Pointless? Not really......but not for everyone, for sure.



I guess it's pretty much a matter of different strokes for different folks but they definitely do serve as as a valuable option for some of us under some specific conditions.

Many years ago, long before the building of the present day cruise terminal on SXM, we used to enjoy the occasional breakfast at a place called Pinocchio's on Front Street in P'berg and we would often see the cruiseship passengers as they were being tendered in to the Wathey pier. We had never cruised but seeing this we knew it was something that just didn't appeal to us.

About 20+ years later, we decided to return to Bermuda where we had honeymooned so many years before and after pricing it all out we decided it was far more economical to do a Bermuda cruise over a vacation there. We booked the cruise and had a good time - we had a great suite, excellent cruise companions, and all things in consideration, it was a good time but we decided once again cruising just wasn't our thing. So back to typical non-cruising vacations we went.

Fast forward another twenty years and we decided we wanted to return to Hawaii, but this time we opted for an interisland cruise as a huge portion of our trip since the first time around we had stayed on Oahu and done the historical tour only. Because we were celebrating a very significant anniversary, we booked an incredible trip allowing plenty of time on the island's on both ends of the cruise plus awesome cruise accommodations and first class round trip air. It was a wonderful trip in every way and we absolutely loved the cruise and all the different facets from the great food, to the incredible suite and it's huge balcony which we both loved, and not to forget our adorable butler.

But when all was said and done, this second cruise experience helped us reaffirm the fact we definitely are NOT among those who would enjoy cruise vacations on a regular basis.

They serve a great purpose if you are looking for an all-inclusive vacation and want to cover some major territory, or if you are looking for a good way to comfortably and inexpensively cover a lot of territory, or as in our case, an easier means to an end - that of seeing much of the Hawaiian Islands without wasting a lot time checking in to numerous hotels and airports. And truth to tell, being part of the older generation these days, it was a comfortable way to cover a lot of territory we really wanted to see.

But now that we've 'beentheredonethat' for two very specific cruises, if I never see another cruiseship in my life, i won't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

They definitely serve a purpose but personally speaking, I want to get there quickly and enjoy the 'being there' part without being a captive audience on a big floating mall. Friends are doing a twenty-five day repositioning cruise and asked us if we had any interest in it. All I could think of was, 'OMGoodness - TY but no TY' but please take lots of photos. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />