Hotel versus cruise

After 15 cruises and a really nice week in a hotel last week, I thought I would try to compare a cruise holiday with a hotel holiday.

One thing we noticed last week was how much money we spent on eating out at lunch-time, whereas on a cruise we would have lunch free on the ship :D

Another thing is that on a ship almost everyone smiles back at you when you smile at them or wish them good morning/afternoon :D

Obviously, it's nice to wake up every morning to a new place, but it can be quite exhausting on a cruise, whereas it was very relaxing, just getting up and chilling :)

Meal times are more fixed in hotels as opposed to some cruises where there is food all day, although this doesn't apply to all cruise lines - eg Fred Olsen and Celebrity have more fixed meal times like hotels :(

Any other ideas?

After 15 cruises and a really nice week in a hotel last week, I thought I would try to compare a cruise holiday with a hotel holiday.

 

One thing we noticed last week was how much money we spent on eating out at lunch-time, whereas on a cruise we would have lunch free on the ship :D

 

Another thing is that on a ship almost everyone smiles back at you when you smile at them or wish them good morning/afternoon :D

 

Obviously, it's nice to wake up every morning to a new place, but it can be quite exhausting on a cruise, whereas it was very relaxing, just getting up and chilling :)

 

Meal times are more fixed in hotels as opposed to some cruises where there is food all day, although this doesn't apply to all cruise lines - eg Fred Olsen and Celebrity have more fixed meal times like hotels :(

 

Any other ideas?

Ships move about a lot in a storm whereas hotels stay still.

You have more chance of getting a sun bed round the pool in a hotel.

Do a cruise and stay or stay and cruise and get the best of both worlds! :D:)

Ships move about a lot in a storm whereas hotels stay still.

 

You have more chance of getting a sun bed round the pool in a hotel.

 

Do a cruise and stay or stay and cruise and get the best of both worlds! :D:)

After 15 cruises and a really nice week in a hotel last week, I thought I would try to compare a cruise holiday with a hotel holiday.

 

One thing we noticed last week was how much money we spent on eating out at lunch-time, whereas on a cruise we would have lunch free on the ship :D

 

Another thing is that on a ship almost everyone smiles back at you when you smile at them or wish them good morning/afternoon :D

 

Obviously, it's nice to wake up every morning to a new place, but it can be quite exhausting on a cruise, whereas it was very relaxing, just getting up and chilling :)

 

Meal times are more fixed in hotels as opposed to some cruises where there is food all day, although this doesn't apply to all cruise lines - eg Fred Olsen and Celebrity have more fixed meal times like hotels :(

 

Any other ideas?

Well

I can compare in a couple of weeks

Always enjoy my Luxury in hotel holidays

First cruise so hoping this will exceed my expectations and become a Cool Cruiser lol:D:D

Well

I can compare in a couple of weeks

Always enjoy my Luxury in hotel holidays

First cruise so hoping this will exceed my expectations and become a Cool Cruiser lol:D:D

I love my hotel holidays. Nice bath after a hot day. Balcony seat before evening meal. Wander away from the hotel to see new bars.

But then the cruise... smiles, new sights each day, the food the entertainment and best of all not far to go at the end of the night when your bed calls your name. I do love my holidays. Now a cruise and stay or a stay and cruise? Which way round is best?

This is an interesting thread. I wasn't sure whether I would like cruising but we both love it and are doing the 21 day one next year with 8 sea days.

I do, however, enjoy a variety of holidays and this year will do a city break and apartment holiday, both of which we really enjoy. I can't see us cruising for every holiday and I am not as committed as most on here. I sometimes wish I could go out at night when I am on the ship and would enjoy more overnight stops.

I think that cruise and stay holidays may feature a lot for us in the future. For me, the best of both worlds, but I am not sure that I would want to leave the ship to go to a hotel.

For me the best thing about a land holiday is eating somewhere different at night and relaxing more during the day.

I think all holiday types are good. What's not to like?

Me too, Little Nell - we like a variety of holidays including cruises, city breaks, caravan & cottage holidays, hotels & canal boats - love them all ......just not enough annual leave or pennies to do more ......

We did a cruise & stay but I think if I did it again, it would have to be the other way round; stay first then cruise - it was a bit flat going to a hotel after the cruise ;)

I love my hotel holidays. Nice bath after a hot day. Balcony seat before evening meal. Wander away from the hotel to see new bars.

But then the cruise... smiles, new sights each day, the food the entertainment and best of all not far to go at the end of the night when your bed calls your name. I do love my holidays. Now a cruise and stay or a stay and cruise? Which way round is best?

We have done cruise and stay and also stay and cruise. I prefer to cruise first as it can be quite tiring and it is nice to relax the second week. But I know lots like to do it the other way round :) Just a matter of choice :)

I'm sure you will love it Wddeni. Celebration was our first cruise and got us hooked :) Cruise number 16 coming up in September :D

Our 1st cruise was also on Celebration, not been in a hotel since. We are also looking to book for somewhere in September.

We have done cruise and stay and also stay and cruise. I prefer to cruise first as it can be quite tiring and it is nice to relax the second week. But I know lots like to do it the other way round :) Just a matter of choice :)

Me too, Linda, but it would depend on the itinerary and dates too.

Yes an interesting and thought-provoking thread Linda. Good to get a range of opinions on this.

I can agree with everything which has been said - and can see too that different holidays and a mix can suit different people at different times. When we were both working we valued being able to 'crash' every holiday as it was such a contrast to our normal working lives - and we needed that both physically and emotionally. Somewhere relaxing and comfortable where we could settle suited us well.

Now we have more time and a less pressured existence the variety of visiting different places is a big attraction although we have enjoyed quite a few city breaks in such as Barcelona, Prague, Paris etc when having more time to explore has been a bonus and rewarding.

I must say the entertainmnet which we enjoy has on the whole been far superior on board than in hotels (or at least the ones we've been to) although our expectations in hotels hasn't been so high and we have in the main enjoyed what was provided.

My B-i-L has just returned from a holiday in Italy at a hotel near Pisa from where they were able to visit Florence (they went there twice because they had more to see - nice to have the choice), Pisa, Lucca etc. (also the Cinque Terre is close enough to get to) and for the first time in quite a while I really did want to do a similar hotel stop. I think it made me think that if we do hotel breaks in future it would work best for us if we can radiate out and potentially have lots of different 'destinations' much like a cruise but with the benefits of your 'hotel' not floating off each evening! That allows you to have some of the benefits of a 'stay' holiday mixed in with the cruise.

I think Little Nell's comment about over-nights is a good one. More itineraries with a two-day stop (at selected destinations worthy of more than one day) would be very tempting I think as it gives you the chance to sample the night-life, go off for an evening meal to local restaurants and soak up more of the flavour of the port of call. We've done this a couple of times at Havana and Istanbul and both were very especially memorable because of the evening element.

Kruzseeka, your BiL has done what would be my and DH's perfect holiday :)

Definitely one for the future for us ;)

We did have some good entertainment at the hotel. Two nights we had a travelling Thomson Entertainment team that visited different hotels, a very good local group who played rock songs and also Graham Powell (singer and comedian) But two naff nights too :eek::eek:

Linda glad you had a lovely week at Majorca :)

This is interesting I think it could go on forever :D

Most of our travels have been hotels and apartments abroad.. or flying then touring by coach (living out of suitcases but it's been worth it and have been to some amazing places) and caravans and apartments here. Cruising is new to us.

Have noticed our Tropical Treasures cruise next year with all the food doesn't cost much more than a week in Barbados room only. And we get to see 6 islands too :D

Next month we will be taking the grand-children to Spain for a week which is partly why we're doing only 1 week in the Caribbean not 2 (would have loved 2 weeks)

Love a nice large AI hotel in September in Turkey,plenty of sunbeds 3 pools (warm )and on the beach :)

Love being on a cruise and waking up to a different port everyday :)

don't like the days at sea and the sunbed scramble :mad:

cannot beat the entertainment on Thomson cruises :D

also we always feel secure when on board :cool:

No trees were killed in the making of this post... however, a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced :)

Stevie

Stevie, we never fancied Turkey until we went there on our cruise last year and were quite taken by it.

Can you recommend a good hotel in a nice resort?

We love cruising while we are there but in 2weeks it's very tiring so we don't cruise every year we do like hotel holidays for all the reasons others have said ,we do all in in Cyprus for a week in Oct with the family which is great and 1week in Lanzarote in May in an apartment which we again enjoy and we have 2weeks at different places usually somewhere in the med but sometimes I say we should have done a cruise again have never done a cruise and stay but we have thought about now we are back off Majesty ,we both said we would have loved to do a week in Corfu instead of coming home so something to look at ,so for different reasons enjoy both :)

We have just returned from a week at the Princess resort in La Palma. It was good and nice to just chill for a week and do absolutely nothing. We go on a cruise in two weeks and there will be three main differences; the food will be better, we will wake up somewhere different everyday and we will have to tolerate the cruise cretins who book their sunbed and then disappear for hours. The cruise experience still wins for us in spite of the minority of self centred people.:mad:

also we always feel secure when on board

 

Stevie

My friend who is 74 and a widow goes on cruises (Saga) on her own. She is picked up in a car from her home in Buckinghamshire and taken to Southampton, she uses ship's tours and is brought back home in a car. She says she feel very safe and would never consider going on her own to a hotel.

We enjoy both hotels and, up to now our first soon to be second, cruise.

We would always have hotel breaks between cruises. We far preferred the entertainement on the cruise and loved being in a different port each day but did find the cruise sea day less interesting than a hotel stay where we could walk out and about so wouldn´t want a cruise with several days at sea.

This time we are having some time in Palma before the cruise for a city break, then a week in a A.I. hotel at Palma Nova afterwards - hopefully the best of both worlds.

Stevie, we never fancied Turkey until we went there on our cruise last year and were quite taken by it.

 

Can you recommend a good hotel in a nice resort?

Bitez near Bodrum is really nice Little Nell; we have always had apartments there as there are so many lovely places to eat out - the resort itself is not too big & very friendly, it's easy to hop on a Dolmus to get to Bodrum & loads of other places on the peninsular too. We used to spend a few days out on Gulet trips; we got to know a lovely Captain who took us out on his gulet sailing round some beautiful bays & stopping to dive & swim in the water. We also used to be a taxi to a most beautiful beach & bay where not many people went - I was heaven!

I would certainly recommend apartment or villa in Turkey as you get to try so many lovely restaurants rather than being tied to one hotel!

Bitez near Bodrum is really nice Little Nell; we have always had apartments there as there are so many lovely places to eat out - the resort itself is not too big & very friendly, it's easy to hop on a Dolmus to get to Bodrum & loads of other places on the peninsular too. We used to spend a few days out on Gulet trips; we got to know a lovely Captain who took us out on his gulet sailing round some beautiful bays & stopping to dive & swim in the water. We also used to be a taxi to a most beautiful beach & bay where not many people went - I was heaven!

 

I would certainly recommend apartment or villa in Turkey as you get to try so many lovely restaurants rather than being tied to one hotel!

That sounds brilliant, Julie. We much prefer apartments :)

We usually Do the 'Stay' before the cruise but to be honest we always find it difficult as you don't really want to unpack the whole suitcase and the three days go very quickly.

This year we are trying 'Cruise and Stay' and will stay in a Hotel for a 'whole' week. We are hoping it will be more relaxing.

My next question, as I know a lot of us need to watch the 'budgets.

Would you upgrade on the cruise ship and stay in a cheaper hotel (This is what we are doing this time) or stay in an inside cabin on the ship and splash out on a more glitzy hotel ? (cash allowing).

I find it more relaxing in a Hotel but there is nothing nicer than waking up in a new Port each day.

The only thing putting me off Cruising at the moment is the dreaded Norovirus. If it doesn't get sorted out soon I think a lot of people will be put off cruising. We have friends who wont cruise for this reason.

We usually Do the 'Stay' before the cruise but to be honest we always find it difficult as you don't really want to unpack the whole suitcase and the three days go very quickly.

This year we are trying 'Cruise and Stay' and will stay in a Hotel for a 'whole' week. We are hoping it will be more relaxing.

My next question, as I know a lot of us need to watch the 'budgets.

Would you upgrade on the cruise ship and stay in a cheaper hotel (This is what we are doing this time) or stay in an inside cabin on the ship and splash out on a more glitzy hotel ? (cash allowing).

I find it more relaxing in a Hotel but there is nothing nicer than waking up in a new Port each day.

The only thing putting me off Cruising at the moment is the dreaded Norovirus. If it doesn't get sorted out soon I think a lot of people will be put off cruising. We have friends who wont cruise for this reason.

I will be honest, Tizzy, the NV is causing me some concern. I am claustrophobic and would probably suffer more than most from being confined to the cabin for 48 hours. My friend, who recently returned from a cruise where her husband caught it, was crying because she found it awful and she doesn't suffer from claustrophobia and is not the sort to cry easily.

I don't want to turn this thread into another NV thread as there has been plenty of discussion of it on other threads, but I do feel in this instance it is relevant to the topic. At least in a hotel you could open your window and get some fresh air.