“Oh we travel all the time.”
“Yes, this is our 7th cruise!”
I’m sure it is.
Have you ever met these people? Or maybe you’re one of them yourself. The people who take a cruise and think they’ve experienced the intricacies of another culture, or done something really daring and adventurous.
Well, let’s be honest. Taking a cruise might be fun, but it is none of those things.
I’m not saying I don’t like cruises, I do. I’ve been on 2 in my life, one to the Bahamas and one to Alaska. I enjoyed them both. But I’ve also done a significant amount of ‘non-cruise’ traveling in my life, and believe me, there is a difference.
Now, I don’t want you to think I’m passing judgement on those who take cruises. I myself am not a cruise type of person, but I am a ‘be lazy and do nothing but eat, sleep, and swim’ kind of person. Cruises have their place, if you’re looking for a lazy vacation where you have to do zero planning, thinking, or exercising, a cruise is probably the right choice. I mean, who doesn’t like a week-long vacation where your only job is to gain weight, once in a while?
But let’s be honest with ourselves. You do not take a cruise to immerse yourself in the local culture (unless we’re talking about the almost entirely Filipino below-decks staff, but that’s another issue), and you do not take a cruise to experience spontaneous adventure.
If you take a cruise, you are enjoying the same privileges that a well cared for pig or cow might expect. You are well fed, at all times of the day, ferried about from one idyllic place to another, and told where to go and at what times. You don’t have to make any decisions for yourself, except maybe how many desserts you would like on any given night, and you have the added bonus of being able to shop (and do little else) for overpriced kitsch goods in every port of call.
But, that is not to say that being a pig or a cow on a cruise ship is not sometimes a welcome break from the humdrum of life and the tired excitement of a real trip. Plus, there’s booze.