Hi Tom,
They are both enjoyable, but they are not the same thing at all. There are huge adjustments that you have to make when you start the cruising lifestyle, both in your relationship with the boat and in your relationship with your spouse. With regard to the lifestyle in general, things that you put up with for a week or two while on vacation can become major irritations.

With regard to your spouse, pretty much all of your roles and patterns you've live with for so many years get left on land and you have to figure out new ones. This can put incredible strain on the relationship.

Prior to cruising, my wife and I averaged just a few waking hours a day in each others company. Then for two years, we were never more that 35 feet apart for more than a few hours at a time. Stupid little things that when you are living the land bound life you don't even notice, can suddenly become major issues.

One boat rule we established early on can help a little. We call it the "Chicken Rule". While cruising, you are constantly making decisions that can have an effect on your safety and/or comfort (is the anchor set well enough? should we go in through this pass? Should we heave to for awhile? shall we anchor here or push on? etc). On our boat, whenever we disagree, whoever is the most conservative (chicken) automatically wins with no back talk or argument or I-told-you-so's from the other). Interestingly, I am the chicken far more often than my wife.

Where are you in the bay area? We live an hour and a half north, but the boat is at the Pt San Pablo yacht Club in Richmond (east bay). Perhaps is might be possible to get together for a lunch or dinner sometime. Feel free to contact me outside of the forum. My email is "Dan (at) dbsail (dot) org".