[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by EastCoastDawg

But the cruise is the vacation? You're not using the ship as a means of transportation for "getting there". Once you are on board, you are "there".

And this forum is mainly for people living in The Villages, for whom getting to four cruise ship ports - Tampa, Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale and Miami - requires no flying, so no airports.

Very true. The problem is without a vaccine cruising would be rather dangerous.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by EastCoastDawg

But the cruise is the vacation? You're not using the ship as a means of transportation for "getting there". Once you are on board, you are "there".

And this forum is mainly for people living in The Villages, for whom getting to four cruise ship ports - Tampa, Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale and Miami - requires no flying, so no airports.

That was the point. I was responding to someone arguing that a cruise would be the better option for getting to an OVERSEAS DESTINATION than an airport.

My point is - a cruise is not intended to provide transportation to a destination. A cruise IS the destination. Airports are what you typically use, to get to a destination, when a cruise is not that destination.

[Tmarkwald]

Originally Posted by EastCoastDawg

But the cruise is the vacation? You're not using the ship as a means of transportation for "getting there". Once you are on board, you are "there".

And this forum is mainly for people living in The Villages, for whom getting to four cruise ship ports - Tampa, Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale and Miami - requires no flying, so no airports.

Exactly, I love cruising but am amazed at people who only look at the ports when deciding what cruise to go on. I actually had a lady tell me flat out that she considered the ship 'her Uber'. Rather sad...

Anyone who has cruised a lot has been everywhere already. The ports might make a slight impact, but no more than maybe 30% of the decision making has to do with ports. We love the ships and the amenities they offer.

If all I cared about was the ports, I'd hitch a ride on a cargo ship...

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Tmarkwald

Exactly, I love cruising but am amazed at people who only look at the ports when deciding what cruise to go on. I actually had a lady tell me flat out that she considered the ship 'her Uber'. Rather sad...

Anyone who has cruised a lot has been everywhere already. The ports might make a slight impact, but no more than maybe 30% of the decision making has to do with ports. We love the ships and the amenities they offer.

If all I cared about was the ports, I'd hitch a ride on a cargo ship...

We all cruise for different reasons and nothing wrong with that.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Tmarkwald

Exactly, I love cruising but am amazed at people who only look at the ports when deciding what cruise to go on. I actually had a lady tell me flat out that she considered the ship 'her Uber'. Rather sad...

Anyone who has cruised a lot has been everywhere already. The ports might make a slight impact, but no more than maybe 30% of the decision making has to do with ports. We love the ships and the amenities they offer.

If all I cared about was the ports, I'd hitch a ride on a cargo ship...

I consider a combination of the two, most times. If we're going to Jamaica, then I'd be heading to port to take a tour of a sugar cane plantation, and if we're staying in port overnight, I might check in with one of the people I know who live there, to visit and maybe enjoy some non-tourist local music and dancing.

In the Bahamas and Bermuda, I'm all about playing tourist for a few hours.

If it's a western Caribbean trip I'd totally debark for an excursion trip to Cozumel and Tulum.

But that's just for a day, or a few hours. The primary function of the cruise, for me, is to be cruising. Not to be sitting out on a beach.