Cruise vs Land Vacation

[robbie21]

A cruise can be the best way to see places like the Baltic, Eastern Med and our recent circumnavigation of Australia. In these cases transportation costs, time spent in transit and general hassles make the idea of a "Floating hotel" really attractive.

 

Similarly, organized land tours can be attractive if you want to see a sampling of a country or region and are not willing to organized travel, accommodations and local tours in 6 or 8 cities or towns in a 10-14 day period. We have done six Rick Steves tours and find they provide excellent guides and ample free time to explore on your own.

 

On the other hand, six weeks driving around New Zealand on our own or a week in the Cotswolds or just renting an apartment in Rome or Vienna or London are also wonderful experiences that a cruise or a tour cannot approach. As noted above, you get a much better sense of the place and the culture with these experiences and, in our opinion, that kind of experience is what travel is really all about.

 

Robbie

[buggins0402]

We are also taking a break from cruising for a while...our next cruise is not until February 2019. As many of other posters have stated, we also love each cruising because it is so easy. But, we are now in our sixties and realize there are many land trips we want to knock out before land travel becomes too difficult.

 

This February, we spent over three weeks traveling around SE Asia and Asia. The trip involved 12 different flight segments. Even with hotel limo transfers, I would not want to have attempted this trip in 10 years. We're heading to Poland for August...a relatively easy trip, but it was a country that always interested us.

 

For our winter get away next year we could have planned a Caribbean cruise, but I foresee many of those in the future. So, instead we'll head to west coast Mexico instead for a resort stay. Sicily or Normandy/Brittany are potentials for later in the 2018, getting a foreign driving trip in while we still are not dangers on foreign roads.

[sammiedawg]

Plus 1. We are currently on a tauck river cruise. They do a great job but never again. It's not for us. Too regimented. Hate the bus and groups. Tired of palaces

 

On cruises we only do private small group tours. Organized tours are not for us

 

Today we bailed on the included tour and explored Vienna on our own

 

 

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I totally agree on the river cruise and the key word is regimentation. When friends ask me about river cruises I caution them on the regimentation. Ours was 14 days of fixed dining and getting on and off the tour bus with everyone else. It got old. We took the included tours because we paid for them in our cruise fare.

[buggins0402]

I want to thank those that have reviewed river cruises from the perspective of an ocean cruiser. I have often wondered if they are similar to package land tours.

 

I now know they are not for us.

[Classiccruiser777]

Just my opinion but I'm extremely well traveled and find that, other than cruising, the process of checking in and out of hotels, transportation, etc. to be both exhausting and stressful. Taking a cruise is anything but that and is a relative bargain, to boot!

[TrulyBlonde]

Just my opinion but I'm extremely well traveled and find that, other than cruising, the process of checking in and out of hotels, transportation, etc. to be both exhausting and stressful. Taking a cruise is anything but that and is a relative bargain, to boot!

 

That's is because you have not traveled with me. I always agreed with that analogy (unpack once). When planned well, and staying at 1st class hotels, it is something I again long for. It is a sense of freedom and after so many cruises they have all become too familiar and similar.

 

I also ski over 80 days a year, DH over 100 so we are fit and ready to handle it. There will be a time in our lives that ocean cruising or the ship itself will be the priority.

 

Please don't get me wrong..we have loved all of our ocean cruises. Although, I did mention I cancelled all until 2019. I have to confess, I will not cancel that Disney cruise out of San Diego with my 6 yr old grandson this Oct. His 3rd cruise and I had said never again with all of those kids. Well, he loves it and it makes for some great Grandparenting time and memories. I will handle 3 days on Disney watching him on that damn slide 28 times in a row ;-)

[Mura]

I want to thank those that have reviewed river cruises from the perspective of an ocean cruiser. I have often wondered if they are similar to package land tours. I now know they are not for us.

___________

 

 

May I give another perspective that differs. We have taken several river cruises and enjoyed them very much. On our very first -- a Viking cruise from Amsterdam to Basel in October 2003 -- I was impressed at how well traveled our other passengers were. More than 2/3 were independent travelers (as we were) who were doing trips pre- and post-cruise. We'd always thought we were "well traveled" but we were novices compared to most of our other passengers on that trip. They had really been everywhere!

 

 

We also loved our 2008 China cruise with Viking. It was superb.

 

Note: You don't HAVE to take the "included" tours although on our few Viking river cruises we found them quite good. But if you want to go off on your own, you certainly can!

 

One advantage the river boats have is that they dock right in down most of the time. So you walk off the boat and there you are. When we were having lunch at a hotel in Pinao, Portugal a few weeks ago on our self-drive tour, a Viking ship pulled up and docked right in front of us. Bang in the middle of town! (Not that Pinao is a big town but it IS in the Douro Valley and you have other options there.)

 

So don't jump to the conclusion that you wouldn't like a river cruise ...

 

I should say that I no longer recommend Viking river cruises on the basis of our 2012 French B2B ... clearly they were cutting back on expenses. Five servers at dinner for 150 passengers is NOT sufficient! But our previous Viking river trips had been wonderful. (I differentiate from Viking ocean cruises since we haven't been on one so far.) But I have friends who've been on Scenic and Uniworld more recently and loved their trips.

 

Don't assume just because of these few critical comments that you would hate a river cruise. It can depend on the outfit you choose.

 

Maybe I should add another P.S.: I know people who loved their river boat cruises in the Douro, but I have to say that having spent several days driving through the area in early June -- that really is the way to go! IF you have the time ...

 

Mura

[Paulchili]

Just my opinion but I'm extremely well traveled and find that, other than cruising, the process of checking in and out of hotels, transportation, etc. to be both exhausting and stressful. Taking a cruise is anything but that and is a relative bargain, to boot!

 

I am with you on this at this point in our lives (except for the cruises being a bargain :D).

We have travelled by car for a month each in Italy, France and UK over the years (as well as many other land trips) and you can stay in an 10 star hotel (if there was such a thing :D) it is still very exhausting and you are essentially living out of a suitcase and moving on every two or three days. Unless, of course, you go to a place like a villa in Tuscany for a couple of weeks and travel locally or stay at a beach resort - that's fine if you like that sort of thing but it's not for me.

For example, we recently had a couple of cruises with a 10 day land trip to Yunan & Tibet in between. As interesting as the land trip was (and we stayed in Shangri La and St Regis), I couldn't wait to get back on the ship for the last segment of the trip as I realized just how exhausting these trips are moving from place to place (FWIW, it was just the 2 of us - no bus tours).

In the end, we all do what suits us best - no one single answer that fits everyone.

Edited July 8, 2017 by Paulchili

[Ka Honu]

I want to thank those that have reviewed river cruises from the perspective of an ocean cruiser. I have often wondered if they are similar to package land tours.

 

I now know they are not for us.

 

I've only been on three river cruises but have enjoyed them all immensely. Viking (China) was less "upscale" than Uniworld (Portugal) and Tauck (Danube-Rhine) but the same is true of various ocean cruise lines. Tauck's service, attitude, and total product was as good or better than any of the 30-odd ocean cruises we've taken (albeit with smaller staterooms) and, based on that experience, we're looking forward to joining them on a land tour in Ireland later this month.

The biggest advantages of (ocean & river) cruises for us is that they offer 24-hour room service, they bring the sights to you, and you only have to unpack once. We cruise to enjoy the ride and get a quick overview of a number of places so we can decide which ones we want to visit in greater depth later.

 

It's why they make both vanilla and (the far superior flavor of) chocolate ice cream.

[OzAbroad]

Travel works well when you do both - we often combine land and cruise experiences

[potterhill]

Travel works well when you do both - we often combine land and cruise experiences

 

 

 

As do we. Our first cruise was for our 25th anniversary. We flew in the day of embarkation and out the day it finished. However we learned quickly about adding time on either side, so we get to see more of those two cities. In New Zealand we spent 11 days precruise. That left only 3 days for Sydney, but we will return.

 

Last fall we spent 3 weeks in Ireland and Scotland for my significant birthday. In August we are going to Paris and northern France for 3 weeks.

 

I would never want to be all land vacations or all cruises. They both have their attributes. And who knows, someday we may even sign up for a group tour.

 

Happy travels wherever and however you go!

 

Mo

 

 

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[Caroldoll]

We have done both and still do both. However, on the land trips we always use private guides and drivers. On a lot of our cruises, we pick one where we would like to extend at the end...Venice coming up for a week. A couple of years ago we ended in Rome and got a driver to take us to Cinque Terre and had a private driver for the entire time.

 

We do tend to get bored after being in one place three or more days, so we find this way...land either in the beginning or at the end works for us. We, particularly me, especially appreciates the ship as I no longer have to be housekeeper, butler, main office...you name the position and I am it. I can rely on others.

 

On very long land trips we break them up, i.e. for a Safari we first went to London to meet friends and visit a car factory for three days, then flew to Capetown and stayed at Cape Grace and spent 5 days seeing the wine countries, car collections, cheetah preserves, etc; then flew to Johannesburg to see that City and took a private plane to Branson's place. After that we flew to New York for a week. Think we covered it all on that trip...without a cruise. We tend to pack very lightly with the exception of the special clothing for the safari which we donated before we left Africa.

 

We love all travel..both ways...but the world situation gives us pause right now.

[Pan Am Girl]

We like travel. Period. Ideally, we combine a land trip before, use a cruise to transport to a different area (while seeing an overview of new areas) and finish up with a land trip after. Typically independently and renting a car, although we have been known to hire a car with driver in an area like Bosnia-Herzegovina.

 

Ideally, for us, seeing most cities requires four days, three nights to really get the flavor, "know it" and see the highlights. On a cruise, however, you get sense of a place and see a highlight or two. Plus enjoy the experience of the ship.

 

On land, we enjoy all types of accommodations, exclusive and high end, but even more enjoyable, often, are bed and breakfasts -- quaint, living more on a "local" level and establishing rapport (and also stretching the travel budget for longer trips) and enjoying great breakfasts.

 

We love the water so we do try to incorporate a cruise, but last year on our 6 1/2 week trip to Germany and Italy, we only did a seven day cruise. (Using the aforementioned concept of "before and after".)

 

Travelling is work and, often, a challenge. I do all the planning, in detail, while remaining open and flexible to change as warranted.

 

For me, I love the research part and then seeing the trip come to fruition. My husband "just goes" and drives. It works for us. Being so detailed has resulted in our not having had a bad trip yet. We have had adventures and unexpected happenings, and feel a real sense of accomplishment when we have to figure things out -- say a roundabout with the signs in a foreign language, going around again to try to determine the most likely direction. We use old-fashioned maps and, yes, have gotten "lost". Who is going to ask for directions -- using hands and feet, and smattering of different languages. Then having the helper answer in their language and straining to try to understand what is being said.

 

We have done many land trips without cruises, but I think doing "combinations" -- cruises and independent land travel is really the way to go.

[bitob]

I totally agree on the river cruise and the key word is regimentation. When friends ask me about river cruises I caution them on the regimentation. Ours was 14 days of fixed dining and getting on and off the tour bus with everyone else. It got old. We took the included tours because we paid for them in our cruise fare.

 

 

 

We are getting off 14 day cruise with tauck in two days

 

They do a perfect job. Superb

 

I highly recommend them iF a river cruise is for you

 

It is definitely not for us

We gave it a try

 

 

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[MarkieMarkNYC]

I've only been on three river cruises but have enjoyed them all immensely. Viking (China) was less "upscale" than Uniworld (Portugal) and Tauck (Danube-Rhine) but the same is true of various ocean cruise lines. Tauck's service, attitude, and total product was as good or better than any of the 30-odd ocean cruises we've taken (albeit with smaller staterooms) and, based on that experience, we're looking forward to joining them on a land tour in Ireland later this month.

The biggest advantages of (ocean & river) cruises for us is that they offer 24-hour room service, they bring the sights to you, and you only have to unpack once. We cruise to enjoy the ride and get a quick overview of a number of places so we can decide which ones we want to visit in greater depth later.

 

It's why they make both vanilla and (the far superior flavor of) chocolate ice cream.

I'm glad you mentioned Tauck - their land tours are amazing!

In general we prefer to do land trips independently but without driving (for example, Switzerland is amazing for it's train, tram, and boat travel, Spain has a great combination of train and extensive bus routes).

But for destinations where the logistics are trickier we do small group travel and we have taken Tauck to China, India, and Peru/Galapagos.

We did do Tauck to Ireland as I don't want to deal with driving on the left.The tour was pretty wonderful but our Tour Director was not up to Tauck standards. That said, let the Tour Director know what your preferences are and let them know if you aren't happy with anything. They tend to know the hotels very well and can assist with a room change, etc.

[sandbag7]

I'm glad you mentioned Tauck - their land tours are amazing!

In general we prefer to do land trips independently but without driving (for example, Switzerland is amazing for it's train, tram, and boat travel, Spain has a great combination of train and extensive bus routes).

But for destinations where the logistics are trickier we do small group travel and we have taken Tauck to China, India, and Peru/Galapagos.

We did do Tauck to Ireland as I don't want to deal with driving on the left.The tour was pretty wonderful but our Tour Director was not up to Tauck standards. That said, let the Tour Director know what your preferences are and let them know if you aren't happy with anything. They tend to know the hotels very well and can assist with a room change, etc.

 

What was the size of the tour groups you experienced? I looked at Tauck for an African trip and they mentioned group size of 30 max; that seems a very large group for a high end tour.

[MarkieMarkNYC]

What was the size of the tour groups you experienced? I looked at Tauck for an African trip and they mentioned group size of 30 max; that seems a very large group for a high end tour.

They offer small-group departures that have been 18-24 people on my trips.

We picked a regular departure for Ireland and I think we had about 30. It did feel like a big group. But I can say that our fellow Tauck guests have been incredibly friendly and well-traveled.

For Africa I would definitely opt for a smaller group if possible. We did A&K in Kenya and Tanzania and there were only 12 people, which were typically split into two so no vehicle had more than 6 passengers.

[Harters]

northern France for 3 weeks.

 

s

A part of the world we visit most years and a one that is missed by many tourists visiting France (except the the many thousands who just drive through it on their way to elsewhere). Packed full of centuries of history if that's your thing. And some great seafood restaurants along the coast - and some very poor restaurants (dispelling the myth that it's impossible to eat badly in France).

[4Lakes Lady]

Our travels have evolved over the years. We did a lot of camping trips in the US when our kids were young. Later it was independent trips to Europe and beyond. Eventually it became land trips through tour companies. Nowadays we love both river cruises and ocean journeys. They work especially well for DH since he had some mobility issues. Oceania is perfect and I can't wait for our next cruise in November to celebrate our 50 years of marriage and travel!

 

 

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[TERRIER1]

We just came home from a 6 week European vacation comprised of a 7 day Viking river cruise (our first) and a 7 day Oceania cruise on the Med. I had very low expectations for the Viking river cruise and to my surprise I really liked the product. The food was good and for the most part so were the included tours. They were very organized and our fellow cruisers very nice and well traveled. Our Oceania cruise (our 10th) was port intensive and on two of the days the ship departed at 4 pm so you really couldn't explore very far.

 

But like the original OP, I like independent land travel more and more. We pack very light (lighter each year) and stay 4-5 in different locations taking the train which is extremely efficient in Europe. Neither of us want to drive since your miss all the fantastic scenery paying attention to the road and signs. Also, there are many very small towns where the narrow streets make for difficult parking and driving. We get up when we want and come back to the hotel when we feel like it. This past holiday, we rented an apartment in Amsterdam and used it as base to take day trips by train to various towns. We stayed in a great residential neighborhood and got a real feel of the place. We do not stay in "luxury" hotels but prefer boutique hotels or inns which are usually situated in the older areas of a town/city having been converted from private mansion/residences. We walk and take public transportation everywhere.

 

We like cruising but a cruise will not get you inland - even river cruising. We stayed 5 days up in Lauterbrunnen Switzerland as part of this vacation and I can't say enough about Swiss rail and this beautiful part of the world. The rail ride was gorgeous.

[UDSpud]

Why not do both? We are on the Oceania "Regal Routes" in August. Plan to arrive in England several days early and stay in Reading. This town is on a main rail route north -south. It has easy access to the Southampton departure port to the south and Oxford, the tourist university town, just north. Reading is also on the main east - west rail line to London.

 

After the cruise ends in Copenhagen , we fly to Edinburgh UK for several days of fringe festival and then two days in Glasgow before the flight home.