Is Anyone Else Like Me?

[Poly1979]

I don't cruise for the food, drink, entertainment, pools or activities.

 

I cruise strictly for the destinations. The ship is just transportation.

[9tee2Sea]

27 minutes ago, Poly1979 said:

I don't cruise for the food, drink, entertainment, pools or activities.

 

I cruise strictly for the destinations. The ship is just transportation.

In the begging of my cruising life ( since 1990's) , I had the same thought..  This last cruise, I chose for the ship and the cabin placement ( It was a Panama Canal cruise...done that 4 times, so I wasn't planning on getting off ship very much). Wasn't impressed with the ship, but the cabin was everything I thought it would be and more.  I have a few more cruises planned in my mind for next year, and a deciding factor will be the itinerary, then ship.

[CruiserBruce]

There are millions and millions of cruisers. And they cruise for any combo of millions of different reasons.

[Nebr.cruiser]

It's less about the ship now and more about the destination, but we still enjoy just bring on a ship.

[Mum2Mercury]

Nope, I cruise for the combination of ship, activities, food and destinations.  None of those things outweigh the others.  

[mnocket]

The answer to that question is always yes.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, Poly1979 said:

I don't cruise for the food, drink, entertainment, pools or activities.

 

I cruise strictly for the destinations. The ship is just transportation.

Then why not fly to where you want to go?  Less time “wasted” at sea, more time (several days vs several hours) in the destinations you want to see. Sure, fewer destinations, but in your case it would seem that three days in each of two destinations should trump six five hour (insufficient) visits,  separated by boring evenings, nights and early mornings at sea.

 

For us,  a Caribbean cruise means staying on board in a warm climate, as a brief escape from northern winter.  Seeing Mediterranean cities means flying over, staying one or more nights in the places worth really seeing, then coming back on a TA repositioning cruise.

Edited March 9 by navybankerteacher

[K32682]

2 hours ago, Poly1979 said:

I don't cruise for the food, drink, entertainment, pools or activities.

 

I cruise strictly for the destinations. The ship is just transportation.

 

You are far from alone. We cruise for the itinerary and when a cruise makes sense due to distances, logistics, availability and qualify of tourism amenities, etc. Alaska, a Tahiti cruise that included the Marquesas, a repositioning transatlantic, a Panama Canal passage, Easter Island, Antarctica are examples that come to mind.

 

There are also sites where a cruise offers a better degree of security in unstable regions. A tourist who wanted to see the Great Pyramids of Egypt, for example, would better off taking a cruise instead of attempting a land-based visit.

 

Otherwise, cruising does not have that much to offer and ship board life is often tedious. 

 

 

 

Edited March 9 by K32682

[ontheweb]

We are all unique individuals. We are somewhat like you in the we look at destination first. But the ship does to some extent matter. For instance, I do not want to go on any of the mega ships, just too large. Entertainment is somewhat important,

[Toofarfromthesea]

2 hours ago, Poly1979 said:

I don't cruise for the food, drink, entertainment, pools or activities.

 

I cruise strictly for the destinations. The ship is just transportation.

 

I'm almost the complete opposite.  It's nice that we can each get what we want.

[mjkacmom]

Since cruises don’t guarantee destinations we cruise more for the ship.

[mom says]

As in life, the answer is not binary, but exists on a continuum. It's not black and white, but includes all the shades of grey. It's not yes or no, but all kinds of "it depends". 

[cruisemom42]

51 minutes ago, mom says said:

As in life, the answer is not binary, but exists on a continuum. It's not black and white, but includes all the shades of grey. It's not yes or no, but all kinds of "it depends". 

 

Exactly. 

 

I would say that probably 19 times out of 20, I choose a cruise based primarily (and heavily) on itinerary. But that's not to say other things don't matter. I won't sail on a large ship. I enjoy good food on board. And obviously, affordability has to be a factor for most.

 

[Kristelle]

I am a river cruiser.

What I liked was there is an excursion every day, no 'days at sea' 

So of course the destination matters - but I also enjoyed the ship experience ( boat by ocean liner standards ) 

Otherwise i would of gone on a land tour 

Actually I do go on those too and I like them to be activity filled too, not, say, just a long train trip for the train experience. 

[ger_77]

We do like cruising for the destinations, but more and more it's just for the fact that we can board our floating hotel where someone cooks our food, pours our drinks, makes our bed, provides entertainment, and treats us like royalty for a few days.  That's why we enjoy trans-Atlantics so much - those sea days are great!

[wcook]

To me destination are the most important thing, but not the only thing. Fortunately, most destinations have a choice of ships. I would never pick a ship if it wasn’t going where I want to go, no matter how cool the ship. But I would accept slightly less desirable ports for a ship I like more. 

[crystalspin]

9 hours ago, Poly1979 said:

I don't cruise for the food, drink, entertainment, pools or activities.

I cruise strictly for the destinations. The ship is just transportation.

I once was like you -- in fact, after two extremely boring trans-ocean cruises, I told my husband that I would only cruise places that were impossible (or very difficult) to see by land. These were Inside Passage Alaska, Panama Canal, Cape Horn, as well as non-luxury river cruises in China and Russia. And many many escorted land trips.

 

After the Cape Horn trip, I surprised my husband by agreeing to a Trans-Atlantic/Mediterranean cruise. At this point, I conceived of cruising as sampling destinations, to come back to and spent time; which we did with Barcelona and Dubronik, and later Copenhagen.

 

Now we are like @ger_77 -- the ship is pretty much the point. Sure we pick cruises to interesting places, but seadays are NOT a problem. Lack of seadays is a little problem!

[MacMadame]

4 hours ago, crystalspin said:

 would only cruise places that were impossible (or very difficult) to see by land.

That's my philosophy. If it's better to see by land, then we do a land vacation.

[Markanddonna]

22 hours ago, Poly1979 said:

I don't cruise for the food, drink, entertainment, pools or activities.

 

I cruise strictly for the destinations. The ship is just transportation.

In Europe it is destination. In Caribbean it is for the ship although eastern and southern islands are superior.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, Markanddonna said:

In Europe it is destination. In Caribbean it is for the ship although eastern and southern islands are superior.

Those islands are better enjoyed on land visits (when you can shelter in place on busy port call days) rather than when overrun by thousands of cruise passengers.

[shipgeeks]

We are both definitely Ship people. We want to be on a smaller ship, with a promenade deck and other outdoor spaces, and views of the sea while we sail.  Seeing the sea and sky (and maybe flying fish) and feeling the movement of the ship.

We have cruised to many destinations, and many are now repeats.  Our favorite cruises have been the long stretches of sea days, on a TA or Hawaii.

The only ports at which we now usually get off the ship are on a C/NE itinerary.

[ilikeanswers]

Absolutely, I am all about the destination first. In fact I would love it if expedition cruises ditched the luxury amenities and provided cheaper basic cruises with the same interesting itineraries. For me as long as the food is edible, bed is comfortable enough for sleep and the bathroom functions I am set. I am yet to be on a ship that gives the same joy as an interesting destination. 

[Woody14]

On 3/9/2024 at 8:06 AM, navybankerteacher said:

Then why not fly to where you want to go?  

I like cruising which is why I cruise and don't fly to my destination.   That said most of the time the destination is more important than most other things.   The ship (one vs another) is not important.   While I do have my favourite cruise lines that is less important than the destination.  Cruiseline would rank higher than the ship for me.

[DarrenM]

On 3/9/2024 at 2:44 PM, Poly1979 said:

I don't cruise for the food, drink, entertainment, pools or activities.

 

I cruise strictly for the destinations. The ship is just transportation.

Not me. I am the exact opposite.

 

But if I go somewhere for a land holiday I try to stay in a nice hotel too.

 

The ship is massively important to me as we spend so long on board.

 

And I seek out my favourite bar. And which cocktails I will over-indulge in to make sure I get my premium drinks package monies worth.

 

Ah the joys of vacations.

[MacMadame]

Itinerary first. Price second.