Are cruises your priority for travel?

[knbcruisers]

DH and I cruise once every 2 or 3 years. The rest of our vacation time is spent in our travel trailer. We startes RVing several years ago as a way to use our little boat more and take our dogs with us. We now spend 2 weeks in NH/Maine in June so we can see our grandkids. Plus we just did a week in Key West with camper and boat. Living in Florida we can do lots of weekend trips to beautiful beaches and lakes. DH hates being separated from our dogs...if they could cruise with us we'd go more often :). Panama Canal is next year...then hopefully Europe in a few more years. Still debating whether to that on a cruise or by land.

 

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Forums mobile app

[The Wilkies]

We are mixed. First cruise in 1981 and we were hooked. Now a mix of longer land tours to our bucket list destinations with cruising in between. Been to some fantastic places round the world which we wouldn't have visited without cruising. Just love sitting on my balcony watching the sea. Never have been able to sit on a beach - waste of time.

 

Think the time will come when we have to return to European cruising, but intend to continue for as long as possible.

[GloriaF]

Thanks for the replies, it is fun to see how others travel!

 

We think a transatlantic cruise is the best option for getting to Europe. Time change is gradual and no jet lag, plus being on a ship for 20 or so days will always beat being on a plane for 12 hours in my book! We are in no hurry to get anyplace fast...

 

We've done 3 transatlantics so far, each ending in a different port and 'near' a place where we can spend an additional week or more. We love the sea days as well as the ports. The last one ended in Southhampton, UK, and we spent a couple weeks in UK -- we found our way through London to the train to Wales, then the ferry to Ireland where we spent 10 days touring, overnights along the way.

 

When we RV, we rarely drive more than 3-4 hours/day. We do not make campsite reservations, and stay at each place as long as we desire. We like having our home with us because we know the germs are our own, we only unpack once, and the cat can come along.

 

In the past four months, we took two cruises totaling 16 days. The summer is looking like a few (short drive in the RV) beach trips staying in FL. And who knows what the fall and winter hold, we rarely plan too far ahead and look for good cruise fares with interesting itineraries.

 

Life is all an adventure!!!

[Cruise Junky]

Not my priority. I would say cruising is about 1/3 of our vacations. You just can't beat land trips for really seeing an area rather than skimming the surface. Australia last year was a no brainer. I can't imagine the heartbreak of travelling all the way and only having one day in places, what if the weather didn't co-operate for the reef? For some places, cruising makes sense. We're doing Rome to Abu Dhabi in November and I wouldn't fly to Jordan for Petra, but I'm really excited to see it from a cruise ship. Our view may change as we get older, but right now we love our land trips interspersed with cruising.

[Sea and Me]

When we first started cruising in '95 I never thought we would reach 22 cruises! We like that we unpack and can take advantage of all the ship has to offer. Our family also does the family vacation to the shore. We enjoy both very much.

[sippican]

We love cruising, but I can't imagine making cruising our #1 travel priority.

A non-cruise vacation does not automatically imply lots of driving either. One of our most memorable vacations was to Switzerland, where we traveled by their incredibly efficient train system.

I wouldn't limit out choices to what we might see during a cruise when there's a big wide land-locked world out there to explore.

But if I can see it by sea, I'm all for it!

[Woobstr112G]

We've primarily cruised since 2008. I have a flexible work schedule so at times, when the work overtime was good, was able to cruise 2x per year (2009, 2011, and 2013 :don't count 2015:). When I retire next year we will continue to primarily cruise sans the work overtime. I will obviously have to be more strategic in my planning to make my 457 money last.....:):):)

Bob

[tinybiny]

I mostly cruise because it is such a kick back vacation. I normally prefer land travel, but I get exhausted from all the planning, driving, organizing food and activities, etc. We have had a number of timeshares and I am slowly letting those go because I got so burned out of having to cook, do dishes and take the trash out. One a cruise ship, I don't have to do anything. Too bad it is so limited where the ships go with my very short amounts of time that I can take off.

[CineGraphic]

We are both in our mid-50s. I'm semi-retired, and my wife still has 8 years to go, before she can start collecting her pension.

With the price of overseas airfares being what they are these days, cruising is our first choice. Port Everglades is only a 10 hour drive away.

Once my wife retires, we plan on selling the house and moving into a condo in Florida so we can take advantage of last-minute fares.

I'm looking forward to the day when I can tell my travel agent, once a fare hits a certain price per day, book it. Who cares where it's going!?

[cdngrl]

cruising is my holiday of choice. when work and life consists of caring for others, its so lovely to be taken care of !

i like having a taste of all of the different places.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Between 2005 and 2012 we managed to visit all 50 states!

That is quite amazing! I've visited all 50 states but it took me 44 years to do it. I'm always happy to hear when visitors from other countries visit more than NYC, Orlando, Las Vegas and LA (and then think they've seen the US).

 

We've done mostly cruises since DH retired in 2009, but I am feeling a bit burned out on them right now. Whether that's a temporary situation or permanent one remains to be seen. Cruising is certainly an easy and inexpensive way to see parts of the world. We spent almost six months in French Polynesia from 2014-15 and could never have afforded that if not on a cruise ship. But other destinations are simply more conducive to land travel.

[donaldsc]

Just wondering what others do for travel/vacation.

 

We cruised more when still working, and now since retiring we divide our time between doing 2-3 month cross country RV road trips (visiting US National Parks, and seeing the beauty of America), and cruising. I would imagine as we age and driving becomes more tiresome, we will cruise more often.

 

What do you do?

 

If I had a choice, I would do everything by car. We have done several 3 month car trips. However, there are places where it is impractical or impossible to do by car so I do them by ship. Basically, I regard a cruise ship as a big bus that gets me from place A to place B. I don't ever see myself cruising on one of the mega ships or the ones that look like floating amusement parks.

 

The other issue is that 95% of the cruises go to the same places and basically look boring. I pick my cruises by itinerary and not by ship or cruise company.

 

DON

[susancruzs]

Thanks for starting this post, a very interesting read! I'll be 70 this year, living in NE Wisconsin and a cruise every year is my favorite thing to do. However, when I first moved in 2007, I did quite a few bus trips (7) with the senior center to places in the US I hadn't been or hadn't seen recently. I thought I might give up cruising but in 2013 I realized I missed it so I've been cruising again.

 

I cruise to ports I haven't seen and next year a bucket list cruise, Buenos Aires to Los Angeles. Last year was a transatlantic plus the Baltic. This year a transatlantic which includes 3 Spain ports I haven't seen. I'll only be gone 19 days, which is short for me. However, prior cruise starts in Rome and don't need to go to Rome again or some of the other ports.

[DougH]

I was lucky enough to be dragged all over the world from birth. My Dad worked for the airlines for 40 years and Mom was a travel agent for 50. Being in New York any weekend was an excuse to head to Europe or the Caribbean. All of their friends were in the travel industry so we could get free tickets almost anywhere in the world.

 

Up thru high school I travelled with them, then it was not cool to travel with your parents anymore ( I was cool but stupid lol) For the next 20+ years since I had to pay for my own trips and didn't have money I did camping trips to US National Parks. Usually 2 two week trips each year so I saw most parks multiple times.

 

I had always wanted to visit Alaska, but even after moving out to San Francisco area it is long drive. Mom suggested a cruise, something I had never considered before. Not only did I fall in love with Alaska but with cruising. (that was 1995)

 

I'm now up to about 70 cruises, 25+ to Alaska lol. Still have the urge to travel the US but getting too old for camping trips and sleeping in a tent. Cruises are my way of relaxing and still seeing the world. Can't wait to retire soon and be able to do ones longer than 2 weeks :)

[JimmyVWine]

We enjoy three types of vacations.

1. The type where you go to one place; unpack once; and enjoy the surrounding area. We do this in Caribbean resorts, Florida beaches such as Siesta Key, Vermont, Colorado, Paris, Disney World, etc.

2. The type where you go from place to place in the form of a road trip, never staying in one place for more than a day or two. We have crossed the country this way (in numerous annual segments), have done the Pacific Coast like this, and visited European countries in this manner as well.

3. The third type of vacation is a cruise, which is really a combination of #1 and #2. You unpack once, but see a different place each day. I still enjoy the road trips, but my wife is growing a bit weary of the pack-and-unpack aspect of them which is why we started to cruise more. However, for us, a cruise has to make sense from an itinerary standpoint and we would never take a cruise just to take a cruise. In other words, I have no interest in seeing Florence or Paris or Wales or England or Australia or New Zealand as a "day tripper" from a ship. There are many, many more places in this world that I want to see by way of "Type 1" or "Type 2" vacations, so the ultimate answer to the question is "No", cruises are not a "priority" for us. But they are enjoyable options.

[Murray's Pop]

Interesting thread!!

 

We started cruising with regularity in 2004, prior to then we had only done a couple of weekend cruises from LA to Ensenada. We retired in 2015 and since then have tried to cruise at least once every year. We would like to increase that to a couple of cruises each year. Our other love is Hawaii, and typically spend a month per year (usually October) on the Islands.

 

We have also done a number of "all inclusive" resort vacations which we enjoyed. For several years we took the entire family to Cancun in December as a family Christmas present. Those were great, weather was wonderful and the resorts were not crowded just prior to the holidays. Have talked about doing that again in next year or 2, but this time to a resort in the Caribbean.

[geocruiser]

90% of our travel is by cruise ship. It is a easy way to travel and relax.

[GloriaF]

Thanks for starting this post, a very interesting read! I'll be 70 this year, living in NE Wisconsin and a cruise every year is my favorite thing to do. However, when I first moved in 2007, I did quite a few bus trips (7) with the senior center to places in the US I hadn't been or hadn't seen recently. I thought I might give up cruising but in 2013 I realized I missed it so I've been cruising again.

 

I cruise to ports I haven't seen and next year a bucket list cruise, Buenos Aires to Los Angeles. Last year was a transatlantic plus the Baltic. This year a transatlantic which includes 3 Spain ports I haven't seen. I'll only be gone 19 days, which is short for me. However, prior cruise starts in Rome and don't need to go to Rome again or some of the other ports.

 

We lived in Spain for a couple years, Sevilla in southern Spain. Hope you have a chance to see more of Spain!

[TheCruisingAccountant]

After our first cruise in 2010, we were sold on the whole experience and lifestyle; I was surprised, we took our first one because I had always wanted to go to Alaska on a cruise, but never thought I would become a lifer. Never expected that we would be approaching #10 less than seven years later.

 

For the most part, we schedule cruises either as, or part of, any vacation we take where it is possible.

 

I find it hard to even want to spend the money on other options; we are attending a wedding in the middle of the Province this year, and all I could think of when making arrangements was "I could be spending this on a cruise"

 

Living in a port city helps a great deal (we have gone home door to cabin door, including check in and cab ride, in under 35 minutes), and so does my completely irrational fear of flying. I dont need a bottle of Ativan to get on a ship.

[cruiseintoheaven]

Interesting topic and replies. DH and I both in our 50's. He's not retired, I am. His work schedule is pretty intense, so we're finding the benefits of cruising more and more appealing as time goes on -just find cruising more relaxing. We still do land-based trips and occasionally rent a beach house for our grown kids and family which is a lot of fun, but usually by midweek I'm exhausted from shopping, cleaning, organizing etc. and find myself wishing I was in a cruise! Probably our favorite option these days is to spend a few days in a city of interest pre-cruise (Seattle before Alaska), Santa Monica before upcoming CA Coastal. We are quite land-locked in the Midwest with no such thing as an inexpensive or direct flight, so it's nice to be able to combine the two and save time and money on flights. Agree with others that Europe might necessitate a land-based trip or possibly a river cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[deltaqueenie]

Cruising is our first choice- and Princess is our favorite! First cruise 2005, and we have loved it ever since. We prefer 25 days or longer (49 longest so far), for us it's the least expensive way to see the world. We always add on 1-2 weeks before or after a cruise to stay longer in new cities, or our favorites. We are in our early 60's and retired, and have visited every state except Alaska. We also spend a month in FL every February and travel several times in between: golf outings, girlfriend trips, and our kids live in LA and Chicago- so lots of trips there!

 

Enjoyed hearing about soooo many great vacations!

[Thrak]

We never had the funds to cruise in the past. Our first cruise was in 2011. Until then we always took land vacations - mostly camping. We went to Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Yosemite, etc. as well as local camping places. Our first cruise was a 10 day and we were hooked. We have had a few short cruises - 2 were only 4 days due to work schedule and one was only 7 days but was the southbound after the land portion of an Alaska cruise tour. Normally we cruise 10 days or more. 15 to Hawaii, a couple of 10 day Mexico cruises and a 17 day Panama Canal transit. Our next two that are booked are a 28 day Hawaii/South Pacific and a 14 day Caribbean.

 

However, we haven't abandoned land trips. Our 28 day cruise isn't until October. In mid-June we will be leaving on a 2 month land trip. We will go to Glacier National Park and then up through Canada to Fairbanks and then back home to California. We will be mostly camping (teardrop trailer) but we really only camp from 3 - 5 days before getting a room. Sometimes the room will be one night but sometimes a couple of nights. We have no set schedule and plan to take our time and see a bunch of places and things. We want to do a few trips of this sort but will also likely do a cross country trip with the teardrop and then end up in FLL where we will park the truck and trailer and take a cruise before driving back across country again by a different route. When land trips get to be too much we will then just cruise but, until that time comes, we will do a combination of the two. The USA is huge and there is a lot to see here at home.

[GloriaF]

Thrak,

You are probably already aware but Glacier National Park gives an exceptional program by the local Blackfoot Indian Nation. Lots of costumes, music and dance with explanations. It was on Wednesday evening when we were there a year or two ago. Be sure to ask about it so you don't miss it -- definitely worth the effort!