Why my family got on board with taking cruise vacations

Jan 29, 2025

I admit, I was one of those people for whom a cruise vacation was not a first choice. The idea of being packed on a ship with hundreds of people in close quarters was not my idea of a relaxing vacation. Yes, I had been on a cruise once before, and it admittedly was a great way to see Alaska. And, after getting off the ship, I thought that would be my one-and-only cruise vacation.

But as a family with a young son, the idea of traveling to Europe for an extended summer trip was daunting. He’s a picky eater. He wants to play basketball every day (it’s like therapy for him). Could he handle walking around all day with his ambitious parents who just want to see every historic site and dine at the best local restaurants? Did we want to schlep all our stuff across Europe, packing/unpacking/repacking on a nonstop cycle for several weeks? These were among the considerations that ultimately pushed us to try cruising once more.

So, after seeing a ridiculously priced Mediterranean cruise in the Top 20, we took the leap and booked our cabin for our 2022 summer vacation.

Istanbul

And once we were on our way, the perks immediately began to reveal themselves. For families with young kids (or even extended families), there are many pros. But even for couples, cruising can provide a ton of ease and relaxation. Here's why cruising is at the top of the list when we are now planning our family vacations.

Interesting itineraries

With cruising you do trade depth for breadth. You certainly don’t have the flexibility to spend more than one day in a city (unless your itinerary schedules two days in a city). But to me, this is like sampling a buffet — you get to have a taste of a bunch of different places, which then gives you the option to revisit one day if you choose. For us, since it had been years since we had visited Europe, we wanted to check off a bunch of places in a short period of time. We also wanted to expose our son to a variety of destinations instead of just one or two cities.

Riga, Latvia

Cruise itineraries tend to visit cities too that aren’t easy to get to. We have stopped in a number of places that have surprised us in the best way possible. One of those cities was Riga, Latvia. A rich and powerful history, cobblestone streets, Art Nouveau architecture and warm people made us wish we had more time to spend there. But again, this is where cruising can introduce you to places that you otherwise would have overlooked.

Not to mention, with the threat of overtourism in popular cities, visiting off-the-beaten-path cities helps combat that. Who doesn’t want to post on their social media that they just found the "next" place?

Carry on your bag, unpack once

Yes, you may be on a ship for a week or longer. But one of the big benefits is you unpack once and you never have to pack again before you go to your next city. Ships also have laundry service. So instead of checking in your bag and stressing about whether your bag will make it to its final destination, pack a carry-on and just pay for them to do your laundry while you’re out touring cities. You’ll come back to your cabin with freshly laundered and pressed clothing.

An added benefit of traveling with just a carry-on? You won’t have to surrender your luggage when checking in for your cruise. Normally your bag is delivered to your cabin after check-in, which could mean you could be away from things you find you need right away. Just carry on yourself, find your cabin and your vacation starts.

Anything you want to eat, any time

One of the joys of traveling is sampling the local cuisine. When we cruise, we will eat on land as much as we can. That sometimes means eating a hearty dinner at 4 p.m. so we can make it back to our ship by the 6 p.m. departure time.

But by eating a good number of meals off ship, we aren’t eating on the ship for every meal — and that means we can be more selective about what we eat on board. Plus, having the option on board to eat whatever, whenever is helpful for any picky eaters in our party (i.e. my son).

No one can get lost

Cruise ships have something for everyone. With packed schedules of activities every day, ranging from bingo to ping pong tournaments to wine tasting, there’s something for every mood and taste.

Rhodes, Greece

The bottom line is if one person wants to do one thing and the other person wants to do something else, it’s impossible to get lost. Your older kids (or grandma and grandpa) can roam free without you needing to track them.

Cruise excursions eliminate planning

Planning a complex itinerary researching hotels, transportation, things to do and more can be exhausting. Fortunately all cruise lines have a variety of excursions to choose from, for all types of travelers. Even if you don’t choose to do an excursion, referencing them can help you figure out how to chart your own path. We have found success booking day tours with other companies, which are also usually less expensive.

Stockholm archipelago

I can safely say that I am officially a cruiser. Our family has been on a summer cruise three years in a row now, and we’re in the midst of planning our fourth. After all, with so much world to see and so little time, there may be no better way.

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