Five Reasons You Should Take a Cruise Vacation

I can think of many reasons to take a cruise vacation; today I’d like to share my top five reasons you should take a cruise vacation.

I’ll bet if you talk to five or ten different people who enjoy cruising, you will get a variety of different answers as to why you should take a cruise vacation. One or more of the following five reasons will come up many times.

1. Taking a Cruise Vacation is So Easy!

Traveling by cruise ship is probably the easiest mode of travel you will find. Once you are on board, you unpack, and that’s it. Then, sit back enjoy spending time with your travel companions as you travel from port to port.

One of the things I like so much about cruising is the ease of getting from place to place. You don’t have to worry about getting from point A to point B, the captain of the ship takes on that responsibility. You don’t have to unpack and repack at every destination. During the time you would be traveling from one place to another, or packing and repacking, you now get to spend with those you are on vacation with. Once the ship pulls away from the pier, you can truly relax. Play cards, go see a show, go to the casino, dance, have a spa treatment, eat dinner, the option is yours!

I would wager that the most difficult part of your trip is getting to and from the cruise, especially if you must fly to the cruise port. Then the next most stressful part of the trip is embarkation (getting on the ship the first time).

Embarkation

I remember in my early days of cruising, you were just told what time the ship left the port. You would arrive and then wait until they had the ship ready before they began to process the next group of passengers. There were precious few seats, so it often made for a long wait.

The cruise lines have gotten better at telling people what time to arrive at the port for embarkation. If you can follow that advice, you will find your embarkation to be rather uneventful. With ships carrying up to 5,000 passengers, it really was a matter of necessity that they figured out a way to streamline the boarding process.

The Internet has really helped to expedite the embarkation process. Most every cruise line will have you pre-register well before your cruise date. You will enter in a lot of the pertinent information allowing for the customs and border patrol to have everyone pre-screened before embarkation. There are still a few cruises that you can take that do not require you to have a passport, but I highly recommend having one for any cruise, it will truly make things easier.

2. Budget Friendly

By budget friendly, I mean that you will know what you are going to spend on your vacation before you go. Your cruise will be paid in full before you even leave for your trip. There are additional fees, but you will know those before you leave home. At my travel agency, we used to say that about 80% of your trip was paid for before you leave home. Now there are a lot of options and add ons, but you can plan on them prior to your trip (in some cases you can even book them) with just a little planning.

Budgeting for the extras

For instance, gratuities; you are expected to pay gratuities to your stateroom steward (or stewardess) and the dining room staff. In the old days you would just place the gratuity in an envelope and hand it to the person at the end of the cruise. But, some people had a problem with setting money aside, so they asked the cruise lines to allow them to place the gratuity on their shipboard account.

The cruise lines liked this idea for a number of reasons (which I won’t go into here). Now, if you would like, you can even pre-pay your gratuities with your cruise payment.

Since we are talking about your budget, the amount you need to know is $15 per person per day. The suggested rates vary from cruise line to cruise line, so this is a rounded figure which will work for budgeting purposes. That means for a family of four, you should plan on $60 per day for gratuities.

If you want to book shore excursions, spa treatments or reservations for specialty dining rooms you can budget for these items. Bar purchases (which includes soft drinks and bottled water) can quickly add up. You might find a beverage package worth the cost. You can actually pre-book some of these items, but at the very least you can find the cost on the cruise line’s web site. Knowing the cost up front allows you to budget for those additional items.

3. Explore Multiple Destinations

This is why I love cruise vacations. Cruises allow you the opportunity to see numerous destinations on one trip. The number of destinations is limited by the length of the cruise. At the end of each day in port, your ship puts out to sea once again and sails off to the next destination. There are occasions when you might have a day or two at sea, depending on how far it is to the next port of call.

A three night cruise will typically stop at only one or two ports. A seven night cruise will usually have at least four ports of call. A lot depends on where the cruise begins and ends. A seven night cruise that sails roundtrip from San Juan, Puerto Rico, will typically have five ports of call, as Puerto Rico is already in the Caribbean islands. A seven night cruise out of Miami, Florida might only have three or four ports of call as travel to and from the Caribbean islands are necessary.

Variety of itineraries

There are people who look for cruises with multiple days at sea. They enjoy the on-board entertainment and activities. All the extra bells and whistles on a cruise ship are important to them. They are the reason that there are cruise ships with ice skating rinks, sky diving simulators and sports complexes complete with ropes courses.

The other type of cruiser looks for port intensive itineraries. They don’t need all the activities on the ship. These folks want to spend their cruise seeing as many different places as possible. When choosing a cruise, they look for destinations, what is available on the ship is secondary.

That’s the beauty of cruises, they appeal to multiple types of individuals.

4. Familiar Foods

I admit it, I am a picky eater. I don’t like onions or peppers, and you would be amazed at how many foods contain those two items. As a result, there are a lot of foods I won’t eat. But, trust me, on a cruise ship, it is not a problem.

There is always a variety of foods, no matter where you choose to eat. You can eat in the main dining room, the buffet, or the specialty restaurants. Or, there is always room service.

The wait staff is good about making sure that special orders are accommodated. Sometimes I’ll like the meat of an entrée and will order it without the sauce. Or, if I am not sure about the sauce, I’ll order it on the side.

There are children’s menus available for the younger crowd, although they are free to order from the regular menu. No one should have a problem with finding something to eat on board.

The land of unknown foods

But, here’s where the familiar foods come in. Remember, cruise ships sail all over the world. On a cruise to China, I realized how lucky I was to be staying on board a ship. Walking around the towns and looking at some of the restaurants, I am not so sure I could have eaten at any of them.

First of all, I had no idea what was on the menu. Secondly, when I saw some of the “live fish” in tanks outside of the restaurants, it sort of took my appetite away. They many of those fish were barely alive, and the smell was overwhelming. Those lobsters inside the tanks at Red Lobster have it way better than those fish did.

I felt better knowing that my cruise ship had foods familiar to me.

5. Wide Range of Cruise Lines

No matter what your budget, you should be able to find a cruise line that will meet your needs. No matter which cruise line you choose, you will find the ships have staterooms from basic to luxury suites. Just like hotel chains, there are cruise lines that are higher and lower priced, depending on the included amenities and services.

Wide range of prices

At the lower end of the price scale, there are cruise lines that include little more than the basics in the price of the cruise and you will pay as you go for additional items. Coffee, tea and water are provided at every meal (and juice with breakfast). If you want a fountain soda, or bottled water, you will have to pay for it. There might be a café on board that sells specialty coffees and pastries. The initial price of the cruise is low, and it’s up to you to determine what additional things you want to pay for. If you wish to eat at any of the specialty restaurants, there is an additional charge. Just think of these cruises like an a’ la carte restaurant, you only pay for what you want.

At the top end of the price scale, there are cruise lines that include just about everything. Some include airfare from select cities, shore excursions, alcoholic beverages, fountain drinks, bottled water, even specialty coffees.

Since the cruise lines do not own the spa’s (they simply lease space to spa companies) spa treatments are never included in the price of a cruise. However, some of the cruise lines will allow you to pre-purchase a spa package. And, of course the casino is always pay as you go!

Wide range of accommodations

Just like at a hotel, there are rooms that are more or less desirable, and are priced accordingly.

Typically, a standard stateroom can hold two, three or four people. In rare instances they will bring in a roll away bed to accommodate a fifth. The larger, more elegant suites might hold six or more people.

It’s all about what you can afford. Some people like to sail on the lower priced cruise line but choose the high-end rooms. Others will choose the high-end cruise line and stay in the lowest priced stateroom.

The bottom line is that no matter which level stateroom you choose, everyone utilizes the same public areas of the ship. Some of the newer ships do have certain areas that are available only to people who choose a stateroom of a certain level, but it is fairly limited, such as a particular lounge where the guests have evening cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. The only other difference is that sometimes the guest of the more expensive suites may receive head of the line privileges for getting on or off the ship.

The good news is that there are plenty of cruise lines that fall between the upper and lower ends of the price scale. With a little research you will be able to find one that meets your needs and budget.

5.5 Something for Everyone

Here’s my bonus reason to take a cruise vacation; there is something for everyone!

Cruises are great for couples, families and multigenerational travelers as well. There are programs specifically designed for children from toddlers to teens. Even adults will enjoy the recreational activities on board. Visit the dance clubs, jazz lounges, and nightly shows. For those looking to hit it big, there is always the casino. For those who need a little educational stimulation, there are enrichment lectures. Looking for some quite time to read a good book? Check out the library. It’s a cinch to find a place to be entertained while on board the ship!

The beauty of a cruise

Everyone does not have to do the same thing. Here’s what we did that worked really well. Every night at dinner we all ate together. Our dinner conversations always included who wanted to do what the next day. There were times when some people wanted to do one thing, and others were interested in something different. We arranged our groups for the next day, decided what time and where to meet and everyone was happy. This works when you are in port or at sea. Part of the group might want to do a spa day at sea, while others want to go to the sports complex. Some people might be interested in just lounging at the beach while others want to go to the butterfly farm. Everyone can be happy!

There you have it!

My top five reasons you should take a cruise vacation. If you have not been on a cruise before, I highly recommend that you stop in and see your favorite travel agent. There are many different cruise lines and they each have their own benefits and features.  Your travel agent will assist you with determining which cruise line and accommodations will best meet your needs.

What do you think? If you haven’t taken a cruise, did you find this post helpful? What other questions do you have about taking a cruise vacation? Let me know, I’ll be happy to address your questions.

Have you cruised before? I’d love to hear why you like to take cruise vacations.

Every great adventure begins as a dream.

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