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?

You most definitely can have an opinion on cruises without having ever stepped on one... The world of the tinterweb opens up many many avenues of enquiry and scrutiny on cruising and many other topics. Plus you can speak to people and see programmes about them. My mother in law loves them but they are not for everyone. The entertainment to which you refer sounds dreadful to me.

Agree. Never.

Agreed, I didn't speak to anyone outside of my group the whole time.

No cruise line forces you to sit with other people in the dining rooms. You can ask for a table for 2 no issue at all. You may have to wait a bit longer (if on anytime dining) but that's it. There is no enforced fun, you can attend what you want, when you want.

We have always got sun loungers, no issue.

I have done 8 cruises and love them. I do occasionally get sea sick but take medication with me and that stops it. You can get medication from the medical centre on board but that will cost you a lot more. Get a couple of boxes from the chemist before you go and it will save you a lot of money if you did need them. It has never stopped me wanting to cruise though and I always sleep really well due to the gentle movement of the boat. Kind of rocks you to sleep.

My favourite cruise line was Royal Carribean, but we have cruised p&o, princess and cunard as well and they have all been great. Cunard was a little bit too formal for us sometimes so we did eat in the buffet a few more nights than we normally would, but the itinerary was one we wanted to do and the price was amazing.

Not sure what the point of this thread is. You've already made it clear you don't like it see the point in cruises yet you create a thread to watch and enjoy people arguing back and forth?

Some people like AI holidays, some don't, some like adventurous holidays some prefer city holidays, live and let live and move on.

Spent two weeks cruising the Caribbean last Christmas with NCL. Was lucky enough to upgrade to the Haven which is described as a ship within a ship. The difference was night and day. If you can, get the best suite you can, upgrade everything. I was very seasick but the ship provided extremely effective tablets free of charge, not available in the UK. Do as much research as you can and choose your cruiseline carefully. I personally would not recommend NCL.

The cruise ship in Japan during covid where noone could get off decided it for me. No thanks.

I have been on a few cruises. Post Covid I think there has been a real decline in what you get now. I still really the concept and waking up somewhere new everyday is the best.
I think really it's the other passengers. I'll talk to anyone so not a snob in that sense but some of the guests are really mind boggling. There is a lot of seriously obese people endlessly eating everywhere round the ship.

@halava TBH I think cruise companies are stitching themselves up here. They've all got numerous package add on with increasingly complicated rules and pricing. I mean essentially they are all the same idea but it's a bit stressful if you don't know what speciality dining is for example or why you might want it given the amount of included food options.

Princess have the medallion which replaces the cruise card ( it's how you buy things on board). It's great but you do have to download multiple apps and have a smart phone and check your account everyday to make sure it's just your drinks because it follows you round and can randomly add on other orders.

Only thing I didn't like was the "servants" feel to all the staff, who can't do enough for you and seem happy enough but it does feel very like min wage Downton Abbey, especially uncomfortable because they aren't white and I don't like people waiting on me hand and foot in general, especially as some passengers seem to treat them like shit.

Also environmental issues and wastage of things like food are a big problem.

Exactly this. These are my issues with cruising too. I have been on two. One was a free Baltic cruise, twenty years ago (when I briefly worked as a travel agent). The other was about ten years ago when I’d had a large inheritance and was a bit mad with grief and wanted to treat the kids. There were aspects of both trips that I enjoyed, but overall I don’t want to do it again because of the environmental impact.

We did 11 weeks for a special birthday-Southampton to the Caribbean (Bermuda, the Bahamas) via the Azores, Panama, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Antarctica, Falklands, Uruguay, Brazil, Cape Verde, Southampton.

It was amazing and we loved it. It gives you tasters of places to go back to. So many places to see in the future, so little time 😃

Not for me. Tried a Russian cruise ship in the Black sea twice ( 2 h in and then 2 h back with some music and using the swimming pool) - both times developped 40C t and total sickness which lasted more than a week on the shore. NEVER AGAIN

Let other people rave about it and good luck to them but for me? No freaking way. I wouldn't go on a cruise ship if it was free. Just thinking about it sets off my claustrophobia. The thought of being trapped on a floaty thing with nothing but deep water all around, just no. I might be irrational but I just couldn't do it.

I went on a Caribbean cruise with a younger(17/18), wild friend and her family when I was (almost) 21, as a last minute replacement for her sibling.
It was a luxury American cruise ship and I was lucky that the wristband they gave me was an adult one, so we could drink.
The passengers were all families, couples and the elderly. We befriended a gay ex couple who did our hair for the gala dinners in exchange for letting them try on our dresses. They regaled us with lurid tales of their encounters with said family men in the ship’s sauna.
We had an absolute riot, flirting (and more🤭) with the Italian waiters and getting absolutely hammered.
I have vivid memories of waiting at the dock for my friend, who’d disappeared off with a random on a Caribbean island and wondering how on earth I was going to explain her disappearance to her parents and grandparents, before she bowled up on the back of a moped minutes prior to departure.
I’m not sure if I would do it again as am not really keen on other people and like to take my time exploring places, but have fabulous memories of a really fun and relaxing time.

Would love to cruise but no one to go with, also somewhat concerned about the environmental impact. I know they are trying to make these ships cleaner.

They’re not for everyone but we went in one last year, Cunard, from Southampton and around the western Med. first 2 days were hard work, trying to work out what to do and when. Once you start stopping at ports, it’s really nice and easy.
chill and let everyone do everything for you.

Definitely recommend Cunard, very few kids so this helps!

That is dreadful. I knew they were damaging but that's almost unbelievably terrible.

I went on a celebrity one years ago and it was heaven

You don't need anyone to go with. I've done the vast majority of my cruises solo. It's such an easy safe way to holiday as a lone woman.

People like them for different reasons, I like them because it's a road trip that someone else does the driving, it moves when you are asleep. The food varies a bit but is generally good, some are ai, others aren't

I use Bolsover they are excellent.

Edit we sail with celebrity but have our first Regent one booked. They can be as relaxing or as busy as you like.

I like the lectures, dh the casino. We research our own trips and tend not to do cruise ship tours as they can be expensive.

We usually cruise once every few years and then land holidays as I don’t like flip and flop holidays.

Ignorance?

Hurtigruten is very sustainable as it serves the coastal communities but the ships are lovely - small numbers of passengers compared with conventional cruises but amazing food (all local), numerous places to see along the route (including the northern lights) and gorgeous cabins.

It's interesting that a lot of people who detest cruises have never been on one

Well, we love them and have been on several. We chose port intensive cruises and do our own thing when off the ship. On board you can do as much or as little as you like. You can eat in anything from a coffee shop to the buffet to celebrity chef restaurants and then dessert restaurants, cheese and wine bars etc. I could go on. Not once have we suffered food poisoning or noro. We’ve met lovely people, kids are well taken care of and the entertainment has been brilliant ranging from cirque du soleil to full on concerts.

As someone above said, the idea of camping or a week in Cornwall or self catering or AI at a Turkish resort is not for me at all. Just as well we are all different.

I did that last year. Nothing to compare to as I did it as a trial (doing a Canaries one later this year with DP).

I loved it. Sleeps 500, had about 130 on it, so very quiet. There were day guests but that was no issue. And yes, there is goods being loaded and unloaded at port but that has no impact on you at all.

Re sea sickness. I get very seasick so was worried. But I took (non drowsy) tablets and actually by the third day I didn't need them. I took sleeping tablets at night (which was when the ship went out to sea) just in case. But I was fine.

The fjords are amazing.

Looking forward to the one later this year. We only did it because DP's daughter works for the cruise line so we get a significant discount. She's showing us around the Queen Mary this weekend which I'm also looking forward to!

With the Canaries, I've already been to most of the stops, so for me it's just a floating hotel with a local lunch at each stop. And I don't have to buy food or cook!