Why Cruising?

[N00B]

I love travel and vacations and have been on more than most of my friends and acquaintances. But this will only be my 2nd cruise.

 

I notice that so many of you have cruise, after cruise, after cruise...... under your belt. I don't know if you all actually get to travel THAT much and take THAT many vacations or if you pretty much exclusively cruise when you vacation (even so many of you have more cruises than I've ever had vacations).

 

So what is it about cruising that keeps bringing you back - and back - and back. Statistically they say most cruisers are first timers, does that mean that most people choose not to repeat the experience? For whatever reason. And if so - what makes you so different?

 

Also do you only take cruises at this point or do you also do All Inclusive resort vacations and/or land tours and/or self-guided type tours? Is cruising your one and only true love (in the vacation world) or is it just one of many things you sample off the vacation menu?

 

And after this cruise will I be ruined for any other type of vacation ever again? And if so why is that? What is so wonderful about cruising that so many of you have 50+ cruises under your belt? (and counting)

[dorisis]

I love travel and vacations and have been on more than most of my friends and acquaintances. But this will only be my 2nd cruise.

 

I notice that so many of you have cruise, after cruise, after cruise...... under your belt. I don't know if you all actually get to travel THAT much and take THAT many vacations or if you pretty much exclusively cruise when you vacation (even so many of you have more cruises than I've ever had vacations).

 

So what is it about cruising that keeps bringing you back - and back - and back. Statistically they say most cruisers are first timers, does that mean that most people choose not to repeat the experience? For whatever reason. And if so - what makes you so different?

 

Also do you only take cruises at this point or do you also do All Inclusive resort vacations and/or land tours and/or self-guided type tours? Is cruising your one and only true love (in the vacation world) or is it just one of many things you sample off the vacation menu?

 

And after this cruise will I be ruined for any other type of vacation ever again? And if so why is that? What is so wonderful about cruising that so many of you have 50+ cruises under your belt? (and counting)

 

We are both old and have travelled all over the world for the last 60 years. First we travelled mainly in America by car. Then we branched out and travelled all over Europe in rented cars. then it was Europe by rail and bus. After retirement (32 years ago), we started cruising to Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica.

 

We are no longer in love with flying. It has become a form of torture as far as I am concerned. So what is left? Cruising "The civilized way to travel.

 

 

As you age, you will find everything changes including travel options.

[OCruisers]

Cruising is an extremely easy way to travel.

Wonderful to be able to unpack our suitcases ONCE and use the ship as our floating hotel.

We would never have been to many of the places we have except for the convenience of cruising. :)

 

Sure we still continue to go to the beach here in SC and other land trips from time to time. We do both.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Bruin Steve]

First of all, I've done about 35 cruises--of all sorts--short three nighters all the way up to 14-16 night cruises in Europe...

 

I don't just cruise...but I do overwhelmingly prefer cruises...

 

Most often, I'll build a longer vacation around a cruise. For example, my most recent trip was a 25 night trip to Europe built around a 13 night cruise...We flew in several days early, rented a car, explored Northern Italy and the Swiss Alps before boarding our cruise in Venice...When the cruise disembarked in Rome, we rented another car and traveled another several days in Italy...

 

There are many great benefits to ANY sort of travel...which is why we like to mix it up a bit...The land portions allow us to become more immersed in the local nightlife and to get to places not reachable by ship and to enjoy more of the local cuisine...The cruise portions allow us to get to a lot of remote and varied places without a lot of hassle...or constant packing and unpacking...or spending a large portion of our vacation days just trying to get from one place to another.

 

Several years ago now, we spent 17 nights driving around France (with a little of the time extending into Bruges and Barcelona and ending in Milan)...We seemed to spend the bulk of most days driving...Not that the driving wasn't scenic (it was SOMETIMES) or interesting, just that it's wearing...Another trip many years ago, we visited Israel, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany all in a three week span--using buses, rental cars, ferries, etc. A fulfilling trip, but exhausting...

 

There is a lot of "adventure" and "experience" in those land trips--but it's not necessarily all good!

 

What I love about cruising is that, at least for the cruise portion, I unpack just once, we travel place to place while I'm eating, sleeping or being entertained...I have no surprises as to cost--especially food cost...I always know the food is good (While traveling on land, we've had some of our best meals...and some of our absolute worst--we still laugh about our Chinese dinner in Barcelona-Christmas Eve and the only place open-just about inedible...not to mention some bad meat in France and boring dinners in Scandinavia...Local food is not always a wonderful experience)...

 

On the ship I get superb service, relaxing days and something to do at night...

 

Another thing about cruising for a "people person" like myself is it can be a very social experience. We meet people, share tours together, dine together, etc. We have some stimulating conversation over meals...make friends...

 

Cruising also works out to be an excellent deal for the most part...We're doing a short three night cruise in a few weeks. We don't do these for the itinerary, just for the cruise experience...As a quick getaway, pricewise, it beats the heck out of "land" options...We'll drive down to the port of LA (about an hour from home) and jump on the Golden Princess. We have a nice Caribe Deck balcony cabin (larger balcony)...The cost for three nights is $299 per person plus $55 in fees and taxes--minus a $30 onboard credit...add about $70 for gratuities and $30 parking at the pier...and we've got a pretty nice three night trip for under $800 total...

 

I don't have to do much driving...All of our time will be spent relaxing--eating, being entertained, being served with top-flight service...with plenty to do onboard...

 

Compare that to a "land" getaway here in SoCal...A drive from home to Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Lake Arrowhead, etc--close-in resort destinations--would still entail more driving...and nice hotels in those places would easily run between $250-$500 per night...So, you'd spend that same $800 without eating or getting out of your hotel!

 

Last year, we did a TWO-NIGHT weekend in Vegas...Stayed at the Mirage (happened to be Super Bowl weekend, so you don't even want to know the room rate)...by the time we were done with the hotel room, nice meals (yes, we ate nice--we were on vacation), shows (Cirque de Soleil and Terry Fator), the cost for the two of us topped $2500! We could have done a week's cruise for that with money left over...

 

I can afford to travel...but I also like to get value for my travel dollar...Cruising gives us that...

 

Some people claim cruises don't give them enough time in every port...IMHO, cruising gives you more time in more ports...Again, no time wasted getting from place to place, checking in and out of hotels, etc. Every cruise day in port is a full day of sightseeing--if you want...

 

So, yes, I travel a lot...no, I am not retired...It's just that my job allots me six weeks vacation time per year and my wife works for the schools, so she's off summers, winter break and spring break...And, if I'm taking vacation, I get as far away from work as I can...

[Pam in CA]

Why cruising? It's not for everyone. I've cruised probably close to 500 days on a variety of lines and been to all seven continents. I also have taken several riverboat cruises and land adventures such as an African safari and Galapagos. I went to Europe for the first time when I was 15 and spent the summer there traveling around with my sister and parents. Spent a month visiting friends in Caracas when I was 16. Lived in France for a year (on my own) when I was 19. I've taken 2-3 week land trips in Russia and other countries. So, I'm relatively well-traveled and don't feel the need at my age (72) to do in-depth land trips.

 

For me, cruising is a way to be with old friends, meet new friends, visit new and interesting sights that I wouldn't go to otherwise, unpack once and relax on the ship if I don't feel like exploring. It's nice to return onboard after a busy day touring, shower, meet friends for a drink and enjoy a delicious, relaxing dinner

[paul929207]

You will probably find some common threads, but with each responder also adding their own pluses.

 

I guess I would throw in the wonderful people you meet. We take mostly longer, exotic cruises on Princess and there are always passengers we know from prior trips. Some we knew would be on board as we were both on the Roll Call. Others we ran into in the hall or on a tour.

[DRS/NC]

When DH & I were young marrieds, we wanted to see the world -- and we managed to see a LOT! We learned early to distinguish between "trips" & "vacations". Driving in the US & UK, tour group in Italy, business trips/safaris in E. Africa & France -- great trips, fabulous memories -- but not relaxing. Our young daughter went w/us everywhere & it was wonderful family time.

 

But if we (esp. Mom) wanted to relax, but still see great places, we quickly learned that cruising was the best. We could all 3 do what we wanted, eat what we wanted (DD tried new foods that were too expensive to try & maybe not like in a regular restaurant), NOT have to decide on 'which restaurant?' and still have great fun together -- and only pack/unpack ONCE! Our early cruises were way before the Internet & cell phones -- great for DH: the office couldn't reach him!

 

Now that DD is grown and DH has passed, I've done a group tour (fun, interesting but very tiring!) and a cruise. A cruise is way more comfortable and easier for an older woman; both are costly for a single. I hope/plan to continue to do both, but a cruise is my 1st choice, if possible.

 

The bottom line for us was always "how can we best see & enjoy new, interesting places?" That's still my plan, but I do REALLY like seeing those places from the comfort of the high seas!

[Scrapnana]

From my mid 30s to 50s I did a number of land tours (China, Australia, Egypt, and Europe). Most of the time it was one or two nights in a place and then move one. I loved it at the time. Now that I am in my 60s it does not appeal. The first cruise I can remember was when I was 10 and I have loved cruising from then on. Now that I am retired and can travel when I want, I will be cruising. No house work, no food preparation, do what I want, when I want, if I want. Unpack once and your hotel takes you to the places you are visiting. On a land vacation I feel like I have to be doing something, visiting some place, etc. all the time. Cruising is far more relaxing yet still exciting.

[luvscruising2007]

When our kids were young we took car trips, camping trips and visited historical sites, national parks, and of course disney. It was great and we saw a lot of places. Now we are both retired. As someone else posted, flying is not as comfortable as it once was. We have been cruising for 6 years and love it. We might do a land trip again, but our 1st choice is for the relaxation and great service we receive on a cruise.

[deladypilot]

We do a mix of vacations. We love to rent a beach house or a cabin in the mountains as much as we love to cruise but we are starting to think of doing more cruises. We enjoy the rest and relaxation of a cruise even though we always seem to be on the go. So how, not having a phone, the internet, tv etc makes for a more relaxing vacation

[OCruisers]

From my mid 30s to 50s I did a number of land tours (China, Australia, Egypt, and Europe). Most of the time it was one or two nights in a place and then move one. I loved it at the time. Now that I am in my 60s it does not appeal. .

 

Hear You! As time goes by ... what we want to do changes. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

~~~~

[MommaBear55]

DH and I love the relaxation, the environment, the ease of travel between ports, leisurely dining, meeting new people, being waited on. We enjoy it with the extended family for the variety of activities offered, the sports, the shows, the sheer variety of choices. My BFF and I go with other ladies who also love quilting on quilting cruises..

 

It took me 35 years to talk my husband into cruising and now we do two a year, generally 10 days or longer each.

 

We also take land trips to new spots, timeshare stays on beaches and family ski trips and a yearly trip to Walt Disney World. Each month is a different adventure. My schedule allows me a week off a month, so I can go for a week or combine to do a two week vacation every other month. DH had 6 weeks a year before he retired. Now he does consulting so sets his own schedule.

[calliopecruiser]

For me, there's something incredibly relaxing and calm to be at sea in the middle of nowhere, so I choose only transoceanic cruises heavy in sea days and as light as possible in port days. That's a kind of experience that a land vacation has never been able to produce, and probably never will. On the other hand, I have done several land vacations around the world and will do several more - not to resorts but to cities and countryside locations I plan in DIY trips. IMO, cruising is a lousy way to really see the world because you only see a small slice of wherever you stop, and only for 7 or 8 hours, so when I want to see another place I go and spend several days (or even weeks) there. For instance, my next cruise will be a transpacific to New Zealand, and then I'll rent a car and spend 7-10 days there before flying home.

 

The type of relaxation I get on a transatlantic cruise is unbelievably wonderful, and I hope to be able to indulge in that every couple of years.

[D&L Thomas]

Cruising is easy breezy true complete relaxation. No worries. Hakuna Matata!

 

We like cruising. We also like more adventurous land travel. We have timeshares and we like to hook those up with rental apartments in nearby cities. We have combined Vermont with Montreal, and Carmel with San Francisco. Even Prague and Vienna!

 

We are both still working FT so it's a challenge to fit it all in. We have 3 land trips planned of 2 weeks each. We figure we can cruise comfortably into our 70's and hopefully 80's so are concentrating on more physically active trips for now. But if a great cruise deal comes up we will snag it!

[dorisis]

This has been an interesting thread, I have enjoyed reading about others travel experiences.

[cruiserking]

We love the sheer excitement of traveling aboard a ship, watching the ocean roll by, the beautiful public rooms, meeting people. Leaving from our home port in New York makes life simple, no schlepping to the airport and dealing with all of that nonsense.

 

You unpack once and lovely ports materialize every other day or so. There is always plenty to do. It's essentially a moving resort hotel, what else could you ask for?

 

Jonathan

[Warm Breezes]

I love travel and vacations and have been on more than most of my friends and acquaintances. But this will only be my 2nd cruise.

 

I notice that so many of you have cruise, after cruise, after cruise...... under your belt. I don't know if you all actually get to travel THAT much and take THAT many vacations or if you pretty much exclusively cruise when you vacation (even so many of you have more cruises than I've ever had vacations).

 

So what is it about cruising that keeps bringing you back - and back - and back. Statistically they say most cruisers are first timers, does that mean that most people choose not to repeat the experience? For whatever reason. And if so - what makes you so different?

 

Also do you only take cruises at this point or do you also do All Inclusive resort vacations and/or land tours and/or self-guided type tours? Is cruising your one and only true love (in the vacation world) or is it just one of many things you sample off the vacation menu?

 

And after this cruise will I be ruined for any other type of vacation ever again? And if so why is that? What is so wonderful about cruising that so many of you have 50+ cruises under your belt? (and counting)

 

We take both land and sea vacations. We have yet to do an all-inclusive because I have yet to find a deal during the time we can go that is better than a cruise. Since we don't drink much (I purchased 3 drinks and DH 4 on our last 6 day cruise), the added benefit of the all inclusive drinks are not a benefit to us. When planning a vacation I usually check the prices for land and sea for the different places we are interested in seeing. For example, our next cruise is for our 25th anniversary. We narrowed down our choices between Las Vegas, which has been a go to place for our adult vacations since our honeymoon and using LV as a base and sight seeing all around it (Grand Canyon, Sedona, Death Valley, Zion, etc), and NCL Jewel out of New Orleans. The price of both was comparable. What made us lean towards Jewel was the fact that we have never been to New Orleans so we were adding 3 extra days there to check out the city, plus we have never been to 3 out of the 4 ports the cruise stopped at. We decided we wanted to go with the new experiences over the hit me with me memories trip.

 

Personally we love to do both. Our kids, who were 4 and 7 when we started cruising and 16 and 19 on our last cruise a couple of weeks ago, preferred cruising over land so most of our family vacations ended up being cruises. I always try to add 2-4 days in our embarkation port city to get a little land vacation, and visit relatives close to the port, in there too. Besides our family vacation, that usually ended up being a cruise, we would also have a week at where ever DD's National Dance Competition was locate (the last 4 years have been Toledo so we would have side trips to Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Detroit Tiger games), DH and I would also try to get a long adults only week end (this year it will be 10 days for our 25th anniversary), plus some weekend trips as a family to see sports games, broadway shows or go to places like Chicago, Traverse City, Petosky, etc. IMHO we have a good balance going. Making time for vacations has always been a priority for me. With our busy work, school, and sports scedules, this time to relax and have fun together has been priceless to us.

[Gunner22aa]

My career in the army has taken me all over the world, to six continents and over 50 countries. Been to some very beautiful places and frankly some hell holes as well. I find cruising the most relaxing vacation out there. With the exception of getting to and from the ship I am basically responsible for nothing. Far from the responsibilities I shoulder as an officer. I don't drive, I don't have to be at any place at any time I don't choose to and I can do as much or as little as I desire. I can leave the bussle of the big city one day and wake up in the tranquility of a remote island the next and the day after that wake up to yet another adventure or not if I so choose. I have taken many other forms of vacation over the years but nothing relaxes me more than long wonderful days at sea.

[cruiseapril]

As others have said, cruising is relaxing. We enjoy cruising in the Caribbean to get away from the cold New England end of winter. We cruise in March or April and then come back to some green grass!

 

We spend lots of time at lakes in Maine in the summer, travel by car or train in New England in the Spring and Fall and then often take a cross country train trip to California in late Fall. (Have been to Europe on a transatlantic too in the Fall.)

 

We love cruising the Caribbean and have so far visited 21 ports- some several times. We enjoy the beaches, music, cultures, food, and people of the Caribbean. Such an interesting blend for those interested in exploring the areas away from the shops.

[Cruisin Broad]

In February 2014, I will be taking my 9th cruise. The first cruise was with my husband and another couple. My husband decided one cruise was enough for him, and suggested that if I wanted to cruise again, I should find someone else to cruise with me. Since 2000 I've been cruising with female friends. We love that we can leave our beds unmade each morning and return to a room that has been cleaned and the bed has been made; we love that we can sit down to a table for dinner, have someone serve us, and leave the dishes for someone else to clean; we love arriving at a new destination each day without having to plan the route; we simply love a vacation where we have someone else taking care of us, instead of us taking care of everyone else. It really is a great escape from our normal routines. My husband and I have had many vacations that are not cruise ship related (we're currently traveling in a motor home), but for a "girls getaway" cruising is the best option, although we have talked about the possibility of going to an all inclusive at some point.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

One time to pack and repack.

[14Terry]

There is just something about being at sea & relaxing!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Gloria Mundi]

We are no longer in love with flying. It has become a form of torture as far as I am concerned. So what is left? Cruising "The civilized way to travel.

 

As you age, you will find everything changes including travel options.

 

That's definitely part of it. I'm 60, DH is 75 and he no longer wants to fly long-hauls (Europe) in Coach because it just takes him too long to recover. We still go to Europe, but a lot less often, and I'm also more likely to park us in only one or two places over the trip rather than moving from place to place every few days. Sometimes we even have duplicate hotel bookings- City X is our main base but we do a quick overnight in City Y without checking out of our hotel in City X. We still go to Europe, though. We like being in one place for awhile so we can explore it, rather than having to cram all our experiences into one excursion before the ship moves on.

 

We loved our Alaskan small-ship cruise last year and are going again next year. I don't think we'll ever get into the larger ships- too much that we're not interested in (night life, art auctions, rock-climbing walls, gambling. formal dinners, crowded ports) and too much that are absolute turnoffs (crowds, hours to embark/disembark, waiting in long lines for meals and finding it hard to get a table, chair hogs at the pool). I think our travel will continue to be a blend of land-only trips and small-ship cruises.

[bus man]

I love travel and vacations and have been on more than most of my friends and acquaintances. But this will only be my 2nd cruise.

 

[. . .]

 

And after this cruise will I be ruined for any other type of vacation ever again? And if so why is that? What is so wonderful about cruising that so many of you have 50+ cruises under your belt? (and counting)

 

OP, you have already been on one cruise, and it was apparently enjoyable enough to you that you'll be going on a second one. So to an extent, at least, you do "get it." What did you like about your first cruise that was enough to make you want to do it again?

 

Also, now that you've cruised, do you feel ruined for other types of trips? If you feel like you still want to take land trips, I would doubt that a second cruise would sway you from that, if the first one didn't.

 

As for me and my family, our travels are mainly to visit relatives. For "just us" vacations, we probably do 2 or 3 land trips for every cruise. Personally, I would be content to reverse that ratio, as I absolutely adore cruising. My wife definitely enjoys it, but not enough to forego land vacations. So we've tried to find the balance that suits us both.

[lor74]

Being in our 30s, and not having any kids, we travel a lot compared to other people our age. We have done a couple of all inclusive resorts, and we spend a lot of time in VT during the warmer months. We will be going on our 15th cruise in 2 weeks. We LOVE cruising because it gives you the option to have a vacation in which you are constantly doing stuff, or the option to do nothing at all. We love being on the ocean, and since we are so tied to our jobs and the technology that goes with them, it gives us a chance to get unplugged which is the only true way for us to relax.