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So my wife has taken the idea she wants to go on a cruise this year. 13 yo son and 17yo daughter will be with us.
I just have this thing that they are for older folks and could be quite boring? Thinking of essentially cruising the Italian coast and Sicily and Corsica.
Anyone been on one and what are your thoughts?
Depends who you go with. Some have loads of activities every day. Plus there's always trips when docked bit take some plasters for yiur wallet.
Surely the big advantage with all inclusive cruises is most of the cost is up front?
Personally I can’t think of a worse thing I’d rather do with my time than a cruise. Trapped in a boat, no spontaneity, no freedom, and herded into the nerdiest tourist trap every other day?
No thanks. I’d rather go to Butlins. At least you can leave.
I would rather stick hot needles in my eyes.
Butlins on a boat actually sounds quite a bit worse
We've got one booked with TUI that takes in Sicily, Italy , Monaco and Spain in June.
we have been with them before around Spain, Gib and Portugal .
Very relaxed , plenty to do for the kids, you can do "posh" or not , it's up to you . There are some jumped up types on there that complain about kids being on board , but hey, don't go on a family cruise if you don't want kids around.
TUI are mostly all inclusive , so apart from leaving a tip for the steward looking after your room, you don't need to spend anything else.
one thing I would recommend is getting at least a junior suite as the rooms are not massive.
weve got the executive suite in June so we can look down on the riff raff 😂
😉
A hotel you can't leave. No thanks.
Some people are content to lie on a beach or the deck of a boat and sun bathe. I am not such a person and need to be doing stuff. In laws (late 30s) went on a cruise for their honeymoon. They hated it.
As a lover of active holidays I was very sceptical. We went on a pretty posh one. It was definitely adult and older person focussed. I can't say I'm a convert but it was a good holiday. A nice way to get away from it all and pretty relaxing. I'd still much rather be in the Alps but as an extra holiday, why not. Good to have new experiences
Eating and drinking all inclusive for the duration, brilliant. I only go an adult only ones though as i can't stand kids.
Sounds like a pretty relaxing way to spend a couple of weeks to me. Nothing to think about, no decisions to make, lots of food, sunshine and booze? Lovely!! 🙂
If you like the idea of relaxing by the poolside all week, you'll enjoy it. If you want to be riding a bike and getting out and about for a week it's not for you
I went on a Cunard one round the Baltic
Everyone on it was an absolute tampon (stuck up ****)
Staff were the nicest people to talk to
You also get dropped off in each city at 7.30am (couple of hours before things open) and then leave by 4pm so don't really get to experience the nightlife.
Food was good though.
Went on one few years ago with a 6 month old baby. Was a superb break, really well looked after and didn't have to do a thing. Didn't do any of the official tours just got off at each port and did our own thing. Each morning different things to do/see. Nice meal at night then a show or cinema.
I can imagine the long cruises where you are at sea for days could get a bit boring, but the 1 week jobs, different port each day are what you want them to be. Yes you could sit round the pool all day, or just go down to the nearest beach. That would be a bit of a waste. Use it as an opportunity to visit different places, you can hire bikes on board to go off exploring. There is usually plenty of time to look around
I used to think I wouldn't go on a cruise , until I went on one.
There is a meme doing the rounds on FB comparing the pollution of a cruise ship to a million cars. Not sure of the truth behind it though.
edit. Or maybe not
Lots of young couples go on cruises.
I don’t get it but will give it a try.
Niece and her boyfriend (both 21 years) keep going on cruises.
Mrs SR and I are going on a boat to Norway in June for our 25th. We have spent our life together adventuring: travelling to different parts of the world; taking the kids camping across the continent; riding and/or skiing in different places. In fact, even our honeymoon was spent with backpacks and travelling on foot.
Consequently, I am looking forward to the opportunity of nice dining, swimming, going to the gym, reading, and trying some of the activities that such a cruise offers. It'll literally be the first time in my life that we have allowed ourselves to purely relax for a week - and seeing the Norwegian coast is a bonus.
On those terms, a cruise seems like a win-win.
I took the wife and kids on a Royal Caribbean western med cruise about 6 years ago, ages 15,14,11,10. They still talk about it and rate it as their best holiday ever.
Pros
The ship was huge, Independent of the seas, it didn't feel crowded.
Theres tonnes of stuff to do, not just for kids but adults as well.
We got enough 'credits' (discount) when booking to do a trip to Rome and Florence
Food and drink was excellent and as we had booked a suite we had access to a members club (a suite was cheaper than two rooms but had separate bedrooms)
Service was excellent from all the staff
It was nice dressing up and having a formal meal (not as dressy as some cruise lines, but we enjoyed it)
Being in a new port each day was interesting. We usually got off for a few hours.
Cons
Hugely expensive but circumstances at the time allowed us to afford it, just
its not fully inclusive, sure you get a lot but some things are extra. e.g. You can get a coffee, but if you want a latte, its extra. Wine packages are extra etc.
RC is an American company so you need to add a tips package.....
Would i go back and do it again? Yes i would, once the mortgage is paid off 🙂
I’m sure you can make any holiday enjoyable if you try. Especially one you’ve spent 1000s on.
I’d never go on one though, so many other things that appeal more.
Went on small cruise to Guernesey . 3 days was enough for me.
All we did was eat and drink. Ok for 3 days.
They'll have a pump-track, surely?
I used to work for a cruise line so am reasonably qualified to comment.
If you enjoy lounging around, drinking and eating almost unlimited quantities of food and being sedentary, it's a really good holiday.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">However if you, like me, find old aged pretentious northerners insufferable then it's probably not for you.</span>
All they seemed to do is ask each other how much they paid for the holiday and talk about Range Rovers and detached houses.
I went on one with my parents when I was 16.
All I did was convince the bar staff to serve me booze.
All my 17 y.o. sister did was the bar staff (which was probably why they served me booze...)
We did one with a couple of friends a few years ago, so in our late 30's.
It was an Ocean Village one (now defunct), so pitched at younger people. We were the youngest.
Did 2 weeks. Most days we got off the ship - Barcelona, Tunis, Rome, Florence, Genoa, Monte Carlo, Naples, Corsica and a couple of others. We had one full day at sea on each week, so spent that lazing around. Rest of the time on the ship was in bars, "entertainment", gym, lots of pub quizzes (which we were very good at so kept winning stuff). Evenings were eating, drinking and the casino. Also went to the cinema a couple of times.
Nothing was formal - most food was from the 24 hour all-you-can-eat buffet (included), with the odd restaurant as well.
We had fun, but decided to leave it 10 years before the next one.
I would rather stick hot needles in my eyes.
Which is just about what I thought, till my Mrs booked a 7 nighter with P&O to Norway on the Azura.
So wev'e booked a 14 nighter to the Med which takes in all the places Mrs Egf always fancied seeing. We can have a peek around, see what we really like then go back to Rome/Barcelona/Cadiz etc at our leisure.
Holidays for fat people - and that's coming from a self confessed salad dodger.
Great way to get a glimpse of a number of places you've never visited before, to consider visiting again on a more traditional holiday.
We did Norway and Iceland back in 2008, family member worked for Princess Cruises back then, so it cost us peanuts compared to standard rates. Would do again if we won the lottery!
There's 3 guys at work who always seem to choose cruises for holidays.
I wouldn't wouldn't want to go on holiday with any of them.
Isn't one way of avoiding that problem, Onzadog, to simply choose a different type of cruise to the type their sort may enjoy (whatever that might be)?
Mrs SR and I have deliberately gone for a Cunard cruise, based on the fact that the reviews said they were more traditional and subdued than, say, Royal Caribbean or whomever.
if money was "no option" I quite like the sound of 7 days aboard the Queen Mary, luxury suite, to new york, 2 weeks in a top New York hotel then 7 days back to blighty. Only trouble is I don't have a tux 🙁
Busmans holiday for me. Although never having worked on a Cruiseboat, the tales from colleagues who have leave me cold.
That said, those inland waterways cruises around Europe might be tempting, but I need to age about another 25years yet to fit in with the apparent demographic.
There is a meme doing the rounds on FB comparing the pollution of a cruise ship to a million cars. Not sure of the truth behind it though.
Emmissions per tonne per mile make shipping by far the greenest way to move things around... as long as you don't mind your cabin being a 40' container.
Apprentice at work has “travelled” the world with parents on cruises and appears to have enjoyed himself.
Going on my 2nd in May, 1st was last year, a Med cruise culminating with the Monte F1 race which has put me off F1 forever!!!
we are in our 60s, MrsT does not keep the best of health so whatever she wants for a holiday is what she gets, I can go do what I want whenever Inwant. Normally I don’t do lounging or bars, did plenty of lounging and reading but gave the bars a miss. Beer for breakfast??????? Managed a few hours biking on Hvar. We are off on a Baltic cruise on May, day trips to places we would never visit and A’s retirement looms unlikely to be able to afford to travel far after next year.
All the kids on our last cruise seemed to enjoy themselves wandering about without a care in the world. Evening entertainment every night was very good
^^^^^ cabins May be small but all you do is sleep in them
Thanks to everyone. We're thinking of 7 nights in the med. It takes in Sicily and Corsica which are both places I've always fancied seeing.
Sounds like if we largely keep to ourselves we might avoid the worst of the negatives.
but I need to age about another 25years yet to fit in with the apparent demographic.
And book early for the smaller operators, they fill up fast. If you're looking to go to Holland now, you're probably too late for the cheaper weeks and your preferred dates may not be available too.
Pure nightmare for me. Would spend most of the time hugging this, hoping that my particular boat isn't some massive norovirus incubator.
Why not just go on holiday to Sicily. It’s an amazing island.
Cant day I would just want to look at it from a tin can.
oh and then when you get off the tin can you pay a fortune to be let off to then swarm around some tourist attraction with another 4000 people from another tin can.
no thanks!
Retired guy in my local goes on cruises on huge container vessels. Last time he went via the Suez Canal to China stopping off in assorted parts of the Far East and I think it was three ports in China. Never really got off the boat as the turnaround in each port was surprisingly fast. He visited a few commercial port cafes but that was it. In the past he's gone out on a boat got off the far side of the world with almost nothing booked and come back on a different boat a month later.
he loves it, I can't imagine it...
Sounds like if we largely keep to ourselves we might avoid the worst of the negatives.
Is that even possible? MIL and FIL go, and describe it as though you get allocated a table with another couple at dinner every night.
They suggested we go with them because they had the chance of a great deal with kids almost free. They weren’t so keen when we suggested they take the kids and we’d go somewhere we enjoy.
Not in this lifetime. More like a punishment than a holiday.
I can see why some people like them,but it's not for me,a bit like golf.
There's a significant issue with cruise ships in port as they won't run off local power instead on bunker oil. This is very dirty and is breaching pollution controls in many of the places that they stop in.
Its even causing a problem in Greenwich, which isn't in the cleanest part of the UK, but the cruise terminal close to the Dome is causing some considerable problems for local residents.
I'd be worried about having a deadline to catch the boat in the middle of the afternoon.
Retired guy in my local goes on cruises on huge container vessels. Last time he went via the Suez Canal to China stopping off in assorted parts of the Far East and I think it was three ports in China. Never really got off the boat as the turnaround in each port was surprisingly fast. He visited a few commercial port cafes but that was it. In the past he’s gone out on a boat got off the far side of the world with almost nothing booked and come back on a different boat a month later.
How do you hitch rides with container ships? Do you just turn up and ask?
How do you hitch rides with container ships? Do you just turn up and ask?
In a container, obvs.
Of course. I prefer the age-old method of taping myself in a cardboard box with a few cans of sardines and a duvet jacket and sending myself air freight.
There is a meme doing the rounds on FB comparing the pollution of a cruise ship to a million cars. Not sure of the truth behind it though.
Emmissions per tonne per mile make shipping by far the greenest way to move things around…
It might be the most efficient way to move "things" around, sure. Cars. Televisions. Ipads. But it's hardly the most efficient way to move 1000 leathery pensioners about.
There is a meme doing the rounds on FB comparing the pollution of a cruise ship to a million cars. Not sure of the truth behind it though.
I'm guessing it's no worse then jetting off somewhere in an aeroplane.
How do you hitch rides with container ships? Do you just turn up and ask?
Its apparently a proper business in its own right. There was a really good article about someones experience but cant find it right now. This isnt a bad summary.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-container-ship-tourism-industry
i done an alaskan cruise , it was fantstic always something to do , highlights were watching grizzly bears catching salmon, ,pods of orcas and humpbacks swimmiing past the ship, bald eagles fiying overhead,
There is a meme doing the rounds on FB comparing the pollution of a cruise ship to a million cars. Not sure of the truth behind it though.
I’m guessing it’s no worse then jetting off somewhere in an aeroplane.
Apparently not.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/dec/20/cruises.green
...and that's from the Guardian so it must be true.
Re cargo ship travel an environmentalist friend of mine took a banana boat to South America to avoid flying. East European crew, bad food, boring as hell. He flew back and has never suggested he might repeat the experience
I’ve had good times on small boats - a few days around the Whitsundays in Australia, a couple of days off the Turkish coast - and probably half a dozen dive live aboards but big cruise ships look like spending a week in a shopping mall. I’m in the ‘rather stick pins in my eyes’
That said, could be a fun place to go to a music festival -
I hate most people, so would struggle I think.
I always imagine that cruise ships would be full of the people (usually scousers) that spend their whole 'beach holiday' sat around the pool and rarely leave the hotel when they are in a beautiful location
We lived in America when I was a kid (age 4-8) and at the end we came back from New York on the QE2: As a child, I loved it. However, as an adult I suspect I would become an alcoholic for the duration of the cruise. I love being at sea (my Dad is an experienced sailor and I've sailed across the channel with him), but the confined nature of a cruise liner would probably force me to drink. I'd probably enjoy it for a couple of days, but after that it would become tedious.
**Happy to be proved wrong. I might even check them out when I'm older: My Parents seem to enjoy those posh river cruises and adults-only cruise ships. In fact, they left on one to explore Norway and see the Northern Lights on Saturday.
It appears that a lot of the haters of cruises (not all) haven't actually been one one? I really didn't fancy it because of most of what some are assuming.
Me & Mrs Egf really are not that sociable, ie, wer'e not rude & do mix pretty well but prefer our own company to a degree. We found we didn't even have to get close & personal to other people the whole time.
MIL and FIL go, and describe it as though you get allocated a table with another couple at dinner every night.
That's cos it's what they chose to do. We didn't & don't think we sat with any other couples all week.
On most ships youv'e got a gym that would put Bannatynes to shame, so don't worry about stuffing ya face with tons & tons of lovely grub!
Many years ago when I was 19 the family volunteered (Forced) me to go on a 7 day Fjord cruise with my grandmother, basically as no-one else wanted to do it. The food and service were excellent (Holland-America?), but as I spent the entire 7 days trying to avoid the attentions of newly divorced, 50 year old, orange coloured women all the luxury was somewhat wasted.
Mrs wanted to go on for her 50th. I was not looking forward to it but tried to go with an open mind. We did an all-inclusive round the Canaries. Flew to Tenerife and then did 7 nights. Only one day at sea. It actually worked really well. Got leathered every night. Woke up every day somewhere new. She was in the middle of doing 'run every day for a year' so we'd get of early doors and have a trot round and have a look round before it got busy. Back for 2nd brekky and a shower and then out being a tourist all day. The food on the boat was excellent. You could either join other people or keep yourself to yourself. Lots of shows on. Casino, if you were into that. The staff were ace.
I wouldn't say I'm a convert but I wouldn't rule out going on another one at some point. Give it a go.
Never been on one myself, I'd imagine will do at some point, informal type mind, sounds like a good way to see lots of places without the hassle of traveling.
Have to laugh at the usual moral high ground prats on here who instantly dismiss as if it's some sort of Guantanamo-esque hell hole, then off they go on holiday camping in a bog for 2 weeks somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the pissing wet... 🙂
For me it would be the evenings being as bad as the days.
I want to cycle, swim, view the sights in the daytime, i want to take my time,do what i want, when i want. I want to sit and relax in my own space in the evening. Goign to a show, sheesh, i can't think of anything worse. Possibly other than going to a disco... that's likely to be worse.
Never been on one myself, I’d imagine will do at some point, informal type mind, sounds like a good way to see lots of places without the hassle of traveling.
Have to laugh at the usual moral high ground prats on here who instantly dismiss as if it’s some sort of Guantanamo-esque hell hole, then off they go on holiday camping in a bog for 2 weeks somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the pissing wet…
Pretty much what I was thinking!
How do you hitch rides with container ships? Do you just turn up and ask?
Container ship i was on in the 90's as a cadet, we had 2 passengers who were invited on the trip by Lord Vestey who owned the company.
In those days we would stay in port for a day of 3, so a good chance of going ashore, but the longest leg of the trip was 2 weeks at sea, so that must've got tedious for them. They're all much quicker in port now though, not much chance to get ashore, and container ports tend to be far far away from tourist spots