Why Do You Love to Cruise So Much?

Ready for your fast pass to the perfect vacation? This is Talk Travel to Me. Join host Kristy Ouellette and the Mickey Guru Travel Company team for one big travel question every episode. Solo insights or expert roundtables all with a sprinkle of magic and the ultimate insider edge. Fasten your seatbelt, it's time to talk travel.

Hi traveler, welcome back to Talk Travel to Me. I'm your host Kristy Ouellette and I can hardly believe that my little hiatus is over. But it is, so here I am. And this week we're going to be answering a question from one of our amazing listeners. She also follows me on the socials. Her name is Michelle and she is from Michigan. So Michelle wrote in and asked, so tell me, what is it about cruising that you love so much? I don't get the appeal? Let's talk about it, Michelle. So I always have people say that to me and find out that they have never cruised before. So I get it. You see this like very large boat. You're like, oh, I'm not really into water slides. Maybe you see the water slides all over the top of the boat and. you're like, that looks like it would be awful and to be stuck on a ship for however long, right? The reality of a cruise vacation is there are some really fabulous logistical things about it. For example, if you're going to go on a seven night cruise, you're only unpacking once. Like you're moving into your cruise room for the week, you unpack. But the ship is the thing that moves, right? So then you get to go to different ports. You get to do a whole bunch of different things. We literally just got home from Alaska and I cannot even begin. There will be an episode about this, but I can't even begin to tell you how magical that was to be dropped in three different ports to get to explore, check out different things. And yeah, they were all in Alaska, so they all had a little bit of a similar feel. But let's say you are in the Caribbean and you're going to Jamaica, Bahamas, Bermuda. Wait, I'm not going to sing the song. But it's a way for you to logistically get to visit different places, get taste of them. Now, one of the drawbacks, which is not the focus of this episode, but I can't help myself. One of the drawbacks is that you're only in a place for a short time. But I like to do that as a taster. Like I know I want to go and spend several days in Bermuda. So I'm going to take a trip just to Bermuda at one point. But I visited a few times on cruises and really got to see the start of what makes Bermuda so incredible. So there's that, you know, the unpacking, we've got the built in variety, like that sort of thing. The other big thing that I think a lot of people don't understand is the built in value of a cruise vacation. When you look at the price of a cruise vacation, and I'm going to give you just an example of one that is living rent free in my mind at the moment. Something that Eric and I are doing is that group cruise on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas, the newest biggest cruise ship in the world. We're doing it in February. And the rates that I have for the space that I have. secured for two people in an ocean view balcony room is $5,036. OK, so think about that. $5,036. We are going on an eight night cruise. So that is eight nights of hotels for $5,000. You are looking at eight dinners, eight breakfasts. Eight lunches. All the snacks you care to eat, all the free ice cream up on board. My dad is very much looking forward to that. All of that is includes, but that's like the food and the drink. And then the other parts that are included is Broadway style shows. On this show, I'm sorry, on this ship we have Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is going to be the Broadway style show. You also have comedians and you have ice skating shows and water shows and all of that entertainment. You know your girl loves trivia and game shows and things like that. I'm always the one raising my hand and trying to like, come on, pick me, pick me. All of that kind of stuff is all included. And there are some cruise lines for sure that have less included than others. There are some that you feel a little nickel and dimed, but that's something that like I help people understand. And some people want the cheaper cruise right out the bat and they don't mind paying for just the things that they want to add on. And other people are like, just give me the darn cruise. Let me enjoy it and don't ask me for another dime once I get on board. All of that exists. I love that piece. And I love that piece. For me, when I go on a vacation, I want to disengage from the real world as much as possible. And I want to enjoy the people that I'm on vacation with. I'm not someone that tends to meet new friends on vacation. I have a client that does that. My dad and my stepmom do that. I'm not typically one, but that is something that some people really, really enjoy. But I like the idea that I can go be on the ship. I can have everything paid for up front. No one is asking me like, you know, when I want to order something off the menu, I don't look at it and go, oh, the prime rib is $60. I'm just like, I'll. have the prime rib. Oh, and could I also have a side of chicken nuggets, right? I love that value piece. And it's certainly you're not getting that anywhere these days on land. And in fact, I am, as you know, a huge Walt Disney World fan. But when you start putting all of the pieces together for a Walt Disney World vacation, it almost always, almost always ends up pricing higher than a Disney cruise line vacation. Now, I will say they are two different types of trips. But if you're looking for Disney magic and relaxation and a whole lot of fun, you're going to find it at sea easier and less expensive than on land most of the time. It's crazy because that didn't used to be the way it was. I, the magic of cruising for me, those, those are the things are important, right? The logistical things about unpacking and seeing things and the value is certainly important, especially in 2026. But the magic for me is in the ability to do what I want when I want without having to put a whole lot of thought into it. And also for the people that. I'm with to do what they enjoy. As an example, I absolutely love to play bingo. I do. I don't play at home, but I love to be at a cruise ship and play bingo. My husband does not enjoy that. So when I go to play bingo, he either hangs out on the balcony and watches the water go by. He will go find something else to do. There's so many things that are going on at any given moment that it's a choose your own adventure. And that is really how I feel about cruising. Some of my favorite moments on board ships have been unplanned, unstructured, just sitting around and talking to people that I am traveling with. This last cruise to Alaska, we were with two other couples, dear friends. And we sat one night in one of the adult spaces and we just chatted. The conversation went from politics to Star Trek and how that the Star Trek universe is. I know nothing about Star Trek, but now I am definitely interested in checking it out. So maybe that'll change soon. But like just having this conversation and we had, you know, a couple of. drinks. We sat and chatted and it was a fantastic night. No structure, no agenda. It was just a space to sit and chat. And the one thing I found that was especially magical, nobody was looking at their phones. There was nowhere to be, guys. No one's reaching out. The phones were not. even some of us didn't even bring phones to the room that we were sitting in. Never mind, like checking them. And you know, that's one of the pet peeve that I have when I go out with people. And I know I've been guilty of it myself, but like you get distracted by your phone and you're like, Hey, I'm finally seeing you friend. Where did you go? Like, why are you back? Have your head in your phone? So I think that's one of those things that I do love about cruising. It genuinely allows you to shut everything off. Now, if you need to be connected for some reason, all of the cruise lines have internet packages. There is plenty of opportunity to be connected, but the ability to disconnect also feels fantastic. There's been so many wonderful moments over the years in. cruising. And I know I'm headed out on another one at the end of. actually it starts on November 1st. I'm traveling with my sister on a princess cruise. And so I think it's just one of those things that most people, I will say, there are some people that have tried cruising and they don't love it. Fine. It may not be your thing. But most people that tell me they like they hate cruising or they don't understand what the appeal is or any of that, they haven't done it yet. So I always urge people to try it. If you don't like it, you don't have to do it. But do me a favor when you are ready to try it. Book with a travel agent. Me, I would love one of our amazing guru agents. Fabulous. But book with a real professional travel agent that can help match. make you to the ship. Because I can tell you, I have been on one ship. If that had been my one and only cruise, I'd never ever would have gone again. So you want to make sure that you've got the right matchmaker there and get that. settled. But for me, I guess, Michelle, what I love about it so much is the ability to just let go, have fun, disconnect. And yes, I do run from one trivia game to the next to the game shows. We've won the newlywed game. My daughter and I won a How Well Do You Know Your Family game show once. I love that kind of thing. I even end up somehow volunteering for things and not even realizing I'm volunteering. And next thing you know, I'm up on stage. So that's what I love about it. Letting the trip, the vacation, the experience just unfold. It's magical to me. So if you're interested in cruising, whether you've done it before, you haven't. As I mentioned, we do have group space secured on Legend of the Seas, February 20th, 2027. It's coming up pretty soon. If you'd like to cruise with me and some friends, I would love to have you join us. There is information on our website, mickeyguru.com, all about that. But just to give you a quick overview, it's an eight night Southern Caribbean with stops in the Dominican Republic. Aruba and Curacao, three glorious days at. sea, plus a stop at Royal Caribbean's Private Island. And I currently have an ocean view balcony room. I have a couple interior rooms with the no windows. So that's more of a budget experience. That one's pricing at about $4,000. And then we also have one of those really cool central park view infinite balcony. There's actually three of those. And that's coming in at about $4,800 for cruise fare and taxes. So anyway, if you're interested in that, Michelle, I would love to have you cruise with me so I could show you exactly what the magic is. But if you are thinking about cruising, I would love to help you. The professional advisors here at Mikiguru Travel Company would love to help you because it really is a magical, magical vacation experience. And that is one more question unpacked. Thank you so much to Michelle for sending in the question. I was so excited to see one come in. And so if you're listening to this podcast and you have a question that you'd like me to answer, send it over, please. You can send it via email. It's kristy@mickeyguru.com or just go to mickeyguru.com. and click on Kristy and be sure to put podcast question in the subject so that I know what I'm looking for when I see it come in. All right. I got to run to the airport. Yeah, I'm flying out again. I'm headed to Texas this time for an industry conference. But it's in San Antonio, Texas. And I'll get to see our agent Jen, who lives in San Antonio, one of our previous agents that left the field, Megan. And then Darcy is actually coming to the conference with me. So I will get to spend a great amount of time with Darcy and then some of my other dear agency owner friends from across the country. So we're all gathering in Texas. Yeehaw! Yeah, and there's a cowboy night. Yeah, maybe I'll show you pictures about that. But anyway, make sure you subscribe because I will be right here next Thursday with another travel related question. And until then, I hope to hear you talk. travel to me.

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