Do you sail for the Cruise or the Ports?

[steveaaaa]

When you sail, Do you sail for the Cruise or the Ports?

[JJS2K3]

This is our first cruise so it was for the cruise, where we actually go is not important. If I like this cruise and decide to cruise again then ports will be part of the decision process.

 

Many of the ports available are very nice and spending a mere 8-12 hours at them doesn't seem to do them justice. So maybe cruising will become 'scouting trips' for land vacations for us :)

[Snowball]

I voted both - I always try to book on a newer ship, but also try to do an itinerary that I haven't done before. So far I have been successful in getting both, but once I run out of new itineraries I will definitely be picking my cruise based on the ship first, itinerary second.

[RandomUsername723]

I actually go for the cruise, but the ports are important and often times they influence my choice in a cruise, especially when one route offers a stop I am dying to see, and the other doesn't. :)

[kristikae]

For the cruise! As long as the Hounds are there I don't care if we never make it to a single port! :D

[hstrybuf]

Right now it's both. I enjoy the sea days, but also enjoy seeing new ports and new things in ports I've visited before.

[Bunkie103]

For me it's mostly the cruise, but I do enjoy the ports. For my DH it's the ports first and then the cruise. I would love to do a transatlantic crossing, but he would probably fly over and meet me there. :rolleyes:

[halos]

I chose both.

If I were cruising just for ports...then I'd be taking a plane and doing a land vacation.....

I LOVE the idea that when cruising, you get to see places of interest and then are able to get back on the ship and maybe have a day at sea to relax and be pampered a bit before getting to the next place...how cool is that??

 

I heard someone once mention their Hawaiian cruise. They stopped at every island. If they'd have flown to Hawaii for a land vacation, they probebly only would have seen and stayed at one island...cruising made it possible to get a taste of all of them.

There is NOTHING like it...and it's obvious by increased sales, building of more ships and increased prices that many people are discovering the joys of cruising. The world is full of cruise addicts!! :D

[IBEEMOM]

For me it is a 50-50 situation. I love to cruise and would enjoy it even if there were no port calls. However I very much enjoy seeing other places. I like to visit new ports all the time. You can never see everything, so if you have been to a place once or twice, there is always sometihing new to see.

[callajl]

I have to say most of the time it is for both. What better way can you travel. There is no other means of transportation that offers as much BUT this next cruise is solely for the cruise. We have been to these particular ports at least 5 times before. We are cruising with a large group of people and this was the ship we wanted and had to get a convinent date for everyone. I won't be getting off the ship this time!:D

[IKE]

I love Cruising. I have been on 42 cruises in 10 yrs. and will be off end of this month on the" Legend". I would have to say #1 is the Cruise Ship. I go on all the new ones and since I have seen all the ports of call, the Ports are second for me. So if A port is changed on me due to hurricaines, I would not be upset. However, I do like to shop in St. Thomas. and look forward to visiting St. Thomas all the time.

[Peanuts]

I really love sea days but I love to see new places and new people too

[sallyb]

We picked our first cruise based on the ports, my DH and I wanted to see Aruba. We had considered a land vacation there. I'm glad we did the cruise instead because we got hooked! We like both sea days and port days, but which ports are not as important now as the whole cruise experience.

[cpayne]

We originally started cruising based on the ports. However, as we get more cruises under are belts it is beginning to become more about the cruise. We now look for particular things in a ship where as before we would have sailed on any boat and never have cared.

 

Regardless, we still love both!!!

[BigDoug]

I voted both. First, we try and book a ship that we haven't sailed on yet. I love to explore the ships. Secondly, we look for an itinerary that we haven't been on yet. Our next cruise takes us to Central America, all new ports for us. We have sailed the Legend before and loved it. So this next cruise will be a small compromise. We will be on a ship we previously sailed, but we love it, with all new ports of call (and 4 sea days!). :cool:

[wenhigh]

Definitely both! If I do not like the ports, the cruise. If I am upset about the cruise the ports. If I am having a good time either way, both cruise and ports. Confusing, isn't it!

[MrPete]

When I started cruising, I went simply for the ship. I had no intention of even getting off in port, which I found I did eventually anyway.

 

The more I cruised, the more I choose for the different ports. BTW,there is nothing like cruising to Hawaii, and then around the islands themselves.

 

Now, I'm back to just cruising for the ship, unless they start sailing to new places..

 

The circle of cruising.........:cool:

[JJS2K3]

BTW,there is nothing like cruising to Hawaii, and then around the islands themselves

 

That sounds nice

[pungo3]

I'm happy going anywhere the ship goes. I really don't care where we port. If it's some place that interests me, I'll get off the ship. If not, I take advantage of a quiet ship with very few folk around. Obviously, I voted for cruise.

[DreadPirateRobert]

It's the whole experience. It's the total care free, everything is done for you relaxing lifestyle. I love the ports, it's fun to be a tourist. I love swimming and snorkeling in beautiful clear water. I love the sights, sounds, the music and the culture of different people. At the end of a day I love walking back on that big beautiful ship, finding my room made up. Here's a big one, I don't have to cook or clean for a single meal. I love wandering the decks at night with my DW. I love watching the sea go by.

Aw heck I just love cruising!

[judyf]

I voted both cause I love the cruise ship and sea days but I also plan to cruise to different ports each time.

[lucyjohnz]

We've now done 8 cruises and I'm getting more into ports than ships. I enjoy the cruise experience but have also found I like cruise ships with lots of onboard activities. We also like to take cruises out of Galveston rather than Florida because it's so much easier to drive to and my parents live 15 minutes from Galveston.

 

Prior to our recent Alaska cruise, we'd only cruised the Caribbean - mostly Western with 2 Southern cruises. I can tell you, though, that I'm really tired of W. Carib. cruises and only just scheduled a 5-day out of Galveston because that's about all I can take of the Western Caribbean.

 

We're doing a Med. cruise out of Barcelona in late May '05 and I'm really excited about the ports on that cruise. I think that in the future we'll look more towards this type of cruise than doing the Western Caribbean over and over on different ships.

[Cruising = Heaven]

I voted both but believe it is probably more for the cruise. It's nice to go to some of the exotic ports that I used to dream of as a young woman, but the success of my trip does not depend upon getting to those ports. My real pleasure is derived from being at sea and enjoying the wonders of God. I'd be perfectly happy to take a cruise to nowhere. BUT, next month I'll be in Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten for the third time and am just as excited as I was the first time! Wish I had enough funds to stay on a constant cruise! That would be my ideal lifestyle!

[sea-n-ski]

Just put me out to sea for 7 sunny days!!

[Keith B.]

I wouldn't care if the ship went out into the middle of the ocean and dropped the anchor and stayed there for the entire cruise. Ports mean nothing to me. The one thing I like about ports is we have the ship all to ourselves while everybody is off enjoying their excursions, etc.