Cruising versus land resorts

Most Italian, French and Spanish ports are industrial working ports. The last time we overnighted in Barcelona it was a nightmare directly opposite the Silo Complex which operates 24/7 and the noise was unbearable. It would be easier to list those ports that are not industrialised definitely not just Livorno and Le Havre.

I’ll politely disagree - Except for docking facilities built specifically for cruise ships in ‘ports’ that are almost exclusively vacation spots which is common on Carribean Islands, again, most docking locations are ‘industrial’ because that is what a port is, where commercial ships load and unload. You’ll find those facilities throughout the world including US port of calls that aren’t designated cruise ship facilities. You can also add most UK ports as being ‘industrial’. But there seems to be a bit of interesting things to see a few steps beyond the docking area.

Sorry you had a noisy area in Barcelona - hope you enjoyed the actual city which I think would be much more interesting than any Caribbean port. But it all depends on what you are cruising for.

Den

Depends on your age, size of group, and what you like to do. Cruises are great fun as a group. The cruise is your main destination. It is an easy way to bring a group together. Great for a diverse group like a multigenerational family event. Where it goes is secondary. However, if you love the beach, like seeing a location in depth, or enjoy eating in a variety of interesting restaurants, stay on land. It may take more research to arrange. When I was younger and more mobile, I loved the beach. My favorite vacation was staying in St. martin at a beach resort or rent a villa that did not include meals. Loved eating dinner at a variety of interesting restaurants. We could be on the beach and not have to get back to a ship before it sailed. We also used to take tours as a group. We went to some fabulous locations and saw many fascinating places. As we have aged and have some mobility issues, we are limited. We now now cruise.

I enjoy land travel as much as cruise travel and do a lot of both. I do NOT like all-inclusives or that type of land resort. I am not a beach person, and can only hang out at the pool for so long. Perhaps if I were more into beach and water sports it would be different, but I find AI's boring for that reason. Prefer a land trip where I can pick a place that has a lot to see and do in the area and then stay awhile, or land trips where I jump town to town with a few days in each to see a lot. Everyone is different.

Cruising wins for me hands down, 100%, no doubt about it. I sail on my own and for many, many reasons

a cruise is the best......the value for money, seeing places I would not choose to fly and just stay in one spot,

enjoying being pampered. Many folks enjoy AI's....... I went to one over 30 years ago....(yes, on my own there too) but part of the cruise experience (for me anyway) is the enjoyment of meeting other people. I know many

folks go to "get away and be by themselves" and that is fine for them......but I love interacting and meeting people

from all over the world.........and in my opinion, that is not an easy thing to do on a land trip This is just my view

on it........I am sure others disagree. But to me, it is just so easy to cruise........unpack once and let the pampering begin:).......15 years and counting.....not sure even if I traveled with someone I would want to do a land trip again.

And about seeing new places, cruising has allowed me to see many places I would have never seen otherwise and I love that part too!:)

I am cruising from Venice to Nice this summer and cannot wait:D

Depends on your age, size of group, and what you like to do. Cruises are great fun as a group. The cruise is your main destination. It is an easy way to bring a group together. Great for a diverse group like a multigenerational family event. Where it goes is secondary. However, if you love the beach, like seeing a location in depth, or enjoy eating in a variety of interesting restaurants, stay on land. It may take more research to arrange. When I was younger and more mobile, I loved the beach. My favorite vacation was staying in St. martin at a beach resort or rent a villa that did not include meals. Loved eating dinner at a variety of interesting restaurants. We could be on the beach and not have to get back to a ship before it sailed. We also used to take tours as a group. We went to some fabulous locations and saw many fascinating places. As we have aged and have some mobility issues, we are limited. We now now cruise.

Many years ago we took our daughter to a time share resort in St. Martin. As with many time shares there was no restaurant on site. We had to walk through the mud and dark to the nearest restaurant. What a bummer. Small pool so all chairs were taken early in the morning.

A few weeks ago we were reminiscing about resorts in the Catskills and the Poconos. I remember coming out of a show at the Mt Airy Lodge at 1 in the morning. There were about a dozen women laying out their towels for the next day. Even if you got to the pool at 6 am not only were the best chairs taken, almost every single one was “reserved”.

On a cruise there are lots of places to go on busy sea days. At a resort you’re limited. The only other way to do a land resort are the five diamond Ritz Carlton suites at $15,000 a week. My daughter loves these resorts. Private pool, Butler, 2/3 bedrooms, private car transfers from the airport.

You’d think that after paying for four years of college and four years of medical school she would bring us along but no way. That’s ok. We enjoy our single wide in the boonies.

You are in for a real taste of England...Lyme Park is where we can walk off our Sunday lunch....Make sure you look at the clock and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ exhibition!

 

If you can ‘wiggle’ your tour at all a visit to Eyam (plague village) is worth a drive through....really not far from Chatsworth....

 

I don’t know what types of hotels you have booked into but in the UK local Pubs/Inns often offer great value for money, quality food and a genuine bump on the head from low beams!

 

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic holiday!

Thanks for Eyam, I'll take a look. I'm looking at different places to say in Bakewell. So far it is Manners Pub in Bakewell. In Hampstead we stay at King William IV pub/hotel.

A short story. Back in 1993 my best friend was getting married outside of Manchester in Prestbury. So we flew over and after the wedding I rented a car and we went to the Lake District then to York. We were driving from LD to York and it was getting dark and my other half said where are we staying. I said I dont know, lets stop at the next pub. I asked the bartender about a room. He got on the phone. They have a room just up the street. After York we drove down to Braintree. We stayed in the wedding couples new place in Braintree.

We’ve only done one AI and that was enough. We enjoyed it fine but it’s not our thing. I prefer real land trips to cruises most of the time (typing this from Kauai). Cruises have their place but nothing compares to really getting to know a place and seeing it in more detail. Cruising is a good introduction to places or just hitting the easy button if you need a no brainer vacation.

Keep in mind that this is a cruise-related bulletin board, so expect some bias in the results.

I like cruises in how you automatically wake up each morning in a different port.

Also keep in mind that cruise lines keep their prices low by paying low wages for very hard work by most of the crew.

As most have said what’s nice about cruising is there is actually more choice, ironic since you’re really trapped on 1,000ft steel structure moving through the water.

For us it isn’t about the ports (especially in the Caribbean) but about choice. If we want to dress and go to the MDR, we can. If we want to eat in the buffet and dress casual we can. Everything is right at your finger tips. I always think service is better on cruises.

Only plus to AI is you might get more privacy.

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Thanks for Eyam, I'll take a look. I'm looking at different places to say in Bakewell. So far it is Manners Pub in Bakewell. In Hampstead we stay at King William IV pub/hotel.

A short story. Back in 1993 my best friend was getting married outside of Manchester in Prestbury. So we flew over and after the wedding I rented a car and we went to the Lake District then to York. We were driving from LD to York and it was getting dark and my other half said where are we staying. I said I dont know, lets stop at the next pub. I asked the bartender about a room. He got on the phone. They have a room just up the street. After York we drove down to Braintree. We stayed in the wedding couples new place in Braintree.

Manners looks a great choice! I haven’t dined or stayed there myself but have friends who celebrated a significant birthday there recently and enjoyed it very much. They described it as having a ‘pub atmosphere but restaurant food’. I can see us making the half hour or so drive to try it over the Summer!

I don’t know what time of year you are traveling but the Peak District is busy most of the year as it appeals to serious (never mind the weather) walkers as well as general tourists so I suggest you book as soon as you have dates sorted. As many of these smaller venues only have a few rooms it can add to the difficulty of getting a booking.

Once again, really hope you enjoy your trip!

While we have never done a all inclusive resort before. We have watched some of the tv show Benidorm. It makes us think resorts might be fun. I'm planning our next cruise now. Fly to London, stay 4 nights in Hampstead. See Patti Lupone in Company in the West End and visit friends. Fly to Barcelona a day before the cruise. 12 night cruise Western Med. After our cruise fly to Manchester, England. Hire a tour guide to take us to Kidsgrove to see where family lived in the 1890's. Then to the Peak District with overnight stay in Bakewell. Next day visit Chatsworth House, Lyme Park, Standage Edge with drop off in Nottingham to visit friends for 3 days. Then fly home from Manchester. In total about 24 days.

Nearly fell off my chair when reading this post! All the locations you're going to and then you mention the small potteries town where I was born and raised - Kidsgrove! Small world or what?

I can think of one example that offers the best of both worlds: Celebrity's Bermuda itinerary. You have the sea days, out and back. But, once you drop anchor at Royal Dockyard, your ship morphs into a floating hotel, for the next three days. You come and go, as you please -- just have to make sure to be back on board for sail-away! We've also had cruises with overnight stays in San Francisco, that were delightful. :cool:

I can think of one example that offers the best of both worlds: Celebrity's Bermuda itinerary. You have the sea days, out and back. But, once you drop anchor at Royal Dockyard, your ship morphs into a floating hotel, for the next three days. You come and go, as you please -- just have to make sure to be back on board for sail-away! We've also had cruises with overnight stays in San Francisco, that were delightful. :cool:

wish there was more ports that we spent over a day at

We have done 2 European land tours using Trafalgar. One was to Italy (Rome/Amalfi Coast/Florence/Venice) and the other to Germany (Munich) and Austria(Innsbruck/Salzburg/Vienna).

I debated another land tour to France but we booked a Celebrity cruise (Barcelona/Mallorca/Messina/Mykonos/Athens/Santorini/Rhodes/Malta).

Our land tours were multiple days in each city (3 in both Rome and Vienna) which allows a decent amount of siteseeing. It also allows you to be in the area during late afternoon when the locals are out. We really loved that aspects of land tours. You also get to eat three meals a day to truely experience the local food.

One aspect of land tours is you travel during the day, but you get to stop on the bus trips at great locations ( we toured the Melk Abbey in Austria during a 1 1/2 hour lunch break as we were driving from Salzburg to Vienna).

There are optional tours on land tours that are pricey plus only 50% of your dinners are included and few lunches included.

I think the itinerary helps make my decision on Cruise versus land tour. Our Celebrity cruise this fall stops in rather small destinations that give one a pretty good flavor of the destination in an 8 hour port stop. The cruise doesn't allow for walking the streets late evening/night as the boat has departed. You also are eating ship food versus the local cuisine. But seeing 7 places on a cruise and traveling at night cemented my cruise decision.

Italy and Rome in particular have too many world class attractions that make land tours desireable over a cruise. Just some things to think about.

We've only done an all inclusive once and that was after many many cruises. We both said 'wow, cruises might be in big trouble' ... we loved the AI so much. Funny thing is, that was about 15 years ago and we've never done another one. I'm really not sure why not ... we enjoyed the heck out of it. We also enjoy cruising a lot! I guess I would be in that 50/50 category ... and maybe need to look into a land based vacation next year now that you've got me thinking about how much we liked it so many years ago.

BTW, if we did book a land based trip, all our friends might think there was something wrong with us. It is just so unlike us!

Done land tours on Globus. Been very happy with them, however, you do need to get up early to "get it all done" by the time you get on the bus around 8-8:30. Sometimes, depending on schedule, you go all day and may get in between 5 and 6pm. Dinner (if included) is shortly after that, so if you enjoy "sitting around the campfire" as I call it, having a few before dinner cocktails, you may find that activity window shortened (we made up for it later!).. Not so on a cruise. You can set your own schedule. That is what is more relaxing about cruising. Land tours have a schedule, and they must stick to it, for good reason. They are showing you the most you can see and experience in a given amount of time. Is there a plus to that? Sure. Land tours go places cruises do not. However, for the ease of schedule, unpacking once, and just going at your own pace, you can't beat a cruise. Plus there is the privacy factor at dinner and other meals of being able to be a "table for 2" if you want. Breakfast is usually as a group on a tour, and sometimes dinner, rarely lunch (usually on your own). Have most enjoyed all my trips, whether they be on my own, on a land tour, or on a cruise. They are just different "animals" and need to be viewed within their own merits. JMO.

Done land tours on Globus. Been very happy with them, however, you do need to get up early to "get it all done" by the time you get on the bus around 8-8:30. Sometimes, depending on schedule, you go all day and may get in between 5 and 6pm. Dinner (if included) is shortly after that, so if you enjoy "sitting around the campfire" as I call it, having a few before dinner cocktails, you may find that activity window shortened (we made up for it later!).. Not so on a cruise. You can set your own schedule. That is what is more relaxing about cruising. Land tours have a schedule, and they must stick to it, for good reason. They are showing you the most you can see and experience in a given amount of time. Is there a plus to that? Sure. Land tours go places cruises do not. However, for the ease of schedule, unpacking once, and just going at your own pace, you can't beat a cruise. Plus there is the privacy factor at dinner and other meals of being able to be a "table for 2" if you want. Breakfast is usually as a group on a tour, and sometimes dinner, rarely lunch (usually on your own). Have most enjoyed all my trips, whether they be on my own, on a land tour, or on a cruise. They are just different "animals" and need to be viewed within their own merits. JMO.

Not all land trips are done by bus tours...shudder.

Not all land trips are done by bus tours...shudder.

I didn't say that...there are group land tours, land trips done on your own, AI resorts....and then cruises.

Have done all four choices.

Each has its own merits, and detractions.

We enjoy both land based trips and cruises. This past February we spent a fabulous 2 weeks onboard Eclipse. Last summer we traveled for 3 weeks on our own by train from Amsterdam to Lake Como. Every other year we will spend 2 weeks at an AI in the Caribbean. A few years ago we drove 8500 miles from the East Coast to the West Coast of the US during a 6 week trip.

Variety is what we enjoy. Each of these trips have pluses and minuses. My only suggestion is to do what you enjoy. It’s your time and your money. Don’t let anyone tell you what you should be doing. Figure it out for yourself and JUST DO IT!! (My apologies to Nike for plagiarizing their tag line)

PS - we will be at an AI in Mexico for a week in July and then 3 weeks aboard Constellation cruising Italy, Greece and the Adriatic in late August and September.

Life Is Good. I forget who’s tag line that one is.

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