Why Do You Choose Cruising As Your Choice For Vacationing

[bobmacliberty]

I'm like many of the others here...like the ability to see several different places from one home base, plus the variety that you get with food, entertainment, relaxing. After only cruising the Caribbean, we did our first med cruise a few months ago. It was great! It was very different from a Caribbean cruise and the ports were fantastic. We added a week in Europe before the cruise.

 

We typically alternate between cruises and land vacations. The one downside to cruising for me is that you only get a small taste of the ports, and the Diamond International stores all start to look the same after a while :rolleyes::D. It's nice being somewhere for a week to get a better feel for what it's like. Ideally, I'd "drop anchor" somewhere for a month (Italy? England? Southern France?), but that's not going to happen until after retirement.

[island lady]

We also cruise in our "land yacht" which takes up the bulk of our adventures, plus we mix in flying to wine country land tours on occasion. Mixing it up is giving us the best of all worlds, IMHO.

 

When we cruise, the DH calls that a "true vacation" ...no driving, no cooking, no cleaning...etc. :D

 

Have cruised: Gulf of Mexico, Carib, southern Carib, Panama canal, Alaska, the Med, the French canals/rivers, Hawaiian Islands, NE/Canadian Maritimes...and still more to come. ;)

Edited January 1, 2018 by island lady

[BNBR]

1) What is it about cruising that keeps you cruising? I don’t LOVE being on a ship for the sake of cruising, we use it for the logistics and seeing snapshots of multiple places at once. On a cruise you unpack once and while you sleep you move from place to place. That’s the big advantage for us.

 

We are the same way. Cruising has it's uniqueness but I'd hate to skip out on other types of travel as well. If I'm looking for relaxing by the pool, drinks, beach, etc... I'm probably not going on a cruise. A resort does it so much better. We enjoy the unique aspect of being on a ship, but it's really a great way to visit different ports and countries for that snapshot, as you would say. I try and book memorable excursions wherever we go on a cruise.

[Armac]

Just booked a Transatlantic that stops at Norway, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland and Nova Scotia. No way we could travel to all those places for the money we paid for this cruise.

35 cruises and we typically do one Caribbean per year and one or two to other destinations, Europe Alaska, Panama canal etc.

Last year we stayed in Paris for 4 nights after our Baltic cruise, we have also done this in Rome and London after cruises

[Merly]

We have 4 cruises booked this year. Caribbean. South America and 2 med. we like that we are not tied to each other all the time. If I want to do a trip, or see a show etc and DH doesn’t. I can, and he doesn't worry. Also they are a good holiday for groups. Three of the four are with others, family and friends. Again not tied to each other but can meet up and do things together when we want.

 

 

We also take a couple of land trips each year. 2017 we drove 5000 miles in the USA, and went to India. 2019 we are going to South Africa. 2018, not decided our land trips yet but probably the med.

[karena1]

We have been on 4 cruises so far - Oasis, Allure, Celebrity Eclipse, and NCL Escape Haven. We are going on Freedom next week. I love cruising and get so excited when planning our next adventure. So far all our cruises have been to the Caribbean. My hubby has enjoyed them all to but he keeps complaining that he wants to see more than the Caribbean.

 

What do I love about the cruises? I love the entertainment, relaxation, food & drinks, people, visiting of ports. You can be as active or relaxed as you want to be.

 

For the cruise diehards I have a few questions:

 

1) What is it about cruising that keeps you cruising?Love everything about it, love the islands, getting on the ship and having everything there

 

2) Where did you go after the Caribbean? no place else. We are beach people and will always cruise the Caribbean. Could care less that we have been to the islands many times

 

3) Do you also integrate land trips with cruising? We do one land vacation a year-8 nights in Punta Cana. Gorgeous place with beaches that do not end!

 

Thanks

 

see above

[dsvd79]

For the cruise diehards I have a few questions:

 

1) What is it about cruising that keeps you cruising?

Value and Price- I recently priced Disney that same time period on my next cruise. I included the dinner package flights, hotel, tickets, and it was 3 times more than what I paid for the cruise including excursion air, etc.

2) Where did you go after the Caribbean?

We did Mexican Rivera, Bermuda, Bahamas, NE/Canada. Europe Alaska and Australia are on the list.

3) Do you also integrate land trips with cruising?

 

Just the day before we fly in early.

[Jasukkie]

I'm soon to go on my fourth cruise so I have no where near as much experience as most here, but for me the addition of Bayonne as a departure port is a huge plus. I can be at the pier in about an hour from home, no worries about cancelled flights for winter weather. I also love the controlled budget feature that comes with all-inclusive.

[PigsCanFly]

1) cruising gives each of us the option to do what we enjoy including napping, gaming, shows, meals either on our own or together with our "home" within walking distance. A week or more without driving is a nice break!

 

2)we have cruised the western and Eastern Caribbean, Bahamas, Alaska, Hawaii. Our "next" list includes Canada/New England, panama canal, Southern Caribbean and perhaps New Zealand or Australia.

 

3) It depends on wether we have driven to the port or flew and how much time we have. We spent 3-4 days at Universal Orlando before our Florida departure. Spent 2-3 days in San Diego before heading out on our Hawaii cruise. Strolled in Vancouver before boarding for Alaska.

[teecee60]

 

For the cruise diehards I have a few questions:

 

1) What is it about cruising that keeps you cruising?

 

2) Where did you go after the Caribbean?

 

3) Do you also integrate land trips with cruising?

 

 

I love the entertainment, relaxation, food & drinks, people, visiting of ports. You can be as active or relaxed as you want to be... but I think you covered that already! ;)

 

The biggest thing that keeps me cruising is VALUE.... I just did a 13 night transatlantic in an ocean view cabin on Jewel OTS for $531pp, and my flight from Tucson to Zurich, Switzerland was only $297pp. If you are flexible about itinerary and timing, you can get some outrageously good deals from online travel sites by booking after final payment. In the last six years I have cruised dozens of times for less than $50pp/per day (plus tips) which is my price goal. I don't think you can find any other vacation for that price.

Edited January 1, 2018 by teecee60

[CAT GIRL]

Definitely start thinking about expanding your horizons. We have sailed the

Caribbean so many times that we don't get off the ship. Then we decided to

bite the bullet and do a Med cruise. That changed our life. Our first cruise

took us to Rome, Naples, Egypt, Cyprus, and Rhodes. It was very port

intensive but really opened our eyes that we could combine our love of being

on a ship with seeing the world. I was really naive in the fact that cruising could

take you all over the world. Since then we have seen the Baltics, Russia, Dubai,

Jordan, China, Japan, Turkey... too many to name.

 

Since it is our goal to try to experience as many countries as possible, our new

trick is to research how the flight is routed to our destination and to try to spend a

few days in a new country along the way. Our last trip we got really brave and flew into

Romania and drove around the countryside. Then flew to Warsaw and drove

to Krakow. Krakow is my new favorite city

and I never would have known that if I had stayed in the Caribbean. From Krakow we

flew to Berlin for a few days and then flew to our final destination of Rome where our

cruise left out of. By the time we got to the ship we felt like we were at "home"

 

The more you travel the more brave ....confident.... I'm not sure of the right word but

we don't feel so confined to sticking to the just what the cruise is offering. Our whole

world has opened up.

 

Go ahead, take the leap. You won't be sorry.

[Pellaz]

1) What is it about cruising that keeps you cruising?

A few things! Relatively low price compared to land vacations, especially when you factor in what's included in the fare. Only have to unpack once, every morning you wake up in a new place. I can book a cruise for $100/night/person. I've paid more than that to stay in a hotel room, and IT didn't move around and feed me for free.

2) Where did you go after the Caribbean?

So far, nowhere. I've done Eastern down to USVI and Western down to Grand Cayman. The limiting factor here is time, since I work and can't really take more than a week off work.

 

3) Do you also integrate land trips with cruising?

Not yet, for the same reasons as (2) -- not enough time. I DO take short driving trips up to TN in the summer to go swimming, I attend several SF/fantasy conventions each year, and I take a vacation by air each fall to Atlantis Bahamas (but stay at the Comfort Suites next door, a no-brainer).

[mbart25]

For the cruise diehards I have a few questions:

 

 

 

1) What is it about cruising that keeps you cruising?

 

 

 

2) Where did you go after the Caribbean?

 

 

 

3) Do you also integrate land trips with cruising?

 

 

1) I love cruising too, I love unpacking once, I Love the total relaxation of a cruise. I love waking up each morning in a new place.

2) Our 1st after was western Mediterranean cruise and it was the best!! Venice, Montenegro, Greece, Croatia, Sicily and Barcelona

We have a canary island one next month and an Italy France and Spain coming up in October.

3) in Europe we always have 2-3 days before and or after as land based. I have to say there is something about being in a city at night that I love. I miss that when cruising.

 

 

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[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I love having the ship as a home base and having the familiar service/food/atmosphere to return to each evening, all while seeing new destinations.

 

Other than the Eastern/Western/Southern Caribbean, we've cruised to the Mexican Riviera and Alaska. We have the Eastern Mediterranean (Greece/Croatia) and Canada/New England both booked. Probably Western Mediterranean in 2019. Not over the Caribbean though (don't think I'll ever be), as we still plan to cruise there in between our trips to other places.

 

We do integrate land trips also. This past summer, our big trip was to Ireland, which you can't properly see on a cruise. We're also going to Savannah, Georgia this month. We've also gone to Costa Rica. I prefer cruises, but sometimes land trips make much more sense.

[GUT2407]

1) What is it about cruising that keeps you cruising?

Get on

Unpack

Wake up in a different ocean front location each morning

Get waited on

No cooking, cleaning making beds

Cost.

Normally costs less per day than a hotel room breakfast and dinner. Then I get lunch snacks entertainment and transport on top.

2) Where did you go after the Caribbean?

Haven’t been to the Caribbean.

3) Do you also integrate land trips with cruising?

 

 

 

Sometimes

[cruiselvr04]

1) We love to cruise....unpack once, don't have drive, dont have to make a decision on where to go to eat, entertainment included is a big one for us. And at the end of the day walk down the hall to bed.

 

2) We've been to almost every Caribbean island at least once, thru the Panama Canal and to the Med. So many more places to go. ..Alaska in 2019. We still work so that limits the length of time we can be gone but can't wait to see more of Europe and beyond

 

3) We always try to fly in a few days before or stay after when possible. You're already paying airfare so we've been to NYC on the way to the Med, San Juan side trips and of course beaches in Florida.

[grest]

We have been on 4 cruises so far - Oasis, Allure, Celebrity Eclipse, and NCL Escape Haven. We are going on Freedom next week. I love cruising and get so excited when planning our next adventure. So far all our cruises have been to the Caribbean. My hubby has enjoyed them all to but he keeps complaining that he wants to see more than the Caribbean.

 

What do I love about the cruises? I love the entertainment, relaxation, food & drinks, people, visiting of ports. You can be as active or relaxed as you want to be.

 

For the cruise diehards I have a few questions:

 

1) What is it about cruising that keeps you cruising?

 

2) Where did you go after the Caribbean?

 

3) Do you also integrate land trips with cruising?

 

Thanks

 

We just love being at sea. Still going to the Caribbean,, though often we don't get off the ship much. Yes, we frequently add a week to the cruise, for example a week in NOLA after the cruise.

[Elvis1209]

The reason I like to cruise is you're never in a place long enough to get tired of it!

 

Elvis

[Turtle05]

I like that most of it is set up in advance. I'm a huge advocate for prebooking excursions. I don't want to deal with it while on board, and I tend to get anxious about that type of stuff. I loved that on the Allure I was able to prebook shows, too. Some people are not enthused about all that, but I know what I want to do, and I want to ensure I get to do that without having to beeline for the excursion desk and show up ridiculously early for a show. To me, this allows me to maximize my vacation.

 

I have never extended a cruise with time on land, but it's just because of time restrictions for work. Even if I had the time to take off, I would not want to be out of work for that long. That's too much burden on my coworkers, and where I work, people don't take that much vacation at once. I would like to do this with an Alaskan cruise and perhaps a European, Asian, or other cruise that takes me far away from home.

 

We do balance our cruises with strictly land vacations. Currently, some places don't appeal to me via cruise ship. We spent a week on Kauai, and we would like to revisit Hawaii at least once more, but I think for us, cruising would not allow us to do as much as we would like. I also don't presently wish to cruise Europe. I'd rather spend a good amount of time in a given country and go beyond the coast.

[CrossBluePerchance]

We do primarily transatlantics, preceded or followed by independent land trips in Europe. We hate flying and detest airports.

 

Caribbean? T-shirt shops and taxicabs. BTDT. Won't do it again.

[yuvraj]

Reasons why I prefer cruise holidays :

 

Security, comfort, relaxation, opportunity to explore, entertainment. Latest ships with new innovations and evolving into floating resorts has kept my interest alive.

 

I have cruised in the Caribbean but as someone from the UK, I believe Europe has a lot more to offer. I like Med cruises as well as North European ones which include Belgium and Norway.

[dreadpirate3]

For now, the Bahamas and Caribbean itineraries are close enough for us to drive to the port and not have to spend more to fly. In a few years, we will go to Alaska and Hawaii on cruise/land tour trips. Both of those vacations will cost three times what we usually spend on a week cruising.

 

I love cruising, the ships, getting to know the crew, having my own little piece of paradise on a floating resort. I'm not a lay in the sand kind of person, so being able to take photos from my balcony of the island we're visiting, going into town or port for a few hours, and then relaxing while looking at the amazing water is enough for me.

 

I won't be cruising this year unless I'm offered an amazing deal during a time I can travel (not likely). A few weekend land trips are probably all I can arrange this year, and back to cruising next year.

[depplep]

It's a better value usually than a land vacation. My first choice however is land vacation. We're heading to Europe this year to change things up from the Caribbean.

[mbart25]

It's a better value usually than a land vacation. My first choice however is land vacation. We're heading to Europe this year to change things up from the Caribbean.

 

 

 

I am a Caribbean girl so when we planned our first Europe trip I was excited but not like i am for a cruise. Wow was I surprised I feel in love with Europe. Hope your first trip is amazing

 

 

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[ToddnMichelle]

my wife is deathly afraid of flying and to add salt to the wound of that, she's also clostrophobic and is prone to panic attacks but i knew that going into and love her regardless. that being said, we love to cruise because it allows us to go to multiple ports that we would almost assuredly never make it to without cruising. Pair that up with the value you get from cruising, in my opinion, it's a great way to vacation!