People love to hop on a large boat and cruise to an exotic location (often times more than one exotic location) as their vacation or getaway. This is probably because cruises offer many different opportunities that resorts or hotels do not.

Food is one attractant for people. A cruise offers breakfast, lunch and dinner but they also have midnight buffets, afternoon snack buffets, ice cream bars and 24-hour room service available. Food is basically available round the clock. There are casual and formal meals. Large or private meals. Of course depending on the cruise line you choose will determine the quality of the food. You must keep in mind that many of the cruise ships are feeding approximately 2000 people 10 meals per day!

Other people like the entertainment that is available. Most cruise lines run full scale production shows, have bands play, incorporate other special shows like magic or puppet for the children. The Disney Cruise line offers meals with Disney characters and special entertainment geared directly for the younger crowd. Most cruise ships even have floating casinos. Many adults love this, and use this as their evening entertainment. Many cruise lines are like a floating day camp. There are activities planned throughout the day for all ages. If you choose to participate you can, but if you choose to just lay by the pool and read a book or lounge lazily all day you can. You can be as busy or as inactive as you choose.

Cruises offer one-stop-shopping. A cruise offers variety. You can take one flight and get on one boat yet visit as many as seven different islands or locations. To visit that many islands by plane and then stay in a different hotel at each location would be not only expensive but not much fun. You’d have to pack and unpack several times not to mention wasting a lot of your vacation time traveling. Once you are onboard a cruise ship you leave only to visit the places that you dock at. There is no need to pack and unpack and while traveling to your next destination, there is plenty onboard to keep you busy and entertained.

There is a cruise line out there to fit every need of every individual. Below are some of the things that make each line unique.

Carnival Cruises offers something for everyone and is great for the first time cruiser. There are many different ships available that depart from many different ports around the country. Land and sea prices are available for those who need to fly to a port of departure. Destinations include: the Bahamas, Aruba, St. Thomas, St. John, San Juan Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, the Keys, Cozumel, Hawaii, Alaska, Martinique and Barbados just to name a few.

Celebrity Cruises is a higher end cruise line. They have a sophisticated AquaSpa on board as well as a unique art collection offered on their Galaxy ship. They have received a 5-star rating for their cuisine (not food but cuisine) and include an in-cabin entertainment and information center.

Radisson Seven Seas, Seaborn Cruises and Windstar Cruises offer a little more luxury than even the Celebrity line. The Radisson offers ultimate luxury by sailing smaller ships that have only suites available. They also offer unique destinations such as Tahiti, French Polynesia, Antarctica, the Mediterranean, and Europe. The Windstar ships all have romantic trimasted ships and sail to the Caribbean, The Americas, the Greek Isles and Europe.

No matter what you are wanting to get out of a vacation, whether it be entertainment, relaxation, great food, or variety a cruise offers all of that at a great price. The next time you are planning a vacation, don’t overlook that great big boat out in the harbor.