Do you get jealous of people who go on cruises

[Sportslady44]

Feeling very envious today. Friend is about to set off on a cruise for 14nights.

Cant stop thinking about it and them.

Can you put me off please?

Tell me some downsides of cruises.

Extremely damaging environmentally.
Very expensive - I presume.

No means of escape!

Anything with an itinerary (beyond flight times) is off the cards for me. It sounds like a school trip dressed up as ‘fun’. And I spend enough time on school trips as it is. They’re not much fun either

@RobertSmithsLipstick

I would hate all that dressing up shyte as well.

I agree. When we are on holiday we go to restaurants where my husband can wear smart shorts and a short sleeve shirt. He would HATE to have to wear a dinner suit on holiday!

And you hear people get excited as they are going to have dinner at the same table as the chief engineer (or whatever their title is).

How bloody boring and pretentious!

I’ve been on a cruise, I enjoyed it, but probably won’t do another one for a long time.

Forget most of the comments here, they are from people who have never been on a cruise.

-Yes, you get fresh food
-Yes it can be crowded in places
-yes it’s a convenient way to see a lot of places in a short time
-Yes, the tenders suck and aren’t particularly fun
-Yes, there are quiet and less crowded places on board
-no it’s not endlessly waiting in line (my DH timed it from walking in the door at port on embarkation/check in to having a drink on deck 23 minutes)
-Yes, you can meet fun people
-Yes you can meet obnoxious people
-All in all pretty clean, more so I’d expect post-Covid
-Yes, it’s an easy holiday where you don’t have to think. Sometimes that is nice.

-No, you don’t get a lot of time in most ports. But I loved how someone earlier termed it as a tasting menu. It is a really good way to think about it.

Our new thing is sailing on small boats - ideally under 25 pax. At this point for the right destination we’d be willing to go to 300 but probably not much more than that. They are very economical once you sail and join the loyalty programs. Our old neighbors cruised often and wouldn’t book until they were offered a good amount off the price and vouchers for free drinks daily (usually $250 per day).

Like anything you won’t know if you like it until you try (with an open mind)

God, this thread really makes me want to go on a cruise now! Just to find out for myself what they're really like! I especially fancy those cruises where you travel with 80s pop stars, would love it just for the naffness!!!

I would feel sorry for them. Cruises are my idea of hell.

the idea of a cruise sounds like hell on earth

or water

No. I can't think of anything worse than a cruise. Trapped on a boat with a load of strangers. Get me off! No wonder people disappear on cruises

I personally don't get cruises and why they are fun.

Yet again, because it seems a lot of people missed: YOU DON'T HAVE TO DRESS UP ON A CRUISE!
Not all lines require formal dress. The line I cruise with only goes as far as smart casual, even at the posher restaurants (only 2 out of a lot). So, if you really want you can rock up wearing jeans and t shirt. Just no shorts in those restaurants (which I think is only 3 out of 14 on the ship I'm sailing on next year). Gala evenings are never compulsory and, as they're usually only in one dining room, if it's not your thing, you can always eat elsewhere. It's not like you don't have plenty of choice on most cruise ships.
Shorts are allowed pretty much everywhere else.

The pool is usually behind the funnel where air pollution levrls would shame an inner city.

@Sportslady44

do people still get seasick, they have big stabilisers on the new ships today.

Actually I think I would.

Apparently they are not great, they are designed to cruise in calm seas so they avoid choppy water if they can, this means they miss ports for bad weather.

Ferries and ocean liners are designed to actually sail to places in different weather.

There is water under the ships, deep deep water, that's scary to me. How do people sleep knowing there is water under them, or even at the side of them if you are lower down.

If you go over the side you are dead, it's rare for anyone to be rescued.

If you are a victim of crime there is no police force you can report the crime to. There is security but, I believe (ready to be corrected) the 'laws' are the laws of where the ship is registered if you are in international waters.

No way , when I see the ads I think it looks horrid ! Bring squashed in with all those people ! No thank you!

Do what are the good companies to cruise with?

So not do!

@saraclara

I went on an educational cruise when I was about 16 (very early 1970s). It was a small ship, half school kids in dormitories and half adults having a more educational type experience with lectures, etc.(Of course never the twain did meet). I loved it. But it was a 'real' ship, with decks and rails (that I used to stand by and gaze at the sea/passing islands and coastline in a dreamy kind of way). It was all really atmospheric.

Most of today's cruise ships are nothing like that though. You can't walk along the decks and look out, because they're slab-sided. And just huge. I'm not remotely tempted.

It’s true that newer ships are not being built with promenade decks any more. And those slab sided ones are horrible. But you can still find real ships. I wouldn’t go on one without a promenade deck.

@Tigersonvaseline

I think the responses are vitriolic because it's been asked are we jealous of it.

But of course I can certainly see how they would appeal to many demographics.

Yes it’s surprising.

I have never fancied a skiiing holiday or camping but I don’t feel the need to sneer at people who do enjoy those sorts of holidays.

Do people think you are forced to attend evening entertainment?

We generally go to a meal, go to the bar and then maybe go and see a movie or in Alaska we did go and see the local wildlife expert talk about animals (so I suppose that counts as "entertainment")

We are generally knackered by 10pm, having spent a full day doing our own thing in ports.

Ewww no I can't think of anything worse than being stuck for weeks with the same group of potentially annoying people with no escape. That's aside from the high risk of tummy bugs and whatever other virus are on the go spreading like wildfire.

I am a big fan of blues music and would love to go on a blues cruise where the entertainment is daily concerts from many amazing artists on the cruise. Having brilliant entertainment and only having to stagger back to a cabin and the end sounds fab.

I agree. When we are on holiday we go to restaurants where my husband can wear smart shorts and a short sleeve shirt. He would HATE to have to wear a dinner suit on holiday!

Dressing up is not compulsory on any cruise AFAIK. Last one we went on was classed as luxury and no formal clothes were needed at all.

I’d rather have seen a little bit of the hundred places I’ve visited on a cruise ship and then watch amazing shows than be stuck in a rip off ‘cottage’ in Cornwall.

My mum showed me pictures of her cruise a few years back where the decks were crowded to the point you couldn’t move and people were arguing over space by the pool. She loves the whole cruise vibe and goes on them a lot but they really are not for me

Having said that the only cruise I might possibly consider is the Nordic cruise. That looks amazing. I don’t mind the cold

Wouldn't take one if it was free AND they paid me. Shudder.
All that enforced intimacy with complete strangers.