to cruise or not?

Hi Cindy,
A cruise would not work for me--I'd think that you do it less expensively on your own and you'd be able to customize your itinerary visiting only the places that you want to see.

It depends also on what the cruise includes--airfare? meals? entry fee to museums? I'd work out the numbers--whether to cruise or not is something only you can decide!

If you use an average of $120 per person per day travelling on your own, you’ll probably save some money compared to this cruise. Check out Europe through the Back Door by Rick Steves at your local library branch, and review the information on touring versus travelling on your own. Beyond cost, there are many personal factors that you should consider when making the decision to either tour or venture out on you own.

I’ll also add that Burt Wolf is a big proponent of river cruising…his PBS series focuses on cruising throughout Europe. I’ve always travelled independently, but I have older family members that cruise all around Europe and love it.

We are big fans of cruising -- six in Europe and another one next Fall. It is a different form of travel that appeals to some people and not to others. A lot of people who criticizes cruise have never been on one. We find them to be very economically BUT like any travel option you have to pick and choice what you do and how you do. You do need to be a little creative. It worked especially well for us when we traveled with our two sons. For us the cruise ship was a moving bedroom and a floating dinning room that solved a lot of logistic problems. I think of a cruise like a smorgasbord as opposed to s sit down restaurant. You get an opportunity to sample a wide range of different offerings and you do in a very intense way. When the ship docks we are one of the first off with a pretty intense sightseeing schedule and can cover a lot of ground in ten to twelve hours. I view it as more than just a taste. If we can get a cruise for about $100/pp/day it is hard to beat on land by yourself. We tend to do both. Will arrive a few days to a week ahead of the cruise and/or stay a week or so after the cruise. We book the least expensive room on the ship and avoid nearly all of the ship excursions which can add substantially to the price. The posting limitation for this site makes to hard to explain everything we do. Contact me off line if you want more costing saving suggestions.

The main drawback of cruises is that you only get a limited amount of time at each port where the cruise stops. But, a cruise can be an interesting introduction to various destinations that you might want to visit again someday.

I wouldn't say that all shore excursions aren't worth it, or are overpriced. For example, we took a cruise with Voyages of Discovery that included St. Petersberg, Russia, and the shore excursions worked perfectly. We got a lot of time in the Hermitage museum, with a knowledgeable guide, and we visited two of the former Czar's palaces. Without the shore excursions, it would have been much harder to organize such visits, because of Russia's strict visa requirements.

I have to agree with Frank on this one. The ship was a floating room, and a place to eat. It wasn't the reason I was there. I also extend my trip by going in before and staying afterward. Not as long as Frank's. Mine was just a few days before and a few days afterwards. But I got to exloper Amsterdam.

I researched and planned my tours away from the cruise lines. I was usually the 1st or 2nd person off the ship and last person back on.

If you have any questions let me know.

First, I too like cruising, although I have not done it in Europe.

I do think that 900 dollars per person for seven days of hotel and food is not bad,, and that includes the transportation from port to port( city to city).. so , cruising is likely very much on par with doing it cheaply by land,, but, since you can eat all you want on cruises,, ( not just budget food) and the accomadations are nicer( they some hostels) you are in fact getting a good deal.. Plus there is entertainment in the evenings, and a swimming pool( impossible to find in most Europeon city hotels, and nice after a hot day sightseeing).

Downside to cruising Europe to me,, and reason I have not done it yet,, is I want more time in places, But, you say you only have a week regardless. well, the ship travels at night I assume, if you were on a land trip you would have to spend part of your days on trains, and not all trains are scenic fun..

So, unless you can make your trip longer, or at least add a few days on before or after cruise, then really there is not much difference in how much time you will have in each city,, but at least with the cruise you don't have to waste time travelling,, you can eat dinner, have a swim, and go to a show.. arrive next am and off you go.

what I would recommend if you cruise is do your own shore excursions.. ships always over charge,, in our 6 or 7 cruises we have done we almost always do our own excursions.

We went on one cruise, but never again! People who "cruise" regularly congregate in herds that move and act like sheep, thus novices like us were constantly out of step. Our ship, which was a very large one, pitched and rolled sending our suitcases scooting back and forth across the floor at night making sleep impossible--even with our fingers clinging to the bed rail to keep from falling out. The crew got sick, a lot of the elderly (and I do mean elderly) people got sick, monsoon rains pelted the ship rendering any outside deck sauntering impossible. However, if you like making small talk for a week with people who would never interest you at home, standing in lines with gluttons whose plates spill onto their trays and drinking alcohol to speed the time before the next port, by all means, go to it. For us, we'll see the country by train and on foot where it's meant to be enjoyed.

Sarah, those are almost offensive comments. Have not been in one herd yet. There comments are so extreme that I question whether you were actually on a cruise. We have had about 90 days of cruising and never encountered one single day as your described. With a couple of exceptions we have always had great and interesting table mates. The other two times they were very pleasant but not very out going. If you are a little anti-social, then a cruise is not you.

Once again, I find myself agreeing with Frank. But I would like to know where this cruise was, what cruise line, and what ship did all this take place on?

With close to 20 cruises to my credit, there isn't much I haven't seen, heard, or experianced.

I always find it funny at how ill prepared people are to cruising.

I haven't done any cruising myself but I would simply say the choice to cruise or not is one of personal travel style, not one of financial considerations.

While it may sound a good deal to have accommodation and meals covered fairly inexpensively through the cruise you may end up paying more for your land excursions. If you're short on time you may have to spend more on taxis or go with an organized tour that also often costs more than an independent trip.

I'd also throw in that you probably will get "international cuisine" on the cruise ship and would forgo experiencing truly local food. Again, that's a question of personal travel preference, not soley a financial one.

Some things I wanted to get back too, but got side track.

I did a bus tour of Ireland and then came back a few months later and hit a few of those same cities on a cruise. So I can compare the time I spent in those cities via the tour to the time I spent via the cruise.

It seemed like on the land bus tour, we spent most of our time traveling. Where on the cruise most of the traveling was done while I slept.

On the tour we had to stay in a group while in Cork and Dublin and go where the tour took us. We were only given a few hours. When my ship docked in Cobh, I was able to grab the train to Cork and spend the day exploring as a wanted, or go to Blarney, or any of the surrounding areas.

Dublin: On the tour we drove all day to get to Dublin from Cork. Next morning up by 8am, tour the jail, tour trinity, tour some foggy park, lunch, off to Howth for a dinner show, back to hotel for the night, up the next morning heading toward Shannon.

On the cruise we left Cobh, around 9pm and when I woke up at 5am we were already docked and I was able to get off the ship at 6:45am(1st one off), grab a cab by 7am to downtown to catch my day tour to Newsgrange, get back into Dublin at 7pm(last one on) that night.

The key to any good vacation is to know you can't do it all. The key to good shore trips is educating yourself on what there is to do at each port of call. Figure out what you want to do, what you can do, and go from there.

Sarah,, sounds like you took a "booze cruise" to Mexico,, probaly on a Carnival Ship too.. hardly the same as a nice Med Cruise..
I too found your comments offensive, and frankly a bit silly,, you don't like cruising because the ONE time you did it you hit big seas and rain,, did it occur to you that it does not always rain,, nor are seas always big. As for gluttons, as I said, you likely went on some cheap Mexican west coast cruise,, and likely off season,, so hit bad weather and a group of people just on to party cheaply.

Amy,, you had some good points.

Beatix, you should have put a period at the end of, "I haven't done any cruising myself." As I stated before I am always amazed at the cruise experts who have never taken a cruise. They just make lots of assumptions. For us, the principle consideration was finances when we were traveling with our two sons. With both of us in education and limited to peak tourist seasons (mostly June) cruises permitted very tight cost control. Cruises are priced and paid for in US dollars so there is no currency uncertainty, no currency conversion fees.

Your comment about local food was half accurate. Most cruise ship fare is good but it is Americanized. However, we always have lunch ashore and sometimes in very nice restaurants which is often cheaper than the same meal at night would have been. Second, at many ports the cruise ship stays late or overnight which permits an evening dinner ashore. When the boys were younger we had some problems with findings foods and restaurants where the boys would actually eat something. The ship solved that problem. Sometimes if the ship was in port late, the boys would have dinner with entertainment on the ship and we could have a nice dinner by ourselves ashore.

As I stated before, there is not any one answer. Each travel mode has its own advantages and disadvantages. What you have to be smart about is working the advantages to your maximum benefit. Isn't that the whole Steves' concept?

Frank,

while I haven't done any cruising myself we have other family members who do and talk enthusiastically about it. Last year they took a med cruise at the same time we did an individual tour of Italy. We missed each other in Pompeii by a day or so ... Comparing notes afterwards it was very much as I described above. They loved their trip, we loved ours.

In terms of cost, it is fairly easy to at least keep the cost of accommodation and food somewhat under control by renting appartments, especially if you're a family with kids. And those were all booked before we left. We paid $35/day/person (accommodation only) when the Euro was the highest it had ever been. And that was the most expensive European trip we've ever done. Even including all other cost our land travel would have beaten the cruise price mentioned by the op. And that was during the second half of June, pretty much high season as well.

And we've never had issues finding something to eat for our kids on land, especially in Italy :-) The fact that your kids often prefered the food on board simply confirms that this was their personal preference. And if you do have so many meals on land as you described I am confused as to why having meals included in the cruise price is such a financial advantage?

Point I wanted to make is: you can make a cruise fit your budget, you can make land travel fit your budget. In the end the choice is one of personal preference. And I haven't found a single argument in this discussion contradicting this statement.

At the risk of angering the cruise enthusiasts, I'd like to say something in defense of the cruise disparagers. I have never been on a cruise. (Period!) I just feel like I'd be "stuck" and couldn't travel the way I'd want. I have limited time and money for vacation and don't want to risk it. RS is all about getting off the beaten path, and a cruise sure seems like a well worn path. I also don't think I'd like a bus tour, and I don't feel the need to travel that way just to see if I'm right. Hopefully, the contrasting opinions here will help the OP make her decision.

I like cruising places that are worth only an eight hour stop (small city center with few must sees). A Baltic cruise, river cruise, Greek island cruise or even an Eastern Mediteranean cruise might fit into that category. The stops on the Western Med. cruises aren't nearly long enough to get a decent visit so I would prefer to see it on the ground.

I once said I would never cruise for many of the reasons listed above. I have now done several ocean cruises and one river cruise and have one on the Danube booked for 2010. As you can imagine I now enjoy cruises. Some of the comments, both pro and con relate to ocean cruises. River cruises are quite different. Not better, not worse, just different. The one week took, you seldom travelled at night. You were able to enjoy the scenery in the morning or afternoon as you gently sailed along the river. You invarably docked before dinner and you had the option of eating on board (included in price) or going ashore on your own and at your own expense having dinner elsewhere. Regardless of which option we took, we would go for an after dinner stroll in the town we were docked - try doing that on most ocean cruises! On the river cruises we have booked, the shore excursions were included, so they were not costly - or at least, not additionally costly.

Like Frank, we add time before and/or after cruises to enjoy one particular place. No cruising is not for everyone, and I never thought it would be for me...till I tried it.

Cindy,

My wife and I have traveled both independently on land and on cruises and many of the pros and cons have already been covered in other posts. I will say that what the cruise lacks in flexibility it makes up for in convenience. One other poster mentioned river cruises, which offers a nice alternative that gives you a little bit of the best of both worlds. We just got back from 10 river cruise of Belgium and the Netherlands and it was nice way to travel. Many nights we stayed in port very late , if not overnight, and were able to come and go off the ship in a similar manner as staying on land. If we wanted dinner on the ship we ate on the ship, if not we found a place in town. Most days and nights we walked around town and just mingled with the locals and felt we had the opportunity to experience the local culture. The river ships usually have local program directors that serve as your guide while on the ship and in the towns. They were very accessible and we had ample opportunity to learn a lot about local culture that you may not get on other types of travel. Many of the crew were from Eastern Europe so we learned quite a bit from that part of the world as well and overall we meet some very well traveled and interesting people. As for cost, many of the cruise lines are offering substantial discounts, so the pricing should be very attractive.

BTW our next trip will be a land based trip, just so that you know I am not shrilling for the cruise lines.

To all who are thinking of cruising the Med pick up the book "Insight Guides..Mediterranean Cruises" Gives you all the intructions you need docking at each port...train, bus, times, directions. You will have a wonderful time and see much more then anything the ship could offer, and save alot of money

Cruising is a nice way of taking your hotel with you while travelling. It has its problems - watching the high-step, knees-pumping-in-place of elderly passengers charging towards the head of the food buffet was funny if you were not in front of them - but we always meet nice people on board. A cruise, by the way, is by far the best way to see areas bordering the Baltic Sea - St. Petersburg, Tellin, Copenhagen, Bremerhaven - because they are difficult logistically and time-consuming to get to. I prefer a land tour around the Mediteranean, though, only because cruising limits your time otherwise. But I am open to doing it and in fact did a nice Greek cruise that covered many interesting ports. Only problem, again, was a desire to stay longer in many of them, which a cruise kind of prevents you from doing.

John, I know you are trying to be cute and funny but your comment is offensive. In six cruise I have never encountered,,,,,"the high-step, knees-pumping-in-place of elderly passengers charging towards the head of the food buffet ..... You must be picking the wrong cruises.

An interesting discussion! One point to consider that hasn't been mentioned is the price of alcoholic beverages on cruises, which I find to be quite steep. If you like to drink more than occasionally, you might be surprised to find a very large bar tab awaiting you at the end of your cruise. You'll want to budget for this in your trip planning if you enjoy pre-dinner (or pre-lunch!) cocktails, wine with dinner or night caps.

John, I don't think your comment was offensive. I think it was actually pretty funny. I guess if I found it offensive I could just CHOOSE to stop reading the thread.

Hello John, could you please explain to me what "high-step, knees-pumping-in-place of elderly passengers" means? I know that I am from the 2oth century and sometimes I feel I am from a different planet as well. I thought my English was pretty good. Would appreciate your translation and maybe than I can decide whether to be insulted or not. Karin

Sorry if I might have offended anyone, but while I admit my decription was meant to be funny, it might not be to someone who fits that category.

Karin, my decription was about an observation of how some of my fellow, less mobile, passengers suddenly got very energized at the breakfast buffet. Normally walking slowly and occasionally with the help of a walker to steady there balance, they became more animated and moved much quicker, moving their legs in a pumping action that did not necessarily generate more forward speed, but gave the impression of it.

Sorry, but it WAS funny to observe, bless their hearts.

John, no offence taken. I have observed people in wheelchairs boarding airplanes. And arriving at their destination could all of a sudden sprint like a champion. Karin