For anyone who has ever planned a friends and family reunion or holiday get-together, you quickly discover that it can be a lot of fun for everyone except the person responsible for planning, coordinating and hosting the event. You end up having to cook, clean up the mess, plan and supervise activities for the kids (adults too sometimes), make sleeping arrangements only to wind up with relatives sleeping all over the house (including on the floor) and worry about a relative driving home or to their hotel after drinking a little too much. The list goes on and on. A great alternative is to plan your next friends and family or holiday get-together on a cruise ship. While land based get-togethers can have a lot of unknown factors, a cruise gives you the comfort and convenience of knowing all about your vacation before you ever leave home. This frees you up to relax and enjoy visiting with friends and family members. There are many reasons to choose a cruise ship for these types of events. Here’s a list of my top ten:
1. Something for Everyone - A get-together at sea offers something for everyone. Cruises allow your family members to individually participate in everything from kids programs, to relaxing spa treatments. You can watch a Broadway style show, ice skate or sing karaoke? All this and more is possible aboard a cruise ship. And because there’s something for everyone, they will leave with a lifetime of great memories!
2. Know your costs up front - One of the best things about choosing a cruise is the fact that you’ll know your transportation, food and lodging costs up front before the cruise ever takes place.
3. Affordable and flexible - On a cruise, you’ll be able to control costs more easily. Those with more money can choose more deluxe accommodations, while those with smaller budgets can book inexpensive inside accommodations. Since you can book a cruise up to 18 months in advance, you can even choose to pay for your reunion in installments.
4. No Cooking, No Cleaning - Why go through the stress not to mention the work of cleaning the house to get ready for your guests? On a cruise you’ll have an attentive staff looking after each and every need. That makes the job of host a lot easier. While you’re having fun, your cabin steward will make sure your cabin is kept tidy at least twice a day.
5. Neutral Territory – Friends and family members won’t feel like they’re intruding, or inconveniencing someone by having the get-together at their home. Since everybody’s traveling to the ship, nobody has to feel that they are imposing on others.
6. Plenty of space - Many of today’s cruise ships are three football fields long and fourteen stories high, a spacious place to have a get-together. Because there’s a variety of different size public rooms, space is not a factor on a cruise ship, so your get-together can be as big or as small as you need it to be, without ever becoming a problem.
7. Convenient - Cruise ships sail from ports all across the US, and most of those in the US are within a day’s drive of a cruise ship. For those that are further, flights to ships are affordably priced and cruise lines will even transfer you and your luggage from the airport directly to your ship. Today’s ships sail from an expanding list of ports including: Boston, New York, Baltimore, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Tampa, Port Canaveral (near Orlando), Mobile (AL), Charleston (SC), New Orleans and Galveston.
8. Dining is included - Cruise ships are known for the quality and range of food available. Best of all, you can easily dine together without additional cost. When was the last time you took a large group to a world-class restaurant? You can dine in one for each meal aboard a cruise. For hungry teenagers with veracious appetites, it’s all included from 24 hour pizza to endless buffets.
9. Less Hassle - Because your get-together is on a cruise ship, you’ll pack and unpack just once, and not have to worry about dinner and lodging reservations like you would with other vacations. Cruise ships are uniquely suited to handle the needs of large groups. The result is great service from a smiling crew that will make your time at sea very pleasurable.