To wonder why everyone raves about cruises?

Cruises sound like All Inclusive on a boat. No thanks.

What do you mean … cat got your tongue ?

I’ve no idea if I would like Dubai or not .. looks a bit glitzy, but there is a wide variety of hotels, and the restaurants look amazing.

Everything causes some level of environmental impact, from owning a pet, to eating meat, to driving a car, to flying, to having children. If we were to stop doing anything that harms the environment we would all be Vegan, have no kids, no pets, not drive, and only use wind/solar power.

The newer classes of cruise ship run on LNG which reduces environmental impact, and as an industry constant strides are being made to improve efficiency.

Being a lover of warm sea, I’ve certainly never fancied any ‘hot’ cruise, because I’d rather be in the sea, than on it.

Plus, we’ve had holidays on an island habitually visited by cruise ships. Some of the loveliest times on the beach were early evening - watching the sunset with a rum cocktail, listening to the tree frog chorus, - or early morning, walking along the deserted beach. And these were just the times when we’d see the massive cruise ships either heading for the port a few miles away, or leaving.

I wouldn’t feel the same about ‘cold’ cruises, but still can’t really fancy them. We did once do a 3 night, 2 city mini one, with Dbro and SiL who are great fans and were hoping to convert us, but I’m afraid it didn’t work!

We did a Ned cruise and never left the boat. It's lovely when everyone has gone for the day. One day we spent the afternoon as the only people in the cinema. Watched Paddington 2 with loads of hot chocolate and then went to the empty swimming pool area to sunbathe. Lovely

Ridiculous comment. I have never been to Dubai and I know I would hate it. In the same way I know I would hate a cruise. It is very easy to appraise the characteristics of something without experiencing it. I can see with my own eyes what they entail. Anyone can. Notably, not one single cruiser has been able to justify the horrendous environmental impact and issues highlighted here.

Cat got your tongue?

The thing is though there is such a variety of cruise holidays that it’s impossible to generalise.

———-///—-

Generalisation it may be, but I think cruises generally involve ships.

A ship contravenes my life-rule of ‘never go anywhere that you can’t get out of in a taxi within ten minutes’.

Princess are great, we went with them last year. I would advise you to book direct, our cruise planner was great.

Thinking of trying P&O next time.

Delighted I’ll never have to cruise with some of the people on this thread - very strong opinions on something they have never done.

Holidays I won’t do again … Camping (traipsing across a field in wellies to go for a wee, waking up boiling hot, no decent cooking facilities). Anything “self catering” (why would I want to go on
holiday to go to the supermarket, then have to make a meal, in a kitchen, with loads of things missing. Rural France (everything shuts at 7 .. very very boring). A UK seaside resort (expensive, and probably rainy)

…. but I gave them a try, before deciding I didn’t like them.

The thing is though there is such a variety of cruise holidays that it’s impossible to generalise. Some ships offer none stop action packed holidays while others are a lot smaller with top end service and very luxurious. There is then everything in between.

A Royal Carribean Cruise would be my idea of hell but I can see why for others it would be a fantastic holiday. I have only cruised with P and O which we love but have decided we prefer the older ships as they are a bit less full on. We are trying Princess next year to see what they are like and I have promised DS when he is over 18 we will try Cunard as he loves the idea of the formality (best get saving now)

Too many Americans? What type of comment is that? In a whole list of things you don't think you'd like about cruising you include people of a whole nation?

What ship were you on? This isn’t my experience at all.

A lot of snobbery here

You'd think wrong. I like beaches, to go for a walk and photograph on their natural state, but resort beaches crammed with loungers and umbrellas as far as the eye can see are my idea of hell.

And actually we love all sorts of holidays - city breaks, sometimes combined with a cruise, cottage holidays in the Scottish highlands and islands. People who go on cruises don't have some strange mindset where we can't do anything else.

Noisy, brash and full of people. Shopping malls. Sports bars. Casinos. Hundreds of people on sun loungers round a pool. Bloody water slides with people screaming continuously. Restaurants that look like the food court in a shopping centre. Indoor seating areas with massive screens everywhere. There always seems like there's massive screens everywhere, inside and out and constant noise including 'entertainment' bellowing down microphones into pool areas and loud music.

I've never been on a cruise like that - which line/ship was that?

We go with Azamara. Small ships. No casino or sports bars. Certainly not massive screens everywhere. No water slides. No loud music round the pool. Or anywhere else for that matter.

I’ve only been on one, but really enjoyed it. I loved waking up somewhere new every day. And getting a taster of places I could go back to. I’d definitely go again

A cruise is my idea of hell, but I have a strange fascination with YouTube cruises.

I've learned a lot.

Different lines for different people. Disney is great for kids, Silversea better for adults and more luxury.

Itinerary - do you want more ports of more sea days? The Queen Mary crosses the Atlantic so is all sea days.

Is there somewhere you HAVE to see, if that port is dropped how will you feel?

Languages, Costa do announcements in 5 languages which some people find annoying.

Size of ship, some have room for thousands of people. If you are in a tender port then the priority to get ashore goes to people who have booked an excursion with the ship.

Things on the ship, do you like shows? Roller coasters? Pools? Type of dining? Talks / lectures?

Type of cruise, there are naked cruises, cruises dedicated to a type of music.

I think cruises can be fantastic holidays if you make the right choices.

Personally I don't like being on water, I'm not even keen on cross channel ferries.

Fantastic kid clubs on board

I'm happy they exist for those people who would genuinely really struggle to holiday without one (some types of disability, for example). They should be a rareity though. It's not a very sustainable way of travel (though progress is being made on green synthetic fuels). And cruise ship tours are unpopular for the way they charge into popular cities en masse and flood the place with their footfall while spending very little money. There is a trend to charge these places heavy fees for docking and I think we should be moving further along these lines.

As with most holidays, it obviously depends on your travel company imo. I’ve had horrific flights with budget airlines, cramped, delayed, drunk passengers, lost luggage but also pleasant flights with a scheduled airline. It’s simplistic to apply a broad statement. The cruise industry is the same.
A small ship, varied itinerary, with a good amount of time at each port can be a great holiday. We visited Norway this summer on a modern, low CO2 emission ship (the only type legally allowed through the fjords from 2026). It was spectacular watching whales from the balcony with morning coffee and hiking or cycling different mountains. The food was great - no shared tables, silver service and the ship smoother than crossing the channel. A lovely restful holiday, no flights and no towel wars around the pool!

No because Bob and Mary aren’t constantly driving around when at home (and that’s not even a good analogy as cruise ships emit
more pollutants than cars), or releasing sewage into the oceans.

We hated cruising. But, were more adventurous travellers who hate crowds.

I dislike the amount of people crammed on board & you can't sit anywhere nice as the spots all over the ship get claimed at 5am & the spa was full of drunk idiots who claimed it the entire cruise. Constantly marketed at for photos/spa packages/ paid outings. We were told not to go snorkelling at the free spot close by docking because it wasn't safe, to get everyone to pay for a guided activity which was a 30 minute snorkel for eye watering cost (we ignored along with half the ship). It took 3 hours to get off the ship when they used tenders, and has only two hours on land!

The food was ok once we figured out we had to go to the restaurant at 5pm bang on. Buffet was grim & overcrowded.

I can see why some like it, but it's not for me!

@Remaker I am in Australia too. My DD used to work in a hotel in the city of Sydney and they had truckloads of people flying in from America and Europe to go on a cruise from Sydney Harbour. She said they were mostly older people. Still, flying all that way just to go on a cruise!

I would try a Mediterranean cruise because at least there are plenty of ports but going on a Pacific cruise - no way. It takes like 3 days to get to NZ.

I'd never do an ocean liner as they scare the f outta me but I've done a luxury river cruise down the Rhine and it was stunning.
The service was exceptional and the food was all cooked by a Michelin starred chef and his team.
Honestly, I had the best time.

I understand why people like them. They are good value compared to other holidays, they are easy and unchallenging holidays where you unpack once and don’t have to manage transfers etc. They have kids clubs and entertainment.

They are really popular for families where I live (Australia) because they are really the only type of AI holiday on offer. But we have huge seas and our kids can get seasick stepping over a puddle so never in a million years would I consider it. Seasickness is incredibly common on cruises here but sailing from Australia to NZ is a completely different situation compared to sailing around the Mediterranean.

When DH and I are retired I might consider a cruise where you sail close to scenery and wildlife like Alaska but zero interest in being trapped in a giant floating hotel in the middle of the ocean eating from a buffet.

You are still stuck on a floating petri dish...