To wonder why everyone raves about cruises?

Fred Olsen's small ship Balmoral is nice - 1325 passengers, and its size means it can go to places the floating appartment blocks can't. I've been on it, cruising the Seine and docking at Rouen. Super trip, lovely scenery.

It is not for me. I do get the attraction of being well fed, and also only having to unpack and pack a suitcase once on holiday. One of my late aunts loved cruises and a work colleague does too.

Think about it. 2000+ people on a cruise is like a village on one boat.

Never had the runs that I’m aware of but I have IBS so may not realise! I’m manic about hand sanitation and washing my hands.

Have been on over 10 cruises and only had covid once. Was confined to my cabin but dh allowed to wonder the ship after testing negative. I’ve also had pneumonia after and that has left me with a heap of issues.

Not stopped me though, on my next cruise in June. last one was in October. Can’t decide about next year yet :))

Absolutely. The thought of going on a ship that size makes me feel ill. The biggest one I’ve been on was the P&O Ventura which was 3000 passengers and that was too much for me.

Been on a dozen cruises. Not got the shits yet. Sounds like no one was washing their hands on the one you went on. They are really strict these days about sanitising your hands before you go to the buffet or dining room, especially since Covid.

I have a friend who regularly does cruises as a wheelchair user. I’m considering one myself having recently become a WC user, the fjords sounds amazing!

I went on one in my early 20s with my family. Hated it. I love to be in peace and nature. This was anything but. Not a fan of organised fun and I didn’t like the itineraries being so strict (which obvs they have to be). Would rather have been able to stay in certain locations longer for example or go off the beaten track. Never again.

Went on one once, loads of people came down with The Shits.
You have heard of Snakes on a Plane? This was Shits of a Ship.
Blocked toilets. Code Brown in the pool. Unexpected log in the buffet area.
There was no escaping The Shits.
Husband farted in his sleep, pebble dashed the curtains.
Methane Mayhem.
Faecal Fright.
What shall we do with the shitting sailor, E-coli in the morning.

Neighbour warned us not to go after they got the Ship Shits a few years before and we thought we would be extra careful with handwashing etc. Didn’t work.
Never ever again.
It made the news. Laughed at at work. Shit shamed.

To answer @malificent7 question. Why not give it a try for a couple of days - if you go onto cruise critic or the seascanner websites you can get a 2 nights for less than £120 (that is without drinks package, but often worth adding on, we did for every trip), coupled with some cheap flights to and from the embarkation and debarkation port and a couple of days stay either side, it can be a really good value holiday and low risk if you think it might not be for you. I swore I would never go on one, but I've been on 4 x 2 or 3 day trips in the past year, 3 with MSC and one with Costa, and although I am still not completely sold on it, I'll probably do it again. Good points: the food was great, the cabins are small but nice enough (balcony is worth it, in my view) embarkation can be great or really poor (Marseille is dreadful), feels great to have a cocktail as you are sailing out of port etc. Bad points: 2 of my 4 had rough seas for a few hours (and this is in the med in April) , not enough to make me ill, but it got other people bad. Also other people in general, if you do not like people, do not go on a ship with 3000 of them...most of the time you can keep yourself to yourself, but breakfast particularly is quite overwhelming if you go at the popular time. HTH x

I really enjoy the entertainment in the evenings. I like waking up in a new place most days and there is so much choice of food it would be impossible not to find something you'd enjoy at every meal time. I also like the fact DH can't get work calls as poor reception on phone.

Yes. Size matters with cruising. I've been on the MSC Euribia (over 6,000 passengers, albeit slightly fewer than the Worlds Europa.) Way too many people.

All those saying that you have to rush to be back on the ship at a certain time, that is certainly true of a day’s call. However a lot of cruises do late port departures or overnight calls which give you more time. We have had an overnight call in Amsterdam for instance and a couple of years ago we did a month’s cruise with P&O to Canada and the USA. We had an overnight stop in Boston which was brilliant and were also moored in for 2 nights in New York. We docked early morning and had to be back onboard by 4pm on the third day which meant we had effectively 3 days in NY. It was fabulous, gave plenty of time for sightseeing and exploring without the hassle of flight, finding a hotel etc.

As I’ve said before, each to their own, but personally I think cruising is a fantastic holiday. Just research the cruise line and the ship and pick an itinerary that suits.

The most important website if you want to see what cruise ships are in a certain place https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/funchal-port-741. Done Funchal as my parents are there for two weeks. Actually one docks on Saturday and goes the following evening so you could do more in Funchal if done a bit of research

The cruise ship I remember seeing in Valletta was the MSC World Europa. It’s just far too big. It’s the one that was a floating hotel in the World Cup in Qatar. https://www.msccruises.co.uk/cruises/ships/msc-world-europa

YANBU

Was that the one based on a Virgin ship, @purser25?

It looked like my idea of hell with it's complement of right on staff, but each to their own

On one of the Tv programmes about cruises there was one that looked very noisy a bit like club 18 30 but all ages I wish I could remember what it was because I know it wouldn’t be me.

To some people, whether a cruise line has a casino (with slot machines) is an important discriminator.

I like Gary Bembridge's cruise review videos and was curious why he didn't seem that keen on Fred Olsen, who I like very much. (They're Norwegian run but have a very English vibe.) Apparently it's because they don't have a casino and he likes 'a little flutter' when he cruises. Always worth checking.

Hurtigruten are great too and they don't have casinos.

I generally prefer hotels but we’ve done a few cruises and the pros:
Sea views
Seeing a few different places, even if it’s just the major attractions
The food is decent
No flying was nice
The pool parties are really good- P&O sailaway party was really fun

Cons
Tiny cabins. With kids there might be a bed that comes down from the ceiling!
The pools are a bit basic. My kids prefer a big pool with slides and stuff.

I think there are in P and O but only in the casinos which are pretty easily avoided.

one of the reasons ds likes cruises so much is how easy it is to find somewhere quiet.

No slot machines on the ones I’ve been on.

I detest cruise ships. I live in a holiday destination where cruise ships docs. They pollute, block my view and masses of people roll into town at the same time. It’s a nightmare for the local population. Cruise ships dump their waste and people on us and I wish them banned personally.

I’ve never been on a cruise and it doesn’t appeal as a holiday (unless someone else is paying!) but I love Emma Cruises on YouTube as relaxing videos, she does different lines etc.

I didn't find it all noisy or stressful. There were some slot machines but they were in a small area you didn't have to go into.

The P&O ond I went on had some adult only areas including an adult only pool, so they were quieter. And one of the bars was like a jazz cocktail bar which was pretty quiet.

You go have to get back to the boat by a certain time but that's the pay off for being able to go to several places on and holiday without repacking every day. The people you spoke were obviously idiots and hadn't done their research. If you want to go and see a very busy tourist attraction with queues, you don't do it as part of a cruise!