Cruises? Do you love them/ hate them etc ?

I love cruising. I go as a single passenger and have company when needed and alone time when is wish. I am happy to wander in European cities by myself but buy a tour from the ship if we are in more unusual places or the city/town I want to see is a long way from the ship. It will be a while yet until I feel safe to sail but hope to start my holidays reasonably soon.

I went on a very short cruise to Norway many years ago but since then cruises just don’t appeal to me. Being trapped on a ship with hundreds/thousands of people would be a nightmare for me I like peace and quiet and I can’t imagine much peace onboard. I understand the appeal and each to his own but it’s not for me.

We’ve got one booked for next September......hope it’s a go!
Love them, and all the places I’ve been a privileged to see.

I ve never been on one so I guess shouldn’t really comment but I have a friend who goes on many, every year at huge expense (and always comes back a stone heavier) She loves them but what she talks about fills me with even more dislike The thought of being with so many people for days and weeks would horrify me I don’t mind crowds at all, in fact I find it interesting for short periods and as long as I can go home after being in them
The thought of people dressing up to go to dinner/evening meal ( I know it’s optional) but that’s so out my comfort zone
I m a casual dresser and an informal person
I know anyone from any walk of life (providing they have a few thousand to spare go on cruises) but I still feel they are for moneyed people I d rather sleep in a tent or caravan in the middle of a glorious wood and wander amongst the trees and flowers wakened by the bird song to be honest or a nice little B and B or cottage by the sea ( I love the sea but not with thousands of people I wouldn’t normally choose to have in my life)
Good job we re all different

No experiences of cruises, the longest journey I've ever done on a boat is to cross from Dover to Calais. I always thought I'd like to go on a cruise, but when the first cases of Covid emerged and it broke out on board a large cruise liner, can't remember the name of the ship, but so many people trapped on board for days turning into weeks that put an end to any such desires for me. In any case before Covid, I had also read about, I think Norovirus, similarly spreading like wildfire, and of course after what the world has been through I think we all have a heightened awareness of infections per se.

I really enjoy cruising but I am decidedly selective over size of ship. Small does it for me every time. The very thought of going on one of those gigantic vessels gives me shivers. I find them decidedly ugly and, ridiculously, I always imagine them toppling over because of the massive size of their superstructure. Daft....I know! To me my little ships have more of a friendliness but, at the end of the day, are just a pleasant wardrobe where I can wake up in a different place every day without having to re pack. Wonderful. I'm so lazy. I also love the freedom to indulge in multiple activities or none and to eat or drink of such variety for 24 hours each day if I so choose. Yes they suit me to a T but I am very selective. I should have had a couple of planned river ones under my belt by now but Covid stymied that. Roll on freedom!

I would never consider going on a cruise, it is my idea of a waking nightmare.
I have never taken a package holiday in my life and certainly would not want to be in a floating tower block,

Sad that such strong negative opinions on such fabulous happy times for me from posters.
It’s difficult for me to post and tell you the wonderful times to be had with such forceful negativity.
Our cruises have been saved up for and planned meticulously.
So not because we’ve a few £££ to throw away.
Not because we want to be on a floating tower block either.
There is a huge positive to gleaned but it’s the same as everything you do need to be open minded and know what you are talking about before commenting.

We’ve been on two, the Mediterranean in 2015 and Caribbean 2016, they weren’t megabucks. No formal dress required, that was a deliberate choice and they were smaller ships. We thoroughly enjoyed them, but wouldn’t do it again.

We haven't had a few cruises , DH was not keen initially but has enjoyed them . Yes lots of people but I have never had difficulty finding somewhere quiet to sit and read. I love sea days , love the ocean ! Dressing for dinner is not a big deal , some people do go ' overboard' excuse the pun!! but that is not necessary. I hate dressing up , so for me it's a long black skirt , no tights - flat comfy shoes and two or three different tops- job done! I am not remotely interested in sitting at the captains table either! Love waking up in different places , exploring new places then returning to the cool ship. I am always watching my weight and yes it would be very easy to put too much weight on. However in my experience fresh fruit , salads and cold meats are available. We do enjoy cruising but don't have many , we love our own country too. Think the Covid situation will curtail our sailing for sometime yet though. I can imagine why people think it would be their worst nightmare, but if they try it they may be surprised!

Have had a few cruises!

We had two successful cruises when our youngest son was 12 and 13, his older brother and sister were away at university so we thought he would have company.

We didn’t like the dressing for dinner as at the time we had a lot of formal dinners through my husbands work but I understand for some people that’s a big part of cruising.

We loved waking up in a different port and we discovered fabulous places some of which we have returned to.

Some people treated the ship as an all you can eat floating buffet, there was a lot of trouble around sun beds, we don’t tend to try and make friends on holiday but we noticed lots of couples and families had palled up.

All in all it’s been a good experience and one we may try again.

First cruised many years ago it was a Caribbean one that I'd won we paid to take our 14yr old son he did make friends and continued corresponding for a few years with a lad from Puerto Rico and he was the go between within the group being the only English Spanish speaker. At the time it was the largest ship but looking at them now they are far to large. Found the Americans were the ones for dressing up,although our table had two lovely other families who didn't so felt at home with them.
Our second cruise was a smaller ship on the Nile (another competition win) this was far nicer only 100 passengers very relaxing and more personal.
Would love to do an Alaskan cruise but the long flight would put DH off so looks like cruising off the agenda unless can get him to do European river cruise.

Personally, I can't think of anything worse than going on a cruise! The idea of being stuck on a boat with all those other people fills me with horror. I'm very open minded and will try most things, but I know cruising isn't for me.

I’d love to find out! I’ve heard a lot of good things about cruises but my OH isn’t really interested. I had just about persuaded him to consider a river cruise along the Rhine (he was born in Germany) but then Covid struck!

I am thinking about booking one for myself once things have settled down to the new normal.

I have never been on one,but dh`s friend goes on them at least twice a year and loves them.
I may be adventurous one day

Absolutely love cruises! Late DH and I did 3 or 4 together, and since he died I have been on both a river and an ocean cruise.

I only go on small ships, so not thousands of people, and have been happy to choose my own company or go and mix with other passengers. I love the dressing up for formal nights, and you always have the choice to choose an informal restaurant.

But the main attraction for me is just being at sea and the sea days are brilliant. Love sitting and relaxing with a book on deck. It's a 5 star hotel that sails to a different destination every day.

I have just booked a cruise for August next year, and am keeping my fingers crossed!

harrigran

I would never consider going on a cruise, it is my idea of a waking nightmare.
I have never taken a package holiday in my life and certainly would not want to be in a floating tower block,

We have done several cruises, but not in those 'floating tower blocks'. There are cruise companies that run smaller ships. The one we had many good times on has gone out of business, but I believe Fred Olsen has some samller ships. We found a passenger number of 4 - 500 was quite acceptable

About 15 years ago, my wife and I went on a couple of cruises on a relatively small ship (600-700 passengers). One was a Mediterranean cruise and one a Baltic cruise. We enjoyed the experience but we have never been tempted to take another cruise.

I've never been on a cruise but if I were on my own, I think it's something I might try. I think there's lots of different types of cruises and I'm sure I could find something I'd enjoy. A friend went on one with her husband and members of her family, she thought she'd hate it and tbh went under sufferance but much to her surprise she really enjoyed herself.

We went on a river cruise in 2019 and it was the best holiday I’ve ever had! I loved the small ship and the fact that there weren’t hordes of people, but really enjoyed getting to know some of the other passengers. We had booked one for last year, cancelled and tried again for our anniversary this year - cancelled. I’m looking forward to the time when I will feel safe to go again. Don’t know whether I fancy ocean cruising, the days just sailing kind of put me off a bit.

never been on one, can't afford it.....but, watched on tv a docu; when cruises go horribly wrong so would definitely not go on one.

www.channel5.com/show/when-cruises-go-horribly-wrong-other-travel-nightmares/

Went on a very eventful Nile cruise with DH and friends years ago. Other than ‘the events’ it was great and the excursions fabulous.
I’d do it again.

Pretty sure we had a thread like this quite recently. I’ve been on three. Two with another couple -river cruises so small boat. and one on our own also river but a bit of a night mare as day one you went and sat randomly at a table and then Found you had to stay there for every meal ……and we did not find the other people congenial! (Probably mutual) would never do it again if there wasn’t free seating