Why do people take cruise ship vacations over and over again?

In My Humble Opinion
61

It’s not my cup of tea either, but I always enjoy reading these threads about how much others enjoy it!

I find it intriguing in part because it’s so far from how we like to travel. But it would be a chance to see a whole new world for us.

Every year we buy a $100 lottery ticket to support a local charity, among the houses and cars are many cruise prizes. We, of course, always look at the glossy pictures and decide which things we want! But, in truth, we have a house and car, don’t want a boat, etc, and agree we would most always take the money and go on a trip somewhere. But I always advocate that were we to win a cruise to somewhere cool we should maybe do it. Just to see. What’s it like?

I know people this actually happened too, same lotto even, and they DID take the cruise, though not really their cup of tea. And they had great and amusing stories to tell, and quite enjoyed it, even though they said they wouldn’t do it again.

(Also, I think I might struggle telling people I’d been to someplace where I’d really only spent a few hours nearby the waterfront. I’ve flown through Tokyo more times than I can count, mostly staying overnight then onward. But I never say I’ve visited Japan, that seems not accurate to me. Same with Amersterdam where I spent 11hrs, in town touristing, on both an out and inbound journey. But I never say, “Yes, I’ve visited the Netherlands.”)

62

One of the things about cruises is that they are a great vacation for people who don’t get around very well.

My parents did a tour group tour of Hawaii for Seniors. Mom said it was ideal for Dad - no planning, no decisions, no confusion and nothing too taxing physically.

But cruise ships are even better for the “can’t get around too well, get confused easily, don’t hear too good” crowd. Once you get off the airplane, the cruise company basically takes care of you - they’ll get you to the ship on their own bus. You arrive and they send you to a lunch buffet - with lots of choices, but a good balance between comfort food and daring. You go to your stateroom, where you luggage magically appears. Someone tells you where and when you go to dinner, gives you a show to see, and gives you a schedule of entertainment. If you forget to eat, it isn’t a big deal, there is food everywhere. The ships are big, but they are easy to navigate so you don’t really get lost (unless you are looking for the teen club on the Disney Fantasy or Dream). Staff is helpful and friendly, the stress is really low.

For that crowd, city vacations that involve a lot of walking can be exhausting. Nature vacations - same. All inclusives and cruises are really ideal - as well as organized tours that cater to age (I had the bad luck to be a chaperone on a high school tour where several of the chaperones were the teenagers grandmothers - they couldn’t keep up - bad choice - held everyone back and they were exhausted).

Cruises have one advantage over all inclusives - the ship moves. Generally, the weather is pretty good - there are times when the entire area is stormy - or you need to get through the storm to get where you are going - but if the captain can steer the ship into sunshine, he will.

There are lots of intergenerational families on cruises. Grandma and Grandpa bring kids and grandkids. The worst age for cruising is when you outgrow the kid/teen clubs, but aren’t yet at an age where sitting in a lawn chair or going dancing surrounded by people older than you sounds fun. But once you get over yourself - it can be a lot of fun. That doesn’t mean its for everyone - some people are going to prefer museums, or camping, or skiing or Disney World.

63

Maybe I don’t want a week in Barcelona. I want a taste of Barcelona and a taste of Venice and a taste of Greece. Some people like the sample pack. You don’t.

I like all inclusives as well, but they don’t move. I can leave anytime, but I’ll always end up near where I am. I won’t get a taste of Spain and the next day a taste of the South of France. Or a stop in Mexico and a stop in Belize.

If I want a show, booze and gambling vacation, I’d go to Vegas. But I’m not really fond of Vegas (I’ve been on three cruises, I’ve been to Vegas six times - its biggest advantage is its cheap - its second biggest advantage is that one of us is often there for a conference so its partly paid for). If I want a booze and jazz vacation, I’d go to New Orleans. If I want to eat, I’d probably end up in Napa. Shop - NYC. Museums - I happen to like London. Beaches - Phuket. Theme parks - Disney World (Thrill parks, not Disney World). If I want a little of everything, cruising is nice. It isn’t the best of all things, but it is good at many of them. And one thing it has been best at, hands down - is the Disney cruise kids and teen clubs. For parents who want their kids to have their own vacation, while they get some grownup time - they are awesome. I can’t tell you how much my daughter enjoyed the teen club the year she was fourteen - it may be her favorite vacation (and she’s well traveled ) It isn’t your cup of tea - that’s fine. The success of the cruise industry seems to indicate that other people feel differently.

64

I’ve been on 6 cruises on a couple different cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean. Each time I packed a bottle of bourbon in my suitcase. It has been detected zero times. I even leave it out on the counter in our room.

Going on number 7 in April. I think I’ll go with Maker’s Mark this time.
mmm

65

Now this makes sense. You only get off the boat a couple times to “visit” some exotic locale for an afternoon, never walking around much. It’s so you can say you’ve been to Aruba, etc., without putting much effort into actually touring Aruba.

On the other hand your statement:

“Maybe I don’t want a week in Barcelona. I want a taste of Barcelona and a taste of Venice and a taste of Greece. Some people like the sample pack. You don’t.”

This is “anti-picking” apart my point.

I had no intention of listing every single option out there to cruises. But there are a lot of tour packages by air or train where you spend more time seeing stuff and less time in a windowless tiny room on a boat. And on and on.

Assume that the “on and on” includes many, many, many other ways of seeing stuff.

66

I have only been on one cruise but I would definitely go again. it depends what you want to get out of a vacation. Some people like to do a lot on their vacation. Personally, I like to sit and relax and read a book. I also find there is something soothing about watching the waves and sitting in the sea air.

I don’t like crowds and I hate the traveling part of traveling. I’ve been on vacations where it seems like 90% of t it is getting there. I did one trip to Italy where we saw Venice, Florence and Rome with 3 days in each city. However, every third day had to be a “travel day” which meant having to check out of the hotel, pack everything up, shlep to the train station, spend hours on a dirty crowded train, then check into the hotel, unpack and try to find somewhere to have dinner.

In contrast, on the cruise, I unpacked once for the entire week. My cabin was every bit at comfortable as the hotel rooms we stayed in except that I could go out on the balcony and sit and watch the waves or read while we traveled. No packing and unpacking and no schlepping. I didn’t have to find a restaurant; we knew the hours the restaurants were open and if you got hungry later, there was always free room service instead of worrying about the added cost in a hotel.

I didn’t gamble at all, don’t really drink and care nothing about shopping, so I can’t speak to those things. We traveled with my family, though, and it made it easier for a multi-generational family to travel. My parents went to the casino, while my sister and aunt went shopping. We all got together to play trivia. I’m a night person so I went to the late-night shows while others went to sleep. When we stopped in Saint Maartin, the others went shopping while I hung out on the beach.

You might as well ask why some people take a week’s vacation at the beach. I assume that is what they like to do but to me that is even more boring. At least on the ship, there was a lot of variety. I hung out by the pool, went to shows, plays mini-golf with my Dad and just people-watched.

Again, it all depends on what a vacation means to you but one of the benefits of a cruise is that there is a lot of variety and there is no worry about transportation so you can go off and do separate things and it is easy to meet up again whenever you want. If your main objective is seeing all of the sights in a particular city, then that is a different type of vacation but if your goal is to relax and maybe see a few interesting places and try some new things, then it can be a good choice.

Personally, I would even consider a repositioning cruise since to me a vacation does not require constantly being on the go and seeing new thing.

67

Different strokes for different folks. But as far as the tour packages by air or train, cruises have huge advantage over them (IMO) because you only have to unpack once, and then you sleep in the same bed, in the same room, every night while still experiencing a different city every day.

68

We do a music themed cruise 2X a year. Almost a 7 day, 24 hr. a day concert-lots of venues, lots of music playing all over the ship, several shows simultaneously. Food, relaxing, listening to music, we love it. There are themed cruises available to most interests, I think. Well, maybe not mountain climbing or horseback riding, but then again, IDK

69

I’ve never been on a cruise and have zero desire to go on one, as I am very confident I would not enjoy the experience. I can’t think of a single thing I would like about it:

  • I am not a foodie; I don’t care about fancy/gourmet food & drinks.
  • I am not one to lounge around and read or whatever.
  • I don’t gamble.
  • I hate crowds.
  • I hate entertainment shows.
  • I don’t like the feeling of being stuck; I like to be in control of where I’m going.
  • I hate touristy stuff.
70

While creating a relationship with your stateroom hosts and waitstaff and bartenders and the other people who make your life comfortable.

It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but a lot of people like showing up at a bar and having someone as if you want “the usual” There aren’t a lot of places you get that sort of service any longer, cruises tend to be one.

Similarly, a lot of people don’t like having to dress for dinner on a ship - and ships have gotten much more casual. But for some people, dressing for dinner is one of the reasons they cruise. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for a middle age middle class woman to put on a formal gown and have her husband look great in a tux - cruising provides one.

71

Yes I enjoy my cruises.

The 5 to 10K yes I do miss it. But my budget has an amount set pack each month for travel. Also as we both retired and still do vacation relief work. This is extra unbudgeted money, fun money. I put most of that money into the travel budget.

The staff on most ships are very good. do you like going out to dinner at a restraint? Do you enjoy the service? Same thing. It is nice just to get up shower dress and go out. No worries. eat what you want when you want. Kick back and do nothing. Or do many of the activities on the ship. When you come home after a long cruise it is hard to get back into the grind. Make the bed, prepare meals, shop for food, and entertainment is TV or drive to a movie.

Did we enjoy the huge cruise ship. You bet we did. I thought it was going to be too big like going to a tourist trap. But it was great. Two large show rooms with different shows and entertainment. Several bar lounges with something going on through out the day. Our favorate the the crooners lounge. The singer there was a great entertainer. He could really work the small crowd. My wife and I referred to him as the piano man. My wife did enjoy the shopping, but she always does.

Was sex better at sea. Sex is always nice in a different environment.

We choose to do the formal dinner in the restaurant. Same time every night, same people, same wait staff. 10 strangers served by 2 strangers the 1st night. By the last night 12 friends. When we were in port at dinner time we missed having dinner together. We shared some wonderful stories and laughed a lot.

And the were the tour events in port, they were a lot of fun and a learning experience. Yes they do cost extra. But if arranged by the shipping company they are normally good.

If you ever go on a 7 day cruise I bet you will want to go again.
But if you go I a suggestion. Do not get an inside cabin. My brother did on his first cruise. He felt like going to his room was like going to the dungeon. Start with a room with a window. I like the A deck, you are just above the water line and in a storm the waves come up to your window. A room with a window is extra cost, but worth it. Next is a room with a balcony. We did not use it much as we thought we would but it was nice to step out into the sea air, and the door could be left open at night if we wanted to.

72

Carnival is now my last choice. Staff and entertainment are better on many other lines. Also less chance of break down.

73

I think the problem runs deeper than just breaking down: Carnival Cruise Line - Wikipedia

Plus I’ve noticed a lot of brand new large cruise ships make the rounds to the Med and New York and the Caribbean and then head straight for China. I search the new ships after they get there and find the prices are lower and the days are for like five (5) instead of seven day cruises.

74

Our family has been on five Disney cruises, and we’re going on a sixth in May.

One of the things we like about cruises is that the ship repositions in the evening and night, so every morning, you’re coming into a new port. On a Mediterranean cruise, we toured Nice, Pisa/Florence, Rome, and Pompeii this way. This particular cruise was also a way to help my wife be less apprehensive about traveling in Europe for the first time–she’s not the most adventurous type.

Cruises can also be a nice way to travel with family, which we’ve done several times now. Everybody can do their own thing during the day, and we all meet for dinner and the show at night.

Disney cruise ships don’t have casinos, which is fine with us since we don’t gamble. Also, smoking is not allowed anywhere inside the ship.

On Disney ships, unlimited coffee and soda is included. Alcohol (and specialty coffee drinks) are extra, but they do allow you to bring beer, wine, and bottled water on board with you.

One downside of a cruise is the potential environmental impact (though for a fair comparison, a cruise ship should be compared to the environmental impact of a land-based resort serving a comparable number of people, as well as the environmental impact of transporting people to that resort by other means, such as by air). I do think that it’s important that the cruise industry be required to meet environmental regulations.

Another downside is the potential exploitation by the cruise line industry of its labor force, but I don’t see how those people would be somehow better off if the cruise industry were to disappear. Note that this is a problem with travel to any developing country.

75

To pound on my drum.

Carnival is flagged under Panama registry. Which means lower level of inspection of ship. Lower level of testing of the officers. And lower pay.

I stumbled onto a sight for hiring officers on foreign flag ships. The Chief Engineer wage was in the $5,000 a month range a third was around $1,800 a month. This is for the Liciensed officers.

76

Well…
If 4999 of them are healthy, lonely, divorce, post menopausal females.
And if they suffer from blindness, i could be a hot commodity, yes sir

77

Party pooper

78

A friend of ours and her SO invited my husband and I on a cruise at the end of 2017/beginning of 2018. They’ve taken three so far and fell in love with the inclusiveness of it. As somebody upthread mentioned, a cruise is a boon if one cannot get around much; our friend has a heart condition and is literally forbidden to sustain any kind of exertion. She doesn’t have to exert anything on a cruise.

We’ve never been on a cruise. My husband likes being very much in control of where he’s going (he’s a huge road trip fan) nor doesn’t like lounging around for a sustained length of time. OTOH I like having a variety of things at my beck and call whether or not I actually use any of them.

It’ll be interesting.

79

I suppose a family of 4 going on a long or specialty cruise during a holiday might rack up this much. But otherwise I’d like o know where you’re getting this amount.

Some of my [del]outlaws[/del] inlaws go on cruises at least 6 times per year. They live in Boca Raton so they’re only about 20 minutes away from the port. So they don’t pay for flying anywhere. They are retired so they can go whenever they want. They don’t go during high season or holidays. Because of this and a few other deals they take advantage of a 3-5 day cruise usually costs them under $300 each. That’s a crazy deal for a week of food and travel. They’ve been to every place imaginable in the Caribbean and Mexico.

My wife and I have been on a few cruises. We don’t really like being on other peoples time schedule when we travel so it’s not something we do a whole lot of. Back in the 80’s we went to Europe several times with tour groups. The last couple of years we went back but on our own. Enjoy that much more.

80

Carnival, out of Galveston, going to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.
Leaving 2/25.

It is a cruise for our 25th anniversary.

See ya there.