Cruises are incredibly fun, and they’re really like no other vacation. Cruises may not be right for everyone, but for most people, there is probably a cruise that works.
See the World
The first thing someone might notice when they look at the ship itinerary is all the stops. This is great because you’ll get to see all those places!
The caveat is that you only get to see them for ten hours or so.
In this way, I see cruises as a vacation sampler, where I get to see a lot of places and decide to where I’d like to return. For instance, my ten hours in Florence convinced me that I will definitely return! There are other locations where returning is less of a priority.
A cruise is a great opportunity to see some places you may not choose for a standalone vacation. For instance, it’s often hard to visit Marseilles, France, and without knowing enough about it, there wouldn’t be as much reason to go there. But after ten hour visits to several places, I may decide to make a 10-day holiday out of Marseilles, Nice, and Monaco.
Big Ship
Most people don’t know how big cruise ships are. I’m sure you’ve heard that they’re floating cities, and that’s true. I tend to prefer the largest of the giant ships because they have the revenue base to offer a larger variety of activities.
The bigger ships by default have more dining options, more entertainment, and more amenities. For instance, the biggest ship I’ve taken had laser tag and go-karts, whereas the smaller one had only a climbing wall.
And yes, that wasn’t fair, since there is only one ship has go-karts and a laser tag arena.
Amenities
Besides luxurious rooms, which depend on your purchase, there are amenities available for everyone. Each ship has several restaurants. Knowing that variety is key, the menus change daily for dinner, and each restaurant, bar, or lounge has a different menu for your palate and a different atmosphere for your mood.
There are duty-free stores on every ship. They sell souvenirs and necessities (often at inflated prices, though medicine is usually reasonably priced because they need you to stay healthy), and there are jewelers, clothiers, and technology vendors as well.
If you like variety, you wouldn’t believe how happy you could be on one ship.
Entertainment
Cruise ships have a wide assortment of entertainment. From art presentations to Zorro movies (A to Z), there is something for everyone.
For the knowledge-seeking type of person, there are many opportunities to learn. I haven’t been on a ship that doesn’t have an art gallery that sells, auctions, and educates about art. These events are always free to attend, and often they’ll string you in by offering free mimosas. Or perhaps you would enjoy wine pairing demonstrations or wine tastings. They have those, too.
For those of you who love live music, in the evening, there are always one to three soloists or small groups performing on a stage, in a piano bar, or in one of the restaurants or lounges. Sometimes people dance, even when I’m not there.
Ships show movies most evenings as well. If the weather is nice, the movies will play outside. If not, they play indoors in a large, open atrium.
The pinnacle presentations, the most enhanced, excellent entertainment, are the evening headliner shows performed in the ship’s large theater. These are often big-name Broadway musicals, usually abridged to about 90 minutes.
To bridge the gap between the watcher and doer, the cruise may have a nightly game show. While the vast majority of people will be content to watch, those bold enough to risk embarrassment in front of 200+ people can enter their name to be a contestant. On my last cruise, there was only one time when my name was not drawn. I’m guessing your odds of being chosen are pretty good if you’re a guy. Or if you’re me.
Activities
If you’re the kind of person who likes to keep your hands occupied, cruises have so many options that you will never get bored. There are constant activities for the doer.
If you’re afraid that the bottomless food and beverage will cause you to become a little out of shape, you can try limiting your indulgences, or you can go to the daily yoga, exercise, or other fitness classes. While those all tend to be held in the morning, the ship’s gym is open for about 20 hours each day, and there’s a running track, too.
In addition to fitness centers, many ships have waterslides, climbing walls, zip-lines, or other fun features. Low-intensity activities include card tournaments, either poker in the casino or bridge, and karaoke, dance classes, and dancing. In fact, there is awesome dancing almost every night.
Excursions & Adventures
At each stop, called a port, you will have the opportunity to take a cruise-designated excursion. These are cruise-line-endorsed outings that you will attend with fellow passengers. You’ll have a large menu of items to see or experience, depending on your preferences. Some excursions are content-focused, to see a site or city in a traditional tour-guide sort of way, whereas some focus on an experience, such as snorkeling, hiking, or shopping. In my experience, most cruise-designated excursions are experience-focused, and I’ve been pretty happy with them.
Excursions are also perfect if you haven’t had a chance to research a stop. Just hop on an excursion to get a taste of that port!
Excursions often range in price from $50 to $150. The more unique or intense ones (scuba diving, rock climbing, etc.) will cost more. They are priced to seem reasonable, and individually, no one excursion is expensive. However, $100 here and $150 there, over an eight-day cruise, doubled if you’re traveling with someone, can add up fast!
In many ports, you also have the option of hiring a driver and seeing what you want to see without the group holding you up. This may be the best option if you know exactly what you want to see. You may also find third-party excursions on discount websites. These can often save money, but you are responsible for returning to the ship on time. The advantage of a cruise-designated excursion is that the ship will wait for you, and there is usually a crew member with the group to communicate. It’s also nice because if the ship skips a port due to bad weather, as happened to me in George Town, Cayman Islands, you don’t have to deal with refunds or other hassles.
You also have the option of just getting off the ship and walking around. If none of the excursions sound particularly worth the money, or if it’s a small, cute town and you just want to wander, this is a perfectly wonderful option. I really wanted to explore the neat town of Ponta Delgada in the Azores instead of checking out the volcanic springs, which I’ve left for a future trip.
Exploring on your own is also the default option if you were dancing too late the night before, didn’t book any excursions, and accidentally sleep-in, such as when I arrived in Naples after a day at sea.
Enjoying the Ship
You paid a lot of money for a large, luxurious ship. Do you want to spend the majority of your time on the ship just sleeping?
On a typical day, you will be wake-up, breakfast, go out on a port, come back to the ship, have an hour or two of R&R when few activities are happening, eat dinner, see a show, and do a little dancing. Then on the next day, you do it all again!
If you want to actually enjoy the amenities of a ship, there’s only one option: transatlantic cruising. It’s a two-week vacation. I took it so I couldn’t run around and see things.
Don’t worry, you won’t feel trapped on these monstrous ships! If you take a transatlantic, you may make a few good friends and some wonderful memories.
Cruise Market
Generally, longer cruises have mostly retired passengers. This is, of course, because people who work are afraid to take all their vacation at once. The PTO arrangement is restricting and the number-one reason to be self-employed.
Those who are not retired are either successful, on disability of some kind, or, like me, absolutely ridiculous.
Shorter cruises, especially those during spring break and summer or that advertise “free unlimited beverages for everyone,” are likely to be full of only the most mature young people. I’ve heard these trips referred to as “booze cruises.”
There are also different cruise lines for different markets. You can expect to see more families on a Disney Cruise than on a Norwegian Cruise.
Cruises should be more popular with younger travelers, but that will depend on whether the cruise lines continue to adjust their offerings to a younger, single market.
Overall
Cruises make for a great vacation. A cruise ship is a huge, floating city offering tons of amenities, many kinds of entertainment, a lot of ways to stay active and engaged, and a great, easy way to see the world. In fact, there is so much to do on a ship that you may not be able to see it all on a regular, destination-based cruise; you might want to schedule a longer cruise with more days at sea in order to see the ship.
Of course, to take in the full cruise experience, variety is best. Take several to learn your preferences in activities, cruise line, and destinations so you can consistently take the best cruise possible.
