Why Do You Cruise ??????

[kakalina]

Do you cruise for the many and varied activities offered?

Do you cruise to snooze ?

Do you cruise for the sheer, unadultered pleasure of the open ocean and a moving ship ????

Just curious how the rest of you feel. I vote for all of the above myself.:D


Trisha

[Bramcruiser]

Good question. I think I would have answered that differently 10 years ago but today I would say I go for the open seas and the escape from the everyday world and its pressures. I was never more happy last year that those few days on the Oosterdam where we just sailed away and left the world behind. When the biggest decisions of the day involve what to eat and whether or not to buy this or that trinket then I know I have it made.

[ger_77]

We cruise to experience different places, new faces, and for the total relaxation that only occurs for us onboard a ship. We do enjoy the ports, and after visiting certain points of interest, shopping in each one of them major thing for us. (I'm sooo glad I married a man who loves shopping as much as I do!)

We're not major drinkers, but relaxing after dinner in either the Explorer's Lounge or the Crow's Nest is somethng we really enjoy. Of course, being served lovely meals by tuxedo clad waiters isn't hard to endure, either!

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[lougee1043]

i cruise to relax and to be waited on --------------to see a little of new ports and generally just to unwind and spend time with my wife

[jhannah]

Why do we cruise? H-m-m-m.

1) To spend our kids' inheritance so they won't have it to squander it on such things as mortgages and college educations. ;)

2) To get away from everyday life, and enjoy a refreshing temporary break from the obligations and stresses we all have.

3) To enjoy the open sea, fresh air, new places, and a taste of "the good life." (i.e., being waited on hand and foot!)

4) To be able to enjoy dropping lines on our friends, like, "Oh, we saw that last time we cruised the Mediterranean." :D

5) To accumulate enough tiles to finish our bathroom.

[kryos]

That's a good question, and there are probably a lot of answers.

I cruise because it's the only time I feel that I can escape everyday life, with the pressures and deadlines and everyone pulling me in different directions. I step onto the ship and know that at least for a little while I am escaping. I can go anywhere on the ship and know that my every need is gonna be met with little effort on my part. No one is gonna ask me if something has been done, or if I can "take care" of this or that. All I have to do is indulge my every whim and others will help me to do that. Feel a bit thirsty? There's that nice bar man over there who will gladly bring me something. Hungry at 2:30 in the morning? Well there's that telephone right there in my cabin. One call and I can have something brought to me. Want some good conversation? Well, I can just hop on up to the Lido deck, enjoy a cup of java and a cigarette and surely find someone interesting to talk to. All of these things require little effort ... not like at home, where if I want something to eat I have to make sure I've stopped at the store to get it ... or have to riffle through a telephone book looking for a place that delivers pizza at 1:00 a.m.

Yes, that's why I cruise ... that and to smell that sea air and just sit for hours and gaze at God's wonderful creation that he has put here just for me to enjoy.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[HeatherInFlorida]

When we started cruising it was even more of a getaway than it is now. There were no phones, internet wasn't around, there were no tv's. You simply felt a million miles from the real world on an open ocean going to pretty places and relaxing more than you ever thought you could.

And that's why we started cruising. That is still why we cruise. There's something about being out there in the middle of the ocean with nothing but sea all around you and a dome of blue sky above. There's nothing like it on this earth. At night just before bed, we go out on our little verandah and look into the darkness and there is nothing. It just brings such peace. Your cares can't help but fall away.

And so my cell goes off when we leave and it doesn't go back on until we're home. I use the internet only to check quickly on things at home. I even ignore as much as possible the CNN news (:eek: ) and long for the simple piece of paper under the door in the morning with just a quick overview of the "real" world.

For the most part we leave everything behind and just enjoy each other, new friends and time almost seeming to stand still.

So for me it's the all about the sea, everything it gives and everything it takes away.

[packercruising]

I cruise.............because...........I am:cool:

[bruce-r]

1) to dive in difference warm water destinations. Taking a cruise is a compromise vacation for me because the rest of the family doesn't dive. This way I still get to dive some (though not as much as I would get to if we went to Cozumel again) and I still get to spend time with the rest of the clan.

2) the food, especially the deserts.

3) there is little planning involved other than picking the itinerary, getting the plane tickets, and arranging the diving.

4) lots of choice of things to do on the ship, if I choose to do anything at all.

[RuthC]

What Heather said! That's it.

I love to be all alone on an open deck as far aft as possible. I feel at one with the sea, nature. As close to serenity as one gets in this life.

I well remember the days when there was no TV or Internet, the news was posted outside the Radio Room, and the phones only connected around the ship. It was as far away from real-life as you could get and still be alive. I realized that the whole world could blow up and I wouldn't know about it. I would still be having fun.
Ah-h-h-h-h. Sweet.

[bruceh4]

I cruise because I like it.:) My family started cruising in 1910 when my grandmother and grandfather imigrated to the US!:D It's in our bloodline!

[RuthC]

Keeps me out of pool halls.

[Navy_Chief]

I still like going to sea after 20 years in "Uncle Sam's sailing club". Too bad I couldn't rack up "Mariner Time" there :D. So now I have to Pay to go to sea :( but at least I don't have to worry about fixing stuff while I'm there, just which bar to "Drop Anchor" next to for the next round :D. Most of the ports the ship visits I've been to but what makes it nice is that I get to do it now with my DW in tow and we can experiance them together :) . I try to pick itineraries with at leat 1 port I haven't seen before so we can both discover it together.

[bepsf]

Why do we cruise? H-m-m-m.

1) To spend our kids' inheritance so they won't have it to squander it on such things as mortgages and college educations. ;)

2) To get away from everyday life, and enjoy a refreshing temporary break from the obligations and stresses we all have.

3) To enjoy the open sea, fresh air, new places, and a taste of "the good life." (i.e., being waited on hand and foot!)

4) To be able to enjoy dropping lines on our friends, like, "Oh, we saw that last time we cruised the Mediterranean." :D

5) To accumulate enough tiles to finish our bathroom.

With the exception of #1 - Ditto!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We love the idea that unpack once and visit so many different ports.

[herb]

We like the idea of visiting different places without having to pack and unpack.

[imacrusing]

We cruise to sit on verandah, nap on verandah, read on verandah,...did I say I love my verandah??

Dont care about formal nights..use room service...dont care about the ports..love sea days...dont care about the shows..hardly ever go...enjoy casino on sea days..

Would love a 10 day cruise to nowhere that never stopped at any of the ports....

Just what we like....not for everyone

[HeatherInFlorida]

..............
Would love a 10 day cruise to nowhere that never stopped at any of the ports....

................

Me, too!!!!!!:D And think of all those port charges we wouldn't have to pay!!!

Give me days at sea .............

[May4]

1) I don't have to drive and can look out the window all day.

2) After the dinner and a show, it's not far "back home."

3) There's no need to wash my own dishes, or make my own bed, or do any grocery shopping.

4) I feel quite elegant while aboard.

5) It's a wonderful way to see the world. (Although, you must see it in the six hours or so that the ship is in port.)

[RuthC]

It keeps me from stealing hubcaps.

[caribbean dreams]

I have a stressful job (how doesn't now days) the quiet of the ocean relaxes me and i love to visit the different ports to see their culture.

I would rather be waiting in the buffet line that waiting in a 3 hour line a Disneyland.

[RevNeal]

The Bishop can't find me there. :D

[jhannah]

Oh, but I'll bet he could!

Ruth, you're a hoot!

[kakalina]

It keeps me off street corners. . .:D

[seadancer]

Well thanks to my wife introducing me to cruising. I just can't get over the feeling of a ship under my feet and moving at my pace versus the world. Its truly my drug.;)


Seeuuu
Jeff

[chasetf]

Those that explore new places we have never been. It is a great way to see many different ports in a small amount of time.

The other type of cruise we take is to kick back, relax around the pool, get off late and return early from port calls because we've been there.

We have one of each booked this year. :D

[the2ofus]

I love the feel of being at sea. Love the wide vistas of open ocean, maybe an island or shore off in the distance. I love the smell of the fresh air. I love the stars at night. I enjoy the 'motion of the ocean', though that might change if I was ever on a REALLY rough voyage like some have encountered in the north Atlantic.

I sleep better on a ship than anywhere else. (Especially with the new mattresses on HAL)

I enticed my DH to try a cruise because he tended to be a tentative traveler, not sure he liked the unfamiliar. This way we'd see new places but have a familiar place to stay. He became an avid cruiser. He loved being out on deck, watching for passing ships and whales or other sea life and for birds. He was very outgoing and enjoyed meeting other pax.

I really like longer cruises, but don't like leaving behind my kids, grandkids and pets for extended periods.

[Randyk47]

Cruising became a quality of life issue for my wife and I. When we got married in 1998 I took my bride on her first cruise for our honeymoon. Work and other circumstances kept us away from cruising for 5 years. Lots of stuff happened in those 5 years but after 9/11 we decided we needed to make some major changes in our life. By early 2003 we moved from Northern Virginia to San Antonio, TX and late that year we booked the first of what will now be 4 consecutive years of cruises as our major vacation. We both still work and cruising is an excellent vacation mode for us. It takes us to different and interesting places. We meet and make friends with people from all over. We love the ambience and convenience of a cruise. And, recent adjustments notwithstanding, cruising is still one of the best "bang for the buck" vacations out there.

[Celestia]

We cruise for the memories.

As some of you know, I cruise with a gentleman friend who is not my spouse. There is a considerable age difference...many folk assume I am his daughter or granddaughter. I suppose you could say I am the granddaughter he never had.

One day, there will no longer be two of us. My cruising days will be over at that point....even the shortest cruise is beyond my means.

Yet still, the one left behind will have the memories...faraway places explored together, formal dinners, friends made, the turquoise blue of the sea, the magic of sailing.

On another note: our cruises are funded by the income from investments he and his dear departed wife, whom I never had the privilage to know, made so that they could enjoy travel 'later'.

There was no later. There was barely time to say goodbye. He doesn't post here, but I know if he did, he'd have one piece of advice to give:

Don't wait for 'later'. Take advantage of now....it is all you have.

FW&FS,
Celestia

[mechcc]

All of the above. Every cruise is different, every cruise has expectations, every cruise has it's special memorary.

[the2ofus]

[quote=Celestia]

Don't wait for 'later'. Take advantage of now....it is all you have. /quote]

Celestia, that says it all! We were two of the lucky ones. We got the wake-up call early enough that we could build cruising and dancing memories together.

[boomerSexyK]

All of the reasons given have valid points for everyone who has ever stepped aboard a cruise ship. While my DW and I have only one cruise "under our belt", we have a few different reasons for the experience that may be different than others. We were involved in a very serious car accident 4 yrs ago that left me in a wheelchair for any type of distance. My wife has also suffered nagging injuries from the accident. We have always loved to travel and did as much as was possible between work and children. Now that we are both "retired" we have found (in one cruise) that the convenience of "a floating city" has opened up a new world for us. Everything is within a short roll from "here to there:. Obviously, we're not much for rock climbing and swimming with dolphins, so we spoil ourselves with a balcony and our fair share of room service..)). Like the idea of having an occassional cool one at any of a dozen different bars. food when the mood strikes, meeting new friends. We found last year that one of our favourite days was having the concierge make arrangement to rent a Jeep on St. Maarten and just spent the day exploring from the front seat!! Stopping at a little shack serving ice-cold beer, coming over a hill to see the sea spread out before us. What a wonderful way to spend a day ashore. Then it was back to our "hotel", a fantastic meal served by an attentive staff, a few slow martinis and some conversation in the lounge afterwards, saying goodnight to the stars from the balcony, sleeping to the motion of the ocean and waking up someplace else to start all over again. For us a very hassle-free way to get "out and about".

[RuthC]

The telemarketers can't bother me on a ship.

[Slinkiecat]

We cruise because it's the best way we know to see this wonderful world and visit with some very interesting and well-traveled people along the way. Just being with other people who are enjoying the experience while learning about the countries and ports of call is a great joy to me.

Then there is the thrill of each new country as we pull into the port and again as we set foot on the shore. Of course, I love shopping, so no matter how great the shore excursion we book, it has to include an opportunity to buy a souvenir or a piece of needed clothing to remind me forever of that exotic place.

Naturally, the vacation from household duties is welcome, as is getting my hair done every few days for formal night. Who doesn't like being pampered a bit?

Slinkie

[lvs2crooz]

My reason for cruising is it's the most exciting vacation for me. I have more fun anticipating before a cruise then I do with land vacations. The best feeling is boarding the ship on the first day, dropping the bags off in the room and exploring the ship, knowing you have a whole week of bliss ahead of you. I love meeting new people, afternoon bingo, trivia, reading a book on the balcony with the sound of the ship cutting through the ocean and the wind blowing all about. It's fun going to the dining room to see what the menu for the night will be. I love the smiles from the wait staff and room steward when we hand them a tip the first day of the cruise, just because... Massages in the spa, lounging by the pool, exciting ports of call. Also, one stop unpacking is so nice. Cruising makes me feel totally alive and happy happy happy! Mary:D

[Copper10-8]

Because we're hooked! It's an illness and an addiction, really:eek: But we don't want any medicine! ;)