If you find it harder and harder to regroup after the fall holidays-or if putting on your holiday face is harder than dragging the Christmas decorations out of the attic-you may need an attitude adjustment. A Christmas market cruise may be just the ticket to put you back on track and ready for your own celebration at home.

Tired of Aunt Jane's fruitcake before you even finish the turkey and dressing? Stale cookies got you down? Toss those and head out on an eating adventure that includes fresh apple strudel, gingerbread, and chimney cakes rolled in cinnamon sugar among other delights.

And then there's sausage. Along the rivers of Germany and Austria, the smell of fresh sausage wafts through the air, calling you to the markets. And, because the recipe for sausage varies from one community to another, you must try them all. It's probably a law.

Stow your wine snobbery. The holiday season in Europe is all about hot mulled cheap red wine. It's called Gluhwein in Germany and Glogg in Sweden. Each market has vendors selling the wine in souvenir mugs. Once you finish the wine in your mug, you only pay for a refill at the next vendor. Collecting mugs from each market you visit may weigh down your luggage, so plan accordingly.

Let's face it, as tempting as a warm-weather cruise is between holidays, all those scantily-clad people on a Caribbean cruise can be hard to endure when you are smack-dab in the middle of eating season. Relax-everyone on your Christmas market cruise (including you) will be bundled up, effectively hiding those extra servings of pumpkin pie you gobbled at Thanksgiving.

The top decks of the river ships may not be open at all if there is snow and ice, but even when they are open, this is not the season most people spend oodles of time sprawled out on deck chairs.

Speaking of snow, if it does snow during your Christmas market cruise, you can sit back and enjoy the beauty of it-no driveways to shovel or windshields to scrape. Most Christmas market cruises, like those on AmaWaterways, utilize comfortable buses to transport guests to and from most markets. You simply walk from the ship to the pre-warmed bus on sidewalks already cleared for your shopping adventure.

Depending on the cruise you choose, you might avoid snow altogether. Weather in Germany, where the bulk of the European Christmas market cruises take place, is relatively mild during December. Precipitation along both the Danube and the Rhine is as likely to be in the form of rain as it is snow in December.

American Queen Steamboat Company has cruises on the Lower Mississippi that include holiday markets and visits to historic plantation homes decorated in all the holiday splendor.

Winter river cruising is the exception rather than the rule. You can expect smaller crowds at the non-market attractions you visit, as well as quieter shops, galleries and museums.

Nothing about winter detracts from the scenic beauty of a river cruise. The ability to enjoy the sight of towns and countrysides along the river is perhaps the greatest reason to take a river cruise in any season.

Imagine castles glowing with holiday adornments or market stalls dressed in evergreen boughs. Picture cities ablaze with lights, all reflected on the waters you are sailing on. One of the most popular scenic treats for cruises on the Danube are the lights of Budapest at night. The lights on public buildings are there year-round-allowing you to see them on any river cruise that visits the city-but the impact during a holiday-season cruise, when even more of the city shines, is a gotta-see-it-to-believe-it moment.

The market cruises offer the chance to skip the mall and the cranky crowds in favor of cheerful and festive Christmas markets that are only a part of what you have access to when you take a river cruise. Tours incorporate history, architecture and culture, as well as the markets.

Think handmade items of wood, leather and glass-or spices, dried fruits and meats. You can bring home hats, scarves, toys and ornaments to give, and the one thing you know for sure is that nobody else will be giving the same thing.

Perhaps one of the most surprising joys of a Christmas market cruise is appreciating the differences from country to country, even city to city, in how residents celebrate the holiday. The contrast is both enlightening and empowering when you return home ready to celebrate your own traditions.