Are there people who will ONLY travel by cruising?

[clo]

Now I know there are some people who, due to age/disability/etc. can only travel like this.  There's a current thread about the best way to see the British Isles and there are lots of replies that don't include cruising.  Do you only cruise or do you mix it up or combine it?  Just curious.

[Canuker]

Both.

A few years ago we took a cruise from Dover. We sailed up the east coast of the UK, making 2 overnights before heading to the Faroes.
Although I grew up in the UK, taking the sea route showed a perspective I'd not seen before. The far northeast of Scotland, which I'm betting most Brits have never been to, land or sea, was breathtaking. I had no idea it was so spectacular, despite a previous visit by land.

So it's a new perspective. I'm sure the same applies to someone from other parts of the world, such as St. Lucia or Hawaii.

And to answer the question in your topic header, yes I'm sure there are people whose main vacations are invariably cruises. A first visit to a captain's cocktail party will confirm that.

Edited November 14, 2019 by Canuker

[sanger727]

We rotate between cruises, all inclusives, and land sightseeing trips. I think cruises have a place and time (mostly to island hop) when you are only looking for superficial stops. But for any real sightseeing, land trips are far more immersive and efficient. For example, we actually ended up doing a land trip to Japan this year and will do a land trip to southeast Asia in 2021. All this came about because some friends did an Asian cruise to these locations and went on about how much they loved it. But when I actually went to research these areas and shore excursions, I realized that in many stops the areas of interest were an hour or more from the port. It made much more sense for us to do a land trip to these locations.

Edited November 14, 2019 by sanger727

[davekathy]

We do both land and cruise vacations every year. Most our annual trips require flying but a few don't. 

[crystalspin]

For years, dr'spin was always after me to go on cruises (I was not enthusiastic and only agreed to those that were "the only way to see" an area). Now I have the cruising bug, with land STAYS at one or both end of a cruise. Two TAs last year, two cruises booked for next year, and one Jan2021. 

 

Suddenly he is all about "I don't *only* want to cruise!" and coming up with escorted land trips to intersperse with the cruises. Just back from 10 days on the ground in Europe; I found it exhausting!

 

He's about to retire and the percentages between sea and land are yet to be known.

Edited November 14, 2019 by crystalspin

[navybankerteacher]

Actually, we tend to fall on the other side - rather than saying that cruising is the only way we travel, it is increasingly the case that travel is the main reason we cruise.  We do not think a few port hours are enough to see places that are really worth seeing, but we see cruising is a good way of getting across an ocean.  A southbound cruise in winter is a good way to escape the cold (ie: travel ), but most Caribbean islands are better to stay on than to visit with thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) streaming ashore for the same 8 or 9 hour visit. And there are very few good sailings from our area anyway.

[Bizmark'sMom]

I do both land trips and cruises. And combine them when possible.  

[clo]

21 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Suddenly he is all about "I don't *only* want to cruise!" and coming up with escorted land trips to intersperse with the cruises. Just back from 10 days on the ground in Europe; I found it exhausting!

 

We did a half dozen or so escorted land trips and did find them exhausting.  We learned a lot but we didn't have much in the way of free time.  We think we're done with that.  Next spring we're flying into Oslo, stay two nights, and taking the train (which is supposed to be incredible) to Bergen with two nights there, then a week up the Norwegian coast to Kirkenes.  Then we'll fly through Oslo to Paris where I got us an airbnb for five nights.  I'm seeing more things like that.

[sparks1093]

We try to do a cruise every year along with a trip to Germany to see DW's family. We are currently planning a land trip to Rome for 2021.

[clo]

I should have added another question.  When you cruise do you usually go to a different area/place every time?

[Shmoo here]

2 hours ago, clo said:

Do you only cruise or do you mix it up or combine it?

We do cruises (both ocean and river), RV travel, and travel by car.  As well as flying to vacation destinations and staying locally there.

 

What ever peaks our interest and fits our pocketbook.

[ldubs]

A cruise is actually not our first choice for leisure/vacation time.   Land tours (on our own) and then combo land tour/cruise as a close second.   We avoid organized land tours, but then Mrs. Ldubs does an outstanding job of planning our land trips.  

 

But I have to say that for family group travel a cruise is really fun.  We have a very large & close knit family and travel a lot together.  Next one is a combined land trip and cruise out of Singapore for 18 of us.   Originally it included Hong Kong, but we decided we didn't want to worry about troubles there.  Fortunately, we were able to change flights without penalty.   

[Bizmark'sMom]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I should have added another question.  When you cruise do you usually go to a different area/place every time?

Different place every time.  There's a whole lot of world to see!

[George C]

We normally do two cruises a year , once in a while we will do a cruise and a all inclusive resort like sandals. No driving trips, but family visits and nyc every year. 

[wwcruisers]

4 hours ago, clo said:

Do you only cruise or do you mix it up or combine it?  Just curious.

 

While we're not there yet, I have to say that it's tempting. The only thing I hate worse than long car trips is flying. Seeing as how a return to luxury train travel (in this country, anyhow) is not likely in my lifetime -- traveling by ship has become my favorite way to see the world! When my DH retires, and travel is no longer limited by his vacation hours, I can see us putting waterway transportation (cruise ships, ferries, ocean-liners, river-boats) front-n-center in our various itineraries!

[clo]

54 minutes ago, George C said:

We normally do two cruises a year , once in a while we will do a cruise and a all inclusive resort like sandals. No driving trips, but family visits and nyc every year. 

With your cruises do you embark, say, in Barcelona and get there a few days ahead of time to explore? Same at the end?

[clo]

43 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

 

While we're not there yet, I have to say that it's tempting. The only thing I hate worse than long car trips is flying. Seeing as how a return to luxury train travel (in this country, anyhow) is not likely in my lifetime -- traveling by ship has become my favorite way to see the world! When my DH retires, and travel is no longer limited by his vacation hours, I can see us putting waterway transportation (cruise ships, ferries, ocean-liners, river-boats) front-n-center in our various itineraries!

So you'd travel out of Seattle or Vancouver? Can you see enough of the world that way?

[George C]

27 minutes ago, clo said:

With your cruises do you embark, say, in Barcelona and get there a few days ahead of time to explore? Same at the end?

Normally just one night , but did spend a couple in Barcelona wish we had spent more , since we normally cruise out of Florida and have been there so many times that doesn’t interest me. Almost all our cruises are Caribbean, but did Europe a couple of times and will most likely do it again in near future. 

[clo]

10 minutes ago, George C said:

Normally just one night , but did spend a couple in Barcelona wish we had spent more , since we normally cruise out of Florida and have been there so many times that doesn’t interest me. Almost all our cruises are Caribbean, but did Europe a couple of times and will most likely do it again in near future. 

I could live in Barcelona.  The food 🙂

[Essiesmom]

I could live in Venice.  The ambiance...  Same with Hong Kong.  Or Manaus.  A house on the river to watch the traffic...EM

[George C]

34 minutes ago, clo said:

I could live in Barcelona.  The food 🙂

I thought the city was amazing , we are used to going to nyc which we do every year , Barcelona is so much cheaper to eat and drink beautiful city . Definitely would want to visit again , perfect place to start or finish a cruise.  But prefer food and wine in Florence.

Edited November 15, 2019 by George C

[Tapi]

I fly and stay at hotels for work on a weekly basis. So for me, air/land vacations feel like I’m still at work. With that said, we still take several mini vacations throughout the year, but our big vacation for the year HAS to involve a cruise. Otherwise it feels like a wasted my vacation time. 

Edited November 15, 2019 by Tapi

[Nebr.cruiser]

We mainly cruise just because it is easier and cheaper (usually).  But, we do do independent tours on our own sometimes and have done group tours, just not for a while.

 

We tend to cruise the Caribbean at least once and sometimes twice in a year just to get out of the cold; we've been there so often that the ports aren't that important anymore.  Other places with nice warm weather in the winter are usually much farther away, with longer, more expensive plane rides.

 

We also usually do one cruise a year to a more exotic or different area, such as South America or Transatlantics.  Then we usually spend a few days afterwards touring on our own.

 

I can see that as we age (74 now) cruises may be the go-to because of the ease of travel compared to DIY tours and/or bus tours.

[clo]

19 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Or Manaus.

Really. Wow. Maybe we'll have to check it out sometime.  

[lenquixote66]

6 hours ago, clo said:

Now I know there are some people who, due to age/disability/etc. can only travel like this.  There's a current thread about the best way to see the British Isles and there are lots of replies that don't include cruising.  Do you only cruise or do you mix it up or combine it?  Just curious.

I cannot travel by plane or train due to disabilities and can only be on a bus for a short duration.Therefore,cruising is my only option.I fear that at some point I will no longer be able to cruise.