Plus, there's the added experience of the romance and adventure that's found on a ship. With that in mind, there's no reason not to cruise.

I have been asked several times, "Why do you always go on cruises?" The answer to this is simple, they're the best travel bargain going! If you don't live near a port, obviously you have to get to your ship and home again after the cruise, but you'd have to do that no matter where you go. Let's look at a typical "cruiser" and compare his/her vacation with his/her counterpart taking a typical land vacation.

Most people don't travel alone. They go with their family or with friends. For the purposes of this article, let's assume that our cruiser is traveling with his wife on a second honeymoon. They have chosen to leave the kids with grandma and want a vacation for just the two of them. Let's also assume that they live in the central United States, for example in Missouri. Of course, they will have to get to their embarkation point, in this case Miami, Florida.

Our land based travelers, on the other hand, decide to travel to Miami also. They also must travel to their destination, and as it turns out, they take the same flight to and from Miami as our cruisers. They pay the same air fare, and sit in the same class seats on the plane. The travel portion of the vacation cancels out, therefore. The costs begin to mount when they arrive at their destination.

For the land traveler, the best rate I was able to find on a hotel in the Miami area for a three day stay (minimum) was $99 per night at a Holiday Inn. Of course to get there from the airport, one would want a rental car, $39 per day w/o any extras at Avis and of course once at the hotel the person would want meals. Figuring the totals of the cost for hotel and rental car, the price is $414. Meals can run anywhere from approximately $30 per day/per person upward, but figuring an average breakfast $6, light lunch $8.50, and dinner in a nice restaurant $20 per person, meals would run a total of $49 per day/per person or $290 for the three day trip. Of course entertainment and other activities such as sightseeing, etc. are extra but figuring an average of $35 per person/per day, add in another $120. The land vacation therefore would total approximately $855 for the land portion of the trip. Not a bad price, in fact, very reasonable when all things are considered. These rates are "low end" rates for Miami, Florida. If they chose to go to another major city, the rates undoubtedly would be higher.

Let's compare that with our cruisers. The best price I found on a short, 3 day Bahamas cruise was on Carnival. At $279 per person, the cruise is a value, and of course others would run more, but for the couple looking for an inexpensive vacation, this would be the best value. When arriving at the Miami Airport, Carnival provides transportation to its passengers for $30 round trip, so add $60 to the price.

Once at the dock, a small tip, usually $1 per bag to the porter is expected. After check in and boarding, all food and entertainment are paid, and believe me these meals are so far above what the land passenger is eating on his budget there's no comparison. There are a total of 9 meals available, including the normal main meals, each of which are of gourmet quality. Coffee, tea or milk are included in the meal and only alcohol or soft drinks are charged, usually at a rate similar to those found on land.

Shore excursions run anywhere from $15 up, so let's say that $25 per day is spent on excursions per person. Finally there is a tip for the cabin steward, waiter and bus boy. These, using cruise line recommendations, would run about $25 per person. When we total the costs of the cruise, minus souvenirs again, we find that the cruise vacation would cost approximately $825 for two people.

As you can see, the cost of the cruise vacation is less than that of the land based vacation, but beyond the price you should consider this. The land based vacationers have to spend money for gas, for parking, tips, and other expenses, and then they are restricted to seeing Miami, Florida only. Having been to Miami, I can assure you that $35 per day for entertainment is an almost impossible figure to meet. On the other hand, the cruisers sail from Miami, head to Nassau, Bahama Islands for over a day and then have a full day at sea. So for less money, the cruisers visit a foreign country, complete with all of the local culture, as well as have a full day to enjoy the ocean as they sail back toward their port. No hassle's, no parking, no looking for something to do. For the cruiser, that's all taken care of in the price. As I completed this article and checked the prices, I discovered something interesting. That $279 cruise price has now been expanded to a four day cruise which also visits Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. Even adding in the extra day's expenses, it still is a lower priced vacation than the land based three day vacation, and you now can get an extra day thrown in. How can anyone beat that value?