Why do people choose to go on cruises, instead of booking a plane flight? One thing that attracts people to these large boats and cruises is the food. Not only does a cruise offer breakfast, lunch and dinner, they also offer midnight buffets, afternoon snack buffets, ice cream bars and 24-hour room service! There is a veritable open bar on food. You can eat casually or formally. You can have a large meal or a small meal. You can eat with hundreds of people or privately. Keep in mind, of course, that the quality of the cruise line determines the quality of the food. Also remember that many of the cruise ships are feeding approximately 2000 people 10 meals per day!

A cruise offers everything you could possibly want from a getaway: entertainment, relaxation, great food, and variety. Next time, don’t overlook that great big boat out in the harbor.

Entertainment is another attraction. Most cruise lines run full-scale production shows, have live bands, and/or add other specials for the children. The Disney® Cruise line offers meals with Disney characters and special entertainment geared towards the younger crowd. Floating casinos adorn most cruise ships to the delight of many adults who use this as their evening entertainment. Having activities planned throughout the entire day, some cruise lines are like floating day camps. You can be as active or inactive as you choose to be.

Cruises offer one-stop-shopping. Variety. One flight plus one boat equals lots of different locations. It would be impossible to attempt to visit each port individually outside of a cruise line. It would be very expensive and much too time consuming. There would be no time for fun. Once aboard the ship, you leave only to visit the places of port. No need to pack and unpack. No need for unnecessary travel. On the ship, you have any number of things to keep you entertained while waiting for the next docking.

Carnival® Cruises is great for the first time cruiser. It has many departure sites around the country. Land and sea prices are available for those who need to fly to a port of departure. Just a few of the destinations to which Carnival® Cruise Lines will take you include: the Bahamas, Aruba, St. Thomas, St. John, San Juan Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, the Keys, Cozumel, Hawaii, Alaska, Martinique and Barbados.

Celebrity® Cruises is higher-end. It has a sophisticated AquaSpa on board and sports a unique art collection on the Galaxy ship as well. Celebrity® has received a 5-star rating for its cuisine (not food but cuisine). If all of that is not impressive enough, it also includes an in-cabin entertainment and information center.

Radisson® Seven Seas, Seaborn® Cruises and Windstar® Cruises offer even more luxury than the Celebrity® line. The Radisson® offers the ultimate luxurious experience by managing suites only. It also offers unique destinations such as Tahiti, French Polynesia, Antarctica, the Mediterranean, and Europe. The Windstar® line has romantic trimasted ships and sail to the Caribbean, The Americas, the Greek Isles and Europe.

As you can see, there are cruise lines for everyone. These lines are just a few of the many options of cruises. But every line has something which makes it unique, so you might want to do some research to make sure you find the cruise you were looking for.