Why Do We Love Cruising?

One of our absolute favorite ways to travel is a voyage on a cruise ship. We truly love cruising. You could say we are addicted even. Why though? Why does our serotonin level burst through the roof when we see the ship on the horizon, and when we first step foot on board. We love cruising because it, maybe more than any other form of travel, allows us to embody our motto of See, Seek, Sleep. Read along to figure out why we personally love to cruise!

See

Cruising truly embodies our See motto. The cruise ship in and of itself is something to behold. It genuinely is a destination. There is so much to See onboard. Most modern cruise ships boast theaters capable of supporting genuine Broadway shows. Expansive (and expensive) casinos with huge selections of game tables and machines. Increasingly large offerings of onboard activities, including sky diving, go carts, ice skating, and rock climbing frankly boggle the mind and make you forget you are on a cruise ship. Cruise ships also offer wonderful things to See and do for families. Most ships have awesome kids clubs - led by experienced and licensed staff, dedicated spaces for teens, and arcades for the whole family.

There aren’t just things to See aboard cruise ships. There are also people to See and meet. Some of the most cherished memories we have aboard cruise ships involve some of the magnificent friends that we have met on our journeys. For traditional dining, Cruise ships will seat travelers together for dinner and breakfast. You will have the opportunity to bond with your tablemates who come from all walks of life, and all over the world. You will meet people in the bars, at the shows, and during your port excursions that will all share in your journey with you. This is especially true of expedition cruises like those that travel to the Galapagos, the Arctic, or Antarctica. We have several groups of lifelong friends sailing the oceans together.

Seek

Cruising is a vacation like no other in that you are mobile. You are literally vacationing while you are traveling! No more long car rides between destinations or waiting at the airport to fly to your next spot. You can wrap up your evening in Santorini and then sip cocktails and dance the night away until you wake up in Athens. While it is true that you lose some flavor of the local region being in port for only 10-12 hours, you have the ability to seek out more destinations in a single trip. Take for example an 11 might Mediterranean cruise; your ship will stop in 7 cities from five different countries! There is no other mode of travel that will let you achieve this itinerary comfortably! Nothing can really beat the convenience of a cruise ship. You can book an excursion in each port and simply step off the ship and onto a bus (or into a private limo) and be whisked away for an amazing day, and be brought back to the ship in time for dinner. You can truly Seek an epic array of experiences, all without unpacking your suitcase.

Cruising can be an incredibly affordable vacation, and a great cost effective way to Seek out new places. Of course there are luxurious river cruises and exotic expedition trips that can cost an arm and a leg, but there are very affordable ways to cruise as well (read our blog post about finding the cheapest ways to cruise here). You can often cruise for less that 100$ per person per day, which is extremely reasonable when you remember the fare includes your travel, meals, entertainment, and activities. This is one of the big reasons we love to cruise. We can go on many cruises for the price of a few road trips or one international flight.

We also love cruises because they allow us to Seek out new experiences. The great thing about everything in your fare being included is that you can try new things without feeling guilty or wasting money. Been dying to try a new food? Order in onboard in one of the many restaurants! Itching to try a new drink? There are several bars with hundreds of unique concoctions! Not sure which Caribbean island you want to explore? Spend a day in 5 different ones! There really is not limit to the new experiences you can try aboard a cruise ship, not to mention the new experiences you can Seek out in your destinations. There is definitely a destination for everyone, not just those craving island life and sun. You can cruise around the Mediterranean, sipping the world’s most famous wine. You can cruise to Alaska, taking dog sled and glacier excursions. You can expedition to the Galapagos or Antarctica with a certified wildlife guide. The sky really is the limit. One of our favorite past cruises was a pacific coastal cruise on the west coast of the United States, a locale I never thought I would see via ship. We were able to explore San Francisco, Seattle, the Oregon coast, and Victoria, BC all without unpacking our suitcase.

Sleep

Of course cruising embodies are passion for unique places to Sleep! The entire ship is a unique place to sleep! Where else can you rest your head at night, among so many restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, and activities, all while moving forward to your next incredible destination? We have already talked about how convenient it is to have everything at your finger tips, but most of those things are available also in your own stateroom. Some of our best cruise memories are relaxing on our balcony, have room service dinner and sipping wine as the sun sets on the horizon, relaxing our aching feet after exploring all day. It really doesn’t get better than that.

Every ship also has unique cabins for everyone to Sleep. Of course there are your typical interior, balcony, and suite staterooms - but each line also feature their own unique staterooms. Some lines have rooms for solo travelers. Some lines have spa staterooms, with access to the ship’s most relaxing areas. Some lines have two story, multi room suites that have jacuzzies on the balcony. If you have money really burning a hole through your pocket - some ships even have areas where your stateroom gets you private access to dedicated spaces like bars, restaurants, and even sun decks. In addition to the stateroom categories that everyone can book, there are also rooms that are unique to class of ship - some even the result of construction quirks that allow you to get the unique room for the price of any other room in the category. For example, Royal Caribbean has a balcony stateroom on some classes of ship that is double the size of the other balcony rooms, but has a support beam going through the center of the room. Small price to pay for double the space I would say (read more about unique one off rooms here. link coming soon!)

Cruising is such a fun and affordable way to See, Seek, Sleep in our opinion! What do you think? We love to hear your thoughts! Check out our review of Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas here!