Why Should Your Family Vacation Be a Cruise?
Published Tuesday, May 21st 2019 - Updated Tuesday, September 3rd 2019
Quite frankly, your family is a herd of cats.
Each cat has a distinctive personality, and while they may love spending time with you as much as you love having them with you, they also have their own agendas.
On a cruise vacation, you can all seek your own adventures or zen by day and discuss what you did over a shared family meal in the evening.
As each one orders from that extensive menu --- whether comfort food, gourmet fare, vegan, paleo, gluten-free, diabetic-sensitive, low-fat, deep-fried, high-minded, Atkins-friendly, seafood, vegetarian, low-sodium, vegan-paleo, carb-loading, vegan-onion-free, fruit-only...you name it --- you don't have to worry whether you should pick up the tab for this lavish feast including all those side dishes that go uneaten or feel bad that you failed to consider the desires of your grandson who unknown to you recently entered a tomatoes-only phase.
Everyone orders what they want, and you can just enjoy the specialties recommended by your waiter, who soon knows the unique desires of your family.
Then it's off to see the production show together or your favorite lounge, or maybe all go your separate ways. Some will go to the late night disco to dance into the wee hours while others turn in early.
The next day, your floating resort arrives at a new destination, whether you choose to simply enjoy the view from a lounge chair near the pool, venture off with a guide to learn about the region's history or go zip-lining through a rainforest to a tropical beach with warm-water snorkeling.
Meanwhile, the rest of your family chooses what they want to do, too, making it the best vacation for their personalities.
Sometimes, you might find they want to spend time with you throughout. Of course if they are your young children, you probably force them to go with you, and because you've chosen wisely, they have a wonderful time, even if they thought they'd rather stay on board to play video games or climb the rock wall again.
There's another factor that makes cruises especially attractive for family travel: there's a definite start and end date for the cruise.
As you know, traveling with a family can be like herding cats. You may think that if you make a plan for everyone to vacation together that your adult children and their own families will adjust their calendars to be there throughout, but more likely they will decide to skip a few days at the beginning or bug out early to get to the next place.
What you think will be a week together at a family home or visiting a place you've always dreamt of going turns out to be maybe two days with everyone there.
They adjust their vacation dates to maximize air miles, or visit other places while they're in the general vicinity, possibly squeeze in a few days with friends who happen to live nearby.
Unspoken is the fact that they believe there is only so much you can do in one location or simply don't want to be forced to spend that much concentrated time with the family.
Cruises commit everyone to the length of the cruise while at the same time providing everyone opportunities to get away to pursue their own interests.
Whether you choose an easy-to-plan cruise from close to home or the trip of a lifetime in Europe or some other distant destination, a cruise is the best way to go.
And no one has to do the dishes.
"Better service leads to better trips!"
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