For the first time in 2011, the number of holidaymakers choosing to spend their precious vacation time on a cruise ship exceeded the 20 million mark. This was a whopping 10% increase in the amount of people who took a cruise holiday in 2010 and it is widely noted by industry officials that this trend is likely to continue rising year on year.
If you’ve never considered taking a cruise holiday before and you’d like to know what all the fuss is about, here are our three top reasons why we love cruising and why your next holiday should be onboard a liner!
1) You can visit a variety of places in a short amount of time
If you’d like to travel the world and experience a variety of different places during your vacation, a cruise holiday is probably the easiest and most cost effective way to do this in a limited timeframe. Typically, you might spend a day or two at sea before island hopping around the Pacific or visiting a range of bustling cities around Australasia. For example, one of our favourite itineraries is onboard P&O’s Pacific Pearl; the ship tours the Pacific after sailing from Auckland, making stops in exotic sounding locales, such as Champagne Bay and Mystery Island during her 10 day trip at sea.
Similarly, a 20 night cruise onboard P&O’s Adonia offers holidaymakers the chance to fly from Australia to London before sailing out to Portugal, Morocco, Minorca, France, and two popular Spanish cities Barcelona and Malaga. This enables cruisers to enjoy a tour of Europe, but without the hassle of multiple flights or train rides and checking into different hotels. Simply return to your comfortable, luxury cabin each evening before the ship sets sail to her next destination!
Learn more about these two holidays and find other deals for P&O Cruises here.
2) Time spent travelling doesn’t need to be boring
As the vessel sails to her next destination, you might have to spend the evening or day at sea. But this isn’t a waste of holiday time, nor is it boring – in fact there is literally SO much to do as the ship is sailing. You could:
Watch a Broadway Show – for example, “Rock of Ages” onboard Norwegian Breakaway after its debut sailing in May 2013.
Learn something fascinating – most cruise ships hold “enrichment programs” during their time at sea. Learn all about wine tasting, try your hand at cocktail making, listen to a talk from a local expert or receive a quick workshop in editing photographs on a computer. There are so many different classes to choose from and they vary depending on the cruise line you select.
Party hard – a lot of cruise ships have onboard casinos, perfect fun for an evening at sea! Enjoy a spin of the roulette wheel after touring the ship’s different themed bars!
Sit back and relax – use your downtime to treat yourself to a massage, a spa treatment or simply enjoy a quiet soak in a whirlpool!
3) Something for all the family
If you take your children on a cruise holiday, you will never have to endure the cries of “BUT MUM/DAD I’M BORED” ever again, we promise! This is because cruise ships are like huge floating cities, packed full different child-friendly activities. Kids are more likely to complain there aren’t enough hours in the day to fit in everything they want to do!
Here’s a selection of popular child-friendly activities, available onboard most cruise ships:
Sports courts and mini golf
Computer gaming and arcades
Kids clubs and teen discos
Swimming pools and aqua parks
Disney and other leading children’s shows
Ice Skating, climbing walls and zip liners
and plenty, plenty more!
So, have we convinced you that your next holiday should be onboard a cruise ship and if so, where will you be setting sail to this year? Let us know in the comments below!
Follow itravelnet.com