Top Ten Reasons to Cruise by Erica Silverstein
Published Thursday, December 12th 2013#1: A Cruise Vacation Offers Great Value
Cruises offer great value for your vacation dollar because the fares include nearly everything you'll need for a fantastic trip: food, accommodations, daytime and evening entertainment and transportation between travel destinations.
#2: See Multiple Destinations, Unpack Only Once
On a cruise, you unpack once and your floating hotel takes you from city to city or from island to island and there's no need to mess with train or ferry schedules, or lug your suitcase along cobblestone streets. Every morning, you'll wake up in a new place. Can't decide between St. Lucia and Barbados, or Italy or Spain? Why choose? Pick an itinerary that visits all the cities on your wish list.
#3: Cruise Ships are Family Friendly
From tots to teens, grandparents to grandkids, family cruises are fun for all ages. How can you not love a trip that features video games and swimming pools, while offering time for families to be together at dinner or onshore excursions? And parents can even sneak in a romantic dinner alone, by taking advantage of late-night hours in the kids' club.
#4: Cruise Ships Come in All Shapes and Sizes
The ideal cruise ship for one person may be a mega-ship outfitted with on-board rock-climbing walls and outdoor movie theaters, while another will prefer an intimate ship with an upscale ambience and someone else will want the seafaring experience of a masted tall sailing ship. Luckily, all those different types of cruise ships exist.
#5: Ships Offer a Variety of On-board Activities
Today's cruise ships are designed to keep everyone happy. Want to pamper yourself at the spa while your spouse hits the casino? Or lounge in the sun reading a book while your family plays basketball. And if all you want to do is nothing while the ship sails from port to port you can do that, too.
#6: Cruise Vacations are Easy to Plan
Because cruise vacations package together transportation and accommodations, they're very easy to plan. Pick your ship, itinerary and cabin, and away you go -- no searching for hotels in your price range, no coordinating travel between cities. You can even get your travel agent to arrange your airfare for you.
#7: Ships Are Floating Cities
If you're concerned about being stranded in the middle of the ocean, relax. Cruise ships are like floating cities with everything you could possibly want on-board. Today's vessels are outfitted with Wi-Fi, cell service and satellite TV so you can stay in touch with the real world during your cruise (if you even want to). Of course, there's also the fun stuff like gyms, multiple restaurants, movie screens, spas, swimming pools, theaters and discos. And in the rare emergency, there are always enough lifeboats for everyone on-board.
#8: Plan an Exotic Vacation
Always wanted to visit Asia but are nervous about the language barrier? Curious about the Middle East, but nervous about country customs? A cruise is one of the best ways to see the most exotic and foreign destinations in the world in an easy way. If you're uncomfortable with independent sightseeing in a new locale, simply take a ship's tour with English-speaking guides.
#9: Cruising Is Romantic
Anyone who's watched "The Love Boat" knows that there's a romance to sea travel. The wind in your hair, the vistas of endless ocean, the stars twinkling above, all may be clichés but they're real experiences on-board! If you want to rekindle the spark with your sweetie, a cruise vacation provides plenty of together time -- sharing side-by-side lounge chairs by the pool, a table for two at dinner, dancing in the evening or sharing quality time onshore.
#10: Cruising is Social
If you love to meet people from around the country -- and the world -- cruising provides a wonderful opportunity to make new friends. On-board, you'll meet people at your dinner table, at the piano bar or by the pool. The person seated next to you might be from Paris, Texas, or Paris, France; London, Ontario, or London, England. Kids can find playmates their own age during youth activities, so they're not always with adults or their older or younger siblings. Looking for Mr. or Ms. Right? We have proof that many long-term relationships begin during a vacation at sea.
