Thoughts about cruising- care to share yours?

[herbanrenewal]

I just returned from the Breakaway cruise to New England and Canada. Before that I was on the Prima Copenhagen, Norway, England, then transatlantic via Iceland. As I unpack my cold weather gear I realized  that I am REALLY looking forward to my next adventure - Panama Canal, warm weather cruise. I loved seeing these northern  places, but the thought of sunshine, swimming, relaxing in the sun has a great deal of appeal.

I started my cruising addiction with Caribbean cruises back decades ago when a rare vacation for a week was long anticipated, planned for, memory-making. Now I'm retired, solo, and spending my life savings following dreams.

[missnd]

53 minutes ago, herbanrenewal said:

Now I'm retired, solo, and spending my life savings following dreams.

This is my goal!

[FLAHAM]

1 hour ago, herbanrenewal said:

Now I'm retired, solo, and spending my life savings following dreams.

 

Conserving my life savings toward grandchildren's college educations.  Still have enough for two enjoyable cruises per year.  

[njkate]

I love cruising, my favorite being a trans Atlantic. Have seen many beautiful places. Going in March on western Caribbean, I could really take or leave the Caribbean but the price was very good, I can drive from my hometown of Savannah to Tampa eliminating air which now a days can be challenging.

 

I would cruise a lot more but pricing is getting prohibitive for me as I am not brave enough to cruise solo so I drag one of my kids picking up the tab.

 

Did Alaska on Bliss in July taking son, dil, grandson and it was quite expensive once I added in the air.

[cruiseny4life]

21 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

 

Conserving my life savings toward grandchildren's college educations.  Still have enough for two enjoyable cruises per year.  

You're a better grandparent that I'll ever be (if I work on the having kids part first). Unless I'm making a few million, the kids are on their own. And those grandkids, well they're definitely on their own. They need to be saving their own money to take care of my in my gilded retirement home!

 

I'm hoping the gilded retirement home will be filled with marvelous cruises with my husband - the big ole man above, willing! We're Millennials and enjoy cruising, taking long road trips, long-haul international flights to foreign lands, and taking camping adventures.

 

Once we retire, I'm sure we'll be more in the cabin of cruising. My guess is we'll be like you and explore the northland. We both love snow, cold temps, and ice. Plus, I need to see the Aurora Borealis at least a few times in my life! The only issue with cruising is the food is rich and the activity is limited to the thermal suite and a couple hours on land nominally exploring wherever the ship is. 

 

Hopefully we'll be at a point, financially, where we can take more of those "exploration" type cruises. They don't seem like explorations to me (I hiked the Grand Canyon in one day, and have been known to backpack 30 miles in a weekend), but when I'm retired t I bet it'll be like an exploration! Ahh, thanks for letting me dream a bit of that retirement I don't think I'll ever see. 

 

For now, I'll live through you and the others who are kind enough to do "lives!"

[pickle11]

Cruising is an expensive hobby.  Be prepared to check prices every day.   What good is a cruise if you have to wait for six months to a year.  Be spontaneous.  Not finding to many solo discounts since most covid restrictions have been cancelled.  

Good luck.

[BirdTravels]

The Birds began cruising in the days of wooden deck loungers that you had to rent and tip the pool attendant to set up for you. 
 

We hated having to pack gowns and a suitcase full of shoes. And DH hates having to wear a tux to dinner. We hated fixed time dining with a bunch of gabby table area that showed dining to a snail’s pace. 
 

We love NCL freestyle cruising. We’re long retired. Less mobile. And love being able to do things at our own pace. Every cruise makes us feel young again (although the truly young folks probably roll their eyes at us). 

[herbanrenewal]

32 minutes ago, pickle11 said:

Cruising is an expensive hobby.  Be prepared to check prices every day.   What good is a cruise if you have to wait for six months to a year.  Be spontaneous.  Not finding to many solo discounts since most covid restrictions have been cancelled.  

Good luck.

Another benefit of "not waiting for six months ... " - I find that waiting until after final payment dates can really drop prices as they try to fill the ship, and I'm not particular about what type of cabin. So if i wait til almost cruising time I can find something that works within my budget. But airfare and a hotel for night before cruise can add up. NYC works best for me - no airfare and i can travel day of embarking.

Last minute booking is another great thing about retirement - no worries about getting vacation time approved so late booking is possible.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

4 hours ago, herbanrenewal said:

I loved seeing these northern  places, but the thought of sunshine, swimming, relaxing in the sun has a great deal of appeal.

I'm guessing that is because you are from Delaware.  I'm the opposite.  Where I live, there is way too much sunshine and we can swim 12 months of the year.  I absolutely love a cruise with some weather. 😎

[pickle11]

1 hour ago, herbanrenewal said:

 

But airfare and a hotel for night before cruise can add up. NYC works best for me - no airfare and i can travel day of embarking.

 

 

Yeah.  Sometimes travel costs are more than the cruise.  And then again sometimes not.  Happy cruising

[mearsfansinboise]

We started cruising 12 years ago when our kids were young.  I don't fly - so it's hard for us to go anywhere - and were used to taking road trips everywhere.  Then someone at work mentioned a cruise and I was a little intrigued, but scared.  He insisted I start with an Alaska Inside Passage sailing where I could see land the entire time (tricking my mind in to thinking if the ship sinks I could swim ashore, I guess - lol).  We sailed with HAL and we absolutely love it!  I prepped myself with Bonine for seasickness and Ativan for fear (there's not enough Ativan in the world to get me on a plane tho) and it was smoooooth sailing for us.

 

We followed that up with a Disney cruise to Mexico, and then a HAL circle cruise to Hawaii.

The rest were Mexico with NCL and our most recent NCL cruise last month was to Alaska.

 

We have to drive from Boise to the ports - Vancouver, Seattle, So Cal, so it does take us some time to get there and back, and we have less options on where we can travel to, but, that's ok.  We actually planned to drive to Galveston and do a Panama Canal one at Thanksgiving a few years ago (before COVID) but it was cancelled - we were so bummed!  So, it's Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii for us - and that's just fine.  I do love hearing about the other ships and places y'all sail to tho.

[JamieLogical]

6 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

You're a better grandparent that I'll ever be (if I work on the having kids part first). Unless I'm making a few million, the kids are on their own. And those grandkids, well they're definitely on their own.

 

Right? I don't have any kids but what kid expects their GRANDparents to pay their college tuition? I think it's unreasonable to expect your parents to pay for tuition. I read the other day that for couples in my income bracket, it costs $369,000 to raise one child from 0 to 18. You want me to pay your college tuition on top of that?!?! NUTS!

 

This is probably why I don't have kids.... think of all the cruising I can do for $369k!

[Ken the cruiser]

We started cruising back in 2012, when we were in our late 50s, with our first cruise being on the HAL Ryndam. Since then over time it's become an addiction! 😂 

 

For example, once our next cruise, a 38-day B2B on the Jade finishes, we will have cruised over 173 days on 8 different ships and 3 different cruise lines since cruising started back up. What's that saying, never go shopping when you're hungry. Well, needless to say, after 18 months without stepping on a ship, we were a tad hungry to get back to cruising! 🤣 

[ChiefMateJRK]

14 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

This is probably why I don't have kids.... think of all the cruising I can do for $369k!

Some folks can have both.  I wouldn't trade my kids and grandkids for all the Haven sailings in the world.😎

[KansasTexan]

8 hours ago, herbanrenewal said:

I just returned from the Breakaway cruise to New England and Canada. Before that I was on the Prima Copenhagen, Norway, England, then transatlantic via Iceland. As I unpack my cold weather gear I realized  that I am REALLY looking forward to my next adventure - Panama Canal, warm weather cruise. I loved seeing these northern  places, but the thought of sunshine, swimming, relaxing in the sun has a great deal of appeal.

I started my cruising addiction with Caribbean cruises back decades ago when a rare vacation for a week was long anticipated, planned for, memory-making. Now I'm retired, solo, and spending my life savings following dreams.

When I was working, I lived close to Galveston and practically DEVOURED cruises to the Caribbean because it was the only way I could check out for a week and not worry about someone calling me when I didn't answer my pager.  Now that I'm retired, I find myself looking at vacations more as experience than escape. I just finished an Alaska cruise during which I saw only two shows and didn't participate in any games, dancing, etc. I hardly used my balcony and (instead) spent hours waiting for a whale to pass by while I relaxed on a Waterfront sofa. I took hikes offshore. All I wanted to do was soak in the ocean and the scenery.  Now I have a Mediterranean cruise booked in 2024.  I'm excited to brush up on my Spanish and French (and possibly tackle Italian) in the interim. I hope for a glimpse of a few countries so that I may plan a more indepth visit in the future.

[ChiefMateJRK]

29 minutes ago, KansasTexan said:

I just finished an Alaska cruise during which I saw only two shows and didn't participate in any games, dancing, etc. I hardly used my balcony and (instead) spent hours waiting for a whale to pass by while I relaxed on a Waterfront sofa.

Outstanding!!  😎  We have 34 days of AK cruising booked in 2023, and I wouldn't mind spending most of them just like this.

[Maleficent's Dad]

2 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Some folks can have both.  I wouldn't trade my kids and grandkids for all the Haven sailings in the world.😎

Couldn’t agree more!  Somehow DW and I managed to raise 2 kids, get them through school, and vacation several times a year (with said kids).   It’s all about priorities.  

[Peachypooh]

Before covid it was easy to go on two cruises a year and also fund the grandchildren's college fund. Now we do one cruise a year and still fund their college fund. It's all about choices. Inflation.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Peachypooh

[dumbth]

7 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We love NCL freestyle cruising. We’re long retired. Less mobile.

 

I also love freestyle (dining), although I wish the 24 hour snackbar had some vegan food other than heart attack french fries. Hard to stay frugal with solo cabin prices, but this forum gives timely tips. I'm concerned by the emphasis on drinking alcohol, and have suffered unpleasant intrusions by drunks on NCL. There is poor availability of diet sodas, which is my round the clock lifeblood. Should become a more frequent traveler if these factors improve or mobility declines.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 minutes ago, dumbth said:

I'm concerned by the emphasis on drinking alcohol, and have suffered unpleasant intrusions by drunks on NCL.

Intrusions?  Please explain.

[CruzinMel]

Cruising is my happy place.  It's where I don't have to cook or clean or plan or plot or schedule or mind.  I get on the ship and I'm just DONE - all I have to worry about is getting fed, and getting some time on deck with just me and the sun and the water.  Give DH access to a bar, and he'll do anything else you want - I don't even *have* to take him off the ship.  Plotting excursions is really sort of a pain these days - but that could be just where I'm at mentally.  Cruising is where everybody is going to have a good time no matter what I do or don't do; nobody will complain or fuss, because if you don't like the option in front of you, there is ALWAYS something else going on.  For a Recovering Mother of Teens, it's heaven.  

And cruising is my catnip.  I am a happier girl if I have a cruise to look forward to and obsess over - I live on CC and that tube thing and I study all there is to know about ports and itineraries, to the point that I end up thinking I need to be a TA.

My children are grown; my dogs are aging; my Mom is still able to come along and I can park her on the ship with a butler and she's happy.  As we are not independently wealthy, that's probably a once every couple of years solution, so my cruises are limited while I'm the meat in this sandwich.  I long to be able to book a last-minute getaway - put in a week of vacation at work, and then find the best-looking cruise closest to me and just . . . GO.

[AKR2011]

My first cruise was in high school when my choir competed against other schools on the Carnival Fantasy. I sold over 2,000 candy bars in order to go, and I immediately fell in love with the ocean and dreamed of going back. My family didn't have any money for vacations, I went into student loan debt attending a state college, and then I started working in the nonprofit world while paying back said loans back. Many years later future husband and I opted to throw our wedding plans out the window since we were too poor anyway.  We had a skydiving wedding instead, then spent the rest of our wedding money on a 7 night NCL cruise. He was hooked, I was relaxed like never before, and we vowed to come back to sea.

 

We now try to cruise every two years or so and especially enjoy longer journeys. I dig for bargains when possible and budget every penny to make it happen. We both work in mental health now, so vacation is incredibly important. NCL has always given us a wonderful experience, so we're Platinum and don't really have plans to switch. However, I definitely follow the other boards here and have thought about switching it up someday. 

[herbanrenewal]

6 hours ago, CruzinMel said:

Cruising is my happy place.  It's where I don't have to cook or clean or plan or plot or schedule or mind.  I get on the ship and I'm just DONE - all I have to worry about is getting fed, and getting some time on deck with just me and the sun and the water.  Give DH access to a bar, and he'll do anything else you want - I don't even *have* to take him off the ship.  Plotting excursions is really sort of a pain these days - but that could be just where I'm at mentally.  Cruising is where everybody is going to have a good time no matter what I do or don't do; nobody will complain or fuss, because if you don't like the option in front of you, there is ALWAYS something else going on.  For a Recovering Mother of Teens, it's heaven.  

And cruising is my catnip.  I am a happier girl if I have a cruise to look forward to and obsess over - I live on CC and that tube thing and I study all there is to know about ports and itineraries, to the point that I end up thinking I need to be a TA.

My children are grown; my dogs are aging; my Mom is still able to come along and I can park her on the ship with a butler and she's happy.  As we are not independently wealthy, that's probably a once every couple of years solution, so my cruises are limited while I'm the meat in this sandwich.  I long to be able to book a last-minute getaway - put in a week of vacation at work, and then find the best-looking cruise closest to me and just . . . GO.

CruzinMel, you should be a writer! I love this post.

[julig22]

16 hours ago, pickle11 said:

Cruising is an expensive hobby.  Be prepared to check prices every day.   What good is a cruise if you have to wait for six months to a year.  Be spontaneous.  Not finding to many solo discounts since most covid restrictions have been cancelled.  

Good luck.

Guess it depends on where you are looking! But since I have multiple cruises booked, very little waiting to cruise. Just reduced a May cruise in Alaska by over $1k because they lowered the supplement (ov only).

[pickle11]

48 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Guess it depends on where you are looking! But since I have multiple cruises booked, very little waiting to cruise. Just reduced a May cruise in Alaska by over $1k because they lowered the supplement (ov only).

I never have understood "multiple cruises booked".  That is one long waited appointment.  And then someone to say they have three or four in the next two years.   WHY!   You can only take one cruise at a time.  My next cruise is December 2 on the Bliss.  I rarely book more than a month out.  I have never made a final payment because I pay full the day I book.  Your May cruise is still six months out.  And then you wait on another planned cruise.  I plan on doing at least three more cruises before May and then Alaska again.  I did five weeks in Alaska last season on three different cruise lines.   I was on the Sun when the ship hit the iceberg entering Hubbard Glacier.  Using that FCC on the Bliss through the Panama Canal.

But still all my cruises cost me money.  Cruising is an expensive hobby if you cruise more than four times a year.   I'm glad I have the time, finances and no kids or pets (they need attention when you are gone too) at home to come and go as I please.   I am addicted to cruising. 

Good to know you saved $1K.