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.

I would go on a cruise if you paid me, but I certainly wouldn't pay to go on one.

People kept telling my parents they should go on a cruise, so they did. I don't think either of them really enjoyed it; it just wasn't their cup of tea.

I'm not keen on the sea and I'm not keen on germs and I'm not keen on being entertained, so I should probably holiday inland as far from others as possible, with no entertainment apart from a book.

Gosh, @CounsellorTroi. What about the non-Brits who aren’t bobbing up and down and singing ‘Rule Britannia’, and who are backing quietly out towards a lifeboat? Or is this on a British-only cruise?

I think it was a British only cruise, it was a Fjords cruise sailing from Southampton.

@CounsellorTroi

I think it was a British only cruise, it was a Fjords cruise sailing from Southampton.

I did sometimes think that a fjords cruise sounded nicer than other types, but I may have just had my mind changed on that one. Thank you!

We enjoyed a cruise to the Baltic in September. I am a veggie and the food was amazing. Each evening I received a list of the next day veggie options in all the restaurant menus including the speciality ones (for which there was no extra charge) plus a long list of alternative dishes should there be nothing attractive on the regular menus (highly unlikely). I could choose any of it, tick it, hand the list in at breakfast and my delicious chosen dishes duly appeared at lunch and dinner.

Looking forward to our next cruise in April.

I did sometimes think that a fjords cruise sounded nicer than other types, but I may have just had my mind changed on that one. Thank you! grin

That was just one Fjords cruise out of many. I doubt they all have that sort of thing.

Go Hurtigruten if you want to see fjords. More authentic.

Couldn't think of anything worse. Don't do package holidays either.
Book all our own flights, hotels, restaurants etc.

@Georgyporky

The list of cruise lines & their attributes omitted Marella. A few years ago, we made a last minute booking. Too late, we realised it was the marine branch of Tui.........

Thankfully, it was only 7 days.

A long list of things wrong, but we did get c.20% refund

I forgot about Marella. Went into a TUI travel shop to get some holiday ideas and mentioned their cruises. The travel agent didn't recommend them. Says a lot when your own travel agents can't talk up your product.

@CounsellorTroi

Celebrity seem to have a decent reputation. A friend of mine went on a Fred Olsen cruise and they had one of those cringy patriotic evenings.

You do realise that they don't round you up and force you to go. There are plenty of other places to go. Entertainment is provided and if it not for youm you don't go.

They have piano bars, string quartets, rooms to play bridge, other card and board games, a cinema or places where you can just go for a drink (or not) and chat to friends.

@expatmigrant
So you do your own package?

You do realise that they don't round you up and force you to go. There are plenty of other places to go. Entertainment is provided and if it not for youm you don't go

They have piano bars, string quartets, rooms to play bridge, other card and board games, a cinema or places where you can just go for a drink (or not) and chat to friends.

You’re preaching to the converted. I like cruising just don’t go for that kind of entertainment.

Thinking about it more, I really think that one of the biggest “no” factors for me is the number of people onboard. I’d just find the proximity of them suffocating. Living and working, surrounded by people everyday, meant that my precious annual leave was about leaving all that behind.

The being on water thing can be great - but I’d need to tailor it to my “likes”. Did 2 weeks on a trimaran off a tiny island in the Bahamas a fair while ago. Very small cabin, single bed, lived out of my bag, basic galley and 6 other guests. It was blooming amazing!

Travel sickness, vomiting on the boat and over the edge of the boat, not being able to just be STILL. Feeling you're body is in motion 24/7, with no respite and no end. I would HATE to go on a cruise. It would be my absolute worst nightmare. I've never understood why people like cruises, there must be something wrong with them.

No
C difficile
Norovirus

Cruises are

I have 3 main reasons I dislike cruises, having never been on one.

1. The environmental factor is just unjustifiable in the modern age.

1. I know someone who is HR Director of a cruise line. Them basing themselves in poor countries with next to zero workers rights mean they fully exploit workers, paying them next to fuck all, charging them for their own PPE, abusing them and so on.

1. Having worked and lived in the Caribbean for a while, I saw how much the local people despised cruise ships. Prices near port would treble on days cruise ships were docking. I'd see people pour off the ships and then do little more than wander around the port area or join an organised tour.

In none of those places were the things to see and experience based anywhere near the port. So you're not seeing the place. You're seeing something which has been specifically assigned to cruise ships.

What I would say though is that we all have different perspectives and priorities, and we enjoy different things. I totally get that those who love cruises really enjoy them and that's absolutely fine. But it doesn't mean its for everyone.

They have piano bars, string quartets, rooms to play bridge, other card and board games, a cinema or places where you can just go for a drink (or not) and chat to friends.

And that sentence is everything I wouldn't like.

Equally I don't want to go to a place abroad full of English bars.

Each to their own but I love being able to wander out of a villa or hotel at night to lovely restaurants frequented by the locals (ideally overlooking a harbour). I want to be eating local dishes too.

"3. Having worked and lived in the Caribbean for a while, I saw how much the local people despised cruise ships. Prices near port would treble on days cruise ships were docking"

I can assure you that having had nearly 2 years of none of those 'trebled prices', which represent the main income in places, the local people in many a Caribbean island are delighted that the 'despised' cruisers and their dollars are trickling back.

And, according to a Venetian friend, I'm sorry to report that they don't like non-cruise visitors any more than they like cruise visitors. In fact, the consensus seems to be that at least the cruisers leave the place in peace in the evenings.

Yes of course they tell you that because you're spending money. They're hardly likely to start telling you that they can't stand you being there, you've ruined their beautiful port, the vista looks gross with a stupid ugly big ship stuck at a port which was never supposed to accommodate such things, you turn the port into somewhere they don't want to go and infant cannot go when you turn up en masse. If they were honest, you wouldn't spend your money.

It's kind of like how sex workers in Thailand will tell you how much they love shagging sweaty fat old men for money. If they were honest, they'd go hungry.

@TizerorFizz

I’ve cruised on a variety of ships. I wouldn’t ever go back on a standard cruise ship. It suited when DDs were younger.,

There are strict timetables regarding shore time. We do things separately from excursions organised by the shop due to excessive price. However what you can do is limited. You simply don’t stay long enough.

I have only ever had ok food. The separate restaurants are a rip off and don’t serve anything better. If anyone says the food is great they don’t go to Michelin starred restaurants! We do and I can tell you that frozen food isn’t so great!

We have had decent cabins. However I always feel trapped. There isn’t an opportunity to explore very much and the demographic on board doesn’t seem to want anything more interesting than a quiz.

What we have done, and I can highly recommend, is an Arctic cruise on an expedition shop. Truly amazing. We should be off to the Antarctic this winter. Ships like this take 100 people. We have cruised around the Galápagos Islands on a 16 guest yacht and a 12 berth yacht in the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada. We are going with the same company to Alaska. Can’t wait.

So if you can afford it, spread your wings. Get off the big ships and go small. It’s a lot more fun and you really see something fantastic. In Canada we saw 4 other boats in a week. We have also sailed in the BVIs on a yacht with the DDs and this is wonderful! So lots of options away from big ships!!

This sounds so much better than what's been described in most of the thread.

@CraftyGin

I am going on a cruise shortly.

Our cabin is 24 m2 - significantly bigger than my bedroom at home.

Lol yes. But presumably rather smaller than your house!

@blubberyboo

I cruise sometimes and with Royal Caribbean the food is always first class, you don’t feel crowded and the lines have taken more safety measures to prevent virus spread than most hotels and airlines. I certainly plan to go again on occasion so I’m jealous of your friends too

Looking at the menus online I am not so sure...

And really, one of the main experiences of travelling is to eat local food in good local restaurants, isn't it? I don't understand how a cruise can fulfil this. Or the need to explore without deadlines. Or the need to find quiet and secluded places to relax in, or find things by chance rather than guide books. Or the need to be spontaneous letting daytime flow into evening and then night soaking up a different culture. Or the need to laze around and swim in the sea whenever I want to.

Like I said earlier, I think it's just different strokes for different folks, which is totally fine. But as an introverted, autistic person who hates lots of people and too many people around and working to other people's timings - and goes on holiday to escape all of that for a while! - I would not enjoy it. Can understand why others who are different to me do, though. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@buddylicious

They have piano bars, string quartets, rooms to play bridge, other card and board games, a cinema or places where you can just go for a drink (or not) and chat to friends.

And that sentence is everything I wouldn't like.

Equally I don't want to go to a place abroad full of English bars.

Each to their own but I love being able to wander out of a villa or hotel at night to lovely restaurants frequented by the locals (ideally overlooking a harbour). I want to be eating local dishes too.

Same.

@BiscuitLover3678

Doesn’t appeal to me at all! Horrible tiny rooms for so much money. You are literally stuck with the same people and if you get sick you are literally trapped in your room, can’t go anywhere! So far from any hospital. Op have you ever got seasick? It’s awful.

Honestly claustrophobic central!

They have a hospital on board with doctors and nurses . With a full on pharmacy you couldn’t be closer for a medical emergency .