Top 10 reasons for a girlfriends' getaway

You can never over-pack. Girlfriends know that playing dressing up is fun. So what if the evening gown with the layers of crinoline requires its own suitcase? You feel like a princess wearing it, and frankly, after cousin Cheryl's wedding, you really don't know when you'll get to sashay in it again if you don't don it on formal night. Then, there's the duffle stuffed just with shoes from Manolos and pink patent leather flip-flops to beach sandals, sneakers and black sling-backs. Cruise with a girlfriend and she knows why you just had to pack five suitcases for a seven-day trip. After all, what's the problem?

Finding the perfect bathing suit is possible. Face it: Few spouses, or boyfriends, are interested in spending precious shore time browsing for bargains when they could be swimming, diving, golfing or lounging in the sand. But a girlfriend knows about the joys of the hunt in a new locale. And with a girlfriend you can search for what you'd never, ever approach with a husband/lover: a new bathing suit. Beachwear boutiques abound in Caribbean ports, but who's going to squirm into a two-piece in front of a cranky beau? Forget about it. But a girlfriend will tell you if that re-enforced panel across the tummy really does make last night's cheesecake disappear. In Antigua, Diane and I confronted our worst selves at Sun Seekers, a shop with hundreds of swimsuits constructed for bodies from svelte to bodacious. We each came away with a cleverly designed piece that did wonders for our posteriors as well as our egos.

Gambling doesn't have to be a macho sport. Floating casinos are part of the fun. There are plenty of tables for high rollers betting on roulette and Blackjack, but on a cruise ship it's non-threatening for novices like us to plunk down $20 and wander from one slot machine to another, picking our favorite based on intuition. One night on Norwegian Dawn, by the time we had to leave to make the Broadway-style show in the ship's theater, we were up $15, which made going back the next evening and losing $15 just fine.

Life can be a floating pajama party. And best of all, bunking with a girlfriend turns the cruise into a sophisticated pajama party. We get all of the fun, none of the work, and no yelling parents (my mother would always threaten to kill me and my friends around 1 a.m. if we didn't quiet down). So Diane and I talked -- and laughed-- late into the night, sharing confidences about first loves, crazy neighbors, high school foibles and current husband quandaries. After all, sleeping in was fine and breakfast was brought to our cabin-- no worries about getting up early, making the beds and going to work.

Experience a girlfriends' getaway virtually! Check out our report from "Good Morning America"'s Girlfriends Getaway week on Norwegian Jewel.

Candyce H. Stapen is the author of "National Geographic's Guide to Caribbean Family Vacations".

Cruise Critic, which launched in 1995, is a comprehensive cruise vacation planning guide providing objective cruise ship reviews, cruise line profiles, destination content on 125+ worldwide ports, cruise bargains, tips, industry news, and cruise message boards.

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