10 Reasons I Cruise - Part II

10 Reasons I Cruise

Part II

By Janelle Woodyard 

6)        Value:

One of the reasons why I love to cruise is because of the value. Take this challenge.  Price out what a 7-day vacation would cost.  Include food: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, and drinks. Include lodging, entertainment, and extra curricular activities.  Then, call your favorite travel agent and start researching 7-day cruises.  You might be surprised at what you find. 

7)        On Board Activities:

Along with the value of the cruise, there are boatloads of activities on the ships.  The cruise lines know how to entertain their guests.  See last week’s blog.  Along with the entertainment, there are a lot of other things to do at no additional charge.  Ships have putt-putt, basketball, volleyball, rock climbing, ping-pong tables, shuffle board, Royal Caribbean has the Flow Ryder and ice skating.  Other activities include cooking classes, bingo, and casinos.  Depending on what your style is, there are onboard activities waiting for you.

For a glimpse of on board activities on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas, visit our January 1st blog post.

8)        Excursions:

Another reason I enjoy cruises is because of the shore excursions. I love going on excursions because it gives me a chance to experience the culture of the place we visit.  I’ve had the chance to take an excursion to Tulum to visit the Mayan ruins.  I’ve zip lined in Belize and canoed in Cozumel.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve taken snorkeling trips in the Caribbean.

When it comes to what shore excursions you should take, consider whether you like soft adventures or hard adventures.  Soft adventures consist of walking tours, snorkeling, bus tours, canoe rides, horseback riding, etc.   Hard adventures are more strenuous.  For example, zip lining, rock climbing, ice climbing, scuba diving, ATV tours, etc.   

9)        Adults

If you are cruising without kids there are cruises and cruise lines for you.  We can’t promise there won’t be any children, but the number will be drastically higher on some cruise line than others.  For example, Disney, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean will have more children on them than Princess, Crystal, and Viking River Cruises. 

My husband and I took a Carnival cruise for our 20^th anniversary, and we made good use of Serenity, a child-free zone.  Even though we were on a kid friendly ship, we weren’t inundated with children.  They stayed in their sections, and we stayed in ours and had a fabulous time.

10)      No Worries:

I love cruising because I have no worries.  I don’t have to worry about meal plans for the family.  I don’t have to worry planning activities.  I don’t have to cook, clean, or look at the prices on the menus.  Cruising is a hassle-free, care-free vacation.  When I cruise, I take Bob Marley’s advice, “Don’t worry. Be happy.”

Next week, we will have a guest blogger.  You won’t want to miss what this writer has to say.