I think I might prefer land trips over cruising

[FSU Girl]

I never thought I'd say this, but I think I prefer land trips over cruising now. I just did a two week trip to England and Scotland and it was beyond amazing. I've never planned a trip like this before and everything was perfect. I had originally had a British Isles cruise booked with Princess that I ended up cancelling, and reading reviews of how badly excursions went on it and most people got sick has me really happy I didn't go.

I still love cruising, but I think my future cruises will be more focused on the ship than locations and I'll be flying to destinations more. I just loved being immersed in the culture, not having to race back to a ship every night and really get to explore a country at a slower pace.

 

[Rebecca Pocahontas]

For me I think it depends on where I am traveling to. If it is the Caribbean then I definitely prefer cruising because it is so easy and laidback while also getting to explore so many islands and different countries. But if I was going to Europe then traveling by land definitely more immersive and educational. I've been on 2 British Isles cruises with Princess and I've also done a walking tour through southern Scotland. While they were both absolutely amazing, if you told me to pick one right now to do again I'd go for the walking tour. You get to see so much more of the country if you don't have to get back to a cruise ship every night. But cruising is so much easier. However, I was so exhausted each night of my walking trip through Scotland that I did not experience any jet lag because I couldn't wait to go to sleep at the end of the day

 

[aggiedog]

For me, it depends who's with me. If I'm playing travel agent/tour guide/mom to the extended family we travel with, I love cruises. It's much less stressful for me when I have fewer details to take care of. If it's just me and dh or a BFF, I much prefer land trips. I call it "the chance to sit at night in a cafe, drink wine, and watch the culture go by" kind of trip. I like to just sit and soak it in without rushing to go back to the ship after having had just a taste of any one city.

I'm all about the ports anyways, so there have been times where a ship has been easier - the Baltic and French Polynesia - to see several different places. Now that I've done that, though, I'd love to go back for a land trip to several of them.

 

[Quellman]

For me, cruising is a floating all inclusive resort. I don't really want to get off the ship. Land vacations are all about doing, and there is so much to see and do that isn't at a cruise port. This is why we won't cruise the Med or northern Europe. I would rather be immersed in the cities and the land instead of hopping from place to place each night.

So glad you enjoyed yourself. I remember your planning threads and all the different options you had!

 

[olafLover]

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[Karin1984]

I'm glad you had a great trip in the UK Will you do a trip report?

And, what will you do with the dilemma you had recently, to do a 3-day cruise or a weekend to Boston etc.?

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

I think you might have some Adventures by Disney vacations in your future!

 

[FSU Girl]

For me I think it depends on where I am traveling to. If it is the Caribbean then I definitely prefer cruising because it is so easy and laidback while also getting to explore so many islands and different countries. But if I was going to Europe then traveling by land definitely more immersive and educational. I've been on 2 British Isles cruises with Princess and I've also done a walking tour through southern Scotland. While they were both absolutely amazing, if you told me to pick one right now to do again I'd go for the walking tour. You get to see so much more of the country if you don't have to get back to a cruise ship every night. But cruising is so much easier. However, I was so exhausted each night of my walking trip through Scotland that I did not experience any jet lag because I couldn't wait to go to sleep at the end of the day

The Caribbean is really easy for me to cruise to since I live only a few minutes from the port. I've gone to all those islands so many times that would be good for a great cruise ship I don't want to get off of, which Disney totally falls into. I loved Scotland so much I want to go back. I was really exhausted after every day, but it was so fun walking to Royal Mile at night.

For me, it depends who's with me. If I'm playing travel agent/tour guide/mom to the extended family we travel with, I love cruises. It's much less stressful for me when I have fewer details to take care of. If it's just me and dh or a BFF, I much prefer land trips. I call it "the chance to sit at night in a cafe, drink wine, and watch the culture go by" kind of trip. I like to just sit and soak it in without rushing to go back to the ship after having had just a taste of any one city.

I'm all about the ports anyways, so there have been times where a ship has been easier - the Baltic and French Polynesia - to see several different places. Now that I've done that, though, I'd love to go back for a land trip to several of them.

I could see having more people along a cruise would be easier to plan. For the most part our trips have just been me and my husband and I'm the planner. He had no clue what we were even doing until we were there lol.

For me, cruising is a floating all inclusive resort. I don't really want to get off the ship. Land vacations are all about doing, and there is so much to see and do that isn't at a cruise port. This is why we won't cruise the Med or northern Europe. I would rather be immersed in the cities and the land instead of hopping from place to place each night.

So glad you enjoyed yourself. I remember your planning threads and all the different options you had!

Ya, I was very conflicted on this trip and changed it so many times. I am so happy with what we ended up doing, it literally was the perfect vacation. I was reading so many reviews on Cruise Critic of people who ended up going on the cruise I cancelled and they were so bad I think our experience would have been completely different if we had chosen to do that cruise. I still like cruising, for our Disney cruise this past January we barely got off the ship and I loved it lol.

Cruising is so different from land trips. If I really want to see a destination, I will not do it by cruise. It will only give you the high lights or a taste, not the real thing. We went to Venice for our one year anniversary, stayed 3 nights. While we watched the cruise ships exit, we were happy we were able to stay and experience the city at night. And the sun set in the morning. Having a favorite gelato place where we went each day.
But I also loved our cruise where we went in to port a bit and then quickly back to an almost empty ship (loved the trivia game where we were the only people participating!)

It is two very different types of vacations. Until now I had been firmly in the camp of Cruising is the best way to travel all over the world. And then I did this two week trip and had an amazing time and just loved everything about it. Venice is such a wonderful city I spent a few days there at the end of a cruise with my family when I was a teenager I would love to go back there.

I'm glad you had a great trip in the UK Will you do a trip report?

And, what will you do with the dilemma you had recently, to do a 3-day cruise or a weekend to Boston etc.?

I'm not sure I'd be allowed to do a trip report on here? It doesn't have any Disney elements (except on my birthday there was a Disney Dinner happening in my hotel that I totally wanted to crash lol) I did start a travel blog that I was planning on adding things to there I can PM you the link if you like I don't think I'm supposed to post that on here? For that other trip it's still up in the air at the moment. We are starting to look at buying a new house and if that ends up happening we probably will have to cancel going anywhere to save some money. Not sure yet what we are going to do there.

I think you might have some Adventures by Disney vacations in your future!

I have looked at them. I think they would be a lot of fun! The price scares me a little bit though lol. We did a bunch of tours in Scotland and total it didn't even reach $1,000 for a week and I think it would be like $16,000 through Disney. Working on my husband though to do one in the future.

 

[TestingH2O]

For me, it depends who's with me. If I'm playing travel agent/tour guide/mom to the extended family we travel with, I love cruises. It's much less stressful for me when I have fewer details to take care of.

This 100%. These days I usually travel with DD and my parents. Honestly cruising is so easy for mukti-generational trips. If I get to travel on my own or just with my mom again though, I'd be much more flexible. In a few years, when DD can manage her own luggage, I think she'd be a great companion too.

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

I agree that travel party and destination matter. When traveling with my parents, a cruise is best and easiest. When it's just me and DS8, land trips are preferred when traveling anywhere but the Caribbean. When it's the two of us, our Disney cruises are about the ship, not so much about the destination. Options are a wonderful thing to have!

 

[GeezeLouise]

I never thought I'd say this, but I think I prefer land trips over cruising now. I just did a two week trip to England and Scotland and it was beyond amazing. I've never planned a trip like this before and everything was perfect. I had originally had a British Isles cruise booked with Princess that I ended up cancelling, and reading reviews of how badly excursions went on it and most people got sick has me really happy I didn't go.

I still love cruising, but I think my future cruises will be more focused on the ship than locations and I'll be flying to destinations more. I just loved being immersed in the culture, not having to race back to a ship every night and really get to explore a country at a slower pace.

Europe and the UK is really easy to traverse. It's relatively safe (as safe as the US or safer) and easy to plan your own trip. I've never done a guided tour. Cruising also seems restrictive for that area. There are some itineraries that focus on one country that I might do. Norway looks neat. But otherwise I'm only interested in a transatlantic crossing. The one to Barcelona May (?) looks interesting. The ports are all close so if you didn't get to see everything you wanted, you can do that AFTER your cruise. But I wouldn't do a round trip. At least not in Europe.

It sounds horrible but I'm not planning a cruise to Mexico for the culture or history (both of which seem really interesting). I picked the cruise for its dates and the fact that it had fewer ports for the length of time (not more). If I want to see Mexico, I'll go on a different kind of vacation. (Though the ports will give me a nice taste )

Also, in lots of cities (just like in Florida) the ports aren't super close to the things you want to see. You're stuck having to take time getting from your new port every day. That's not a huge deal if all you want to do is go to a beach or one one hike. But I can't imagine seeing Rome in one day. It's actually a turn off for me.

 

[Karin1984]

I have no idea what is allowed but there are several places on DIS your experiences could be useful. Here, for those who spend days in the UK before or after their cruise. The Disneyland Paris trip reports board, as most US visitors who go to DLP go to the UK as well, and I think there are Adventures By Disney where people spend time in the UK on their own before or after their tour.

I have seen one or two reports of travels without a Disney component on the DIS because the author went to a popular place, visited frequently by people going to a Disney park. I think on the Asia boards... But not sure.

Or you just put the link to your blog in your signature, that is always an option.

 

[bumbershoot]

For me, cruising is a floating all inclusive resort. I don't really want to get off the ship. Land vacations are all about doing, and there is so much to see and do that isn't at a cruise port. This is why we won't cruise the Med or northern Europe. I would rather be immersed in the cities and the land instead of hopping from place to place each night.

Exactly. There's no "better" for me, it's just different vacations.

I would take a transatlantic to get to or from Europe, but then wander around on "foot" once there.

 

[MomOTwins]

Enjoy pre-kid vacations is all I can say; life was sooo much simpler then, and vacays so much easier. DH really wants to do the Mediterranean with our three little ones, but on land for us that would mean:
1) large car rental with car seats for three kids, that is super impractical to drive and park on narrow European streets;
2) two hotel rooms because finding rooms for 5 there is nearly impossible, and since our kids are to small to be on their own, that means DH and I have to split up into different rooms;
3) picky eaters making a scene at every bistro.

Totally agree with you conceptually though--Europe is so immersive; it is lovely to spend time there on land, where you can see the place more in depth than a cruise permits. But the cruise convenience of having a combined hotel/restaurant/transporation taken care of in a one-stop-shop is pretty convenient!

 

[FSU Girl]

I have no idea what is allowed but there are several places on DIS your experiences could be useful. Here, for those who spend days in the UK before or after their cruise. The Disneyland Paris trip reports board, as most US visitors who go to DLP go to the UK as well, and I think there are Adventures By Disney where people spend time in the UK on their own before or after their tour.

I have seen one or two reports of travels without a Disney component on the DIS because the author went to a popular place, visited frequently by people going to a Disney park. I think on the Asia boards... But not sure.

Or you just put the link to your blog in your signature, that is always an option.

Hmm I wonder where I should put it. I don't mind doing a report I have a lot of useful tips of what I did. I might just put the link in my signature if people want to go and see it on my blog since its not really Disney connected.

Enjoy pre-kid vacations is all I can say; life was sooo much simpler then, and vacays so much easier. DH really wants to do the Mediterranean with our three little ones, but on land for us that would mean:
1) large car rental with car seats for three kids, that is super impractical to drive and park on narrow European streets;
2) two hotel rooms because finding rooms for 5 there is nearly impossible, and since our kids are to small to be on their own, that means DH and I have to split up into different rooms;
3) picky eaters making a scene at every bistro.

Totally agree with you conceptually though--Europe is so immersive; it is lovely to spend time there on land, where you can see the place more in depth than a cruise permits. But the cruise convenience of having a combined hotel/restaurant/transporation taken care of in a one-stop-shop is pretty convenient!

My coworker actually just did a trip to Italy and he has four kids all under five. He was there for a little over a week, if you want I can ask him what he did for you? I think they rented a villa or something and then drove around the country from there but not really sure. I do agree that cruising is convenient and when I have a baby I might go back to traveling that way not sure yet.

 

[mevelandry]

I never thought I'd say this, but I think I prefer land trips over cruising now. I just did a two week trip to England and Scotland and it was beyond amazing. I've never planned a trip like this before and everything was perfect. I had originally had a British Isles cruise booked with Princess that I ended up cancelling, and reading reviews of how badly excursions went on it and most people got sick has me really happy I didn't go.

I still love cruising, but I think my future cruises will be more focused on the ship than locations and I'll be flying to destinations more. I just loved being immersed in the culture, not having to race back to a ship every night and really get to explore a country at a slower pace.

Unfortunately, most reviews we'll hear about are usually the bad ones. People are more eager to share online about bad experiences than good experiences.

If you cruise only for the ship, you can book shorter cruises (which will make you save tons of money) because after 2 or 3 days on board, we usually know pretty much everything there is to know about the ship ...

... and/or do "Land & Sea"... or transfers (1 night cruises from Seattle to Vancouver comes to mind, I know they do something similar in Europe as well). Best of both worlds!

 

[FSU Girl]

Unfortunately, most reviews we'll hear about are usually the bad ones. People are more eager to share online about bad experiences than good experiences.

If you cruise only for the ship, you can book shorter cruises (which will make you save tons of money) because after 2 or 3 days on board, we usually know pretty much everything there is to know about the ship ...

... and/or do "Land & Sea"... or transfers (1 night cruises from Seattle to Vancouver comes to mind, I know they do something similar in Europe as well). Best of both worlds!

I know most reviews are extreme, but usually when its just in the forums people are more honest. I don't actually like the short cruises that much, I like the week long ones. I did one in January and barely left the ship. I don't dislike cruising now that I've discovered I like land trips, but I do think I'm going to keep cruising to places where the ports don't interest me as much.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

but usually when its just in the forums people are more honest.

Not that I've seen. Those people who are wont to complain will do so about every little detail that didn't work the way they think it should. And, often, are quite vehement about it.

 

[emilymad]

I feel the same way as you. We are booked on the Hawaii cruise and are considering canceling. 5 nights at sea is too many days wasted. We have already done Hawaii by land so we are thinking back to Europe. We have traveled both land and cruises but this Hawaii trip really has us conflicted.

 

[FSU Girl]

I feel the same way as you. We are booked on the Hawaii cruise and are considering canceling. 5 nights at sea is too many days wasted. We have already done Hawaii by land so we are thinking back to Europe. We have traveled both land and cruises but this Hawaii trip really has us conflicted.

We had that cruise booked and ended up cancelling. We hadn't been to Hawaii before and only getting 4 days there seemed too short and the length of the cruise wouldn't allow us to spend more. If you end up cancelling and look at Europe I can offer some suggestions I did a crazy amount of research before this trip and did a lot.