Just got back from our first ever cruise

[AlanW]

Flew to Palma from Birmingham to meet the cruise ship, then 7 days sailing around the Mediterranean. Stopping at Sardinia, Naples, Civitavecchia, Corsica, Palamos then back to Palma. Then 5 days staying in a hotel in Palma Nova at the end. Both the cruise and the hotel being all inclusive, and adults only.

A pleasant enough experience, but not sure its for us to be honest.

The amount of food and drink available was pretty much 24/7 was obscene, and the sheer gluttony of some people was really quite staggering! In some respects it made me feel quite guilty and sad when you read and see about the poverty in the world, and so much food goes to waste because peoples eyes are bigger then their stomachs. 😡

I have to say that the staff on board were simply amazing and worked so hard all of the time, they were all so very polite to.

We boarded the boat at 11am on the Tuesday morning, but we didn't set sail till 10pm on the Tuesday evening. We were at sea all day Wednesday and Wednesday night, then docked in Sardinia early on Thursday morning.

But once you were out of sight of land, the scenery looked the same, 12, 24, 36 hours later. Plus, there were only so many laps you could walk around the decks before you got bored to.

How folk can sit on a sun lounger for a day at a time is really beyond me, but each to their own I guess.

I was so glad to dock after the 7 days, and enjoy 5 days on land in Palma Nova, even if I need end up in hospital with a suspected blood clot! But 639 euros later, it turned out to be a muscle tear in my left calf from some over enthusiastic swimming in the pool

 

[markemark]

Cruises. Wetherspoons-On-Sea.

 

[Animo]

TBH whether it's on the sea or the land, 90% of the people in this country seem to think a holiday should involve lying immobile, roasting yourself in the sun all day while imbibing as much booze as possible from about 10 in the morning.

 

[Dave7]

I watch a cruise series on sky (all repeats now)......the quality of, well everything is amazing. The passengers interviewed seem to really enjoy it. Not something I have ever been tempted to try.

I had a friend (sadly passed away now) but he and his wife used to do at least 1 per year. They went on the ones where they had to dress up every evening.
Definitely not for me.

 

[Dave7]

TBH whether it's on the sea or the land, 90% of the people in this country seem to think a holiday should involve lying immobile, roasting yourself in the sun all day while imbibing as much booze as possible from about 10 in the morning.

I have tried to weigh that up over the years.
It's not for me but if, say, a guy works his socks of all year in a manual job and let's say he has 2 young kids that love to play in the pool all day.....maybe he just needs to relax and unwind.

 

[Emanresu]

Interesting looking at cruise ships from the landlubbers point of view. Cycled southern Italy last year and stopped at a few of the cruise ship ports. 3000 people or so disgorging onto buses to be taken to 'interesting places'. Or those that wanted to remain on board would take a walk around the port area - no more than a mile or so - where it was cafes and tourist tat shops. I wondered how they could tell one port from another. You see far, far more on a bike while touring around.

 

[markharry66]

have to say cruise wouldnt be for me either, have been all inclusive an experience I would never ever repeat again, like my local restuarnts to much, as for people on sun loungers a good book a glass of wine and a good snore in the hot sun never hurt anyone.

 

[AlanW]

I watch a cruise series on sky (all repeats now)......the quality of, well everything is amazing. The passengers interviewed seem to really enjoy it. Not something I have ever been tempted to try.

I had a friend (sadly passed away now) but he and his wife used to do at least 1 per year. They went on the ones where they had to dress up every evening.
Definitely not for me.

The presentation of the food was flawless, especially given the scale of the operation. I would loved to have been able to have a look behind the scenes to see how the kitchens managed such a gigantic task, day in, day out.
As for the quality of the food, while on the whole it was all very nice, but it wasn't anything really special, or prehaps l'm being a big harsh?
There was a "dress to impress" night everynight, and the lengths some people would go to in order to impress? It's a holiday ffs, the only clothes you need are flip flops and shorts!

 

[AlanW]

Interesting looking at cruise ships from the landlubbers point of view. Cycled southern Italy last year and stopped at a few of the cruise ship ports. 3000 people or so disgorging onto buses to be taken to 'interesting places'. Or those that wanted to remain on board would take a walk around the port area - no more than a mile or so - where it was cafes and tourist tat shops. I wondered how they could tell one port from another. You see far, far more on a bike while touring around.

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Totally agree, we only spent about 5 hours in Sardinia and Corsica, utter waste of time and a complete waste of resources etc.
Admittedly, the other stops were much better at around 12 to 13 hours, which gave you time to at least explore and visit places of interest.
Rome was incredible and l felt very ignorant that l didn't understand more about its history. The Vatican gave my goosebumps to be honest, l've never seen anything like it!! How the hell did they build it back then????

 

[Gwylan]

Cruises. Wetherspoons-On-Sea.

Or "The Ivy" if you pay a lot more.

 

[Gwylan]

Flew to Palma from Birmingham to meet the cruise ship, then 7 days sailing around the Mediterranean. Stopping at Sardinia, Naples, Civitavecchia, Corsica, Palamos then back to Palma. Then 5 days staying in a hotel in Palma Nova at the end. Both the cruise and the hotel being all inclusive, and adults only.

A pleasant enough experience, but not sure its for us to be honest.

The amount of food and drink available was pretty much 24/7 was obscene, and the sheer gluttony of some people was really quite staggering! In some respects it made me feel quite guilty and sad when you read and see about the poverty in the world, and so much food goes to waste because peoples eyes are bigger then their stomachs. 😡

I have to say that the staff on board were simply amazing and worked so hard all of the time, they were all so very polite to.

We boarded the boat at 11am on the Tuesday morning, but we didn't set sail till 10pm on the Tuesday evening. We were at sea all day Wednesday and Wednesday night, then docked in Sardinia early on Thursday morning.

But once you were out of sight of land, the scenery looked the same, 12, 24, 36 hours later. Plus, there were only so many laps you could walk around the decks before you got bored to.

How folk can sit on a sun lounger for a day at a time is really beyond me, but each to their own I guess.

I was so glad to dock after the 7 days, and enjoy 5 days on land in Palma Nova, even if I need end up in hospital with a suspected blood clot! But 639 euros later, it turned out to be a muscle tear in my left calf from some over enthusiastic swimming in the pool

Thank you. That was my uninformed impression.
Each to their own.

 

[Baldy]

I went on a cruise once, it was on the Grey Funnel Line. Southampton to the Falkland Islands. Can't say I was impressed, I certainly wouldn't go on another.

 

[AlanW]

Thank you. That was my uninformed impression.
Each to their own.

So many of my friends do cruises and absolutely love them, so maybe this wasn't the right cruise for us, I don't know? But I very much doubt if well try another one to be honest. I much preferred our time on land in Palma Nova when we were free to explore

 

[cisamcgu]

Spent 5 days cruising on the Nile from Aswan to Luxor - absolutely brilliant. Staff were great, cabin roomy, food excellent and the tours were just superb, I would do it again in an instant if I didn't have temple-fatigue

 

[DCLane]

My final year students are currently doing a case study on a cruise company, written by one of my colleagues who loves cruises.

Me? I won one back in 2008 - which was helpful as we hadn't a holiday booked - and enjoyed it. But whether I'd actually pay to go on one I'm unsure. Too many people, too little time at the places to visit, although on the prize cruise I did get to see Pompeii which is somewhere I'd always wanted to see. For us the best days of the cruise were the two where we stayed on board whilst they were at port; we had almost the whole ship to ourselves and, with two young children at the time, they liked that.