European Cruise: Good for a first trip?

Are you considering a river cruise or a larger cruise on the seas?
First consideration is your age, time of year, effort you'd like to put into the planning, how much would you like to see? and of course, budget.

Hello again. Do you mean a river cruise, or a coastal cruise like Baltic or Mediterranean? They're different experiences re ships and ports. We took a Danube cruise for a week from Budapest to Passau, as part of a longer trip, and it was enjoyable. But only a day in each of several cities, two days in Vienna, not very satisfying (luckily we had added Budapest days before the crusie).

Likewise a Mediterranean or Baltic cruise will give you lots of time on a big ship and just a day in each port (St. Petersburg might be two days). Very comfortable and convenient, could be a good introduction to various port cities, but not as satisfying as spending multiple days in them.

People on this board have varying ideas about cruising (I'm more on the positive side, some quite negative). I suggest you look at some of the cruise line websites for itineraries and prices, and then at cruisecritic.com, a board entirely about cruising with, generally, more knowledgeable and experienced cruisers than you'll find here.

Thank you! I'm 31 and my sister is 33. I was looking at major cruise lines. There are just so many ways to plan this trip that I want to make sure we go about it the right way.

That's how we started out. We subsequently took four more river cruises, although I think we've outgrown them by now.

The good:

• You unpack once, and your hotel moves around with you
• You (usually) dock in the center of town
• Most movement happens at night, while you're sleeping--no wasting time with transportation.
• The daytime cruise periods are usually scenic.
• The staff takes you to the places that most people want to see
• Your meals are covered
• The staff speaks English

The bad:

• It's expensive
• You are tied to someone else' itinerary. You can't choose to stay longer somewhere.
• If some sight that you really want to see isn't one that most people do, you may be out of luck. However, you can always strike out on your own, as long as you get back to the boat in time.
• Having your meals covered means you have less opportunity to dine in local restaurants
• Planned excursions (which may be included or extra) are group tours, where you are in a crowd with headphones to hear the guide.

It's not a bad choice if you're going to Europe the first time. We've always enjoyed our cruises. After getting more confident in arranging independent trips, we're starting to enjoy them more.

--Dav

I read this and your other post and have a suggestion. Consider a Rick Steves tour to the area you and your sister are most interested in that will fit your schedule. Why? Just about all the logistics are taken care of for you. There's no extra tipping, no shopping excursions, your are part of a small group, and they are very good tours. We've taken a bunch of them and will take more in the future. Nothing "wrong" with a river cruise or a cruise on a liner in the Mediterranean for that matter. But the big downside (and we've done cruises in the Med.) is that you will not receive anywhere near as much exposure to the real Europe. Just food for thought.

Be very careful about coastal cruises in Europe. The ports are often not near the cities/towns you want to see, so you end up with lots of time on buses. You can be stuck taking a high-cost cruise-sponsored day trip if you're nervous about arranging your own shore excursions. Even if you have no problem dealing with local transportation, you have to cut your self-arranged day-trips short to be 100% sure you'll be back at the ship on time, because it will not wait for you.

A previous poster did a great job of outlining the pros and cons. Another con is that you do not get a good feel for the people who actually live where you are visiting. You get to see the tourist areas but nothing else. We compared a trip that we took ourselves to the almost same trip that my mother in law took via cruise and we had night and day different experiences. She basically met a bunch of Canadians, Americans and Aussies while we met the people of the countries we were visiting. We got to try a whole bunch of restaurants while she ate cruise food... we got so stop in all these great off the beaten path places and added stops as we spoke with locals while she was on someone else's itinerary.

Every time we take a European trip, there is a little pressure that comes with planning the trip, finding inexpensive fligjts, booking hotels, investigating what tourist sights to see, etc. Then I have to figure out how to get from airports to our hotels and how to navigate each city.
Advantages to taking ocean cruise lines has been noted in previous postings.
I have found ocean cruises to often be the cheapest way to visit ultra expensive destinations like Scandinavia. We keep a close watch on cruises on VacationsToGo.com and have a specialized cruise agent at Avoya Travel we book through. We only travel when our trips are great bargains.
We have found that only having one day in a given port city doesn't let us see everything there. But it is a way to figure out where to visit in the future.
We have taken cruises to the Greek Islands, Turkey and Malta--out of Italy. We also took a Baltic cruise to all the big Scandinavian cities and St. Petersburg--out of Copenhagen. Both were trips of a lifetime.
Last Spring, we took a repositioning cruise Ft. Lauderdale to Azores, 2 stops in Spain and ended in Rome for $80 a day all inclusuve.
We are leaving mid April from New York for repositioning cruise from NYC to Southampton with stops in England, Ireland and France. This one is $62 a day including port charges, tips and gratuities. Tnat is a bargain.
We always catch a week or so in Europe coming or going on a cruise. With the advent of budget European airlines, that means we can visit another city of our dreams cheap.
There are many ways to see Europe. I often tell new travelers to start by flying into London, taking the Eurostar to Paris and flying home from there. But cruises work too.

Truthfully think that European cruises are very cost effective way to a lot Europe very conveniently. The ocean going puts you in a lot of important cities because that is where the action was 500 years ago or more. When we started we treated the port stops like a smorgasbord - during that we sampled at lot of city. Avoided ship excursions, did our own research prior to the port, generally had a good idea about what we want to see and do, often times hit the local TI and booked great walking tours. Often make notes of hotels, railroad stations, ect. for when we would return on our own. Think of it as a scouting mission for future trips. Always had lunch in port if time permitted. Sometimes we planned too much and didn't have time for lunch. I think it is a great way to start an introduction to Europe traveling.

River cruises are very different in part because of the very small ships so the expenses are higher. But just as rewarding.

Thank you! I'm 31 and my sister is 33. I was looking at major cruise lines.

Consider the demographic of the average cruise taker maybe that is a factor in the experience

It is also great way for large groups to travel together, especially different age groups.. Out first European cruise was the Baltic and we were 10 people. Logistically it would have been difficult to do on our own, but worked out well. We sailed out of Copenhagen and we stayed a few days before and after. Our second cruise was the British Isles for 12 days, got to Dover, Guernsey, and Belfast. Probably not places we would have gone on our own. That cruise sailed out of Amsterdam and we stayed 4 days before and 5 days after. Also, like mentioned, you get to places that you may never see, such as Tallin, St. Petersburg. Would we have liked more time, yes, but what we saw was better than nothing. Each port we either just walked around, or hired private tour guides - the large group makes it less expensive then the ship excursions.

When we do indepent travel I try to keep it to just 4-6 people, max. We have a large family who love, love, love to travel. Our Alaskan cruise this past summer was 24 people from age 1.5 to 65.
I digress. Since it is just you and your sister, and you are so young, why not try a RS tour, probably your best bet. You can save the cruising for when you are older or have a big group.

Every time we take a European trip, there is a little pressure that
comes with planning the trip, finding inexpensive fligjts, booking
hotels, investigating what tourist sights to see, etc. Then I have to
figure out how to get from airports to our hotels and how to navigate
each city.

To me, this is the joy of planning. To each her own.

Kristin, if you both want to be on a big cruise ship and be a part of ship life as it makes daily stops to different cities, this might be the trip for you. Hopefully, this is the first of many trips you'll have to visit Europe.

I read your other post too...

I would not cruise. We did a med cruise in the middle week of a 3 week trip with our kids, and that was awesome. But for you and your sister I say no. You won't get a good feel for the places in such short stops, and if it's a med cruise, getting to the places of interest are often very far from the ship.

If you are worried about logistics and planning, take a RS tour. But you can do it on your own, it just takes some planning and research (my favorite part anyway!).

I went to Europe for the 1st time when I was 28... we packed in a ton of things in a whirlwind two weeks - ending with Italy where we did 2-3 hill towns each day. That was so stupid. I came away HATING Italy! Would have been much better to slow down...

When I was 43 we took the kids, my first time back since that trip, we slowed down a lot, and it was great! I would aim for at least 3 nights in a place, maybe 4... you can break it with other 2 night stops, or even 1 night on rare occasion, but mostly 3+. A friend and I just did 4 nights Paris, 2 nights Arles, 4 nights Barcelona and it was a good pace.

When we took the kids on that trip in 2014, we thought that was it for awhile, but then we went back the next summer, my son and I on a soccer trip the next spring break, then to the Christmas markets, and then the trip I took with my friend. So you think maybe it will be a one shot deal.... but you may surprise yourself in loving it and figuring out how to go more! :)

Kim

I think planning your first trip seems overwhelming at first, but don't shy away from it. Just face it head-on, it's really not as bad as it seems...you just need to get the basic structure and steps down and you can apply them to any trip in the future. There are lots of resources out there to help you. You'll be glad you did and you'll get more confidence with each trip. This first trip is really the tallest hurdle because you'll have to get out of your comfort zone a bit - but the upside is huge. I am guessing that you're floating the cruise option mostly because the thought of planning a trip seems daunting. Frankly, given your age and (I assume) higher risk tolerance (for making mistakes and winging it), I wouldn't immediately think of a cruise as the best option. It's too limiting of an option, IMHO.

I don't think a cruise is a bad idea, but it depends upon where you want to go. (My first trip to Europe was on a Lisbon to Venice itinerary on our 1999 honeymoon, with five days on the ground in Italy on the back end. We also did a round trip out of Athens in 2011). We did a river cruise from Budapest to Nuremberg in 2014 and 13 trips on land in Europe, too.

Cruises are great for getting to places that are hard to get to otherwise, and where you can have a nice visit on a short stop. Choose your itinerary wisely, not one with ports that are far from the place where you really want to go (Citvitavecchia vs. Rome-- Rome has no cruise port as it's inland and you will end up having to take an expensive excursion).

Sometimes the ship docks far from the actual city--you can research this online on the cruisecritic.com site. Best itineraries visit ports where you are not forced into a paid excursion and can just walk into town. Our RT out of Athens trip was great because I had researched it and almost all the ports, we just did our own thing. Ports included one in Crete, Mykonos, two nights in Venice, Corfu, Kotor, Dubrovnik (bus required to get into town), Split (walked from the dock into town). Cruises are great for remote locations where you might otherwise never get there, like islands. (When would I have ever gotten to Kotor??) We splurged in Ravenna for an excursion to San Marino, which we had visited on our honeymoon as well. Do realize that you will not generally have evenings in the ports. Try to avoid itineraries where you visit big cities, it's just torture to spend two hours in Seville on a port visit to Cadiz (did it on our honeymoon, been back to Seville twice since though).

A river cruise is a whole other thing, my wife and I did Budapest to Nuremberg in 2014. It's on the expensive side, but you almost always dock right in the city center. Stops in places like Vienna are torture because of course you need more than a day or so in Vienna. I was fine with a day in Passau and Regensburg. The passengers skew wealthier because who else can afford the expense. You can stay before an after on land--we started with a couple of days in Budapest and two more in Nuremberg, then ended with two nights in Munich.

For me when you look at the number of hours on the the bus day by day on many of Rick's tours, it just reinforces my perception that the entire concept of a bus tour is positively depressing. I think Rick is great and always travel with his books, but a bus tour is just not for me. That said, I think people who take his tours are interesting and positive, we have crossed paths with them in our travels.

Be aware that cruise travelers in Europe skew much older than you--perhaps 20 years on average. Be discerning about what line you choose, too. We have enjoyed Holland America a lot on multiple cruises including our two ocean cruises in Europe. A more mature crowd but high standards of service. We took Avalon Waterways for our river cruise and were very pleased.

Everyone will be twice your age - so it will be like traveling with your parents. I see the cruise ship/river cruise ship folks in the center of Vienna with their name badges and matching hats on with headphones in place and tour guides keeping them in order. That would never be the way I would want to travel or experience a city. Ever.

No easy answer. And keep in mind that cruises can be very different depending on the cruise line, size of the ship, and cost.

What do you want to see--a few places or a number? What is your budget? How much free time will you have before and after any cruise? And what parts of Europe do you want to see?

I have taken a Baltic and a Med cruise, and enjoyed both. We also had some free time before and after the cruise. And I have also traveled on my own in Europe.

I did my first trip to Europe at the age of 31, solo. That was in 1977-78, pre-Schengen rules. I spent 4 months starting in late September. It was so important to me that I quit my job and sold most of my stuff to help generate the money for the trip. People thought I was nuts. It was all self-planned and kind of loose, with the guidance of Let's Go Europe. It was truly a life-changing experience and worth every penny and every sacrifice.

As the years went by, I continued to do all the trip planning on my own, for myself or for myself and my husband. That was until we did our trip to Istanbul in 2014. It was paired with Greece. I did the Greece part, but I felt totally out of my depth to try to plan for Istanbul. So I signed us up for the RS week in Istanbul. It was perfect for our needs.

In 2016, my husband said he was done with traveling outside the US, so I did a self-planned 6 weeks in the UK solo. And last summer I took the RS Village Italy tour with self-planned time in Rome, Ravenna and Venice before and Milan after. That was a great formula for me.

So this year I'm going on the Best of Scandinavia tour with extra time in Amsterdam and Stockholm before and in Bergen and Amsterdam after.

I have never been on any kind of cruise. I know many people who love cruising, but I will never do a big boat one anywhere. I might do a smaller boat or river cruise if it went somewhere I wanted to go. However, I'm only 72 now and don't think I'm old enough for that yet. That's kind of a joke, but cruisers do seem to skew toward the higher age brackets.

The Village Italy tour last summer was definitely a different demographic, with ages from 16 to about 75 and I'm guessing, most folks in the 30-50 age range.

Not knowing how much your budget is or how much time you have beyond the 2 weeks, I'm with those who are recommending a Rick Steves tour to get your first taste of Europe. There are lots of options, and I didn't think we spent much time on the bus at all. In fact, the bus allowed us to drive on some roads and go to some places we simply could not have done any other way except by car.

I lived in Germany for four years from 87-91 and traveled all over Europe before during and after that period. I retired in 2010 and started touring places that I had not been, like Russia, China, Japan, Australia, South America, etc. However, we have taken 16 cruises since 2010 with several in the Med, Black Sea, British Isles, Scandinavia, coming from Europe.

For a first time trip to Europe, I would advise it best to focus on the major cities like London, Paris, Rome (also Florence and Venice). Cruising doesn't allow a lot of in-depth touring in those places that are of high significance.

River cruising is great, we have done four and loved the Rhone River in France and Douro in Portugal. However, they are a bit expensive. River cruises allow you to cover areas outside the major cities in the interior that ocean cruises can't include.

It is all good.

We did our first visit to Scandinavia on a 10 night Princess Cruise out of Copenhagen. It was a great way to get a feel for all the countries. Way more cost effective and now we have plans to visit a couple countries on our own. I have to disagree with the post that said you don't get a feeling of anything but the tourist area around the cruise port - oh contraire! We used RS's books hopped on the local bus and visited far past the cruise ports.

Kristin, you have another thread running where you discuss a possible itinerary, and I see mention of England, Norway, and Ireland.

These are my questions for you:

1. How long will your trip be?

2. What is your budget?

3. Have you been on a cruise before?

Let me quickly note that there are cruise lines that offer smaller ships and that emphasize time in port, such as Azamara. I enjoyed my two cruises, but one ship had 700 passengers and the other roughly 1,200.

There are cruises for those wanting to see Ireland and the UK, and for those wanting to see Norway and parts of the UK. but I doubt you can find a cruise itinerary for the UK, Ireland and Norway. A cruise is ideal for seeing the Baltic countries and, I would think, Norway. But it all depends on what you want to do and see, and how much you want to pay.

Let me add that a great source for cruising is the cruise critic website, and that on any cruise, you should try to book your own tours with local guides rather than take tours offered by the cruise company.

Personally, I think that a cruise would be a great way to see Norway, but that you do not need a cruise for Ireland and Britain.

As you are both young (31, 33), and presumably vigorous, a cruise would have one other downside - more older people. Be adventurous!! Take a gamble!! Find a city you want to go to. Stay in hostels - there are lots of other younger persons, the costs are minimal, and often the accommodations are similar to hotels (you can get private rooms with bath in hostels).

To plan a trip:
1) Determine what cities you want to go to and what you want to see
2) Make a list of all the things you want to do
3) Go back to step 1 and edit the cities. You want AT THE VERY MOST 1 stop every 4 nights.

My wife and I have been to Europe numerous times. Each time, we go and plan our own trip on our own time. Over the years, I have learned that tour guides in some places are a very good investment. I have learned that taking a taxi to your hotel is a good idea. I have learned that being friendly can get a good return. We haven't had a bad experience.

Why is more older people a downside? What difference does it make? You're not dating them. I've had some fascinating dinner conversations with older people on cruises.

It's my understanding that some of the river cruise lines have cruises for your age group. Don't remember which ones so just do a google search for "European River Cruises For Millennials" and see what pops up. Spouse says U By Uni World has some. But perhaps you aren't "allergic to old people" and would enjoy their company. Many of them are very agile, adventurous, young in heart and mind, and have a lot to share. It's been my experience that age and experience is sometimes better than just youth and enthusiasm.

There's nothing wrong with older people. I am one. However, if you go to a cruise expecting folks of the age of 31-33, there are probably a small number. Sometimes people go on trips hoping to meet like-minded others for various reasons. It's best to go to the cruise, if that is the plan, with a clear knowledge.

My wife and I will probably take a river cruise eventually. We keep saying we'll wait until we need that level of comfort and coddling. At 65 and 69, we are still in good enough shape that we don't need that.

Dav did a good job on pros/cons...... here is my two cents !! LOL

I have been on three RS tours, two more in a couple of months and two River Cruises with AmaWaterways. I love RS tours and the river cruises were fun but I thought my two cruises were more $$$$ than the RS tours. They were fantastic but you have to decide on how much your money/ budget is.
I work for my Local Needlework shop and we take about 150+ cross stitchers about every other year on cruises. ( We went on the Christmas market on the Danube in dec 2015 (awesome trip) and my second one was June 2017 done the Rhone river.
You have the option of pre and post tours with the cruise company. There will be an added expense (about 400-500 euros) for side trips. Then they suggest/recommend that you tip your crew and cruise director per day (my last one was 122 euros, but I did not stay post tour in Barcelona as the other did). This cruise was about $4,192 plus the hotels (which were very nice for pre-post tours). This cruise company did an excellent job. Don't mean to sound doom and gloom on the cost, just want you to keep in mind that I think they are more and some RS tours. I did thoroughly enjoy them and I do not regret going on them. If you choose to cruise, watch their sales, they do have them on sale sometimes at a cheaper price..

Food awesome, they do speak English, boats are very nice, clean. Fun activities on board. Shore excursions are included while you are cruisin' if you partake. But if you go out on your own, watch your time to make sure you are back in time before taking off. Usually, some nights you are docked overnight at a city port. Beer, wine and pop are flowing during your meals, but have to pay after non meal times. Water bottles are replenished daily.

Good luck deciding and Happy Travels.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I apologize if I should have kept everything in one thread :( I just didn't want to get so much information then get overwhelmed. I did get Rick's Europe through the Backdoor (sorry if I mentioned that already) and defiantly a plethora of information. One of the reasons we looked at a cruise was because it was more structured and took some of the stress off. However, when I looked at some of the major lines, they do not go to all (or some) the countries we were trying to go to.

Here are my answers to the following questions:

1.How long will your trip be?
2 weeks

2.What is your budget?
$5,000 or less

3.Have you been on a cruise before?
No

Is that $5000 per person? Does it include airfare?

I have two friends in their 30's who did their first trip to Italy with Rick Steves. They loved it so much they took a Mediterranean cruise the next year (on a bigger boat) and were mainly disappointed by seeing the ports with mobs of tourists. I'd consider choosing 1 country to focus on, get a good guide book and have fun planning your trip.

Rick Steves has a new book outlining strategies for maximizing experiences while on a cruise. I would recommend you look at that to help you decide. But all in all, I would lean more toward taking a group trip such as a RS tour in order to get the richest experience of Europe. A cruise will tend toward isolating you in a large group of tourists rather than helping you interact with local people.

Again I would add you are only lumped into the mobs of cruisers if you chose to be. Our cruise was 10 nights we visited - Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Estonia, St Petersburg (overnight) and Oslo. Estonia is the only city I would not return to. We did zero cruise excursion and our tour in St Petersburg was a private 2 day tour we arranged on our with 12 other people. The other cities we used RS books and hit the road ourselves. To me RS tours are marketed at baby boomers who need to be on a tour and not independent. Our cruise was our hotel otherwise we were independent (yes of course within the confines of the cruise schedule but on a RS tour you hare restricted to the confines of the tour schedule).

Mr Pedantic would like to point out that Estonia is a country, not a city. I imagine you mean Tallinn--a city I hope to return to someday.

I really enjoyed a 12 night cruise we took around the Baltic (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, two nights in St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Gdansk, Oslo and back to Copenhagen). I thought it was a good way to see the area because everything in the Baltic faces the sea and the cities are small, they don't warrant a long stay. The cruise was great, the sights were great, the price was very affordable compared to normal costs in Scandinavia. I didn't form any lasting friendships because few of the passengers had anything in common with us. I think that will be an even bigger issue for you.

I doubt I'll ever do a Med cruise because you just can't do much in the time you have. As an example take an average stop, Rome. You get an 8, maybe ten, hour stop, 3 hours of which is a train to Rome - from the port - and back. Rome is a place that needs 5 days not 5 to 7 hours. You have time to visit one sight, two if you schedule tightly because you can't afford to miss your boat.

If you visit the Dalmatian coast and/or Greece, the towns are small enough to see in a short visit. The various cruise ships, however, all debark and depart about the same time. While you're there, it will be packed. You won't get to experience the places at their charming best.

One other general rule: the longer the cruise, the older the passengers. If you take anything from an overnight to three or four night cruise, it will be lots of young people partying. If you take something in the one week range, you'll see a mix of mostly older adults, families and seniors. As you go up in days, the age keeps going up and the fun factor for women your age goes down.

If you do a river cruise, the excursions are included in the cost. Even so, they might be too slow to enjoy.

If you think you need to do a tour because you aren't confident in your planning, there are tours that are specifically targeted to people in their 30's, I think one is GoWay travel. I don't like bus tours but you will have more fun if you get with the right group. Rick Steves tours are more active than most, but the people are likely in their 50's and up.

I've taken exactly one bus tour because my mother's friend lost her husband and bagged out last minute. It's the last I'll ever take. I was in my 30's at the time. There was one other 30 something on the tour with his mom. He was very flamboyantly gay. I had a wife and kids at home and was interested in history, he was interested in night clubs. All the old people kept saying, "You two should be great friends." We both humored them and went our own way.

Mr Pedantic would like to point out that Estonia is a country, not a city. I imagine you mean Tallinn--a city I hope to return to someday.

Yep - good catch.

A friend and I (mid 20's at the time) once did a Northern Europe cruise with Royal Caribbean. We were assigned to a dinner table with two fun couples in their 30's or early 40's and had a great time with them at dinner each night and on some of the port calls. We were clearly sorted based on age for the dinner table assignments -- huge numbers of the passengers were in their 70's. That really enhanced our trip.

You are in your early 30's.

Venture on your own. So much fun. Please skip the cruise.

Any of the RS tours will give you the guided (ease) you are looking for, PLUS give you the knowledge to poke around on your own.

It's easy, fun, and a full on travel experience.

Then you can go back another time on your own (or another RS tour...because...they are really, really great!)

Remember that cruise lines don't have a "no grumps" policy - and a lot of people will complain about everything!

Unless your sister says no, I would do London and Paris, with day trips from each city.

We've not done a European cruise, just Caribbean and Mexico. But we know people who have. As was explained to me, most people go on cruises to party and relax on the ship. Visiting ports is incidental to the party. So times in port are brief and focused on shopping and eating. Travel agents who special in cruises have told me that most of the people on Mediterranean cruises are not Americans, but Europeans who are looking for fun and relaxation, not for experiencing other European ports. It would be like going to Cancun for a few hours and thinking you've seen Mexico.

My husband and I are in our 30's, and we've done a Baltic and Med cruise, both with Disney. We absolutely loved our vacations, but I wouldn't recommend it for your first time in Europe. You only get to know a place for a short amount of time, and the ports can get very crowded. You try to hit all the big spots along with everyone else in the 5-10 hours you're in port. The suggestion of doing a RS tour instead is smart if you don't want to handle the logistics of travel on your own.

For my husband’s first trip to Europe and my second we took the RS Best Of Europe tour and loved it. We had teenagers and older adults in our group ( going in the summer would allow a better age range of tour members). The tour was great because we got a cultural sampling of so many cities/countries and the practical experience of how to get around, etc. I would be totally comfortable on going back on my own to any of the places we visited. As far as the buses they were comfortable, not crowded and it gave us a chance to see parts of Europe most travelers don’t experience. The bonus of a RS tour is the time in a city center or country side that you have to explore on your own.
Enjoy what ever you decide to do.