I've never been on one but pretty sure some of you will have. To be clear here, I'm not talking about anything other than the boat in a water type Where did you go, what company, how long and what tips, hints can you pass on to anyone who never has cruised. I fancy treating myself to one somewhere from next april onwards
My mate has just been on one with his wife, round the Med. He loved it and reckons the boats are full of rich widows.
Yup just came back yesterday after 2 weeks around Meddi with P&O. Didn't do any of the arranged stuff on the ship and our own thing in ports and had a great time.
Never fancied it as I assumed it had as much atmosphere as a travelling Membury Services combined with an OAP coach trip...
We’ve never been on one but 2 weeks ago one of our friends, on a cruise with his wife and son, took very ill off the coast of Florida and they couldn’t get medical attention and couldn’t dock because of hurricane Dorian. Apparently an abscess burst in his stomach and they thought he had sepsis too. So it was serious. Anyway after 3 days they managed to dock and he was immediately taken to hospital in Fort Lauderdale. To cut a long story short he had to have an operation, and two blood transfusions, and he now has a colostomy bag fitted We FaceTimed him this morning and he was looking very grey, and has apparently lost two stone in weight. No doubt next time he wants to go on a cruise he’ll check out the medical facilities on the shop before booking it
Depends what you are looking for. Black tie dinners, casino, sun bathing, plenty of bars, fast food type place, hotel buffet type food. Gym, sauna etc. We did med and got off to Pompeii, Monaco, Rome, had a day docked on boat just doing typical round the pool stuff. If you can afford it, outside cabin with balcony worth it ime
I'm glad he's okay. Didn't he know it is hurricane season in the florida/carribbean region every year which officially runs between 1 June and 30 November. However, the high-risk period is typically confined to a short period from mid-August to early October
We've done a few with different companies, and now have decided P & O or Cunard suit us best. They attract the older age group and you can choose whether to dress up for the gala dinners. Broadband is very expensive, they have quiet areas (suits the wife), great food, good choice of daily entertainment and it has to be a balcony. Big attraction for me though, is they let you bring alcohol on board to keep in your cabin
We took 2 litres of whisky with us and had a drink each evening on the balcony. Very civilised. A word of warning though, if you bring any more booze from shoreside, they take it off you and give it back at the end of the trip... Drinks prices are about the same as a good hotel reckon we spent around £500 on booze in two weeks
Went on a 7 day Celebrity Alaskan cruise inside passage. Round trip from Seattle to Vancouver B.C.. We upgraded to a room with a Veranda, didn't feel as cooped up. Well worth it. It was in July and night time skies were like twilight so not dark. If you tend towards seasickness, take Dramamine for the first couple of days or so(and don't eat a ton of food just because it's there). You will feel tired but at least not sick. Our favorite stop was Sitka. We avoided the tourist shops and visited with the owner of a surf shop. Apparently Sitka attracts surfers from around the world when storms come through and produce huge waves. Who knew!? We had a good time, been there done that though. Would actually like to do an inland trip up there sometime or go to Iceland next.
My worst nightmare. Crammed together , herded around like sheep, outbreaks of Norovirus. Each to their own of course
Curious about this myself. Recently on a holiday in Rhodes, we saw a number of the large cruise ships come in to the harbour. The idea of visiting a number of Greek islands etc on one of the cruise ships appealed, we are looking at a Med cruise June 2020.
Did one with the kids when they where around six years old, Royal Caribbean , independence of the seas, kids entertainment programme is outstanding, so is the food, very little to be desired, good experience, who would have thought cruising is not just for The elderly lol.
I would love to visit the Greek islands in this way, but only if I was guaranteed an adventure as detailed in John Fowles' The Magus. The nearest I have been to a cruise is the cross-channel ferries (and a water taxi in Dubai). My dear old Mom went on many cruises towards the end of her life, including a round-the-world one. Her advice would be pick a smallish cruise-liner: if you meet people you like to chat to (she loved chatting to people), they have fewer places to hide from you on a smaller ship. She would also have advised you that a forty-five degree list is nothing to be worried about, as modern ships are designed to cope with that.
Recently, end of April, did a week in Iceland doing a self drive tour. Fan bloody tastic! Then went to Vancouver and did a week on Holland America line doing the Alaska inner passage cruise. Certainly wasn't packed with rich widows, was good tho but prob not my thing. But Alaska is so remote, this is a good way to see it. Iceland for the win, IMO!
Never fancied it, partly because I refuse to acknowledge my real age & partly because I hate the idea of arranged or forced holidays, however I do know a couple of friends that have done it recently. The wife loved it, the husband not so much. Said that the novelty of seeing all of these places (Scandinavian trip) was lost to him by the fact that they had just 6 hrs in Oslo, 4 in Copenhagen & passing visits here & there. Can’t see me trying it but each to their own I guess
Would HIGHLY recommend Cunard, especially on Queen Victoria (Med twice and once on the round-the world). From experience, P&O tends to be full of old "whenies" (when I was on Oriana, when I was on Britannia, when I was on Arcadia... etc... etc...). Their customer loyalty scheme is legendary - mainly for creating snobbery... (Also Med) Star Line - very good if you want to go to the far east (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia).
