Cruising is one of the most popular ways to travel, but it isn’t for everyone. Wondering if cruising is for you? Then take a look at these pros and cons of cruise holidays to help you determine if it’s the best way for you to travel.
Why Taking A Cruise Is Ideal
One immediate benefit to taking a cruise is that you pretty much pay for all of your costs upfront and ahead of time. Excluding any alcohol that you may purchase on the ship as well as any other additional excursions, what you pay for months in advance is the only money that you “have” to spend to have a good time. World class cuisine is always just steps away without you needing to hunt down the next best place to eat, and cruise lines often offer a wide variety of foods to cater to the numerous different palates on the ship.
Once aboard, you’ll find that there are a ton of different activities to do, so everyone in your party will always be entertained and have a good time. If laying out on the deck and catching some rays is what you want, you can do that within meters of your children scurrying up a rock climbing wall or whizzing down a water slide and splashing down into the pool.
Not all cruises need to be expensive. Some companies do some great cheap cruises, like Cruise Kings (linked before) or P&O. The days of exclusive, overpriced cruises aren’t well and truly over, but there is a plethora of cheaper options for those who would like a go.
Lastly, you don’t have to worry about transportation. Most of your stops are within walking distance of the cruise ship (and if it’s not, it’s easy to find a taxi to take you to where you want to go). Certain cruises for remote areas like the Falkland Islands or Antarctica also offer flight service. Polar Holidays (polarholidays.com) and a few others even include flights to the south pole in their cruise plans. Other than that, most populated areas speak fairly fluent English, so you won’t be struggling through language barriers.
Why Taking A Cruise Stinks
If you’re planning on going on this trip while getting work done, then you might have some problems. You’ll be hard pressed to find any Internet while on a cruise ship or a reliable phone line. If you’re going on a cruise, you have to be committed to be absolutely work-free and leave the office behind.
Having a trip all laid out for you in advance means that you’re stuck with the time constraints of the cruise’s schedule. So a beautiful location where you’d like to spend more than half a day in will have to wait until another trip. The schedule that a cruise has to keep is rigid and inflexible, so when they’re ready to go, you have to be too.
And finally, there’s always the chance of getting sea sick. Though most cruise ships and individuals are almost unable to even detect any movement of the ship, if you do happen to encounter bad weather or if you have a sensitive stomach, your trip may end up being a big bust.
