Cruise ships.

My first Pacific cruise was on a Russian ship, the Leonid Sobinov, and it was delightful. We went with our children and some neighbours. The food was rather exotic but very good - 8 courses offered at every dinner. The captain crew and hospitality staff were all Russian but the entertainment was supplied and organised by English staff. No bad behaviour until the last night when all of the footballers got drunk.

In retirement we have mostly sailed Princess and were very lucky to have been on the last Ruby Princess cruise to disembark in Sydney before the next Ruby Princess disgorged about 100 infected passengers setting of the Australian covid pandemic.

Not booking any more cruises for the foreseeable future.
 

bowmore said:
I am not a cruise expert, but after 47 cruises I can share my opinions.
If you go out of Florida on a 5 day Carnival cruise, you are going to get a bunch of rowdy drunks.
If you go on a mega ship with 4500 passengers, you are going to be crowded.
Without sounding snobbish, if you go on a more expensive cruise, it tends to filter out some people.
I have sailed on Princess, Seabourn, Regent and Silverseas and never felt crowded.
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Nice to hear some positive comments. I was in sales with Seabourn prior to retirement. We sailed to the Greek Isles last September, and it was amazing. We are sailing to Alaska on Seabourn next week.

You're right. There are no crowds. 450-600 guests and the service and cuisine is over the top. There are 46-passenger buses for shore excursions that only have 20 passengers, so the guided shore excursions are up close and personal. I think, unfortunately, that everyone equates cruises with big ships like those of Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

Seabourn has allowed us to experience Greece, the Amalfi Coast, Asia and South America (to name a few) up close and personal. Learning about the different cultures and customs has been life-changing.

My partner gets seasick, but he takes Bonine. He would still go on a cruise at the drop of a hat.
 
dseag2 said:
Nice to hear some positive comments. I was in sales with Seabourn prior to retirement. We sailed to the Greek Isles last September, and it was amazing. We are sailing to Alaska on Seabourn next week.

You're right. There are no crowds. 450-600 guests and the service and cuisine is over the top. There are 46-passenger buses for shore excursions that only have 20 passengers, so the guided shore excursions are up close and personal. I think, unfortunately, that everyone equates cruises with big ships like those of Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

Seabourn has allowed us to experience Greece, the Amalfi Coast, Asia and South America (to name a few) up close and personal. Learning about the different cultures and customs has been life-changing.

My partner gets seasick, but he takes Bonine. He would still go on a cruise at the drop of a hat.
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Thank you for the tips.
 
Years ago, a friend, Mariam, left on her honeymoon on a cruise ship. She sailed off into hurricane Hugo. While they weren't actually in the hurricane the sea was extremely turbulent. She said you wouldn't think a huge ship could bounce all over the place, but they do. They were not allowed on deck. Plus Dramamine doesn't work when the ship is going way up and way down, way over, and way back. She said there was vomit all over.
-up and down the halls, even in the elevators. The stench was horrible. She said they spent the entire voyage in their cabins.
 
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I have to say I've never been on a "bad" cruise. When I'm getting waited on, having my bed made every morning, being stuffed with food 'round the clock, entertained, and transported to interesting places, what's not to like?

The only cruise I was less than delighted with was a Disney cruise that that was not so much disliking the cruise as it was being overwhelmed by what felt like thousands of shrieking kids with runny noses (middle of a bad flu season and I caught it). It was free, though, so I can't really complain.

I've been through bad weather on a cruise, but luckily wasn't down with seasickness.

The way things are going, there's going to be an option one of the days for those who want to cruise without actually having to cruise. Royal Caribbean will build the largest cruise ship ever. It's bow will be permanantly moored in Miami, it's stern will never leave Nassau and you'll shuttle around the ship on a train. There will be 350 different buffets. They're going to call it The Giant Floating Restaurant of the Seas.

That should please everyone.
 
Ya! I heard all this before. Go on a cheap cruise, you go with low class drunks who are drunk 1/2 hour at the start of the cruise and drunk all the time until the cruise disembarks. Ya, lots and lots of laughs; I think not! Bowmore has it right. Pay more and have a great experience. Forget those horrible 3 day cruises to the Bahamas! Not for this packer!
 
dseag2 said:
Nice to hear some positive comments. I was in sales with Seabourn prior to retirement. We sailed to the Greek Isles last September, and it was amazing. We are sailing to Alaska on Seabourn next week.

You're right. There are no crowds. 450-600 guests and the service and cuisine is over the top. There are 46-passenger buses for shore excursions that only have 20 passengers, so the guided shore excursions are up close and personal. I think, unfortunately, that everyone equates cruises with big ships like those of Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

Seabourn has allowed us to experience Greece, the Amalfi Coast, Asia and South America (to name a few) up close and personal. Learning about the different cultures and customs has been life-changing.

My partner gets seasick, but he takes Bonine. He would still go on a cruise at the drop of a hat.
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I am so happy for you and your partner, @dseag2 and would have loved to have sailed to the places you have been. I, too, prefer smaller cruise lines and have sailed them perhaps a dozen times. Like your partner, I get seasick but between Dramamine and Scopolamine patches (transdermal patch worn behind the ear), I generally don't have problems. I hope you have a wonderful trip and will keep us posted with some photos of the breathtaking scenery.
 
Here is one of the cruise ships on which I made multiple trips to the South China Sea and points between. Occasionally the passengers would get a little drunk but that was always on shore and not aboard ship. The cruise company even gave us free clothing and meals. Tipping was never a problem on this cruise line. I made cruises on several of their other ships and the service was always efficient and reliable.

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I joined the Navy and literally saw the world from Japan to Norway and many points in-between. I enjoyed traveling the roads and streets, eating in restaurants of my choice, and seeing what I wanted to see. The wife and I took the standard Alaska cruise and I was disappointed. Hated those cruise ports with their jewelry shops and the excursions where we saw Alaska out of the window of a bus. On the plus side, an old school friend of my wife became a stewardess, and now retired she and my wife can fly virtually anywhere for next to nothing (sometimes first class) and take cruises and stay in hotels at a big discount. They did a China cruise that my wife enjoyed -- although getting a China visa in San Francisco -- what a hassle!

I do have a funny travel story. A friend of mine went to Europe with a friend on a college vacation. They were traveling on a train and my friend saved the cost of a ticket by hiding under the seat of the guy he was traveling with. Problem was that guy was meeting his family in Switzerland and had to get off before my friend. A woman sat in his seat and didn't know he was there. Came to my friend's stop and he had to part her legs and shoot out between them. The woman was not pleased. (-8
 
Went on a cruise a couple of months ago on my way back to Canada from S. America.

It was horrible ;)
Fighting for lounges on the Lido deck at mid-day 👊🤜
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Forget trying to get a free drink at the bar .... It was madness! How can they expect 2 bartenders to keep up with this kind of traffic at 1:00 PM on a sunny day :LOL:
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Anyway, here's a pic of the midway point up the Panama Canal. So much rain everything is green .... even the riverbanks :oops:

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A friend’s friend just got the Vancouver to Alaska cruise for C$1100, taxes included. Because it wasn’t sold out, they upgraded them to a verandah room. This is usually peak season for that route.
 
I wanted my husband and I to go on a cruise for years but he didn't want to go. I really think he would have enjoyed the 24/7 food (he was quite a foodie), the service and the entertainment. The year after he died, we had a family reunion cruise to Bermuda, that unfortunately most family members couldn't make because it was planned too late. I had trepidations after reading about and seeing news reports of all that has gone wrong on these ships but I took a chance. I had an ocean view cabin to myself, which was a bit expensive, even with the so called discounted price. But I felt it was worth it in the long run. The ship was Celebrity Infinity and was very nice. The service was excellent, especially at the sit down dinners and by my cabin attendant. The food was great in the dining room and pretty good at the buffets where there were no long lines.

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I loved that we could see shows every night if we wanted, though I missed a couple. The entertainment was wonderful. I went to a silent disco for the first time which was trippy and danced with my cousins; I'd heard about them from my son. I got my exercise in by taking walks around the decks and using the stationary bike in the fitness room. Just getting from one place to another on the ship was exercise within itself. Thank God there were no problems while we were on board. I actually enjoyed my time on the ship better than off. As much as I enjoyed myself, with the pandemic and the new "pre-pandemic" disease (Monkey Pox) I don't think I'll be cruising again.
 
That is a beautiful room! I am so strange, I love the water But hate the idea of being on a ship out in the ocean.
 

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