Why do people like cruises?

[rubyredknowsitall]

I'm sure it's partly personal for me as:

1. I can't swim well (I swim in the sea where I live a little but I'd hate to swim in a pool or lounge by it)
2. I don't drink alcohol
3. I don't like noisy music things

That's my image of cruise ships plus some excursions - like a fancy Haven holiday camp (although I loved haven as a kid!!!)

Is my image totally off?

We’ve been on 9 cruises, never been in any of the pools, do love the entertainment, food and waking up somewhere different each day. After the first one, we weren’t sure about booking another, so booked a beach package holiday, but we’re so bored just sitting by the beach and hotel had very limited entertainment. We also love going from Southampton so no flying for us, which we’ve begun to hate with all the waiting around.

I have absolutely zero desire to ever go on a cruise, but I do understand that for (much) older people they are an easier way to travel.
But being stuck with so many people, being "entertained", on an ugly, floating multi storey car park is not for me.
Guess we're all different though...

Is it really easy, though? I’ve never been on a cruise, but there always sounds like a lot of queueing to get on/off the ship, and an absolutely strict deadline for returning from time spent off the ship on pain of being left behind, and some posts I’ve seen on here seem to suggest lots of bookings for specific on-ship restaurants etc are necessary, and also pre-booking research about cabin locations, alcohol packages with staff tips etc etc.

We went on a Caribbean cruise several years ago with P&O and really enjoyed it.

Multiple swimming pools including an adult only one so if you wanted to avoid the noise, you can.

I didn't find the schedule to be short or rigid at all, we managed to spend plenty of time in each new place.

The food was amazing and drinking alcohol certainly wasn't necessary.

Not for everyone but we loved it.

We went on a Danube river cruise several years ago and had a great time. The scenery was beautiful, the food was fine, loved visiting Vienna and Budapest. Lots of older people who were lovely to talk to and more than willing to share their dining table or lounge area.

I suppose it depends how you normally arrange holidays. For our more 'normal' trips I book everything independently - hotels, flights, car hire, routes, activities - our recent six week trip to Australia and New Zealand was a full time job! I love it though, and having recently retired, have the time to do it. If it's normally a case of speaking to an agent and booking their package, it's probably pretty much the same in terms of ease.

Rather than go on the excursions planned by the cruise line, we often book an independent trip, so can leave at a different time to the official ones, thus minimising the queuing. Having said that, if there are only 600 passenger, the queuing is really not significant.

I would never try and persuade people to cruise - for some like my DB and SIL it would be torture - but it doesn't have to be a floating multi-storey carpark! Smaller ships are available. I've never used a swimming pool either!

@Curlygirl06 do you mins sharing which cruise line & itinerary? I know some Fjords cruises don’t really get all the way in to the decent scenery but yours sounds fab.

Also, is there plenty to do on sea days? With it being a colder climate I guess the outside stuff is a bit of a write-off. Thanks!

OP the things we love about cruises are the ability to board from Southampton, beats flights with young children. And the ability to see lots of places as a bit of a taster, then you can do back at your own pace if you visit somewhere you really like.

We did a day trip to Florence on our last cruise which I thought I’d love, but I was happy that we’d seen everything we wanted to see on our visit and I have no plans to return. Saves me forking out for a weekend in Florence that I wouldn’t enjoy as much as I thought I would. On the other hand, we also visited Corsica which we loved & plan to go back to one day.

I swim but otherwise same as you, but we don’t tend to go on hot cruises any way. We pick cruises that have lots of port stops and exciting itineraries and very few sea days!

We do dress up for formal night but generally just enjoy a 3 course meal in the main restaurant and then maybe a drink or two in a quieter bar or lounge (of which there are many!). A typical sea day for us is gym/run/sport activity first thing, followed by later breakfast/brunch. Then we take our books to a quiet spot for the rest of the afternoon and have an early dinner and early night. They are quieter days for us. We tend to only pick cruises with 1 max 2 sea days per week so have plenty of port days when we are up and off the ship as soon as it docks and stay on shore exploring as long as we possibly can. Quite often will have casual dinner in the buffet on these days.

We have done some amazing trips to Alaska, Norway, Greek Islands and seen a vast amount of places in a week for a fraction of the price it would cost us to do on land, especially when you factor in that all the food is included! We don’t drink so generally don’t pay for most of the extras on the ship. Basically we pick a part of the world we want to explore and always consider whether a cruise or over land would be the best way to see it.

I really worry about the safety aspect. I just see an accident waiting to happen.

I love a cruise. I've used them to go to places which have awkward visa requirements (often you can go on a tour and you're on the ship's visa, as it were).
Food has always been great. I don't swim in the pools and I don't like the entertainment generally. But a cocktail as the sun goes down, looking at a beautiful vista, knowing you're on your way to somewhere awesome...

I have to say that we always said we'd be scared to take young DC on a ship - but people do and there are few accidents I've read about. The H & S aspect is something that most of the cruise lines take extremely seriously - except the owners of Costa Concordia!

I’ve been on 2, 1 with kids and 1 without and just booked our third. The first time we went (childless, on our honeymoon) the ship had a nightclub on board but was quite small. The pools weren’t too busy but we didn’t really bother with them, we just sat in deck reading and having a few drinks. We didn’t do any excursions, just got off the boat and walked around wherever we were for a few hours.

The last one was with P&O to the Norwegian fjords and I loved it again. Quieter ship (no night club) but still plenty to do. After dinner, where we’re always sat at own own table you didn’t have to share with strangers, we would sit in one of the bars and watch some entertainment or chat and we didn’t bother to dress up for the formal night. The kids loved the activities and that gave us a few hours a day to ourselves as well. There was a library on board and plenty of the bars were actually pretty quiet with low or no music, but there were more lively ones as well. We swam most days because of the kids but even if we hadn’t we wouldn’t have been board.

2 weeks all inclusive in Majorca is my idea of absolute hell and having priced up AI holidays before booking out cruise would have cost more as well. You could be stuck miles from anywhere in a resort you can’t easily leave to go exploring and airports are a living nightmare. On our last cruise we went from Southampton, a long drive from Scotland I’ll admit but we arrived, handed our car over to the parking staff who helped us unload, dumped our bags for boarding and were on the ship and in our cabin within 20 minutes. Give me the 8 hour drive over 2 days vs an airport anytime!

I’ve been all over the world on cruise ships. Places I’d never normally have visited like Russia, China, SE Asia, Japan, Patagonia, the Chilean Fjords, Alaska and right up into the Arctic Circle. We often tag on a land trip before and after. We’re off to Svalbard soon to see polar bears.
Why people think they are all floating holiday camps escapes me. Some maybe but there are ships to suit everyone and activities to suit everyone.
We enjoy smaller ships, but have been on all sizes, and there really is something for everyone. Great for families with differing needs.
And yes, a cocktail gazing out at the sun setting over the sea on your way to see somewhere new is like nothing else.

I like the idea of the smaller cruises - fjords/arctic etc. the huge ones don't appeal.
I did one around the whitsundsys in a yacht that was fabulous!

Jealous of the Whisundays yacht @Pieceofpurplesky . We had that booked and had to cancel because of Covid. Worth rebooking for our trip next year then?

It’s never appealed to me but I totally get why people like them. Especially as you get older, when travel becomes harder to navigate, all the stress is taken away. Someone else plans your day, sets you down, picks you up, feeds you and takes care of you. I get it!

I did actually save a small dc from drowning on one years ago. His parents were distracted!

I always do my own off ship trips. I always have though even when young in other holidays. I have tried organised ones but felt like cattle.

I've never been on a cruise but I'd love to go on one. On holiday...I could stay in the hotel all day...buffet breakfast, sit by pool, lunch in pool bar, more pool, have a nap, have dinner, sit in bar and watch entertainment. I assume a cruise I could do similar and watch the world go by

@Vroomfondleswaistcoat could you provide a link please or the name of the channel this is? Thank you

Yes and there's often activities to do. Crafts etc.

Cruise ships are like hotels, they're not all the same and not every ship will suit everyone! I've been on lots of cruises, and it's a great way to see and experience new places. One of my best holidays was a river cruise in Vietnam. The big cruise ships aren't for me but lots of people love them and they have great facilities for families.

I went on a cruise in the Caribbean last month. Small ship with around 600 passengers. Excellent food, champagne on tap and swimming at a different Caribbean beach every day. What's not to like!

I loved Cruise & Maritime too. The Marco Polo was scrapped, so sad.

I don't get it at all
Why go so many places if you aren't going to actually visit them

I have an aunt that says I have been to A,B,C,D,E,F,G etc... because she goes on cruises and stops a day in each.
NO YOU HAVEN'T. you literally got off the boat and back on.