View Single Post
  #40  
Old September 24th, 2007, 07:48 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
-hh
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 420
Default Why do you cruise?

"Diana Ball" wrote:
"Anka" wrote in message

What is your #1 reason for cruising, as opposed to land touring?


We do a lot of land travel.


Same here, although its worth saying "more land travel than cruising".

We opt to cruise for three kinds of trips: (1) coastline explorations
that would be logistically challenging to achieve by land,
e.g., Alaska;


and e.g., Galapagos.

This is the #1 reason for us as well, and it should be pointed out
that cost is not really a factor - its the "impossible becomes
possible".

(2) "big picture" trips, where taking a ship to get a taste of an
entire region is easier than covering the same territory by
land, e.g., the Med or the Baltics;


e.g., Hawaiian islands, French Polynesia, etc.

This is a consideration too, particularly in light of the alternative
of packing and moving every ~2 days. Nevertheless, it can depend on
how it is done and what the trip's purpose is: it clearly works for
the "big picture", but doesn't necessarily make the grade when the
activity of interest is more land-intensive, such as hiking, snow
skiiing, etc.


(3) vacations, i.e., trips that are just for fun and relaxation.
As for that third category--vacations--I've run the numbers
many times, and for our party of four, cruising is almost
always a far better value than any comparable land vacation.
Consequently, I'd have to say our #1 reason for choosing
cruise vs. land vacations is bang for the buck.


Generally, the comparison of costs isn't a factor at all for us at
all. I don't dispute that cruises are highly affordable, and while I
enjoy spending some time on a teak deck, I find that I also enjoy
nighttime solitude and silence (not unlike the "Rose is Rose" comics
character, Jimbo Gumbo, who enjoys gazing up at the stars when taking
out the trash at night).

Case in point: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2smpqy
(Can't ever see the stars shine like this down at sea level).


-hh