I recently read a social media post asking, “What’s your favorite thing to do on a cruise?” After reading through the comments, there was a theme.
The funny thing is, it was not so much what people liked to do on a cruise as much as what they didn’t have to do that made them love cruising.
Most cruisers commented that they loved this style of travel because of the things they were escaping back home and on other types of vacations.
Most answers said something like “Not having to ________.”
After taking cruises for the last 15 years, I have to agree with this sentiment.
These are the top 5 things you get to completely avoid when you’re on a cruise.
1. Cook and Clean
This was the most mentioned category people mentioned. When you book an Airbnb for a family vacation, there’s always the matter of dinner. Someone has to do the cooking, and hosts usually expect you to do the dishes throughout the week as well.
Not having to lift a pan, wash a dish, or risk burning a roast is one of the best parts of cruising. On top of this, many ships have well over a dozen different dining venues to choose from, making your cruise a sort of progressive dinner.
With food included in the price, many cruisers look forward to getting a break from cooking as one of the biggest perks.
There’s always the option to spend a little extra for a specialty dining experience too, but it’s never very far away on the floating resort.
2. Unpack
Sure, you do have to unpack once but hear me out. On a cruise you get to travel to all kinds of destinations and still sleep in the same bed every night. Except for maybe train travel, there aren’t many types of vacations where you can unpack once and see dozens of ports and cities.
Both packing and unpacking are two of my least favorite activities. And I don’t want to live out of a suitcase on a cruise, so I will usually unpack as quickly as I can, filling up the closet and drawers, and making that cabin home for the week.
On some non-cruise vacations, you could look forward to unpacking 5 or 6 times while you see several cities in Europe.
On one of my favorite trips, I took a Viking river cruise down the Danube River and was able to see half a dozen different iconic cities in Europe — and yes, I only unpacked once. That’s my kind of travel.
By the way, here are a few things most people forget to pack on a cruise.
3. Plan
You could spend a lot of time planning. But you really don’t have to. I’ve been on cruises where I planned almost every hour of the day. I’ve also taken last-minute cruises where I didn’t plan a single thing. I actually enjoyed the cruise I didn’t plan even more.
If your goal is to just get away and relax, booking the cruise is all the planning you have to do. I know many people who just like to take it one day at a time. They take a look at the daily schedule once in a while and see if there’s anything interesting.
Other than that, they lounge around on the pool deck, in the spa, or in the adult-only area and let the ship take them to the next destination.
As a caveat to this point, if you’re choosing the cruise based on destinations you’ll want to do a fair share of planning for those port days.
4. Drive
Some people love to drive. I get that. But on vacation, it’s nice to just let someone else handle that part.
A cruise lets the captain take care of the navigation part for you. And even in different ports of call you can just grab a taxi or Uber and still not have to get behind the wheel.
If your job involves a long commute and stop and go traffic to and from work, it’s great that a cruise vacation allows you to just enjoying being a passenger for a while.
5. Stay Connected
Sometimes I miss the old days of cruising when you could totally unplug and disconnect while out at sea. In fact, it was the only option.
Today, with Starlink internet connection speeds fast enough for video calling and downloading movies, it’s easier than ever to stay connected to everything back on land.
But you don’t have to stay connected. You can save yourself a few bucks, skip the WiFi package, and just enjoy a break from work emails for a week.
And with international roaming charges making a great excuse for leaving your phone in airplane mode, no one could blame you for letting your voicemails pile up too. It’s an issue for another day.
As someone who writes about the cruise industry, I almost always have to get the WiFi package, but I do get a few dirty looks if I break out my laptop at the onboard coffee shop. And I understand that. Vacations are for unplugging.
Bottom Line
Cruise ships offer more to do than ever before. With activities like escape rooms, zip lining, go-kart racing, and all kinds of other things, you won’t run out of things to do. But a vacation doesn’t just consist of the things you can do. It’s also all about the things you get to escape for an entire week or more.
If you already cruise, you know all of this. If you’re on the fence about this style of vacation, ask a cruiser and be ready to sit down.
Read more: 8 things I skipped on my cruise to save money