Traveling in all forms is the dream, and making sure you get the most out of your trip is the goal. There are amazing destinations all around you, and finding which works best for you and your family is key.

Trying to decide where to go, what will give you the best experience, and fit in your budget is a lot to consider. So land based or cruise? Which works best? Which one will give you the most out of your time and money?

We take all of these things into consideration when deciding how we travel.  We love going to destinations that are landbased, as well as cruising. Again so many places to explore, but when you do the math cruising, always wins.

To explain how this is, we took two comparible trips that we have taken one landbased one a cruise, and broke down the cost to show you why cruising gets you the most bang for your buck.

We are going to compare a 6 day trip we took to California  to a 10 day trip on a cruise out of Miami. This is going to be based on four people as these were family trips. Our other son went to California,  so we deducted all of his costs .

So as you can see that is a rather large difference, $3525.00 to be exact. Now, with that being said, we did everything we could with both trips to minimize cost. We did our research and got the best prices we could on both of these.

Deciding whether to fly or drive is a huge factor. We generally base this on flight prices and distance. For two people it can go either way. For a family of four, it is always cheaper to drive. Now I know a lot of people only have a certain amount of time for a trip, so flying may be the only time- saving option.  If flying is your only option I suggest getting a credit card to earn points towards flights.

Cruising is always going to give you more, especially if you are budget conscious.  It includes your room, food, entertainment, activities, and more. A land based trip, is all pay as you go. So with that you have to figure in cost of meals per day, what you will do for entertainment, and limiting those based on expense. Then finding a place to stay.

Another note worthy pro for cruising is that it is all done for you, and you can do as much as you want or as little. No guess work no budgeting per activity etc.

Some may argue an all- inclusive is a great option. Which, they do offer more than a regular land based vacation however they are still not as  cost effective as a cruise. We did a search for a 7 day trip at an all-inclusive for 4 people. We did Punta Cana. So for 4 people , with round trip airfare, was $8340.00. So if you’re looking at one of those be sure to cost comparisons.

At the end of the day, how you choose to travel is up to you. Keep all of this in mind  the next time you start looking into a vacation.  Realize that you can still have an amazing adventure on a budget. And if you budget right, one vacation may just turn into two!