If I had to choose one parenthood cause to champion for the rest of my life, it would be to advocate for more self-care. I am not talking about bubble baths here. I mean more freedom to explore their interests and hobbies, watching the movies they like, maybe learning a new skill if they have time, or finally checking that destination off their bucket list—alone. 

When I became a mom, I knew a whole new life was about to unfold around me, but one piece that I did want to keep intact was my ability to travel (full disclosure, I only have one kid, so making that happen is a little bit easier for me). 

So here is my pitch to all the parents out there: Moms, Dads, are you listening? It’s time to book yourself that 3-day cruise to the Caribbean. And don’t invite your kids.  

I also recommend not booking just any cruise, but one on MSC Cruises, and even more specifically in the cruise’s Yacht Club. 

Now, my partner and I tend to split parenting duties pretty evenly, but I would recommend a solo cruise in particular for someone who considers themselves the default parent in the family. In most cases, that’s Mom. By now, it’s well-documented that moms tend to take on the majority of the mental load, in other words, the mountain of responsibilities that go into raising a family.

A recent survey found that exhausted and overwhelmed moms are not able to dedicate even a single moment to self-care on a typical day—they are too busy folding laundry, packing lunches, and rocking babies to sleep—on top of all the emotional support they provide to both their partners and their kids. This is no way to live, let alone thrive. Moms are at their best when they take time to care for themselves.

Case-in-point, the MSC Yacht Club is the ultimate escape from even the concept of responsibility. There is no car to rent, no need to coordinate getting home safely after a few cocktails, no reason to look up the best route to the beach or the most reliable company from which to rent a jet ski. You don’t even have to make sure there’s always cash in your wallet. 

The first thing to know before you book your trip is that the 3-day cruise is the ideal option for parents because it's long enough to relax and reset, without being gone too long that your kids start to miss you or you start to miss them too much.

But there are some other steps to take before you book that 3-day cruise process to make the trip itself seamless and confusion-free with minimal organization on your end. 

First, you can pick which off-boat excursions, if any, you want to do after booking your room on the ship. If you go the Yacht Club route, the tickets are dropped off at your door the day before, so you don’t even have to think about emails, QR codes, or printing out a piece of paper. 

I also took advantage of the unlimited drinks package that can also be purchased ahead of time, so I didn’t have to worry about fishing around in my purse every time I wanted a cocktail or a bottle of water. 

You can preload your MSC account (through the cruise’s app) with money before boarding. You'll be given a wristband which you can tap at MSC-run locations, both on the boat and, if you are taking the Caribbean cruise, on the company’s private beach, if you want to purchase anything from the bar or food trucks.

But if you don’t want to buy lunch yourself, in Nassau, the Bahamas, there’s a free lunch buffet for guests to enjoy between dips in the ocean. 

Once you actually get on the boat, the Yacht Club offers a personal butler to each guest who is there to simply fix any kind of issue you encounter during your trip. When I got sunburned, mine brought me an extra tube of lotion and an extra blanket when I mentioned it was too cold in my cabin. You should tip this person, by the way, and not take advantage of their kindness, but they are specifically there to make you more comfortable. 

Do things for you. Make your life easier. I know! What a novel concept. 

For folks who booked the MSC Yacht Club, there’s also a private beach in Nassau. When I made this discovery, my whole body literally relaxed in relief. One thing I don’t love about a beach vacation is jostling for a beach chair, and if you don’t get one, sitting on a sandy towel. This problem completely disappeared thanks to the Yacht Club. The bar attached to the private beach also had no line, at least when I visited in early May. 

How to feed yourself—again, one less thing you have to think about. 

It's so much easier to understand and process your current mental state if you don’t have to think about or plan any logistics—and between coordinating school pick up, appointments, and sports practice, sometimes it feels like logistics is all there is to raising kids. 

I found myself emptying my head of all the crowded thoughts jostling for my attention. My brain quieted. It quickly became clear that the real perk of going on a cruise is that I didn’t have to think about anything, really.

On the typical vacation, you're traipsing around to different locations, checking out the sites and attractions, moving all day, often in the sun, until you get back to your hotel room in the evening with blisters. What if, what if, you used the cruise to have the exact opposite type of vacation. 

Of all the perks and the luxuries of the MSC Yacht Club the one I loved the most is that you don’t actually have to ever leave it. Sure, there is a casino, shopping, and a stage for musical performances, all around the boat and yes, there is plenty of opportunity for fun there. 

But I actually think there is much to be said for less exploring on some types of vacations, and a cruise is one of them. The Yacht Club has its own private pool, hot tub, outdoor bar, breakfast buffet, and adults-only lounge. It’s like its own little ecosystem (and side note: it's so much quieter and less crowded than the rest of the boat). 

So if you just want to sit in a comfortable chair with a glass of wine and a snack, and stare out into the ocean until your brain fills with white noise—which is, if you're a parent, actually incredibly satisfying—you can! 

Vacation burnout is a very real thing, and it's completely avoidable on a cruise. You do not, under any circumstances, have to stress about having “sightseeing” and “adventures” on vacation. You can just exist in your surroundings without pressuring yourself to see or do anything that feels like it would take up too much of your energy. Which you are there to replenish, may I remind you. 

And like I said, you can prearrange excursions like snorkeling, boat tours, or dolphin interactions, and a very helpful and accommodating person from the Yacht Club will tell you exactly when to disembark the boat and where to stand in line once you get there. Whether you decide to stay on the boat or venture out, the point is: Everything is already taken care of. It’s all done for you. No thinking, remember. Just being. 

I want to be extra clear about a few caveats now that I’ve made my argument that your next solo vacation should be a cruise. In the long run, I acknowledge that a vacation is just a band-aid for our bigger problems as parents. What would really make life easier for us is free universal preschool and school lunch, affordable health insurance, and guaranteed paid maternity leave. But I also strongly believe a solo trip can be a chance to reconnect with yourself and explore your personhood outside of just the label of “parent.”

A trip like this can also be cost-prohibitive. If you have the resources to split the cost of a vacation with your partner or another family member, save up yourself, or simply have the means already, a solo vacation isn’t just an opportunity to offload your childcare routine onto your partner for a few days. It’s also an opportunity to check in with yourself mentally.

Whether you want to splurge on your first (of hopefully many) solo vacation after having kids or just need to get as far away from scheduling playdates and dentist appointments as you can without ending up on Mars, a cruise will take you where you need to go, with minimal effort required.