Top 10 Reasons to Love Family Cruising

Discover Amazing Family Cruise Vacations

Ever wondered why each year there are more and bigger cruise ships being launched? Perhaps it’s the 37.7 million cruise passengers expected in 2025. That’s a growth of 16% in three years and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

If you haven’t cruised, maybe you’re missing something? We sure were…

For us the year was 1999 when we booked our first cruise. Every year for a number of years we took a family driving vacation. Me, my wife and two boys out exploring Yosemite or the Grand Canyon or the Blue Ridge Mountains and there was always someone upset; “I’m too tired to hike”, “I’m hungry”, “when are we gonna be there?” and always my famous rant “Don’t make me stop this car!”.

It was the family vacation in 1999 when we flew to Seattle and spent several days before taking a bus to Vancouver for a few more days and then boarded a Royal Caribbean cruise for seven days cruising Alaska.

On board we settled into our stateroom and that’s when it hit us – we didn’t have to pack and unpack as we visited five different ports in Alaska. Within 24 hours I thought I had gone to heaven. No more finding a restaurant for dinner that would be okay with everyone. No more loading and unloading a car.

The youngest son joined the kids program and that kept him busy. He was having such a great time he had us pay for the evening programs as well. There were a couple of family sessions where we played games (I actually won a pair of Royal Caribbean boxer shorts that are still in a bottom drawer).

The teenager right away took to the Teen Club and became friends with several other teens that he stayed in touch with for years. In a couple of ports he went off on his own fly fishing and he and I went sport fishing. One of the salmon he caught was sent back to the ship and was presented at our dinner table for everyone to sample.

Mom and dad found plenty of time alone together and while my wife had an issue with motion sickness, she came well prepared and it turned out she did just fine – no seasickness. Every evening we sat down for a family dinner and there were no worries about finding something that appealed to the kids and I didn’t worry about who ordered what or how much the check was going to be.. And in port we all went ashore for a family adventure. (required)

Over the next several years, taking a vacation usually meant cruising and after the kids left home we started cruising a lot more. We met a lot of new friends our age and over a decade or two we still stay in touch with a lot of them. With two couples we met on a cruise we now travel together at least every year or two. Oh, and we have now taken 75 cruises and we’re still planning more.

Today, we’re convinced that the people who don’t like cruising are mostly people who have never cruised. If you like travel and have never been on a cruise, you’re really missing out. Still not sure cruising is for you? Do you and your family a favor and just try a taste – there are plenty of 3 and 4 day cruises leaving from a number of ports and we’ll guarantee you that it won’t cost much more than a family get-away on land…

The Ten Reasons We Love Cruising

Amazing opportunities to meet new friends.
As you travel to new places there’s no more packing and unpacking.
No cooking and doing dishes.
There’s no worries about having your food budget wrecked.
Mom and dad get some great alone time.
No conflict about who wants to do – or not do – what.
Kids are catered to in the included kids programs.
No more screaming “don’y make me stop this car”.
Amazing entertainment included in the cost of the fare.
More things to do than you can fit in a day

Think that cruising is too expensive?

Over the past several years there have been several studies that have compared costs between a land vacation and a cruise per day, and when calculating all costs, cruising was very near the equivalent amount. Check out several cruise company web sites and you’ll probably be surprised to find how little they can cost.

Not sure you’ll like cruising?

If you look at cruise options you’ll discover a number of 3 and 4 day cruises from almost ten different ports around the United States (the same is true for cruises from Australia, Europe and other international ports) and for about the cost of a weekend getaway you can give cruising a try.