The Water Cooler – Have You Ever Been On A Cruise? If Not – Would You Ever Go On One?

Yes
30+

When I was in the Sea Scouts at sixteen, we sailed down to Catalina
Island and back. Other than that, no, I have never been on a cruise.
Cruise ships don’t interest me and seem boring. I never have liked
tourist destinations or crowds, I’d rather vacation off the beaten path.
Someplace unique, non-touristy, and away from popular mainstream
destinations.
That’s not to say I stay away from tourist destinations completely, but
they are usually not my first choice. I know a lot of people who love a
good cruise and have always enjoyed it, but it’s not for me.

Yes! We love to travel, and we’ve been on several. They’re fun!

We have been on 3 cruises. Our first was a 2 week Viking cruise from Bergen Norway to the northernmost point in continental Europe, then back south to Scotland and a final sail up the River Thames to London (we docked in Greenwich). That is where few cruise ships go, because most are too large. We also did a 2 week Viking cruise from Barcelona to Venice, followed by a week on a Viking Rhine River cruise from Basel Switzerland to Amsterdam, the Netherlands; that trip was 33 days with pre- and post-cruise extensions. However since then we have decided that we want to get more than a “snapshot” of each place, so we have done month-long road trips by rental car the last 4 years and love it. We typically stay 3 nights in each place to get more immersed in each place. Viking is a great cruise line, all are small ships of 930 passengers maximum, all cabins have a balcony, there is nobody under 18 allowed (we love our grandchildren, we just prefer to go cruising without them or any others). There is no “nickel and diming,” as virtually everything is included, beer and wine is included with lunch and dinner, and there are no set times, other than a 3 hour window for each meal and there is no extra charge for the specialty restaurants. There is no casino or ship’s photographer and the ships never feel crowded. It’s all “business casual,” with no formal nights. I have never put a tie on, nor have I ever felt the need to do so. There is at least one included excursion in ever port, with others optional for a reasonable charge. We won’t bother to look at any other cruise line. The Viking ships are beautiful and the service is superb. However, we are now enjoying our road trips, most of them in Italy, though we have also driven in San Marino (beautiful country!), Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Once about 20 yrs ago, on Royal Caribbean. Far from the glitziest…but a step up from the cheapest. Good crowd, clean ship, nice showroom. Considering the fare covered the room, food, entertainment & overall experience, I found it to be a good value.