We just got off a cruise - and we’ve done all inclusive resorts as well. And we’ve traveled. That whole “traveling to see local sights and experience culture” - yeah, that isn’t cruising OR an all inclusive.
Our cruises have all been Disney - which does allow you to bring on your own alcohol (which you aren’t supposed to drink outside your own stateroom - but who can tell where the drink you carry around came from). And I never thought the drinks were overpriced with Disney anyway.
Cruising restricts you to the ship. There is a limited amount of deck space. Ports are cursory. If the seas are high, you might be in for a very unpleasant time - but the plus side is that the ship will move - within reason - so if the weather is sunny twenty five miles a different direction, that is where the captain goes. Disney kid and teen clubs are excellent. Everything on a ship is a little smaller and it can get claustrophobic after a while - your room is a little too small, the bathrooms are too small, the tables at the restaurants are a little too small, the pools are a little too small - they cram everything together. I like cruises for about 4 nights - I don’t like them at 7 - everything gets too small.
A resort doesn’t restrict you to the resort, but in reality, most people don’t leave the resort unless they go on an excursion - so its the same deal. Less risk of high seas - but the resort doesn’t move to get the best sun either. Most all-inclusives have free drinks - the standard pours don’t tend to be top shelf, but sitting on a beach with a free margarita is still nice. Resorts tend to be cheaper. The kids clubs have not been good at the resorts we’ve been to. But you have space, and space is good. Resorts also tend to be cheaper. We cruised because I got a great deal on a cruise this year.
You basically have 2 situations- the amenities are most important, or the destinations are most important.
If the destinations are most important, IMO you’re better off just flying to them and spending more time at the destinations without bothering with the ship.
If you want some of both, take the cruise.
If you want the amenities and don’t really care about a bunch of destinations, just go to some all-inclusive resort somewhere.
That said, some of the more interesting cruises could be worthwhile even if you’re not a cruise person- the Alaskan glacier ones and the Antarctic ones spring to mind. But the garden variety Caribbean cruises out of Galveston? Lots of people love them, but they’re not my thing.
I went on that site and the cruise line we did, “Imperial Majesty” isnt even listed.
But then it was only a cruise that came as part of a package where they hit on you to buy into a time share in Florida so what can you expect.
Those bigger Disney or Norwegian cruises do sound pretty awesome. One of our issues is we live in Kansas so going on a cruise also involves a big drive or flight time to say Florida.
I think with all vacations like this having “insider” knowledge is crucial. Ex. knowing when to secure a good deck chair, dinner reservation, etc… Its great to go on sites where “veterans” give you the insights.
We did that one as well - without the kids - and it was awesome.
Yes, we made some of our own meals - we walked or drove up to town and bought groceries (and tequila), but that wasn’t bad. Other meals we’d walk to the restaurants in town or scattered along the beach.
We had the whole villa to ourselves (and our friends). Our own pool. Our own lounge chairs. A view of the Carribean. Our own patio iguanas
If you aren’t fond of strangers, it was definitely the way to go.
We just got back two weeks ago from a cruise on the Celebrity Millenium from Singapore to Hong Kong with stops in Thailand and Vietnam along the way. This was our 12th cruise, although I prefer a mix of go-to-the-country-and-see-the-culture and barely-see-the-country-via cruising in my travels.
In my personal opinion, if you are going to go to a country and become immersed in the culture, on the plus side, you will have some unique experiences, but in my opinion, will likely have a lot of wasted time because you may be limited in transportation, geography, and cost. If you are staying at an all inclusive resort, then that is usually the same as the cruise ship, except the scenery doesn’t change, so I really don’t see any value in that. In my opinion, you either go from city to city and explore the country, or you don’t. If you don’t, then the question is really whether you have an issue with clastrophobia on a ship/fear of sinking, because if all you see is the Sandals Resort property, you also aren’t seeing the country. And as for the ‘nightlife’ of the towns, there are plenty of cruises that stay overnight in ports. Ours stayed overnight in the port outside of Bangkok, Thailand, Ha Long Bay (Hanoi) Vietnam, and in Hong Kong. We also got to Singapore a few days early at the start, both to explore the place and to account for any issues with lost baggage.
When we choose to do a cruise, it is because we have limited time and want to see the highlights. There is also some comfort in knowing your meals are included, and that the food is safe. Everyone I know who has traveled for any time in Vietnam, for example, gets sick from the food, but we didn’t because we only ate on the ship. The other advantage is that some countries just don’t have a lot to see and a cruise is the best way to visit them (i.e. the individual Caribbean island countries). Other countries might surprise you as to how bad they are at tourism such that you are glad you only spent a day there. For example, I haven’t met a single person who visited Helsinki, Finland who was impressed with it relative to the rest of Scandinavia. If I had booked a two week trip there, I would be bored silly after two days. The other bonus is that it gives you a nice taste of where you want to return for the immersive vactaion later. As another example, my wife and I went to two ports in Turkey and two in Morocco on a cruise and were completely blown away. We will definitely be doing more immersive trips there.
Having done both types of vacations, I prefer resorts. Less time wasted in lines, a much nice room, and more freedom to explore when I want to, not just when the ship is in port.
It depends on what you want to do. If it involves lying on the beach, playing golf or tennis, a resort is probably better. If it is seeing some new places, cruises are great. (I much prefer them).
You have plenty of time to know the ship, especially on cruises with sea days. It doesn’t seem to me that many people stay on board, so don’t worry about that.
I’ve never done a traditional Caribbean Cruise - I’ve done a transAtlantic crossing, a cruise in the southern Caribbean and up the Orinoco, Alaska, the Mediterranean and the Baltic. You get a taste of the places you visit, but you don’t even get that in a resort. It is great to see where you want to go back to (Stockholm, Turkey) and what you’d want to avoid (Greece, Italy.)
In 1980, when I went on the QE2, and 1987, when we went to the Southern Caribbean, we had assigned tables for dinner and seating. I quite liked it, actually. Today this no longer exists (Norwegian or Princess) and you can walk in or make reservations at the large dining rooms or make reservations at one of the smaller restaurants. And there are usually two showings of any productions. And the deck and the card room and the bars are always available. I’ve never felt regimented. It is also great for meeting a wide variety of people.
Even moderately sized ships take more than 3 minutes to traverse, especially vertically.
They do, and it has gotten much worse. The ships get people on by charging low prices, then try to recover the money by charging for everything. Especially after the recession. Bingo used to have a nominal charge - the last two Norwegian cruises I were on charge a ton and sold automated bingo cards. What’s the fun of that. Even the cruise director who ran the trivia game (still free) was making fun of it.
And the trivia game prizes have gotten crappy.
The destination talks were not destination talks, but ways of directing you to got to shops which gave the ship kickbacks.
The good news is that you can ignore all that stuff and still have a great time.
Recently (over the past few years) wife and I have been staying at resorts near the town of Playa del Carmen just south of Cancun. The town is a lot of fun so generally we split our nites between staying on campus and exploring the town. We get beach, pool and free food and drinks during the day at the all inclusive yet we get to enjoy the nightlife. I don’t want a resort surrounded by jungle.
That said, I agree that I would hate missing the nightlife at Ports of Call on a cruise. That plus the small shitty rooms, cruises just don’t appeal to me at all. I need to have the freedom to explore or vegetate on my timetable, not the cruise lines.
We left on our Baltic cruise from Copenhagen, but before we did we stayed for three days in a place we got on AirBnB. Kitchen, plenty of room, and close to the metro. And we had enough time to see a good part of the city, though I’m going back.
No pool, though.
I don’t expect you see much culture in a place a Disney cruise takes you. (You’ve convinced me to never take one.) But we easily got to Athens and Rome on our own (with advice from Cruise Critic) and the Baltic cities are build right on the water, so are easy to get to with public transportation or even walking. It is just enough to let you know if you want to go back to see more.
Never had a problem with rough seas, since ships are so well stabilized now. Though officers quarters on the QE2, which are high up, sway a lot more than normal staterooms do.
Having vacationed in about every common way, I would say that the type of cruise that I like are the river cruises. If children are old enough to enjoy cultural experiences, there is nothing like the European river cruises…small boats that stop frequently at the large old cities that are sited along the Danube, Rhine and so forth. So there is great food, nice cabins, and getting off the ship right at the ancient center of the town. Of course there are no swimming pools, slot machines, and so forth, so you will need to be happy with local entertainers who come aboard when you make a stop. There is no constant feeding station, but the food has been great in my experience, and often is themed around the country that you are in at the moment. Very few kids and young adults however, but that might be OK. It would work for my children.
Thanks for this. The brochures I get for them look great - if expensive. And they take you to cities which are not seaports. How do they handle the tours - are they primarily guided or are you mostly on your own. Do they dock in places where getting to the cities is easy?
Trust me, you’ll never get the smell out. Rum Runners in your luggage, but for bringing a bottle back from a port, I’ve never had anyone handle or Xray me, and the small of my back has worked just fine.
You know what I really needed in St. Thomas? 750ml of their finest shampoo, that’s what. Why are you looking at me like that? It’s Bay Rum fragrance, of course it smells like rum! My hair needs cleaning! (In other words, good luck with that.)
My vacations are mostly centered around diving, and all-inclusive is a great compliment to that end. The floating mega-hotels hold no attraction for me, but I can totally understand people who dig them. I would rather drink my face off all afternoon at an open bar, eat an okay to very good dinner, go to bed early and wake up to dive the next morning from a boat that picks me up at the resort dock. Literally rinse and repeat.
Live aboard dive boats are a thing (like a very small cruise ship where all the passengers are divers and your destinations are dive sites instead of ports of call) and I’ll probably try it at some point, but I do like the time with and away from divers on vacation.
As long as you’re enjoying it, there’s no wrong way to vacation. None are objectively better, they’re just different.
Disney does Med cruises with stops and tours in Athens and Rome, and Baltic cruises. And if you are doing the ports on your own, it really doesn’t make any difference which ship you get off on - even if you’d use Disney for your excursions, they are sourced local - Mickey isn’t leading your tour. But Disney cruises aren’t for everyone - they are a very expensive line. There is no gambling other than bingo. There are more kids than most lines (duh - though they do a good job of keeping adult areas adult), and you have to not mind the subtle Mickey Mouse references in the decorating. But when the line was founded, they were the line that first put in split baths, had bigger than standard cabins (figuring that people didn’t want to be crammed into cabins with their families) have a lot of cabins sleeping four and five, and more rooms with verandas than standard. Their kids and teen clubs were beat by none (other lines have stepped up, but Disney has an advantage). They are also the only cruise line where you’ll get first run movies - when Winter Solider premiers on land, it will premier on the Disney ships.
the environmental, political, and social impacts of cruise ships are so creepy… I just can’t. Flags of convenience, no labor law enforcement, shady safety regulations, god forbid a crime happens on your ship. A costa concordia type accident, realistically almost never happens but if you’re sexually assaulted (of which the top 4 cruise companies report 19 sexual assaults, and 29 rapes on board in 2013) good luck a) figuring out who has jurisdiction and b) getting them to care.
I’m no big fan of inclusive resorts either. I’ve done it, and for a hella cheap last minute vacation, it sure did the trick, but after three days I was kinda bored of living in an armed compound.
- but the resort doesn’t move to get the best sun either. Most all-inclusives have free drinks - the standard pours don’t tend to be top shelf, but sitting on a beach with a free margarita is still nice. Resorts tend to be cheaper. The kids clubs have not been good at the resorts we’ve been to. But you have space, and space is good. Resorts also tend to be cheaper. We cruised because I got a great deal on a cruise this year.