Why do you cruise?

Our lives seem so full these days. Work, family, Common Core demands for your kids, community needs, etc., put quite a bit on your plate. When you finally get to take a vacation, what are you looking for? And what about a cruise provides that?

Our lives seem so full these days. Work, family, Common Core demands for your kids, community needs, etc., put quite a bit on your plate. When you finally get to take a vacation, what are you looking for? And what about a cruise provides that?

Well, I have no community needs, don't even know what "Common Core demands for your kids" means (and I don't have kids), work is quite flexible, with 5 official vacation-weeks / year plus time-off as lieu-time if I need a day or two of PTO.... so not sure what your life experience is, or what you might find appealing about a cruise.

But to answer the actual question you asked:

"What am I looking for? and what about a cruise provides that?

I'm looking for fun, and the travel, relaxation and entertainment of a cruise provide that.

.

I travelled for 26 years while on active duty with the Air Force, and then spent another 19 years in uniform teaching Air Force JROTC in a inner city school in South Bend, Indiana. During that time, I travelled quite extensively, bought and sold 17 homes not including the one I'm in now, and pretty much was told when and where to be and what to do.

On my first cruise in 1995, the only thing I had to do was get on the ship, get off the ship, and be at dinner at 8:00 PM ships time. That was pretty easy, and today, most lines have some sort Freestyle dinner schedule to eat anytime. Now that my wife and I are retired permanently I travel when and where I want, often taking my kids and their kids, and even my wife's ex-in-laws. If I'm not at sea, I could be home in the pool, but more likely on the road in our RV visiting friends from my military days.

So my answer to your question is simple, I experience freedom to live and enjoy the people I love. Cruising is just another venue in which I am able to do that.;)

Right now? Probably warmth since I work in a freezing office even with temperatures are low outside right now in NYC. Nothing like seating on the beach / sundeck and warming up or swimming in the ocean / pool and the water motions are massaging and decompressing the stress and pain away. I try to put at least 2 days of swimming in my cruise plan; I know the Breakaway's swim pool layout is crappy but the ports stop make up for it (weather permitting).

Really don't care about food as long as there's different places to choose from to eat at during breakfast, lunch and dinner times. And if possible, the places are open during off-peak times like 1:30pm or 9pm, since I'm a late eater and don't like waiting. Hopefully the cruise has good entertainment in the evening time, which the Breakaway does, so that not a problem.

We enjoy getting on board and unpacking for the whole trip, but being able to go to different locations and not having to pack and unpack. Not having to drive to get to a restaurant or club and having to worry about getting back.

I love the relaxation of a cruise and meeting people from all over the world.

And being "unplugged". :p

We cruise for many reasons. One is to sample places to see where we might want to go for a vacation.

Escaping all that you mentioned. I send out an email to all family and responsibilities, that we will be out of touch for...however many days the cruise is. No will be way to get in touch with us. If someone dies, whatever happens, it will wait until after the cruise. The great escape!

For me it's an adventure. I LOVE the sea. We have traveled a bit including living overseas (not military, though). Land travel is great, too, because we find a place with public transportation nearby and many places we can walk to. I never even cruised until I retired 4 years ago (English teacher so I may know what Core Demands are although labeled differently here), and that was ONLY because of the NCL freestyle. It works for me. We tried CCL a year ago. It was all right but not planning another with them. I want to try some other lines, but especially some other locations. Living in Florida, Caribbean cruises are so accessible, but we don't care about traveling to hot, humid, sandy locations because we live in one. We're jumping on Epic this weekend and don't plan to get off until back in Miami. But, when we travel to Barcelona and the Mediterranean in April, we will explore every port. We'll also enjoy the sea days even though we don't drink much and gamble even less. It will be a wonderful adventure.

posted from my N7 FHD via Tapatalk

That's an easy answer for us. We love to cruise for the lack of responsibility! Maybe this is a selfish answer but it is the one time every couple of years I am really off duty.

Someone else is responsible for getting from point a to point b. Someone else is responsible for cooking, clearing the table and washing the dishes. Someone else makes sure we have a variety of things to do all day long. I also like that the TV choices are limited and I refuse to buy internet access so I can't check email and I do not turn on my blackberry once we pull out of Miami.

I somehow end up being the planner and tour guide for any land based vacations whether traveling with friends or family. On cruises I am not in charge. Everyone can do their own thing or do things together, we don't need a group decision on where to go today, what time to eat and on and on and on.

We cruise because it's such a great deal for what you get. You get housing, unlimited meal, entertainment, relaxation, and going to beautiful destinations. Doing all this any other way gets extremely expensive.

Plus they're just fun! Being out at sea, seeing all the people, tons of things to do, and more. I love them, and have been on many (as you can see from my signature). I think it's the best way to vacation. I'm addicted. :)

No chance of getting a DUI.

It's the only time I can get away with my secretary.

It's the only time I can get away with my secretary.

I hope that secretary is your spouse; if not, well that would be a very interesting soap opera....

No chance of getting a DUI.

But still have to find your room, and if you wake up in a room that's not yours - Well,that would be a interesting story, to say the least.......

But still have to find your room, and if you wake up in a room that's not yours - Well,that would be a interesting story, to say the least.......

No problem, I wouldn't remember everything anyway.:o

I like how carefree cruising is. It's nice to be able to eat in a restaurant, see a show, go to a casino, go to a spa, hang out by the pool and do anything we want to do all in one place. I like for my cruises to be as all-inclusive as possible as far as what is onboard - so I tend to buy the drinks package and also the restaurant packages if they have them. Then, I also enjoy the various ports. We've done the Med twice so far, and it has been incredibly helpful in determining where we would like to go for a land vacation, but there is still more cruising to do over there! We also enjoy the Caribbean and Alaska. Some time soon we want to do a Galapagos cruise. Then there is the South Pacific and the Orient. So many amazing places to go! I just think we are all really lucky to live in a time where normal people can travel the world in this luxurious way.

Buffet...

No house work, cooking and everything is done for you. What's not to like on a cruise?

I like getting away from work and my family.

Hmmmm...why do I cruise?....Well, because I can!!

I was a pirate in a past life and I love the sea....

AAAAARRRRRGGGGG!!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

More interesting than a beach vacation at a single resort, and a lot less logistics planning than trying to do a tour on your own. Plus most all inclusives on land kinda suck.

Basically a cruise is a chance to get away somewhere warm and not have to deal with all the details.

Because I can't travel for $34 per day including all meals and snacks with entertainment on land......

I cruise for various reasons. I normally cruise in Feb. It is a week to get away from winter, celebrate my birthday, get away from everyone, and slow season for work. Did I mention getting away from cold, snow filled nightmare? :p

It's great to be able to go to a variety of places and only have to unpack once! :D

LuLu