Very large cruise ships - pros and cons

We’ve been on 7 cruises and have never been ill on one. They’ve all been adults only and I imagine noravirus is far more likely on ships carrying children. 3 out of 5 GC’s have given me noravirus at some point while being looked after by us. DH has never caught it so he must be immune as is DD2 who has also never had it.

As for sewage, everyone is in one place, so a ship carrying 3000 passengers and 1000 crew are not creating any more or consuming extra energy as they are not at home (not that I’ve cruised on a large ship). On our last cruise we went up to the captains’s bridge and got a lengthy talk on sewage treatment and disposal.

I have been on several cruises on ships of various sizes. I must admit the smaller ships are much more pleasant and I do prefer the adult only ships.
Some people seem to think that it is perfectly acceptable to chuck their kids out of the cabins in the morning and say ‘see you tonight in the buffet! The children run riot on the ships and play in the elevators as well as running and squealing in passageways…………why do some parents think that everyone else is their personal unpaid childminder? I ask this after stopping two children climbing the deck rails last year……..had they fallen overboard, whose fault would that be? The crew were brilliant but the parents just grunted and walked away !

My daughter is just back from Germany, she is quite poorly with Covid
I’m not a cruise fan but I have heard of more people getting Covid on flights than a cruise

Of course nobody wants to become ill on holiday but cruise ships have pretty impressive medical centres on board and no waiting a week to see the doctor!
I have had a couple of minor problems on board and on each occasion I saw the doctor virtually straight away.

It’s surprising what they can deal with, including plastering fractures.

Considering the large number of ships cruising all round the world at any given time, covid or norovirus outbreaks on board are relatively rare occurrences
They tend to make the headlines though which gives a slightly distorted picture.

windmill I was just mentioning the typical comment made by people who have never been on a cruise and won't be going on one ever. I don't know where karma comes into it. We're not going on any other cruises.
Infectious diseases can be caught anywhere there are people living in close proximity like eg towns and cities.

I caught Covid on my very last day on board a ship this year. No one cared and no one told us to isolate ( though I did ) . I then flew home and no one cares anymore. I suppose most of us are immunised now and it is treated like a common cold. When I caught it on Norfolk Island a few years earlier it was treated like the plague and I had to cancel my flight and isolate for a week in a small hotel room.

Aveline

How people love to go on about illness on cruise ships. I'm just waiting for the classic 'floating Petri dishes: comments.
I've been on many cruises. The worst norovirus I ever had was at a hotel in the Scottish borders.

Don't be so smug, Aveline. Karma?

We’ve been on two, 2015 and 16, one in the Mediterranean one the Caribbean, both with Costa, ships were about 2,000 capacity and not full. Loved both of them, very informal, no rampant illness on board and we only took one organised trip, the rest we did on our own, great fun with local people.
We wouldn’t do any more, sort of been there and done it, certainly not in the tower blocks we see docking in Southampton.

I was persuaded (copious amounts of wine was involved) to go on a Norwegian Fjords cruise, I had nothing to do with the booking apart from insisting I had a balcony and a sitting room so that I could avoid people if need be.

This was just after Covid (2022) a negative test was required for embarkation.

I enjoyed it, the ship wasn’t at full passenger capacity, never went into the main buffet dining room, we had a smaller restaurant (60 covers) which we used for breakfast and dinner, lunch was ashore, or a glass of wine and packet of crisps (don’t judge it was a holiday)

The Fjords were stunning, food and service excellent, but I will not rush to go on other one, it just wasn’t for me, fortunately DH feels the same.

In my photographer days I took a photo of a cruise ship moored in Venice. From the angle where I was it dwarfed StMarks. I am glad the authorities there have had the courage to eschew the tourist income and ban them. It was quite a shocking sight.
I have many friends who go on cruises regularly, but I have decided it is not for me. Maybe a very small river cruise, but the excursions do not appeal to me.... herded about in a gang.
The ships are simply too big.

Nothing except sheer economics can justify these huge ships. They are a menace when they put into a port. Too many people flooding even big towns all at once.

They should be made to go to sea and stay at sea until they return to their home port, with no land stops at all.

As, for travelling on one, I shudder at the thought. I ddi one short cruise on the QM3, beautiful luxury cruiser, the best of everything, I didn't hate it, but I would never want to do another cruise, too many people everywhere, ports we visited so overwhelmed by visitors we could not see or experience anything.

We liked the small Viking ocean ships. Much smaller and more navigable. Lovely to get into smaller ports.

I agree with Madeleine45 above. The Fred Olsen small ship cruises are more expensive, but excellent, visiting more unusual places with optional small group tours. We've never been unwell on one.

Such a large number of people landing in a small place can feel overwhelming.
In Bergen, you need to be on the funicular before the cruise ship arrives, or you'll have to join a very long queue.
I would have thought that a smaller ship would be easier for everyone to manage, and give the cruisers a better experience.

How people love to go on about illness on cruise ships. I'm just waiting for the classic 'floating Petri dishes: comments.
I've been on many cruises. The worst norovirus I ever had was at a hotel in the Scottish borders.

There are too many tales of mystery viruses ripping through these monstrosities and passengers being inflicted with collective diarrohea all round. An experience of a lifetime alright.

They are definitely addictive. Just writing about them has made me want to check out another !

The remote countries seem to like them because of the revenue. They set up on ‘uninhabited’ islands with local crafts, drinks etc. Talking Mystery Island, Dravuni etc. The only way you’d get to them is by boat and if you walk a couple of kms. You can escape the crowds. Heaven. We have been on several cruises to these places over the years.

We spent 35 years holidaying in a touring caravan (and are still doing in the UK) - initially in the UK and then about 20 years in Europe. We always shunned package holidays and loved the freedom of having our own accommodation and flexibility. Since retiring 15 years ago, we have been on 4 relatively short cruises and were surprised at how much we enjoyed them, so much so that we did our first World Cruise in 2020. It was FANTASTIC. Sadly COVID hit part way round the world meaning we could go nowhere but the ship. Everyone was "in the same boat" and the cameraderie had to be experienced to be believed. Fortunately there was no COVID on our ship, but we did get a substantial sum towards another cruise, so in 2023 we did our second World Cruise to catch all the places we had missed on the first one. Several others on the ship had been on the previous one, and as a result we made some now permanent friends. Next January, health permitting, we are doing our third (and possibly final) World Cruise with some different destinations.

It is true that you generally only get a day (or two) in each location (port charges are enormous), but the choice of shore trips is extensive and you can, of course, do your own thing.

We like a medium-sized ship - large enough to provide variety but small enough to meet the same people several times and make friends. Also the choice of on-board classes, shows, games, bars, speakers etc is more varied than with smaller ships. However we wouldn't want to go on one of the newer "giants" as you would find it difficult to make friends amongst so many.

We certainly spent money on-shore. Authentic meals, souvenirs, local arts and crafts etc. and enjoyed seeing something of the local life. In some of the poorer countries the arrival of a ship brought out local treats of music and dancing, including by local children in national costume, as well as famous landmarks, temples etc with experienced and knowledgeable guides. DH got his dream of attending opera at the Sydney Opera House (definitely without me!). I also got the chance to meet with a cousin who emigrated to Australia in 1972 - 48 years earlier! We also met his lovely Phillipino wife and their daughter, as well as the family of my late cousin in New Zealand, who had sadly died the year before.

It is not true that cruise ships are always a bad thing. All travel uses up resources, but there are strict maritime regulations regarding waste disposal and many ships handle it all on board. Some ports rely on the cruise industry for major parts of their economy.

Nor did we experience hoardes of cruisers clogging up towns, as shore trips were expertly organised and at staggered times.

Cruise cabins are not luxurious but of good standard. Occasional hiccups arise now and again (particularly with the plumbing!) but are dealt with quickly.

On the 2023 cruise there were few outbreaks of Covid among the cruisers who were immediately confined to their cabins and apparently well-treated.

We only wish we had discovered cruising earlier, though we probably would have no money left by now!

Apologies, that's a rather boring link, this is more interesting

share.google/hfKVpjoluvm7PxlG6

Here's a very interesting report from Orkney Islands Council on the impact/benefit of cruise ships. Seems they generate £12-15million a year towards the economy. The council are now considering a £5 tourist tax to be paid by each visitor.

Council backs cruise ship levy share.google/RSGlWBHLNtnKReKYI

Romola

A friend of mine is a guide in the cathedral of a city not far from a cruise port. Hundreds of passengers get bussed to the cathedral and the place is suddenly overwhelmed. Most of the tourists just want to walk round quickly and then maybe find a cafe before getting bussed back to the ship. What is the point?

Would that be Canterbury by any chance?
I can see the cruise ships from my window when they are in Dover and, rightly or wrongly, I like seeing them. They bring a bit of life to the Western part if the Port.
That said, I wish we could have Hovercraft back in Dover. Those were the days!
I gave no urge to go on a cruise ship though. My idea of hell. especially if the whole ship gets infected with one of those bugs. Ugh!

If you are ever in Southampton, pop into John Lewis and in their "Place to eat" on the top floor you can sit by the window and see the very, very Large Cruise ships lining up to leave in the Docks.
They are massive, like blocks of flats.

We dropped off our DS and his family a couple of weeks ago, to one of the Cunard berths,they sailed on Queen Anne she big but not as big as some of the others.

I did a Mini cruise on one of the Cunard Ships a while ago, spent all my time being "Mel de mer" never again.

My idea of hell too...you couldn't pay me enough to go on one.

I used to sail my own yacht all over the place, and would absolutely hate to be on a large ship . absolutely not anything I would want to do. However I have had a couple of very good trips with Fred Olsen cruises. Been up to the artic circle . They are smaller ships, with very good facilities. Their libraries etc are all very good. They have extremely good speakers , who really know the area you are going to, and they also had some people doing whale watching , which I was very interested in. Being a smaller ship they could get into areas that the bigger ships could not , so would suggest that you look at them and see if one of their cruises suits you. They also had things like Bridge classes where the people running it could provide opportunity to learn some new ideas and have the chance to play games at a variety of levels. I am not a great sleeper and of course from sailing my own boat always enjoyed the navigation, so would wander up to the observation deck in the night time and could watch the lights etc. Like all of these cruise companies they of course would like you to buy their Wifi, or drinks package etc. But that is up to you. I am very strong minded and know exactly what I want to do and so forth, so was perfectly happy with my choices. Having lived in Portugal for 2 years, speaking portuguese etc I just went ashore in Madeira and Lisbon and went off on my own and got the local bus etc. So you can choose the level of things you want to do. Found a mix of people, mostly very pleasant, but I just joined in as I wanted and there were one or two couples who wanted to do the "I've been more places than you" type thing, but they didnt bother me,and only on one occasion there was a man who began that sort of thing, but I found it amusing when he asked if I had ever been to syria - obviously about to tell some great tale about his visit but when I said I had lived in Damascus he quickly went onto some other topic!! So I do think you need to think what gives you pleasure and be aware that you can walk quite a way to various things on board, It can be very good if you go with some one who has different interests , so you have that opportunity to get together with others who enjoy your hobby and then meet up later. Hope you find something that appeals to you.