Do you cruise for the ship or the ports?

[geonurse]

Love reading member reviews- one of my favorite past times even when I don't have an imminent cruise planned.........Sometimes I can hardly stand it when I read over the cruisers port list and see " stayed on ship" , or "got off for free wifi on the pier".:eek:

Now I don't mean in ports such as Nassau, where folks have been tons of times- but magical places like Dominica and Saint Lucia! It makes me sad 😓

So it made me wonder- how many mainly cruise for the experience of the ship and/or the ports themselves? All our cruises so far have been chosen with ports in mind- next years Oasis cruise will be more about the ship itself. Would love to hear others opinions❤️

[spookwife]

mostly.. the ships. and we don't even sail the behemoths like Oasis and Quantum.

 

I cannot pre plan shore excursion as my daily capabilities can change in an instant. there is /will be one exception: I am in the preliminary stages of planning a 2017 Alaska cruise. but since a majority of AK can be experienced on board or a relatively comfortable shore excursion with minimal walking/physical exertion, I am hoping that it will be an easy thing to do.

[Clarea]

Both.

 

Some trips are for the ports, some trips are purely to get away and we choose by ship and price.

[LHT28]

we do both

Maybe people have been to some of the ports before also

 

What I find strange is people spend money for a cruise then go to a beach or pay to spend time in a resort in the port

you can eat & drink on the ship for less than the beach resort prices unless they are going for the sand in their shoes ..I do not get it :confused:

 

last cruise we did very little a short walk around the port town & back onboard to relax

 

YMMV

[CapeCodCruiser]

It depends on the cruise or the port. We have been to many of them and after a while they all become similar. If there is a particular activity somewhere we do it. For us cruising is the ultimate chill vacation - so staying on the ship when most have left is wonderful. Our next cruise out of Galveston we chose because we can drive to the port. The TA after that - my ultimate TA - love the itinerary except won't get off in Nassau!

[GMRPHRN]

I am fairly new to cruising so I choose by ports. Since I have to fly to the port regardless I have lots of options. I like how you can travel to many different places in one vacation. I still get motion sickness even with medication so the fewer sea days the better.

[onespots]

Itinerary & ports are the largest factor for us in choosing a cruise. These destinations are for more important to us than the floating hotel. We love cruising with very few sea days & an opportunity to see more of the world in a short time. Often we spend way more time on shore, than most. Especially in Alaska. We take mostly private excursions to learn more about the history, culture, music, & what is outside of the port or nearest city.

 

Having said all that, we still enjoy all the Celebrity ships in either class. Again the itinerary is most important to us.

 

Happy Travels, John

[Krazy Kruizers]

Mainly for the ports/itinerary.

[condorfan]

Love reading member reviews- one of my favorite past times even when I don't have an imminent cruise planned.........Sometimes I can hardly stand it when I read over the cruisers port list and see " stayed on ship" , or "got off for free wifi on the pier".:eek:

Now I don't mean in ports such as Nassau, where folks have been tons of times- but magical places like Dominica and Saint Lucia! It makes me sad

So it made me wonder- how many mainly cruise for the experience of the ship and/or the ports themselves? All our cruises so far have been chosen with ports in mind- next years Oasis cruise will be more about the ship itself. Would love to hear others opinions❤️

the dw and myself deffinately love the sea days, the ports are 2nd on the list the ship is our destination. unless friends or somone on the trip has given insight something special to see or do then we'll go do it

[Warm Breezes]

We have sailed for both:

 

DCL Wonder and Magic, NCL Epic, and upcoming NCL Escape - We choose these cruises for the ship

CCL Inspiration, Elation, Glory, Freedom (1st time), upcoming Dream, NCL Jewel (2nd time)- We choose these cruises for the embarkation port, itinerary and cost

CCL Destiny, Freedom (2nd time), Splendor, Ruby Princess, and NCL Jewel (1st time) - We choose these cruises because they fit our tight vacation time and cost

[puppycanducruise]

We sail for the ports, ship is secondary.

Next cruise we sail from Venice, so we'll spend a few days there before embarkation - can't wait.

[leaveitallbehind]

Both as well. Sometimes its the itinerary, other times its the ship. The best ones are when its a nice combination of both. :)

Edited May 10, 2016 by leaveitallbehind

[JimAOk1945]

Sometimes we just cruise for relaxation and the itinerary doesn't matter. Other times, we cruise exclusively for the itinerary/ports. The cruising experience is wonderful and we enjoy it even when the itinerary includes ports we have visited before.

[lenquixote66]

However, we always get off the ship in port no matter how many time we have been to the port.

[OCruisers]

While the itinerary and time of year are import to us, we also want to take it on a cruise line/ship we like and being able to get the type of cabin in a location of our choice is also of extreme importance. :)

[Denversail]

We are currently having a family debate over this same thing for summer 2017. Some people want the ship (Oasis) and some want ports (Adventure of the Seas). I can understand the argument for both.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[GUT2407]

A bit from colum A

 

A bit from colum B

[geonurse]

we do both

Maybe people have been to some of the ports before also

 

What I find strange is people spend money for a cruise then go to a beach or pay to spend time in a resort in the port

you can eat & drink on the ship for less than the beach resort prices unless they are going for the sand in their shoes ..I do not get it :confused:

 

last cruise we did very little a short walk around the port town & back onboard to relax

 

YMMV

 

Yes- I've also wondered about that! We always try to just wait until we get back on the ship to eat- since it's already been paid for! :)

[geonurse]

I am fairly new to cruising so I choose by ports. Since I have to fly to the port regardless I have lots of options. I like how you can travel to many different places in one vacation. I still get motion sickness even with medication so the fewer sea days the better.

You would love the 6 day Southern Caribbean Carnival cruise out of San Juan- zero sea days!!

[terri-eddie]

It's both, for us, but mainly the ship. We've only been on six cruises so far...the seventh is booked for Dec 2016. My husband wants a complete set of ships on sticks from the entire fleet!

 

So, when looking for a cruise, I check the ports to find new ones in the itinerary, but I also make sure it's a ship we haven't been on yet. We would sooner repeat a port than a ship.

[adivineeternity]

We chose our first cruise ever based purely off of our decision to go to Bermuda for our first vacation as a couple, then from there narrowed it down to leaving from Manhattan versus Bayonne because it's easier, and that left us with just the Breakaway as our option for the ship. Our second cruise we selected by way of the following:

 

"Let's go back to Bermuda."

"Okay."

"In September. Same week would be great."

"Okay. Let me call the agency so we can get the promos."

 

And so we did.

[Flatbush Flyer]

We cruise partly to relax and partly to explore new locations, which may become a choice for a future land vacation. Ideally, our cruises provide a mix of ports new to us with a healthy dose of sea days over the course of approx. 3 weeks +\-.

 

Because the ship is then a "base of operations," the nature of the shipboard experience (everything from quality of food to cabin amenities to service) becomes a paramount consideration. Thus, for a host of reasons, including the tremendous value of the product, we prefer Oceania (both the O and at ships).

 

Fortunately, life onboard is a complete pleasure and the Oceania itineraries are varied enough that we can still find new adventures sufficient to maintain our brand loyalty.

[Gwendy]

I choose itinerary every time. I love to visit new places. Saying that if all things are equal, destination, price etc I will choose Princess because of the benefits I get for Elite status, but not averse to other lines.

[Davebhoy]

Ports of call first, then ship.

 

We don't feel the need to be loyal to a particular cruise line any more than we would with a single hotel chain, so will look at the ports we fancy and see which cruise line and ship gives us the most time in them.

 

We booked this years on the itinerary alone - hadn't really looked at the spec of the ship.

[cruiseapril]

We cruise for the itinerary. Enjoy exploring.