The bold and the brave

By TravelGuy:

No, I’m not talking about a Saturday morning cartoon or a new soap opera. I’m referring to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). Both have taken broad strides to revolutionize their fleets by building two of the biggest ships filled with activities and entertainment that far exceeds what the cruise industry is accustomed to. Yes, these ships are very large, but the passenger capacity isn’t what makes them great. I know I’ll be dating myself, but remember when Las Vegas casinos were just places to gamble, drink and catch a show? Now you’ve got entertainment up and down the strip for the entire family and tons of nightlife options. Similarly, the cruise industry has evolved from a method of getting from point A to B, to floating resorts with food, activities, entertainment, and daycare all included in your cruise fare. Being able to unpack ONE TIME and visit a potpourri of countries is the icing on the cake, and I love me some good cake!

Because taking a cruise on Norwegian Epic would require two more round trip tickets, we decided to add a 7 night cruise the week before our cruise on Oasis of the Seas. A price of just $599/person with a $100 on board credit was too good to pass up. So we’ll cruise Norwegian Epic from 9/18/10 – 9/25/10, hop on a shuttle from Miami to Fort Lauderdale, then sail out on Oasis of the Seas from 9/25/10 – 10/2/10. I can’t think of a better way to compare these two amazing ships.

So besides the reasons above, why do we like cruise so much? Well, you simply can’t find any other vacation where your view changes by the minute and is almost always gorgeous! Our favorite part is visiting multiple countries and then deciding which ones we’d like to return to at a later date. Cruising is like a buffet that way – sample a number of different areas, then pick a few to go back and really explore when you have more time. It’s scary to think how much we’d cruise if we lived in Florida or Southern California. It would just be too darn easy to drive to the port, hop on a ship and spend 7 gorgeous days at sea.

Life is short, and the older we get the more we realize that we need to get out and experience as much as possible. Live life!