Why does anyone cruise - I don’t understand

[K32682]

It's a bit unfair to judge cruising at this stage.  It was the travel option hit the hardest at the beginning of the COVID outbreak. It will continue to be the most affected and the last travel mode to return to "normal." Meanwhile the hotels I've stayed in recently are much closer to the pre-2020 experience. At the very least I didn't need a chaperon from the hotel to leave the building. 

 

Even at the best of times cruising is not our preferred travel option and is only selected when it makes sense for our destination. Our French Polynesia cruise, for example, allowed us to see a variety of islands including the Marquesas and was certainly preferable to spending 10 days on Bora Bora.

 

  

[happy cruzer]

The original post sounds very familiar from even before Covid.  There are many first time cruisers who end up on a crowded major cruise line that was booked by price and then compared to other more familiar types of vacation to them.  All cruises are not the same and most will not compare well to a land based resort when it comes to size and variety of lodging, pools, and restaurants. 

 

Many who like cruises could post "why does anyone go to on a driving vacation, all inclusive resort, etc."  every trip has its adv and disadvatages.  There is usually not an absolute perfect trip for everyone.

 

[shipgeeks]

Why does anyone eat oysters?  I don't understand.....

[getting older slowly]

the question...

 

Why does anyone cruise - I don’t understand ??

 

Is a interesting, to put on a cruise forum,.. which is going to full of people who like cruising...     sort of like throwing meat into the Lion's Den..

 

and the best answer so far

 

49 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

Why does anyone eat oysters?  I don't understand.....

lol   

[crzndeb]

I started cruising in 1980, and have been to 5 continents, and to many countries to count. I am a female, solo cruiser, and for me, it’s the most economical and safe way for me to see the globe.

[donaldsc]

I might have missed it but here goes.  I prefer land trips to cruises unless it is impractical or impossible to get to my destination(s) by car.  However, my wife sometimes says that she does not want to do a trip by car - so we cruise.  I win some and I lose some.

 

DON

Edited July 23, 2021 by donaldsc

[iancal]

Since retiring we do far fewer cruises and far more independent land travel. Mostly international.

 

We enjoy cruising. It is break from land travel.  Now most of our cruises are last minute buys.

 

We have no intention of cruising at the moment.  Far too many moving parts as it relates to itinerary and on board environment. 

 

We will certainly resume cruising but not for quite some time yet.  Probably 2023. 

 

This covid business is far from over notwithstanding what some people like to claim.  This is especially true for those of whose travel consists primarily of international travel. 

 

 On the plus side, we are looking at a late fall trip to Greece.  Their covid  vaccination rate is considerably higher than some areas of our own country.  The same for their covid precautions.    We may feel more confident doing this than we would taking a Caribbean cruise on a ship that does not insist that all staff and customers have a covid jab.

Edited July 23, 2021 by iancal

[George C]

Covid has changed cruises at least some, we had no restrictions on my cruise two weeks ago , leaving from Florida, but we are fully vaccinated. I love MSC but need to book there yacht club, that’s first class all the way , no lines since you get vip treatment. I like resorts but prefer cruises, everything in one place.

[Top_of_the_Cube]

FOR ME

 

Land vacations are adventures in which I try to schedule moments of relaxation:

There is stress of where to stay, where to stop, where to eat, transportation issues, etc.  i.e.  Plan B when a hotel has cancelled your reservation, transmission starts making funny noises, flight is delayed, and on and on.  Love land vacations, and they are worth the hassles.

 

Cruise vacations are relaxation (once it embarks) in which I try to schedule moments of adventure:

For the most part, no heavy decisions.  I don't cruise for destinations, but make an adventure out of wherever the ship docks.  Except for basic precautions and safety, I can abandon responsibility and just live in the moment.  There are planned activities in which I can participate or not.  For all my cruises so far, the crew have been way above and beyond.  The main attraction, though, for me, is the

   view of the ocean

      movement in the ocean

         wind off the ocean

            smell of the ocean. 

*sigh*

[Needabiggerlens]

Ha ha ha ! Are you sorry that you asked now!  With Covid numbers relatively low in Austria, I can see why you were tempted to try a cruise at this time.  I’m sure that life has been very different for you, compared to North America, Australia and the UK. Plus there is nothing like a pandemic to highlight all the negatives of cruising and yes… fellow cruisers if we are being honest, there are a few.

BUT that being said cruising can be awesome. It can be as independent as you are. 
I'm choosing not to cruise right now because of all of the reasons why you’re not enjoying it. I just have the unfair advantage over you of having something to compare life on board to.
 

Please don’t let this deter you from doing it again! Cruising has given me so many incredible moments in places that I wouldn’t travel to for extended holidays and it’s also given me a taste of places that I knew I had to go back to and have 🙂

 

Try to enjoy the rest of your cruise. If not for you, do it for those of us who can’t travel yet!!

 

 

[SelectSys]

 

On 7/23/2021 at 11:14 AM, Top_of_the_Cube said:

Land vacations are adventures in which I try to schedule moments of relaxation... Cruise vacations are relaxation (once it embarks) in which I try to schedule moments of adventure:

Great comments and super pithy.

 

[ontheweb]

On 7/23/2021 at 2:14 PM, Top_of_the_Cube said:

FOR ME

 

Land vacations are adventures in which I try to schedule moments of relaxation:

There is stress of where to stay, where to stop, where to eat, transportation issues, etc.  i.e.  Plan B when a hotel has cancelled your reservation, transmission starts making funny noises, flight is delayed, and on and on.  Love land vacations, and they are worth the hassles.

 

Cruise vacations are relaxation (once it embarks) in which I try to schedule moments of adventure:

For the most part, no heavy decisions.  I don't cruise for destinations, but make an adventure out of wherever the ship docks.  Except for basic precautions and safety, I can abandon responsibility and just live in the moment.  There are planned activities in which I can participate or not.  For all my cruises so far, the crew have been way above and beyond.  The main attraction, though, for me, is the

   view of the ocean

      movement in the ocean

         wind off the ocean

            smell of the ocean. 

*sigh*

I agree whole heartedly with the stress part of land vacations, especially where to eat has always plagued me. But, I disagree with the relaxation for cruises, though of course there is some relaxation. Maybe it is because unlike you we do pick the destination, and it is what we cruise for. For instance our very first cruise was a Western Mediterranean roundtrip Barcelona. And married to an art teacher when one goes on a voyage with those sort of ports, one feels burnt out, not rested after their vacation.

[babs135]

Everyone is different which is just as well otherwise the world would be a very boring place.  We have friends who are absolutely appalled at the thought of cruising, claustrophobic, regimented etc. Their idea of a holiday is a city break which in itself is great but in order to holiday often they choose the cheapest and grottiest hotel they can find. We went with them just the once when the 'fantastic' hotel they chose (they'd stayed before) was just a step up from a hostel and a cockroach walked across the toaster at breakfast!  Never again and we didn't eat in the hotel again as well, much to the puzzlement of our friends.

But back to cruising.  We absolutely love sea days, but some people hate them. As I said at the beginning, everyone is different.

Perhaps your problem is the cruise line combined with the constraints of the pandemic. If you are prepared to give it another go decide exactly what what you want from the holiday. If itinerary is the most important check which cruise lines operate in that area and then look at things like amenities, food, entertainment, etc.

[iancal]

We used to stress on land vacations.  No more.  After being very careful planners over years of business and personal travel we changed.  In retirement we have become incredibly spontaneous.  

 

It is not unusual for us to book the same day, or a few days ahead for regional air, accomodation, etc.  More than once we have woken up somewhere and had to make a decision of whether to stay or go, and to make a reservation for that evenings accommodation, or the next few days.    The only stressful times can be holiday times such as Xmas, or Lunar New Year when many people are travelling.

[ilikeanswers]

5 hours ago, ontheweb said:

But, I disagree with the relaxation for cruises, though of course there is some relaxation. Maybe it is because unlike you we do pick the destination, and it is what we cruise for. For instance our very first cruise was a Western Mediterranean roundtrip Barcelona. And married to an art teacher when one goes on a voyage with those sort of ports, one feels burnt out, not rested after their vacation.

 

I agree, a lot of times I see the comments people cruise to relax, I seem to be a totally different cruiser to that. The last cruise I did one of the port stops included a 16km trek😂. Might not be relaxing but was certainly rewarding🤗 and if I ever get cruising again the cruises I have in mind will also involve physical activities😉. I reckon I relax more on land trips😂. 

[ldubs]

3 minutes ago, iancal said:

We used to stress on land vacations.  No more.  After being very careful planners over years of business and personal travel we changed.  In retirement we have become incredibly spontaneous.  

 

It is not unusual for us to book the same day, or a few days ahead for regional air, accomodation, etc.  More than once we have woken up somewhere and had to make a decision of whether to stay or go, and to make a reservation for that evenings accommodation, or the next few days.    The only stressful times can be holiday times such as Xmas, or Lunar New Year when many people are travelling.

 

Way back in our younger days we once went to the airport with carry-ons with the intent of doing a stand-by for a flight to London. That didn't work out but we found out the Paris flight was wide open.  Did a 1-800 for a hotel (this was pre-cell phone era).  Worked out pretty good.  I probably wouldn't do that now.  haha.  

[iancal]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

Way back in our younger days we once went to the airport with carry-ons with the intent of doing a stand-by for a flight to London. That didn't work out but we found out the Paris flight was wide open.  Did a 1-800 for a hotel (this was pre-cell phone era).  Worked out pretty good.  I probably wouldn't do that now.  haha.  

We did exactly the same in our younger days whilst on our way to travel through Europe.  We booked a last minute flight out of New York on Laker Airways (remember them).  Coming home seven months later we went out to Heathrow with our bags.  Pan Am and  TWA both had the same price.  PanAm said standby and no we won't take your bags now.  TWA flight was an hour earlier, they confirmed the seats, and took our bags.  As I recall the cost was 75GBP.  AIrfare was a lot more expensive in those days.

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by iancal

[donaldsc]

On 7/23/2021 at 12:14 PM, Top_of_the_Cube said:

FOR ME

 

Land vacations are adventures in which I try to schedule moments of relaxation:

There is stress of where to stay, where to stop, where to eat, transportation issues, etc.  i.e.  Plan B when a hotel has cancelled your reservation, transmission starts making funny noises, flight is delayed, and on and on.  Love land vacations, and they are worth the hassles.

 

Cruise vacations are relaxation (once it embarks) in which I try to schedule moments of adventure:

For the most part, no heavy decisions.  I don't cruise for destinations, but make an adventure out of wherever the ship docks.  Except for basic precautions and safety, I can abandon responsibility and just live in the moment.  There are planned activities in which I can participate or not.  For all my cruises so far, the crew have been way above and beyond.  The main attraction, though, for me, is the

   view of the ocean

      movement in the ocean

         wind off the ocean

            smell of the ocean. 

*sigh*

 

You are missing or ignoring the fact that there are many different types of land trips and also many different types of cruises.

 

On the cruise side there are the cruises where you have mostly or many sea days where all there is to do is to be bored stiff staring at the open ocean with nothing to do and there are cruises with no sea days and you spend all your time rushing through ports to try to see as much as you can see in one day.  I prefer the latter although I do not rush from place to place at a port stop but I pick one or 2 interesting places to visit, have a nice lunch in a locals restaurant and forget about the stuff that I have not seen.  Some of my enjoyable port visits have been when we spent an hour or so having lunch at a café people watching.

 

On the land side there are the "If it is Tuesday, it must be Belgium" trips.  Remember that movie?    It is a classic travel movie.  Then there the trips where you pick 2 or 3 cities and spend 4 or 5 days in each city.  You obviously can't see an entire city in 4 or 5 days but you pick up some of the ambience of the city and it is much better than the cruise visit where you pretend you have seen Rome or Florence or London in one day.  It is even better if you pick smaller cities or rural areas to spend your 4 or 5 days in.

 

Just my opinion.

 

DON

[Hlitner]

I really agree with Don.  While many travelers/cruisers think in terms of how much can they crowd into a day there are others of us who have learned not to cram a lot into a day but rather to relax and smell the roses.  I one posted here on CC about a weird day DW and I had in Rome when we stopped at a cafe on the Piazza Navona for a cappuccino about 10am...and never left that cafe until after 3pm.  We thought the People Watching was so much fun, the cafe was decent, and it turned out to be a terrific way to spend a day.  In Paris, where most tourists are running from place to place (so much to see and do in that city), DW and I will usually take the time to relax with a long lunch (usually about 2 hours) at a decent well located cafe.    Our favorite kind of cruise is a very long cruise (measured in weeks/months) with lots of relaxing sea days.  We have even stayed aboard our ship in some ports rather then venturing ashore (we often do this in the Caribbean).

 

Perhaps this is one negative of cruising in that port days are very time limited and often forces folks to cram a lot into their day (and later need to go to bed early from exhaustion).  When we plan long driving trips in Europe we try to leave plenty of time to relax.  In a place like Paris we might rent an apartment for 1-2 weeks rather then rushing through the city in a couple of days.  All that extra time makes it easy to slow things down and enjoy..

 

Hank

[iancal]

In retirement we have become slow travelers.   One day in a port is no longer of interest to us hence hence we find ourselves doing more independent land trips.  But...we are now retired and we have the time and the desire for spontaneous travel.  No rush for OAP's

 

We may reserve three days in a city but more often or not if we like the accommodation and the area it will extend to a week. 

 

Spending 10-14 days  exploring Tuscany and Umbria is just right for us.  Or three weeks making our way through three Ionian Islands.   10 days on Malta or three weeks in Sicily.   Or slowly making our way down the Croatian coast via Jardelinja ferries is perfect for us.   Our favourite time in Rome was four days in November where we wondered about aimlessly because we have been several times before.  Few tourists, great weather, fabulous lighting.

Edited July 25, 2021 by iancal

[getting older slowly]

Land vs Sea ?

 

Before cruising... all Holiday were Land based.... Driving....

 

Going to see lots of places... as time went on ,,, one slowed and spent more time in each place... to the point.. one would stop 1-2 weeks in one spot....

 

The one thing about Land based...is    I drive, cook, as most places we stay as self-contained. and BH does washing and cleaning

 

Cruising on the other hand... everything id done, and you move to different places.... so for us it is the cruise....for a relaxing time

 

But it is each to their own....

[Mary229]

I am a very experienced road traveler.   I have driven for business and leisure very far distances.  It was nothing for me to clock 6000 miles on an excursion.  We pretty much covered North America in full.  Here are my reasons for cruising

1. flying is not a lot of fun

2. driving vacations require attention to detail and becoming a logistical expert.   
3. driving vacations require driving.  That is wasted time.  Cruises sail at night when I am sleeping 

4. some parts of the earth are best visited from the water. This was probably our biggest original motivation.

 

I have done road trips during the pandemic and it is far less enjoyable also.  There are many attractions closed, restaurants aren’t fully staffed, hotels have strict regulations and the places that are open are over visited.  One of the joys of off season road trip is enjoying those wonderful places, like the north rim of the Grand Canyon, with no one on the trail except you and your companions.  
 

Edited July 25, 2021 by Mary229

[Lois R]

On 7/22/2021 at 8:10 PM, crzndeb said:

I started cruising in 1980, and have been to 5 continents, and to many countries to count. I am a female, solo cruiser, and for me, it’s the most economical and safe way for me to see the globe.

I am in the same boat.....sort of pun intended😃 although I have not been to 5 continents and I started cruising on a regular basis in 2003.  I am also female and a solo cruiser and I definitely agree with your points on the safety and economical parts...... I love being on the water and in the past 18 years have not done a land trip.  I am a cruiser......I love it all, love sea days.....enjoy port days......all of it.

 

I just returned from sailing out of Athens and I guess it took me coming back home (got back last Sunday) to realize how much I had missed it over the past 18 months.....so much so, I booked another cruise this week and sailing to Alaska next month🙂.....starting to make up for lost time LOL

 

Top of the Cube posted something wonderful

Quote..........

"The main attraction, though, for me, is the

   view of the ocean

      movement in the ocean

         wind off the ocean

            smell of the ocean"

 

[ldubs]

On 7/25/2021 at 9:57 AM, iancal said:

We did exactly the same in our younger days whilst on our way to travel through Europe.  We booked a last minute flight out of New York on Laker Airways (remember them).  Coming home seven months later we went out to Heathrow with our bags.  Pan Am and  TWA both had the same price.  PanAm said standby and no we won't take your bags now.  TWA flight was an hour earlier, they confirmed the seats, and took our bags.  As I recall the cost was 75GBP.  AIrfare was a lot more expensive in those days.

 

 

Excellent!  Back in the day $20 in my pocket was a big deal.  Kind of like carrying a couple hundred today.  haha.  

[Top_of_the_Cube]

On 7/25/2021 at 12:18 PM, donaldsc said:

 

You are missing or ignoring the fact that there are many different types of land trips and also many different types of cruises.

...

Just my opinion.

 

DON

 

That's harsh, DON, and here I thought I was spot on in describing my purpose for traveling (Post #59), and why I like cruising.  

 

Seriously, though, I understand what you are saying, and enjoy reading your many posts.

 

I was responding to the comment put out there by dedalus (the OP) of "I'm not sure why anyone would choose [cruising]."  Who wouldn't want my input on this matter? 

 

I don't think that dedalus should feel compelled to ever cruise again if it didn't push his buttons.  Taking into account the current COVID restrictions on board is a good suggestion as to why one might want to try cruising again, as many here have said.  If, that is, he found other aspects of the experience to his liking.

 

Regarding DON's above response, and to his credit, my wife often thinks I am "missing or ignoring the fact[s]".