How about taking a nice, luxury cruise?....

[Mikej]

View: https://youtu.be/6OP4M8x3fIs


I went on one of these with my parents and younger brother when I was 20. 50 years ago.
Greek, Chandris Lines S.S. Amerikanis.

Amerikanis - 1990 — Ships Illustrated

www.linerdesigns.com

Good times. Wouldn't go on another one if someone else paid for it all.

Read More

 

[bionic knees]

I have wanted to cruise the inside passage for some time, my wife won't have any of it. some friends of ours did that cruise a couple of years ago, they said everybody on the boat was sick by the time the cruise was over. they named the boat, "the petrie dish"

 

[WAYNO]

We do these cruises throughout the year. Love it and can't wait til my next cruise.
Those that just don't understand love to propagate all the rumors.
I used to get sick at school, at work, on airliners, etc., but folks that can't cruise subsist on furthering the rumors they are only repeating.



.

 

[Mikej]

We do these cruises throughout the year. Love it and can't wait til my next cruise.
Those that just don't understand love to propagate all the rumors.
I used to get sick at school, at work, on airliners, etc., but folks that can't cruise subsist on furthering the rumors they are only repeating.



.

I don't know about rumors. I do know I was on a cruise in the Caribbean. I know there were a lot of people on that cruise. Logic says that these days, instead of a couple/three hundred people there are a LOT more packed on the ships. If one person in the crew brings something on board that there is a good chance that it can/will spread. I understand the attraction to it, I really do. Just not my thing though as I live where many places you go you are around a lot people. Vacation to me/us is not going where there is hundreds of people in close quarters.

After dad and mom had both retired they were taking a cruise or two a year. Great for them. Dad being the frugal sort would book just outside of high season to save money. They were doing the Pacific coast down to The Panama Canal and ran into the remnants of a South Pacific typhoon. WOO-HOO! weren't allowed on deck A lot of peeps on that cruise were seasick for a couple days! That didn't stop them though.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

"Hey honey let's pay lots of $ to be trapped in a can with plague, pestilence, and death". Ahhh, no thanks.

 

[WAYNO]

We read it on the internet and on the nightly news. It must be true.

 

[RVTECH]

Logic says that these days, instead of a couple/three hundred people there are a LOT more packed on the ships.

Yea a LOT more like that new ship The Star Of The Seas with capacity for over 7,600 passengers and around 2,350 crew members.

No thanks. That would be like spending X amount of days cooped up with a small city full of people.

I have NEVER taken a cruise but if I did it would be something smaller like the inland, or maybe even the Columbia River one.

Actually I looked into it and am considering it as one time only 'bucket list' thing to do. $3 grand for 6 days 5 nights doesn't sound too bad and thats long enough for me.

 

[Bobbygun]

Vacation to me/us is not going where there is hundreds of people in close quarters.

Amen brother!

 

[Rkangel]

I'd rather take a nice, luxury dump. Because seasickness combined with a week of people I don't want to be around would result in a nice luxury puke off the poop deck.

 

[gmerkt]

The quality of the cruise experience has declined over time. For the typical mass market lines. The luxury lines are still rather special.

Since cruising became more popular (and common), the industry has taken any number of steps to maximize their yield. Including creating mega ships with a pax. capacity of 5,000, vice typical older ships that had closer to 2,000. Which increases chances of communicable diseases being spread.

In trying to maximize their yield, operators of course want to fill their ships. If they have empty rooms, they try to fill them any way they can. Including comped room for gamblers and reduced fares. It's gotten to where anyone with a minimal amount of money can cruise. Exclusivity is nearly non existent on the mass market lines. Example, the ships going out of the ports of LA / Long Beach to the ill-named "Mexican Riviera." Those are often filled with the trash from seedy suburbs of LA. Carnival is the worst, well-known for party ships of unruly pax. Simply said, the quality of the passengers has declined.

Security issues have descended upon the cruise industry over time, similar to the way that such considerations have made air travel a real pain in the neck. So for this reason alone there are more lines to wait in than ever.

Mrs. Merkt still thinks she enjoys cruising. We've been together on 30-something cruises since 1979. Which has given me plenty of opportunity to watch the rot set in. These days she has to drag me onto one. Actually, she's been on 40-something voyages because lately she goes with one of our daughters and I stay home.

In my experience, the more enjoyable cruises have been in northern areas. Canada / New England, Baltic Sea, British Isles and to some extent Alaska. The pax. compliment on these venues tends to be more adult and orderly. The cruise venues to sunny places, such as Caribbean and Mexico are the least enjoyable. For me.

Years ago, we booked one of the European river cruises. Then our daughter informed us that her baby was due about that time, so we cancelled. We never got back around to it and since then, that whole river cruise thing has turned into a racket. There are river cruises in the US, such as on the Columbia, Mississippi and St. Laurence Seaway / Great Lakes which I think would be a quality experience. Smaller vessels with mature pax. But they are costly.

We've never gone on any of the far away, long duration cruises like 30 days out of Australia, China, around So. America, etc., so I can't comment on those but I assume they are mature and orderly. And expensive. But the idea of tying up a month on a cruise ship doesn't appeal to me. I'm really ready to go and bored of the food after a week.

 

[Mikej]

I'd rather take a nice, luxury dump. Because seasickness combined with a week of people I don't want to be around would result in a nice luxury puke off the poop deck.

EVERY DAY, if you're lucky!

I have wanted to cruise the inside passage for some time, my wife won't have any of it. some friends of ours did that cruise a couple of years ago, they said everybody on the boat was sick by the time the cruise was over. they named the boat, "the petrie dish"

I'm sure it's not that common. But it seems the more people you pack into 100 square' space has to increase the chances of crap happening. And people aren't the same, in general, as they were 50 years ago. THAT shows every where you go that there are a lot of people. Might be different in other countries, but many, many American's, especially in OUR part of the country, in the cities, are rude, ignorant, selfish and inconsiderate. I think Gen-X failed on a grand scale with THEIR children.

Yea a LOT more like that new ship The Star Of The Seas with capacity for over 7,600 passengers and around 2,350 crew members.

No thanks. That would be like spending X amount of days cooped up with a small city full of people.

I have NEVER taken a cruise but if I did it would be something smaller like the inland, or maybe even the Columbia River one.

Actually I looked into it and am considering it as one time only 'bucket list' thing to do. $3 grand for 6 days 5 nights doesn't sound too bad and thats long enough for me.

Seen some of these on TV programs. These long boat cruises on the European rivers look like something much less packed out like sardines. Might still be close quarters but you wouldn't have to worry about finding your room on a monstrous ship!.

https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/ships/index.html

 

[gmerkt]

EVERY DAY, if you're lucky!

Or multiple times in a day, if you unlucky.

 

[gmerkt]

I have NEVER taken a cruise but if I did it would be something smaller like the inland, or maybe even the Columbia River one.

Actually I looked into it and am considering it as one time only 'bucket list' thing to do. $3 grand for 6 days 5 nights doesn't sound too bad and thats long enough for me.

The river cruises are a different experience, as I see it, than the typical mass-market ocean going ones. The river cruises ships are much smaller, fewer pax., typically more expensive so your fellow pax. are likely to be "higher quality." I don't mean to be a snob but if you're going to be jammed up on a vessel together with other people, it's best to be with the kind you'd most like to be with. If you want to get drunk and sunburned, get on a big ship in the Caribbean.

The smaller vessels do not afford the kind of distractions and amenities that the big ships have. Like casinos, 24 different bars, large theaters, huge gyms, swimming pools, etc. The thrust of the river cruises is the shore attractions along the route. Yes, you can enjoy the ride and the meals, but the ship is mainly a form of transportation and a place to say when you aren't ashore. They typically move at night, dock during the day in the scheduled stop venue.

Yes, the big ships have their port calls. Which have gotten to be highly commercialized and over-saturated with other cruise pax. Example, you get off a ship in Skagway, Alaska now, there are apt to already be five other big ships in town. By the time you get into Skagway, the main drag is packed with thousands of people. You can't make your way, you can't see or do anything due to the mob. Locals in some port calls in the Med. are pushing back against this highly commercialized exploitation.

 

[RVTECH]

If you want to get drunk and sunburned, get on a big ship in the Caribbean.

Well this is hardly what I would be going on a cruise for so the 'river' version sounds much better.

I would be looking for just a relaxing 'ride' without all the 'amenities' and the night sailing might be interesting. Maybe meet some nice people with similar ideas and good conversation.

The fewer the people on the shore stops the better. Your description of the five ships worth of people in one place sounds like a stressful nightmare.

 

[Mikej]

This is NOT what I would be going on a cruise for.

Not these days anyway, right? The cruise I went on had like three people that were younger than 40. Beer was cheep, and I couldn't buy it in Utah at 20, so I drank my far share.

 

[gmerkt]

Well this is hardly what I would be going on a cruise for so the 'river' version sounds much better.

This is exactly why many people load up on those Caribbean cruises. Mrs. Merkt and I might slip off to the hot tub late once or twice but we never go in the pool(s). Lots of noise on warm weather cruises. Lots of alcohol, many old bags who ought to know better than to reveal a lot of flesh at their advanced ages. Not to pick on the women who choose to look ridiculous, there are tons of old men showing off their hairy shoulders and man boobs.

It's a joy to see the vacant pool deck on an end of season cruise to Alaska, with the wind blowing and the rain coming down.

The cruise I went on had like three people that were younger than 40.

The pax. demographics have everything to do with venue and season. For example, don't go on a Disney cruise during Easter school holiday.

Another random bit of advice, think twice before you let the cruise line "upgrade" your room. Usually, this means they are trying to fill a dog room (next to the incinerator, next to a elevator, over/under a bar that stays open into the late hours with a band. The room they want you to trade in is easier to resell than a dog. Or they are trying to accommodate two couples who booked after you and didn't get side-by-side rooms when they should've and now you are being shifted to a room that they couldn't sell. If they try to talk you into such a trade, insist on looking at the proposed trade. Or ask for a disabled room or the chaplain's room. They might even make the switch anyway, then lie to you and say they sent you an email (which they didn't) that required a negative response. I've had to make a stink more than once over such issues.

 

[Mono1]

We do these cruises throughout the year. Love it and can't wait til my next cruise.

I wanna do Alaska. Any recommendations? Or anything other than Alaska as well. Considering the River Cruises too.

 

[User 1234]

I've been dragged onto two cruises. The Alaska one was nice because I could go up to the top deck (wooden) with hot chocolate and my Mark Twain book and quietly watch the mountains pass by. I would not volunteer for one again, but it was uncrowded and decent.

The second one was an extended family event on Disney. I shudder just remembering the crowds, lack of seating to dine or be remotely adjacent to the pool areas.

If others enjoy it, be my guest. It is absolutely not my thing. I'll take quiet mountain roads and chilly misty mornings any time. Especially if my kids are traveling along with me.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I've been dragged onto two cruises. The Alaska one was nice because I could go up to the top deck (wooden) with hot chocolate and my Mark Twain book and quietly watch the mountains pass by. I would not volunteer for one again, but it was uncrowded and decent.

The second one was an extended family event on Disney. I shudder just remembering the crowds, lack of seating to dine or be remotely adjacent to the pool areas.

If others enjoy it, be my guest. It is absolutely not my thing. I'll take quiet mountain roads and chilly misty mornings any time. Especially if my kids are traveling along with me.

Right on man I'm right there with you. Sounds like he'll to me. I once took the boat ride up lake chelan and I was freaking dying to get off. So boring and trapped on that boat. Hated it and was only like 2 hours or whatever it was. Just not for me at all.

 

[WAYNO]

I wanna do Alaska. Any recommendations? Or anything other than Alaska as well. Considering the River Cruises too.

We have done the Alaska cruises multiple times. Beautiful, but the panhandle of Alaska is remarkably similar to visiting Astoria, but without the forever views of the ice fields. A two-dimensional view in a photograph just cannot reproduce the actual thing. But the expanse of Alaska cannot be imagined without viewing it yourself. A person can do as much, or as little as he wants. We always have a balcony, and the views are incredible, from the comfort of this balcony. And as huge as these ships are, you can be as close to, or as distant as you want, from the crowds aboard a ship. We are pampered. We are fed extremely well. I cannot wait for our next cruise.

A cruise from Seattle is the easiest of any. A quick drive from the valley, park your car and get on the ship. A drive to or from Seattle from the Willamette Valley takes less time than flying, with all the issues and hassles of traveling into or out of nasty airports.

Now, as wonderful as an Alaskan cruise is, I really prefer a cruise to the relative tropics of the Caribbean or Mexican Riviera. I have endured 70+ years of dismal weather in the Pacific Northwest, and an escape to the sunny Gulf is remarkable to my psyche.

I get it. Cruising is not for everybody, fortunately. There are fun-haters aboard a ship, usually old grampa's, and I wish they would have stayed home. There was a time also, I never would have given cruising a second glance. But judge it or decide for yourself. Don't just repeat what the haters have spewed.



.