Cruise Holidays

[Cooperman]

Whilst I failed in my attempt to snag Oasis tickets, I have taken the plunge and booked a cruise. My old man (and my mrs to an extent) have been banging on about it for years, but it’s never quite tickled my fancy. I’m not sure I’ve got the hwyl to be up and about each morning trekking off to some town, even more so if there’s evening entertainment which will keep me up into the small hours.

Anyway I’ve pulled the trigger so no going back now. Anyone got a view on cruising?

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Whilst I failed in my attempt to snag Oasis tickets, I have taken the plunge and booked a cruise. My old man (and my mrs to an extent) have been banging on about it for years, but it’s never quite tickled my fancy. I’m not sure I’ve got the hwyl to be up and about each morning trekking off to some town, even more so if there’s evening entertainment which will keep me up into the small hours.

Anyway I’ve pulled the trigger so no going back now. Anyone got a view on cruising?

Exactly the same as me - my Mrs and sister in law (travel agent) nagged me for years.

I gave in and we went on a Caribbean cruise with Princess Cruises. Abs brilliant.
I had to hold my hands up and admit I had been totally wrong over many years.

 

[sainthelens]

Mate o mine swears by em, and wouldn't book anything else.
Did one around Bahamas good few years back..was final holiday had with my Mrs before she passed.
Awesome memories. Go for it.

 

[exiledclaseboy]

We did our first in March, a week around the Caribbean. We had one booked about 10 years ago but my Mrs got ill and we had to cancel so this was an itch to be scratched for us as she’s thankfully still with us, which back when we had to cancel the first some, neither of us expected.

Anyway, it was…fine. We enjoyed it and paid for pretty much all the possible upgrades which helped. It’s a good way to say you’ve visited a number of different countries (we stopped off in the Caymans, Cuba and Mexico). It was something we wanted to do and we’re glad we did it. But I’m not sure we’d do another one.

 

[Cooperman]

Mate o mine swears by em, and wouldn't book anything else.
Did one around Bahamas good few years back..was final holiday had with my Mrs before she passed.
Awesome memories. Go for it.

Remember the good times, buddy

 

[Cooperman]

We did our first in March, a week around the Caribbean. We had one booked about 10 years ago but my Mrs got ill and we had to cancel so this was an itch to be scratched for us as she’s thankfully still with us, which back when we had to cancel the first some, neither of us expected.

Anyway, it was…fine. We enjoyed it and paid for pretty much all the possible upgrades which helped. It’s a good way to say you’ve visited a number of different countries (we stopped off in the Caymans, Cuba and Mexico). It was something we wanted to do and we’re glad we did it. But I’m not sure we’d do another one.

What has put you off doing an equivalent around the Greek islands or Med?

 

[Cooperman]

Exactly the same as me - my Mrs and sister in law (travel agent) nagged me for years.

I gave in and we went on a Caribbean cruise with Princess Cruises. Abs brilliant.
I had to hold my hands up and admit I had been totally wrong over many years.

You adapted ok to getting up and about each day? I can easily lose a morning snoozing alongside a hotel swimming pool. This will be somewhat different.

 

[monmouth]

Depends. P&O is a pile of dogshit now catering for the low end of the market unless you go Aurora or Oriana. Even then there’s too much rule Britannia jingoistic arseholery. Big ships with any line are awful imo. Celebrity and Holland and America are better. Not sure about Cunard these days. Last time we went with them you got champagne when you got back on board. Not sure that happens now. Destinations are mostly too crowded too, if you go med, as they all follow each other around. The best one of recent years for me was fjords. Cant remember which company. Most are owned by Carnival anyway, and just branded differently and aimed at different markets. Princess was good for food in about w010 but very Yanko, and I’m off them just now.

Sounds bad reading that, but mostly I’ve enjoyed them, and we’ve been doing them consistently since 2008. I tend to chill out after a few days. Definitely worth spending a few bob extra to get on a higher quality line/ship/class (eg ‘blue’ was very good on Celebrity.

We started river cruising instead the last couple of years. Totally different experience, but also not for everyone.

 

[monmouth]

You adapted ok to getting up and about each day? I can easily lose a morning snoozing alongside a hotel swimming pool. This will be somewhat different.

You don’t HAVE to do anything Coops mun . You pick exactly what you want to do. You can sleep all day if you want. The pool can be an unpleasant experience. Pay to get access to the spa pool if there is one, or the adult pool, if you are not on an adult only ship. Virgin is supposed to be good, but I haven’t been on. Boat too big for me.

 

[exiledclaseboy]

What has put you off doing an equivalent around the Greek islands or Med?

There’s no one thing really. I enjoyed the cruise.

 

[exiledclaseboy]

You don’t HAVE to do anything Coops mun . You pick exactly what you want to do. You can sleep all day if you want. The pool can be an unpleasant experience. Pay to get access to the spa pool if there is one, or the adult pool, if you are not on an adult only ship. Virgin is supposed to be good, but I haven’t been on. Boat too big for me.

The pool area on days “at sea” when there’s no excursion and everyone is on board wasn’t fun. We skipped a couple of excursions to enjoy the quieter day by the pool.

 

[Cooperman]

You don’t HAVE to do anything Coops mun . You pick exactly what you want to do. You can sleep all day if you want. The pool can be an unpleasant experience. Pay to get access to the spa pool if there is one, or the adult pool, if you are not on an adult only ship. Virgin is supposed to be good, but I haven’t been on. Boat too big for me.

We've booked with NCL, a perfect match really as the itinerary is what I wanted and the boat is new. Looked at some of the older boats and the decor put me off a little.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy an exploration, it's just that it takes me a little while to get going in the morning. I certainly won't be lounging around on the boat all day, especially as the pools don't look massive.

 

[Cooperman]

The pool area on days “at sea” when there’s no excursion and everyone is on board wasn’t fun. We skipped a couple of excursions to enjoy the quieter day by the pool.

I watched a few YouTube vids which must have been 'sea days' as there were hundreds of folk crammed around small ish pools whilst the boat was on the move. Not my cuppa either. We don't have sea days with our itinerary so it won't be an issue. Also some late departures, I think Santorini is 10pm so maybe the rush in the morning isn't so critical.

 

[monmouth]

We've booked with NCL, a bit of a perfect match really as the itinerary is what I wanted and the boat is new. Looked at some of the older boats and the decor put me off a little.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy an exploration, it's just that it takes me a little while to get going in the morning. I certainly won't be lounging around on the boat all day, especially as the pools don't look massive.

There’s generally a fair few things to do on the boat. Saw a cracking version of Richard III play one year. Never been on NCL but people we have met speak well of them. You can’t go wrong anyway as, if you like it, you’ll want to do more, and if you don’t then at least you’ve found out. Enjoy!

 

[exiledclaseboy]

I watched a few YouTube vids which must have been 'sea days' as there were hundreds of folk crammed around small ish pools whilst the boat was on the move. Not my cuppa either. We don't have sea days with our itinerary so it won't be an issue. Also some late departures, I think Santorini is 10pm so maybe the rush in the morning isn't so critical.

Getting off the boat at 10pm? Mr Mrs would have an eppy at that. That’s about the time she’s thinking of leaving me to the last hour or so in the bar on my own