Would you go on a cruise?

Sunny said:
This was a question I asked myself even before Covid. Lots of cruises were ruined by rapidly spreading viruses of all kinds. I was on one in the Mediterranean where half the people couldn't get off the ship to visit the ports, because they were too sick with a flu-like illness. I luckily didn't get it

The cruise ships are like petri dishes. Thousands of people are crammed together in constant close quarters. It's impossible for them to stay spaced apart, let alone the crew, who are packed into their quarters down below like sardines. Even if you try, how much fun would a cruise be if you constantly have to wear a mask, and there are long waits to do anything because of having to limit the number of people in a room? And if a genuine surge of Covid breaks out, you could be stuck on the ship for a month or more, unable to disembark. And I'm sure the medical care available on a cruise ship isn't exactly optimal. What happens to those who need genuinely life-saving measures?

Today's paper had an article about this, with a few horror stories about a supposedly few days' cruise ending with families having to quarantine for a month after getting off the ship, trapped in a hotel room. And this kind of "fun" cost them thousands of dollars!
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Found this article about Covid outbreak on cruise ship. I also consider them Petri dishes.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-outbreak-cruise-ship-carnival-freedom/
 

I would not take a cruise. I don't want to be trapped on a ship with tons of people, loud music, mediocre food. Even a small cruise would not do it for me. After spending a few months with my daughter in her apartment, I know I would feel trapped. That is also why I wouldn't live in an apartment, unless it were the only option. Any other reasons I have are not relevant since I will never go on a cruise.
 

Lawrence said:
I do not want to go on a ship cruise because it would not be fun for me. I served in the US Navy out at sea and have had my fill of it. I need to be able to go places and not be in the confines of a ship.
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My retired neighbor says that he has no desire to travel because he saw enough while in the navy. So he just visits relatives, go to church and watches TV.

I don't think I would enjoy myself on a navy ship or a freighter/cargo ship. I have to think it would be the most basic accommodations and certainly no shipboard entertainment.

By cruise ship, I have visited numerous countries. One of the most memorable stops was a 2 day stay in St. Petersburg, Russia. I visited the Hermitage Museum which was a wonderful experience. There is no way that I would ever have visited Russia on a land vacation. Furthermore, the Russians I met didn't seem to be the boogie people promoted by western media.
 
Our best ever vacation was aboard Seabourn, carrying around 600 passengers, to Vietnam and Thailand, for 14 days in early 2019. We learned so much about Asia that we will never forget. Visiting school children in Cambodia, seeing the temples in Thailand, taking a boat down the Mekong river. What can we compare that to?

We also sailed with around 300 passengers to the Greek islands in September of last year. No masks aboard the ship. Spent a couple of days in Athens prior, visiting the Acropolis, the Plaka and the Acropolis Museum. These are not big mega-ships. There are lots of choices out there.
 
Nosy Bee-54 said:
My retired neighbor says that he has no desire to travel because he saw enough while in the navy. So he just visits relatives, go to church and watches TV.

I don't think I would enjoy myself on a navy ship or a freighter/cargo ship. I have to think it would be the most basic accommodations and certainly no shipboard entertainment.

By cruise ship, I have visited numerous countries. One of the most memorable stops was a 2 day stay in St. Petersburg, Russia. I visited the Hermitage Museum which was a wonderful experience. There is no way that I would ever have visited Russia on a land vacation. Furthermore, the Russians I met didn't seem to be the boogie people promoted by western media.
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We visited St. Petersburg as well aboard a small cruise ship that was docked right in downtown in the Neva River. We had our visas, so we walked into town as we pleased. We also found the Russian people to be very friendly.

One of our shore excursions was a visit to see a Russian ballet troupe perform Swan Lake. I'm not a ballet fan, but to see it performed in Russia was amazing.
 
Sunny, I'd always wanted to take a cruise but my husband wasn't down with it. He felt it would be too confining. Ironically, I wound up going on a family reunion cruise 7 months after my husband died in July 2019. I kept thinking he would have loved all the food that was available anytime. He loved to eat. When booking the cruise, I was really apprehensive because of the kinds of things I'd seen on the news before...people being stuck on ships where the plumbing failed, where there were outbreaks, etc. Most often it seemed like they were Princess ships too. Anyway, our Celebrity cruise was really great, we experienced no problems and I was ready to go again.

After COVID I said no way would I take another. Then a few months ago (before Omicron) I said...well maybe. I wouldn't mind taking another one. Now I'm back to No Way!
 
ElCastor said:
You hit the proverbial nail on the head.
Did the Alaska thing out of San Francisco, and have no desire to do it again.
* Entertainment -- Blah.
* Constantly surrounded by endless rows of 2nd rate food, snacks, etc. I suppose this was designed to alleviate the boredom of being at sea -- didn't work. Probably gained a pound. And then there were the slot machines! Really? Slot machines??
* Ports of call -- Yikes! The definition of a tourist trap. Surrounded by the obligatory jewelry stores and souvenir shops. Better sign up for a tour, otherwise most port calls were less than exciting, and even the tours tended to be too structured.
* And last but not least, trapped with an annoying relative for days on end. Aieeee!!!
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ElCastor's post is sort of what I expect a cruise to be like. since I've never been on one. I've seen on TV when some tiny, picturesque grotto was being descended upon by thousands, and thousands of "tourists". Some like it. To me, it seems like a moving motel with stops at theme parks.
 

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