At the urging of my wife, I've been on a couple cruises--more budget-friendly ones and nothing longer than a week or two, but even those were too much for me. I don't understand the appeal at all,...
At the urging of my wife, I've been on a couple cruises--more budget-friendly ones and nothing longer than a week or two, but even those were too much for me. I don't understand the appeal at all, and I think a multi-month cruise would probably break me mentally. They felt like an inescapable shopping mall nightmare, where the only brief respites are into foreign tourist trap hellscapes; and even though you're traveling to other countries, the majority of your meals end up being mass-produced American food-court cuisine on the ship itself.
I don't mean to dig on anyone who likes cruises (my wife loves them--it's one of our greatest sources of marital strife). Just felt like venting somewhere. I really, really dislike cruises.
I'll be going on my first cruise this year. My partner has been on many cruises with her family before we met. She absolutely loves them, and I'm looking forward to it. The selling point for me is...
I'll be going on my first cruise this year. My partner has been on many cruises with her family before we met. She absolutely loves them, and I'm looking forward to it. The selling point for me is the "all inclusive" nature of it while on the ship itself. We don't drink much booze, but we bought the soda package. We want to relax a ton, so we got a package that includes unlimited spa access and picked a ship that has a nice one. We just picked out an excursion and paid for it. We paid tips in advance. We don't plan on doing any of the extra charge dining options, especially with how many free options there are for quick service.
So while on the ship, I shouldn't have to pull out my wallet, unless we want to play in the casino a bit or splurge on an alcoholic beverage.
We've tried to have laid back vacations before, but always fail as we want to do a lot of activities. Being forced to take things slow might be exactly what we need.
Oh, and it's only a week. I agree that a month or more would likely be way too long.
Not trying to derail the topic here, but: What does this mean? Did you just pay an extra 20% or something? How can you know when, who and how much of a tip is warranted in advance?
Not trying to derail the topic here, but:
We paid tips in advance
What does this mean? Did you just pay an extra 20% or something? How can you know when, who and how much of a tip is warranted in advance?
If you think the US custom of tipping is strange than cruise ship tips are basically another dimension on top of it. Basically, the staff you regularly interact with have a "suggested tip" rate...
If you think the US custom of tipping is strange than cruise ship tips are basically another dimension on top of it. Basically, the staff you regularly interact with have a "suggested tip" rate that is more-or-less required to be paid, calculated as a certain figure per day. Some will let you not pay it but there are so many crewmembers on board that it's perhaps the most intense guilt trip you will ever experience - even though those tips only go to certain key crewmembers. Many cruise companies have the option to pay these tips up front along with your booking.
So according to Carnival: I just calculated how much it was for our cruise, and it looks like it was around 10%. We didn't choose that amount - Carnival simply suggested it, and didn't provide a...
So according to Carnival:
It is customary for our guests to extend gratuities to the shipboard staff in appreciation for their hard work and exceptional service. 100% of your gratuities are distributed to the crew who you interact with, such as your stateroom attendants, dining, culinary services staff, as well as others who work behind the scenes to enhance your overall cruise experience. Applying this charge before you cruise streamlines the process for you and ensures the crew shares in your generosity.
I just calculated how much it was for our cruise, and it looks like it was around 10%. We didn't choose that amount - Carnival simply suggested it, and didn't provide a way to change it.
If you pay gratuities onboard, they usually list where it goes on your folio statement in the app. For example, of a $15 charge, $7 per day may be distributed to your room steward, $5 to the dining staff, and the remaining $3 is spread among other customer-facing positions on the ship. Some lines also pool the tips altogether and then distribute them throughout the year.
I've heard varying information on cruise lines and how they pay their staff. I've heard some claims that most ships don't call anywhere in the US their "home" (there's a term for this that I don't remember) because they'd have to pay US minimum wage if that was the case. I also hear some people complaining about gratuities automatically added to drink prices, and others bragging about how much extra they tip everyone. I've also seen people post that if you don't prepay tips, the staff (at least your room attendant) is aware, and may treat you worse because they suspect you may not tip them at all.
All I know is that the hospitality industry in general has ebbs and flows. When they're busy, and perhaps lucky, they can make some amazing tips. When Covid or a natural disaster strikes, they're hanging by a thread. I generally make an effort to tip when I can, as long as the service wasn't bad. I'm not sure if I'll tip extra during the cruise yet, but I'm not going to make it a priority - I want to relax as much as possible. If someone really wows me, I might tip them (in addition to what my prepay should give them).
What I've always struggled with is that all the "benefits" of a cruise, I can pretty much get at an all-inclusive resort? But at the resort, you get to like see a city more properly, have downtime...
What I've always struggled with is that all the "benefits" of a cruise, I can pretty much get at an all-inclusive resort? But at the resort, you get to like see a city more properly, have downtime outside the nightmare you so aptly describe and so on.
I mean, the actual seafaring and coastal societies need to be pretty spectacular to be worth the trade-offs no? There are very few places in the world where a cruise seems like it'd be worthwhile.
I'm not actually particularly convinced this is the case -- maybe this is bias since most of the all-inclusive resorts I've heard of people going to are in poorer countries in tropical locales,...
at the resort, you get to like see a city more properly
I'm not actually particularly convinced this is the case -- maybe this is bias since most of the all-inclusive resorts I've heard of people going to are in poorer countries in tropical locales, but most of the examples I've seen of them they're pretty segregated from everything but stuff that is very targeted at tourists. Not to throw shade at anyone for going to one, you do you, but I don't think it's much better than a cruise in this particular respect.
I guess it's been a long time since I've been to anything other than golf resorts in the Americas when I've been at resorts vacationing. In Europe the resorts I've been to have all been at max...
I guess it's been a long time since I've been to anything other than golf resorts in the Americas when I've been at resorts vacationing.
In Europe the resorts I've been to have all been at max shuttle/bus/taxi distance from a city.
You're very right that resorts far away from everything is just the same hellhole as being stuck on a ship!
Resorts share many of the downsides of cruises, but in my opinion, have a lot more upside. Equivalent experiences are cheaper. You can make your own schedule. There's more options for excursions....
Resorts share many of the downsides of cruises, but in my opinion, have a lot more upside. Equivalent experiences are cheaper. You can make your own schedule. There's more options for excursions. Nightlife entertainment has more variety. The drinks and food is often all-inclusive, and there's more variety. Internet is included. Your room is bigger. You're not burning the dirtiest of fuels and possibly breathing it in depending on which way the wind is blowing.
The only benefit to cruise ships is that they often stop in multiple places (often different countries) that are too far apart to realistically do from a single all-inclusive resort. But, you'll get to do a day-trip at each stop, and then be on your way. Whereas with a resort, even if it's far away from anything non-touristy, you still have that option. And you'll still get to experience more of the country/culture, even just going to the pre-planned excursions offered by your resort.
Having done both in the past, I don't think I'm ever going to go on a cruise again.
EDIT: Elsewhere in the thread, people are mentioning that cruises are cheaper. Not in my experience, but maybe it depends where you're flying from to get there (I live in Canada). Obviously, if you don't need to fly to one, but do need to fly to the other, the more local option will be cheaper.
I disagree with you on pretty much every point. The only all-inclusive resorts I've seen are in exotic locations and tend to be more expensive even without considering that transit will be more...
I disagree with you on pretty much every point. The only all-inclusive resorts I've seen are in exotic locations and tend to be more expensive even without considering that transit will be more expensive to get you to and from there. The price of experiences will depend on what you're looking at, but a lot of experiences are included in the price of the cruise ticket; excursions can be expensive if you book them through the cruise lines but there's nothing stopping you from booking them independantly and saving quite a bit of money. You might be somewhat right about nightlife having more variety on land, but I'd bet you're discounting how much variety of nightlife activities there are on cruise ships; one I went to recently even had the option of doing karaoke with a live band. I don't even know why you would say that you can't make your own schedule on a cruise because everything is optional; you just choose what you want to do and go there when it's happening.
Pretty much every modern cruise ship is using "clean" fuels these days - whatever that is supposed to mean - but it's actually significantly better than being on land because emissions are much better managed. On land you are constantly breathing in the fumes from automobiles and there is smog. The actual quality of air you breath will be better on a ship at all times.
I'm very surprised that you find all-inclusive resorts to be cheaper than cruises. I just looked up on tripadvisor and they show two resorts in the state of California, and for a one-week booking the best price is $328/day. But I just looked up cruises on Celebrity - a moderately nice but not necessarily high-end line - and found a 6-night cruise from LA to Vancouver that starts at $403/person total. And that price per person usually goes down if you put more than two people in your stateroom.
I took my first cruise to Alaska as a way of traveling with inactive elderly family members. The food was excellent and it was nice to sleep while moving between ports as opposed to taking a train...
I took my first cruise to Alaska as a way of traveling with inactive elderly family members. The food was excellent and it was nice to sleep while moving between ports as opposed to taking a train on land.
I have my eye on a cruise to the Norwegian fjords and one that moves between Turkey and Greek islands. However, part of my purpose would be to identify places where I might want to return and stay longer.
The food can be excellent or terrible or mediocre, it depends on the company and the cooking staff of the particular ship.
Cruises are generally a lot cheaper, and if you live near a port that they depart from, involve basically no horrible travel, because the “traveling” is the whole experience. There’s a lot I’d do...
Cruises are generally a lot cheaper, and if you live near a port that they depart from, involve basically no horrible travel, because the “traveling” is the whole experience. There’s a lot I’d do to avoid having to do air travel, which is one of the most unpleasant parts of any vacation for me.
I guess the “shopping mall nightmare” thing is apt if you’re constantly trying to do different activities on the ship, particularly the massive ones, but the times I’ve been, I mostly sat on the deck with a book, beer, or whiskey, and read a book while looking out at the open sea.
I’m generally not on vacation to do a ton of random activities or learn history or whatever, I’m there to relax and unwind, so if that’s what you like to do on vacations I think cruises are great.
I think your logic lines up, until you drop below a certain cost threshold. I've gone on cruises that were quite nice for a week and they cost me under 1k. You're not going to find many nice...
I think your logic lines up, until you drop below a certain cost threshold. I've gone on cruises that were quite nice for a week and they cost me under 1k. You're not going to find many nice resorts that will compete with that pricing, especially if they include promotional packages with their spa or other services that typically cost more money. The last cruise I went on had 5 restaurants in them and 4 of them had exceptionally delicious food. The ship also had a perfectly enjoyable bakery that was making all sorts of stuff every morning.
But I think the bigger distinction between the two is that on the cruise, we had to walk VERY short distances for everything, so we had much more time to truly relax and recuperate. I see plenty of negatives to a cruise and fully understand why they may not appeal to some people, but I can say for sure that they aren't comparable to a nice resort. All the nice resorts I've stayed at have come in much costlier than a you book on a deal (especially through a travel agent, who's gonna get you even more) cruise.
I don't normally go in for cruises, but my wife always wanted to try one so I surprised her with one for her birthday. Normally climbing, backpacking, etc is more our speed. We went on a carnival...
I don't normally go in for cruises, but my wife always wanted to try one so I surprised her with one for her birthday. Normally climbing, backpacking, etc is more our speed.
We went on a carnival cruise out of California and down along the Mexico coast. I booked in advance, and booked excursions for all our ports of call, made reservation for the nice dinners not included with the room, as well as couples massages.
When we went into port we went horseback riding with a small group, kayaked lagoons, saw cliff divers, went bungee jumping, tied an archaeological dig site, and swam with dolphins all with groups of 20 or less.
Yes, I spent as much or more on the excursions than the room, but I bought a modest room for just that reason. I agree the food included with the room is just cafeteria fair, and as a vegetarian was limiting, which made the reservation dinners that much more appreciated.
At sea we read books on deck in the sun, had ice cream, and went on rambling walks and talked wherever there were fewer people around. We also attended an art auction with dinner, and a comedy show.
All in all, a ton of fun. But if you just booked a room, no excursions, walked right into the tourist trap surrounding the docks, etc, then the cruises can be pretty bleak. Crowds, up charges, etc.
Would I go again? With my wife who will enjoy it, and with a good selection of excursions booked, sure. Would I rather fly to Europe and bum around the trains? Yeah. But you can have fun on cruises even if they aren't your thing if you plan ahead.
If you're going on the budget lines they tend to have relatively mediocre food. But for many of the others the food is one of the primary appeals. Maybe consider asking your wife if you can save...
If you're going on the budget lines they tend to have relatively mediocre food. But for many of the others the food is one of the primary appeals. Maybe consider asking your wife if you can save up a bit more to go on one of those trips instead? That way your wife will be happy and you'll be considerably less miserable. Generally speaking, the more money you spend upfront the less you'll get the shopping mall vibes and upsell mentality. You can also try to find iteneraries with overnight port stops; it makes it easier to get out of the touristy areas and you have the option of staying in different accommodations if you choose. They're a bit harder to find, though. If you haven't already, try talking with a travel agent about what you want out of the trip and leverage their experience.
I went on one with my parents and my experience was much like yours. I was so bored I read books 2 through 5 of the Song of Ice and Fire series over the 2 weeks. I think it can probably be fun if...
I went on one with my parents and my experience was much like yours. I was so bored I read books 2 through 5 of the Song of Ice and Fire series over the 2 weeks.
I think it can probably be fun if you bring a big group of friends with you. But even then I feel like I'd rather spend a week in a ski lodge or a lake house.
I've heard gay cruises are a great time though. Never been, and I'm not the target audience besides. But I can see that working.
That's a perk for some people! I have been on more cruises than I would like since my mom pays for them and likes it when my brother and I come along. Back in the dark ages I used to pack and...
I was so bored I read books 2 through 5 of the Song of Ice and Fire series over the 2 weeks.
That's a perk for some people! I have been on more cruises than I would like since my mom pays for them and likes it when my brother and I come along. Back in the dark ages I used to pack and entire carry on full of books for a week long cruise and I loved it.
Yeah but they're expensive! I'd have rather rented a cabin in the woods to do that. Or one of those expensive National Park lodges like Wawona in Yosemite.
Yeah but they're expensive! I'd have rather rented a cabin in the woods to do that. Or one of those expensive National Park lodges like Wawona in Yosemite.
The only large-ship cruise I’m interested in is on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, but that’s because it runs a transatlantic service and is a bit classier than many other ships. Otherwise, I’d want much...
The only large-ship cruise I’m interested in is on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, but that’s because it runs a transatlantic service and is a bit classier than many other ships.
Otherwise, I’d want much smaller or specialized experiences, e.g., Antarctica or a nuclear icebreaker.
Viking has small ships that do those crazy exotic itineraries. One of their ships even has its own submarine, I kid you not. Needless to say it’s not cheap.
Viking has small ships that do those crazy exotic itineraries. One of their ships even has its own submarine, I kid you not.
Viking advertises to me on YouTube on a way that convinces me that YouTube has no idea what my income is. Absolutely never could I, even if we could actually get to Europe.
Viking advertises to me on YouTube on a way that convinces me that YouTube has no idea what my income is.
Absolutely never could I, even if we could actually get to Europe.
I was recently at a resort in Mexico, my first 5-star resort. And my first one where most of the rest of the guests were from all across the US. We've previously only gone to budget-friendly...
I was recently at a resort in Mexico, my first 5-star resort. And my first one where most of the rest of the guests were from all across the US. We've previously only gone to budget-friendly 3-star resorts in the Dominican Republic.
The Mexico 5-star resort was mostly the same except for one addition we had not seen in the 3-star DR resorts: influencers. Not many but you couldn't not see them. They were always young (or looked young), attractive, in eye-catching swimwear in and around the pool, and always, always, always had their phone in reach. Taking pictures, taking videos, checking on the posts, etc. But whatever, they weren't being intrusive like these TikTokers, they were just minding their own business.
What struck me was how little they actually seemed to enjoy anything outside of their phone. When they weren't taking pictures or videos or checking their phones, they seemed so bored and disinterested despite being in a paradise. The smiles vanished, the dancing stopped, and there was a curious amount of argument between the influencer couples. It's like they weren't on vacation, they were at work. I didn't even see them at any of the evening activities or dinners (it wasn't a big resort), they were basically only there to take pool shots and videos. It was my first time being in a place with so many influencers and it was interesting to see what happens before and after those social media posts. I would have chalked this up to maybe one or two that I saw but this was over the span of a week and a half and about 30+ influencers that I clocked personally in that time.
All this to say that it really seems like, for these communities, life is online and everything in the real world is basically an unreal sandbox for them to create this digital life. I'm not surprised it's gone so far, social media has ingrained itself so deeply into the consciousness of those that grew up with and in it that it's not even escapism anymore. Real life is the escape.
I mean, they were? When your job is to post on social media, posting on social media is your job. This comment is mostly coming from my knowledge of Twitch streamers, but I'm sure it's the same no...
It's like they weren't on vacation, they were at work.
I mean, they were? When your job is to post on social media, posting on social media is your job. This comment is mostly coming from my knowledge of Twitch streamers, but I'm sure it's the same no matter what platform you are on.
Sure. That's not a revelation, it's an observation to consider. What happens when your work is everyone else's vacation? The situation in this article is one result.
Sure. That's not a revelation, it's an observation to consider. What happens when your work is everyone else's vacation? The situation in this article is one result.
I think for a lot of the influencers it is work – this is pure speculation but maybe they want to avoid invoicing anything that could be a personal expense to their company. I also get the feeling...
I think for a lot of the influencers it is work – this is pure speculation but maybe they want to avoid invoicing anything that could be a personal expense to their company.
I also get the feeling that at some very upmarket resorts (e.g. Ritz Carlton although I last went to one pre COVID) they are trying to discourage the influencers from showing up, or at least being disturbing/too visible to maintain a calm atmosphere.
Also agreed. I appreciate that people appreciate me providing mirrors, but it's definitely not worthy of an exemplary. Speaking of which, Deimos, feel free to remove this exemplary on another of...
At the urging of my wife, I've been on a couple cruises--more budget-friendly ones and nothing longer than a week or two, but even those were too much for me. I don't understand the appeal at all, and I think a multi-month cruise would probably break me mentally. They felt like an inescapable shopping mall nightmare, where the only brief respites are into foreign tourist trap hellscapes; and even though you're traveling to other countries, the majority of your meals end up being mass-produced American food-court cuisine on the ship itself.
I don't mean to dig on anyone who likes cruises (my wife loves them--it's one of our greatest sources of marital strife). Just felt like venting somewhere. I really, really dislike cruises.
I'll be going on my first cruise this year. My partner has been on many cruises with her family before we met. She absolutely loves them, and I'm looking forward to it. The selling point for me is the "all inclusive" nature of it while on the ship itself. We don't drink much booze, but we bought the soda package. We want to relax a ton, so we got a package that includes unlimited spa access and picked a ship that has a nice one. We just picked out an excursion and paid for it. We paid tips in advance. We don't plan on doing any of the extra charge dining options, especially with how many free options there are for quick service.
So while on the ship, I shouldn't have to pull out my wallet, unless we want to play in the casino a bit or splurge on an alcoholic beverage.
We've tried to have laid back vacations before, but always fail as we want to do a lot of activities. Being forced to take things slow might be exactly what we need.
Oh, and it's only a week. I agree that a month or more would likely be way too long.
Not trying to derail the topic here, but:
What does this mean? Did you just pay an extra 20% or something? How can you know when, who and how much of a tip is warranted in advance?
If you think the US custom of tipping is strange than cruise ship tips are basically another dimension on top of it. Basically, the staff you regularly interact with have a "suggested tip" rate that is more-or-less required to be paid, calculated as a certain figure per day. Some will let you not pay it but there are so many crewmembers on board that it's perhaps the most intense guilt trip you will ever experience - even though those tips only go to certain key crewmembers. Many cruise companies have the option to pay these tips up front along with your booking.
Is that only on US cruises or any cruise? Will a completely European cruise that never touches the US also expect tips?
I couldn’t say, but if you are going on a cruise from a US company then I would imagine the answer is yes.
So according to Carnival:
I just calculated how much it was for our cruise, and it looks like it was around 10%. We didn't choose that amount - Carnival simply suggested it, and didn't provide a way to change it.
As for who it goes to, someone on reddit posted this comment:
I've heard varying information on cruise lines and how they pay their staff. I've heard some claims that most ships don't call anywhere in the US their "home" (there's a term for this that I don't remember) because they'd have to pay US minimum wage if that was the case. I also hear some people complaining about gratuities automatically added to drink prices, and others bragging about how much extra they tip everyone. I've also seen people post that if you don't prepay tips, the staff (at least your room attendant) is aware, and may treat you worse because they suspect you may not tip them at all.
All I know is that the hospitality industry in general has ebbs and flows. When they're busy, and perhaps lucky, they can make some amazing tips. When Covid or a natural disaster strikes, they're hanging by a thread. I generally make an effort to tip when I can, as long as the service wasn't bad. I'm not sure if I'll tip extra during the cruise yet, but I'm not going to make it a priority - I want to relax as much as possible. If someone really wows me, I might tip them (in addition to what my prepay should give them).
What I've always struggled with is that all the "benefits" of a cruise, I can pretty much get at an all-inclusive resort? But at the resort, you get to like see a city more properly, have downtime outside the nightmare you so aptly describe and so on.
I mean, the actual seafaring and coastal societies need to be pretty spectacular to be worth the trade-offs no? There are very few places in the world where a cruise seems like it'd be worthwhile.
What am I missing?
I'm not actually particularly convinced this is the case -- maybe this is bias since most of the all-inclusive resorts I've heard of people going to are in poorer countries in tropical locales, but most of the examples I've seen of them they're pretty segregated from everything but stuff that is very targeted at tourists. Not to throw shade at anyone for going to one, you do you, but I don't think it's much better than a cruise in this particular respect.
I guess it's been a long time since I've been to anything other than golf resorts in the Americas when I've been at resorts vacationing.
In Europe the resorts I've been to have all been at max shuttle/bus/taxi distance from a city.
You're very right that resorts far away from everything is just the same hellhole as being stuck on a ship!
Resorts share many of the downsides of cruises, but in my opinion, have a lot more upside. Equivalent experiences are cheaper. You can make your own schedule. There's more options for excursions. Nightlife entertainment has more variety. The drinks and food is often all-inclusive, and there's more variety. Internet is included. Your room is bigger. You're not burning the dirtiest of fuels and possibly breathing it in depending on which way the wind is blowing.
The only benefit to cruise ships is that they often stop in multiple places (often different countries) that are too far apart to realistically do from a single all-inclusive resort. But, you'll get to do a day-trip at each stop, and then be on your way. Whereas with a resort, even if it's far away from anything non-touristy, you still have that option. And you'll still get to experience more of the country/culture, even just going to the pre-planned excursions offered by your resort.
Having done both in the past, I don't think I'm ever going to go on a cruise again.
EDIT: Elsewhere in the thread, people are mentioning that cruises are cheaper. Not in my experience, but maybe it depends where you're flying from to get there (I live in Canada). Obviously, if you don't need to fly to one, but do need to fly to the other, the more local option will be cheaper.
I disagree with you on pretty much every point. The only all-inclusive resorts I've seen are in exotic locations and tend to be more expensive even without considering that transit will be more expensive to get you to and from there. The price of experiences will depend on what you're looking at, but a lot of experiences are included in the price of the cruise ticket; excursions can be expensive if you book them through the cruise lines but there's nothing stopping you from booking them independantly and saving quite a bit of money. You might be somewhat right about nightlife having more variety on land, but I'd bet you're discounting how much variety of nightlife activities there are on cruise ships; one I went to recently even had the option of doing karaoke with a live band. I don't even know why you would say that you can't make your own schedule on a cruise because everything is optional; you just choose what you want to do and go there when it's happening.
Pretty much every modern cruise ship is using "clean" fuels these days - whatever that is supposed to mean - but it's actually significantly better than being on land because emissions are much better managed. On land you are constantly breathing in the fumes from automobiles and there is smog. The actual quality of air you breath will be better on a ship at all times.
I'm very surprised that you find all-inclusive resorts to be cheaper than cruises. I just looked up on tripadvisor and they show two resorts in the state of California, and for a one-week booking the best price is $328/day. But I just looked up cruises on Celebrity - a moderately nice but not necessarily high-end line - and found a 6-night cruise from LA to Vancouver that starts at $403/person total. And that price per person usually goes down if you put more than two people in your stateroom.
I took my first cruise to Alaska as a way of traveling with inactive elderly family members. The food was excellent and it was nice to sleep while moving between ports as opposed to taking a train on land.
I have my eye on a cruise to the Norwegian fjords and one that moves between Turkey and Greek islands. However, part of my purpose would be to identify places where I might want to return and stay longer.
The food can be excellent or terrible or mediocre, it depends on the company and the cooking staff of the particular ship.
Cruises are generally a lot cheaper, and if you live near a port that they depart from, involve basically no horrible travel, because the “traveling” is the whole experience. There’s a lot I’d do to avoid having to do air travel, which is one of the most unpleasant parts of any vacation for me.
I guess the “shopping mall nightmare” thing is apt if you’re constantly trying to do different activities on the ship, particularly the massive ones, but the times I’ve been, I mostly sat on the deck with a book, beer, or whiskey, and read a book while looking out at the open sea.
I’m generally not on vacation to do a ton of random activities or learn history or whatever, I’m there to relax and unwind, so if that’s what you like to do on vacations I think cruises are great.
I think your logic lines up, until you drop below a certain cost threshold. I've gone on cruises that were quite nice for a week and they cost me under 1k. You're not going to find many nice resorts that will compete with that pricing, especially if they include promotional packages with their spa or other services that typically cost more money. The last cruise I went on had 5 restaurants in them and 4 of them had exceptionally delicious food. The ship also had a perfectly enjoyable bakery that was making all sorts of stuff every morning.
But I think the bigger distinction between the two is that on the cruise, we had to walk VERY short distances for everything, so we had much more time to truly relax and recuperate. I see plenty of negatives to a cruise and fully understand why they may not appeal to some people, but I can say for sure that they aren't comparable to a nice resort. All the nice resorts I've stayed at have come in much costlier than a you book on a deal (especially through a travel agent, who's gonna get you even more) cruise.
I don't normally go in for cruises, but my wife always wanted to try one so I surprised her with one for her birthday. Normally climbing, backpacking, etc is more our speed.
We went on a carnival cruise out of California and down along the Mexico coast. I booked in advance, and booked excursions for all our ports of call, made reservation for the nice dinners not included with the room, as well as couples massages.
When we went into port we went horseback riding with a small group, kayaked lagoons, saw cliff divers, went bungee jumping, tied an archaeological dig site, and swam with dolphins all with groups of 20 or less.
Yes, I spent as much or more on the excursions than the room, but I bought a modest room for just that reason. I agree the food included with the room is just cafeteria fair, and as a vegetarian was limiting, which made the reservation dinners that much more appreciated.
At sea we read books on deck in the sun, had ice cream, and went on rambling walks and talked wherever there were fewer people around. We also attended an art auction with dinner, and a comedy show.
All in all, a ton of fun. But if you just booked a room, no excursions, walked right into the tourist trap surrounding the docks, etc, then the cruises can be pretty bleak. Crowds, up charges, etc.
Would I go again? With my wife who will enjoy it, and with a good selection of excursions booked, sure. Would I rather fly to Europe and bum around the trains? Yeah. But you can have fun on cruises even if they aren't your thing if you plan ahead.
If you're going on the budget lines they tend to have relatively mediocre food. But for many of the others the food is one of the primary appeals. Maybe consider asking your wife if you can save up a bit more to go on one of those trips instead? That way your wife will be happy and you'll be considerably less miserable. Generally speaking, the more money you spend upfront the less you'll get the shopping mall vibes and upsell mentality. You can also try to find iteneraries with overnight port stops; it makes it easier to get out of the touristy areas and you have the option of staying in different accommodations if you choose. They're a bit harder to find, though. If you haven't already, try talking with a travel agent about what you want out of the trip and leverage their experience.
I went on one with my parents and my experience was much like yours. I was so bored I read books 2 through 5 of the Song of Ice and Fire series over the 2 weeks.
I think it can probably be fun if you bring a big group of friends with you. But even then I feel like I'd rather spend a week in a ski lodge or a lake house.
I've heard gay cruises are a great time though. Never been, and I'm not the target audience besides. But I can see that working.
That's a perk for some people! I have been on more cruises than I would like since my mom pays for them and likes it when my brother and I come along. Back in the dark ages I used to pack and entire carry on full of books for a week long cruise and I loved it.
Yeah but they're expensive! I'd have rather rented a cabin in the woods to do that. Or one of those expensive National Park lodges like Wawona in Yosemite.
The only large-ship cruise I’m interested in is on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, but that’s because it runs a transatlantic service and is a bit classier than many other ships.
Otherwise, I’d want much smaller or specialized experiences, e.g., Antarctica or a nuclear icebreaker.
Viking has small ships that do those crazy exotic itineraries. One of their ships even has its own submarine, I kid you not.
Needless to say it’s not cheap.
Viking advertises to me on YouTube on a way that convinces me that YouTube has no idea what my income is.
Absolutely never could I, even if we could actually get to Europe.
I was recently at a resort in Mexico, my first 5-star resort. And my first one where most of the rest of the guests were from all across the US. We've previously only gone to budget-friendly 3-star resorts in the Dominican Republic.
The Mexico 5-star resort was mostly the same except for one addition we had not seen in the 3-star DR resorts: influencers. Not many but you couldn't not see them. They were always young (or looked young), attractive, in eye-catching swimwear in and around the pool, and always, always, always had their phone in reach. Taking pictures, taking videos, checking on the posts, etc. But whatever, they weren't being intrusive like these TikTokers, they were just minding their own business.
What struck me was how little they actually seemed to enjoy anything outside of their phone. When they weren't taking pictures or videos or checking their phones, they seemed so bored and disinterested despite being in a paradise. The smiles vanished, the dancing stopped, and there was a curious amount of argument between the influencer couples. It's like they weren't on vacation, they were at work. I didn't even see them at any of the evening activities or dinners (it wasn't a big resort), they were basically only there to take pool shots and videos. It was my first time being in a place with so many influencers and it was interesting to see what happens before and after those social media posts. I would have chalked this up to maybe one or two that I saw but this was over the span of a week and a half and about 30+ influencers that I clocked personally in that time.
All this to say that it really seems like, for these communities, life is online and everything in the real world is basically an unreal sandbox for them to create this digital life. I'm not surprised it's gone so far, social media has ingrained itself so deeply into the consciousness of those that grew up with and in it that it's not even escapism anymore. Real life is the escape.
I mean, they were? When your job is to post on social media, posting on social media is your job. This comment is mostly coming from my knowledge of Twitch streamers, but I'm sure it's the same no matter what platform you are on.
Sure. That's not a revelation, it's an observation to consider. What happens when your work is everyone else's vacation? The situation in this article is one result.
I think for a lot of the influencers it is work – this is pure speculation but maybe they want to avoid invoicing anything that could be a personal expense to their company.
I also get the feeling that at some very upmarket resorts (e.g. Ritz Carlton although I last went to one pre COVID) they are trying to discourage the influencers from showing up, or at least being disturbing/too visible to maintain a calm atmosphere.
Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
https://archive.is/2h2Ob
#offtopic
As much as I love and appreciate both archive links and @cfabbro, this does not seem an appropriate use of an Exemplary tag.
Agreed, I've removed it.
Also agreed. I appreciate that people appreciate me providing mirrors, but it's definitely not worthy of an exemplary. Speaking of which, Deimos, feel free to remove this exemplary on another of my mirror comments from a few days ago as well if you want to.
Clearly, the solution is to just prevent @cfabbro from receiving Exemplaries, as it's clearly endemic 🤣
:(
What capital C? 😉
Always interesting what people are willing to do for "entertainment".