There are probably as many opinions on this subject as there are persons who have taken cruises. Could it be the rest and relaxation a cruise can provide or could it be the excitement of visits to new places? There are others who enjoy the spontaneity of just jumping in to the social scene and of course others live for the partying that can occur. When you think about it, the fact that all these reasons to enjoy a cruise vacation can peacefully coexist in these floating cities is in itself quite fascinating. Really, there are so many reasons that cruise vacations are popular.
This blogger personally enjoys the ‘disconnect’ from the rat-race. The tablet and the lap-top are left at home and once check-in has been completed, the cell phone and the watch are stowed until the final disembarkation. It is a vacation after all and there should be no thoughts of the office or the yard work back home. None. Nada. Zilch. The best moment of my cruise vacation is when the ship finally begins to inch away from the pier, slowly leaving everyday behind. Ah yes. You can nearly feel the weight falling away from the shoulders as relaxation begins to enter the body.
Once vacation mode takes over it becomes a personal choice, almost based on whims the extent that a cruiser jumps in or just casually observes the activities that occur. The cruise staff generally provides a broad array of activities that will have something that appeals to every passenger whether it is a sail away party on the pool deck or trivia contests in a lounge. The passive gambler can enjoy the bingo games which occur frequently while those highly competitive individuals can crush their competition, seniors and children, and be the sports deck champion.
You are in vacation mode so let the hair down. There are such minute odds that you will ever see any of these other passengers again in your lifetime so toss the inhibitions to the side and have fun. If you are a shower singer who has so badly wanted to try karaoke but are too timid to try at home for fear of someone you know witnessing your star power (or lack thereof), this is your chance to test the waters. Many ships have some karaoke activities. Then, at a deck side sail away party go ahead and jump in that conga line. Go ahead. You know you have secretly wanted to at those wedding receptions or birthday parties. Later you can end the night (or begin the new day) getting your groove on in the dance club. Yeah, work that dance machine, shake that money-maker.
Exploring new locations is the driver for some cruisers. Without the expense of airfare to island hop, cruises of 7 days and longer will call on at least three different ports. The port calls will last between 8 and up to 16 hours generally leaving plenty of opportunity to get a flavor of the area. The cruise lines will offer various excursions at each port or the cruiser can decide to venture out on their own either by taxi or by scheduling an excursion directly through a tour company. These choices are personal preferences. The benefit to paying the higher tour cost of booking through your cruise line is that IF your tour became delayed and does not get back to the pier before the ship sails, the cruise line will wait for you. This cannot be promised to those who venture out on their own and do not return in time to sail. I have cut it too close one time with a private tour company and just made it back to the ship with five minutes to spare. Speaking of stressful!
These are but some of the activity opportunities that present themselves to cruisers who decide their personal levels of engagement. Food, food and then more food are the attractors to many other cruisers. You can eat 24/7 while on a cruise if you had the “bottomless pit” for a stomach but you can enjoy all of the ship’s offerings without needing a new wardrobe when you return home. The culinary options are plentiful to satisfy the urges whenever they strike.
Today many ships have a specialty restaurant, at an additional fee, that serves very high end quality dining. The finest ingredients and accompaniments are used to present a world class menu that will have most people still talking about for days after. Seating is limited for these specialty restaurants so plan early to ensure you get a table.
The Main Dining Room (MDR) provides the rest of the sit-down dining for the passengers. Similar to going out to a very good restaurant back home, the dishes are prepared very well. Sure some are better than others but the benefit to cruising is that if the entrée you order does not suit your palette your wait staff will be more than happy to replace it with another dish. Another benefit to cruising is the opportunity to try new dishes that you may not try back home. If there are two dishes on the menu that get your interest why not share with your partner and each of you order one of the dishes. Go for it.
In addition to the MDR, there are many other food options including a buffet-style area usually at or near the upper outer decks. Pizza, Deli, international cuisine and the likes are available when the MDR is not. On my last cruise there was a grill out on the pool deck which prepared made-to-order hamburgers and also served very good chicken strips, perfect options for lounging at the pool soaking up the sun.
Now remember, when I cruise I am on vacation mode. My at-sea days go something like this:
- Wake around 7-ish (no watch), much earlier than my family.
- Head up to the outside pool deck for the made-to-order omelet bar with all the fixings.
- Locate a good table and take in the ocean view while enjoying breakfast.
- Walk the perimeter of the ship once or twice then back to the room to put on the pool-side clothes.
- Usually by 9:30 back up on the pool deck with a book.
- When the urge strikes, sometimes at 9:31 and other times around 11:00, order a bucket of four beers (on Carnival) with only one bottle opened.
- Can you smell that? Ummm. The grill is now busy cooking burgers, must be lunch time and ready to open the third beer.
- That hit the spot, now back to the book, page two. When you are a people watcher, interested in the humanity show, it is tough to focus on the book. On a good cruise I might get seven or eight pages read!
- Around lunch time the pool deck gets pretty lively with live music and during the band breaks there is some quirky contest or game.
- Time for beer four and to order the next bucket.
- By the time the last beer is finished it is time to head back to the cabin to freshen up for dinner.
- Dinner is in the MDR and there are two entre items that look very good to me and I ask the wait staff to bring one of them as my appetizer. Awesome!
- Another stroll about the outer deck then off to the show lounge, stopping to pick up another beer along the way.
- A good show and now for some casino action to test the luck with the dice.
- A stop at the piano bar for some 80’s tunes and then about an hour in the dance club. My wife loves to dance so I get my four left feet into action and cause no damage.
- Sometime around midnight it is time to head back to the cabin for the evening.
Now compared to my regular work day, this at-sea day literally blows work right off the planet.
It may be easy to see how many people claim to have gained five or more pounds on a cruise but I can honestly say that I have not found that to be true. In addition to the walks around the ship, when we are in a port we walk our behinds off. I eat and drink week on our cruises and a funny thing about the 9-day cruise is that I came back home a pound lighter. WOO HOO!.
While cruising may not be for everyone, cruise vacations offer so much value for the dollar especially when you consider the comparable costs of lodging and meals for a resort vacation of a similar length.
Hello, my name is Chip and I am a cruise addict.
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