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I could see a luxury river barge (< 30 passengers) through Europe.
But a cruise ship with a bunch of assholes? No way.
Or one of those pre-paid “all expenses included” resorts? No fookin way.
Cruise ships are like having a wedding planner. I don’t rely upon others to control my itinerary or meals or entertainment or spacing.
I am Jason Bourne when I travel.
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Our one Caribbean cruise was with eight families. I hated the cruise part of it (and the ports sucked), but I'll admit that it worked for a group that size.
Travel should be a bouquet of experiences. Self-guided is our favorite, but sometimes it is not the best way to do some things.
For example, a cruise makes sense if it is taking you to places that would be extremely difficult to travel to by land. Once cruise we took hit Pompeii (Naples), Sicily, Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, Rhodes and Ephesus (Turkey). It was sandwiched around a land week in Italy (Rome and Orvieto). It would have been literally impossible to hit all those otherwise in one trip. Another cruise we took hit the Baltic, including Russia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Estonia. Those simply aren't easy to do by land. Cruising around shitty touristy ports in the Caribbean? Yeah, I agree with you.
All-Inclusive resorts make sense if a) there are things to see in the area that you can't see anywhere else (Chichen Itza, Arenal Volcano); b) it is a higher-crime country with shitty water. They have to be couples only, too.
Also, self-guided (foreign) travel requires a lot of energy (figuring out transportation, dining, hotels, things to see). If you go on a few trips a year, throwing in an all-inclusive once in a while can be a nice change of pace.
Some are on the big rivers. Smaller ones go through Burgundy, etc. I'm on board with that, so to speak. Haven't done one yet, but the wife and I have been thinking about it.
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Traveling to places (by train or car) in Europe is extremely easy. You now have all the shitty parts of a cruise (lack of exposure to daily life, lack of restaurant choices, and lack of spontaneity, old people), and little of the good.
I don't really know.
You make a good point, though. I just figured it would be fun to sit on top, sip some wine, watch the scenery (cliffs, castles, farmland) slip buy...stop in various cities...not have to pack a bag between cities, as your hotel room moves with you. Maybe that would get old after a day or two...dunno.
With the possible exception of Budapest, that stuff is a pretty deep dive. I suppose if you need to tick those countries off the list, then that could well be the way to go.
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So did I.
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When I travel I prefer to be as far the masses as possible.
Even before the current outbreak, I just never understood the attraction. Crammed into a germ-infested, tiny space with thousands of lard-asses lined up for endless all you can eat buffets? It's like Homer Simpson on the seas. Sign me up!
But yeah, just generalize the people as obese and nothing but buffets on the cruise. It's like every other vacation spot. Not for everyone and easy to poke fun at when you don't like it.
Flying for a few hours is not analogous to spending a week at sea.
Flying is often a necessity. Joining thousands of others on a boat is not.
But the 24/7 buffets are great!
of many ports. Particularly islands throughout the Caribbean and elsewhere that will revert to a state of extreme poverty without the visitors.
Kingston St. Marteen already have the tourist dollars from the resort industry - Many towns would love not to have the ships float in.
as towns people don't like the onslaught of humanity daily. Towns of a few thousand increase their population when 6K drop in for
a few hours. Some Islands only allow the ships on certain days now instead of the steady daily embark - debark routine.
Sure, there are probably some ports that really, really need the trade but they're few and far between. Mostly the ships degrade the towns they
supply goers to.
I've never understood the modern cruise line industry nor the people who frequent the cruise world - There is only one ship in the world I'd
cruise on and I'd only do it once for a short time - MS The World.
be greatly missed by some...though not by me.
Agree on Alaska and riverboat cruises.
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The islands are a great place to see and we have met some incredible people through private tours and just finding our way around the islands ourselves. We get it's not for everyone but for both Islanders and the crew itself, the industry is the life blood (like you said). But it won't be missed, uh huh.
Never been on a cruise and never will. Likewise, we loathe the idea of doing any guided tours or all-inclusive places. We like to plan everything ourselves and have no set agenda. Let our travels evolve organically. I can see it for older people though.
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And the world is filled with the lazy.
Family vacations (not cruises) if well planned can still be difficult when in progress and there are many things, unexpected things that can alter plans. With curising, only missing the boat
is the big mistake until the Norovirus hits a ship, then it can get unpleasant for some.
When cruising these days you're on a ship with no less than 5thousand of your closest friends all day every day for the duration of the cruise. Debark and embark on command
What people who cruise don't realize is. those ships even thought they are constantly being cleaned, they are a never ending cycle of people business and they are never really
clean. The sun never sees the inside of a ship, they just can never be cleaned fully - healthfully.
They are entertainment all day long - Just mindless stuff all day long.
So, I doubt it will be the end of cruising but it's possible the rules of health will change but not the people who cruise.
Treasure our family vacations at resorts such as Skytop. We also have had basic cabins in the Rockies at others. Sunset over the Continental Divide is the bee’s knees at 7K feet. Or an island cottage in Maine. Nuttin fancy. Nothing funner as the prez would say.
Cruises, in the Atlantic, nah. Disney was bad enough.
We have taken cruises each of the last 3 years and have another booked in December. It's a time I know I can step on a ship, throw our phones in the safe and not touch them until we get off. It's the best interrupted family time we have. My kids have seen different cultures on the islands we have visited and it's opened their eyes to how others live.
We have tried different vacations types and the cruise works best for us. No worries of anything for meals and drinks. We cruise with NCL so we eat when we want. We have choices of different places to see. I get its not for everyone but the sold out cruises and the boards I read tell me it would be missed.
You have to make choices that work for everyone...where the kids will interact without fighting, just for example.
We used to do a mostly included resort every year...actually, "resort" is a strong word for a rustic back woods lodge with limited cell coverage and school cafeteria style food...but the kids loved it, and they ran free all around the extensive property with their cousins (swimming, boating, horses, hikes, campfires, and just being free to invent your own play, which so many kids, it seems, don't do these days...). I'm sure people could make fun of that place, since it was a bit low brow...it was not for everyone, but it worked great for our family. Few things better than being able to relax, knowing that even if your kids are out of sight, they are safe and enjoying unstructured play time with extended family, building familial relationships that this mobile society seems to work against.
I know the phones won't be out at dinner. We don't get the WiFi package. We stay away from buffets and eat at the main restaurants. The deal I have with the kids is they have to try something new each night. Something they wouldn't normally order. The crew is also from different parts of the world and we have met some really interesting people.
My daughter likes visiting ports the best and we like prefer sea days. We get a mix in each one. They have been to more places then I ever was growing up. You can only go to Wildwood so many times. Once they moved on from their Disney phase, we needed something else. I found having no access to my phone is the only way I leave work alone.
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