People who don't like cruising

[Zach1213]

Yes that is so true. The thought of going camping for a vacation would make me cry! YUK. But some people love it. To each their own. :)

I love cruising because I am looked after: no cooking, no cleaning, no worries, all I have to do is enjoy. That's my idea of a vacation.

 

I think that if all your non-cruise vacations involve you cooking and cleaning, you're doing vacation wrong ;)

[YubaSutter]

I have a brother who hates to cruise. He went on one with me and complained that the food was mediocre, the drinks were expensive, the clubs were full of old people, the pools were small, and he felt claustrophobic onboard. He and his wife would rather spend a week at a luxury resort in Las Vegas.

[Stelladoro]

Our friends love relaxing on a beach at an All Inclusive Resort. They tried a one week Carribean cruise and quite enjoyed it. However, they missed the beach. So, cruising may not be for them.

We couldn't care less about spending hours at a beach. We want to travel and enjoy different sights, cultures. Now that we're retired, we book longer trips, and usually combine land travel with cruises. Best of both worlds!

[marco]

And then there are some folks that only will take a particular itinerary. Friends of ours have taken many Caribbean cruises which they always enjoyed, and then took one European cruise and said they would never, ever take that kind of a cruise again because port time was so limited there wasn't' enough time to see "hardly anything" and the cost of tours and excursions was almost as much as the cost of the cruise.

[printingchick]

I have a brother who hates to cruise. He went on one with me and complained that the food was mediocre, the drinks were expensive, the clubs were full of old people, the pools were small, and he felt claustrophobic onboard. He and his wife would rather spend a week at a luxury resort in Las Vegas.

 

Because walking on the strip isn't remotely claustrophobic! :rolleyes:

[Warm Breezes]

I think that if all your non-cruise vacations involve you cooking and cleaning, you're doing vacation wrong ;)

 

I agree....DH went and saw a time share demo in Vegas once. The salesman tried using the big kitchen as a selling point to me. DH just laughed at him and told him that he just used the wrong the tactic in trying to sell the place on me. When I am on vacation, there is no way I am cooking and cleaning.

[SnowshoeCat]

Some people like to travel and immerse themselves in the local culture (ie: backpacking through a region and staying in hostels, eating in local restaurants, completely soaking up the culture.) To them, spending just a few hours in each port would be useless to them. Some people like picking a single destination and spending their time discovering the area while enjoying a hotel or resort. Some people are afraid of water. Some people get terrible motion sickness. Some people get bored by the rather structured life on board a ship, especially on sea days.

 

 

To be honest, I am still not quite sold on cruising. I truly enjoy being part of this forum and learning more about cruising, but from a personal standpoint...I need another cruise or two to decide if it's for me or not. There are aspects I enjoy, and there are aspects that I do not enjoy. The same goes for "traditional" land-based vacations. The question for me is - which one do I enjoy more. Currently, it's land-based vacations. That may change some day, but right now I am not completely sold on cruising.

 

The biggest thing for me is that I travel constantly for work, and love being part of the local culture...seeing things few tourists see, getting myself in to somewhat "sticky" situations where the true side of a country, good or bad, comes out, etc. You generally can't do that on a cruise - you pull up to a beach in Jamaica but it could be any beach in the world for that matter.

 

That isn't to say I dislike it. It just may not be completely for me as it is for most people on CC. That being said, like I said, I truly enjoy being part of this forum and learning more about it, which does keep the chances high that I will continue to at least give cruising a chance.

 

These posts describe me pretty well. I've only been on a few cruises and while there are some things I really like, there are other factors that make me hesitate to book another.

 

I've spent a little too much time on this site the last few days researching a potential trip. I know I'll love the destination (Norway - I've wanted to go there for ages) but I don't know if a cruise is the way for me to see it. I always feel like an invading force of aliens, arriving by ship, touring around, then running back to the mother ship to head off on our next conquest. When I want to really see a place, I prefer to stay in a hotel and stay at least overnight.

 

But cruising can provide good value, which is why I'm so undecided. Sometimes reading this board can get me enthusiastic, and sometimes I'm reminded of the reasons I don't want to cruise.

[calliopecruiser]

I always feel like an invading force of aliens, arriving by ship, touring around, then running back to the mother ship to head off on our next conquest. When I want to really see a place, I prefer to stay in a hotel and stay at least overnight.

 

LOL! I can relate -- but I really liked the cruising part of my past cruises, so for my upcoming cruise I chose a transatlantic cruise with 8 sea days, then spending several days in Lisbon after I disembark. If I like the sea days as much as I'm hoping I will, I've got my eye on a transpacific cruise, followed by a week in New Zealand. Get the best of cruising (which IMO is sea days and transportation) then mix it with a road trip or extended stay to a chance to better experience some place new.

[TheBeeSea]

We are trying a cruise for the first time next year and have spoken with friends and have obtained several views:

 

Cruises are not for every one -fair enough.

 

Cruises are shallow -if you want to explore the places visited on a cruise you get the out and out tourist view on your one day

 

Its pretentious - only for those who want to pose (eg dressing for dinner)

 

Boring - want to get off after a day or so.

 

Expensive -maybe?

 

Really want to try it.

 

Luxury

 

So it seems to me that its just part of the ''big picture'' -if it suits and does what you want its good

[Warm Breezes]

We are trying a cruise for the first time next year and have spoken with friends and have obtained several views:

 

Cruises are not for every one -fair enough. Very True

 

Cruises are shallow -if you want to explore the places visited on a cruise you get the out and out tourist view on your one day But if you like a specific port you can visit that port on multiple cruises and see something different everytime and if you don't like that port you can choose itineraries without it or better yet stay on the ship and enjoy it while every else leaves it to you:D.

 

Its pretentious - only for those who want to pose (eg dressing for dinner) Dressing for dinner is becoming a thing of the past...especially on main stream lines like CCL and NCL. You can do it if you want to but it is no longer required.

 

Boring - want to get off after a day or so. I have never wanted to get off after a day....there was always something to do, but our main reason for going is to relax.

 

Expensive -maybe? When planning a vacation I will look at cruises and land vacations we want to do...most of the time the cruise comes out cheaper or equal in price to the land vacation. DD doesn't tell anyone at school when we go on a cruise anymore. She's heard to many people say you must be rich because we have gone on so many and she doesn't like to give out that impression. We are upper middle class family who make vacations a priority. Cruising is really an economical choice for us.

 

Really want to try it. Encourage everyone to. It is not for everyone, but you don't know unless you try it.

 

Luxury Only if you are sailing lines like Cunard. Mostly its just fun with a little pampering.

 

So it seems to me that its just part of the ''big picture'' -if it suits and does what you want its good

Absolutely :D.

[printingchick]

We are trying a cruise for the first time next year and have spoken with friends and have obtained several views:

 

Cruises are not for every one -fair enough. Agree.

 

Cruises are shallow -if you want to explore the places visited on a cruise you get the out and out tourist view on your one day. I see that as a GOOD thing. What if I booked a land-based vacation to Aruba? People LOVE Aruba. Everyone knows someone who has a time-share there. It was one of my least favorite islands. I'm glad I was only there for one day.

 

Its pretentious - only for those who want to pose (eg dressing for dinner) Hmmm...I don't see it that way at all. Of course, people who DO see it that way could patronize a cruise line that doesn't have formal nights. For me, I rarely eat out and even MORE rarely at dress-up type restaurants. I view formal nights as a real TREAT! I can see not wanting to get dressed up, but "pretentious"? I don't see that.

 

Boring - want to get off after a day or so. If a passenger feels that way, they've chosen the wrong cruise line. Different cruise lines cater to different tastes and therefore have different on-board activities designed to appeal to that target audience. Try a different cruise line.

 

Expensive -maybe? People tend to compare the cruise cost per day to a hotel cost per day. That's not apples to apples. They forget about FOOD. They forget about entertainment costs. They forget about parking. I can cruise in an ocean view cabin for about $120/per person, per day. A hotel in a big city will run over $200/night before you add in the cost of food and entertainment costs.

 

Really want to try it.

 

Luxury

 

So it seems to me that its just part of the ''big picture'' -if it suits and does what you want its good

 

I read a statistic that 80% of first time cruisers cruise again. Apparently, cruising appeals to a LOT of people.

[Dayenu]

I appreciate on here we all like cruising.

 

Has anyone got any friends, relatives, neighbours etc. who have a short or longer cruise, hated it and will never cruise again ??

 

:cool:

 

Yes, I know one couple that will never cruise. Their English is limited, the were by themselves, bored to death. Didn't realize they should read the daily schedules.

[PennyAgain]

My husband is fine once on the ship with the bags unpacked, but everything leading up to a cruise makes him unhappy.

 

He hates flying to catch a cruise.

 

If I could just snap my fingers and have him magically appear on the ship of my choice, he would be all for it.

 

Makes trip planning very difficult while I enjoy doing the planning when it is all my choice.

[Barrheadlass]

I have friends who say they will never cruise "because we'll never take a vacation that is focused on eating." I told them no one forces you to eat!

[chipmaster]

I have some very good friends that we vacation once a year for the past few years.. like many of same activities, eats etc.

 

They cruised once, not with us, hated it, will NEVER do it again. Maybe they need high end versus main stream. The value aspects and being closed of with no selection of anything wasn't their cup of tea.

 

I appreciate on here we all like cruising.

 

Has anyone got any friends, relatives, neighbours etc. who have a short or longer cruise, hated it and will never cruise again ??

 

:cool:

[pdmlynek]

This is a very interesting topic, on which I’d like to chime in. Please note that I am NOT criticizing cruising, or people who like it. I just want to explain my view on cruising. And, surprisingly, our reasons for my views on cruising is quite different than what has been posted so far.

We took our first, and so far the only one, cruise. It was to Alaska in summer 2012 with my extended family. And it was terrific. The cruise was wonderful. The ship was beyond my expectations. The service was phenomenal. The food was superb. Our whole family, including myself, look back fondly on that time. It was just excellent. It just blew our collective mind how good it was.

And yet,… despite my sincere and highly deserved praises for the work of the cruise company and its employees, … I just don’t feel it. I just do not feel that cruising is me. Yes, I would like to go and cruise so more in the future, but there are other types of vacations which my family and I would like even better. I see myself cruising once every, maybe, 4 to 8 years; it is simply a question of allocation of vacation time.

It is hard to put into words why I feel that such a terrific vacation is not at top of my types of vacation. I am not making arguments, I am simply presenting my feelings. It is a mixture of three reasons

The primary reason why we are not obsessed with cruising is that my family and I simply like independent travel. Traveling in organized groups, be it on a cruise or a tour bus, is simply too stifling, too restrictive, too sheeple-ish. We like to be able to plan were we go, stay longer in places if we like something, skip places if we do not; we can adjust our itinerary as the weather, health or mood strike us; we enjoy learning about places instead of being spoon-fed. I like to discover new things; I don’t like to have it discovered for us. In an organized environment as a cruise ship, it almost feels that our vacation is “being done to us”, and we are simply passive entities, rather than we take ownership and control of our vacation.

The second reason why cruising is not our favorite type of vacation is exactly the opposite why so many like it: too much pampering. Having everything done for us, from food preparation, to doing dishes, from making the room and cleaning bathroom, to folding towel animal, from bringing luggage in to taking luggage off the ship, and so on, just feels too bourgeois, too elitist, too classist. This is not only a problem for me on a cruise, but also in any luxury or all inclusive resort. Being served so much makes me feel lazy, it makes me feel underutilized, it makes me feel like I am having people wipe my butt. “Doing nothing”, which is often cited by experienced cruisers as the reason why they like sea days, just cries laziness to me; a waste of a day, a day which potentially could have been used to make this a better world. Also having people doing for me what I can do myself is just too elitist; I would much rather travel with friends with whom I could share chores related to travel, rather than with servants who do all the chores for us.

The third reason why cruising is not our favorite type of vacation is that there is too much windshield touron type travel. Too much “if it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium” type of travel. Although the highlights of places around some ports can be visited within the day that the ship is in port (e.g., some Alaskan ports or small Caribbean islands), for a lot of places a day is simply insufficient. It is just too cursory type of travel. There just is not enough time to soak in the culture, to hang out with the locals, to see something else then just the same tourists sites as everyone else. (Yes, I know that this could be cured by repeated cruises ;) )

Yes, I love cruising, but I love other types of travel better.

[ticktoneer]

This is a very interesting topic, on which I’d like to chime in. Please note that I am NOT criticizing cruising, or people who like it. I just want to explain my view on cruising. And, surprisingly, our reasons for my views on cruising is quite different than what has been posted so far.

We took our first, and so far the only one, cruise. It was to Alaska in summer 2012 with my extended family. And it was terrific. The cruise was wonderful. The ship was beyond my expectations. The service was phenomenal. The food was superb. Our whole family, including myself, look back fondly on that time. It was just excellent. It just blew our collective mind how good it was.

And yet,… despite my sincere and highly deserved praises for the work of the cruise company and its employees, … I just don’t feel it. I just do not feel that cruising is me. Yes, I would like to go and cruise so more in the future, but there are other types of vacations which my family and I would like even better. I see myself cruising once every, maybe, 4 to 8 years; it is simply a question of allocation of vacation time.

 

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings. Very brave on here when there are so many CC members poised looking for people like you to shoot down and not value their contribution.

 

As you said cruising isn't for everyone just like your main holiday choices wouldn't be for me.

 

The world would be such a boring place if we all thought, liked or wanted the same things :-)

 

Happy Vacationing :-)

[calliopecruiser]

Yes, I would like to go and cruise so more in the future, but there are other types of vacations which my family and I would like even better. I see myself cruising once every, maybe, 4 to 8 years; it is simply a question of allocation of vacation time.

 

I agree that there are other types of vacations I love; if there was unlimited time and money, I'm sure I would cruise more frequently than I have -- I could match cruises with land vacations or road trips through the destination countries. Right now I'm planning a fantasy trip of a transpacific cruise matched with a week or two in Australia and/or NZ........I don't know how long it will be til I have the time and money to do it, but I like the planning anyway ;)

[Gloria Mundi]

The second reason why cruising is not our favorite type of vacation is exactly the opposite why so many like it: too much pampering. Having everything done for us, from food preparation, to doing dishes, from making the room and cleaning bathroom, to folding towel animal, from bringing luggage in to taking luggage off the ship, and so on, just feels too bourgeois, too elitist, too classist. This is not only a problem for me on a cruise, but also in any luxury or all inclusive resort. <snip>Yes, I love cruising, but I love other types of travel better.

 

Thanks for some carefully-chosen words that express a lot of what DH and I feel. I'm not the Maharani of India and I can fetch my own coffee, thanks. Some of the staff on our cruise had more degrees than I do (well, I have one BA so that's not hard)- in fields such as Marine Biology. Five of the 25 crew were licensed captains. It was a US-flagged ship. The crew would give lectures on marine mammals or show you phytoplankton inder a microscope. That's my kind of crew.

 

I have friends who say they will never cruise "because we'll never take a vacation that is focused on eating." I told them no one forces you to eat!

 

Well, sometimes I get that feeling from the discussions here. "How much weight do you gain? Do you get multiple entrees or desserts? When is Lobster Night? I cruise so I can enjoy the melting chocolate cake. What restaurants are open 24/7?" DH and I are normal weight and love good food, but aren't into vacations that are eating fests. I've got the same attitude with buffet restaurants. I can eat moderately at them and the good ones have food that I like, but I'm still paying a rate that reflects, on average, the higher consumption of the average customer. This was another thing we loved about the cruise line we took. The selection was limited but very little came from cans or boxes. Delicious, good-quality fuel that kept us going but was not the reason for the cruise.

 

DH and I have also done a lot of independent land travel and will continue to do so for the reasons pdmlynek cited, but an occasional cruise on a small ship will now be an option.

[SnowshoeCat]

It is hard to put into words why I feel that such a terrific vacation is not at top of my types of vacation. I am not making arguments, I am simply presenting my feelings. It is a mixture of three reasons

The primary reason why we are not obsessed with cruising is that my family and I simply like independent travel. Traveling in organized groups, be it on a cruise or a tour bus, is simply too stifling, too restrictive, too sheeple-ish. We like to be able to plan were we go, stay longer in places if we like something, skip places if we do not; we can adjust our itinerary as the weather, health or mood strike us; we enjoy learning about places instead of being spoon-fed. I like to discover new things; I don’t like to have it discovered for us. In an organized environment as a cruise ship, it almost feels that our vacation is “being done to us”, and we are simply passive entities, rather than we take ownership and control of our vacation.

The second reason why cruising is not our favorite type of vacation is exactly the opposite why so many like it: too much pampering. Having everything done for us, from food preparation, to doing dishes, from making the room and cleaning bathroom, to folding towel animal, from bringing luggage in to taking luggage off the ship, and so on, just feels too bourgeois, too elitist, too classist. This is not only a problem for me on a cruise, but also in any luxury or all inclusive resort. Being served so much makes me feel lazy, it makes me feel underutilized, it makes me feel like I am having people wipe my butt. “Doing nothing”, which is often cited by experienced cruisers as the reason why they like sea days, just cries laziness to me; a waste of a day, a day which potentially could have been used to make this a better world. Also having people doing for me what I can do myself is just too elitist; I would much rather travel with friends with whom I could share chores related to travel, rather than with servants who do all the chores for us.

The third reason why cruising is not our favorite type of vacation is that there is too much windshield touron type travel. Too much “if it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium” type of travel. Although the highlights of places around some ports can be visited within the day that the ship is in port (e.g., some Alaskan ports or small Caribbean islands), for a lot of places a day is simply insufficient. It is just too cursory type of travel. There just is not enough time to soak in the culture, to hang out with the locals, to see something else then just the same tourists sites as everyone else. (Yes, I know that this could be cured by repeated cruises ;) )

Yes, I love cruising, but I love other types of travel better.

 

I appreciate how hard it was for you to put your thoughts to words. I have the same problem ;) But you did it well - maybe because I feel the same way you do and understand just what you were saying. I live alone, so I do enjoy the occasional break from household chores, but I don't really need someone to clean my cabin every day. I tend to keep my cabin tidier than my room at home (less stuff, I guess) and I wipe down the bathroom before I go out. I think I'd be embarrassed to leave behind a messy room. I would be happy if they just came in to make the bed.

 

I can appreciate that for some people, cruising is the only way they'd get to see some places and I respect that. We all have our own reasons for cruising (or not) and I would hope that people on this board are open to other viewpoints (otherwise they might miss one of the lessons of travel). I'm glad I have choices, and the physical and emotional means to act on them.

[sherilyn70]

I'm 50/50 on cruises being right for me. We have discovered we enjoy port intensive days... but days at sea are just not for us. Southern Caribbean I would do again in a heartbeat but I don't think I'll ever do western again or try eastern. We will probably try Alaska as well. However the time in ports is limited, I've been to Barbados twice now and walked away not feeling satisifed an I don't want to do 7 cruises just to get to everything I want to do there. I am considering a land vacation there instead. I am also considering a trip to Ireland (long been on my list) and other places that cruise ships simply can't go. The food is only "okay" on the ships and I'm tempted to spend more for a luxury line (such as Regent) but non-cruise vacations can offer me more for less in that respect. Part of vacation for us is the food... whether it be trying cultural foods or doing fine dining and not about having buffets with mediocre food surounding us.

 

My brother and his family did not like cruising. They like to sleep in late and could not do that on a cruise since we had ports every day that started at 8am... they would have prefered 12p-8p most likely instead and that can't happen on a cruise.

[TheBeeSea]

I have friends who say they will never cruise "because we'll never take a vacation that is focused on eating." I told them no one forces you to eat!

 

:)I like that - we are getting some ''interesting'' views from friends (see my previous post) but as for the comment (above) reference eating...............if you read the forums it does seem its more about drinking!!!!:D;)

[ticktoneer]

As I said above the world would be a boring place if we all liked, thought and wanted the same things :-)

 

2 of my relatives intensely dislike cruising due to the small rooms ( and they had a junior suite ) - ha ha ha

 

In contrast to Sherilyn, above, I could sail for 14 days with no port days. I often don't get off at ports as I love the ships and especially love using them when hardly anyone is on them with me. Last year I was the only adult for 2 hours in the adults only pool area on Disney Magic. It was bliss !

 

This year I did Western Caribbean on Freedom of the Seas and didn't get off once. I just enjoyed the ship and gorgeous weather.

[Barrheadlass]

This is a very interesting topic, on which I’d like to chime in. Please note that I am NOT criticizing cruising, or people who like it. I just want to explain my view on cruising. And, surprisingly, our reasons for my views on cruising is quite different than what has been posted so far.

We took our first, and so far the only one, cruise. It was to Alaska in summer 2012 with my extended family. And it was terrific. The cruise was wonderful. The ship was beyond my expectations. The service was phenomenal. The food was superb. Our whole family, including myself, look back fondly on that time. It was just excellent. It just blew our collective mind how good it was.

And yet,… despite my sincere and highly deserved praises for the work of the cruise company and its employees, … I just don’t feel it. I just do not feel that cruising is me. Yes, I would like to go and cruise so more in the future, but there are other types of vacations which my family and I would like even better. I see myself cruising once every, maybe, 4 to 8 years; it is simply a question of allocation of vacation time.

It is hard to put into words why I feel that such a terrific vacation is not at top of my types of vacation. I am not making arguments, I am simply presenting my feelings. It is a mixture of three reasons

The primary reason why we are not obsessed with cruising is that my family and I simply like independent travel. Traveling in organized groups, be it on a cruise or a tour bus, is simply too stifling, too restrictive, too sheeple-ish. We like to be able to plan were we go, stay longer in places if we like something, skip places if we do not; we can adjust our itinerary as the weather, health or mood strike us; we enjoy learning about places instead of being spoon-fed. I like to discover new things; I don’t like to have it discovered for us. In an organized environment as a cruise ship, it almost feels that our vacation is “being done to us”, and we are simply passive entities, rather than we take ownership and control of our vacation.

The second reason why cruising is not our favorite type of vacation is exactly the opposite why so many like it: too much pampering. Having everything done for us, from food preparation, to doing dishes, from making the room and cleaning bathroom, to folding towel animal, from bringing luggage in to taking luggage off the ship, and so on, just feels too bourgeois, too elitist, too classist. This is not only a problem for me on a cruise, but also in any luxury or all inclusive resort. Being served so much makes me feel lazy, it makes me feel underutilized, it makes me feel like I am having people wipe my butt. “Doing nothing”, which is often cited by experienced cruisers as the reason why they like sea days, just cries laziness to me; a waste of a day, a day which potentially could have been used to make this a better world. Also having people doing for me what I can do myself is just too elitist; I would much rather travel with friends with whom I could share chores related to travel, rather than with servants who do all the chores for us.

The third reason why cruising is not our favorite type of vacation is that there is too much windshield touron type travel. Too much “if it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium” type of travel. Although the highlights of places around some ports can be visited within the day that the ship is in port (e.g., some Alaskan ports or small Caribbean islands), for a lot of places a day is simply insufficient. It is just too cursory type of travel. There just is not enough time to soak in the culture, to hang out with the locals, to see something else then just the same tourists sites as everyone else. (Yes, I know that this could be cured by repeated cruises ;) )

Yes, I love cruising, but I love other types of travel better.

 

I am just curious, if you have taken only one cruise and don't plan to rush into another one, why have you posted nearly 500 times? And I don't mean to sound snarky.

[Izzblizz]

I have only cruised once myself, and am going on another one next summer. However, they have been sponsored by Mother with extended family, so I didn't choose them, but who in their right mind would turn down a basically free vacation!

 

I admit I originally though not sure if I would like a cruise. The first one was to Bahamas a few years ago. It took a little bit of adjustment to realize this isn't the vacations we are used to taking (not in a bad way, just different). Plus we had really stressful connections to make because of a freak blizzard that caused all kinds of problems for us to actually make the cruise (even though originally planning to arrive morning before cruise departed. We have never had that kind of stress on a land vacation, what is the worst that will happen, miss a hotel night?) And then by the time we started to destress, it was over! But was starting to feel relaxed and beachy.

 

Our next one is a Mediterranean cruise, but I am already starting to feel stressed about Port days. We have added on our own stuff on the beginning and end which I think will be a little hetic, but easy to plan (what happens if we miss a train ... nothing ... just catch the next one). I am kind of used to that kind of free form travel style. But I am feeling slightly more pressure regarding port stops ... what if I don't make the most out of the few hours I have there? (I even have had a couple nightmares, lol ... so there is SOMETHING wrong with me).

 

I am hoping that before and after I can do my free form type of travel, and then have enough time to adjust during the cruise to being a little bit more regimented (or relaxed staring at the ocean)!

 

So I guess in summary, in my limited cruise experience, I find it a little bit more stressful for some reason. Also, I am trying to cram in some food experiences on port days because I love food! But I think I am resigning myself to doing most of those before and after the cruise. Just because to really sit down and enjoy a meal in port is going to eat up your port time. I will still be getting snacks whenever I can in port though to at least get a taste of local food!