Do you prefer cruising with friends or alone??

[cmlmich]

My wife and I will be going on our first cruise in Jan. and we were thinking about seeing if another couple would like to come too. I have talked to a few people I know and they seemed to think that having friends with you on a cruise is more fun.....I would love to hear more opinions on this.

[oldmedic]

My wife and I will be going on our first cruise in Jan. and we were thinking about seeing if another couple would like to come too. I have talked to a few people I know and they seemed to think that having friends with you on a cruise is more fun.....I would love to hear more opinions on this.

 

i love cruising with just my wife, and we always enjoy our cruises together, but it is also fun to cruise with a group... either way, we are cruising so it is a win/win either way...

[Nunu]

I can't think of anything worse than trying to talk friends into a cruise if they aren't 100% on board with the idea. Recipe for disaster. YMMV.

[quickrate]

Both! sometimes we use a cruise for getaway alone time fo the two of us and other times we cruise with many friends. We have found a cruise to be one of the best ways for us to escape from everyone and everything and just concentrate on each other. We've also found it to be a great way to share time with our many wonderful friends.

Pat

[jerseygirl79]

I guess it depends on your personality. My least favorite cruise including our families and some friends. It was cool to see them around the ship and hang out sometimes, but someone was always looking for us to have breakfast together or do other things. Sometimes I just wanted to wander the ship alone or spend time as a couple.

 

My favorite cruise was with my best friend. We both had our own schedules and if we wanted to do different things, we'd just meet up somewhere. Also, we had great table mates who become our friends for the week and we'd could hang out with them if and when wanted.

[Litewait]

I've cruised solo, with just my kids and with friends. As a single adult I find traveling with friends alot of fun. My kids are off doing their thing and I have adults to hang out with. Don't think I would enjoy the piano bar or disco quite so much without friends along. I have enjoyed cruising solo as well, but those are usually short 3 day getaways to relax.

 

As a couple I think it depends on how busy you want to be. If it's a trip for relaxation maybe you would enjoy just the 2 of you. If you want to bar hop, gamble, piano bar it~ those are all fun with a group.

 

Just my 2 cents!:p

[Max Circus]

I've done both - and enjoyed both. Did establish some "ground rules" for travelling with another couple. Made sure that they knew it was okay for us to do different activities, excursions, etc as couples. In fact, that would make dinner interesting as everyone shared what they did for the day. We also did a couple of excursions together.

[Jrabbit128]

I have been on cruises only with the hubby and have loved every minute of it, because we get to relax together and have fun together, which is something hard to do at home.

For our 2010 cruise, we are trying to get friends to come because it will be fun. You don't have to do EVERYTHING with your friends. Everyone could do their own thing and just meet up for dinner at night. The best thing about the cruise is that there is always something for everyone to do, so you don't have to feel bad that you want to do one thing but someone else wants to do another.

[dmdiver]

Our next cruise will be the first for DH & I alone. I would love to cruise with friends, but as a previous poster said, would not want to feel like I had to spend every moment with the friends if we needed some alone time. We mentioned our cruise to some friends, but some aren't interested in cruising & some already had vacation plans. Oh well, we'll have fun no matter what.

[quickrate]

I've done both - and enjoyed both. Did establish some "ground rules" for travelling with another couple. Made sure that they knew it was okay for us to do different activities, excursions, etc as couples. In fact, that would make dinner interesting as everyone shared what they did for the day. We also did a couple of excursions together.

I think this is very important when you travel with others. We have traveled for over 12 years with nunerous friends and the ground rules are" everyone does what they want when they want and no one gets hurt feelings if some want to keep to themselves" We meet up at dinner and share our day. sometimes we don't see each other at all during the day.

Pat

[jayesouthworth]

Definitely alone! We've been cruising with our family and shared a room with 2 adult single children. No sleep, kids were out at all hours of the night partying (yeah that's what cruises are for), and no rest whatsoever. Also went with my sister and her family and even though she was sick (cancer), it was a difficult trip because we drove 8 hours there and 8 hours back. Both DH and I agree that it's better that we go alone, we are then responsible only for ourselves.

[Traveler353]

"Do you prefer cruising with friends or alone?"

Solo for me, I make a couple a thousand new friends each cruise.;)

[Skywench]

When you asked if I prefer cruising with friends or alone, I thought the alone meant solo. I have never cruised solo, but I really don't think that would bother me at all, and I think it's something I would enjoy. Usually I cruise with my mother. She's a great travel companion for me. Once we had relatives fly to Miami and we met up for a cruise there, but we never did any activities together, other than dinner a couple of times, so might as well been alone lol. I have a good friend of mine that keeps telling me she wants to cruise with me, but if I wait for her, I'll never go!

[PA Dutchman]

alone with the other half. :D

[posh08]

We like to cruise with like minded friends.

[babies12]

We definately cruise alone now. We tried both land based (Cabo) and cruise, and it was a disaster on both ends. We would want to spend our quality time alone, and our friends took offense to that even though it was agreed upon prior to leaving to start the vacation. They couldn't understand that we would want to venture off ourselves. Of course we would meet up for dinner but then got the attitude. So, lesson learned, if you want to keep your friendship intact, vacay separately. BTW, we are still great friends, just don't vacay together anymore LOL!

[Kurbanfan]

We have done both......last couple years with a group anywhere from 2 to 4 couples.......

We always all have a blast!!!!

[iluvdoxies]

Both! sometimes we use a cruise for getaway alone time fo the two of us and other times we cruise with many friends. We have found a cruise to be one of the best ways for us to escape from everyone and everything and just concentrate on each other. We've also found it to be a great way to share time with our many wonderful friends.

Pat

 

Us too. We've had some great cc group cruises and great ones with just us.

[Cigar Dude]

Good question!

 

We do both. Last year we went alone. We made friends onboard rather quickly. Our table mates were great! We had a blast.

 

This year we're going with 5 other people; 2 couples and an elderly gentleman that has never cruised before! So, a total of 7 of us. I expect to have a great time.

 

The "thing" about cruising with a group is to get everyone to understand that you don't need to do every activity together! This is your vacation, as well as mine, so do what you want to do! If we do things together; great! If not, we'll talk about them at dinner tonight! :D

 

Bottom line; have fun for goodness sake! ;)

[cjkumbaya]

My husband and I prefer to cruise alone. Our vacations are out time alone together.

[jhale]

We do both, however when cruising with others (especially people new to cruising) sometimes I find myself the unofficial cruise director for the group. I've been on so many cruises that I've done everything on the daily schedule, so I don't carry it around and try to catch all the activities. I'm happy to answer any questions, even find myself helping strangers sometimes, lol. My only rule is do NOT come to my cabin to wake me up, if I'm not out and about you'll just have to find something else to do!

[Bases5]

I like cruising with my DW the best.

We have had a good time with friends and family but I do find it a little more stressful.

Like the previous poster I tend to become the cruise host. I also set ground rule's but still tend to want to make sure everybody is having fun.

When it's just me and DW it's a lot more relaxing.

[milton333]

Depends on your personality and the "goal" of your vacation. Hubby and I both work, so we like our vacations to be about connecting with each other. I do kind of have adult ADD, however, so having lots of options of stuff to do with multiple ports and things going on at all hours appeals to me (so a cruise offers some things that a stationary vacation usually does not). I'm not cruising specifically because it's a ship full of people with whom I could connect, kwim?

 

Many people who cruise are retired and already spend all their time with their significant other, or are otherwise in an environment where they may be more "socially deprived" than folks who work and encounter dozens of people a day. For them, meeting new people is a prime goal on their cruises.

 

Personally, I don't necessarily see the value in making friends with a lot of people I'll never see again. I'm looking for some peace and quiet, not more interaction with strangers (in my work, I deal with lots of calls and visits from people all the time). I'm paying for my vacation to have meaningful time and memories with my husband. I'm not a big fan of the main dining room, I like my balcony room because we spend time together sitting on the balcony, and we're sort of "freestyle" about letting each day come and going with the flow.

 

I think that cruising with another couple or a group may be for you if you're somewhere between where I am and the folks who want to meet everyone on the ship. It gives you some "relief" from having to interact solely with your partner, without all the fuss of getting to know strangers. It may deepen your friendship with the other couple.

 

We're about to cruise with my husband's parents. Not really on purpose - I was excited about what a great deal we'd gotten on the cruise, and apparently talked it up so much that my m-i-l decided to look into it and booked them on the very same cruise. Surprise! We hope it will work okay, and have already communicated about what we want from our vacation (i.e., sometimes we'll want to be alone, and will expect that they'll entertain themselves elsewhere on the ship).

 

It all depends on your personality and relationships with those you're cruising with. I've found that, on this board, there is a lot you hear from a very specific personality type, but cruising is a great option for a lot of different types of people, there are ways to enjoy your cruise on your own terms. You know yourself best, and there's no specific type of personality or interests that you need to enjoy a cruise.

[UpstateCruizer]

My dh and I cruise alone or with the kids who are 23 and 21. Until our last cruise I would have said that I wouldn't want to cruise with friends as we prefer to do our own thing most of the time. We met a wonderful couple on the last cruise and I'd cruise again with them in a heartbeat.

[KimtheCruiser]

I'm fine with friends either way, but this time I'm glad to be cruising without family!

 

I'm not hardhearted and mean-spirited, it just makes it more stressful and makes for more responsibility having to deal with other people. My 17yo stepson doesn't care for cruising as much, so listening to him whine, plus making sure everyone gets packed, and everyone gets everything together for debarkation, etc., etc., etc. This time, it's just DH and myself and a friend....should be much more relaxing.

 

Now, DH is cruising this fall with my brother who is in a wheelchair - they will have a ball together - and DB is actually much less trouble than some of my able-bodied family members!