Really Starting to Wonder... Cruise or Not??

[marco]

We like to get away to the warm in the winter and a 10-12 day Caribbean cruise , when all is said and done and factoring in air/hoteil/dining/optional spending/ etc/etc, it's considerably less expensive for us then a 10-12 day stay on any Caribbean island.

[Wayfairers]

If we always cruised the Caribbean I think we would tire of cruising quickly - same excursions/different island seems to be the way the islands work. Try cruising Alaska or different parts of the world before deciding it isn't for you - and you may find that even though you vary the ports you still don't enjoy cruising. It isn't for everyone.

 

We travel most of the year and do more land trips than cruises. We both love to cruise but not the Caribbean very often - there just isn't enough variety.

[karinad]

We used to just do All Inclusives, Sandals, etc. It's the ultimate beach vacation, when the weather is perfect, however........you're stuck when the weather isn't perfect. There are no movies, except in the room. Most of the resorts do not have room service. We LOVED the beach and doing nothing. I looked into cruising, and found that I could go to Europe for less then the cost of Sandals. We've been going on caribbean cruises the last few yrs., and the beach experience on a cruise is not the same as AI. We hardly ever go to the beach when cruising. For me, it's harder to tolerate without my hotel room in back of me. I do enjoy a lounge chair on a cruise deck also!

[jschm27]

We mix it up. We have a motorhome that we are cruising America in roughly half of the year. When we get tired of that, we'll take an ocean cruise or fly somewhere we want to spend some time at. Variety is the spice .....

 

I like to cruise but the time in port is very limited, that is a draw back, but sometimes a cruise is the best way to see something.

 

John

[Sadie cruiser]

We actually got sick of going to florida and renting condos and staring at sand so we thought let's cruise on the mega ships and use that as our "floating resort" vacation so we used the ships as the destination and had a blast. I am talking the Allure, The Epic and waiting for the Carnival Breeze in 2013, then we will be done with cruising I guess until the next floating resort comes along. LOL. Well then there is a little priority of paying for college. Anywhere I can have my entertainment, dining, activities, destinations, and transportation all provided is ok for me!

[Gloria Mundi]

DH and I have been together for 14 years and have visited at least a dozen countries but our cruise next year will be our first. As I read these Boards, there's SO much we'd hate about the mega-ship cruises- hour-long waits for tenders at ports, scrounging for tables at breakfast, crowded elevators stopping on 6 levels, not being able to swim laps in the pool because it's wall-to-wall people, poolside chair hogs, etc. For some people the on-board entertainment and activities or just the chance to vegetate all day make it worthwhile, but it's not our thing. We've chosen a small ship cruise within Alaska and are really looking forward to it. I have a feeling it won't be our last, but the smaller ships are a lot more $$$ so we'll have to pace ourselves.

 

As for Europe- we love Europe and have nearly always been able to reduce out-of-pocket costs by redeeming airline miles or hotel points, but gave up for 2012. The airlines are getting stingy with reward travel and greedy in their paid ticket pricing. I hope that eases up at some point but I may not get to Europe in 2012 unless it's on business.

[broberts]

I'm a little surprised after skimming the 30 or so responses not to have noticed a single person mentioning a love of the sea.

 

I love cruising in part because I absolutely love to be at sea. Don't get me wrong, I like exploring ports of call and never seem to get bored, but what truly captivates me are things like sitting out on my balcony at night watching the moonlit wake as the ship slips through the sea and marvelling at the incredible night time sky - something I never get to see in the city.

 

I love having a bite to eat and looking out over the incredibly georgeous multi-hued turquoise, blue or dark green expanse of ocean; if I'm really lucky I'm sitting outside at the stern of a Radiance or Fantasy class ship.

 

I also love walking the upper decks in the pre-dawn hours as a ship slips into port, any port. For me this is a magical time.

[Gloria Mundi]

I'm a little surprised after skimming the 30 or so responses not to have noticed a single person mentioning a love of the sea.

 

Somehow DH and I always end up visiting islands or coastal areas in our trips, so I know what you mean. There are a lot of ways to experience it besides a cruise. I still remember kayaking around Dubrovnik's city walls, waking up and seeing Patmos ahead of us (an overnight ferry- wouldn't call it a cruise!) and the view of the Mediterranean we had from our room in Barcelona. Last May we flew to Majorca from Valencia for a day. My profile picture is on a lake in the Parc Real in Madrid!

 

But thanks for the reminder about the night sky- should be spectacular in Alaska (weather permitting) and we'll need to take a constellation map!

[karinad]

I'm a little surprised after skimming the 30 or so responses not to have noticed a single person mentioning a love of the sea.

 

I love cruising in part because I absolutely love to be at sea. Don't get me wrong, I like exploring ports of call and never seem to get bored, but what truly captivates me are things like sitting out on my balcony at night watching the moonlit wake as the ship slips through the sea and marvelling at the incredible night time sky - something I never get to see in the city.

 

I love having a bite to eat and looking out over the incredibly georgeous multi-hued turquoise, blue or dark green expanse of ocean; if I'm really lucky I'm sitting outside at the stern of a Radiance or Fantasy class ship.

 

I also love walking the upper decks in the pre-dawn hours as a ship slips into port, any port. For me this is a magical time.

Yes, you can't beat the sea being at sea in the night! The peacefulness is hard to describe! It's so mysterious, especially the Mediterranean!

[karinad]

I'm a little surprised after skimming the 30 or so responses not to have noticed a single person mentioning a love of the sea.

 

I love cruising in part because I absolutely love to be at sea. Don't get me wrong, I like exploring ports of call and never seem to get bored, but what truly captivates me are things like sitting out on my balcony at night watching the moonlit wake as the ship slips through the sea and marvelling at the incredible night time sky - something I never get to see in the city.

 

I love having a bite to eat and looking out over the incredibly georgeous multi-hued turquoise, blue or dark green expanse of ocean; if I'm really lucky I'm sitting outside at the stern of a Radiance or Fantasy class ship.

 

I also love walking the upper decks in the pre-dawn hours as a ship slips into port, any port. For me this is a magical time.

Yes, you can't beat being at sea in the night! It's so peaceful and mysterious, especially the Mediterranean!

[smooth_toaster]

I've been reading lots and LOTS of boards - everything to do about cruising. We haven't been cruising long - 5 years, but I'm starting to get a little bored with it. We used to go to Islands for 1 or 2 weeks which gave us time to actually get to know the people, and the islands. On a ship you have, maybe 8 hours to 'look around'. Never really get to know anything...

 

I love to cruise for the relaxation and the peace I find - the ship and the food are the destination too. However, I also did my happy dance when I started to plan our land vacation for next year! I am ready to hit the open road again, but still have a future cruise booked all the while.

 

Sounds like maybe it's time for you go back to your roots every once in a while, and visit with your old friends and make new ones over a lengthy stay on a land vacation ... nothing wrong with that either. :)

[fleckle]

The answer is right in the question: ... Cruise or Not.

 

There is no need to limit yourself to one type of vacation or the other. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Many people alternate or do a combo of both.

 

There are so many wonderful experiences to be had on land vacations that you can't get on a cruise and vice-versa.

 

Also, there are many different types of cruises, just as there are many different types of land vacations.

(Thinking of that old saying about variety being the spice of life.)

[wwcruisers]

I actually DO like the BVI more than the USVI. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

We only had a few hours at Jost Van Dyke, but I could have spent a week there -- just hanging out on the beach (and the Soggy Dollar Bar)! :cool:

[moniquet]

We are getting a bit bored with the same ole stuff on cruise ships. As the ships have got larger so have the lines for virtually anything. Not to mention the struggle for a lounger. Then there is watching the clock to get back to the ship and leaving a lovely uncrowded beach.

 

We used to cruise twice per year and a landbased. This year we have done two landbased, last in St. Lucia. Nice to stroll on an empty beach at sundown, eat dinner a few steps from the sea. Not really possible to eat formal under the stars on a ship, almost always too breezy. We are going to Italy next week and the only sea trip will be over to Capri:D

 

I do like the sea, sitting on the balcony before bed but cruises just don't seem the same anymore.

[Gloria Mundi]

We are getting a bit bored with the same ole stuff on cruise ships. As the ships have got larger so have the lines for virtually anything. Not to mention the struggle for a lounger. Then there is watching the clock to get back to the ship and leaving a lovely uncrowded beach.

 

We used to cruise twice per year and a landbased. This year we have done two landbased, last in St. Lucia. Nice to stroll on an empty beach at sundown, eat dinner a few steps from the sea.

 

I know what you mean. DH and I usually set up our land-based trips around 2 cities (e.g. Barcelona and Madrid) and use those as bases to explore the city in depth or take day trips out of the city. The wonderful thing is that sometimes we change our minds in the morning depending on the weather and what we feel like doing that day. A one-day stop in Dubrovnik would have left us frustrated.

 

We're also at the point where some of DH's chronic health issues mean that he wears out faster than I do. We like the flexibility of sightseeing till he's had enough and then getting him settled back in the hotel room while I run, swim, use the gym, find an Internet cafe, etc. Port excursions from a cruise ship are a lot less flexible.

 

I think there will be some more small-ship cruises in our future but never the mega-ships.

[Wayfairers]

DH and I have been together for 14 years and have visited at least a dozen countries but our cruise next year will be our first. As I read these Boards, there's SO much we'd hate about the mega-ship cruises- hour-long waits for tenders at ports, scrounging for tables at breakfast, crowded elevators stopping on 6 levels, not being able to swim laps in the pool because it's wall-to-wall people, poolside chair hogs, etc. For some people the on-board entertainment and activities or just the chance to vegetate all day make it worthwhile, but it's not our thing. We've chosen a small ship cruise within Alaska and are really looking forward to it. I have a feeling it won't be our last, but the smaller ships are a lot more $$$ so we'll have to pace ourselves.

 

As for Europe- we love Europe and have nearly always been able to reduce out-of-pocket costs by redeeming airline miles or hotel points, but gave up for 2012. The airlines are getting stingy with reward travel and greedy in their paid ticket pricing. I hope that eases up at some point but I may not get to Europe in 2012 unless it's on business.

 

We are going to start using cruises as a way to get somewhere (Europe, Australia, etc) for a land vacation whenever we can get it to work. You have to be retired to do this and be willing to be on the road for a while, but it is a much better trip to the destination than the flying buses.