traveling vs cruising

[cruise kitty]

I'm just curious what's the priority of most folks on this board? traveling, new countries, places or just cruising?

[MiamiSpartan]

For us, it's an inexpensive way to relax, and since we live in South Florida, we usually don't have to deal with the hassles of the TSA....

[Mr. Luckytoo]

I started out cruising as a means to see other places - Caribbean cruises. After my first dozen cruises we then used cruising as a means to 'sample' other countries in Europe (still have more to visit such as Egypt - :eek:)

 

However most cruises that I book are simply a means to get away and relax. I've learned to enjoy the ship and the activities onboard.

[annierie]

When we first started cruising, it was to sample the islands, then to get away for a week. It evolved into finding itineraries that were most interesting.

 

It now is only a choice for things like Antarctica, Galapagos, Tahiti and other exotic locales. We are more into long term stays to savor a culture, and cruising doesn't lend itself to that. Alaska and the Carribean islands are overrun by ships, and not my idea of relaxing.

[bellybutton530]

I cruise to see the world, without being stuck somewhere for a long period of time. If I liked a place I could always return for an in-depth land tour.

 

I cruise because you only have to unpack once.

 

I cruise because I hate long bus rides and changing hotels.

 

I wish I could post my Virtual Tourist map in my signature, but have always been unsuccessful.

[cruie4ever]

We cruise mainly for the new ports we see & the fact of unpacking one time vs a land tour. Like the OP said if wwe found a particular port/country very interesting we would come back & stay in a hotel for 4 to 6 nights to visit that port.

[We're The Groupnors]

DH has a lot of food related challenges that make cruising our best option for visiting the Caribbean each winter. We have been on one Med cruise, and are cruising the Baltics this summer, mostly because the destinations are far flung, and it's an easy way to see lots of places in a two week period. We still take plenty of land based vacations in North America and Western Europe.

 

That being said we do love cruising, and have been to the Caribbean so many times now we actually look for itineraries with lots of sea days to enjoy the beautiful ships.

 

So, I guess for us it's a mixture!

[islandgirlejfan]

There are destinations that I probably wouldn't select a cruise. Having lived in Europe, we just feel it's a place for us that has to be experienced on the ground and several days each place. We know from experience that the off the beaten path places are the true Europe and I'm sure you can say that about most any place, but islands are small enough that you could see a lot in a day then say a place like Paris or Rome. We spent four days in Paris back in 2003 and still felt cheated. We love the beach and getting in water we can see the bottom in, so a cruise is perfect!

[ljk76]

Both would be true! For "fun in the sun" it's hard to beat the ease of a cruise, and it can be cheaper than a week in Florida. But a cruise was also a great way to see five countries in the Med in 12 days. We definitely want to do more land based European travel, but a cruise was a good starting point.

[iancal]

We cruise to get away from the cold weather...so it is typically a Caribbean cruise or a Mexican Riviera cruise. We usually do land tours-especially in Europe. The cruise lines do not go to where we want to go, and when they do there is hardly enought time in port to taste the local flavor. We also find that land tours in Europe are much less expensive so we can extend our travel time, do and see more, for the same budget.

[SusieV]

I don't think you CAN really explore new countries while cruising. You're there for what, a day? Maybe two if you overnight. Frequently cruisers don't even want to eat at local restaurants, and there's no time to experience real local culture that isn't just put on by the natives for tips.

 

I enjoy cruising for the relaxation of cruising, and also use it as background to decide what places I would like to visit for longer. But a one day visit anywhere is not going to be anywhere as indepth as my 3 weeks in Thailand, for example. I would call that more an experience than a relaxing vacation.

[glutenhab]

I cruise to get a taste (pun intended) of the places I visit & not for the food but, if I were to eat on a land vacation the way I do on a cruise ship, & I am not a big or picky eater, I would spend as much on my meals alone as I would have spent on my entire cruise.

On top of this I have the benefits of not having the stress & worry of;

- finding a place to stay each night that is clean & not over priced

- having to decide where to stop & eat for every meal & snack (and to go to the bathroom!)

- having to rent a car & drive or sit on a bus

- having to be careful with alcohol consumption when driving

- having to find my way around foreign countries

- having to pack up & unpack every night

- having to tip waiters/bus-boys/bellmen/taxi drivers at every turn

- not having access to pools/whirlpools/spas all vacation long

 

The list goes on & on. For those who say you waste a lot of time on the water I say, most of your time on the water is overnight & this gets you from one port to the next without having to waste the next day doing this.

How else could you go to bed in Rome & wake up refreshed the next morning in Venice? The few sea days there are allow you to relax between ports & enjoy what is basically an all-inclusive travel day, once again instead of having to drive/sit on a bus etc.

I look for cruises with interesting ports & over-nights in them. While a land based vacation does allow the opportunity to explore specific places more in depth, it also takes away from the number of places you get to see. You can only squeeze 21 days out of a 21 day vacation, if you know what I mean. I get to see many ports & if one in particular happens to interest me I can always return there later.

 

I love land based vacations & have done many.

But for maximizing your time, both for relaxation & sight-seeing, nothing beats a well selected cruise.

[Bridge Maven]

It depends upon the cruise...

 

Our upcoming cruise on Silhouette will be to take a nice relaxing 12 night cruise to a warm place without having to fly

 

We took an Alaskan Cruise on Infinity ten years ago but are taking an Alaskan Cruise Tour package this June on Radiance of the Seas. The land portion will be to travel to parts of Alaska we have not yet seen and the cruise portion will be for relaxation and scenery

 

Our Baltic Cruise to Russia on Constellation a few years ago was to travel to interesting places but we had four sea days during it, with an excellent bridge program, that were very relaxing.

 

Our Mediterranean Cruise from Barcelona to the Greek Isles/Turkey a few years ago was to travel to places we haven't been before even though it included some places in Western Europe where we had previously gone on land trips. I personally felt for travel purposes Mediterranean cruises are great for the Greek Isles and Turkey, but land vacations are better for places that are a considerable distance from the port with a lot to see, such as Rome and Florence.

 

When we take family reunion cruises we don't care about the itinerary but look for a nice kid friendly ship that will work with everyone's schedule so we can have fun together.

 

For Bermuda I consider a cruise to be a relaxing way to get to a beautiful place

[EithneMay]

While I love the cruising experience, I pick my cruise vacation mostly for the itinerary. I want to go to new and exciting locations, and my preferred method to get there is by cruise ship!

[Onessa]

We cruise almost exculsively for the itinerary! Our Spring vacation this year will be a land trip so that we can go to Prauge and Budapest (not interested in a river cruise!)

[PS90]

When we first started cruising, it was to sample the islands, then to get away for a week. It evolved into finding itineraries that were most interesting.

 

It now is only a choice for things like Antarctica, Galapagos, Tahiti and other exotic locales. We are more into long term stays to savor a culture, and cruising doesn't lend itself to that. Alaska and the Carribean islands are overrun by ships, and not my idea of relaxing.

 

I completely agree with you here!

 

Although we are still somewhat in that first phase of cruising to "sample" different places, I plan to come back to many of the places I've been to on a cruise, afterwards. But when I do that, I will do it to get a more in-depth, less-touristy "flavor" of that place, that a cruise can't do.

[cruise kitty]

Thanks for all the interesting answers! For us it's about the travel, I realize that we just get a tiny taste of each country, but it's a great way to scout out places we'd like to return to when time & money permits! Planning & researching each port & using all public transportation is a great way to get a little of the local flavor. Plus, if you have the time to do a pre or post cruise stay, you can get a bit more in depth.

 

We also both love the ocean, we used to spend a great deal of time taking our own boat to Catalina on the weekends, we sold it when the gas prices shot up, so it's nice to be back on the sea!

[tally10]

I honestly think if you want an indepth itinerary, take a land tour. We did the "Norway in a Nutshell" with Globus a few years back and you saw and did so much for very little money. It was phenomenal! Would I do a land tour again? No. The reason being, the accomodations and the food were a big disappointment (the food was largely on your own dime, too). At least with a cruise, the hotel and food come with you and is a constant at the end of a long day touring. Specifically in Europe, where things are expensive. No, you don't see or experience anywhere near what you do on a land tour, but with a cruise, you can see and do just what you want or opt out of everything. Also, with private tours, you can see a whole lot more than the standard cruise line tours. We will only do cruises from now on.

[debby21]

We like to cruise because it is low stress and relaxing (especially on the TAs). We don't have to pack and repack as we move around. We don't have to research and decide between 100s of dining options. If we don't want to do anything all day, we won't have missed out on something we have one day to see.