My Attraction to Cruising

Note: This post originally appeared on the "Whatever Happened To...? board and was copied to this forum. Host Walt

Well, I'm a relative newcomer at cruising. I had never thought much about cruising--never thought I would enjoy it. There was a married couple at work who were cruise enthusiasts and justraved about the whole thing. It just didn't seem to intrigue me at all. I figured (literally) "whatever floats your boat."

When my wife and I retired a few years ago one of the first things we did was apply for our passports. Our first cruise was actually a promotional giveaway from a local land-based casino. We figured that the cost of flying to Miami and the port charges were worth figuring out what cruisingwas all about.

So, a couple of years ago we sailed on Majesty of the Seas to Nassau, Coco Cay and Key West. Reading reviews about the oldest ship in RC's fleet made me skeptical about it, but it was just fine in my book. I kind of liked the fact that it wasn't the newest or biggest. I figured that if I liked sailing on an older ship then I would enjoy the newer and bigger ships,too.

I was immediately hooked on the whole idea. I have always loved to travel and cruising allows one to see several places on a single trip without the hassle of packing everything up between each destinations. I definitely like the hotel moving, not moving to a new hotel. Certainly, as this website has shown,cruising has a lot of things that a lot of people don't like. But geez, if you look at the big picture--it is a wonderful way to see the world.

We spend an awful lot of the sea days (and money) in the casino, and because of this we have been given offers for future sailings. Soon after our inaugural Bahamas trip we reserved a cabin on Explorer for a 7 night Alaskan cruise. And before we did that trip we jumped at the chance to visit Cuba on Empress. Currently we are booked to travel to Spain and France on Navigator.

A lot of the amenities on the bigger ships (like the Flow Rider, zip lines, ice skating rinks) are simply amazing that they are available on cruise ships, but frankly, they are not things that I would actively partake in. Rather, they are non-participatory sightseeing activities.

The fact that we are going to gamble in casinos whether we are at home or vacation has made another of our avocations--traveling--so much better by subsidizing some of the travel costs.

" I have always loved to travel and cruising allows one to see several places on a single trip without the hassle of packing everything up between each destinations. "

This is probably one thing that will have general agreement.

In fact it may be the thing I like the most! Unpacking and re-packing only once.

It also took me longer than I would have liked to give cruising a try. There seems to be such a negative perception of it out there. Even as I try to tell others how great it is, they seem scared to death to give it a try.

After touring for 3 weeks at a time via plane, train, bus and car, and each of us living out 1 suitcase, I finally convinced my DH to take a cruise. He fell in love with cruising.

Wonderful report OP.

And thank you Host Walt for bringing this thread to our attention.

We cruised for the very first time when we were very young .The cruise was great but my wife got so seasick that she said never again ,Our next cruise was 21 years later .That cruise was great but I dropped my camera and all the pictures taken were lost . Our next cruise was in 2008 and we have been cruising 2-3 times a year .

In my opinion there is nothing better than a cruise ,great food,good entertainment ,non stop activity and meeting new people.

I, too, am relatively new to cruising -- I've been on two cruises so far, both Holland America, the first was 14 days long, the second was 38 days. Loved both of them. I'm definitely hooked now -- I have 6 more reserved between now and the end of 2020 (2 Regent Seven Seas, 3 Holland America, 1 Oceania).

I always say I love visiting new places, seeing new things, but I HATE with a white-hot passion traveling! Schlepping luggage, catching shuttles, getting through security at the airport, coordinating scheduled (airlines, hotel, shuttles, etc.), finding my way around unfamiliar locations, dealing with crowds, the whole process.

I figure if I'm going to put myself through that much chaos and agony, there had better be a huge payoff at the other end. That payoff, for me, is a cruise lasting at least 20 days, one that ticks off a bunch of "bucket list" locations.

As long as I'm physically able and have the means to do so, I will continue to do at least 2 longer cruises per year with maybe one shorter one that starts/ends from one of the two ports near to my home (no airlines involved; just the train and taxis). There are worse ways to spend one's retirement. :D

Lana in Bellingham, WA

Hmm, no Cruise critics on this thread, only Cruise lovers.

I agree with all of you

On

Unpack

Different waterfront location each day

No cooking cleaning etc

Having health issues I can crash in the cabin while Mrs Gut enjoys things.

We just did an Alaska land/sea trip with Princess and the moving to each different hotel was indeed irritating.

Also agree with GUT that my health isn’t the best and I can rest if need be.

I was hooked before our first ship, Rhapsody Of The Seas, sailed away from Sydney.

I love being on the sea, love being on ships, I also don't need all the bells and whistles of the new ships.

Just love the sea.

Note: . Our first cruise was actually a promotional giveaway from a local land-based casino. The fact that we are going to gamble in casinos whether we are at home or vacation has made another of our avocations--traveling--so much better by subsidizing some of the travel costs. [/font]

Pardon me for asking, but do the free Cruise offers to casino players depend on how much you win OR how much you lose OR regardless of either?

We were first timers in 2005 on our first cruise to the Caribbean. We absolutely loved it. The ship, the food, not having to keep unpacking, the whole experience. Hope to go again in 2020. :D