See the line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me
And no one knows, how far it goes
If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me
One day I'll know, if I go there's just no telling how far I'll go — Moana

Are you someone who likes to take cruises? Someone who has taken one and didn’t enjoy it? Or someone who has yet to sail?

I never thought I would choose to spend any part of my vacation time on a cruise. To me, cruises had always conjured up images of a huge floating hotel full of people who spent their time drinking and gambling while at sea. Worse still, I had the notion that cruisers didn’t see anything interesting when their ship docked. Despite this, I curiously found myself booking a short cruise just to “test the waters.” To my surprise, I found that not only could I survive a cruise, but I could also wholeheartedly embrace the experience.

Colorful sunset at sea, Inside Passage, Alaska

After doing some research, I realized that there are many different kinds of cruises, each with a different atmosphere and purpose. The first cruise we took was very short, and it gave us a few days of rest on the ocean in the midst of a more active vacation. The ship sailed around the Bahamas in a relatively small circle, making only a few stops. This was a wonderful introduction to cruising and we actually chose to repeat the experience several years later. In fact, many people come back time and time again to this type of vacation because the ship can be a destination in and of itself, especially if your main goal is relaxation.

Since that first cruise, we’ve explored other, longer voyages, learning along the way that traveling by ship can be a fantastic way to see different parts of the world. I think of this type of vacation as more of a destination cruise; the adventures on land are the main focus (although the ship, along with its food and entertainment, is still very much enjoyable and appreciated). This is the type of cruise that I enjoy best, and the most important factor for me is the itinerary. These cruises have allowed us to experience some amazing adventures, including kayaking, hiking up a glacier, ice climbing, walking between tectonic plates, and seeing some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world.

While I can now say with certainty that I enjoy certain types of cruises, I admit that there are both are pros and cons to this type of travel. Most cruises dock at ports for a maximum of two days, which means visitors mainly get to see the highlights of each destination and immersing yourself in the history and culture of that destination can be challenging. However, traveling by ship also means you don’t have to pack and unpack every couple of days or drag your suitcases from hotel to hotel if you want to see several cities in one trip. Additionally, choosing to vacation on a cruise can be much easier to plan; I don’t spend hours researching hotels or figuring out how we are going to get from place to place. The ship provides the vast majority of our meals, so I don’t need to worry about finding places for my family to dine each day, either. This leaves plenty of time to plan what matters most to us: how we are going to spend each day in a new, exciting destination.

The engaging entertainment offered in the evenings is another added bonus of traveling by ship, and we do our best to take full advantage of it when we aren’t completely exhausted after a long day of touring. Cruises also make for a nice multi-generational trip, since everyone can go their separate ways during the day (those who are more active can choose a more adventurous port experience) and then meet up for a relaxing dinner and show each night.

Best of all, approaching new cities by ship is often an amazing experience. On several occasions we have sailed past breathtaking scenes of mountains, rainbows and fjords on our journey to the port. I tend to get up early in the morning just to enjoy the peace, quiet, and lovely vistas from the top deck. In short, approaching a new destination by sea offers great views as well as a completely different perspective of the port city itself.

So far, we have taken two of these destination cruises: the first took my family through the Inside Passage along the coast of Alaska while the second was a longer voyage to Norway, Iceland, and Scotland. Since the latter cruise started in Denmark and ended in England, we also had the opportunity to visit to two additional locations. We were able to take full advantage of those extra ports, bookending the cruise with stays in both Copenhagen and London on our own. In addition, we planned several wonderful, all-day private tours that allowed us to customize our visit to each destination so we could see the sights that interested us the most.

These trips were really an experiment to see if sailing on a ship could be a useful way to visit new destinations, and for my family, it definitely is. Now when I see one of those large ships I don’t immediately think it’s just a big floating party; I understand that cruises can contain some serious travelers who find sailing a convenient and enjoyable way to travel between destinations.

Do you cruise? If so, what do you like most about it? And if not, is it something you would consider in the future?