So what would you say is a cruise? Is it essentially just a tour on a boat?

Cruise is a resort in itself. You can do stops, but real value is just the boat itself is packed with shit to do.

May 7, 2023 22:10:53 GMT @ness said:

So what would you say is a cruise? Is it essentially just a tour on a boat?

The bus tours, the destination is the obvious attraction. No one gets on a bus and thinks it's amazing. And most of the travel days are either short or broken up, stopping at tourist sights or for an activity. Ie ; in a single day leaving Austria for Germany's Rhine Valley we made a stop at Dachau.

The cruises, are for people who want to eat, drink and lay around a pool and eat from chocolate fountains. That is the attraction. I'm sure there's plenty of hotels on the main land that offer that same experience. The destination isn't important, only that it's warm and sunny and the exchange rate works in your favour.

Themed cruises are what are actually popular. My wife's cousin has gone on several Star Trek cruises where they mingle with some former cast members and all the activities are Trek related.

Through my work, I sent an 8 year old girl with cancer ona Make a Wish Disney Princess cruise. Obviously tailored to younger girls with Disney stuff. It was a life changing adventure for her.

I have no interest in cruises. Or sitting around a pool on vacation. What a waste.

I'd probably travel with more intent than previously. All of my overseas travel was because I had an interest in a particular place or country, but not for any particular event.

Something like a Wrestlemania week for example would fit that bill.

Into modernish music at all? There are INSANE international multi day themed mega concerts held regularly these days.

Like 100 or so top bands within a genre or subgenre on a single show.  It is crazy.  

I've never left my stateside confines. Hell, I've barely even gone past the Miss to that other country out west.

...But goddamn is that place beautiful. Turquoise waters? I really do need to get out of Hot Canada one of these days and watch some NatGeo in person.

May 7, 2023 23:29:18 GMT c said:

Into modernish music at all? There are INSANE international multi day themed mega concerts held regularly these days.

Like 100 or so top bands within a genre or subgenre on a single show.  It is crazy.  

If I were 15 years younger, then most definitely. I'd probably follow some war trails or something like that instead. Or spend a week at an auto event or actually do a particular road trip.

Yeah look at the shows and they are just too long of days for me. Would have killed the lineups though that are put together for these events though when I was young though.

US has some massive auto-shows. Suggest the NY one, as you can then do other shit in NY like see the military ships or museums.

If into outdoors stuff, suggest looking into the Catskill Mountains here. Beautiful area in NY. Part of the Appalachian Mountains with just beautiful streams that run through the area and great camping spots either in cabins or in tents. Amazing fishing if you fish. Tends to be very pretty in the winter too if it snows, but your outdoor stuff will be limited.

Or if into something more adventurous, New Orleans you can explore the swamps. They even do these tours at night. Going off season means stuff is cheaper. Not the safest of places though so have to watch your wallet and likely have a knife. Very unique cooking here that is not really found elsewhere in the world. Amazingly spooky cemeteries if into spooky crap, as they used to bury the dead above ground.

New Orleans is definitely on the eventual to-do list. I sort of wanted to do a southern sort of trip.

NYC is obviously something I want to see also. I was planning something years ago, but backed out due to the price of accommodation in NYC and was saving for a house deposit at the time and this would have killed that.

I then became obsessed with Europe and the UK shortage afterwards and never considered North America again due to my Dutch and English ancestory.

People who tend to go on cruises are people who liked to get pissed at the bar in nice weather with changing scenery.

Tip for NYC is to stay outside of the city itself, and daytrip into it. Costs go WAY down. It is not a city you want to be driving into so will have to plan to train in and out. But then you can explore stuff outside of the city proper too.

New Orleans is def a one of a kind place. Ancient traditions are alive and well there. Wallet always in the front pocket there, and explore during the day as crime is a problem there in parts, particularly for tourists. Worth visiting, but def read up on what to watch out for as scams and cons are super common. Fortune telling con in particular.

Rest of the US South is a massive area. Avoid Memphis and Atlanta. They are two crime capitals of the US. Suggest NC if you want to experience Southern culture. It is the South, but tempered basically. Eastern NC has some lovely stuff in it, and the Outer Banks are amazing. Lots of trails, and just a very neat place. Also is an area prepped for tourists, but not super busy like a lot of other vacation spots on the shore in that region as the kids do not like to party there.

May 8, 2023 4:49:17 GMT iNCY said:

People who tend to go on cruises are people who liked to get pissed at the bar in nice weather with changing scenery.

Themed cruises can be super interesting.  General ones are basically like doing Vegas.  If I could afford it I would do an Antarctica cruise in a heartbeat.  

I was in New Orleans for New Years Eve 2016 and I loved it. All of the highlights that c mentioned I did. Graveyard and Cemetery tours. Swamps. Old plantations, Estates. Spooky anything. Plus Bourbon Street was a tourist trap, but fun atmosphere. We stayed just outside the French District and definitely heard a lot of very close gunfire.

But my god the food. And I'm allergic to fish. Amazing culinary experience. We will definitely go back, it's such a unique and distinct city.

May 8, 2023 4:53:45 GMT c said:

New Orleans is def a one of a kind place. Ancient traditions are alive and well there. Wallet always in the front pocket there, and explore during the day as crime is a problem there in parts, particularly for tourists. Worth visiting, but def read up on what to watch out for as scams and cons are super common. Fortune telling con in particular.

Definitely read up on the areas to stay out of. New Orleans is a hard place if you venture out of the tourist areas.

I'd totally go back to New Orleans, but do it very differently. There are things I didn't learn until half way through my trip or near the end that would have made a huge difference on how I got around, what I made time for, etc. I always find hindsight is 20-20. Just like my Nashville trip. I don't know that I'd go back to Nashville, but if I did, there would be things I would change/take advantage of. 

I find doing some kind of Hop On/Hop Off or City bus tour the first day or so gives you a great overview of what you might like to see (that maybe you didn't hear about) and the drivers give you some excellent info usually, things you wouldn't know otherwise. 

Cruises and beach vacation hold ZERO appeal for me. I've had some good ones, but it's not my bag. 

May 8, 2023 17:50:53 GMT iron maiden said:

I'd totally go back to New Orleans, but do it very differently. There are things I didn't learn until half way through my trip or near the end that would have made a huge difference on how I got around, what I made time for, etc. I always find hindsight is 20-20. Just like my Nashville trip. I don't know that I'd go back to Nashville, but if I did, there would be things I would change/take advantage of. 

I find doing some kind of Hop On/Hop Off or City bus tour the first day or so gives you a great overview of what you might like to see (that maybe you didn't hear about) and the drivers give you some excellent info usually, things you wouldn't know otherwise. 

Cruises and beach vacation hold ZERO appeal for me. I've had some good ones, but it's not my bag. 

One of the things about travelling for work is that I see where I would like to go and what I have no interest in doing.
Something that I don't get about people is that they feel the need to be busy on their holidays.

My wife is a bit like that, like we need to be making good use of the time.
Our favourite place to holiday is Hawaii, our running joke is my wife coming to me while I am on the balcony or by the pool asking what we are doing today, while I always answer "I am doing it". There is no place I would rather be on Earth than a resort on Maui.

I like interesting holidays, but I always come home more tired than I went, then there is no opportunity to recover.
Wherever possible I try to get back from a holiday on a Thursday so I have time to recover before I go back to work.
I pretty much haven't had a holiday since Covid-19 I am a dead man walking at this stage.

That ultimately is why I dislike travel. Usually the people I travel with want to be busy all the time running here or there to try to see everything they can, and I am so exhausting by it all I just do not get to enjoy anything. It like you never have time to enjoy what you are doing because you have to be ready to jump to the next thing, and constantly be managing time to hit everything.

We decided to take a trip up to sunny QLD for the week - usually a 2hr flight from Melbourne. ETA was approximately 5pm, we got off the plane at 10.30pm QLD time.

Circled for 2 hours due to the weather in QLD, then made a pitstop on The Sunrise Coast and we sat for another 2hrs due to this particular aircraft not being supported at the SC Airfield. Something to do with the mechanics to refuel " no ladder " apparently. Then we flew back to Brisbane, where they had double booked the terminal - so more waiting.

Then, the car hire place is completely unprepared, which baffles me why I booked ahead. Waited for 30 minutes for them to bring out one of the 30 white Toyota Camrys that were available...

On top of that, a taxi hit the shuttle bus we were on from the long term parking in Melbourne to the terminal wedging both the bus and the taxi..

Oh, and the weather is sunny and warm back home in Victoria. Yah....

Oct 9, 2024 0:40:36 GMT NATH45 said:

We decided to take a trip up to sunny QLD for the week - usually a 2hr flight from Melbourne. ETA was approximately 5pm, we got off the plane at 10.30pm QLD time.

Circled for 2 hours due to the weather in QLD, then made a pitstop on The Sunrise Coast and we sat for another 2hrs due to this particular aircraft not being supported at the SC Airfield. Something to do with the mechanics to refuel " no ladder " apparently. Then we flew back to Brisbane, where they had double booked the terminal - so more waiting.

Then, the car hire place is completely unprepared, which baffles me why I booked ahead. Waited for 30 minutes for them to bring out one of the 30 white Toyota Camrys that were available...

On top of that, a taxi hit the shuttle bus we were on from the long term parking in Melbourne to the terminal wedging both the bus and the taxi..

Oh, and the weather is sunny and warm back home in Victoria. Yah....

When I went to the US I had a conference on the Friday I was leaving and then needed to be Orlando for a dinner on the Saturday. I ended up flying; Melbourne to Brisbane to LA to Orlando. It took 27 hrs from airport to Hotel.

May 9, 2023 0:30:17 GMT iNCY said:

May 8, 2023 17:50:53 GMT iron maiden said:

I'd totally go back to New Orleans, but do it very differently. There are things I didn't learn until half way through my trip or near the end that would have made a huge difference on how I got around, what I made time for, etc. I always find hindsight is 20-20. Just like my Nashville trip. I don't know that I'd go back to Nashville, but if I did, there would be things I would change/take advantage of. 

I find doing some kind of Hop On/Hop Off or City bus tour the first day or so gives you a great overview of what you might like to see (that maybe you didn't hear about) and the drivers give you some excellent info usually, things you wouldn't know otherwise. 

Cruises and beach vacation hold ZERO appeal for me. I've had some good ones, but it's not my bag. 

One of the things about travelling for work is that I see where I would like to go and what I have no interest in doing.
Something that I don't get about people is that they feel the need to be busy on their holidays.

My wife is a bit like that, like we need to be making good use of the time.
Our favourite place to holiday is Hawaii, our running joke is my wife coming to me while I am on the balcony or by the pool asking what we are doing today, while I always answer "I am doing it". There is no place I would rather be on Earth than a resort on Maui.

I like interesting holidays, but I always come home more tired than I went, then there is no opportunity to recover.
Wherever possible I try to get back from a holiday on a Thursday so I have time to recover before I go back to work.
I pretty much haven't had a holiday since Covid-19 I am a dead man walking at this stage.

Hawaii is amazing. Wife and I wanna move there, goal is 15 years(after our kids graduate HS and home mortgage is paid off). Honeymooned in Maui too. Incredible place.

Traveling for work has its pros and cons. The money is nice and I can rack up travel miles(I can use my own credit cards and then my company reimburses me) but I also miss my family. Thankfully I don't have to do it as often as before. Used to travel every week leaving Sunday night and coming back Friday night, now I leave Sunday or Monday and am usually back Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.