Why do YOU cruise?

[narrow56]

I cruise because I love being able to visit multiple places in a week for an affordable price!

[luckycruzer]

and because I can..close to # 76!!!

[wmowan8485]

I love the motion on the ocean and the beautiful sunrise, sunsets and moonlit nights. There just isn't a more relaxing vacation. I live and work in NYC and I cruise to destress.. Need one every 3 months lol!

[Jeffro1972]

I have read quite a few threads where a person comments, or heaven forbid, complains about something on his/her cruise and many a poster here comes on and says well...I don't cruise for:

the ports

the food

the music

the drinks of the day

the dining rooms

the activities

the people

the bars.

Most of those folk state they cruise for the sea, like they are sprites or merfolk or something. I was just wondering if you are one of those why would you not buy a boat? Last I heard the sea lets everyone on. If you are not one of those folk, why do you cruise?

I cruise for the ports,the food, the music, the DOD'S, the dining rooms, the activities, the people, the bars, and most importantly for the sea :D.

 

I cruise because of the sea. :) I feel so at peace w/ myself and the world when I'm at sea. That's why I was in the Navy. But I also just like getting away, and seeing the different ports.

[elleusion]

Skipped everyone elses answers this time(will read them later) but for me I cruise because of what you get for what you pay. It's an all inclusive floating hotel (upscale if you ask me). We have stayed in what I would consider very high scale resorts ( Arizona, San Fran, Seattle, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire) Yet nothing has ever compaired to even our worst experiences on any of our cruises. We have yet to do any "all inclusives" reasons being every time I go to book one the prices are so high, being from Maine and flying. Secondly, I don't know how we would ever handle being "stuck" in one place at one time for a week. We cruise for the best bang for our buck!!!

L

p.s. The service is excellent, views are great, atmosphere awesome , food (Hey I don't have to cook or do dishes).

[pascalburns]

just because ------------------ I can:):)

[klct39lg]

Sea days are my favorite. Being on a ship surrounded by water, out on deck looking at the ocean hoping to see dolphins. I am outside all day on sea days reading, listening to music on my iPod, walking around the outer decks. Then get cleaned up for dinner and drinks and an evening of comedy and music. The movement and creaking of the ship when falling asleep. Sigh.

[espin]

We cruise because we love the ships, the value of the vacation and we get to see many places in one vacation . We took our first cruise in 2009 and have been to 9 different islands over 3 cruises and have number 4 planned and will go to 2 more we have never been too!

[Romey050500]

I cruise to get away from my cell phone and laptop.

[SCDreamWeaver]

I second to get away from the phone and laptop..........if they every start having cell phone towers in the ocean i'll have to find something else to vacation on.....LOL. Nothing better than putting the cell phone in the safe and just relaxing with the waves rolling by on the balcony deck......

jeff

[rudechuck]

When we do land based vacations, I am the researcher, the navigator and the chauffeur, the tour guide and the translator all-in-one. Everybody looks to me to plan out our schedule, figure out where we're going to go, what we're going to do, and where we're going to eat.

 

On a cruise, I don't have to do any of that. :D

[RMcoolX]

The bargain

The scenery

The whole on-board experience

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Should I start my 1000 page novel now?

[funinthesun1964]

I cruise to get away from my cell phone and laptop.

 

My thoughts exactly. Plus total relaxation, whether that be out on deck in the sun, or doing an excursion, whatever - its just not home worrying about something! Oh and the DOD's and martinis certainly don't hurt ;)

[goblue85]

I cruise because I can!!!!

 

And I'd do it more often if I could...

 

I like to drink, and I like to eat... I've found both quite easy onboard. Also do not mind the service I receive at all. Also love the beach (which these boats seem to navigate to)

[ferretface]

We like to cruise to see different places and be active. If we want to truly chill with total relaxation we'll go to an All inclusive. If we want to be active but just chill in one area, we'll pick an island that we've cruised to and really liked.

 

We don't narrow out choices down to much, there's too many incredible places to go. I haven't come close to seeing all the land places I want to see here in the U.S. much less over the pond. But we're land locked and experience extreme winters. Therefore, most of our current vacations take place in tropical locales during our worst weather.

[txmom11]

We started cruising so DH could get away from his umbilical cord to work, aka cell phone. We fell in love with it. Now, we also cruise so I can get away from work emails, texts, and calls.

 

Come on Saturday!!!

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Because of my job. I work in IT, where there's an unwritten expectation to be reachable at all times outside of work. I can miss a call or two, but it becomes a habit, it doesn't reflect well on me. That's true even on vacation. So I go where my employer can't reach me. It's the reason why I took up cruising in the first place. When I did it for the first time, it was the most relaxing vacation in my whole life. I'm in the process of researching a career change, but that's beside the point.

 

The other reason is less mundane. I cruise for the atmosphere, and I don't mean the clean air at sea, although that's nice too. A cruise has an atmosphere that can be imitated, but can't be duplicated anywhere else. Just something about being on a ship. It's hard to explain. But I'm sure most cruisers will know what I'm talking about.

[sail2sea]

I cruise for the ship. They are engineering marvels. The Caribbean and Bahamas ports are boring and mostly similar.

[keith75]

Drinks, casino, balcony, and all the beautiful..........

[KatPem]

I cruise because I love to see different places without spending a fortune. I love the food. We camp, I enjoy it but it is a lot of work. Even on land based vacations, we have to be tight with our money for food...budgeting, especially for 6 can be nerve-racking, as well as extra things the kids are interested. I have not been to an all-inclusive but I love the idea of seeing a variety of places that the cruise offers. AND, I LOVE that for a week, I don't have to cook and clean!!! Even camping or renting a house for the week, you have to do that!

[T. Advisor King]

I think it is a bit of an odd question to ask why people who like cruise vacations don’t buy their own boat. The cost of boat ownership is enormous and the skill and effort required to said and maintain a boat is significant. There is no way you can compare someone who takes a lot of cruises (e.g., 3 per year) to someone who owns his or her own boat. It really is two very different lifestyles.

In terms of the OP's list, here is what is relevant to me:

the ports - important

the food – not particularly important

the music – uh, what music?

the drinks of the day – I try to avoid the money traps

the dining rooms – not much of a fan, but I’ve paid, so I might as well go

the activities – my favourite on-board activity is lying in the sun

the people – not unless you mean my family

the bars – I’d have to think about whether I’ve ever actually been in a bar on a ship for more than a minute to look.

If I was making that type of list, I would have included:

- the sun - although people who live in the south don't necessarily see warm weather as being the most significant benefit of any vacation

- the ocean - I do agree with those who think there is something cool and relaxing about being on the ocean.

I also find it funny to see people say that they sail on cruise ships to avoid cooking and cleaning. That would be a good answer if the question was why do you take a hotel or cruise type vacation (as opposed to, say camping or renting). But it really provides no explanation why that person would choose a cruise vacation in particular.

Personally, I don't care that much. I don't get to cook much at home and am more than happy to took a few dinners a week when we rent a condo. And it is pretty convenient to be able to eat breakfast without having to either "plan" (decide the night before what time you're going to wake up and be hungry) or go out to eat, even if that means just getting dressed and going to the buffet.

I enjoy cruises as an element of variety to my vacations. It is not necessarily my preferred form of vacation. As a previous poster mentioned, it is one form, sometimes better, sometimes not. Perhaps if they weren't so expensive (flight, transit hotels, transfers, cruise fare), I might do it a little more often. But as it is, I'll only spend that much money on a cruise vacation as long as the novelty doesn't wear off

I like my vacations to be a combination of adventure and relaxation. When I want a vacation where I don’t want to have to try too hard and I don’t really want to be challenged in any significant way, then a cruise is a good fit. But I only like to be that lazy occasionally. And, of course, a Mediterranean cruise where the point is to be off the ship and visiting places of cultural or historical significance is a completely different situation.

[Anyislandwilldo]

It's the freedom of the open sea.......

[quickrate]

When we do land based vacations, I am the researcher, the navigator and the chauffeur, the tour guide and the translator all-in-one. Everybody looks to me to plan out our schedule, figure out where we're going to go, what we're going to do, and where we're going to eat.

 

On a cruise, I don't have to do any of that. :D

 

DITTO!! LOL

Pat

[bunchesofun]

I cruise for all of those reasons, but, I think I cruise mostly because I do not have to worry about anything! No cleaning, no picking up, I don't have to answer a phone or be responsible for anyone but me and DW!:D

 

Exactly! No bed making, no cooking, no cleaning, no bill paying, no thinking, just relaxing and being pampered.