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

Why settle for one country when you can go to seven? We always book our excursions with local tour guides. Always eat locally and always buy from local shops. And hell - what a way to see Pompeii, Ravello, Amalfi coast, the Colosseum, Vatican Trevi fountain, Ephesus, the Parthenon, La Sagrada, Lisbon and lots more .. all on one holiday.
Cruises may be exhausting but beat 2 weeks sitting by a pool by a mile.

I've done a few Thomson/TUI cruises and loved going.
It suited as my idea of a holiday is not being stuck on one island/city and pretty much seeing most if it within the first few days of being there.
I loved waking up and visiting part of a new country daily.

Back then the ships were smaller in size, nothing like the size of the MSC ships, although the cabins were a perfect size and not once did I ever feel on any it was over crowded.

My idea of hell but each to their own.

We went on a Caribbean cruise several years ago and it was wonderful. Definitely spent money in all of the areas we visited too including tipping taxi drivers etc.

We went with P&O and it was a good experience, it was Ventura.

I went on a Hurtigruten ship as well. It was a great mix of tourists and locals going home for Xmas. As you said it was a ferry for both cars and foot passengers (stopping at 3am to let a family get off at a tiny village). Cabins were comfortable and clean but quite basic. The food was absolutely fantastic esp if you like fish. The staff were efficient and very professional. Times in port varied according to the size of the port and varied from 30 minutes to 6 hours which was plenty of time to wander around, etc.
However a number of British passengers were upset as there was no nightly entertainment, there were few daylight hours, the Northern lights had a habit of appearing in the early hours so they had to get out of warm comfy beds, etc., etc. If they had read the brochure properly , then it might have sunk in that this was a working boat with space for tourists who didn't want to be cossetted and waited on every moment of the day.
One of the best bits was when a heel came off my boot; a heel that had just been repaired in UK. Reception said they would send it down to Engineering; 15 years later and heel still intact!

I love a cruise holiday. I've been on 5 now. 2 weeks and visiting about 10 countries. I get off at each port, sometimes go for a tour or sometimes just go off for a wander around, get a meal, an ice cream then go back to ship. Entertainment is good in the evenings, food is good and plentiful. You meet new interesting people most days. Best of all some sun in November which is good for my arthritis. You go to sleep and wake up in a different place. Very relaxing.

I'd like to go on one of the new (but still quite small) Hurtigruten ships visiting Antarctica but the cruises are incredibly expensive -- starting prices are around £12,000 pp.

All the cruises I have been on dock for 10 hours in most ports, not just a couple of hours.

Floating Pontins. You couldn't pay me enough to go on one of those chav magnets

We did lots of Pontins holidays when I was growing up. My dad was a working man and my mum was a school dinner lady. They had 4 kids and it was all they could afford. Nice to know people like you were laughing at them because they were poor.

You seem to have awarded yourself some sort of superior status but laugh at poor people. I don't think that paints you in a good light.

Utterly utterly awful things in every way imaginable. I've seen 'walkthrough' videos of cruise ships and they are so lacking in any kind of refinement or class.
Shops, amusement arcades, wall to wall noise and people. Buffets of brown food and the clientele look like the kind of people I would pay to avoid. Packed tight sun loungers around a tiny pool with bodies everywhere and some kind of brash loud holiday park 'fun' game going on with blasting music.
Seriously hell on earth.
The environmental and local impact is appalling too.
I live in Nz and to see and hear these floating fucking monstrosities in the pristine natural wonder of Milford sound was one of the most depressing sights I've experienced.

I enjoy cruising and many other types of holidays.

I refuse to go on one because they’re tacky as hell

I wouldn't go on a cruise if you paid me to, as a pp said they are just glorified floating holiday camps and I've never understood the attraction. I don't go on foreign holidays either.

Yep, it's obscene.

I've been on a few cruises, I like them a lot - they're not all tacky with beige food and a tiny pool, it really depends on what lines you go on

We went on a virgin one last year to Croatia, was great

I realise that. The OPs post was about 'massive' cruise ship holidays to which I assumed she meant Princess, Carnival, NCL, P&O

On the environmental note cruise liners are doing a lot with the newer ships to change how they operate to reduce the environmental impact. Like most other industries they are responding to what we now know and changing accordingly. Its Not perfect of course it isn’t but it’s getting betters

We have done P and O cruises and have a princess one booked for next year. They are ideal for autistic DS who can’t fly. Always easy to avoid people and contrary to what some may believe no forced fun (but plenty for people who do want activities)

for me the Royal Caribbean type wouldn’t be my cup of tea but I can see why it appeals to others.

Love cruising, not remotely like butlins at sea!

If you don’t like it, don’t do it but it really is a great way to holiday.

I didn’t fancy the idea at all but I gave it a try and loved it so much. Haven’t been on a supersized ship and probably wouldn’t but love the medium sized ships. I like being able to see lots of different places, feel so relaxed being at sea, always have a balcony cabin so wonderful views which are ever changing.

I never had foreign holidays as a child and couldn’t afford to take our DC abroad except once so now I am turning 50 and our dc are grown we finally have a chance to do some holidays abroad and we are taking it!

I haven’t been on a cruise but would love to. Thinking of trying out a Mediterranean one then to the fjords after if I like it.

I’ve done my bit for the environment by not having children so I feel pretty ok about going on holiday. Ive heard on smaller ships you share dinner tables with strangers and people try to chum up with you - no thanks. Larger anonymous ship with lots to do on sea days sounds better

I don't think i'd like it. But then I am not sure I'd like any kind of organised holiday.

I'd say don't knock it until you've tried one. And there are cruises for all types and pockets.

I went on one of the larger ships, and yes there were parts of the ship that were not for me but plenty of other bars, sun decks, pools and entertainment that I really enjoyed.

In the Caribbean many locals rely on the cruise trade for their livelihood, especially bars, taxis, and excursion operators. They are still recovering from the impact of Covid.

Ahh. I am not a pool and sun deck type of person.

We’ve been on Hurtigruten cruise from Bergen to Kirkenes. Haven’t been to Pontins but don’t think they have much in common.