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.

Cruises are just one type of holiday that we love.
We've travelled a lot , not just on cruises and been to over 40 different countries, some many times, also back packed half way round the world and did clubbing holidays in our 20's, been to Luxury 5* AI resorts, city breaks, multi-centre holidays, road trips and lived abroad.
DC still vote Cruises the best holidays ever.

I have done a fair amount of adventurous travel: Nepal, India, Vietnam and others. However last year I decided to try a RC Baltic cruise for the first time. DS absolutely loved the teenagers club and ex-DH and I enjoyed the shore excursions and definitely learnt as much as we could about all the places we visited. St Petersburg was amazing and not having to organise our own Russian visa was a plus.

We never sat to eat with other people and there was enough choice to eat different things every day. The service was good and everywhere was impeccably clean.

In conclusion, I had a good time (in spite of being on the verge of separation from DH) and I would not rule out going on another cruise at some point.

Persuaded by my oh to go on a cruise many years ago. I spent most of the 5 days on the QE2 puking or being bored out of my mind. It was like a luxury 60s holiday camp. I hate shows and gambling, bingo is my worse nightmare, add to that I don't drink and you can't go and do anything because you are stuck on a ship and I was fit for leaving him in Portugal and getting a plane back.

I suppose it depends on what you like to do on holiday. I love sea days - usually spend them in the spa, reading in the sun, swimming, in the gym, drinking Prosecco. Although there is entertainment if wanted (dance classes, quizzes etc) that's not really my sort of thing, and is very easily avoided, the entertainment isn't compulsory!

Just got an email about a small cruise ship around the Svalbaldi Achipelgo looking at polar bears. Entertainment is lectures about the wildlife. Looks amazing, but can't currently afford it.

Until 2 years ago I thought the cruise ships in my home city just looked like floating multi-storey car parks, then I booked a short break to give into DD 's nagging. I disliked the style of the ship and there was a real stag/hen do booze cruise vibe to the trip, but DR had a whale of a time. I tried another company for another short break and felt much more comfortable, so now I'm off on a longer trip in a few weeks.

I'm terrified of flying and the fact that I only have a 10 minute drive to get to the cruise terminal with unlimited luggage, can take my own wine on board and can sit on my balcony with a big stack of books appeals. I do the odd quiz, can visit new places and can spend time with my teenager while she still wants to be with me, so it appeals. Meanwhile DH loathes the idea and enjoys a week at home by himself.

Not read through entire thread but as an Emetephobe I would be too frightened of Norovirus.

That's what puts me off

I've been on three cruises (2009, 2010 and 2012) with Princess and P&O. I definitely thought P&O had the edge. What I liked was being able to see a number of different places in a short space of time without having to unpack and repack a suitcase. The downside was when you berthed in a relatively small place and you were surrounded by several hundred other Brits. However, we have since revisited some places first seen on a cruise but this time under our own steam. The social/entertainment side of it did not float my boat, pardon the pun but it's not something I would necessarily seek out whilst on holiday in any case.

Different strokes for different folks hey...but an £80 cruise doesn't sound like a proper cruise to me; it sounds more like a ferry. A 3 day cruise is usually a booze cruise so not typical of a 7 day + experience. Remember, not all cruises are created equally. Different cruise lines, ships and itineraries attract different passenger mixes and elicit a different 'vibe'. If you want to try a cruise there are plenty of YouTube videos and reviews showing what you can expect of each ship.

We love the value for money you get with a cruise, especially now as a young family. We've travelled on many lines and always have a fabulous time. We enjoy meeting people and crew, but if you don't want to interact with others then that's easy to do as there are plenty of quiet places on even the largest ships. On our next cruise to the Norwegian Fjords, we have free babysitting until 2am which means we can have a well earned night out or two! What other holiday offers this for a young family for less than £1500 for a week? I can't find any. When you factor in food, petrol and activities, you can't holiday in Centre Parcs for that sort of price over half-term. I just think cruises are fantastic value for families.

There are so many stereotypes trotted out about people who go on cruises it's untrue. Cruises can be enjoyed by everyone - young and old; fun-loving gregarious types and the anti-social types! There are many different options out there. If the ship is large enough and you avoid the Bay of Biscay, it's unlikely you'll get seasick.

Funnily enough, we actually dislike staying in hotels/ holiday resorts as we get bored and enjoy real culture and natural scenery. We're in our thirties, have a young child and are very adventurous independent travellers (usually stay in hostels/ b&bs). We like cruises because they allow you to visit lots of interesting places independently. We can visit places we couldn't afford to holiday in such as Norway - we plan to hike to waterfalls and in the mountains and enjoy all the amazing scenery. We'd never be able to do that without visiting by ship as the hotel and hospitality costs are prohibitively expensive (but we always spend money while in port so don't feel as those we're not putting money into local economy).

Anyway, basically don't knock it until you've tried it. It could be the perfect holiday for you and not what you expect it to be. Many lines host ship visits (such as P&O) for small fees - you get to enjoy a day out and see if it's the sort of holiday for you and you aren't pressured into booking on the day.

DP and I keep thinking of going on a cruise but I think we've now changed our minds because getting what we want probably doesn't exist or would be stupidly expensive, certainly well above the sort of price mentioned by bluebell plus we like a drink or two on holiday and the prices charged by cruise ships are extortionate.

We would want to go to the Canaries or Mediterranean for no more than a week and would want to eat in a restaurant that served food outside but not from a buffet for lunch or dinner and the restaurant wouldn't have a dress code as having to wear long trousers in hot weather is a deal breaker for dp and I would prefer a balcony which pushes the cost up enormously.

There are lots of cruise companies that 'sale' cabins so its always worth looking barbara...
Who are you doing that cruise with bluebell? My son is keen to do it for a big birthday :)

I love em and I'm just into my 30s, DH and I are tee total so they work for us, there is always something to do and we get to see a lot of sights and major landmarks in one holiday without having to mission it around.
I don't like staying in one place, I'd get bored after a few day's.

There are ways of finding cheap cruises Barbara if you shop around, and if you are not restricted by school holidays. For instance, DH and I are going on a 7 day cruise to Croatia and Greece this October for £300 per person, including all drinks (a bargain when you think how much a single drink on a cruise is). Admittedly that is for an inside cabin, but it wasn't too much more for a balcony.

There is no dress code, there are non-buffet restaurants for available for breakfast , lunch and dinner. The only thing I'm not sure about yet from your list is whether you can eat outside if it's not a buffet. I would think probably not, although you can always order room service and sit on your balcony to eat if you have one.

It's just a case of keeping an eye on prices and booking when they are low. I can't wait!

We've never fancied them, partly because if we're talking warm sea areas, we like being in it, not on it. Used to sit on a favourite beach during early mornings and early evenings - best times to us, and see these massive cruise ships going in or out, and think they were missing the best times on a lovely island.

Having said that, each to their own. I have relatives who enjoy them, though perhaps not the most mass market ones, for winter sun and for seeing several,places without the faff of packing/unpacking and pesky airports. Also for the likes of Baltic cruises, lots of cities without all the faff.

I had a colleague who was a great fan of the cheaper kind of cruise going out of Miami. But she freely admitted that a lot of the passengers were very fat Americans who just wanted to eat all day and dress up to the nines and party all night, many not interested in getting off the ship to see anything.
She was not precisely a sylph herself and enjoyed feeling relatively slim by comparison.

That sounds brilliant budgie - certainly the sort of thing we would consider and very helpful - which company was this?

Certainly sounds like a bargain and much cheaper than prices I have seen advertised up to now, which have been more like £1k+ per person per week, way above what we normally pay for a holiday.

We aren't tied to school holidays and are currently thinking about booking something for September or October and need to get our skates on as it was on the news yesterday that availability around Spain/Canaries etc for this time is starting to look low, and prices high because of fewer people going to Turkey and Egypt.

budgie, how do you keep an eye on prices? Do you subscribe to the newsletters of the various cruise lines, or is there a kind of central clearing website? For flights I'd look at skyscanner, but I wouldn't know where to start for cruises.

It's with Norwegian Barbara, on the Norwegian Jade. It won't be high end, but we've sailed with norwegian before and found it to be perfectly ok for what we need - it's all quite laid back, and a glass of included Prosecco goes a long way to smoothing over any minor issues.

Try searching around any online cruise companies, as their prices tend to be a bit cheaper than booking direct with the cruise company. If you sign up, most will send emails with the latest offers.

That's the ship I'm signed up with for this summer, budgie - good to her that it fits the bill. I did book directly with the company, which might have been a mistake, but not sure I want to find out that I over-paid...

We used a company called Vivavoyage, it's easy to search by month, destination, price etc and they will show all the cruises that fit your criteria, along with the price and offers such as drinks or spending money.

The only thing to be careful of is that many cruise lines add a daily service charge ( tipping), which isn't shown in the price, so you need to factor that in. For instance, I thinks it's $13 per person per day on Norwegian.

That's the ship I'm signed up with for this summer, budgie - good to her that it fits the bill. I did book directly with the company, which might have been a mistake, but not sure I want to find out that I over-paid...

You'll have to let me know what the ship is like, Bibliomania, we've only sailed on larger Norwegian ships, and I'm look in forward to trying a smaller one. Hope you have a wonderful time!

It's not usually very much more to book direct, but never a good idea to go back and check prices after you've booked (although I usually can't help myself!)

Thanks budgie, I'm very excited! And will note vivavoyage for future reference in case I do get hooked...

Can I recommend a pretty good cruise site: www.cruise.co.uk

Granted it's a commercial thing, but they also have excellent review and Q&A sections - there's a great forum too with a very friendly bunch of members, all of which are great resources for anyone planning a cruise

Cruise haters would doubly despise me I imagine; we go on DISNEY cruises!

And we love every minute!

Thanks for the resource, Puzzled. That's probably my dd's dream come true, Nicki!

They're magical for children. The attention to detail is amazing. It's little things like you'll be walking down a corridor and Cinderella will come out of a side door and she acts like she lives there and is just on her way somewhere. Dd was . Brought a tear to my eye.