Is this it for cruise holidays?

[T4tomo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwj342k62exyo

This particular "live out your life at sea" has had more that it fair share of "teething troubles" with people having to air B&B it in Belfast due to a delayed start.

I know Asia has been hardest hit by fuel price rises due its distance from alternative supplies and routes, but this could ruin the "big cruise" industry Trump, Tehran & the Houties keep up their shenanigans.

I personally don't like the whole concept of cruise holidays. Port destinations get overrun with a mass influx of tourists for a short time, who spend negligible amounts in the local economy compared to a proper tourist as the passenger spend goes to the multi national cruise company, who generally employ cheap "foreign" labour and dodge taxes in most of the jurisdictions that they visit or source passengers from.

 

[steverob]

If the cruise industry could survive Covid, they'll pretty much survive anything. Sure there'll be price rises and some of the smaller players will go out of business or be gobbled up by the industry giants, but cruising will somehow always limp on.

For the record I have been on precisely one cruise and that was to Alaska, where most of the places we visited could only be accessed by boat or plane anyway, so it made sense to do a cruise. However on the two days we weren't visiting a port, I was bored stiff after a few hours, so there's no way I'd be interested in one of those cruises where you cross a whole ocean or something like that.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

The eternally ever-popular cruise holiday is my idea of hell-on-Earth.

Over-priced holiday camps on the ocean with swathes of noisey bug-spreading company invading your space whilst the cruise company fleeces your bank account.

I watched a couple of 'Walk with Tim' vids on YT re cruises and they were ghastly, especially one from the UAE.

I would've thought that the stranded passengers were enjoying their abandonment, as they are clearly masochists by nature.

 

[Alex321]

The eternally ever-popular cruise holiday is my idea of hell-on-Earth.

Over-priced holiday camps on the ocean with swathes of noisey bug-spreading company invading your space whilst the cruise company fleeces your bank account.

I watched a couple of 'Walk with Tim' vids on YT re cruises and they were ghastly, especially one from the UAE.

I would've thought that the stranded passengers were enjoying their abandonment, as they are clearly masochists by nature.

Different people enjoy different things.

I'm with you on large ocean cruises, but I can understand why certain types of people would like them.

River cruises, and Yacht cruises however, are a very different thing, and we have enjoyed several river cruises, and considered a Croatian yacht cruise.

 

[wakemalcolm]

Every time I hear about holidays that I wouldn't take for free being untenable (ie cruises and trips to Dubai) it just makes me sad that demand for the ones I want to take will increase.

 

[fossyant]

I recon I could do a river cruise on the Danube (loads to chose from) but anything else, nope. I'd be bored.

 

[T4tomo]

I would've thought that the stranded passengers were enjoying their abandonment, as they are clearly masochists by nature.

I imagine a port city in Cambodia will wear thin pretty quicker though, although they are pretty close to Phu Quoc island if they want to disembark for a week or two of R&R at their own expense, which will be this issue as such of cruise is funded on based that you wont be shelling out extra for Board and lodgings elsewhere.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Every time I hear about holidays that I wouldn't take for free being untenable (ie cruises and trips to Dubai) it just makes me sad that demand for the ones I want to take will increase.

It is beyond my comprehension as to why Dubai is such a popular destination.

Even setting aside the dubious politics of the place, it is a hideous monument to excess and offers up no appeal to me.

 

[wakemalcolm]

My local piece of seafront has an uncomfortable relationship with the cruise industry.

The area is completely taken over with an operation that seems to be focussed on taking the inmates straight off the boat and onto waiting buses headed straight for the city centre.

I guess the quid that they get for their pro quo is that tendering takes so long that some people must be waiting so long that they end up spending more than just a penny in the interim.

 

[a.twiddler]

The "live your life out at sea" experience is one that is pretty exclusive, and far from the average cruise goer's territory. Average is hard to define, there are cruises and there are cruises.

As someone for whom hell is other people, particularly en masse, even a package holiday doesn't appeal, yet I somehow managed to enjoy an all in family holiday in Fuertaventura quite a few years ago. We tried a cruise holiday a couple of decades ago much to my trepidation and I actually enjoyed it. It's easy to get fixated on the potential drawbacks, but you don't have to be part of the herd if you don't want to. For me, just being on board ship is an experience. I like to keep it simple, seeing places from a different point of view. My wife likes all the fantasy stuff, opportunity to get your glad rags on, shows, etc. Once you have the information, certain ports can be done on your own, but othesr are best done with organised visits.

We have done some cruises since, none since Covid, but I would certainly do it again if the chance came up. The ability to do it without flying is a big plus, I've found. A fly cruise involves the worst of both worlds, baggage restrictions, horrible airports et al.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

We have done three cruises.

First two involved spending a day at a location, getting back on board in time for dinner, post dinner entertainment and bed then waking up somewhere different. They were great as we travelled during times that would otherwise have been wasted.

The third one involved two separate instances of a whole day at sea. Not something I wish to repeat.

Covid pretty much confirmed that they are floating Petri dishes so I think my cruise days are over.

 

[Jameshow]

Id want to go up to the bridge and ask to steal the ship or go down to the engine rooms and see the big diesel engines!!🤣

 

[Brandane]

I have been on one cruise, under some pressure from my then fiancee. It was a Fred Olsen, from Newcastle down to several ports in Portugal, Spain, and France. I wasn't that keen on the idea but have to say I loved every minute. Not overcrowded at all, and plenty of space for solitude if we wanted it. Food was first class and plentiful, entertainment was good and not compulsory. Ports we visited (Porto, Lisbon, A Coruna, and Lorient are the ones I remember) were all good.

There were a few days spent at sea, obviously getting to/from Newcastle but I enjoyed them too. Something very relaxing about just sitting in a lounge or on deck watching the ocean. OK, at this point I will admit I was in the Merchant Navy for 3 years and have done stuff like New Zealand to the UK without seeing much land for 3 weeks other than the Panama canal, so it was just like the good old days for me.

Some of the more glitzy cruise ships hold little appeal to me, but I can see the attraction for the younger passenger. What might be of more interest to me is those few cargo ships with accommodation for a few passengers (again maybe influenced by my past). Problem being they run to a schedule for the cargo, not the passengers, so you need to be very flexible with your plans, and not mind spending many days crossing oceans. And they are not particularly cheap any more.