A lot of people write off cruises because of the sanitized, Disney feel to them and I definitely pic

Cruise Culture: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Tourism | Nomadic Matt s Travel Site Search the site: Stay in touch: Home About Me Travel Tips Travel Blog Travel Store Travel Guides Travel Videos Links Contact Tweet Cruise Culture: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Tourism
I broke completely out of my norm of independent travel hotels cheap and stepped curiously into mass consumer travel. Instead of hostels, figuring out local buses, and street food stalls, it was a lush stateroom, endless buffets, and planned events. Instead of young and independent travelers, it was families celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, and quinceañeras .
And while you may not learn about your destinations on a cruise (more on that in a bit), you learn a lot about people. I discovered that there is a distinct cruise culture a culture that makes for incredibly interesting people hotels cheap watching. Since for a lot of people a cruise is their only form of travel, it was interesting to hear about travel and the world from those who see it through a highly-sterilized and commercialized experience.
First, there was formal night, a night where you dress up for a "nice dinner." It was like going to adult prom. Everyone was dressed to the nines I even saw people in tuxes. Families were taking portraits (including the classic back-to-back mother/daughter shot ), and teenage girls celebrating their quinceañeras ran around in prom dresses and tiaras. I remember overhearing one guy say that formal night on a cruise is the only time of the year he dresses up. But what really interested me was that for so many people, this seemed like a big event despite the overrated cheese factor. I can't really figure out why people loved it so much. It's just a formal night on a cruise. You get lobster instead of steak, and it's not like those pictures they take are free.
Secondly, I was amazed that cruises were such family hotels cheap events. My cruise buddy Jason , a more experienced cruiser than I, told me that there are actually only a few boats for singles or young people. Most ships tend to be populated by families or older adults. Thinking about all my cruise experiences, I can see that. What I really found interesting was the nature of families here: tons and tons of large, extended family. Our stateroom was surrounded by a family that took up 7 rooms. At dinner, one family took up 3 large tables. Everywhere I looked I saw large families. Cruises, it seems, are where families go to travel. I guess it is the new family reunion.
Because cruises for that many people cost a lot of money, it made me wonder – do people know they could head to Paris for far less? Do they even care? Or do they cruise because hotels cheap it's an easy, organized hotels cheap way to get everyone in one spot?
And in talking to people what I really learned was that travel and vacation were synonymous words for them. This was their vacation, but in their mind, this was also traveling. Forget the fact they never left the resort , to most people on a cruise this was travel.
hotels cheap And I think that's unfortunate. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a vacation , but to think that heading to a mass consumer destination is the same thing as travel is not a good thing. Just like heading to Vang Vieng and saying "I've been to Laos" is bad, so is heading to a cruise port or an all-inclusive hotels cheap resort. It sterilizes the destination and hides the local culture. You aren't really hotels cheap experiencing Mexico when you are in Señor Frogs, but it was amazing to me how many people expressed the idea that "Mexico is awesome!" while there.
On the one hand, I think cruise culture is interesting because it's always about having fun , keeping a drink in your hand, eating, and meeting new people. It's a very happy and lively atmosphere. And that's good.
But there is the dark side to cruise culture – it's insular. For a lot of people, a cruise is their only chance to get out and see the world. It might be their only chance to experience other cultures, especially since most Americans don't travel a lot . And what I didn't like about the cruise was that it was so inwardly focused with everything designed around never looking outside the ship. I disliked how there was no emphasis on learning about the destinations we were going to.
In Haiti, when I started asking my Haitian tour guide in Labadee hotels cheap about life beyond the wall (in Labadee, Royal Caribbean's private resort, hotels cheap there is a double walled, hotels cheap barbed wire fence keeping people out and us in), he became visibly uncomfortable about discussing it as if it was taboo to discuss hotels cheap things that happen over there.
Now, we don't need to have a discussion on Haitian, Mexican, or Jamaican politics (the three ports of call on my cruise), but I don't see why cruises couldn't at least offer some basic information about their ports of call. There was nothing in our daily itinerary planner about our destinations. (Jason confirmed that this happened on many other ships too.)
In a way, I felt like the ports of call were completely irrelevant. If there's no effort to inform travelers about their destinations, why not just park the boat somewhere close to a beach and stay there? Why make a show of it?
We Americans don't travel much. Our news programs don't seem to report hotels cheap on a lot beyond hotels cheap what Miley Cyrus is doing. I know this is going to seem offensive, and I don't mean it to be, but cruises have a definite "Middle America" feel to them. (I use that term because Middle America is often considered synonymous with consumerism.) Cruises are a highly commercialized and sanitized experience; they gloss over the reality of each destination to create a bubbly, you-don't-need-to-think-about-it hotels cheap picture. That s something I really hate about American culture. It s often very insular and this seemed to perpetuate that attitude.
hotels cheap I met people who have never traveled beyond a cruise. Folks who went on cruises two or three times per year. And while there's nothing wrong with enjoying a cruise, what I learned on the ship is that cruises seem to cater to a superficial, turn-off-your-mind form of travel. (Writing this post made me realize that I saw the exact same thing on my old Carnival cruises, so I'm not trying to single out Royal Caribbean.)
I'm happy people are leaving their houses. That is a step in the right direction. I'd rather have someone on a cruise than at home. While we all need a vacation, cruise companies could at least provide some fundamental knowledge about the ports of call they stop at. Shit, print out the Wikipedia page for heaven's sake. Anything is better than nothing.
Instead, I felt that many of the folks on cruise ships had no idea about the world and cruises were more than happy to oblige people and support that attitude. Note: Not all cruises are like this. There are many wildlife and nature cruises that have naturalists and lectures on them.
A lot of people write off cruises because of the sanitized, Disney feel to them and I definitely picked up on the carefree vibe. I'll definitely go on a cruise again because I enjoyed tuning out. For once I enjoyed not traveling. (And in that vein, all-inclusive resorts are probably in my future, too.) There's nothing wrong with wanting to sit by the pool with a drink in your hand. That's all I wanted.
But for that family whose only experience out of the country is this one cruise? I think the cruise lines should at the very least provide some basic information about the destinations they visit. There should hotels cheap at least be the option to learn more about the local culture so that family could walk away with some knowledge of the local area beyond that it has zip-line tours, some ruins, and cheap drinks.
I'd rather think there is still hope. Related posts How I Spent My Seven Day Cruise Vacation What I Loved (and Hated) About My Cruise Why This Independent Backpacking Nomad is Going on a Cruise What I Learned on My Vacation (or Thoughts hotels cheap on Being a Travel Writer) 8 Great Alternative hotels cheap Budget Vacation Ideas Stay Updated If you've enjoyed this article, sign up to get more amazing tips sent to you weekly: 35 Responses to Cruise Culture: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Tourism Erin says: July 19, 2012 at 11:47 am
I went on a cruise with my family right before I started college and I hated it! At the time, I couldn t quite pinpoint why I hated it so much, but now it is abundantly clear: I hated being stuck on a boat. I wanted to explore the destinations more than what was allowed. As I ve gotten older, I realize that I am a traveler, not a vacationer. Travel is a challenge and I love it. I can t say I ll ever step foot on another cruise ship, nor am I interested in dropping money on an all-inclusive resort. They can take their towel animals and 24 hour pizza buffet and shove it! Reply Meruschka says: July 19, 2012 at 11:49 am
Great post Matt! I feel the same way about cruises, you really hotels cheap can t call it travelling. Cruising is probably the height of mass tourism. hotels cheap Its also one of the least responsible forms of tourism considering as most cruise ships hire foreign staff and very little money is actually spent at the destination. The destination is just ancillary. Its all about the consumption. Reply Joey says: July 19, 2012 at 11:58 am
I never thought I d go on a cruise until I started looking into options for Hawaii for my honeymoon. The cruise was the cheapest way I could find (5.5 years ago) to see 4 islands. It was at an island each day so it felt more like a floating hotel than a cruise.
I did a second cruise a few years ago that my brother chose and didn t enjoy it that much. In Grand Turk we were on a beach that had a security-checked entry point to the shops and beach area. It sucked, so my wife and I figured out a way past the walls and onto the road leading in. In Nassau on the same cruise, we asked our cab driver/impromptu tour guide to take us to the local neighborhoods and tell us about them. It was such a different side than what you see at Paradise Island.
We re going on a 3rd cruise this winter, which is paid f