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?

I absolutely love cruising. Generally go with Cunard, which tends to offer classier entertainment and good food. Access to lots of live music, from Irish folk bands to cocktail pianist to classical harpist and string quartet. Interesting classes, I've particularly enjoyed drama classes and astronomy sessions, but might be tempted in the future by fencing or water colour. Dancing not really for me (mobility impaired - and the crew are wonderful with disabled passengers).

As much company as I want, and no more than I want. Good food. A taster of a number of interesting ports of call, with wonderfully relaxing sea days in between. There is something so therapeutic about relaxing on the promenade deck, in the shade, watching the sea pass by, whilst reading a good book. Excellent medical team on board in case of problems (they can get a chest xray reported by a radiologist faster than I can in a hospital on land). And an absolute attitude of once you're on board, any problem is theirs to sort, not yours.

The ships generally travel well, and the worst I've ever been affected was skipping dessert. That was in a force 10 Arctic storm. Never caught norovirus, though I have had a couple of colds. Love formal nights, with an excuse to get dressed up and pratt about in a posh frock: only time of the year I can be bothered with a full face of makeup.

Hmmm, think I need to book my next one.

The boring journey is usually overnight when you're asleep! You may get a couple of sea days and I'm not a fan of them but we suck it up and try and chill out.

I love cruises, I've been on several. Waking up somewhere new each day without having to keep packing your bag is fab. I've never had bad food or service on a cruise, even the cheapo Thomson ones we went on a few years ago. We don't bother with the expensive excursions, we do research before we go and use public transport to go off and see the sights. We've also booked private tours for cheaper than the ship excursions, and been picked up at the ship.

If you want a quiet spot you can find one (the pool area tends to be busy but there are usually bars/lounges around the ship that open out on to quieter decks)

I wouldn't mind trying it out for once, but I have been absolutely overwhelmed and confused about all the different cruise lines, packages, tipping, age groups, destinations, rules, sea days, port days that I just can't do it.

None of that sounds appealing to me. I don't want to spend hours looking out at the sea. I like holidays that are a mixture of relaxing on the beach, swimming in the sea and visting places. We visited the South of France this year and had a great time visiting Monaco, Eze, Nice etc from our base in Antibes. I like being able to wonder around the town and do local things if I have had a tiring day. I want to eat in local restaurants and not on the cruise ship with tons of people.

And I like the sea more than the hotel pools so I know I would not enjoy the pool on those cruise ships. They look way too small and intimate for the number of people on board. A floating petri dish as it was described above. Just not my thing at all. But holidays are very personal and we are all different in terms of what we find enjoyable.

I've never been on a cruise but it does appeal to me. I love watching Trek Trendy on YouTube for an insight into the posher ones.

You can get off in the port at anytime and do your own thing. You'd be crazy to do Rome from the cruise port unless you honestly believe you will never have the opportunity to do it again.

I've done Rome from a cruise port and it was easy 🤷🏼‍♀️ walked to the train station from the ship, got on a train. It took 45 mins and cost about 5e. In Rome for 9.30am, saw pretty much all the sights, inc a guided tour of the coliseum, had a nice lunch. Back on ship by 6pm for dinner.

Biggest benefit is avoiding airports by choosing cruises that start in UK ports!

They may have huge numbers of people on them, but they're huge so you can easily spread out, usually multiple bars/lounges, multiple restaurants, several areas on deck, etc.

Breakfast buffet time can be manic, but you can easily avoid the busiest times by getting up a bit earlier, having breakfast delivered to your room, using a different restaurant for breakfast, or staying in bed and waiting till the rush has passed. Breakfast buffet is usually served between around 6am to 11am, so lots of opportunity to go at a less busy time.

Waking up in a different town/city/country every morning is amazing. You have choice of a "proper" day trip/tour, or just leaving the ship to walk around the town, or staying on board to enjoy the almost deserted ship. Lots of different options for leaving the ship - the cruise firm put on maybe a dozen different excursions on each shore day, or you can usually get shuttle buses from the dockside to the town/city centre, or get a hop on/hop off bus tour of the city, or even a taxi, if it's too far to walk.

Usually excellent entertainment too, either shows in the theatre, or cabaret singer in a bar, or organised sports/games by the entertainment team, usually a disco/club.

Basically, if you can think of a posh hotel right in the middle of a vibrant town/city centre, then that's what a cruise is.

Biggest benefit is avoiding airports by choosing cruises that start in UK ports!

They may have huge numbers of people on them, but they're huge so you can easily spread out, usually multiple bars/lounges, multiple restaurants, several areas on deck, etc.

Breakfast buffet time can be manic, but you can easily avoid the busiest times by getting up a bit earlier, having breakfast delivered to your room, using a different restaurant for breakfast, or staying in bed and waiting till the rush has passed. Breakfast buffet is usually served between around 6am to 11am, so lots of opportunity to go at a less busy time.

Waking up in a different town/city/country every morning is amazing. You have choice of a "proper" day trip/tour, or just leaving the ship to walk around the town, or staying on board to enjoy the almost deserted ship. Lots of different options for leaving the ship - the cruise firm put on maybe a dozen different excursions on each shore day, or you can usually get shuttle buses from the dockside to the town/city centre, or get a hop on/hop off bus tour of the city, or even a taxi, if it's too far to walk.

Usually excellent entertainment too, either shows in the theatre, or cabaret singer in a bar, or organised sports/games by the entertainment team, usually a disco/club.

Basically, if you can think of a posh hotel right in the middle of a vibrant town/city centre, then that's what a cruise is.

Not at all consistent with the conversation I had about this. I would not want to go to Rome for one day which involves 1.5 hours of travelling to get there and back from the port. Sounds hideous to me.

@35andThriving

If you go on the marrela tui ones everything is included....flights...food...drinks...tips.... So you just book like a normal holiday. Its also an all english ship. There aren't any rules...you don't have to eat with random people and people dress up some don't.
Each cruise line has a list of ports it goes to and sea days. You picck the cruise based on where you want to ggo.
The marrela ships only have one sea day in a week and the rest are ports. When booking it tells you what ports and what times your there.
On the ship every night you get given an information sheet and it tells you everything that's happening on the ship that day.. where its happening. Also info on port...times ect.
It's really an easy holiday....I think the only stressful bit is deciding what to do in each port...ut again you can book trips with the ship or go on your own.

The biggest downside is other people

LOL. Then I guess a cruise is not for you because you cannot get away from them.

I love meeting new people and having a chat and hearing their life story, or what makes them tick.

The best couple we have done were Singapore to Brisbane and up the coast of Norway on the Hurtigruten - not sure if that really counts as a cruise ship

I did a cruise once and hated it. Barely got to see anything of the places we visited and all the markets etc ramped up the prices when ships were in port.

I think they are for unadventurous travellers or the kind of people who like staying in the hotel complex on holiday.

Also, you definitely can get sea sick on cruise ships. I have seen it.

@halava ring a specialist cruise agent and they'll happily talk you through it all. There are several, I always book with Bolsover Cruise Club, they're brilliant.

I can see that the route up the coast line of Norway would be best experienced perhaps on a boat. But the Hurtigruten is more like a commercial vessel isn't it going up and down transporting goods etc? Is it a nice experience overall?

I disagree. We have cruised many times (all P and O so far) and have never had any issue keeping ourselves to ourselves.

@Biggirlnow enjoying cruises doesn't mean you don't like other types of trip too. Frankly I love most types of holiday and have done some very adventurous things!

I went with Virgin, no kids, no buffet, no loud announcements, and really enjoyed it.
The pool was shite but most the ports had beach options so had the choice to swim then if wanted to.
There was organised 'fun' but it was avoidable and there was plenty of low key stuff with bands and musicians in the bars in the evenings.
Lots of spots to just curl up with my kindle and get some sun while avoiding the more crowded areas.
Food was surprisingly good too with loads of non beige options available alongside pizza, burgers and all day breakfast.

Well the thought of them doesn't appeal to me one tiny little bit, for many of the reasons you list. I will never, ever go on one, however luxurious. However, I do have the imagination to understand why other people (especially those who are more outgoing than me) might like them.

We have family members who love them. They like visiting warm sunny places but really hate flying. They can afford a nice cabin with a balcony. The pics of the food they send looks lovely, but I like to sample more basic local ingredients on holiday so I think I might find it a bit samey after a while. They like meeting new people and going to shows, discos etc in the evening, I'm not remotely interested. A chacun son goût, as the French say.

For those saying about not wanting to meet lots of different people and keeping themselves to themselves, that's perfectly possible on cruises. They're huge so you can always find somewhere to sit on your own. In restaurants, you have the choice and don't need to sit on big tables with other people - they have tables for 4, 2 and even just one, so you just need to tell them your preference (though probably not for the breakfast buffet at busy times when you will have to share a table (or take a tray back to your room!).

I reluctantly went to accommodate my brother and SIL and DH. I was right as I absolutely hated it . The A1 aspect of it appealed to the others but as I don't drink completely wasted on me . Hated the forced jovility of the entertainment and the boorish behaviour of the guests . Uncomfortable with the attitude towards staff.
But for me , the port days were great . I had researched well and chose tours that maximised the time available. No other way would I have been able to experience this much.
So I guess the main conclusion is that obviously lots of people really enjoy them but others not so much.

Yes we get that, it is not particularly informative or novel to acknowledge that people enjoy different types of holiday.

"The 218 cruise ships operating in Europe last year emitted more than four times more sulphur oxides than all the continent’s cars combined, according to the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E). Sulphur dioxide causes respiratory and cardiovascular problems and its pollution is a key component of acid rain."

www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/oct/19/europe-ports-bear-brunt-of-cruise-ship-pollution

We did a cruise because we wanted to see whether it was for us. You can't slag them off if you haven't done one. DP was keener than me, I'm not great with travel sickness and I could see the whole thing benig wrecked if I was throwing up all the time. That was the main reason we went on the Queen Mary 2, the last true ocean going liner and supposedly the most stable. Good news: Force seven winds crossing to Norway, but not seasick. Not so good news: although reviews said you'd never know it was moving, I found that was rubbish, the ship did move arouond and there was always a vibration from the engines,but itwasn't the problem I expected (and as fellow sufferers know, once you expect to get sick, you likely will).

So putting that aside, the experience on the whole was great. Mealtimes are when crowds can be a problem, breakfast in particular. If we were to go again we would be smarter about when we ate.The evening meals in the assigned retaurant were fantastic, although I agree if you were unlucky with who you were sat with it could be a pain,although you could eat in other locations.

Best thing was probably the extertainment. Soul singers, Shakespeare readings, Michel Roux cookery demonstrations, MAx Hastings gave a talk. Couldn't fault it, really.

I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, and I would enjoy it more the second time if only because we would know the system better.

It was Norwegian Cruise Line. If you book I suggest looking at the land packages and not just selecting the default option. The rest of my family chose the default and missed out on the waterfall so definitely look through the options and choose what works for you.