Why is cruising the best type of vacation ?

[lenquixote66]

Opinions ?

[navybankerteacher]

After cruising in the Caribbean  once or twice to get a sense of places, cruising is the absolutely worst way to spend time in the Caribbean. However it is the best way to come back from travel in Europe.  It can be an excellent way to get a feel for a region - or to revisit places which keep calling to you (the coast of Turkey and the Aegean, for example).

 

Like most everything else: it depends.

[hallasm]

Cruising offers a blend of convenience, variety, and luxury. You unpack once and wake up in a new destination each day. There's also a wide range of activities onboard to suit everyone's interests, from entertainment and dining to relaxation. Plus, it allows you to visit multiple destinations without the hassle of coordinating travel between them.

[lenquixote66]

44 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

After cruising in the Caribbean  once or twice to get a sense of places, cruising is the absolutely worst way to spend time in the Caribbean. However it is the best way to come back from travel in Europe.  It can be an excellent way to get a feel for a region - or to revisit places which keep calling to you (the coast of Turkey and the Aegean, for example).

 

Like most everything else: it depends.

Why is it the worst way to spend time in the Caribbean ?

[wcook]

There is no best type of vacation. Cruises offer up wonderful vacations, but so do many other types of vacation. 

[navybankerteacher]

30 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Why is it the worst way to spend time in the Caribbean ?

Because when you are on an island there are several thousand other cruise passengers there overcrowding whatever ther is to enjoy, and you never get to spend an evening and night so you can really get to know the place.

[Aquahound]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

Opinions ?

 

Nuf said...

 

[lenquixote66]

9 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Because when you are on an island there are several thousand other cruise passengers there overcrowding whatever ther is to enjoy, and you never get to spend an evening and night so you can really get to know the place.

Although Bermuda is not in the Caribbean it is a tropical island that my wife and I have been to many times usually when there was a three night stop.In that setting one can enjoy an evening activity.

We have cruised to the Caribbean approximately 30 times and got to know every place we have cruised to.

[K32682]

It isn't.

[mom says]

Or at least it isn't ALWAYS the best type of vacation. It depends on what you want from your vacation. Cruising is Travel the lazy way. Relax. Make few decisions each day of any importance. Spend a few hours ashore and kid yourself that you have "seen" or experienced that place in any meaningful way. If that is all you want out of your vacation, then a cruise is likely your ideal vacation. We relegate cruises a ways down our preference list,  to those cruises sailing itineraries to various ports difficult to do by other means, or in lieu of a resort vacation if it's  cheaper.

[clo]

14 minutes ago, K32682 said:

It isn't.

Agreed 

[NotADopey1]

Cliche- you only have to unpack once.  You can explore ships and ports.  In the ports you can choose different experiences.  For meals, you can eat a variety of cuisines.  For beverages you don’t have to drive.  You also get a sense of places you’d like to revisit for a longer stay or totally forget.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, hallasm said:

Cruising offers a blend of convenience, variety, and luxury. You unpack once and wake up in a new destination each day. There's also a wide range of activities onboard to suit everyone's interests, from entertainment and dining to relaxation. Plus, it allows you to visit multiple destinations without the hassle of coordinating travel between them.

Well said. I would add that DW and I can do our own things (such as trivia for me and swimming for her) apart and yet still spend a very lot of quality time together.

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Although Bermuda is not in the Caribbean it is a tropical island that my wife and I have been to many times usually when there was a three night stop.In that setting one can enjoy an evening activity.

We have cruised to the Caribbean approximately 30 times and got to know every place we have cruised to.

 

[Kristelle]

this is a bit like the ' what is your favourite colour' question - ie everybody's best is different and there is no definitive answer.

 

I'm not a big ocean cruiser - but  I really loved the 14 night Europe river cruise we did and booked to do a Mekong river one in January.

 

But it wont be my one and only vacation style - going on short land holiday in Australia in October and  then maybe another small group land tour year after.

Ive really enjoyed them too.

[navybankerteacher]

44 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

Bermuda is not tropical - 

 

[lenquixote66]

44 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Bermuda is not tropical - 

 

According to OneEarth.Org it is

[mom says]

59 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

According to OneEarth.Org it is

Other sources classify it as temperate, subtropical. 

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

According to OneEarth.Org it is

I have no idea of who OneEarth.Org is, but “the tropics” means  that belt between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn -  which lies well to the south of Bermuda.

[Aquahound]

You two...for heaven's sake..."tropics" and "tropical" have 2 different meanings.  No, Bermuda is not in the tropics due to its location.  Yes, Bermuda is tropical due to its climate.  

Edited April 15 by Aquahound

[ldubs]

10 hours ago, hallasm said:

Cruising offers a blend of convenience, variety, and luxury. You unpack once and wake up in a new destination each day. There's also a wide range of activities onboard to suit everyone's interests, from entertainment and dining to relaxation. Plus, it allows you to visit multiple destinations without the hassle of coordinating travel between them.

 

Yep.  Cruising is easy and relatively worry free.  

[Toofarfromthesea]

I'm with the it isn't crowd.

[Honolulu Blue]

15 hours ago, hallasm said:

Cruising offers a blend of convenience, variety, and luxury. You unpack once and wake up in a new destination each day. There's also a wide range of activities onboard to suit everyone's interests, from entertainment and dining to relaxation. Plus, it allows you to visit multiple destinations without the hassle of coordinating travel between them.

 

12 hours ago, NotADopey1 said:

Cliche- you only have to unpack once.  You can explore ships and ports.  In the ports you can choose different experiences.  For meals, you can eat a variety of cuisines.  For beverages you don’t have to drive.  You also get a sense of places you’d like to revisit for a longer stay or totally forget.

I basically agree with both of the posts I quoted above. In addition, for me at least there's the financial factor. For my regular cruises, they cost less than a hotel stay in any place decent.

 

And for my beloved music charter cruises, the combination of concerts and music related stuff makes up for its extra cost.

[Honolulu Blue]

13 hours ago, K32682 said:

It isn't.

 

13 hours ago, clo said:

Agreed 

 

3 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

I'm with the it isn't crowd.

 

13 hours ago, mom says said:

Or at least it isn't ALWAYS the best type of vacation. It depends on what you want from your vacation. Cruising is Travel the lazy way. Relax. Make few decisions each day of any importance. Spend a few hours ashore and kid yourself that you have "seen" or experienced that place in any meaningful way. If that is all you want out of your vacation, then a cruise is likely your ideal vacation. We relegate cruises a ways down our preference list,  to those cruises sailing itineraries to various ports difficult to do by other means, or in lieu of a resort vacation if it's  cheaper.

I'm surprised by the disagreement here. I had to check to see if I was at the right site.

 

I happen to agree with the principle that cruising isn't for everyone all the time. But for me, at this phase in my life, cruising sucks up most of my vacation time.

[CDNPolar]

For us it starts with boarding a luxury ship where we unpack once and see places we would probably never fly to on our own.  Not that we would not go back after once we have experienced a country, but there are cities and countries that we would never travel to directly to base our vacation on.  

 

We love getting back on the ship, relaxing, and being taken to the next port of call - whether River or Ocean.

 

We love that we know the food quality and the service to expect.

 

For us cruising is the perfect vacation. 

 

We only discovered cruising in 2017 and have been on 10 cruises since.