A friend of mine touts "windjammer cruises" - cruising in a full-rigged sailing ship. Maybe a total 30 passengers in addition to the crew. Done in the Caribbean.
What I dislike about cruises is their environmental impact. I had the good fortune to visit the Galapagos Islands in 1963 part of US Navy support of a scientific expedition, only the fourth since Darwin was there (and the turtle they carved a date in back in 1835 was still alive to greet us). At the time there were 1,500 residents in the islands and they were only on two of them; today there are 50,000 residents. And the cruise ships that have stopped by over the past 30 years have thoroughly polluted the surrounding ocean, dumping the poop of 5,000 idiots at a time. Something like this behemoth... wow.
But your mention of rogue waves is interesting. We could use something like this for the remake of "The Poseidon Adventure." Hollywood likes to do remakes that are the original on steroids, and this would certainly be that.
Agree. I’ve always been repelled by the idea of a cruise ship. I don’t even like hanging out at resorts. When I’ve been to foreign countries, my goal has been to see the country and people. Who needs to spend time with a bunch of drunk Americans.
LOL, I went on a river cruise just this last weekend.
I think Chris would've loved it. I was on my 17" boat, by myself. There wasn't another human within a mile of me. I had a lovely dinner of smoked salmon, I watched the birds and the trains go by, I caught fish, including a couple of nice Smallmouth Bass.
But you 8000 people all on one boat (!!!!), you do you. Imma gonna do me.
There is no such words as "Accomodations" according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Accomodation is an uncountable noun - accomodation for one or many. The American penchant for sticking an "S" on the end of uncountable nouns (e.g. "Aircrafts" at the top of the You Tube page) would suggest that Americans care little for the highly sophisticated and nuanced language that is English.
Yes Chris, cruises are bad. Unless your spouse suffers from a permanent war injury, loves to travel but can mostly only travel by ship, specifically Holland America, a modest cruise line that goes out of its way to cater to people with disabilities, like my husband, a Vietnam vet who has suffered from a permanent war-related physical injury since 1970. Please don’t thank him for his service; it pisses him off. But here’s what you can do: contact your congressional representative and demand that the VA stop making veterans jump through one hoop after another, sometimes for weeks or months, to receive health care. Let veterans receive their health care from any doctor of their choosing, and let the taxpayers pick up the bill. Especially the able-bodied ones my husband fought for and sacrificed his youth and health for.
My cousin talked me into a cruise once. (We're massage therapists, and classes for CEU's were offered). I enjoyed the classes and the excursions, but everything else was not of interest to me. You look north, you see water. You look south, you see water. You look east, you see water. You look west, you see water. What's the big deal? I can see water in my bathtub.
I have been on 3 cruises - Alaska, Bermuda and Hawai'i - each was less than 2000 people and we truly enjoyed ourselves - NCL - smaller ships. I would NOT get on this boat or any cruise that catered to kids or the never leave the boat crowd - the ports are it for us and the cruise is our way of getting there and scouting for future non-cruise trips.
Chris, have you ever read David Foster Wallace's essay "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again"? If not, it's a fantastic (and very funny) critique of the cruising industry, well worth a read. Given your stance on cruises, I think you might enjoy it!
Will definitely be reading this. Thank you. I have been invited on numerous cruises and have always said no, no, and again, no! You would think that friends and family would take a hint. But sadly, no!🙄
I took my first ever cruise to Alaska last fall. It was underwhelming. But it was a bucket list item. I wanted to go on a cruise to Alaska ever since Lisa Hartman married Doug Harmon on the Love Boat. I wanted to see Alaska to say I'd seen Alaska. 6 hours on shore was fine for me. I'm not fit enough to hike glaciers and I didn't want to spend thousands to trek the frozen tundra and visit the polar bears. And I didn't want to be out in the middle of the ocean for days unable to see dry land. Was afraid that would freak me out. This cruise hugged the shore the whole time. Saw some beautiful scenery.
But the cruise part sucked. The food was awful. The dining room hours were short, so I felt pressured to eat when I wasn't really hungry. It was too cold for swimming (cause it was in ALASKA!) The onboard activities were lame. Karaoke? Please. The one show I saw was OK, but I wouldn't have paid money to see it on shore.
But having said all of that I am planning my dream vacation to France as a river cruise. They have one that goes Paris to Normandy and hits all the sites I want to see - Giverny, Versailles, the Louvre. I figure having the boat move me from spot to spot will be a lot less stressful than getting up and boarding a tour bus every day, and if I'm too tired or not interested in a stop, I can stay on the boat and drink rather than sit on a bus alone.
I agree entirely. I could not however get on a Viking River Cruise because the voice over woman on the commercials has (to me. Okay) the most annoyingly fake British accents I've ever heard.
Behold! All of the (valid) concerns you have described are mitigated by the somewhat more expensive, but *far* superior travel option: river cruises.
See my footnote. I t\oo make an exception for the river cruise!
Plus, you could always jump off and swim for shore in a river cruise.
A friend of mine touts "windjammer cruises" - cruising in a full-rigged sailing ship. Maybe a total 30 passengers in addition to the crew. Done in the Caribbean.
Agreed!
What I dislike about cruises is their environmental impact. I had the good fortune to visit the Galapagos Islands in 1963 part of US Navy support of a scientific expedition, only the fourth since Darwin was there (and the turtle they carved a date in back in 1835 was still alive to greet us). At the time there were 1,500 residents in the islands and they were only on two of them; today there are 50,000 residents. And the cruise ships that have stopped by over the past 30 years have thoroughly polluted the surrounding ocean, dumping the poop of 5,000 idiots at a time. Something like this behemoth... wow.
But your mention of rogue waves is interesting. We could use something like this for the remake of "The Poseidon Adventure." Hollywood likes to do remakes that are the original on steroids, and this would certainly be that.
Agree. I’ve always been repelled by the idea of a cruise ship. I don’t even like hanging out at resorts. When I’ve been to foreign countries, my goal has been to see the country and people. Who needs to spend time with a bunch of drunk Americans.
LOL, I went on a river cruise just this last weekend.
I think Chris would've loved it. I was on my 17" boat, by myself. There wasn't another human within a mile of me. I had a lovely dinner of smoked salmon, I watched the birds and the trains go by, I caught fish, including a couple of nice Smallmouth Bass.
But you 8000 people all on one boat (!!!!), you do you. Imma gonna do me.
Yes that sounds like my kind of "cruise"
The town where I live has fewer people than this cruise ship. And I wouldn’t want to be cooped up in a boat for a week with THEM, either.
CORRECT
Chris,
There is no such words as "Accomodations" according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Accomodation is an uncountable noun - accomodation for one or many. The American penchant for sticking an "S" on the end of uncountable nouns (e.g. "Aircrafts" at the top of the You Tube page) would suggest that Americans care little for the highly sophisticated and nuanced language that is English.
Not on this monstrosity. Just inject me with the virus and save us all some time.
Correct. Give me the stomach bug and be done with it.
And, let’s not forget the most important reason to dislike cruises--they’re an environmental nightmare.
Yes Chris, cruises are bad. Unless your spouse suffers from a permanent war injury, loves to travel but can mostly only travel by ship, specifically Holland America, a modest cruise line that goes out of its way to cater to people with disabilities, like my husband, a Vietnam vet who has suffered from a permanent war-related physical injury since 1970. Please don’t thank him for his service; it pisses him off. But here’s what you can do: contact your congressional representative and demand that the VA stop making veterans jump through one hoop after another, sometimes for weeks or months, to receive health care. Let veterans receive their health care from any doctor of their choosing, and let the taxpayers pick up the bill. Especially the able-bodied ones my husband fought for and sacrificed his youth and health for.
Amen, sister!
My cousin talked me into a cruise once. (We're massage therapists, and classes for CEU's were offered). I enjoyed the classes and the excursions, but everything else was not of interest to me. You look north, you see water. You look south, you see water. You look east, you see water. You look west, you see water. What's the big deal? I can see water in my bathtub.
😅
Gave me my smile for the day!! Thanks!
That makes me happy.
I have been on 3 cruises - Alaska, Bermuda and Hawai'i - each was less than 2000 people and we truly enjoyed ourselves - NCL - smaller ships. I would NOT get on this boat or any cruise that catered to kids or the never leave the boat crowd - the ports are it for us and the cruise is our way of getting there and scouting for future non-cruise trips.
Chris, have you ever read David Foster Wallace's essay "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again"? If not, it's a fantastic (and very funny) critique of the cruising industry, well worth a read. Given your stance on cruises, I think you might enjoy it!
No but I will!
Will definitely be reading this. Thank you. I have been invited on numerous cruises and have always said no, no, and again, no! You would think that friends and family would take a hint. But sadly, no!🙄
Hah! I was just going to mention that as well! Highly recommend.
I took my first ever cruise to Alaska last fall. It was underwhelming. But it was a bucket list item. I wanted to go on a cruise to Alaska ever since Lisa Hartman married Doug Harmon on the Love Boat. I wanted to see Alaska to say I'd seen Alaska. 6 hours on shore was fine for me. I'm not fit enough to hike glaciers and I didn't want to spend thousands to trek the frozen tundra and visit the polar bears. And I didn't want to be out in the middle of the ocean for days unable to see dry land. Was afraid that would freak me out. This cruise hugged the shore the whole time. Saw some beautiful scenery.
But the cruise part sucked. The food was awful. The dining room hours were short, so I felt pressured to eat when I wasn't really hungry. It was too cold for swimming (cause it was in ALASKA!) The onboard activities were lame. Karaoke? Please. The one show I saw was OK, but I wouldn't have paid money to see it on shore.
But having said all of that I am planning my dream vacation to France as a river cruise. They have one that goes Paris to Normandy and hits all the sites I want to see - Giverny, Versailles, the Louvre. I figure having the boat move me from spot to spot will be a lot less stressful than getting up and boarding a tour bus every day, and if I'm too tired or not interested in a stop, I can stay on the boat and drink rather than sit on a bus alone.
I agree entirely. I could not however get on a Viking River Cruise because the voice over woman on the commercials has (to me. Okay) the most annoyingly fake British accents I've ever heard.
😅
I was thinking of having a second career as as cruise 🚢 line jazz musician. Your post puts that idea permanently on ice.