Cruising

[Causewaygal]

I’ve been on quite a few, and wrote a book that was set on a cruise ship so that involved a few research trips. My husband only likes Holland America Line so that’s what we predominantly sail if we are together but I’ll venture to Celebrity every so often. We have celebrity to Galapagos booked for 2023 which should be amazing, and a Holland America inaugural cruise on their new ship booked for this year but I doubt that one will happen now I find cruises a good compromise for my husband and I, as I like exploring places but he just likes to chill, so port days are my thing and sea days are his. I’ve been back at a later date for a more in-depth visit to a lot of the countries I’ve visited on a cruise, after enjoying a place and wanting to see more. Plus I love ships and the whole engineering side of things

 

[Saddlesoap]

i work as a tour guide (when there's no rona of course) and i live in a city that is a very popular cruise destination
i've always wondered: what is it that you love so much about cruising? i don't understand it

Well, partly, my husband is in a wheelchair, so we get to travel easily.

Waking up in a new destination every day is fun. We've been to so many places we wouldn't have ever visited before. Admittedly you only see a teeny portion of them in the short time you're there, but better than never seeing it!

You are looked after so well.

So therapeutic looking out to sea, with nothing around you.

Couldn’t think of anything worse.

I mean, if someone kindly gifted me one, I wouldn’t say no, but the thought of being stuck on a boat sends me cray. All those people. All that water. All that travel for a day. No thank you.

Lols! It's not for everyone. Honestly though, the ships are so well laid out it doesn't feel like you are on it with thousands of other people (other than embarking on the first day when it is really busy and feels a bit much). You'd be surprised at how often you see the same people and the crew are do lovely and really want to look after you. Admittedly we may stand out a little, with husband being in a wheelchair, but regularly have our cabin number remembered, where in the restaurant we want to sit, what we like to drink and at what time of day. It's impressive.

 

[Naataaliiee]

I was extremely anti cruising pre 2018... the thought of being stuck on a ship and in the middle of nowhere terrified me. However my husband convinced me to sail on a Royal Caribbean ship around the Eastern Caribbean and it was genuinely the best holiday I have EVER had. I would cruise for every holiday for the remainder of my life (obviously excluding Covid related issues!!); it was just truly incredible.

 

[judsmum]

My first cruise was aged 9 on P&O’s Canberra in 1992! I have been on 53 cruises so far with either Princess or P&O. My son who is 9 has been on 9 of them with me and his dad. I’ve gone off P&O a bit over the last few years to be honest and only tend to go with princess now. Although after having so many of them cancelled over the last year I would sail on a dinghy if I could!

 

[Happy Lady]

I've been on nearly thirty cruises. Royal Caribbean are OK for the younger ones, but we now prefer Celebrity or Holland America. I can't fault cruising as we love waking up every day at different ports. Enjoy the food and entertainment. So much to see and do, but I also enjoy reading on my balcony with a drink or watching the pier runners

We were cruising the Panama Canal this time last year with not a care in the world. And should be cruising around the Caribbean right now but Covid had other ideas!

 

[Saddlesoap]

I loved the fact that even though there were a few thousand people on board, there were quiet little spots on the ship that you could just have some time to yourself. It was an amazing holiday.

Definitely this! My husband and I are pretty antisocial and we love sitting in one of the top deck bars during the day. They are closed, so no staff, so we get drinks elsewhere, but it's so nice to be away from the crowds around the pool.

 

[Tublet83]

As much as I love cruising, this video outlining all of the rules puts me off big time for the foreseeable future.


The main points made:
- All guests & crew must wear a 'contact tracelet' throughout the entire cruise except for when in stateroom.
- No available drinking taps on ship.
- Limited tables in dining venues (possible reservations though unclear).
- 5 people per hot tub/jacuzzi and 15 min time limit.
- Guests should remain in 'bubbles' with those from their respective party.
- Temperature checks at all onboard venues.
- Queues outside venues if over limit of people allowed in.
- Face coverings required around all areas of ship except bars.
- Guests not allowed to consume beverages outside of bars and restaurants.
- Limited seating in theatre.
- No physical menus in dining venues.
- Gym sessions must be pre booked.
- Social distancing: regardless of whether or not you are in their 'bubble', everyone must maintain 1m distancing from each other.
- All guests required to have negative COVID test prior to cruising.
- Health questionnaire to be taken and checked by staff prior to boarding. If not 'passed', you cannot board.

They can't actually expect people to pay thousands of pounds/dollars for this? Why would you voluntarily go somewhere which potentially has more restrictions than your own home country?

I like most of these, I don’t want to be anywhere near others guests

 

[Saddlesoap]

Inspired by the Q&A thread.

Who else is into cruising?

I love it. Honestly take me right now and put me on a ship somewhere and I'd be a happy girl.

My husband and I have done 5 now. Have more booked, planned, but thanks to 'Rona keep needing to change them.

 

[glasgow27]

Been on a total of 14 cruises since 2009. All with Royal Caribbean (the best line!) on 10 different ships. Royal has the biggest ships so it is a fantastic time. Plenty to do, different ports, at sea days. The chance to have decent food, the pool, relaxing. What else do you need that isn't on a large ship?

I really love the cruising experience and can't wait until I can go back again. Sadly an industry that really has no way to safely work around COVID so I don't see me going on one this year.

 

[Tublet83]

I’ve done a few and they are amazing for families, hassle free and get to wake up somewhere new everyday. We’ve always gone in big family groups, and it’s nice, because the ships are so big we can all do our thing and meet up etc, and you find everyone gets up to different things.

Meant to be on Disney this august for a Bahamas mini cruise (can’t see it happening )

Have moved a P&O booking from 2020, to 2021 and now 2022.

 

[glasgow27]

Royal Caribbean seem to be slowly giving up on Southampton I think, even before covid there was a lot less choices the past couple of years to the years before.

They've went down from 2 ships to 1 ship in favour of short Caribbean cruises (which appears to be quite a lucrative market). The ship they have in Southampton (Anthem) is a newer, larger one (though actually my least favourite) so they're probably not giving up but more that they're less invested now. I'm gutted that they sent the other ship (Independence) to the Caribbean, she was great and really popular in the UK so a baffling decision.

 

[Renegadedancer]

I always turned my nose up, then went on one in 2019 from Barcelona and around Spain and Italy. Absolutely loved everything about it. Short plane journey from UK to Barcelona , stayed two nights in Barcelona before we boarded ship. We booked a suite ( which was not as grand as it sounds) but was lovely and had a big balcony and table and chairs. I loved watching from here to see the ship arriving and leaving port. The destinations were wonderful and I liked that you could do as much or as little as you want. A new destination every day. I don't think I would Like to go on one where there were too many sea days as I found that part all a bit busy. I’m booked to go on another this July but I cannot see it happening.

 

[Ohflogoff]

Couldn’t think of anything worse.

I mean, if someone kindly gifted me one, I wouldn’t say no, but the thought of being stuck on a boat sends me cray. All those people. All that water. All that travel for a day. No thank you.

 

[Lollypad]

I don't blame you at all. I think you'll need to wait until the final balance is due (maybe around March) and hope it's cancelled. Unless they'll let you lift and shift your cruise into 2022 or 2023.

So P&O have been really good throughout actually - this was meant to be our honeymoon cruise last October (wedding didn’t happen either!) and they’ve let everyone move their cruise to higher or lower value whenever in the future which is great customer service, can’t fault them. We’ve just gone off the idea and need the money more than we need the idea of a holiday tbh

 

[ElectricDreams]

I love cruising! I did my first in 2011 and have done 10 since. I've done most of the Med, Adriatic and Greece, Norway and most recently the Caribbean, which was my my favourite. We came back from that one in March 2020 straight into lockdown. We didn't know our at the time but Covid was on the ship and the people who stayed on board were stranded for over a week.

We've got one booked for Jamaica, Cuba and central America for my birthday in February but I don't think it'll go.

It's my favourite way to travel, I love waking up in a different place every day. You do only get to see a snapshot of the place but we cram a lot in and do some amazing excursions. We've also been back to a couple of places for a land holiday based on how much we enjoyed it on the cruise. We did a cruise with a hotel stay in Majorca once and we found we just missed being on the ship!

 

[Fenella]

I'd like to try but from what I've seen on photos of friends who have been and enjoyed, is that they seem to be allocated a table at meal times and must stick to that. Or that its a shirt and tie and posh frock for evening dinner. Not that I would turn up in t-shirt and shorts. Please correct me if I am wrong. Also the husband has a chronic fear of heights and I doubt he'd cope with being on deck. Does anyone have any input on this?

I can’t help on the heights thing, you are high up I can’t deny that!

Dinner wise- in the main restaurant you get a choice when you book, usually 2 set dinner times (so like the 6.30 sitting or the 8.30 sitting). If you choose the set times you’ll get the same table each night. Which is nice as you can build rapport with your table neighbours etc. But we don’t want to be pinned down to the same time every day.
So we tend to go for the third option of ‘my time dining’ where you book like a normal restaurant once you are onboard and then you have different tables each time.

That’s only for the main dining room though, the buffet restaurant is go whenever you want and there are usually other places too (like a sandwich snack cafe, pizza place (which are drop in) and the speciality restaurants like sushi, steakhouse etc (which are bookable onboard).

 

[Saddlesoap]

I'd like to try but from what I've seen on photos of friends who have been and enjoyed, is that they seem to be allocated a table at meal times and must stick to that. Or that its a shirt and tie and posh frock for evening dinner. Not that I would turn up in t-shirt and shorts. Please correct me if I am wrong. Also the husband has a chronic fear of heights and I doubt he'd cope with being on deck. Does anyone have any input on this?

So...

Meal times are dependent on your package/ship. Some offer set times/tables, others offer more flexibility. My husband and I always choose to eat by ourselves, we are antisocial and our holidays are time together, not getting to know other people.

Formals are a very personal preference, but you don't have to take part. My husband and I will take outfits, and see how we feel, there's normally 3-4 on a 2 week cruise. If you don't want to dress up, then you can eat in the buffet. P&O won't let you in some bars on formal nights if your not in 'black tie', but personally it's a loose term. Men don't need a Tux, (suit with jacket and tie is enough) women can just wear something that you'd wear to a nice restaurant (doesn't need to be a ballgown!)
On a 'normal' night I'd just wear something simple, even just black skinnies and a nice top.

Heights is a funny one, I'm not scared of them, do maybe my view won't be accurate. But you don't feel 'high' on deck, unless you look over the railing. It's just like a floating hotel. Would he feel weird on a rooftop pool or bar in a hotel?

 

[elloelloello]

I’ve been on many cruises, mostly Caribbean and they are my favourite types of holidays. I haven’t been in one in about 7 years now but I’ve done Princess, P&O, and Royal Caribbean. I loved Princess but I think that’s because I have the best memories on them. I literally had a dream I was on a cruise last night, I was gutted when I woke up
I’ve managed to convince my partner to go on one (he’s never been on a cruise ship before) so hopefully that’s something we can book in next year.
Always been on Christmas cruises aswell, I love Christmas in the Caribbean

 

[Marmaladeapricot]

My grandparents used to take my brother and I when we were children, we went to the States and back across the Atlantic, a few European ones and a Bahamas one.. We loved it. But would be my idea of hell now stuck on a floating city with thousands of other people.

 

[Saddlesoap]

I like most of these, I don’t want to be anywhere near others guests

Me too! I was reading them all thinking fine, yep, ok, fine, ok......