Is Their a Point In Time When You Have Had Enough With Cruising? Then What?

[need2cruisesoon]

Curious, I know a lot of people of all ages cruise and some have hundreds of days of cruising.

 

But is their a time when you just get burned out and throw the towel in and take up another hobby or vacation experience?

[ger_77]

Not yet! 21 done, with 22 and 23 booked; who knows where we'll go after we return home from them.

 

Smooth Sailing! [emoji3] [emoji3] [emoji3]

 

 

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[ROCruiser]

Can't imagine that would happen to us. I'd say probably until our health condition just would not allow for us to cruise any more. Waiting for husband to retire next year so we can cruise more.;p

[sverigecruiser]

Curious, I know a lot of people of all ages cruise and some have hundreds of days of cruising.

 

But is their a time when you just get burned out and throw the towel in and take up another hobby or vacation experience?

 

We don't cruise enough to get burned out, have only been on eight cruises since 2004.

 

I don't like to think about it but one day we will have to throw the towels in because of age! As said, I don't like to think about it!!!

[jollyjones]

Obviously this wouldn't apply to people who live near a cruise port, but I think I'll tire of the aggravation of travelling to and from the ship before I'll ever tire of actually being on a cruise ship at sea.

[cruiserking]

I only tire of the waiting time before the next cruise. Ideally, I would be on a cruise every couple of weeks...when I hit the lottery. ;)

 

Jonathan

[diane.in.ny]

36 down and 2 more booked.

 

I can't imagine it happening to us until health prohibits it.

[mom says]

I don't see this happening to us, because we don't limit ourselves to only cruise vacations. We mix them with land tours and resort stays. Both national and international. If anything, our cruising will only increase as our physical limitations increase with age.

[zqvol]

Curious, I know a lot of people of all ages cruise and some have hundreds of days of cruising.

 

But is their a time when you just get burned out and throw the towel in and take up another hobby or vacation experience?

 

Why do vacation experiences have to be one or the other? Why not mix them up and then none get stale.

[navybankerteacher]

The glow wears off anything after enough repetition. Cost cutting by cruise lines, which keeps cruising inexpensive, also reduces the value received. Too many ports are now over-crowded with ever-larger ships bringing in too many people That, along with the fact that many cruise destinations are not worth repeating, makes land-based alternatives more attractive. At this point most of our future cruises will be based upon the transportation offered more than on the basic cruise experience.

[Bellacruz54]

We mix it up between cruises and All-inclusives......Keeps it all fresh and exciting!

[cruiseryyc]

Yup it did happen. Loved cruising until the big mega ships came on the scene; over 2000 people, climbing walls, waiting in line for dinner are just not my idea of cruising. I have enjoyed a couple of river cruises and most likely will do so again. Now my vacation ideal is sitting on a beach with a good book.

 

 

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[Warm Breezes]

Not yet for us. We have gone on 17 cruises since 2001 with one booked for this year and another one booked for next year. Having said that we don't just do cruise vacations. Just this year we have already done a trip to Vegas and a road trip to North Dakota to visit my son (with side trips to Wisconsin Dells, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, Black Hills, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and the U.P./Mackinaw City). Some of our cruises I mix in land vacations by driving to the port and visiting places along the way or make a mini-vacation exploring the embarkation port city. Some of our vacations, both cruises and land, are just for the 2 of us and some are family trips with the adult kids and/or my mom, and some are with friends. Usually a good mixture of everything every year. If the only vacations we took were cruises then maybe we would have had enough but since we mix it up, both the type of vacation and who we go with, I see us cruising for as long as we are able.

[cruisemom42]

I don't see this happening to us, because we don't limit ourselves to only cruise vacations. We mix them with land tours and resort stays. Both national and international. If anything, our cruising will only increase as our physical limitations increase with age.

 

Why do vacation experiences have to be one or the other? Why not mix them up and then none get stale.

 

I agree with both of these. I've been cruising for nearly 50 years (started at the age of 7!) but I have never been obsessive about it. I take about 1 cruise a year and mix it up with land travel. These days most of my cruises and land travel are in Europe or at least outside the US. I care a lot more about the destinations than about the ship-board experience, which enables me to keep cruising relatively happily despite the changes and cutbacks. Also I'm not loyal to any particular line.

 

Some folks discover cruising and act kind of like addicts. They book many cruises a year, often on the same line. The problem is that they quickly become much more discriminating and every cruise is a diminishing return....

 

There are some cruises/destinations that I am 'saving' until I am older and less active.

[davekathy]

Curious, I know a lot of people of all ages cruise and some have hundreds of days of cruising.

 

But is their a time when you just get burned out and throw the towel in and take up another hobby or vacation experience?

Cruising isn't our only way of vacationing. Plenty of hobbies. Just another vacation option we really enjoy. What about you?

[Markanddonna]

I'm in agreement with Cruisemom42. I've been on 15 cruises over about 15 years and now am no longer the cruising enthusiast I once was. Here are some reasons:

 

* Many cruises, the shipboard experience, and entertainment seem like deja vu. The activities the cruise staff plans are repetitive.

 

* The quality of food keeps deteriorating. Overall, the entire cruise experience was disappointing. Most of the crew continue to be great and hard working. We experienced our very first inefficient and rather sour/lazy cabin attendant. The lovely people we met onboard helped to save the experience from being boring. That meant we needed to make our own fun and create our own activities.

 

* One Caribbean island starts to look the same as another.

 

* Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc are often most interesting farther inland. That means land-based travel.

 

* Transoceanic travel tend to visit the same ports of call. Many don't warrant more than a one-time excursion. The major city-destinations that are farther inland (London, Paris, Rome, etc.) maybe are better visited with an air and land vacation.

 

* Some cruises, like transatlantics used to be a real bargain. The prices have gone up with their popularity. They used to sail at less than full capacity, but no longer. They may be a good deal for those who live near a port, but for those of us more inland, we have to factor in the flight to embarkation and an overnight hotel/transportation, meals, etc. If I really want to go to Paris, it is probably a much better idea to just book a flight directly to Paris from my home base.

 

* My overall impression was evident in the digital scrapbook I made of our last April/May TA to Europe. I was wildly enthusiastic about the places we visited once we disembarked. The cruise ports and the ship received little mention in the book.

[dogs4fun]

We mix it up between cruises and All-inclusives......Keeps it all fresh and exciting!

We do much the same - some cruises and lots of visits via land (although usually not 'all inclusive' as we tend to enjoy DIY). We enjoy both ocean and river cruises with the slight edge going to river cruises. Can't imagine that we will ever tire of travel. :)

[iancal]

We have done 20 plus cruises. We are not doing as many any more. They are becoming very homogeneous to us. Same cabins, food all tastes the same after a week. We see a decline in the value of all of the mass market cruise lines. Higher prices and cutbacks on quality seem to be the norm.

 

Our biggest issue is that cruising does not give us near enough time n places we want to visit nor do they really allow us to sample the culture. Getting off the ship for six or seven hours, then returning to a Marriott like stateroom for our prime rib dinner takes away much of the travel experience for us. It may seem counter intuitive but now that we are retired we are taking far fewer cruises. When we do take a cruise it is typically a last minute cruise offer that we are tacking on to an extended land trip as a means of breaking up our schedule.

 

We have tired of Caribbean cruises and are doing more AI's . We find them to be more enjoyable and to be better value. We buy a higher end product that includes flights and transfers. We don't have to arrange pre or post cruise hotels, flights, etc.

Edited June 27, 2018 by iancal

[George C]

We mix it up between cruises and All-inclusives......Keeps it all fresh and exciting!

 

We do 3 or 4 cruises then a all-inclusive really like sandals, but next cruise will be #63 have cruised every year since 1977, doubt I will ever tire of them, I change cruise lines from time to time but we both love our cruises.

[diane.in.ny]

We also do land tours. We have one scheduled between the next two cruises.

 

But out of our 30+ cruises, only about half have been on main stream lines. We do river cruises and expedition cruises ... Galapagos, Amazon, Antarctica ... for example.

 

We also just like the cruise experience and there are ports we don't even get off the ship. Thoroughly enjoy the empty ship experience :D

[bettyboop16]

Obviously this wouldn't apply to people who live near a cruise port, but I think I'll tire of the aggravation of travelling to and from the ship before I'll ever tire of actually being on a cruise ship at sea.

 

We also feel the same way. I dearly love being on the ocean. Hassle of flying & cutbacks from the cruise lines get bothersome.

[davekathy]

We also feel the same way. I dearly love being on the ocean. Hassle of flying & cutbacks from the cruise lines get bothersome.

That's what the Beverage Package is for. Don't worry be happy.:D

[Joebucks]

My vacation of choice for the longest time has been Myrtle Beach. I've gone there for the past 30 years. I went to other places in that time, but Myrtle always had that special place in my heart for me. My most recent trip there was fantastic, but I decided to give it a little break. I still love it there, but some of the things lose their luster when you do them every year.

 

I'll be on my 4th cruise later this year (with my 1st being last year). I can't get enough of it. I don't see myself getting sick of it anytime soon. If anything, I may want to branch out on more exotic ports, and travel the world.

[jocap]

Obviously this wouldn't apply to people who live near a cruise port, but I think I'll tire of the aggravation of travelling to and from the ship before I'll ever tire of actually being on a cruise ship at sea.

Yes, this is us... we live in a remote place, and suddenly the travelling to ports has become a burden. We don't drive for 100s of miles these days; we've tried sending luggage ahead; using coaches; we have to change trains too many times for it to be fun, and even to get to an airport means going the day before, then staying the night there on our return.

The only way we'll cruise in the future is with a local TA who picks us up at the door and puts us on a coach to the nearest port... but there's little choice- all small and old ships, and the itineraries are usually Norway, Baltics etc...So, after our next cruise I think we'll have to really think about whether our cruising days are over.

Or else we'll have to move! :D

[K32682]

I won't get "burned out" because I don't cruise just for the sake of cruising. I cruise only when it is the most practical and convenient method to to visit a region that lacks infrastructure, is spread over a large area and/or is remote and hard to get to otherwise. My bar for a cruise is pretty high and reject many more than I actually take.