Celebrity Cruises

[RobertoCarlos]

Tom Cruise and all of his lot are insane.

My lawyers will be contacting you in the morning with a liability lawsuit.

[apples]

Drunk people are definitely annoying...I like hiking/camping/being surrounded by wilderness and a cruise boat ruins that for me. Especially due to the lack of solitude and quiet.

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That's exactly what happens. Sometimes they perform.

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Yeah one of my exes tried to tell me the same thing...I'm not interested in vacationing on a floating shopping mall.

the capitalist said, unironically

[Celista]

the capitalist said, unironically

Capitalism is fine, just not poorly regulated late stage crony corporatist capitalism that we have at current.

[breadisfunny]

Drunk people are definitely annoying...I like hiking/camping/being surrounded by wilderness and a cruise boat ruins that for me. Especially due to the lack of solitude and quiet.

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That's exactly what happens. Sometimes they perform.

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Yeah one of my exes tried to tell me the same thing...I'm not interested in vacationing on a floating shopping mall.

you would never get me on that floating death trap.

[ghotihook]

Agree, cruises seem pointless. The view is provably great on some but on most cruises you're looking at ocean a good deal of the time.

Even with fantastic views 100% of the time, it's like 1/4th of the quality of a real vacation.

I actually really like cruises. You get to travel to a bunch of places without ever having to repack. So far I've been on 4 and my 5th is booked for this fall. (2 Caribbean 1 Bahamas and a European 14 day cruise)
It's basically an all-inclusive resort where they drop you off at other exotic places. And to be fair, it can be cheaper than normal vacations. It's about $1000 per person (or much less if you look for deals or go off-season) and that's it. That includes food and entertainment.

I have advocated to probably a half dozen people to at least try and every single won said it was either really fun or just decent. Nobody had a bad time. I think you should at least try it once!

[Lex Icon]

one of those boat trips where there's a bunch of bands playing might be fun.. dunno if that counts as the same thing as a cruise though.

[avitush]

I've never been on a cruise or had any desire to go on one. I have friend and family who always take cruises for vacations and talk about how they're the best things ever, but I just don't like the idea of being stuck on one for however long.

Also motion sickness is a very major thing for me. I've been told that doesn't really happen on cruise ships because of how big they are, but I'm still skeptical.

[dusselldorf]

Yeah one of my exes tried to tell me the same thing...I'm not interested in vacationing on a floating shopping mall.

Shopping mall is only part of it. You're missing theme park, plays, comedy shows, musicals, fine dining, going literally anywhere in the world you want to without being cramped in a sardine can of an airplane, and making friends with people from all over the world. Again, your description of the experience betrays your ignorance. Ignorance is fine. We are all ignorant of things we either don't know about or choose not to know about. That being said, the problem with being ignorant is when we think we aren't and tell others we aren't.

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I've never been on a cruise or had any desire to go on one. I have friend and family who always take cruises for vacations and talk about how they're the best things ever, but I just don't like the idea of being stuck on one for however long.

Also motion sickness is a very major thing for me. I've been told that doesn't really happen on cruise ships because of how big they are, but I'm still skeptical.

Ships have stabilizers to make sure the boat stays as close to level as possible at all times. 99% of the time, they don't move. However, motion sickness can happen when the waters are turbulent. If motion sickness is a thing, you'd want a cabin close to the center of the ship as possible and as low to the ground as possible. You wouldn't think it would make a difference, but when a vessel is a quarter mile long, there is a lot of difference between how much a cabin moves at the bottom center of a ship as opposed to the top front. Dramamine is about $2 for a box. That being said, I'm not prone to motion sickness.

[Celista]

I actually really like cruises. You get to travel to a bunch of places without ever having to repack. So far I've been on 4 and my 5th is booked for this fall. (2 Caribbean 1 Bahamas and a European 14 day cruise)
It's basically an all-inclusive resort where they drop you off at other exotic places. And to be fair, it can be cheaper than normal vacations. It's about $1000 per person (or much less if you look for deals or go off-season) and that's it. That includes food and entertainment.

I have advocated to probably a half dozen people to at least try and every single won said it was either really fun or just decent. Nobody had a bad time. I think you should at least try it once!

I'm down for trying it, for something like Alaskan/Scandinavian glacier viewing.

Shopping mall is only part of it. You're missing theme park, plays, comedy shows, musicals, fine dining, going literally anywhere in the world you want to without being cramped in a sardine can of an airplane, and making friends with people from all over the world. Again, your description of the experience betrays your ignorance. Ignorance is fine. We are all ignorant of things we either don't know about or choose not to know about. That being said, the problem with being ignorant is when we think we aren't and tell others we aren't.

Sometimes people like different things/can get a sense that they would not like something before doing it. I want to do my own thing, I don't think of being stuck on a boat is all that interesting to me.

I'm willing to try it for exploring parts of the world I want to see, where driving/hiking/flight tours are not wholly feasible or desirable.

[dusselldorf]

I'm down for trying it, for something like Alaskan/Scandinavian glacier viewing.


Sometimes people like different things/can get a sense that they would not like something before doing it. I want to do my own thing, I don't think of being stuck on a boat is all that interesting to me.

I'm willing to try it for exploring parts of the world I want to see, where driving/hiking/flight tours are not wholly feasible or desirable.

I can relate to wanting privacy. Cruise ships vary from one to another but one thing that almost all of them do is put time into designing spaces so you rarely feel like you're in a crowd.

There is something supremely relaxing about not having to set an alarm clock. Not having to worry with fighting traffic. Not having to navigate. You simply do whatever you want. Don't want to wake up in the morning? Don't. Don't want to sleep all night? Go get something to eat, head to the library (which has wine), and sit in solitude. Want to smell the ocean air and feel the sea breeze? Step from your bedroom door on to the private balcony. Want to try something you've never eaten before? Go to the main dining room.

I have been on 3 Carnival cruises. On those very inexpensive cruises, I have had escargot, braised ox tongue, frog legs, and several other non every day items I have forgotten about, all included in the base fare. There is a variety of choices every night. In fact, there are least a half dozen places to eat at any given time during the day on any cruise ship.

I think you are underestimating the amount of privacy you can get on one of these cruises. On one shore excursion I did, for a nominal fee we were taken to a private beach resort. It was huge, beautiful white sands, azure waters, dry heat, tropical looking trees and plants. Almost magical. This was in February, and this huge private resort was nearly empty. There were maybe 20 of us there in a place designed for hundreds.

Incidentally, the sand is much different in Roatan than it is in places like Cozumel. In Cozumel, it is yellow sand, very "sinky," and it takes extra energy to walk through. In white sand beach places I've been, like Roatan, it is much lighter colored, and much firmer. You could almost ride a bicycle with street tires on it.

And I think that's the biggest appeal to me. Getting to visit these exotic destinations with absolutely no stress. No worries. Before I went on a cruise, I had some of the same thoughts as you--I don't like people. I don't want to float around in a box with thousands of other tourists. I wouldn't have any fun. It sounds ridiculous. Since I was talked into going last year, I have been on 3 and have 2 more booked. My perspective changed immensely. Such is life.

[Rasulis]

We used to go on a lot of ocean cruises when the kids were young. Now we prefer river barge cruises. As opposed to sharing space with thousands (ocean cruise) or over hundred (river cruise) you share space with 6 to 12 people. We usually go on smaller barge cruises (8 or less) with friends and family.

We have done four and they were all memorable. We did a Scottish cruise along the Great Glen between Inverness and Fort William which was insanely awesome. There were 2 other couples on that cruise. We did the Shannon Waterway in Ireland with the whole family (my family, my sister’s family, our children and our parents). We booked the barge for the whole family. Two trips in France through Burgundy and Alsace. On the last trip (Burgundy) we were supposed to share the barge with two other couples. Both canceled at the last minute. It ended up just the two of us on that trip.

The canals that barges transit are often no more than 40 feet wide and take you to quiet villages and small towns. A typical day begin with waking up to freshly brewed coffee that you carry out into the fresh morning air as you admire the landscape. Typical breakfast consists of fresh croissants, usually picked up earlier the same morning from a boulangerie in town, along with bacon and eggs from local farms cooked to order and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

You normally go on an excursion in the morning to a castle, monastery, or winery. Accompanied by a knowledgeable guide. On our last trip through Burgundy we had a Social History professor on sabbatical as our guide. She was beyond knowledgeable. We learned a lot on that trip.

Lunch is either at back at the barge or at a local restaurant. After a short rest, if you so desire, you can go on a second tour in the afternoon. Or you can stay on board and relax. If you need to exercise, take a bicycle from the barge to pedal along the canals, or use your own two feet to go for a long walk in the French countryside. Due to their size and relative engine power, barges move at a slower pace than river cruisers (4 miles per hour average) and they have to do frequent stops at numerous canal locks, allowing for you to step off at any locks to walk, run, or pedal ahead. The barge will pick you up at the next lock.

Then there are the dinners. Endless delicious entrees, wines and cheeses and pastries. My wife always had a glass of wine in her hand from the time we woke up in the morning till we go to bed.