To wonder why everyone raves about cruises?

[malificent7]

It has never appealed until recently. I thought it sounded like you are trapped to an itinery, on a long , boring journey woth only a day in each place and no space from fellow passengers but everyone I know seems to love them...i am seriously tempted.
So what is so good about a cruise and has anyone actually hated them?
Is the food as good as everyone says and is it relaxing? Apparently you don't get sea sick...is this true?

But considerably less than if you’d been land-based tourists who’d come to stay in the area for a week or two, staying in local accommodation, eating all your meals or buying all your food locally, and doing your sightseeing over a longer period. A massive influx of tourists who flood the place for eight hours isn’t that economically generative. Plus some cruisers don’t get off the boat, which sits in port generating pollution.

We have only done cruises with small numbers. . Less than 600 passengers arriving in Singapore is nothing.

They don't stop other people staying for longer in the holiday accommodation, other people eating in restaurants, etc.

Very, very few people would stay for a week or two in typical stop-off places like Copenhagen or Stockholm nor Helsinki. These places would have far fewer visitors if the cruise ships didn't stop. Yes, "some" people would spend a week or two, but most simply won't go at all, or would go for a weekend city break at most.

I haven’t cruised with P&O.for about 15 years and hopefully never will again - but I do remember that it was very much expected to tip your cabin steward. Which I don’t mind doing,just as I’d leave a tip for the room cleaners after a hotel stay. I don’t think “tips included” includes cabin staff, more bar staff etc.

I agree,I’ve been to Stockholm, DH had to go for work and I tagged along. It’s not somewhere I would want to go for a city break though. Copenhagen/Helsinki possibly.

The local ports/regions determine how much they want cruise ships. They adjust their port fees accordingly, and create restrictions or incentives.

A major city, such as Rome or Barcelona, will barely notice cruise ships among their general tourist populations. For smaller places, such as Sibernik, it will be a major boost to their economy, even if a cruise ship is in only once or twice a week. Businesses sell their produce to the ships.

For restaurants, they get a boost to their lunchtime trade, so might need to adjust what and when they offer to capitalise on this.

Excursions use local coaches and tour guides.

Souvenir sellers have an instant market for their tat.

Tourists in local accommodation ( rather than hotels) is a massive problem. From Cornwall to Barcelona.

They absolutely do eat, drink and buy stuff locally. As I said they are day trippers and places that offer what they need can make a fortune.
My grandad made enough to send my dad to private school offering pony rides on the beach in the 1950’s. I was amazed in many French ports you cannot buy a toy for a child but you can buy weird tablecloths in the tourist market.

On the other hand, popular port cities don’t need 15,000 people descending ( 3 cruise ships worth ) all at once, so I can see why Barcelona and Venice get hacked off,

I've never been but it sounds like too many people, too much noise and stressful. I don't think I could cope with the stress of having to be back at a certain time particularly if you are really enjoying a sight. Holidays for me mean open ended days.

We met some Americans in Greece and despite paying for and queuing to see the beautiful ruins they didn't see them because they had to be back in time. The lady said she couldn't wait to go home.

My bf's been on a couple and he's paid extra for food. I imagined it to be quite swish but the reality is noise and slot machines.

I didn't find it all noisy or stressful. There were some slot machines but they were in a small area you didn't have to go into.

The P&O ond I went on had some adult only areas including an adult only pool, so they were quieter. And one of the bars was like a jazz cocktail bar which was pretty quiet.

You go have to get back to the boat by a certain time but that's the pay off for being able to go to several places on and holiday without repacking every day. The people you spoke were obviously idiots and hadn't done their research. If you want to go and see a very busy tourist attraction with queues, you don't do it as part of a cruise!

I’ve never been on a cruise and it doesn’t appeal as a holiday (unless someone else is paying!) but I love Emma Cruises on YouTube as relaxing videos, she does different lines etc.

I detest cruise ships. I live in a holiday destination where cruise ships docs. They pollute, block my view and masses of people roll into town at the same time. It’s a nightmare for the local population. Cruise ships dump their waste and people on us and I wish them banned personally.

No slot machines on the ones I’ve been on.

I think there are in P and O but only in the casinos which are pretty easily avoided.

one of the reasons ds likes cruises so much is how easy it is to find somewhere quiet.

I generally prefer hotels but we’ve done a few cruises and the pros:
Sea views
Seeing a few different places, even if it’s just the major attractions
The food is decent
No flying was nice
The pool parties are really good- P&O sailaway party was really fun

Cons
Tiny cabins. With kids there might be a bed that comes down from the ceiling!
The pools are a bit basic. My kids prefer a big pool with slides and stuff.

To some people, whether a cruise line has a casino (with slot machines) is an important discriminator.

I like Gary Bembridge's cruise review videos and was curious why he didn't seem that keen on Fred Olsen, who I like very much. (They're Norwegian run but have a very English vibe.) Apparently it's because they don't have a casino and he likes 'a little flutter' when he cruises. Always worth checking.

Hurtigruten are great too and they don't have casinos.

On one of the Tv programmes about cruises there was one that looked very noisy a bit like club 18 30 but all ages I wish I could remember what it was because I know it wouldn’t be me.

Was that the one based on a Virgin ship, @purser25?

It looked like my idea of hell with it's complement of right on staff, but each to their own

YANBU

The cruise ship I remember seeing in Valletta was the MSC World Europa. It’s just far too big. It’s the one that was a floating hotel in the World Cup in Qatar. https://www.msccruises.co.uk/cruises/ships/msc-world-europa

The most important website if you want to see what cruise ships are in a certain place https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/funchal-port-741. Done Funchal as my parents are there for two weeks. Actually one docks on Saturday and goes the following evening so you could do more in Funchal if done a bit of research

All those saying that you have to rush to be back on the ship at a certain time, that is certainly true of a day’s call. However a lot of cruises do late port departures or overnight calls which give you more time. We have had an overnight call in Amsterdam for instance and a couple of years ago we did a month’s cruise with P&O to Canada and the USA. We had an overnight stop in Boston which was brilliant and were also moored in for 2 nights in New York. We docked early morning and had to be back onboard by 4pm on the third day which meant we had effectively 3 days in NY. It was fabulous, gave plenty of time for sightseeing and exploring without the hassle of flight, finding a hotel etc.

As I’ve said before, each to their own, but personally I think cruising is a fantastic holiday. Just research the cruise line and the ship and pick an itinerary that suits.

Yes. Size matters with cruising. I've been on the MSC Euribia (over 6,000 passengers, albeit slightly fewer than the Worlds Europa.) Way too many people.

I really enjoy the entertainment in the evenings. I like waking up in a new place most days and there is so much choice of food it would be impossible not to find something you'd enjoy at every meal time. I also like the fact DH can't get work calls as poor reception on phone.

To answer @malificent7 question. Why not give it a try for a couple of days - if you go onto cruise critic or the seascanner websites you can get a 2 nights for less than £120 (that is without drinks package, but often worth adding on, we did for every trip), coupled with some cheap flights to and from the embarkation and debarkation port and a couple of days stay either side, it can be a really good value holiday and low risk if you think it might not be for you. I swore I would never go on one, but I've been on 4 x 2 or 3 day trips in the past year, 3 with MSC and one with Costa, and although I am still not completely sold on it, I'll probably do it again. Good points: the food was great, the cabins are small but nice enough (balcony is worth it, in my view) embarkation can be great or really poor (Marseille is dreadful), feels great to have a cocktail as you are sailing out of port etc. Bad points: 2 of my 4 had rough seas for a few hours (and this is in the med in April) , not enough to make me ill, but it got other people bad. Also other people in general, if you do not like people, do not go on a ship with 3000 of them...most of the time you can keep yourself to yourself, but breakfast particularly is quite overwhelming if you go at the popular time. HTH x