Are Cruise Ships Becoming The Destination?

Sometimes we cruise because of where the ship is going. Sometimes we cruise because of the ship itself. And sometimes, we just need to go.

Like most couples, Susan and I have a bucket list.

Actually, calling it a “list” may be generous. It’s more like an ever-changing collection of countries, cities and places we’ve decided we need to see while our bodies are still willing to cooperate.

Most of the time, that list plays a pretty significant role in our cruise planning. We decide where we want to go, start looking at itineraries, and eventually figure out which ship can get us there. Bermuda, which we finally booked recently after years of putting it off, is a perfect example. We wanted to experience Bermuda, so the destination came first and the cruise line came second.

But every once in a while, something completely different happens.

One of us will look at the other and say some version of, “I think we just need to get away.” Suddenly, I couldn’t care less which countries are on the itinerary or whether we’re going somewhere we’ve visited three times before.

We don’t need to go somewhere, but we just need to go. And when that’s the vacation we’re looking for, everything about the way we choose a cruise changes.

Sometimes the Destination Really Is Everything

There are cruises where the itinerary matters enormously to us. If we’re traveling halfway around the world or visiting a region we’ve never experienced, I want to know where we’re going, how long we’re staying and whether the itinerary gives us enough time to actually experience the places we’re traveling so far to see.

On those cruises, the ship certainly matters. We still want a comfortable cabin, good food, enjoyable sea days and all the other things that make cruising special. But if I’m choosing between two ships and one gives me significantly better ports, longer stays or an overnight somewhere we’ve always wanted to explore, there’s a pretty good chance the itinerary wins.

That’s one of the reasons cruising has always appealed to us in the first place. We can unpack once and wake up somewhere new almost every morning. Instead of checking out of a hotel, dragging luggage to a train station or airport, traveling to another city and checking into another hotel, our floating hotel quietly moves while we’re sleeping.

For that kind of vacation, the ship is primarily helping us experience the destination. But that’s not the only reason we cruise anymore.

Then There Are the Ships People Want to Sail

Something interesting has happened as cruise ships have become bigger, more elaborate and increasingly packed with things to do. For some travelers, the ship itself has become the reason for booking the vacation, and I completely understand it.

There are ships today with waterparks, roller coasters, surf simulators, sprawling entertainment districts, dozens of restaurants and enough activities that you could probably spend a week onboard and still miss something. Cruise lines aren’t simply selling transportation to the Caribbean anymore. In many cases, they’re selling the ship as the attraction.

That creates an entirely different kind of cruise shopper. Instead of saying, “I want to go to the Caribbean. Which ship should I take?” someone may say, “I want to sail on that ship. Where is it going?”

There’s nothing wrong with that.

In fact, I think one of the mistakes experienced cruisers can make is assuming everyone should value the same things we do. Someone taking their kids or grandchildren aboard one of today’s newest mega-ships may care far more about what’s happening onboard than whether they’re visiting Nassau for the first or fifth time.

Their destination may quite literally be the ship.

And Sometimes We Just Need to Go

This is probably where Susan and I fall more often than I would have expected years ago.

There are times when we’re not trying to cross another country off the bucket list or experience some incredible new destination. We’re tired. Life has been busy. Maybe it’s been too long since we’ve stared at the ocean from a balcony with nowhere we’re supposed to be.

We simply want to get away for a week or two, unplug a little, spend time together and let someone else worry about cooking dinner. For us, that’s where cruising becomes incredibly difficult to beat.

I realize saying, “Sometimes we just need to book a cruise,” could make it sound like we’re casually throwing money at another vacation, but that’s really not the case. When I compare the cost of flying somewhere, staying at a decent hotel or resort for a week, eating out every day, finding entertainment, perhaps renting a car and potentially moving on to another city for part of the trip, cruising frequently becomes one of the better vacation values available to us.

Not necessarily the cheapest vacation we could take, but compared with the kind of land vacation we’d realistically choose, it’s often the better value.

That’s an important distinction and one that came up in our recent article, The Cheapest Cruise Isn’t Always the Cheapest Cruise. Comparing vacation costs isn’t particularly useful unless you’re comparing the vacations you would actually buy.

When all we’re looking for is a chance to relax, the cruise already gives us much of what we’re after. We have a room, meals, entertainment, a pool, places to relax and, most importantly, an ocean outside our window.

Whatever ports happen to be on the itinerary almost become a bonus.

There’s No Rule Saying You Have to Get Off the Ship

This may have been one of the harder lessons for us to learn as cruisers.

Early on, arriving in port meant getting off the ship. Of course it did. We’d traveled all that way, so naturally we needed to see something. There was an excursion to take, a beach to visit, a tour to book or at least a town that required wandering around for several hours.

Eventually, though, you return to some of the same places.

We’ve revisited ports throughout the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico, and we’ve even reached the point where another trip to Alaska doesn’t necessarily mean we need to recreate every excursion we’ve taken before. There are places we’re perfectly happy to visit again, but we no longer feel pressure to squeeze everything possible out of every port day.

If we’ve already explored a destination several times, there is absolutely nothing wrong with watching everyone else head down the gangway while we walk toward an unusually quiet spot on the ship…and with everyone ashore, that’s pretty much anywhere on the ship.

We’re not wasting the port, but are actually using the ship.

And there’s something wonderfully relaxing about a cruise when you remove the feeling that you’re supposed to be doing something.

Maybe we’ll get off for lunch. Maybe we’ll wander around for an hour. Maybe we’ll stay onboard all day. There isn’t an itinerary checklist we’re trying to complete because that wasn’t why we booked the vacation in the first place.

We booked it because we needed to go.

It Changes the Way We Shop for a Cruise

Once the destination stops being the primary reason for the trip, my cruise search changes dramatically.

I’m no longer looking for the perfect itinerary. I’m looking for a great value on a ship we know we’ll enjoy, or perhaps one we’ve been wanting to try. Dates matter. Price matters. The ship matters. The ports? Considerably less so.

That’s when seeing Cozumel or Cabo on the itinerary for the umpteenth time doesn’t bother me much. If we’ve been there before, that actually gives us more freedom. There’s no FOMO, no feeling that we need to book an excursion and no pressure to maximize the day.

Sometimes familiarity is exactly what we’re looking for.

That may sound like a contradiction coming from the guy who recently wrote When Extraordinary Becomes Ordinary, where I questioned whether Susan and I had become a little too comfortable repeating the cruise experiences we already know and love.

But I don’t think the two ideas are actually in conflict.

If we’re looking for adventure, I want us to keep pushing beyond what’s familiar. I want to experience different cruise lines, smaller ships, new countries and places that give us stories we haven’t told before.

But not every vacation needs to be an adventure. Sometimes a vacation can simply be a vacation.

Final Thoughts

With cruise lines continuing to build ships that are increasingly destinations unto themselves, there’s plenty of debate about whether cruising is becoming too focused on the ship and not enough on where the ship actually goes.

I’m not sure that’s the question we should be asking.

Instead, before opening a cruise line website, maybe we should ask ourselves what kind of vacation we’re actually looking for.

Sometimes the answer is: I want to go THERE. There’s a country, city or destination calling our name, and the ship is how we’re going to experience it.

Other times it’s: I want to sail THAT. There’s a particular ship we’ve been curious about, and wherever it happens to be sailing is almost secondary.

And then there are those wonderful moments when the answer is much simpler: I just need to GO.

None of those is a better reason to cruise than the others. They’re simply different vacations, and recognizing which one you’re looking for can completely change how you choose your next cruise.

For us, destinations will probably continue driving many of our biggest trips. There are still far too many places on that ever-growing bucket list, and time has an annoying habit of moving faster than we’d like.

But I’ve also learned there’s nothing wrong with booking a ship we’ve loved before, sailing to ports we’ve already visited and having absolutely no intention of accomplishing anything.

Sometimes the destination is Bermuda, Alaska or some faraway place we’ve dreamed about seeing. Sometimes the destination is the ship, and sometimes, the destination is simply away.