Cruise a good value??? I think not.

[lesleyswimcoach]

If you can drive to the port, it is still a good value.

[CanadianTwosome]

Those are all good comments, Cdn-T, but I just wanted to pick up on a couple points you made. I agree with the critical distinction between "inexpensive" and "good value". I'm not sure the original poster is confusing them, though. If two options are equally appealing, then the cheaper one is the better value -- at least from that person's perspective. That is what makes these debates difficult. What is important to one person is not important to others. For example, plenty of posters seem to put a huge premium on the value of not having to cook food (which to me is no biggie).

 

I've seen a few people referring to the volume of food they can consume "for free". But it seems to me that there is only a certain amount of food you can healthily eat. The access to any more food above that is surely of no value to anyone. So if the point is that the cruise fare includes three square meals and some snacks if I feel like it, then fine. But I'm not sure how access to unlimited food (above and beyond that amount) provides any benefit to any passenger. And, of course, the food isn't free, it is merely "included".

 

I've seen a few postings that try to compare a cruise to an equivalent vacation that involves flying from one port city to another port city (i.e., "to get the same thing on a land vacation, I'd need to pay for all that air travel"). However, the point isn't that you are trying to replicate a cruise without the cruise ship, so it is not really a fair comparison. That would be similar to saying, "if I'm on a land vacation, I can stay out in the city as late as I want. If I'm on a cruise and I want to stay at the port after the ship leaves, then I have to pay to have myself transported to catch up to the ship the next day". There are pros and cons of cruises. One of the pros is that, typically, you get to visit a number of destinations. The offsetting con is that you don't get to spend much time in any one location. You can't compare the pro to a regular (land-based) vacation without also comparing the con. If you always prefer to spend less time in more different locations, then cruises will be more valuable to you. But it is not the case that cruises are more valuable merely because they typically involve more destinations.

 

As for the car rental comment, I couldn't pass up the chance to ask how car rentals could "usually cost more than average". Isn't the amount they usually cost, by definition, the "average"?

 

I understand what you're saying, but I still think there's some confusion. When I talk about value, I'm talking about per dollar. Saying that the less expensive option is 'better value' because the buyer is just as satisfied doesn't make it a better value, it just remains less expensive. To me the value is determined by what I am getting for $1, not how few dollars I can spend to be happy, which was my point. So, all of my comparisons in my first post are about what my dollar is going to get me. For example, our booking on the Conquest for next November is costing me about $1,150 for six nights. Because of how obsessively I research every vacation I book, I can tell you without any doubt that I cannot find accommodation, meals of cruise quality, and daily and nightly entertainment for my entire family for less than $200 per day - in a location that is warm in Novermber. Hence, cruising is the better value. :)

 

In regard to the car rental comment, you misunderstood this also. I was referring to on-site hotels costing more than average, not car rentals. I also want to point out that I at no time ever referred to the meals on a cruise as 'free'. The fact that they are included in my fare is part of what makes it a good value - it INCLUDES meals. My entire point is about inclusion, actually - everything I get included in my cruise fare - and comparing it to ANY other vacation is relevant not because the two offer the same experience, but because if I'm not cruising I expect to have the same needs met - accommodations, meals (provided by someone else at cruise quality) and entertainment - and the value comparison comes from how much it will cost me to get the same standard of each from another source.

 

This is why I believe the OP - and clearly others - are confusing 'inexpensive' with 'good value'. Just because something is inexpensive does not mean it is a good value, and just because something is a good value does not mean it's inexpensive. :)

[arpie05]

I think it's a great value. I looked over my weekend in Cape Canaveral bill - for entertainment, car rental and food for 3 nights 2 days (Flew in Friday evening and left Monday morning to go to work) I spent $350. This does't include things I spent cash on.

 

I spent a lot less for airfare when we went on our 3 day (+ bfast next day) and 3 night cruise which only cost me $500. (including tips for two) We definitely ate better and had more fun on the cruise!!!! this is an extra day of vacation and not that much more money.

[skipp_r1]

I love to cruise and cant' wait until June when I get to do so with extended family. But......I read here and there that cruising presents a good value......I don't think its a rip off but good value I don't believe.

 

A good value to me is renting a big home on the outer banks with a few families and enjoying the week.......or a drive to vacation if you live in northeast like to to lake george or cape cod or upstate NY.........or an all inclusive in riviera maya (if you like to drink you save tons on booze).........or staying at auntie's home near the beach. lol.

 

If a family of 4 has to fly to miami, take a 7 night cruise, and stay at least 1 night in a hotel in miami and take shuttles too and from airport.....look what that costs.....a ton.

 

anyway....just wondering why many of you think its a good value....remind me again so i keep my enthusiasm high for my trip.....

 

Granted that if you stay at a friends cabin, rent a house or visit your auntie you will save money. But drive 1800 miles in a week spending every night in a five star hotel, eat three meals a day in a gourmet restraunt, leave 15-20% tips on each meal, pay for your gass and see something other then the interstate scenery driving 300 miles a day.

Now visit four or five exotic ports in a week swim in warm clear water with your kids and see all kinds of colored fish out of a fish bowl. Visit old ports where history was made, and on sea days watch your kids do a zip line, climb a wall, slide down a water slide, and laugh and play with new friends from around the world. Also watch free movies under the stars, go to Las Vegas style shows everynight for free even some well know performers all clean and free so your kids can even go to them.

 

Value when you put it all together the value is not just the cost, it is seeing and doing things as a family, Tour Europe on a bus pack and unpack everynight, put your lugagge outside your door by 5:00am ride in a bus with no restroom for 3-4 hours to get to your next hotel.

 

Or fly in get on the ship unpack day one repack the night before the end of the cruise and see Rome, Venice, the Pyrimaids, Athens, Rhoades, Croatia. Tell me, how long before you realize you keep seeing the same thing every year going to to an all inclusive resort out in the middle of nowhere and just eating the one thing they are serving, and only see the area if you rent a car and leave the resort and know where to go.

 

My nest cruise is on the Yantze river for 11 days with tours included and 7 nights in different cities before and after the cruise. Expensive, maybe, but will I ever see that much history or scenery driving the interstate, no. The value isn't just the cruise, it is everything you have the opportunity to experience while cruising and the new friends you meet from around the wolrd who are on the cruise with you.

 

Is it for everyone, definitly not, but , if you are just looking at it from the money point of view you will never enjoy yourself.

[maxxedout2]

Maybe not good value for OP considering flight cost,

number of people, etc.

 

However, if someone lives near a port, grabs last minute deals

and can sail in the off-season; amazing value for them.

 

:cool: