To not like ocean cruises

[Moanranger]

Well, I have spent some considerable time hearing people rave about cruises, lots of rather braggy Facebook posts, etc. I never saw the point. The antithesis of how I like to travel - simply & really dig down & get to know people & places. So Iwas finally persuaded to go on a short, bargain cruise -3 days, £80 going from Dover to Copenhagen to Rostock.
Well, it wasn't as bad as Ithought it would be - the ship absorbed the many passengers pretty well; I couldn't fault the service or quality, but I don't get it, really. I was quite bored, and the shore stops are too short to get any meaningful insight into local culture. I suppose if you like cheesy entertainment, Bingo, gambling, serious over-eating & a very artificial atmosphere, it's heaven.
Doubtless I will be flamed.

You wouldn't find me on board one of those large cruise ships with bingo and disco and pool parties and thousands of passengers. My idea of horror. However I have been on Hurtigruten voyages several times now and they are heaven. I love being at sea, observing birds and whales, simply watching sunrises and sunsets. I am utterly fascinated by the polar regions. And the beauty of the Norway voyages is that they are working vessels - cargo and passengers joining or leaving at every stop. A fabulous way to see the country.

I did a cruise across the Atlantic calling at Barcelona, the Azores, the Bahamas, ending in Miami.

It was utterly and completely fabulous there's no other way I would ever get to cross the Atlantic by boat and that was the thing I loved the most about it. Sitting on my balcony watching sunsets and sunrises over the Atlantic every day. Magical.

My parents really enjoy cruising. My mum has limited mobility so cruising means she can visit lots of places without worry. Plus she is a bit of a fussy eater so the variety on the ship suits her.
Op it sounds like cruising is not for you but surely you can see that it would be a great holiday for some people? We went on a cruise with my parents once, it was nice although not really our thing. We enjoyed the swimming pools and some of the activities on offer (climbing wall, ice skating) and used the gym and spa. We weren't keen on the formal sit down meals so ate in the buffet most of the time. I don't think we would cruise again but I can see why lots of people, especially the older generation, love it.

Me too sparkling so I made it clear on the first night that wasn't what we wanted so we got a table for three (me and kids)and the only socialising we had to do was any we sought out, which we didn't

I just couldn't put up with being with so many people I don't think.

Definitely would not be my choice of holiday.

And I hate the way huge cruise ships dominate the harbour and the view. Venice is being wrecked by massive cruise ships, I don't know why they allow it.

And one of the nice, lowish key, places I have visited is having it's modest harbour ripped out (ruining the seafront and beaches for 2 years during the build) to accommodate big cruise ships. which will loom over the town.

They're not for me either but it's OK to not like things.

OP, my first cruise was a four day one to the Bahamas islands out of Miami. I thought I'd be bored, but got hooked instead. A year later I had first baby, a year after that the second baby and a year after that we took them on their first of many cruises.

The kids clubs on some ships are excellent and my two have many happy memories of their time in them.

Also, you don't have to be sociable, I'm not, and you can please yourself when you eat, sleep, exercise or socialise when on the ship. Most days you stop at a different port and we usually research the ports and plan our day out there ourselves. Ships do have organised trips too but these can be expensive.

Now our kids are grown up we book ourselves balconies (with the family it was insides as cheaper) and I love sitting outside with a pot of tea from room service particularly if visiting the Fjords and Iceland. I love watching the sea, it's mesmerising.

A three day cruise like you describe, OP, sounds like a different experience to the long ones we usually do but, as has been said, they're not for everyone.

Hydroshield talks sense. I too have been on Seabourn and it was the most fantastic experience imaginable - small ships, everything included, spacious suites for everyone, lovely other passengers and truly wonderful staff. You get what you pay for certainly but as Hydro says, no cheap bargain to be had, they are the ultimate in cruises and you pay for that experience.

I wouldn't contemplate a huge ship with thousands of passengers, so that rules out most of the cruise lines for me. I love being at sea, I love being able to wake up in a different country and I've been to the most wonderful places only possible to see on a cruise.

There's some dreadful generalisations on here about people who go on cruises! I wouldn't dream of ever talking anyone into going on a cruise. Their one experience could be awful because of the ship/cruise line they chose and they would hate cruises forever. It's like saying "I don't like hotels". It depends on the hotel, much like it depends on the ship as to what experience you have.

Yes Oyster I also have camping on my list of things not to do but people love camping.

"And I hate the way huge cruise ships dominate the harbour and the view. Venice is being wrecked by massive cruise ships, I don't know why they allow it."

Well the local retailers and restaurateurs certainly don't mind the revenue that the cruise ships bring in. In Madeira they told me the cruise ships make a huge difference to the local economy.

My Mum and Dad were on holiday once in a place where big cruise ships docked. They were lying on sunloungers round the pool. Once the ship docked the hotel staff offered them money to get off the sun loungers for the people on the cruise.

I only like camping when someone else is setting everything up and putting it all away again after.

We went on a 3 day cruise with friends, it was awful. We have also went on a small cruise ship to Antarctica and down the Yangtze River, both of these trips were amazing. The Chinese cruise was full of Chinese people. Some places have to be visited by boat.

I would like camping if I could go to a hotel for the sleeping bit.

My friend goes on a cruise every year with her wheelchair using mum. It would be very stressful for them to holiday any other way as her mum is very disabled. Cruise ships can be brilliant if you are disabled.

Many interesting points of view here. I didn't absolutely loathe it but I couldn't see why so many people raved about them. And I am talking about the mass market cruises. I didn't expect to be so bored, though. I can see the point about disabled, very elderly, nervous about foreign food. Also if you wanted to see a specific area. I understand some cruises like those have very informative speakers as part of the programme. But obviously not on a mass market cruise.
I would have loved to go to the Galapagos on one of those high end, scientific cruises, but could not afford it, so I went with Exodus, which was mixed: OK in parts.

Sparkling me too! I think I would really enjoy camping if it wasn't for the sleeping in a tent and not having a bathroom bit.

Cleaty fellow Antarctica traveller here. It was the trip of a lifetime for me. (I was invited though. Wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise. 10k+ per person including flights from Europe (economy), excursions, hotel stay in Argentina etc. Utterly unaffordable for most people, including myself.) Antarctica is one of those places you can only visit by boat unless you are filthy rich or work for the BBC on Frozen Planet.

Awake I would emerge from my hotel room showered with slap on and hair done and cook everyone a slap up breakfast on the gas stove no problem.

We do transatlantic on Cunard and really love it. We do it with family who have ranged from 18 months up to my parents in their 60s and every member of the family enjoys it. The ships aren't kitted out with all the ice rinks and glitter of Royal Caribbean etc but there's plenty for everyone to do and we're all keen to sign up again the following year. It's what you make of it.

A cruise would be my idea of the inner circle of hell, but I totally understand why other people love them. As a pp said there are lots of different themes, some focus on culture and history, and some are just pure sun-seeking hedonism, or a jolly time with lots of other people (shudder).

I do think some of the ships are scarily big though, and I believe that sometimes the onboard security is not all it could be. One poor girl disappeared from the cruise liner she was working on in the Caribbean, and they have never found out what happened to her.

There are quite a few thing I would like to do just to see what it's like but just for a short time with an easy means of returning home immediately if I hated it.

We nearly always travel independently and tour around. I suspect though when we are old and decrepit, that we will go on cruises. There is a reason that even now, those who go on cruises tend to be older. If you have health problems, cruises are much easier, and there is plenty of opportunity to rest. It means some people can travel abroad, who would never enjoy it any other way.

My idea of hell, I suffer with sea sickness really badly and would not be able to take advantage of the food etc.
I like, when I travel, to see the changing landscapes, buildings etc I cannot see anything very inspiring about looking out at just water as far as the eye can see.

I feel rather embarrassed about this; coming from a family that is madly enthusiastic about seafaring I feel this is something I ought to enjoy, but in actual fact I can't imagine anything more boring.

I think it's the inactivity and the fact that the whole programme is chosen by others: I want to have more input and be able to change my plans. Pottering around islands in a dingy- yes. Watching the sun set from a coastal path I have just walked along- definitely. Being taken around islands on a schedule chosen by a cruise company- far less appealing.