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

I like the idea of using a boat to get somewhere, but not being stuck on the bloody thing for days for my actual holiday.

I prefer the mid sized ships, 2000 ish passengers, the huge ones look too hectic to me

So much snobbery on this thread🤣

And I love those comments about the ecological impact from people who then talk about the foreign places they have been where they have seen these ships!!

So I’ve flown 6 times in 50 years, all short haul flights and every other holiday has been in the UK. My eco footprint is far from amazing but I really don’t consider me going on a cruise once or twice a year is worse than those who have been holidaying abroad multiple times a year for years.

The way I see it is that my carbon footprint is my journey and my hotel combined so you can't compare to just planes or hotels, and we are pretty low carbon at home. Also we spend money where we visit, so that's good for locals living there.

That said different strokes and all that.

My friend's 70 something parents love them. They are older and not particularly confident travellers or adventurous eaters so cruises have allowed them to see a lot of the world in retirement and they are having the time of their lives.

I’ve been on one, thankfully we didn’t pay it was gifted to us as a corporate thing. I really didn’t like it at all, it was likely going on holiday to the trafford centre.

The cabins weren’t nice, who wants a moulded pop in bathroom which is essentially a glorified porta loo. Some don’t even have proper beds, but put down beds. We had a little suite with two balconies, the balconies had a lovely view of all your neighbours. Due to a lack of fresh air indoor areas had a very musty smell, very very little natural light. The food wasn’t great, the ‘nice’ ‘restaurants’ weren’t that good, other places were essentially like school canteens and you had to go up and queue for whatever basic food was being served that day.

There are so many of you that when you dock you can’t actually enjoy anything as it is far too busy with people rushing around attempting to see something in the small amount of time you have there.

We left and paid to fly home, money well spent!!

My husband and son would not exist if it wasn’t for cruise lines because my in laws met while working on one! So I have a soft spot for the industry 😀.

Yes I know some people go on tours arranged by the cruise line which use local buses and local guides. They don’t have a stream of buses coming off the ships 😃

This wouldn't appeal to me.
Same a All in holidays. Lot's of people crammed into limited space under the disguise to be relaxing or fum or family friendly or visiting lots of different places.
Overpriced and often mediocre facilities.
They swamp places with their passengers and leave a lot of pollution/ rubbish behind.

My holidays are about local food, markets, landscapes culture and history.

We like smaller ships. Hate massive resort ships. We aren't made to share tables or chum up with people! And we like a variety of holidays and sometimes combine a cruise with a city break.

Can't stand those big resort ships. Once the Queen Mary 2 was docked alongside our ship and dwarfed it. This might give some idea.

We like smaller ships. Hate massive resort ships. We aren't made to share tables or chum up with people! And we like a variety of holidays and sometimes combine a cruise with a city break.

That generally doesn’t happen these days on bigger ships either, except for certain lines.

I hate this “oh the locals hate them”, we’ve been to plenty of destinations where cruises stop not on a cruise line, and having spoken to many locals I can assure you this is a welcome and vital source of income in many places.

Who knew that cruising would cause so much snippiness and faux snobbery?

I’d love to go on a cruise. I like the idea of just checking in and not having to think about organising anything. I’d love to leave the family behind and have a solo holiday.

My guilty pleasure Friday night TV is Cruising with Susan Calman.

Went on my first one last year to Norway on P&O's Iona which is a pretty big ship, really enjoyed it having never been on one before, will likely go on another one in the future.

I have been on 9 cruises with a lot of different cruise lines and I have loved them all. I don't find them like butlins/pontins etc...... you aren't forced to go to shows/activities/excursions you can do your own thing and have a relaxing time. We have seen places we may never have gone to had we not been on a cruise and decided to go back for holidays to that place as we loved them so much. We always book independent excursions or do it by ourself. Only one time did we do a ships excursion as that was cheaper than getting a visa separately as the visa was included in the excursion price (St Petersburg).

Each to their own, some people don't like the thought of them, others love them. No need to be snobbish about them though.

Do you have children?

I did a cruise last year with my teens and it was the perfect holiday for them. They made loads of friends, they loved being able to get off the ship and explore new places. We didn’t do any tours but we went to beaches restaurants and shopping and sights.

Being on a ship works perfectly for mid teens who want some independence. Each night we ate together and they went off with other kids their age and stayed out as long as they wanted whilst I didn’t worry about them. The couldn’t get lost, there was absolutely no way they could drink and they were safe.

The shop itself was fabulous, it was like one of the best 5* hotels. The pool was too busy understandably but you could find plenty of almost deserted places to sit and read or chill. The food and drink were outstanding even if you went to the buffet which we only did for breakfast and there was no organised fun at all.

what I also liked was that there were lots of single people on their own and I ended up chatting to so many interesting people

would I do it again? Maybe. But I can’t stress enough what a great holiday it is with teens who actually get up, get off their phones and want to explore but to also have chill on their beds with phone time.

Ever such a lot of worthy people enjoying worthy holidays. As if eating in local restaurants (which cruise passengers do) and “soaking up the culture” for a week makes you practically a local - not just another tourist.

id rather gouge my own eyes out then go through Italy on a train for example. Horses for courses isn’t it.

Love a cruise!

Why settle for one country when you can go to seven?.

Yes true but country-intensive cruises can be great too. Really immersive. We did an intensive Croatia-Montenegro one a couple of years back and had time in Venice at either end. Fabulous.

Watched the programme last night with Susan Calman on a cruise to Antarctica and it looked amazing. And very mindful of their environment but unless I win the lottery it won't be happening

I wouldn’t go on one because of environmental impact, plus I think I’d get cabin fever - hate being ‘stuck’ anywhere.
Plus it seems that when you dock you barely have time to scratch the surface of the place you’re visiting and have too much time pressure to get back on board.
Having said that I’d like to go down the Norwegian fjords!

It really does not appeal to me in the slightest. I love multi-destination holidays but I like to spend maybe 2/3 days in a place then move on.

I know everyone says don't knock something til you've tried it but really I don't think I need to try it. I'd love to go inter-railing again. Maybe when DC are a lot older and can carry their own backpack

We did one last year out of Southampton, up to the Arctic Circle.. taking in the Norwegian Fjords . Really special places you would struggle to get to if you weren’t on board.

DD is in her late teens now, and cruising was a great holiday when she was small, the “kids club” facilities / activities were amazing. Lovely area with their own little pool in the shade.. tours backstage at the theatre, tours of the Bridge, one evening they all went for a meal together and had front row seats, movie night, one morning they came round the cabins and they all went for a special breakfast.

We’ve all seen some amazing places as well … Pompei, Ephesus, Masada, Dead Sea, Rock of Gibraltar, Tangier, Tetouan, Rome, Athens, Temple of Apollo etc

Never once has it felt like “Butlins on Sea” .. yes there are activites that you can get involved with (or not). I’ve never struggled to find a quiet place when I want one.

Food and drink .. most of the time are fantastic, like all places you get the odd bad meal.

Just looking for this year .. Japan & South Korea looking likely

When I retire my pension pot is earmarked for a round the world cruise … I remember this whenever work seems tough.

Reading this thread made me think of Kotor too. I stayed just outside Kotor for a week several years ago and the impact of the huge ships is overwhelming. It’s not a big city and having thousands of people disgorged in one go felt like an invading army had arrived. It sounds like it has got busier from your post as we at least had long gaps between groups!

It also impacted the little village we were staying in. The hotel had tables set up for its restaurant right by the water, and in the morning there would be huge parties of cruise ship passengers who had been bussed in hurrying past, gaping at you as you ate. Completely different impact to day trippers who came in small groups.

One ship tootled out a tune as it sailed out - yeah, cheers for adding noise to visual pollution.

We did a day trip to Dubrovnik, but by that time I’d found a port guide so picked a quiet day!

Overtourism is a problem that - naturally - is overlooked in comparison to environmental concerns, but it is a problem. Places attempting to address it are looking at ways to encourage visitors to choose lesser visited sites and areas, but it’s obvious from this thread that the greatest hits version of travelling is a huge draw for many people.

I have cruised a couple of times but generally wouldn't have chosen it when In good health however having more limited mobility these days and being a huge blues music fan I did the KTBAS Mediterranean cruise last year. It was heaven on earth and if I can manage it, I will do it again.