The benefit of this with little children is immense. Regular meal times (with good wholesome food -

Disney Cruise Line unveiled its refurbished airline flight map Disney Magic today. The 2,700-passenger ship will sail from Miami until next year, when it repositions to Port Canaveral, nearer Orlando. Disney's not disclosed how much it spent reworking the Magic during its six-week downtime, airline flight map but upgraded features on the ship include a new restaurant, nightclub, and pub, an "Avengers Academy" experience for children, new water slides, and a redesigned lobby. Basically, Disney reworked the ship to look more like its two newest ships, the Dream and the Fantasy.
Do you enjoy cruises? Even though Disney aggressively packages theme parks and cruise vacations, we rarely cover DCL or other theme park-related cruises here on Theme Park Insider (for reasons we'll address in a moment). So we might have skewed the results a bit by not covering this aspect of travel on a more regular basis. But we'd still like to hear what you think about cruises.
Fair warning: This argument is made from hearsay alone. I've never been on a cruise, and should I be fortunate for the remainder of my life, I'll never take one. "Cruise" sounds airline flight map like the root of "excruciating." I'm not a glutton, so big buffets no longer appeal to me. The idea of swimming in a pool in the middle of ocean seems absurd. (Give me a snorkel and send me to Maui or the Keys if I want to play in the water.) Give me trails to hike, cities to discover, or theme parks to explore. Not a floating hotel with tiny, cramped rooms. airline flight map If I could sail the boat, fine, I'm in. But sitting in a lounge chair all day, with no Internet access, sounds like a country club prison sentence to me.
Ports of call? Here's a story: A couple summers ago, my family and I visited France, where we took a delightful bike tour of Vernon and Giverny. While crossing the Seine, a tour bus passed us. I watched the people airline flight map in the bus — encased behind closed glass windows, 10 feet off the ground — whiz by, and I thought that I'd never want to travel that way. Yet a cruise ship is a tour bus multiplied by at least one order of magnitude. No thanks.
airline flight map Theme parks are designed for crowds. They're productions, created as shows that need an audience to come to life fully. Plopping 3,000 people into a Caribbean airline flight map port alters it from a natural place into one of those tourist productions. Perhaps some people are into that. But if I want to see a production, I'll head to a theme park or to Broadway. If I want to visit Caribbean islands, I'd rather seek places where the big cruise ships don't call.
Finally, there's a reason why almost no cruise ships are flagged airline flight map in the United States. That's so cruise operators can avoid U.S. labor and safety laws, which protect the health of employees and passengers airline flight map alike, and ensure at least a minimum wage and humane working conditions for employees. Cruise airline flight map ship employees get no such protections, and, frankly, I'd rather spend my money elsewhere as a result.
That's my case for a 'no' vote. But, as I've said, I've never taken a cruise, and simply haven't heard yet a counter-argument that sways me to consider spending several thousand dollars to go on one, as opposed to one of the many other types of vacations that I know I'll enjoy. Please, if you're a cruise fan, make the case for a 'yes' vote, in the comments. And if you're on the fence, tell us what you'd like to know about cruises, to help you make a decision one way or the other. And thank you, to everyone, for reading airline flight map and participating here on Theme Park Insider.
I too do not see the appeal of cruises. I have the fear of being stuck out in the middle of the ocean. I don't do deep water, long childhood story behind this involving three near drownings. You may refer to me as Brody from Jaws. The other reason for me is that I can't stand the thought that if I'm not enjoying myself, I am unable to leave. So, I will never take a cruise. But for those who do, this looks good for a boat...I mean ship.
Cruising gets a big tick from me, but only for particular reasons, it definitely has its drawbacks. We've only been on a single cruise, about 2 years ago from Port Canaveral airline flight map doing the Western Caribbean for 7 nights airline flight map (on Royal Caribbean, not Disney). I'm from Australia, I was travelling airline flight map with my wife, mother and 18 month old son. We will be going on another cruise from Singapore in January with my wife and 2 children.
The big pro is that it is an all inclusive holiday at an incredibly reasonable price. 7 nights airline flight map with accommodation, food, entertainment, tips and taxes included for about $900 per person. airline flight map Budget wise it is incredible value. The food (in the main dining room) was of a good quality, the buffet (on the lido deck) was average, but always available. The entertainment was of a high quality, with plenty airline flight map of it. Activities were also plentiful, with ice skating rink, flowrider, airline flight map rock-climbing, mini-golf, pools plus many others all free.
The benefit of this with little children is immense. Regular airline flight map meal times (with good wholesome food - it may be surprising for a cruise, but being able to feed my children salmon with steamed vegetables is a blessing whilst negotiating airline flight map typical holiday/theme park fair. Only unpacking once for the week whilst visiting several destinations. Limitless entertainment options for little one and adult alike (including child-minding/kids clubs if you like to go on a family holiday and not spend time with your family...).
The main disadvantage is something which should simply be expected. If you want to "see" a destination, then cruising is not truly the way to do it (except maybe smaller boutique cruising options). You spend 8-10 hours in a port at the same time as 15000 other people from other ships in a port that is used to this type of flash mob tourism. Its cannot truly represent a country airline flight map or region and should never be expected to. It's kind of like visiting Tijuana expecting a truly Mexican experience....
As a convenient, enjoyable airline flight map and affordable resort style holiday, it is unbeatable. As a way of seeing the world and getting a taste for a variety of cultures it is flawed. With a 3 year old and a 1 year old, we are currently airline flight map not looking for culture, just a relaxing family holiday, cruises, resorts and theme parks can fill that void. Once my kids are older and can truly experience what the world has to offer that, we won't leave a corner of the globe unturned (thankfully I'll be earning a lot more by then).
If I had all the money in the world, I would travel all the time and spend weeks, months even, in each location. We are, by far, not rich people, though. And I have to admit as I approach the half-century mark, that I don't have limitless time ahead of me either. So when I debate with myself whether or not the rushed, superficial-ish way that I get to see places on a cruise is good enough, the answer is, well, yes. I would rather go to my grave knowing that I had at least set foot on five or more continents and caught a quick glimpse of some of this world's many wonders, than knowing that I missed all of it because airline flight map I couldn't afford to travel the way I would really prefer to, so I didn't bother at all.
As for the food, sure, the buffets can completely destroy all the hard work you've done in the gym for the last year or so, but we discovered that seated dining on a cruise ship can be a really enjoyable experience, and the food is at least as good, if not better, than anything we can afford to eat on a regular basis.
I don't have a good argument for your point regarding labor laws and conditions, airline flight map so let me say once again that I appreciate the compassion with which you address airline flight map these kinds of issues. Having airline flight map said that, the people I have dealt with on cruise airline flight map ships always seemed to enjoy being there. One might argue that every job has its pros and cons. As long as nothing outright illegal is taking place, of course.
Cruises are fun, plain and simple. To just wish to never go on one is absurd.... they are a FUN vacation, that is why cruise lines make billions and have billions of visitors. You can do all the fun thing you listed in life AND go on a cruise. They aren't mutually exclusive you know. If you are a Disney Geek and never go on a Disney Cruise, then something just isn't adding up...
I enjoyed Grants comments and thought they were right on. I am a Disney fan and have been since very small. Have been to Disneyland too many times to count and disney world once. Really have enjoyed them. But I'm always looking for something new to enjoy. My two daughters and I took a cruise (Disney) for the first time ever and loved it! I can't say I've always wanted to take a cruise. I have been curious to see what everyone has been talking about though. I enjoy seeing new places but I don't have unlimited time to explore. It was nice to be able to see new things and places in a controlled way. I knew the excursions I went on were safe and we weren't going to be taken to a shady part of town. I was concerned that the city (Nassau) would be overrun with tourists but that was not the case. I saw very few of our fellow passengers there other than the few on our excursion with us. After the tour was over we were able to wander the shops and once again, we seemed to be the only shoppers so it was a relaxed shopping experience.
There were so many activities on the boat we couldn't do them all. Loved the ocean! I could have spent my whole time gazing at it. The service was what I consider airline flight map retro disney, what disney service used to be at the parks. I felt so well taken care of, all personnel were courteous and kind. Always making airline flight map sure we had everything we wanted. So yes, I vote for cruises. I will take another one as soon as my wallet recovers. Ha ha
Robert: You give all the right reasons for not going on the cruise. That being said, I highly recommend airline flight map you try the Disney cruise for the simple airline flight map reason that your should start at the top and don't look down.
I did the Carnival cruise first. I did it twice. I quite enjoyed it. The food was great, the show spectacular