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?

@Curlygirl06 thank you so much!

I've been on three cruises, one a week, two long weekends.
None did I swim on
None did loud music
I did drink alcohol but as I had my kids with me not a lot.
I went because it was a nice no fly visit to another country and no worry about food. We went to Norway first and we picked some great excursions (weather not good - August is well into their Autumn)! I feel I really found out a lot about the country and its people. We weren't on the cruise to be 'entertained' as such.

Yes. We had a great time. We actually went to the Falklands, South Gerogia and Antarctica, with Hurtigruten.

Do you have good sea legs? Our Drake Passage was very rough for 24 hours and we had some 10m + waves. Some other parts of our trip were reasonably choppy but Antarctica itself was like glass. I don't get seasick but didn't know that until I was there. I did stock up on some dramamine (purchased in Spain) - they have a non drowsy option which I recommend.

No particular tips, but make sure you budget for optional excursions - you probably will want to do them. You'll get hotter than you think on your shore excursions, so thin layers are better. Camera batteries die a lot quicker in the cold, so take spares. Otherwise, just enjoy yourself and the lovely wildlife. We went later in the season than you - you should see some wonderful ice structures.

Get the most expensive cabin you afford, with a good window/balcony if possible.

I don't drink. I don't swim. I don't like loud music things. I absolutely love my cruises. Great safe way to travel solo. Good food. As much, or as little, company as I want. Lots of different destinations to explore, either alone where I feel safe, or part of a tour if I don't. And no repacking when you change city. Entertainment if I want it. Classical music: pianist, string quartet, harpist. Civilised afternoon tea. The chance to put on a face of slap and prat about in a posh frock. Reasonable library, communal jigsaw table. Promenade deck for admiring the sea passing by, whether from a gentle stroll, or reclining in a steamer chair with a good book. And most importantly, if anything goes wrong, it is someone else's job to bloody sort it out, not mine. Amazing.

Well imagine you book a week in a place you really fancy and then when you get there you hate it, you would be very annoyed at the waste of money.
With a cruise you get a ‘taste’ of a place and if you do like it you can go back another time for a longer period. If it’s just okay you know not to go again for a week.

Reading this thread has nearly changed my mind about cruises! The only thing putting me off is getting seasick, I live on an island off mainland UK so getting the boat is an expensive ordeal if you want to go anywhere. The thought of doing it for a holiday is just alien to me! Do the boats rock loads in bad weather?

@Tr1skel1on I'll answer this!

I feel seasick on a car ferry to France every time, not actually sick but feeling very green around the gills, so I did worry about this. I got some sea sickness tablets, my friend gave me a wristband that is supposed to work with acupressure points and some herbal plaster things from Amazon, bit like nicotine patches. Belt and braces approach!
I took some tablets before we sailed, wore the plaster things and the wristband thing and I was fine. To be fair the boat is huge so there's not much movement and the sea was quite calm. After a day or so I stopped with the pills but carried on with the plaster things.
At one stage there was a lot of swell and a lot of people felt really ill. A couple we got friendly with, he was fine, she wasn't and they'd been on loads of cruises before without a problem. I gave her some of my pills and plasters as I didn't need them which she found helped.

Thank you Curlygirl06 . That's interesting

I went on Ambassador in October, it wasn’t the best experience to be honest, I personally think they’ve taken ‘cheap and cheerful’ a bit too far down into ‘cheap and nasty’ food wise.
Plus I was very disappointed with my cabin, ‘accessible’ my arse. The staff absolutely refused to resolve it as well. I won’t be using them again. Back to P&O and NCL for me!

I like an inside cabin, excellent value and for me it’s just a sleeping space, I’m on my own, I don’t want to hang out in the cabin.

@SiliconHeaven me too. I love a dark room for sleeping. I'd rather use the money on other things.

Loved the planetarium.

Cruises are my idea of hell, but I can completely understand why other people enjoy them. People like different things.

Could you PLS tell me what the point is of quoting the OP when you’re literally the first person to comment? It just causes unnecessary scrolling for the rest of us. Surely we all know what post you’re responding too as you were the first one here?

Someone might have got in there while you were typing! There you go...another one to scroll past!

For Antarctica? Having a balcony was priceless for us. Meant we could roll out of bed, take photos, take in the scenery. I quite liked penguin/whale watching with a cuppa and then being able to scoot straight back inside when I got too cold

I like
seeing different places but unpacking once and travelling while you have dinner and sleep

fun things to do on the ship - ice skating/shows/waterslides/table tennis/golf/dance classes/talks/spa/gym etc

nice food (assuming it is nice but it is unlimited and there is usually something good)

a cocktail for sailaway - feeling like you are going on an adventure

looking at the sea

everyone can do different things that they fancy or nothing if they don’t want to

Thank you @JustWhatWeDontNeed!

I have ordered the Drake Lake rather than the Drake Shake - but we'll see! I'll get some dramamine - I'd rather be over-prepared. Thanks for the tip.

We're in a cabin with balcony which I know I will love - whilst DH is in the gym for the thousandth time, I'll be reading on the balcony with my hot chocolate. We're going to the Falklands as well, although sadly not South Georgia - would have liked to see the Emperor penguins.

We start in Rio and end on Buenos Aires so quite a long trip, but I'm looking forward to having so much downtime. I think we'll be too early for the baby penguin chicks, but you can't have it all!

I went up to the arctic circle on Aurora (P&O) in November, pre Covid, and it was -30° at some points. I wrapped up in my cabin and went up on deck looking for Northern lights in the middle of the night. Definitely no need for a balcony!
it’s worth mentioning for the cruise-haters that think cruises are for old people, that the cold cruises to the arctic and Antarctic are a very much younger crowd 😃