Really think on how much these cruises cost!

[High C's]

As for eating...honestly, one of the other great pleasures of this trip was not having to dress for dinner. To be able to shop in the markets in Provence in the morning (I love to cook) and then prepare a meal together in shorts and a bathing suit or whatever, drinking as much wine as I want ;) We had our own barbeque in Provence as well. I wouldn't have given that up to be waited on. Oh...our rental in Provence, the owners delivered Baquettes, Croissants & Pain au Chocolate to your door every morning.

 

Yes, I can certainly see the attraction in that!! We certainly will have to think about it in the future, as there are certainly a couple of places high on my list that are land locked (Austria and Switzerland, for example). We are contemplating a river cruise, but a land vacation may very well be the way to go.

 

And I'm VERY glad to hear you won't be cancelling!!

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

I think it completely depends on what kind of vacation you're looking for. If you're happy just being somewhere from 9 - 5 and then back on the boat, cruising is the way to go. But after just completing a 3 week land trip, our cruising is going to be cut back. It was far cheaper and more enriching on land.

 

As a comparison, we were originally booked on Royal Princess, 12 day cruise. $6,000 for the two of us in balcony. We cancelled and spent three weeks in France and Italy.

 

Car Rental for 17 days = $1,400

Gas = $300

Rental for week in Provence = $1,200

Rental for week in Tuscany = $1,200

 

We didn't eat out every night, but pretty much ate out every lunch time for around 15 Euro a piece with a beer or wine. We went grocery shopping in Tuscany and it's dirt cheap. We had a buggy full of food, vodka, wine, etc. and it came to 70 Euro...we were floored, that's one dinner out. Wine at our french co-op was 5 litres for 9 Euro.

 

We toured every day...I spent about 1,600 Euro...but I'm a shopper...that is for the whole three weeks including Paris and Rome pre & post rentals. Hubby spent 1,000 Euro. We both would have spent that on tours and ship board accounts if we'd have cruised.

 

But to be able to get up in the morning and decide where you wanted to spend the day, when you left, where you went and when you returned, was amazing. DH honestly won't care if we never cruised again, he found the land trip so much better.

 

So don't be so quick to judge that cruising is the cheaper alternative....at $500 a day (before tours, drinks, etc.) you can do better on land if you want to.

 

Where is the 3rd week rental fee? You said you went for 3 weeks, but I only see 2 weeks of rentals. Am I missing something?

[Cruise Junky]

Where is the 3rd week rental fee? You said you went for 3 weeks, but I only see 2 weeks of rentals. Am I missing something?

 

You're not missing anything, I only included the two weeks that would have replaced the 12 days cruise. Whether we did the cruise or a land trip we would have started and ended with three days in Paris and Rome so the $$$ for those was irrelevant to the comparison.

[Cruise Junky]

I know that whenever we do land vacations either in the States, the Caribbean or Europe our hotel bills are always large because of the hotels that I chose.

 

Sounds like you had a great vacation and being able to spend 3 weeks throughout Italy sounds marvelous. Would love to know how you found your rentals and where you stayed.

 

I'm like that too. If we're staying in hotels, it's going to be a good one!!

 

We stayed here....in Provence which I highly recommmend..we found them on Trip Advisor...

 

http://www.olivettes.com/

 

In Tuscany, we used Parker Villas.

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

You're not missing anything, I only included the two weeks that would have replaced the 12 days cruise. Whether we did the cruise or a land trip we would have started and ended with three days in Paris and Rome so the $$$ for those was irrelevant to the comparison.

 

Thanks for clearing that up.

[happy cruzer]

Yep, I've done the rental thing before. It's not a cruise for the one doing the cooking and the cleaning. DH even felt guilty that I didn't get a vacation. He too loves to drive but I still have to navigate and decide where/when to stop, what place is safe to park, tour, or eat. Alot of that is done for you on the cruise. Plus you have to stay in one spot for awhile for the rental to work and on the cruise you usually move daily.

 

both nice, just comparing rentals to cruises is not apples to apples.

 

PS, I look for a cruise around 65pp per day inside cabin in the off seasons. But I understand those that budget to nicer accomodations, it's just a choice and trade off.

[Cruise Junky]

Yep, I've done the rental thing before. It's not a cruise for the one doing the cooking and the cleaning. DH even felt guilty that I didn't get a vacation. He too loves to drive but I still have to navigate and decide where/when to stop, what place is safe to park, tour, or eat. Alot of that is done for you on the cruise. Plus you have to stay in one spot for awhile for the rental to work and on the cruise you usually move daily.

 

both nice, just comparing rentals to cruises is not apples to apples.

 

PS, I look for a cruise around 65pp per day inside cabin in the off seasons. But I understand those that budget to nicer accomodations, it's just a choice and trade off.

 

I appreciate what you're saying. I've tried to respond to this three times already and keep deleting it. I've cruised the Med. before and we really enjoyed it but came back absolutely exhausted from being on tours for hours at a time trying to see and do it all in the 8 short hours we had in port. We sure saw a lot in our 12 days. But you're right, comparing the trip we just did to a 12 day port intensive cruise isn't comparing apples to apples, because for us the land trip wins hands down. On the cruise you just get a taste, just a glimpse and you're whisked back to the safety of the ship and the safety of a schedule.

 

We absolutely loved going into little hill top towns that the cruise ships don't touch, you'd never experience these places if you didn't go out exploring on your own. Cooking for me isn't a chore, I love it. I loved being at the markets everyday and coming back and preparing dinner without the stress of having to have worked all day.

 

Everyone needs something different from a vacation. What I was pointing out was that if you wanted to spend time in Europe and explore, it can be cheaper than a cruise and a whole lot more relaxing!!

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

I appreciate what you're saying. I've tried to respond to this three times already and keep deleting it. I've cruised the Med. before and we really enjoyed it but came back absolutely exhausted from being on tours for hours at a time trying to see and do it all in the 8 short hours we had in port. We sure saw a lot in our 12 days. But you're right, comparing the trip we just did to a 12 day port intensive cruise isn't comparing apples to apples, because for us the land trip wins hands down. On the cruise you just get a taste, just a glimpse and you're whisked back to the safety of the ship and the safety of a schedule.

 

We absolutely loved going into little hill top towns that the cruise ships don't touch, you'd never experience these places if you didn't go out exploring on your own. Cooking for me isn't a chore, I love it. I loved being at the markets everyday and coming back and preparing dinner without the stress of having to have worked all day.

 

Everyone needs something different from a vacation. What I was pointing out was that if you wanted to spend time in Europe and explore, it can be cheaper than a cruise and a whole lot more relaxing!!

 

I agree, it is certainly all personal preference. However for me, I love being on the ship and I dont think anything could replace that. Not only that, I find the nightlife on Princess very relaxing. You are right in that different people enjoy different things.

[Cruise Junky]

Not only that, I find the nightlife on Princess very relaxing.

 

This was my nightlife ;)

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the least bashing cruising, I love it, love being out on the open water. But this opened our eyes that there are alternatives that we really loved.

[wizard-of-roz]

Can I have have some cheese with the whine??????? Just kidding!;)

We have to take a road trip (in between our cruising) to attend a seminar in northern California and I'm so NOT looking forward to it...because of all the incidental expenses like; food, bed, ice tea, room service, entertainment (ALL of which would be included in a cruise!)

Why can't more companies think of having their business "stuff" done on a cruise ship?

I'LL SUGGEST IT!:D

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

This was my nightlife ;)

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the least bashing cruising, I love it, love being out on the open water. But this opened our eyes that there are alternatives that we really loved.

 

 

Well that really is a beautiful picture! Post card quality id say. The each their own, for right now its cruising for me, but im glad you found something you enjoy. :)

[jajohnson]

Has anyone noticed that the original poster has never really joined in the discussion? Think someone is yanking our collective chains? We sure are good at "discussing" amongst ourselves. Think about it.

[CruiseLiz]

That seems to happen a lot on these boards ;)

 

Cruise Junky -

Thanks for posting your villa in Provence. It looks amazing & very reasonable price wise, it is now in my Favorites.

I agree that whether you choose a cruise or a land vacation, it just depends on your vacation style and what you want from that particular trip. We did Italy last year as a land vacation and it was wonderful. We visited a lot of those hilltowns that you spoke about.

We do a Med cruise in April, so we'll see the contrasts there.

We've done many cruises and they were also wonderful, not better or worse than a land vacation, just a different experience altogether and that's really nice in itself. I will say that when visiting some regions of Europe (deep into Germany for example) or any area where English is not widely spoken, it can be a comfort to be on a cruise ship if you are not able to communicate in the local language b/c they will provide English guides and of course everyone on the ship should understand you.

 

And I find that visiting a place for one day on a cruise often brings me back there on a land vacation. We went to St. Thomas on a cruise and then stayed for a week there the following year b/c we liked it so much.

[Toto2Kansas]

To the OP. We have a Med cruise booked for November with Princess in an AA mini suite. I took the cruise price, then doubled it for what we will need for tours and extras. Plus, I will have my CC along for other matters. Most of our tours are even booked privately with other CC members for a reduced rate compared to what Princess offers. This is one cruise that will not be one of those 'budget' type cruises, we knew that from the start. Sorry it was higher than you expected, but the value of the Euro compared to the U.S. Dollar makes it even higher than it used to be.

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

I also think it REALLY depends on what regious you cruise. A Med. cruise is going to cost considerably more than a Caribbean cruise. This is because a med cruise is based on seeing the sites, in the Caribbean you can go shopping, see some local flavor and go to a beautiful beach all for under 100 dollars a day. In the Med. to make your time worth while you need to spend money on an excursion of some kind.

[EmsMom]

We cruised last summer in the Meditteranean. Our total cost for "extras" was about $400. We drank free water, iced tea and lemonade. We ate the "free" food and went out on our own "excursions" most of the time. We booked one excursion through the cruiseline and I had one spa day which is where we incurred these costs. We had an awesome time and thought we got a real bargain considering what it costs to do a European land tour with hotels, food, transportation and sightseeeing.