Just curious

[Bridge Maven]

There are a lot of people who have posted that as long as they are on a cruise they don't care what the itinerary is, or how many times they have taken it. When you are not on a cruise do you do a lot of sea related activities such as pleasure boats, staying at land based hotels with oceanfront property, etc

[JJPacer]

That's our preference. On the top of our list is Hawaii and St. John USVI. If those aren't doable, then Fl. will do.

[geospyder]

Between cruises we do a lot of land based trips. Last year we spent a week at an all inclusive in Mexico, a week hiking in Banff park up in Canada, a week visiting the wineries around Solvang, CA, a week in Las Vegas, a week in St. George, UT and I spent three weeks camped in the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada for Burningman. We're retired and love to travel.

[Kevnzworld]

I have two ocean property time shares that I spend a month at each year in Cabo and Maui. Except for the obvious, there is an ocean outside, I don't see them as being related. There is something special and different about a cruise. Maybe it's the community, or the dressing up for dinner in the evenings. I think the destinations matter because even if you've been there before, there is always the anticipation of waking up in a different port.

Arriving at a hotel is nice, embarking on a cruise is special.

[dkjretired]

There are a lot of people who have posted that as long as they are on a cruise they don't care what the itinerary is, or how many times they have taken it. When you are not on a cruise do you do a lot of sea related activities such as pleasure boats, staying at land based hotels with oceanfront property, etc

 

We own a Time share in Disney, its the only non Disney time share on the property. We go there four times a year for at least two weeks each time, sometimes three weeks. We don't usually do a lot of the parks but visit relatives, friends and some days do absolutely nothing but relax at the pools...Of course getting away from the cold in winter is an added benefit.

 

We also still own our house at the Jersey Shore and go visit our daughter who lives in the house.

[Karen@Steve]

We own two Timeshares in Kauai and Oahu. We also leave at the New Jersey Shore. When we're not in Hawaii we like the mountains! Go figure.

[Shippy]

My husband still works a lot. He is not a resort kind of guy.

Cruising is really the only way to really get away from the business. We go a couple times a year.

We are going on an Infinity Alaska cruise in May. I think the itinery is not very good because of the times in the ports but we live on the West coast so Seattle is fairly easy to get to. May in Alaska is the cheapest time to cruise there.

We took a Cruise on the Oasis last summer. It was the Western Caribbean which is not as desirable as the Eastern but cheaper.

We really book by price, that way we can go more often.

It is nice because last year we finally hit Diamond on Royal, that gives us Celebrity Elite.

Really makes a difference on your cruise when you have that status. My husband loves the cocktail hours.

[Duanerice1]

We usually do not take sea based vacations other than cruises. We live in SW Florida so I can get to the gulf when needed. Not that I haven't but it is not a normal year activity.

 

enjoy,

Duane

[Sloop-JohnB]

Hi Bridge Maven,

 

Lol, ANOTHER interesting topic !!

 

Never really thought about the correlation, but I suppose it does make some sort of sense.

 

Mr Sloop and I are road-trippers, so up until cruising our favourite vacations involved getting in the car and driving somewheres...

 

And yes, for the most part if we were to make a list of our "favourite" destinations to go to, all of them would involve water...

 

Canada's Great Lakes - Ontario's 1000 Islands Region - The St Lawrence River - The Ottawa River - The Historic Rideau Canal and Waterway - Canada's Maritime Provinces - Coastal Maine - Cape Cod - Myrtle Beach - Florida & the Florida Keys

 

We've done everything from 5-Star Oceanfront Resorts, to Beachside Country Inns and Quaint Hotels, and even Houseboats over the years (lol, those are pretty rustic vs a cruise ship)

 

And with Retirement approaching, we are also considering giving up our house in the city and buying a "4-season cottage" (on the water) and getting a boat...

 

So there you have it... we are most certainly "water babies"

 

Cheers!

[gymjudge55]

We spent the time when our kids were growing up fishing on various lakes in US and Canada, we owned a ski boat and our boys could ski, knee board and wake board by 5 years old.

Now we are all about the Caribbean, we own a Palace Resort membership covering 12 AI's in Mexico and DR and we are on a mission to visit them all. Love the ocean front rooms and sitting on a balcony with coffee in the morning. This is our first real cruise and I am excited about the balcony we have and how this may be different. We are cruising to Alaska and not the Caribbean so the ports will be different for sure. I am not sure we will ever cruise the Caribbean as we have been to most of the islands, we will save cruises for Alaska, Med, Greece etc.

[reedprincess]

There are a lot of people who have posted that as long as they are on a cruise they don't care what the itinerary is, or how many times they have taken it. When you are not on a cruise do you do a lot of sea related activities such as pleasure boats, staying at land based hotels with oceanfront property, etc

Seeing as I live on a Caribbean island and have an oceanview house and a short 8 minute walk to the beach - cruising for us is much more about the ship and being actually on the water - we always have balcony rooms or higher. When we cruise - it's for the ship and service. Other vacations vary from big city visits (very different experiences than the island!!) or to other, different beachfront locations - SoCal, Cancun, Hawaii, etc.

[Ma Bell]

I grew up near the ocean and spent 25 years there, we live in the desert and have another home in the mountains. Our vacations are of all kinds. Big city trips, land tours (mostly European), shorter trips to visit friends and relatives in different areas of the US, fishing trips, cultural sightseeing, National Parks trips and lots of cruises usually combined with some time before or after the cruise in the city of departure. Once a year we take a trip with the kids and grandkids. We want them to have experiences to remember rather than just "things".

 

We both still work, even though we're past retirement age, but have a business we can leave in the hands of a couple of our children and we can do what's necessary while traveling. As long as we can continue to feel good and work hard we'll continue to travel. We can sit on the porch later.:)

[aquaclass]

Living in Wisconsin, we like to cruise during the winter months to nice warm destinations, but other times of the year we are land based trevelers. We have visited about 40 states. By FAR my favorite place to travel is Yellowstone. Like no place on earth.

[Shooraq]

The funny thing is that I could care less about the beach, or staying at beachfront property! :D

 

A cruise ship is a floating hotel and restaurant for me. A means to travel to multiple places with ease in one trip. A way for me to sample new palces so I know whether to go back for longer as a land-based trip.

 

DH and I are only in our 30's, yet we have almost exhausted what we want to see and do in the USA. So cruising is a great form of travel. Most of my land-based trips are thru my parent's timeshares or just a location to sightsee.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I love the ocean and would live right next to it if I could afford it. In addition to cruising, our family goes to the beach in Emerald Isle every year for two weeks and we stay ocean front. We have four generations participating in this fun now.

 

Lately I've been doing more driving trips to see parts of the US and Canada I haven't seen yet. Drove the Lake Superior Circle Tour last fall (considered an inland sea!). I also love mountains. Doing Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper this fall.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Lately I've been doing more driving trips to see parts of the US and Canada I haven't seen yet. Drove the Lake Superior Circle Tour last fall (considered an inland sea!). I also love mountains. Doing Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper this fall.

 

TO HAPPY CRUISER 6143,

 

Lake Superior is "phenominal"... really amazing in its magnitude of size, striking scenery and sense of "untamed" majesty (and cold forbidden isolation) ... gives one a new respect for the Great Lakes !!

 

Cheers!

 

PS... You will LOVE the Western National Parks... have been to all but one on your list... the Grand Tetons... (still to check that off my MUST DO List... plan to combine with a circular trip that takes in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Nevada and Utah). Lots of GREAT American scenery along that route !!

[rwr235]

I grew up in a country 7,000 islands...so beaches and the ocean were a way of life. Nowadays, besides cruising, vacations on the Chesapeake Bay, on the New York Finger Lakes, Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, and at the ocean are frequent extended-family summer getaways !! There is just something uniquely peaceful and soothing about water that seems to melt my troubles away !!

 

Otherwise, I'll travel just about anywhere...anytime an opportunity presents itself !!

 

Woody

[debshomespun]

We are in our 50's and DH retired. While our 2 kids were growing up, we did the Disney trips, lots of summer trips to Myrtle beach, and started to cruise once the kids hit college. We have been cruising now for 9 years, and during that time have done 3 AI resorts. We have decided we love to cruise, and it is definitely a great way to travel. We love waking up in a different place every day. We have done mostly the Caribbean, and been to Hawaii twice, and The South Pacific. We are looking at getting away (by ship of course) to see Australia. This will be our next "big one" For now, we settle for several times a year on a cruiseship. We try to get out of the cold midwest winters in Jan/Feb, and don't cruise during the summer months. During that time, we try to spend lots of time with our DD, as she has a little one now, almost 2 yrs. old. DS will be getting married next year. At the end of summer, we take a quick trip just to tide us over until our long trip in the middle of the winter. We try to take some of the off season trips to get great deals. We usually stay in insides, or I look for some great deals.

 

Our next big cruise is on X Eclipse, 14 nights circle the Caribbean, and I was able to get a group rate that is an excellent deal on a balcony. With it having been only $600. more for the both of us from an inside to a balcony, it was definitely a great deal in our opinion.

 

We are almost D+ with RC, and only took our first Celebrity last month on the Millennium, and loved it. We love the upscale atmosphere Celebrity offers, and the DH loves the Elite hour, and the internet and laundry are a great plus. Loved the creme brulee and french onion soup on the menu every night.

 

My brother just bought a condo in Hilton Head, so we may do a family vacation there in the next couple years with our 2 kids and their families. We would love to go to Aruba, Barbados and St. Maarten for a week each. Want to go back to Hawaii to Maui and Oahu, and still want to see Europe and the Med, but those can wait until we make it to Australia, (other than maybe Hawaii, as it is probably going to be on the way to Australia by way of repositioning the ship).

[A Sixth?]

When not on a cruise ship, we're often on our own boat.

 

Spent years living aboard in the Caribbean, Bahamas you name it. :D

 

 

 

 

 

[Constance331]

A Sixth: As a native NYer who personally witnessed 9-11, that third photo you posted pulled a heartstring....

[SusieV]

No. We just want to be onboard a cruise ship. I have no interest in just boating on the water or sitting at the beach more than a day or two. It's all the bells and whistles of cruising that bring us back; the specialty restaurants, the drink packages (and Molecular Bar!), the white glove service, the relaxation without our child, and everything that goes along with a cruise.

[dolittle]

We live near the beach (N.J.) and go all the time. So when we cruise we want something different . I really do not understand people who go to the Caribbean over and over. I love cruising but the ports count too.

[Oville]

We both grew up close to salt water, worked in Boston and have two homes in coastal communities. Cruising has been a bit of an obsession since we retired early, took our first cruise in 11/06 and have taken 66 cruises. Ports are important to us, cruise food is more miss than hit for us although we do love Blu on Celebrity. Specialty restaurants are usually pretty good but way too much food is served, not great for the waste line. Like to have a drink or two at bars onboard but try to stare away from the calorie killers.

 

We also love to adventure to places nearby our homes and have a fun trip planned in May. We live on the east coast, have visited the west coast and southwest US many times. We are giving some though to a trip to northwest Canada for next year.

[Project_gal]

Used to major on visiting deserts [once drove from Las Vegas to San Diego the long way taking in 6 different deserts] and cities before we found cruising!

 

Sue

[teajak]

We live near the beach (N.J.) and go all the time. So when we cruise we want something different . I really do not understand people who go to the Caribbean over and over. I love cruising but the ports count too.

Sorry you don't understand us. The ship is our destination and we love it. We have been on 56 cruises. We are in our 80's,(the somewhat disliked seniors from some posters) and I use a walker so the islands are difficult for me.We love cruising,the Carribbean weather,the ocean,the closeness of the Florida ports,the service and ambiance on the ships.Good thing God made us all different.;)