Hello all!

This post is inspired by a cruise client (hopefully!) with whom I just had a long conversation. She and her family have never cruised, and she wanted to get the lowdown on cruising before they booked anything. For over an hour, I think she went through every possible problem and concern that might arise.

So I extend the conversation to you:
If you've never cruised, what are some of the reasons why?
If you have cruised, what concerns might you have about future trips?

Feel free to include stories, too!

I am sorry to say that I, an avid traveler, just took the plunge and went on my first cruise - a 20 day trip that started in Venice, touched upon several Greek islands, Turkey, Croatia and ended near Rome. I will admit that it was the best way to get to all of the islands I cruised to, but in the end, I have vowed to never cruise again (if possible).

We were on a great ship, the Princess Star Princess. Service and features were all outstanding. The food was better than expected. But I felt like a tourist, not a traveler. I felt like we were invading each location when we landed. Also, we missed one of the best stops, Mykonos, because of bad weather, and had to do an additional day at sea - I guess this is quite common. I felt trapped during the days at sea. I missed walking the towns at night.

I hope that helps.

My husband and I have a big anniversary coming up. We'd thought of a cruise but decided not to for some of the reasons you mentioned. We'd rather spend the money going someplace special and seeing the sites there.

Thanks for your candid review, Star.

Sadly, you do hear that complaint all too frequently, especially on the big cruise lines.

If you do ever want to try cruising again, try one of the little ships that hits the smaller ports. They also tend to stay overnight in numerous ports, so you get to experience the nightlife in town.

I loved the cruises I have been on. I felt secure in the knowledge that we had reliable food and accomodation waiting for us on the ship while we visited different places.

If the weather is nice, I love being on the cruise ship with so much to do so missing a stop wouldn't make me feel cooped up at all unless it was a stop I was dead set on visiting.

I think its a nice way to become acquainted with places and then if you like them, you can come back later and spend MORE time there.

I agree! Cruises are a great way to sample many destinations and find places you love and want to return to for a longer land-based vacation. There are some wonderful shore excursions now that really allow you to connect with the destinations and experience a sense of place. I just experienced that on my most recent Western Caribbean cruise. I'll post some new articles about that soon.

A key benefit of cruises is that you can easily sample a number of locations and "travel while you sleep". So it is an entirely different type of travel than going somewhere and "plunking" there for a week solid (in most cases).

So for example we wanted to go to Hawaii. If we went by plane and flew from island to island and stayed in a hotel on each one the cost would have been HUGE. Instead we took a cruise. Our "hotel room" moved with us, we didn't have to do any boarding or disembarking of airplanes or "waste time in travel". The boat traveled while we slept. We were able to fully maximize our daylight time at each island stop and see far more than we would have any other way.

If we at some point want to see more of the Big Island for example we can now go back and do that. But to do a similar "visit all the islands to see what each one is like" would have been incredibly expensive if done without a cruise ship.

This is not a concern as much as curiosity. My family (7 of us) is trying to decide exactly which cruise is best for all of us. It seems to come down to the cost of excursions AND the best shopping (and best shopping prices). Only one of us has ever cruised before. We are debating between a Barcelona based Mediterranean cruise and a Miami based Caribbean cruise. There are some shopaholics and treasure hunters among us, so this weighs fairly heavily on our decision. We are seven adults - no kids. We are not wealthy - this is a definite splurge - the first family vacation in almost 20 years (since the kids were quite small) and a celebration of our 30th anniversary. Any decision-making tips?? Thank you!

I think two reason for less cruise travelling are, One is Money (cruises are expensive) and 2nd Time (cruise need more time. Also due to non familiarity with cruises, decision is very difficult that which cruise is better for single, couples ,Gays.

Loved the cruises I went on, Carnival Fascination. I do wish I knew to change ships the second time around. The second time things were just like the first, as far as the shows were concerned. But, had a great time.

I will warn people not to drink the colas left in the rooms, Cost way too much, buy them somewhere else and drink them. The Cola Card is worth it, unless you just don't drink cokes. My favorite was the formal dining at night, oh, talk about wonderful food.

Very relaxing. I did not have money to do much excurtions, but I stayed busy.

Tina