Do you ever get fed up of cruising?

[moniquet]

We have been cruising every year for the last 12 years or so. The past 5 years we have cruised twice per year. In December we cruised Emerald Princess and didn't enjoy it. No major complaints except the ship seemed overcrowded. Queuing for everything, only able to get sunloungers high up in MUTS (we hated MUTS! most of the movies were for kids) Same ole routine, same Islands. Have done all the tours so most ports we took a taxi to a beach.

 

So we decided to do a Caribbean land based holiday in March....in St. Lucia and we had a great time. Beach front room just yards from the sea, spacious. Lovely restaurant that you could dine under the stars without any wind. Good food and plentiful cocktails. (all inclusive) Never any difficulty in getting a lounger either on the beach or by the pool. Plus a large pool you could really swim in. No bother getting into line to leave the ship or catch a tender, not taxi to pay for. Lazing around until 12 noon on the last day. Everything was sooo relaxing.

 

So we are having a rethink about cruising this december and maybe do another landbased holiday. I do think the standard of cruise ships has declined. Maybe we are just "cruised out" and need a years break.

[grand isle joe]

I have to agree with you. We have focused on land based tours although we just returned from a 3 day quickie on the Dream. Cruising does seem to becoming more like the airlines have become as of late. It has changed from and exciting special event to a ho-hum generic experience. We are surrounded by 'know-it-alls" on board much like Cliff Clavin on the old T.V. show "Cheers". I also agree on the selfish passengers and your desperate attempt to sit in a lounge chair on ANY cruise line.Change is good.:)

[CruiserBruce]

Could it be you are overdosing on cruising?

 

We generally only sail every 18-24 months. So far (just over 20 years and 12 cruises), keeps it fairly fresh.

[luddite]

Never.

[tonit964]

Nope!

[Keith1010]

We never get tired of cruising. For us, it is the perfect way to see the world.

 

Keith

[worldspan]

I would tend to agree with you. The cruise experience continues to be watered down by pencil pushing ex-airline execs who now run the cruise lines.

 

Like many I have been financially hurt during this recession, not enough to prevent me from taking cruises but enough that a stay at a 5 star resort in the Caribbean is not in the cards. A cruise remains a great value when you are on a budget.

 

That said, I cannot help but remember the quote from the Washington Times a few years back that a cruise had become a "poor man's vacation." Surely not if you are fortunate to sail Seabourn or Regent but on most lines, maybe yes. When I started taking cruises in the l970's I was in awe of the "money" that surrounded me but now, well, have I traveled to the worst part of town ?

 

Worldspan

[FTLcruisers]

Sounds like you keep going to the same places (the Caribbean) which can get boring. Branch out and see the world - there are so many interesting places you can cruise to plus such a variety of ships/cruise lines. We have been cruising 3-4 times a year for the past 7 years or so - we do one destination cruise (10 days or more - Europe, South America, etc. - with several days pre-cruise in the city we'll be sailing from) and a few 7 day Caribbean which are just for relaxing since we've been to just about every island multiple times. We NEVER get tired of cruising!

 

Marianne

[GlendaleCruiser]

Never get tired of it here. I always try to do a little "land based" excursion time before or after boarding but that's because I'm already there and have paid the transportation part of it.

 

People who feel like it is too much like the airlines need to step up to Cunard or Seabourn.

 

This reminds me of a friend. She doesn't want to go to any port she's been to before. Of course, we've only scratched the surface of things to do in any port we've gone to, so I'm going with someone else this time. There is always something new to do.

[cb at sea]

If you tire of it...STOP...give it a rest! Do something different! Cruising is great, but if it gets old, just stop!

There are A LOT of great vacations that don't require a ship.

[mikewrit]

I get weary of cruising about seven hours after disembarkation when my large frame has been jammed into an economy flight seat for three or four hours with hours left to fly.

[chipmaster]

Nope, we do many different things for vacations, cruising is only one of them and so they are always refreshing as they are different ships, different lines and almost always different places, never boring.

 

Fed up, that all comes to do you have the right expectations. Do you get fed up checking in lines at an airport, do you get fed up going thru TSA, flying coach. etc. etc. etc.

 

Crowds, on a ship with 3500 jammed togather all trying to eat at the same time, sun at the same time etc. etc. of course there will be lines, crowds etc. After all if it was priced not to get you fed up likely you couldn't afford it either :D

[Hlitner]

This is a great topic that has come up before on various threads of CC. We have met folks on cruises that are fed up or bored with cruising (but they are still on a ship) and we just smile and nod. DW and I have been cruising for about 30 years, have spent more then 2 years on cruises, been on more then 60 different ships, 12 cruise lines and to 6 continents (have not been to Antartica yet). We also do a lot of land trips (we just rent a car and drive in Europe) and also like All Inclusives. But, we have never tired of cruising and still try to cruise about 75 days a year. So why don't we get bored with cruising? We think its because we do lots of different itineraries on many different cruise lines. Most folks we have met that get bored or fed up with cruising usually have only been on 1 or 2 lines and often cruise in the same part of the world. When I read posts like the prior post that talks about 3500 folks crowded on a ship I wonder why they cruise on a ship with 3500. Our next cruise is on an 800 passenger ship (Prinsendam) where they do not have big crowds. There are ships (and boats) in all sizes (we have been on vessels from 20 passenger to over 3000 passenger). If you have an issue with a certain size, type of ship, or line, simply try something else.

 

Hank

[Cruise Junky]

I would get tired of cruising if that was the only vacations we did, but we like to do lots of land trips in-between. Shot me if we become one of those people that cruise to the Caribbean every single year..thats not for us. We cruise for the ports.

[STARFISH*4]

nope, i am OBSESSED with Cruising and wish we could do more!!!

[worldspan]

I will add that the arrival of Oasis and Allure of the Seas in the last two years was a real "breath of fresh air" from the too many "cookie cutter" lot of cruise ships that have come out in recent years!

 

Worldspan

[Hlitner]

I will add that the arrival of Oasis and Allure of the Seas in the last two years was a real "breath of fresh air" from the too many "cookie cutter" lot of cruise ships that have come out in recent years!

 

Worldspan

 

Hmmm. That "breath of fresh air" smells an awful lot like halatosis to us! RCI has been doing their best to design ships to be unlike ships. These two vessels both do boring itineraries of only 7 days, are carefully designed to be shopping malls, have cabins overlooking a mall (this is supposed to be a cruise ship?), etc. Sure, they are mega vessels with an innovative design. But for those that really like cruising they are nothing more then a great marketing gimmick designed to convince vacationers that they are not on a ship....but rather in a large shopping mall/hotel complex.

 

Hank

[Taxguy77]

I get weary of cruising about seven hours after disembarkation when my large frame has been jammed into an economy flight seat for three or four hours with hours left to fly.

 

Even without a large frame I totally agree. The airport hassle and the flight to the ship takes a day or more to get over, and the trip home erases half the good memories of the cruise.

Unlike those opting for land tours or all-inclusives, I like to plan a basic trip by car which gives me the option of staying somewhere longer and extending or shortening the trip.

[jewopaho]

I'm curious about the cost of the all-inclusive vs. a cruise. To many, it's an economic issue. We've cruised for as little as $350/pp (7 nights), but generally come it at about $500-$600. We've also sailed for 10 nights at a cost of just over $600/pp ... even did a 13-night transatlantic for under $1000/pp including air.

 

More and more, the ship is the destination these days. Royal Caribbean's two Monsters of the Seas (cruising with 6,000 of your closest friends) are proof of that ... the itineraries certainly aren't the reason that people pay a premium to sail on them.

 

We do get away for a few days at a time during the year, but also manage to cruise at least three times. If the value were there, we'd certainly consider a land-based vacation. We do look occasionally, but haven't found anything that would supplant a cruise for the overall bang for the buck. No, we don't tire of them, but we're certainly open to other options.

[cruisemom42]

Everyone's different. I've realized that I enjoy cruising -- but not too often. I try to alternate between land-based trips and cruises. If I had the chance to take more than two vacations a year (tied to a job still...:o), it would still probably be no more than one cruise per year.

 

I do not cruise for relaxation very often; usually I cruise for the itinerary -- and a lot of the time you have a better, more in-depth experience on a land trip.

[Cruising Golfer]

If you get tired of cruising, you're just not doing it right... We could care less about the ports or ever getting off the ship! When we do go to port we make our own tours, sometimes we wall sometimes we take a taxi... You can see something new on every trip if you just try... Will never tire of cruising...:eek:

[Hlitner]

The last post got my attention. We have spent port days on the ship when in places that held little interest. But, when we see folks staying on-board in a lot of ports it can also mean they are not choosing interesting itineraries. There are crusies to all 7 continents and literally hundreds of places (thousands when you consider land options). When we found ourselves staying aboard in some of the Caribbean ports (you have to pry me off the ship in places like St Thomas) we started going to more interesting places in South America, Africa, Asia, etc. For those that have the time (and money) a long cruise is a great way to get the best of both worlds...lots of sea days and many interesting ports. We are soon taking a longer trip (includes 2 cruises and a week driving on land) that will take us to 10 countries and 25 ports. We also get 23 sea days which satisfies the cruising part of our mentality. I am simply trying to make the point that if one gets "fed up" or bored with crusiing they are just taking the wrong cruises for them!

 

Hank

[moniquet]

Thanks for the comments, really interesting. Yes we have probably "overdone" the Caribbean yet we enjoyed the landbase holiday in St Lucia. Tend to cruise there because we nearly always cruise in Nov- Jan. Have done the far East and am not interested in repeating. Would like a long one around australia and New Zealand but are a bit pricey. Europe...we lived in Spain for many years and did a few summer cruises, definitely not a winter venue. Having lived in Africa I think it is better to be landbased.

 

Cruises are excellent value for money but they have got a bit like "cattle class" The newer ships like Oasis I would hate...I want a cruise to be like the old days. Cunard isn't great, prefered HAL. Maybe we will try Regent,or Silversea etc. (budget permitting:D)

[Talisker92]

We have only been married for a short time, but at our age, we cannot let grass grow under our feet. We have already been on 10 cruises, but have interspersed land tours between. We did a cruise from Venice to Istanbul that stopped on the Amalfi Coast, and we loved it so much we took a land tour through Italy that stopped there for 3 days.

We chose cruises for the itineraries. We are cruising from Rome to Dover next month to hit western Europe, and doing a Canada and New England cruise tour in the fall. My wife has never been to any of these places.

I can see if you are going back to the same islands in the Caribbean it can get boring.

[Krazy Kruizers]

not yet