Would you take a cruise? I would not. I don’t care how many commercials they push at me. Nothing about the experience is appealing.
Cruises kill. First, they kill the environment. Imagine how much energy is required to move a city across the ocean. Second, it kills the tourism sector. According to store owners I spoke with in Puerto Rico, cruise passengers spend the least amount of money compared to other tourists. Passengers have no incentive to eat because they can stuff their faces on the boat. They do not stay at the hotels because they are in their underwater state room. They don’t book excursions because the ship provides them. Third, cruises kill adventure. The fun of traveling is not planning and not knowing what is going to happen next. Who wants to be on a set itinerary?
Finally, cruises kill my fun. It was a Tuesday in Roatan. The beach was swamped with people, killing the tranquility of the beach. Where did this crowd come from? A cruise, of course. Hours later, the invasion ended and the beach went back to being beautiful.
Cruises kill. Just say no.
I would never step foot on a cruise, find the idea totally unappealing in every way, and have zero interest. Nor would I recommend it to anybody in less than perfect health having had a friend with a heart condition die when he needed treatment and the cruise just left him off at the nearest port with it’s crappy third world hospital.
But imagine how much more crowded the rest of the tourism infrastructure would be if all the people on cruise ships realized how awful cruising was. It would make the rest of the world’s tourist sites far more crowded. So let them enjoy their cruising . . . far away from me.
Yes! Stay on your boat and enjoy the buffets.
I’ve taken lunch cruises on the Potomac, Lake Champlain and the Bay of Naples. 2-3 hours on small “ships”. Beautiful scenery and decent food. More than enough for me.
So I’m not the only one who saw the Poseidon Adventure when I was little and thought the wave was the hero?
You’re one of few people on this World Wide Web.
Obviously cruising isn’t for everyone, and it’s true you don’t get any real feel for any port that you visit. But I will say they have their place in the panoply of travel.
If your main goal is simply to kick it with some friends in an environment where everyone can either do their own thing or hang out together while food and entertainment are included, it ain’t a bad way to go about it. Plus, let’s face it, folks get down on cruises. Something about a small city coming together and everyone going their own way after a week, I guess.
All that said it’s been a hot minute since I’ve chosen to go on one, but back in the day when funds were tight it was a fun and cheap way to wyle out and spend a week in nice weather.
That’s the best case that can give given for cruises.
We did a few large ships but stopped years ago and will never go back. However, we’ve successfully used small cruise ships to visit parts of the world that we could never efficiently reach by air or land. Cruises can also be useful for reunions of friends, families, veterans, alumni, affinity groups, etc. because 100% of the time is enjoyed with visiting and shared activities instead of people constantly needing to arrange for lodging, transportation, and restaurant reservations on land. Plus, participants with disabilities are accommodated and able to fully participate. And the entire cost for each participant is either inclusive, or automatically added to their own account. It’s not like a multi-day gathering where everyone is constantly having to divide up the restaurant tabs and process their credit cards. Big bonus: nobody has to drive.
We like to do a tour (usually by hiring the driver that took us from the airport to our hotel) of whatever island we are visiting.
I always check this website before picking the day we will be driving around the island.
https://www.cruisemapper.com/
If there are ships in town, stay at your beach as the roads and attractions will be swamped with cruisers.