Why do some only take cruise vacations???`

[finsupcruiser]

We cruise because we enjoy cruising. We usually cruise in spring and fall.

 

After returning from our Miracle we decided to book a land vacation to Aruba(our favorite island). Beautiful water and sand. Great casinos

 

We booked 7 nights at Radisson with lunch/breakfast included for less than 7 nights on Liberty in May.

 

Airfare is little more(not by much) than flying to Miami

[AnitaVacation]

I think I would get bored on an AI....

 

My friend and her family do the AI in places like Punta Cana (?)...but then she tells me 'it's great, but don't leave the compound' ....so, what is there to do on an AI besides drink and lay around by the pool and eat?? Is there entertainment?? What else??

 

I love a relaxing afternoon of sitting on my balcony, watching the ocean, looking for dolphins (or other swimmy things)...

 

This is a typical cruise day for us....(sea day)

 

wake up around 7-730ish....have coffee delivered via room service, look over the daily schedule of events to see if there is something we want to do...check the tv for the dinner menu...

 

around 9am-ish...get some breakfast (eggs benedict!!)

 

take a stroll around the ship

 

back to the cabin and chill for a bit....shower, whirlpool (if), movie maybe, lay out in the sun (if)....

 

Lunch around 2-230 ish

 

Sun time....hopefully on my balcony, if not, we will seek out a nice quiet area...read, drink, listen to music, whatever....

 

5pm...COCKTAIL HOUR!! Time to get our 'buzz' on ;) (liquor ordered from BonVoyage, mixers carried on by us)

 

Depending on what's on the schedule, the remainder of the evening includes drinks, dinner, show(s) and casino...

 

We did this for 8 days on the Miracle.....I never felt so relaxed...:D

[scooterpopsnana]

Something interesting I learned during last 4 months as I took 2 cruises on Carnival. One 8 nighter in June and one 2 nighter recently. I only took 2 nighter cause I had to use a $250 cruise credit or lose it.....I had a fantastic time on each.

 

....Over last maybe 7 years I have: cruised, disney, all inclusive cancun, antigua rented condo and car and on my own, ski vaca, great camping trip......

 

I always go on boards to whichever vacation I am planning cause you guys are so helpful and i appreciate it....

 

......But....unless, say, you live right near a florida port and get those killer deals, why do you only cruise.....or why do some people only do disney.....or only do all inclusives...

 

....I really feel I would be missing something if I only spent my hard earned money on cruises......

 

.....look forward to my next cruise by my next two trips won't be on a ship....variety is the spice of life.....

 

So.....why do you only cruise?

 

Live in NC, three hours from Myrtle Beach, four from Hilton Head, four from the beautiful Blue Ridgeway Parkway. My DH is over operations for a detention center. He literally gets phone calls 24/7. (Was at a concert once for his birthday with third row center seats and the security found him for a phone call.) We cruise because they won't pay the price of a phone call to the ship as most of his calls last a long time. It is wonderful to eat a meal with no interruptions.

[Waihekean]

Ahhhhh cruising......is there any vacation more fun!?!:D Cruising....where 99.99% of the ships passengers are always smiling and in a great mood!!!:D

 

So agree and nothing beats all those smiling people and the exitement.... of 'sail away". Especially out of one of the spectacular harbours.

Plus exploring the ship, never had that with a hotel.;)

[emmysmommy]

There's just not another feeling like sitting on your balcony and hearing the ship's engines purr and the swishing of the waves. :D

 

 

However, as much as I love cruising I don't have enough time or $ to do it as often as I would like since we also do Disney World and Vegas once or twice a year each. For WDW, even though we have annual passes to both FL and CA it is still an expensive vacation destination when you include on-site hotels (we stay in the DVC villas), food, airfar, etc... cruising then becomes a much better value.

 

 

This was a great question and I enjoy reading others' responses!

[CRUISE4JANE]

[quote name='jobell']We used to only ever do land vacations as we never got the nerve or felt comfortable being on a ship (would we like it? could we afford it?). We decided to take a cruise last year after my sister and bil took theirs and were telling us all about it. We booked the Dream as our first cruise and absolutely fell in love with both the ship and cruising. For us it is now about the biggest bang for our buck and right now, that is with cruising.

We recently priced out a 5d/4n air/hotel trip to Vegas as it's a destination we've always wanted to get to. It was equal to a 7 night cruise with airfare.

Will we go back to land vacations? Yes, at some point but for now cruising is just more affordable for us and how many vacations can you take where pretty much everything on board is included, you get to see 3 - 5 countries in a week and you don't have to drive for 7 days?!!? ;)[/QUOTE]

I still can't see how a cruise is cheaper than a vacation. I seem to spend more on a cruise than on a land vacation. :confused: I do read on these boards how some people take 3 and 4 cruises a year and I personally can't see it. I would have to alternate with a land vacation. :)

[BubMunkeyBles]

I like cruising because I get to see more than one place. It's definitely an appealing way to travel. That said, its not as cost effective with our two kids who are under the age of 3. We do Disney a lot because they are free there. We just pay hotel and since DH is military we get great rates. The kids tickets are free, the entertainment is easy, they are allowed to eat off our plates so we're not paying extra in food.

We also have traveled through Europe with them (my DH was stationed in Italy so it made sense to travel). We're budget travelers anyways. We never book a hotel that costs more than 100EU/night, we often would book condos through home away sites too. Way too much of the world to see to limit ourselves to cruises (personally at least, not everything is connected to water).

We're moving to Alaska next year and I have a feeling our traveling will dwindle due to expenses.

[Kaseybear16]

Growing up my family went to Florida every year for our big vacation because our grandparents retired down there. So we got to see all the amusement parks many times over. I always wanted to go on a cruise and my aunt and grandmother tried to talk my mom into going and doing a girls cruise along with my cousin but my mom was too chicken! My husband and I got married 2 years ago and when we researched where to go on our honeymoon we compared a cruise with an all inclusive resort and the cruise was just such a good value. We had a blast and are really excited to go on our 2nd cruise in a month!

My husband really wants to do a land based vacation next so I told him the next big vacation we do we'll do what he wants. I had the opportunity to go to Peru last year for 11 days, my job sent me all expenses paid, and had an amazing time! You get to see so much more and really experience the culture when you stay for a long period. Plus you don't have the stress of getting back to the boat in time.

I want to go everywhere (well almost!) so a cruise is great because you have the opportunity to see more than one place. We don't drink alot or gamble so our S&S account is typically pretty small (tips plus less than $100 in misc charges). Cruising is such a good value! We aren't rich so we feel we get the most out of a cruise.

[KatMo]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][SIZE="3"]Land vacation vs Cruise --- the simple answer for us is that when we have been on a land vacation, my husband's cell phone is constantly ringing -- the office, customers, kids......for whatever reason, if we are on a cruise the day we leave port his cell phone goes OFF and in the safe until we return to port in 5 or 7 days. It is the only type of vacation we have ever taken where the husband totally disconnects.

When we first started cruising, the cell phone wouldn't even work or get a connection once we were out of the harbor (maybe he thinks it is still like that and I'm not going to tell him that it would work while out to sea now) :rolleyes: We don't cruise for the ports of call, the ship is the destination for us and it's all about being pampered, relaxing, having adult beverages and no worries about having to drive anywhere. We do drive to the port, so no air fare. A cruise is really the best bang for the buck for us...and the only decision we have to make is what to eat![/SIZE][/FONT]

[Upandadam]

[quote name='valtandc']Something interesting I learned during last 4 months as I took 2 cruises on Carnival. One 8 nighter in June and one 2 nighter recently. I only took 2 nighter cause I had to use a $250 cruise credit or lose it.....I had a fantastic time on each.

....Over last maybe 7 years I have: cruised, disney, all inclusive cancun, antigua rented condo and car and on my own, ski vaca, great camping trip......

I always go on boards to whichever vacation I am planning cause you guys are so helpful and i appreciate it....

......But....unless, say, you live right near a florida port and get those killer deals, why do you only cruise.....or why do some people only do disney.....or only do all inclusives...

....I really feel I would be missing something if I only spent my hard earned money on cruises......

.....look forward to my next cruise by my next two trips won't be on a ship....variety is the spice of life.....

So.....why do you only cruise?[/quote]

It all depends on what you consider vacationing. We take several long weekend trips to the Oregon Coast or in the summer hopping on the bike for some touring.

As far as major vacations of a week or longer, we try to get in at least two cruises a year plus one land based vacation be it an all-inclusive in the Caribbean or a couple weeks in Maui.

The reason that cruising takes up most of our vacation time is due to the varried experiences it can offer. Relaxation, partying, playing in the water, sight-seeing, on and on. Land based vacations typically don't offer the variety, plain and simple.

[stargate fan]

[quote name='valtandc']Something interesting I learned during last 4 months as I took 2 cruises on Carnival. One 8 nighter in June and one 2 nighter recently. I only took 2 nighter cause I had to use a $250 cruise credit or lose it.....I had a fantastic time on each.

....Over last maybe 7 years I have: cruised, disney, all inclusive cancun, antigua rented condo and car and on my own, ski vaca, great camping trip......

I always go on boards to whichever vacation I am planning cause you guys are so helpful and i appreciate it....

......But....unless, say, you live right near a florida port and get those killer deals, why do you only cruise.....or why do some people only do disney.....or only do all inclusives...

....I really feel I would be missing something if I only spent my hard earned money on cruises......

.....look forward to my next cruise by my next two trips won't be on a ship....variety is the spice of life.....

So.....why do you only cruise?[/QUOTE]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Good question.

We have to fly to any kind of warm, tropical place, but we prefer cruising because we have adult ADHD. ;) We went to an AI for four days once. After a couple of those days, we were bored to tears. Two years ago, we went to Maine for three days. Same thing-by the third day we were so ready to go home.

We love cruising because it gives us the best of both worlds. When we need a relaxing day, we sit by the pool. If we start to get bored, we remember that we have a port day coming up. After running around, exhausting ourselves, we relish in the thought of our next sea day and sitting by the pool, etc.

Cruising is the best way to go for us.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]