Cruises, Trains, or Road Trips

bobcat

bobcat

Well-known Member
Location
Northern Calif
I know many people enjoy cruises, but to me, it's like being locked up with 2000 other people I didn't choose, with the added possibility of being drowned.
I guess I'm too independent, and just prefer a good road trip, and I wouldn't even mind a cross country train ride, for that matter. At least the cars wouldn't seem as crowded as a ship. Never really tried it, but it seems like it'd be okay. But if I were to choose between the three, it would be the road trip.

I can stay where I want and linger till it's time to head to the next interest, play my own music, have a companion with (or not), and not be led around by some tourist guide at a pre-selected destination, but that's just me.
How about you?
 

I agree about cruises, and I'm not sure about long train journeys.

Many years ago I went with my family on a road trip across the northern U.S. in a rental Cadillac. We used nothing more than a flimsy paper road map for directions. We had a great time, mainly stopping in places off the tourist trail and enjoyed a deal of friendliness mixed with curiosity from the locals.

I don't think I'd do it again, I'm not so keen on a lot of driving these days.
 
I love trains. Used them a great deal in my youth and when I was in Europe. I've driven across country and back. Never again. I detest cruises for the same reasons as Bob's. However, I love much smaller boats and while ours is not a seagoing one, it will take us from Maine to Florida and all points in between.
 

I agree about cruises. They have never appealed to me, my daughter otoh loves them... and keeps urging me to go on one now I;m alone and no-one to go on holiday with.. but I don't think I will... just not my cuppa tea to be shacked up with hundreds of noisy people...

Road trips are really not fun in the Uk... the the traffic is horrendous wherever you go unless in the far north of Scotland.. or the West of Ireland but in both places the rain will accompany you most days..

Trains are great , I love trains... however again in the Uk very expensive to travel by train.. .. but I still travel whenever I get the chance to do it. My preferred train travel is in Europe their trains are always on time.. hardly ever cancelled.. and very comfortable.. and when I'm in Spain I travel many places by train...
 
I have always been a road trip person... and plan them as often as I can including one that's coming up later this week. I've only done trains for short excursion events... not for actual traveling. And cruises... nope. Not any longer with the stories of illness being so easily spread on cruise ships. I don't like being "trapped" somewhere that there'd be no escape, and a cruise in the middle of the ocean would be that. 🚗🚂🛳️
 
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hollydolly said:
I agree about cruises. They have never appealed to me, my daughter otoh loves them... and keeps urging me to go on one now I;m alone and no-one to go on holiday with.. but I don't think I will... just not my cuppa tea to be shacked up with hundreds of noisy people...

Road trips are really not fun in the Uk... the the traffic is horrendous wherever you go unless in the far north of Scotland.. or the West of Ireland but in both places the rain will accompany you most days..

Trains are great , I love trains... however again in the Uk very expensive to travel by train.. .. but I still travel whenever I get the chance to do it. My preferred train travel is in Europe their trains are always on time.. hardly ever cancelled.. and very comfortable.. and when I'm in Spain I travel many places by train...
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Holly, don't you want to see the Northern Lights?

I enjoyed this video so I'm sharing it.

Cruising Into The Arctic Circle to Find The Northern Lights​


 
OldFeller said:
Holly, don't you want to see the Northern Lights?

I enjoyed this video so I'm sharing it.

Click to expand...
I've seen them... Twice..many years ago. Once in Ullapool Scotland and once in Norway....

they are absolutely breathtaking... when they appear it's literally like being on a different planet to earth..

cottagesandcastles%2Fguides%2F1613058303527-shutterstock_1263317341-skye-resize.jpg
not my picture
 
I would take any of them, if the option was open. I have always wished to take a cruise (a short one, like 3-4 days), but have never had the opportunity for that.
When I was younger, a road trip would be the preferred cross-country trip. I love driving, and being able to stop when and where I wanted to, and see anything that seemed interesting.
Now, I just do not want to drive that far, but a train trip would be awesome.

When my daughter was stationed in Virginia, I took the train from northern Idaho out to Richmond, to visit her, and totally enjoyed the trip both going out and returning back home again.
You can see so much more when you are not needing to drive, and i went up to the Observation Car (used to be called a Vistadome), and you can see for miles in all directions from up there.
 
Trains, ships, and planes I've never done. But, travel by car and camper-truck I've done and enjoyed it a lot. I am not one who likes camping. Camping means going for days without seeing or talking to anyone. But, stopping in small towns, getting a room, and hanging out in the town by eating where the locals do, walking the town, and seeing what sites there are I enjoy very much. I enjoy short conversations with the local people, and most seem interested when I talk about where I've been or have come from.

The unusual thing is how easy this is to do in small towns, but how hard it is to do in the big city where I live. Can't say why it's so. But, small town (not tourist towns) people seem more receptive to a chat.
 
In my younger days (30 years ago), I saw much of North America from the driver’s seat of a motor home. For vacations, I took trips on passenger carrying freighters (maximum number passengers was 12 but sometimes had fewer) … Europe on Lykes lines (American line) and Australia on Blue Star (British line). Sadly, neither still carry passengers.

Freighter cruising was nothing like today’s cruises. Massive ships doing their business of hauling freight, you were just along for the boat ride. Port time was limited to however long it took to load/unload freight, no dance bands or slot machines. Dressing for dinner meant showering and putting on clean jeans, meals with whatever ship officers not working at the time. Passengers Entertained themselves. Lots of reading, personal projects like writing. You hoped another passenger played scrabble, poker, bridge, etc.

I made lots of good memories that fill my thoughts now that I’ve aged out of traveling.
 
The only way you'd get me on a plane again is if one of my loved ones (son, grandchildren) was in trouble or bad off sick and the only way I could get to them would be by plane. I really enjoyed the cruise I took in 2019 for our family reunion. The ship was nice, the service was excellent and the food was very good. I actually enjoyed being on the ship better than the sightseeing we did in Bermuda. The ship was docked there the entire time.

Also in 2019, a few weeks after my husband died, I took my honorary son up on his long time offer to visit him in Florida. The weeks before and days after my husband passed were so stressful, I knew I needed to get away. I took the train from Newark, N.J. to Tampa and I loved it. I had such a nice, fun seat mate going. She was traveling even further than me having gotten on in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and stayed on to get to Ft. Lauderdale. We took pictures, exchanged numbers and are friends on Facebook.

Coming back I met a nice couple while we were lining up to get on the train. They wound up sitting right across from me. The husband was crazy fun but I found out after his shenanigans that he was deep too. He had served in the military and told some stories about that. There was another couple who often took extended train trips across the country...the husband told us about it...said they loved it. They got off in Washington, D.C. I would have loved to do that someday but it can be expensive and complicated to plan. Plus I wouldn't want to go alone.

I loved the roominess and the ability to walk around on the train. I also used to enjoy the road trips with my husband. We'd go to Baltimore to see his sons who used to live down there. We also went to DC and Virginia Beach. We've driven as far as South Carolina since both of us have relatives there. His were about a 45 minute drive from mine. And of course we'd drive to our timeshare in Atlantic City, N.J.
 
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bobcat said:
I know many people enjoy cruises, but to me, it's like being locked up with 2000 other people I didn't choose, with the added possibility of being drowned.
I guess I'm too independent, and just prefer a good road trip, and I wouldn't even mind a cross country train ride, for that matter. At least the cars wouldn't seem as crowded as a ship. Never really tried it, but it seems like it'd be okay. But if I were to choose between the three, it would be the road trip.

I can stay where I want and linger till it's time to head to the next interest, play my own music, have a companion with (or not), and not be led around by some tourist guide at a pre-selected destination, but that's just me.
How about you?
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I prefer road trips, too, but I took a ferry cruise from Washington state to Victoria Island, and then from there to British Columbia and back again, and it was awesome. But ferries are mostly open, you know? So you don't get that trapped, cramped feeling at all, plus you're free to roam all you want. And it only took a couple hours or so.

Me and my travel buddies spotted a whale, which was really cool. It didn't breech the surface, but still a really cool sight.
 
The answer is=it depends on what you like to do. Having been on 47 cruises, 21 land trips, and 14 train trips, including a 14 day trip on the Trans Siberian RR, I enjoyed all 3 types.
I would select smaller cruise ships, as opposed to the megamonsters. The logistics of getting on and off those ships is a nightmare.
 
I traveled a lot in my life, mostly by plane. I used frequent trains while living in Europe. I took a few cruises as well. (Smaller ships)
Now, I believe that my preferred method of travel would be by car. Taking the back roads and visiting the small towns. I like lighthouses.
 
Travel, in any form is my bag.

I love cruises, car trips, train trips, bus trips, and air travel (well, as far as one can actually "like" air travel.....it might be more honest to say I "tolerate" air travel).

I especially enjoyed traveling in an RV, taking my home along with me like a turtle.

The "bumps" and "potholes" of travel are there, to be sure, but even the worst mishaps can make for good stories afterward.
 
The last time we rode on a train was from Melbourne to Sydney. You never saw so many sheep.

Been on about 8 cruises, mostly in the Caribbean, but there was one down the Mexican Riviera and another from Seattle to Alaska. Definitely avoid the large ships, the smaller ones are much more friendly.

In the 2 years I spent on ship while in the Navy, I went to Greece, Spain and Gibraltar. After we got back to the states, we moved our home port to San Diego via the Panama Canal. We did go to Pearl Harbor and back. Hawaii was not yet a state at that time.

At my age I am content to just reminisce.
 
I love road trips! I have driven most of Canada as well as the US. It is so interesting, stop when you want, stay in different places, see the sites that the area offers.

When I was a kid, the family always took a road trip every summer. One time we drove from Alberta Canada to Ensenada Mexico in the late 1960's. We stopped in Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, San Diego Zoo, etc. What a memorable trip. I guess this is where my love of road trips originate.

I used to like flying, but the airport hassles are ridiculous. Though I do keep flying because I want to go places I can't drive to. My daughter lives in London, Uk, so we get over there usually every year. I like the Eurostar train system for local travelling while there, especially through the tunnel to Paris, fast and easy.

Never been on a cruise. My wife can get seasick quite easy, so that is out.
 
No plane or boat travels for me. I have been on a ferry to travel to the Cliffs of Dover. (if my memory serves me correctly). I had to stand at the front of the boat with the sea air blowing in my face to avoid being seasick.

I'll stick to car travel. You can stop when you want to stretch your legs or get something to eat.
Trains aren't bad for a short jaunt. And, they have a 'bar car' to hang out in if you feel like it.
 
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Bobcat, I'm with you on this. We recently went up & back through the Inside Passage of the British Columbia coast on a ferry. Involved a small fraction of the passenger swarm a cruise ship carries, and we enjoyed that trip a lot. We got onboard in our car, and we'd not only used it to initially travel out westward to the ferry's southern loading point but then had it to get around during layover in the northern port's surrounding region.

In the past, starting from home in western Canada, we've taken half a dozen trips driving down through all the U.S. western states, and the southwestern ones (and as far as into western Texas).

And, in accord with Hollydolly, we both really like train travel and have done it a lot, not only in North America but elsewhere too.
 
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