Of All the Things that make Cruising our Vacation of Choice.......

[sail7seas]

Important on our list for reasons to choose to cruise are not having to bother about deciding where to have dinner each evening; making reservations; getting into taxis and then hoping for assistance from the restaurant to get one back to our hotel.

 

When I hear the talk about having multiple choices for dinner on the ships and having to make reservations for where you choose on each given day is sounding a lot to me like a royal "PAIN". I don't want to be bothered.

 

Sure....once (or a few times) during each cruise we book Pinnacle but that is optional. We don't have to. We know our seats in the dining room are waiting for us each evening. If we HAD to choose and book each day, it would take another thing off our list of why cruise vs go to a land Resort for our Caribbean vacations.

 

Do you agree? Or would it no nuisance to you to have to race to make your booking each day and hope there was availability for you?

[doone]

I like to go on a vacation and relax and not have to think, too much anyways. This is why I like a cruise. There are plenty of activities during the day to keep you busy or plenty of lounge chairs if you want to relax. Not having to decide where to eat, what time to eat and driving to a restaurant is probably the best for myself and our group.

 

I also like a cruise with a group because there are plenty of things for everyone, you can go off on your own if you want or do things as a group, whatever YOU want to do. I also like the fact of cruising at night and your in a new port the next day. I hate living out of a suitcase and with cruising, you don't have to, yet you see something new each day.

[annbanan]

What I Love is:

No Cars, No phones, No schedules, No land noises such as traffic, horns, lawn mowers. No red lights, traffic jams, long boring rides or are we there yet? questions.

 

A Cruise is a total get away from it all !! :)

[tripman]

For me...it is all about feeling like I am on a spaceship

[bkonner]

Howdy,

 

I like the concept that everything I enjoy doing for a week is within 500 yards from where ever I am. It is the ultimate brain-dead week (Something I really want). Everything I want on a relaxing vacation is within a few minute's walk from anywhere on the ship. In addition, the cost of traveling in the Caribbean, particularly going out to dinner is just outrageous. I was in St. Maarten late April and early May this year. I was unable to do a cruise because I booked the trip two days prior to leaving. Minimally dinner alone ran without drinks $ 100.00 every night. And then there is lunch and breakfast.

 

I have taken one of NCL's "Free Style Crusing" cruises. The concept is nice too. You have the option of making a reservation at a restaurant or going to one fo the "main" restuarants. This works well too and provides some variety

 

It is really nice that everything I could possibly want is close by. Plus it is really cool to sit with people at dinner that I do not know who are from all over the world and get to know them for a week.

 

I do three cruises a year. I LOVE THEM! I am on the Zuiderdam this Saturday. I wish I could do a "back to back" but alas I am starting a new position on August 8, 2005.

 

Bill

[Randyk47]

For us it's a being in a four/five star hotel that just happens to move at night. It's great to wake up each morning either in a new port or sailing the open seas. We get to dance, drink, gamble, eat great food, meet new people, and enjoy our private time together. Truly a "no worries mate" experience. :)

[Giorgi-one]

I totally agree. However, I don't have a real probelm booking alternative restaurants provided it is handled correctly. We went to an AI in Riviera Maya in May and each building had a concierge who handled all reservations. We just selected our restaurants on the day we arrived and all our reservations were made immediately. If we wanted to make a change later, it was no problem. Concierge was there all day a a computer on the first floor of our building. Problem on the ship is that they only have one person who handles reservations and they are usually available on a few hours per day.

[babyher]

Pretty much all of the above apply to me too.

 

 

 

I like the idea of being able to go to several places in one trip without all the packing and travelling. You are only at a port for a few hours . If you find you love it, you can always book a land trip there in the future, if you hate it, its not your whole trip, and you can always just get back on the ship and have a good time there until you sail away.

 

Like Sail said, i also like the fact you are not always looking for a place to eat, How many times on a land based vacation, you hear about a place, or someone reccomends a place, and you end up driving an hour out of your way, and it is lousy:( On a ship, between the dining room, lido, or teh alternative restaurant, you preety much know you will find something good to eat. Plus if you are in port at meal time and find a place that strikes your fancy you are free to do that as well.

 

 

 

Plus we usually travel with big group. Who wants to go shopping, who wants to lay in the sun all day, who wants to scuba dive, whatever . On a cruise everyone can easily do their own thing. On a land based vacation where there may just be one or two cars betwen a group, maybe not everyone would be able to do their own thing.

 

 

 

Some days we all just say 'You go your way, I'll go mine, and we'll see you at dinner tonight" This way everyone gets to have their own good time, plus we have a lot of diferent things to talk about at dinner that night :)

[arzz]

I agree with EVERYTHING that has been said on this thread so far. These are all reasons why I cruise. Quiet, no hassles, no need to keep a running tally of how much money we are spending on food, etc to be sure that the trip stays under budget. AND, the sounds, smell and sights of the ocean, the comfort of our cabin, the pleasant company on board and much, much more.

 

I also wish to underscore the comments from Sail -- I do not wish to have to worry about nightly dinner reservations and waiting for a table. I did that once on the Grand Princess and it was not my idea of fun. Waiting for a table made dinners uncertain, and hard to plan for the appetite as well as wasting time in the evening in such a way that interfered with our ability to see the shows and other set time evening activities. It is one of the things that sets a cruising vacation apart from a land based resort. If we give in to dining choices, will we not soon be ordering off of a menu that has a price by each item and then be light years away from the expected cruise product?

[jhannah]

No phones ...

Sadly, this could change some day soon. But otherwise, I agree with what the others have said. For us, I guess the top two would be not having to pack back up every day (or every other day) to go somewhere else, and waking up in a fresh new place every day.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Now that DH is limited on driving, we like the idea of a cruise rather than a land trip. Unpack once for 14 - 20 or even more days. No car rentals, worries about driving in different cities with different rules, making dinner reservations, etc.

[gizmo]

Important on our list for reasons to choose to cruise are not having to bother about deciding where to have dinner each evening; making reservations; getting into taxis and then hoping for assistance from the restaurant to get one back to our hotel.

 

When I hear the talk about having multiple choices for dinner on the ships and having to make reservations for where you choose on each given day is sounding a lot to me like a royal "PAIN". I don't want to be bothered.

 

Sure....once (or a few times) during each cruise we book Pinnacle but that is optional. We don't have to. We know our seats in the dining room are waiting for us each evening. If we HAD to choose and book each day, it would take another thing off our list of why cruise vs go to a land Resort for our Caribbean vacations.

 

Do you agree? Or would it no nuisance to you to have to race to make your booking each day and hope there was availability for you?

 

Agree 100%

[BLStokes23]

I agree that cruising offers the ultimate vacation. While HAL is our favorite line, we both love having more flexibility with our dining options. We have thoroughly enjoyed trying many of the different dining venues on the new NCL ships. (Haven't tried Princess yet). We aren't always hungry for a huge dinner at the same time each evening. Freestyle dining does offer a nice variety for those wishing to try something new. We've never had trouble getting reservations for any of the restaurants we've wanted to try.

 

While we're on HAL, we do our own "freestyle" type of dining by going to the Pinnacle several nights, dining room a couple nights and even the Lido on the evenings we're really not in the mood for a large dinner. Oh, and don't forget the barbeque night by the pool! I guess HAL has enough options for everyone to enjoy.

[rochnd]

When I hear the talk about having multiple choices for dinner on the ships and having to make reservations for where you choose on each given day is sounding a lot to me like a royal "PAIN". I don't want to be bothered.

 

Do you agree? Or would it no nuisance to you to have to race to make your booking each day and hope there was availability for you?

 

Sorry Sail, but I see it from a different point of view. I love the freedom. Rather than the regidity of having to be in a specific dining room at a specific time at a designated table, I (we) like to look at our day and then decide what suits us. We sailed on the NCL Star and found it quite workable, and , umm, freeing you might say. On top of that once one was onboard the could call the reservation line and make full cruise reservations at a time and location that suited them.

 

To me it is all about freedom of choice rather that finding security and comfort in regimentation.

[sail7seas]

Were you seated promptly upon arriving at the dining venue of choice for the evening or did you have to wait for a table?

[BLStokes23]

Were you seated promptly upon arriving at the dining venue of choice for the evening or did you have to wait for a table?

 

We've always been seated at the time our dinner reservations were made for. For us, it's always worked the same as making reservations in the Pinnacle. I think that if you were to show up at 7:30 p.m. at one of the main dining rooms (no extra fee), you might have to wait a bit for them to seat you if it was a popular time. The regular dining rooms didn't take reservations when we cruised NCL if I remember correctly.

[sail7seas]

We've always been seated at the time our dinner reservations were made for. For us, it's always worked the same as making reservations in the Pinnacle. I think that if you were to show up at 7:30 p.m. at one of the main dining rooms (no extra fee), you might have to wait a bit for them to seat you if it was a popular time. The regular dining rooms didn't take reservations when we cruised NCL if I remember correctly.

 

 

That's great they seated you per your reservations. Plenty of shoreside restaurants don't do that very well.

[JaniceB]

I like not having phones, unpacking more than once, and not having to decide where to eat. Our friends talked us into going on an all-inclusive land vacation. If you wanted to eat in the "good" restaurants you had to get in a line at a certain time each day for a reservation for that evening. If you didn't do this and thought you would wait and take whatever time was left, so as not to stand in line, there was nothing left. You could not make reservations in advance, only that day. You also had to stand in line for your drinks most of the time. No one waited on you. I definitely prefer to cruise.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I feel cruising is just so relaxing and stress free. The ship takes you to the destinations (No driving, getting lost, looking at maps) You know where you are going to eat every night. You have that at home "Cheers feeling" where everyone knows your name by the middle of the cruise. Excursions are offered that fits almost eveyone's taste and you can be pretty sure it is a reliable company. To me since so much is done for me it makes it that much more relaxing. Overall cruising is still a bargain despite the rise in cost over the last couple of years. Even if one chooses to book a suite comparing it to a 4 or 5 star resort and having to pay for meals and travel and entertainment you would still pay a lot more compared to what a cruise ship offers.

[Dog Mommie]

Amen,Lisa! Let the Capt. and crew read those pesky maps! No yelling by dh when we're on a ship;) !

 

Sail, the last cruise we took was on NCL and we liked the freestyle cruising pretty well. With a port intensive cruise, we found we were tired a few nights and really did want to eat by ourselves. We also eat a little later than most, so we avoided any potential lines at the dining room and got better service with no rushing! That said, it was a little lonier not having "regular" table mates to greet and share your day with:( .

 

I also agree that I don't look forward to a full ship and trying to make reservations for specialty dining. Will probably eat only in dining room (depending on our confirmed time) or the lido unless it's a special occassion.

[RevNeal]

Rather than the regidity of having to be in a specific dining room at a specific time at a designated table, I (we) like to look at our day and then decide what suits us. We sailed on the NCL Star and found it quite workable, and , umm, freeing you might say.

 

One person's rigidity is another person's freedom from worry and concern.

One person's freedom to choose is another person's headache and lack of security.

 

It takes all kinds. That's why there are different cruise lines. :)

[Bodger]

I have spent a fair bit of time over the past ten days, trying to sort out accomodations and itinerary for a two week road trip from Toronto to Nova Scotia. At this point I sure wish we were going on a cruise instead!

 

As I get older (just had #56) I have less tolerance for this kind of hassle. A cruise just seems like so much more fun. No worries about checking out the car, where we are going to eat, etc. etc.

 

This attitude has suprised me. I must be getting old.

 

Bodger

[cruznon]

I love the freedom to be busty and "join in" activies if I fell like it OR the joy of quietly reading on the balcony with nothing but sea in all directions!

I don't think I'd personally care for "free style" dining, but I think it's great that those options are there for those who wish for these options.

I love unpacking only once and your "hotel" travels to new destinations.

I LOVE the excitement of stepping aboard a big, beautiful ship! I feel very privileged to be able to cruise.

On Saturday I get the joy of sailing on the Zuiderdam! :D

[jhannah]

I love the freedom to be busty ...

And what woman wouldn't???? :D

[theduffys]

FOR EVERY REASON THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN PLUS----ON A CRUISE SHIP WE GET ROCKED TO SLEEP EVERY NIGHT!!!:D