Its all about cruising.. I started writing this and the Carnival Cruise disaster (about the disabled ship on the Gulf of Mexico) was all over the news. After what happened recently, its natural to be wary of it . As most analysts are pointing out, with the influx in the cruising industry , incidents such as these are like a minor hiccup caused mainly due to the increased demand and decreased time for maintenance . Hopefully the regulations get more stringent like those in the aviation industry and something better comes out of this. Having said that, I hope this doesn't put a dampener on this wonderful way of seeing the world.
There are three categories of people.. yes I said three..1) There are those that have been on a cruise, love it and do it frequently, 2) there are those that did it once just to see what the hoopla is all about but are not sure if they'd do it again because they either had a bad experience or did not enjoy it as much as they had initially thought they would and 3) people that are skeptical about the whole concept of cruising. Everyone falls under one of these three categories.
We were from the third category. We had a million reasons (well not exactly a million, but you get the point !) why we weren't cruising. The biggest and the most favorite ones were : Im hydro phobic, its for old retired junta , its all about beach hopping (what is so different about the beaches u goto by ship vs by road ???) , We won't have fun unless we go with family and friends as one Big group (as if the ship would otherwise be empty !) and the list goes on… Of course cost of a vacation being exponentially high was another theory we believed in .
If you are wondering what changed ~ We went from third category straight to the first. We took the plunge and cruised after lots of cajoling by well meaning friends (especially L) who were avid cruisers with lots of trips under their belt. We were skeptical, but nevertheless decided to try it out. As you can see, we are happy we did ! We had our maiden Voyage in the worlds largest cruise ship- the Oasis of the Seas and the experience completely blew us away and now after all these years I can safely say we are experienced cruisers.
Let me take some time to revisit our initial skepticism about cruising for the benefit of first timers.
Hydro phobiacs - for most part we don't feel we are in the water (except if the water is too choppy) because these things are truly floating cities ! Yup these things are HUGE with so much to do onboard. For example on the Oasis of the seas we had a Central Park with shrubs trees and all..
Not everybody is beach hopper. While Beach hoppers hang by the beach and water, the explorers can use that time to explore the port of call (or a city thats close by) on their own or using the organized tours by these companies (The idea is to get back on board before your ship leaves port !).
Cruising is like picking from a huge buffet given the number of itineraries, all these companies offer. If the destination warrants some more exploring, then it can always be revisited at a later time. The fun aspect is, to visit places without worrying about where to go, what to do, where to stay and what to eat. All that is pre-determined as we book our trip.
The good thing about all this is we don't have to wait for like minded people we know, to join us on the trip. Though complete strangers the ship is full of such people ( thats the reason all of us are on the same boat !). In our experience we have come back from a trip making great friends.
As for the cost of a vacation, pretty much like any other form of vacation, it totally depends on whether you want to spend or splurge..The price difference is determined by a number of factors such as
- the number of nights ,
- the cruise tour company (Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian, Disney to name a few),
- the state room you pick,
- if you choose to eat in one of the speciality restaurants vs. the ton's of free food available on board and
- how much you drink .. yes.. (this is where these operators make money so we have to pay for the drinks over and above the price we paid for the trip).
Did I mention, no outside food, water or beverage is allowed on board (can't say for other companies as we haven't tried them but this is especially true for Royal Caribbean). This is for our protection and everyone else on board . Having said that ,we can shop for alcohol at any port of call. It is usually confiscated when we get on board only to be returned to us at our final destination as we disembark. For those in the second category, I hope you give it another chance , perhaps with a different company because despite these minor irritants, this is one of the most amazing experiences full of variety- all of which is packed into a bundle to make it Your vacation.
Besides the itinerary, the cruise ship offers a plethora of things for everybody on board from Musical Productions, to Zip Lining (yup in the middle of the ocean) , Rock Climbing (while the ship is steadily chugging along in the middle of some sea or ocean), Flowrider Surfing (on board) , Mini Golf Carousel , Basket Ball, Library, Speciality classes (like gemology, food & wine classes ), Swimming, Sauna and Spa to name a few. For me (besides all these) its all about trying to spot a marine life in the vastness of the Ocean.
I do highly recommend some quite time to sit and watch the wake your ship creates. With lands off in the distance and the vastness of the seas its a sight to behold especially as evening approaches . There is something very calm yet sinister about the Ocean, and it was these that man set sail to cross and conquer. So its all about cruising..
