Very large cruise ships - pros and cons

Greenfinch

I have heard this tooAveline about people who know they are unlikely to return. I have been told that some cruise ships carry up to seven coffins. Gruesome thought!

That's the whole point of the Australian ones. If people are lucky their ticket lasts them for ten years - if not, they die in six months, and the costs to the company even out. For people without friends and family there must be worse ways to see out your last days, and visitors are allowed on board for a charge of about £100 a day, so if you do have family you could meet on birthdays and so on.

It's no more gruesome than going into a care home knowing that you won't come out. Both can be good places to be, but the cruise ship is likely to be more luxurious and the weather will be better.

I have heard this tooAveline about people who know they are unlikely to return. I have been told that some cruise ships carry up to seven coffins. Gruesome thought!

A ships doctor once told us about patients who go on world cruises to die! Full medical histories etc all supplied. It's a gamble of course. Apparently, one such trip the patient died almost straightaway but her husband continued for the rest of the cruise. These world cruises last around three months.
There was a lady who lived on board the QE2.

I've been reading about an Australian company who sells open-ended tickets for older people to cruise instead of going into retirement homes. They have medical care on board, get three meals a day, entertainment and company in far more luxurious surroundings than the average home can offer. Apparently the tickets are priced according to age (and therefore probable life expectancy).

A friend of mine used to play music on cruise ships and told me that if he needs to go into residential care he would consider it himself, as lots of British cruisers sell up and book back to back trips so are effectively doing the same thing.

It doesn't appeal to me now, but if I lived alone and faced going into a home I can see how it might. I don't know what happens if a passenger gets Dementia though. I doubt there will be nursing care for that.

With cruises, as with anything else we you get what you pay for. Those ghastly megaships are indeed Butlins at sea. However, smaller ships are much nicer and cango to smaller ports. Of course the smaller ships are more expensive unless you can find a special deal. Usually they are all inclusive too so no big bill before disembarkation.

Not for me...3000 people!Nope

The idea of going to sleep in a port in one city and waking in another is lovely, but that is where the charms fizzle out - our in laws have been keen on cruises for years, but the last two have been disastrous - evidently 'Butlins on sea', with thousands of children racing about, food ordered on an app, and a feeling of being in a jostling crowd continually when not in the cabin.

Only ever been a Nile Cruise years ago 1998 with Thompson, now Tui. Then spent a week staying in Luxor

Very enjoyable and relaxing and all those great Egyptian temple, history etc to see.

Big cruise ships sound like hell on earth to be honest. Not my scene at all.

Why not try a cruise around the Greek Islands or the Med for a couple of weeks on a smaller ship.and more low key.

With a company like Saga or Fred Olsen.

Anyway., wherever you go.
Enjoy

🌞🌻😍
xxx

The most wonderful holiday I ever had was a cruise on the Queen Mary to New York with no stops. 7 days at sea. It was before Covid. I loved it. No one was ill. We had a wonderful time

I always book a cruise but have never been on the very large ships. I think it would be too noisy and busy for me.

I go on holiday on my own and, for me . this is the ideal way to travel. I have company when I need it and quiet times too. When I embark, my luggage disappears only to find me later on. I can spend as much time as needed unpacking with no hassle timewise.

I am happy to navigate many cities and ports on my own but always go with a group if uncertain about where we have reached. Most of all I feel safe and have been able to travel to so many places.

I would hate cruising I would feel caged. Aside from that cruise ships are shocking polluters worse than all other forms of transport.

Well, the thread did ask for the pros and cons?

Maybe there should be a ‘ pros and cons of camping’ thread.

I suspect there wouldn’t be many pros, but who knows ?!

Yet another anti cruise thread! At least there hasn’t been one for a while.
Please just “live and let live.”
I haven’t posted any threads on holidays I wouldn’t wish to take so here goes!
Self catering. I do enough cooking etc at home.
Stays in wet, windy, cold and remote places.
Camping or caravanning.
Anything involving sport eg skiing or golf.
Any trip involving staying in different places. Too much packing and unpacking.
My favourite is a cruise but I agree it’s important to be selective regarding the ship and the destination. I like busy places and meeting new people and entertainment.
We do take short breaks in hotels in the UK but not in remote spots.
Please don’t keep criticising cruises especially if you’ve never been. As for catching illnesses, I’ve been on over 15 cruises and have never been aware of exceptional numbers of people being unwell. No different from any crowded place such as public transport, theatres or cinemas, supermarkets etc.

I've been on a number of cruises on large ships and probably didn't see half of them as we were ashore during the da. evening meal then off to see a show.

I have been on 3 cruises with a friend who is an expert cruiser, having been on cruises with a disabled partner. The cruise liners were small , friendly and helpful and all inclusive. You only need to take spending money. I do not think I fancy a very large ship. Another friend went on a large ship with a low initial price but ended up paying more than I did for All Inclusive.. Do your sums The cost of internet, drinks, trips and tips add up to a lot of money.

'Butlins-on-Sea' springs to mind when I see adverts for cruises but then we don't like crowds. We take our caravan off to the far reaches of Scotland for the peace and quiet but each to their own, we can't all be the same

Ingnor the "When we" - should have previewed my message

We don't like the idea of going on one of the enormous ships but we have been on 2 Saga cruises. There are fewer than 1000 passengers and of course it's over 50's only. We've done our share of family holidays! The first was a week to the Norwegian fjords and the second was 2 weeks to Portugal and the Azores. We enjoyed both holidays. We saw some beautiful places and felt thoroughly spoilt onboard the ships. However, we wouldn't just spend our holidays on cruises - too expensive for us for a start! We like to vary our precious holidays and we also love to travel around Britain as much as possible while we're still fit and able to do so.

Whilst on our Norwegian cruise we met a couple who had been on 25 cruises but each to their own.

When we

We are cruise addicts and have been on very small ships and one or two giants (6000+).
We don’t like the giants. We chose them because of the itinerary. We do see their attraction to others. They have great facilities and lots to do, especially for families.
We really don’t have any need for a climbing wall, surf rider, waterchute of burger bar, but our son and his teenage kids think they are great. Stick to the smaller ships and companies and you can see the world in comfort.

I've done a few ocean cruises, always on ships carrying under 2000 passengers. The last one was up the Norwegian coast to the Arctic Circle and Svalbard - very interesting but too many days at sea, even though you can whale watch. We always book a junior suite with balcony, don't bother with the entertainment and mostly organise our shore days ourselves. I've seen the huge cruise ships in Madeira and Venice take over the towns. I don't want to do another ocean cruise but I suspect DH is thinking about it.

I have enjoyed a few cruises with my parents when they were getting less mobile on some of the smaller ships.
It enabled us to spend time together and all have something we enjoyed and a way for them to have a different view each day even if they didn't get off to explore.
If one of us did go off ship, then the others would have plenty to entertain them.
It wouldn't be my first choice of holiday and I would not want to go on one of the huge ships but it was a nice experience.

Huge cruise ships come into the Firth of Forth. They are too large to dock. I was in South Queensferry and there was one on the other side of the Forth rail bridge near the Fife shore. The sea was completely calm but suddenly suddenly there was a loud noise and white capped waves began breaking on the shore in front of us. I thought a storm had suddenly arisen but then I noticed in the far distance the huge ship had slightly turned its position. Extraordinary. Like a mountain. Little orange boats like bugs were moored to what looked like doors at its waterline. I could only make this out through binoculars. I think they were to take people on and off. I live in Edinburgh and I believe they do swamp the city centre but it is such a tourist trap anyway and has become ersatz as places of mass tourism do.

We went on a cruise ship that had 3,600 passengers and although we found nothing to complain about, we wouldn't do another one unless it was a much smaller ship.

I enjoy cruising, I think you have to choose carefully the type of ship that suits you, we went with Cunard which have smaller ships they were great. We once went on a large ship for a short break, but it was far too crowded , long queues at bars and restaurants wouldn’t do that again.