Cruise vs. Independent Travel? Both!

Even though we’re experienced travelers, we’re rather new to cruising. We avoided cruises for years after I spent a miserable seasick night on a cruise ship in the 1990s. Wasn’t fond of the herd mentality thing either, on a 700-passenger Epirotiki cruise ship (how quaint, considering today’s monster cruise ships). I did appreciate how easy it was to get from one Greek island to the next, especially with 25 high school students along for the fun.

Back then, we were still young enough to happily haul our bags, drive our own car, and survive near-travel disasters, such as almost missing the last night train out of Lucerne, Switzerland because we read the schedule backwards (long story).

How things have changed. While we can still haul, drive, and catch the train (and do all three, frequently), we love the convenience and comforts the modern cruise experience provides.

Today’s cruise ships have added stabilizers so seasickness is much less of a problem (although I know my day will come). Cruise lines have pretty much mastered crowd movement, following cues from the Disney folks. I don’t know how they do it, but we hardly ever wait in long lines anymore, except at initial embarkation and debarkation. Once we reach the highest customer loyalty levels, we hear, we’re done with that as well.

And the best part? Ah, the cabin, and it doesn’t matter if it’s balcony, view, or inside. It’s YOURS, for the duration of the trip. No packing/unpacking, no checking in or checking out. It also comes with a great bed and a friendly cabin steward to cater to your every need.

Yet there are tradeoffs. While living on a cruise ship, for instance, we are much less likely to have memorable interactions with locals, such as Benjamino and Patricia, owners of Casa de’ Coronari, near Piazza Navona, Rome, where we stayed before our Mediterranean cruise.

Our stay in their enchanting medieval-ages lodging was a highlight of the whole trip. What wonderful people; we never would have met them if we hadn’t spent independent time in Rome before the cruise. We did have to hike up several flights of uneven stone steps to our room, no lifts.  And while Benjamino carried our bags up and down, dear man, and we did exceed our daily step goals and then some with all that stair climbing, it wasn’t easy. Life aboard a cruise ship is almost TOO easy, sometimes, but there are days when that’s exactly what we want.

So today, we mix it up. Our trips center on cruising, with city stays, driving, or train trips tacked on at the front and back ends. When we grow weary of the demands of independent travel, we board the cruise ship and call it home.

And hey, this home has a covered spa pool and room service.

Sweet!