a cruise round the Mediterranean and we all loved it.

"There's always stacks to do on board for everyone, but if you want a relaxing holiday you can have that. The attraction is also that everything is paid for before you go. Families who go now tell us that there is so much for children to do that the parents feel they're getting a holiday too."

The days of a cabin having just a bed and a washhand basin are firmly in the past. Cruise ships now boast en suite facilities and even cabins with balconies. "That's one of the attractions of going on a cruise ship. Booking a hotel you don't know what room you're getting until you turn up, but with a ship you select your cabin when arranging your holiday," explained Norman.

"Add to this the opulent surroundings of the ships and it's easy to see why this is a growing part of the travel industry. We've had customers who book a cruise for a special occasion, such as a ruby wedding anniversary and afterwards come back and say they wished they'd discovered cruising years ago."

The depth of Norman and Carolanne's knowledge and experience is so great that people come from all over Central Scotland and beyond to book a cruise with them. Thomas Cook has 800 branches across the UK with Falkirk regularly notching up the top sales for cruises.

Although the Mediterranean and the Carribean are favourite destinations for cruisers, Alaska and the Norwegian fjords are also popular with the latter being Norman's own favourite.

"When you sail into the fjords the scenery is magnificent and it just takes your breath away," he said.

And his favourite cruise ship? "It has to be the Canberra. Although she was an old lady and didn't have all the facilities that modern cruise liners have, she was definitely a ship with character."