The internet and its widespread use have changed the way we receive news, the way we communicate, and the least but not least the way we entertain ourselves. Nowadays there are many ways to get entertained online and many of these activities can be done on a mobile devices, as well as on a desktop computer, so it doesn’t really matter where you are located, as long as you have a stable connection on your device.
Whether you like playing games, watching movies and videos, listening to music, the list is almost endless. For instance, there’s a variety of different online bingo games you can play, watch the latest movie trailers on YouTube, or read some interesting articles on your favourite online magazine.
What Are Virtual Cruises
They say that the internet is our window to the world. You can discover various parts of the world, you can study ancient civilisations and their ways without leaving your room. All of that has little or no applicability to cruises, you might think. After all, you can’t cruise the world on the internet. Interestingly, this is both true and false. Yes, you can cruise the world online and no, that’s not actually cruising the world. Don’t worry, we’ll expand on that and give you a bit of clarity on the matter.
There are virtual cruises that allow you to explore new and magical coasts and various seas without having to move your eyes away from the screen. It makes no sense to leave for a cruise that doesn’t last at least a week, some would even argue that cruises should last at least two weeks, but with virtual cruises you get a chance to get away from your everyday worries for 15 minutes, or an hour.
The best part is that you get to choose the destinations and the length of your cruise and it won’t cost you a single penny. Now, of course, a virtual cruise is just that – it is not an actual cruise. Let’s see what virtual cruises are and how they can help you decide which would be the best cruise for you.
Create Your Own Virtual Cruises
There are few cruise companies that offer virtual cruises to their potential customers. These virtual cruises are actually recordings of the places that are included in the actual cruises in the order in which they are visited on the actual cruise. Of course, if the real cruise lasts two weeks, the virtual cruise wouldn’t last that long.
You will not get seasick when watching the video, but it will give you a clearer perspective of what you can expect. And even if the cruise you’re thinking of booking doesn’t feature a virtual video version, you can create your own virtual cruise.
You may wonder how, but it is actually very simple. Check all the locations that are included in the cruise map and then look for videos of those locations taken from sea/the riverside, or better yet, use Google Maps and discover the locations directly. This will give you a much better perspective of the sites and locations that you will have a chance to visit if you choose that particular cruise.
That’s very useful, because you might not be satisfied with all locations that are included in the cruise. Let’s say that you’re thinking of going on a European cruise that takes you from the Spanish coast, via the French coastline up to the Italian coast. Now, going on a virtual cruise might actually make you realise that you don’t particularly fancy the Spanish coast, and the French coast is so and so in your opinion, whereas on the other hand you’d really love to go on a cruise on the Italian coastline.
In that case, you will go though the list of available cruises again and pick an Italian cruise that might be shorter and cheaper as it has fewer destinations, or go on a cruse across the whole Italian coastline, where you’ll have a chance to visit more locations compared to the original cruise that you considered.
Choosing The Right Cruise
We explained how a virtual cruise can help you choose, now let’s have a look at the criteria that you should take in consideration when choosing a cruise. It is a topic that is frequently discussed by cruise aficionados, but it is always good to bear these things in mind when choosing a cruise.
The first thing that you should consider is the price, i.e. whether it is in accordance with your budget. Unfortunately, our desires can be grand, and our budget a tad more limited, so we always have to make sure that we can actually afford to go on the cruise that we’d like.
If you have a clear picture how much you’re willing to spend, you will be able to narrow down your options and that makes things a lot easier.
Next, you’ll need to decide on a location, and the options are limitless here. Some people prefer to choose a continent or a region first and then go through the possible options, whereas others prefer to pick the type of cruise they’d like to go on and then choose the location based on that.
Your age will play a role too, some cruises are more suitable for the elderly, whereas others are aimed at younger individuals. Your marital status, i.e. whether you’re going with a partner or alone and whether you’re taking kids with you is another issue that will affect your options.
But regardless how many boxes you tick, there will always be plenty of options, so perhaps the best advice is – once you set your criteria and know your range, simply follow your heart and choose the location that looks most appealing to you and you’re travel companions if you’re going with company.
Brought to you by Cruise Compete. CruiseCompete.com allows you to easily compare multiple offers from Cruise Experts
