Massive Cruise ship holidays

[Roiesin57]

Do you enjoy them, or do you refuse to take one due to their impact on the environment?
We have taken one a few years ago and we had a lovely time. Everything about it was gorgeous and I fancy another one; but when I look at photos of them they look quite grotesque when they're docked in these relatively little seaside ports abroad.
Have you given up on foreign holidays because of the impact on the environment? And they're so damn expensive too

@blueshoes each cruise line is slightly different and that is why comparing headline prices can be misleading. Some cruise lines do all inclusive but bottom line they are all looking to make an extra £ if they can.

My sister and I have booked a Christmas market cruise for two Adults and two kids. Travelling with MSc in December and we paid for the all inclusive drink package. It was a smidge over £1300 for all 4 of us for 7 nights. It was £850 without drinks package. Travelling on Preziosa

@Propertylover thanks for the tip. I will be sure to scrutinise the fine print.

The line we go with, Azamara, is all inclusive including drinks. You can buy a drinks package if you want a bigger choice of branded drinks, but we never bother. The included wine is very nice usually.

I assume that’s an inside cabin? Bargain either way!

@Sirzy yes a guaranteed indoor cabin. But tbh I've it's all paid for in full in 2-3 months I know I'll get an offer to upgrade and I've heard that it's a very quiet time to cruise and you can get a balcony for £100-£150 extra per adult. We may well bid on it and take a chance at getting a better cabin. But either way we will be more than happy with the indoor. We don't plan on sitting in the room much, it's just to sleep and shower

We were in Kotor recently. The cruise ships literally dwarf the town

If you think that's bad try Stavanger in Norway ... if a big ship's in it looks like a complete extra suburb!!

Big cruise fan here, but I'm not keen on the monsters; too many queues, staffing cut to the bone and a nightmare when disembarking in ports

Not too keen on large ships (circa 1500/2400 passengers). Our first couple of cruises were on those. We wouldn’t even consider the huge ships (circa 3000/6000). We took a couple of cruises on Azamara ships (230/250) and they were much nicer and could dock in smaller ports. Sadly, Covid put a stop to cruising for us. It’s hard to get past the memories of the large ship stranded in the Ocean for weeks because it wasn’t permitted to dock anywhere due to the large number of Covid cases. So many passenger were very ill and confined to cabins without enough medical care to go around. Many were running out of essential medications. Many people seem to think Covid is over, or nothing to worry about now there are vaccines. It isn’t in both cases. Large numbers of people are still dying, appallingly ill and/or (like my DH) are left with Long Covid.

Being close to lots of people on an aircraft for many hours isn’t ideal, but it’s a shorter time than on a cruise ship and at least there are decent medical facilities at both ends in the countries we visit.

I have cruised before but can also see the result of huge cruise ships arriving at the Greek island I visit every year. We keep away from the main town on “cruise ship Tuesday” and although there are hordes of people on the island the locals say they hardly spend any money.
The only cruise I am considering for the future is small ship to Antarctica; I don’t need to step foot on the ice, will be happy just to see it. I think that it won’t be long until the Antarctic seas are closed to cruise ships.

There were cruise ships every day when we were there. The noise from the Norwegian one echoed round the Bay when there were announcements and music at night.

There is a fair bit of irony in your post? You want to go and see it now, before the impact of international travel on the environment means it is closed, before it is irrevocably damaged.

A cruise for me, would be just a nightmare. But it really gets my goat that everywhere we go, the view is totally taken up with row upon row of massive cruise ships, often with the pollution from their chimneys, and the overcrowding of the harbour and area. Why should we have to put up with all the inconvenience of other people's choices. Last year in Croatia, be it in Split or Dubrovnik- you couldn't see the view from the Harbour- those cruise ships where 10 deep! And a total disaster in Venice :(

There’s a lot of irony in my post, of which I’m fully aware. I’ve always worked in farming, have championed organic/pasture for life/regenerative etc farming; my family work in conservation. But nevertheless, if I have the chance to see Antarctica I will take it. I will refrain from taking part in activities that cause extreme damage to the ice sheet.

Horrible! Cruise companies couldn’t pay me enough to go on one.

They won't ever have too! Cruising is becoming so popular now that most cruises (especially from the uk) are selling out. Annoying as we used to like getting last minute bargains, but families are discovering that cruises are cheaper than most other holidays, food is all included and good quality and that the kids are kept very amused.

The first picture is not a big ship as cruise ships go. About 700 passengers. You can see the one next to it is about twice the height.

Nothing about cruising appeals to me at all. I will never go on one.

When I have spoken to locals, they complain about the cruises. They hate the sudden discharge of passengers into their small towns, and relatively little money is spent other than a few souvenirs. Tourists don’t spend money on hotels or restaurants in the evening and tend to flit in and out once they have their photos.

Same. I would never go on an all-inclusive holiday anyway. And once stuck on a boat is even worse!

I don’t recognise this. Did a Croatia cruise year before last - smaller ship - might have seen three or four other ships in total. 10 deep indeed.

Although there are hordes of people on the island the locals say they hardly spend any money

That's to be expected, especially in Greece where - much as I love it - taxpaying's long been regarded as optional

Noticeably, though, it doesn't stop many shops opening when a ship's in, even on days when they normally wouldn't be, so I'd take this with a large pinch of salt

Yes, and in late September too. It was quite bad in Porto and Lisbon too on another visit.

Could not think of anything worse. Not because of the environment but because they looked like a block of council flats. Went once, people stuffing their faces all day. Then they go home and tell all their friends the countries they have been to 😂😂😂 yes for a couple of hours 🧐🙄

My Granny grew up in a council flat and she lived with my Dad and Grandpa in a prefab after the war. She was widowed in 1978. In the mid eighties she was lucky enough to be able to afford a round-the -world cruise, which ended with a visit to some relatives in Australia that she hasn’t seen since they had emigrated decades previously.

It wasn’t the most luxurious of ships, but it was very luxurious by the standards of her upbringing. I remember when she came back she had got me little souvenirs from so many places that she’d visited- Pacific islands, Hong Kong, Greece, Egypt. She may have only been to some of those places for a short stop but she painted really vivid pictures for me aged 9 and it was clearly an absolutely life-changing experience for her. She could never have seen so much of the world any other way.
When I first met my grandmother -in-law aged 96, she proudly showed me the pictures of her round the world cruise and explained that her husband had been very controlling so when he died she jumped at the chance to see the world, but he had lived to quiet a good age so she was quite old herself by the time she got her freedom. The two of them never met but I always loved that they had this in common.

A cruise would be my idea of Hell. Confined with a huge mass of people. Sharing routines with a huge mass of people. Confined to tiny claustrophobic living spaces. It's only one notch up from being on a cattle truck, because they don't intentionally slaughter you at the end of it. But yet, as a landlubber, if I see a huge cargo ship out at sea, I can't resist keeping an eye on it to see if it's moving or doesn't move. Nothing in the world changes. And yet I'm compelled to see if it's moved or not.

I have no interest in big cruise ship and would never do one, for no other reason than I work and live on ships and everything that I love about being at sea just isn't part of life on a cruise ship.

My ships are very industrial and I actually love that, I have a huge en suite cabin with a window (union rules!) and freedom to wander at will. I interact with all the trades and specialities and get to be close to the nuts and bolts of the ship's beating heart and all her functions (even the poo plant). Mostly our ships sit lower in the water so you are very close to the sea, being able to see luminesance so close in the wake is amazing and best of all our ships are dark at night so lying out on deck under the stars or standing out watching a lightening storm is truly awesome.

What I would love to do next is vounteer to be part of a tall ship crew - another seafaring experience and adventure altogether!