Lets talk cruises

Capt Doufos said:
Just finished our 2nd P&O Cruise on Iona to Spain (Getxo, La Coruna and Vigo) should have included Cherborg, France but the storm from a couple of weeks back made it impossible to dock. We generally use the cruise as a way of doing a holiday without having to plan too much as typically we do road trips which take a lot of coordination and planning. It's quite nice not doing a lot, eating too many desserts and pottering about some new places. We still managed 24,000 steps one day! Used the MDR's more this time and I was impressed the food quality was a significant step up from the other dining options.

We are late booking for next year (School Holidays) but might try a different Cruise line. For August been looking at:

Sky Princess: Scandinavia (Kristiansand, Oslo, Skagen, Copenhagen)
Celebrity Apex: Norway (Bergen, Flam, Alesund) - We did the fjords last year, but keen to see Flam and Bergen
MSC Virtuosa: (Brest, Lisbon, Cadiz, Gilbraltar, Malaga)

Not sure how the experience compares to P&O, Celebrity and Princess have additional gratuities and the Virtuosa seems to get mixed reviews.
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Saw this in the active threads and came for a snoop, my parents are cruise addicts, doing 3 a year for the last 10-15yr.

You may already know and didn’t mention, but my understanding is that any land days which are cancelled can be refunded, can’t remember if it’s a P&O/Royal C/MSC etc policy or insurance, but you get a decent chunk back, and plenty of people seem to be unaware of it. It’s well worth looking into.

The 3 above are the ones my parents book. P&O in the Caribbean late Jan, RC/MSC in the Med around May, and Canaries late Sept iirc. They’ve only just started going on MSC and found that their loyalty point for RC carry over, so they get 4-5 free drinks/day included which covers them most days.
 
I've done quite a few now. I usually travel alone and a lot of these companies do go out of their way to get you met up with other solo travellers which is nice.

Actually doing a land based holiday next month as my first non-cruise in a while, might be a culture shock not being looked after
 
RC182 said:
Bizarre we went there in the evening and there was def American themed food etc on the menu.
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There were things like steak or ribs, but only a couple of things that seemed American were Pot pie or something with gritz but no burgers or hotdogs and unless I missed a trick there weren't any milkshakes or Ice Cream sundaes which I would've at least expected.
 
Ive worked at sea for the last 25 years so a cruise is the last holiday I want to go on! But a river cruise might just be worth a look.... somewhere with history maybe???
 
Efour said:
Well I've got a week of this old age pensioners and high functioning alcoholics at Butlins on sea.

Lol

Not sure cruising is gonna be for me
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To be fair, I was expecting it to be a bit like that and I was just going to treat it as a bus to get you to places while you sleep.

Which we did.

But, we're quite a way off pension age and there were plenty of people younger than us, quite a few couples.

But Butlins, damn, good luck. Was dragged there as a kid and I think I'm still traumatised.
 
One of the things my parents moan about on all the newer ships is how they’re all bright colours and full of novelty features and 50% water slide. Cruising has definitely pivoted from middle-class & elderly and is now trying to get young families.
 
PaulC2K said:
One of the things my parents moan about on all the newer ships is how they’re all bright colours and full of novelty features and 50% water slide. Cruising has definitely pivoted from middle-class & elderly and is now trying to get young families.
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Again, really depends on the brands and classes as ship. The big ones cater to families, so the crazy stuff is to be expected, but fewer people want stuffy formal nights and all that jazz these days.
 
krooton said:
Again, really depends on the brands and classes as ship. The big ones cater to families, so the crazy stuff is to be expected, but fewer people want stuffy formal nights and all that jazz these days.
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Yeah it’s 100% a shift in audience, but part of the problem is the older ships they once liked are now going through refurb and they’re coming out looking like mini versions of the latest ships, not a fresh version of its original design.
Unfortunately it feels like they’re slowly becoming pushed out in favour of family oriented ships, so they’ve been trying other companies to see if any are better.

It’s not so bad that they wouldn’t use them now, but there’s a few standards which have dropped, while prices have increased, and the food (main dining) has been an issue for a while now.
 
PaulC2K said:
Yeah it’s 100% a shift in audience, but part of the problem is the older ships they once liked are now going through refurb and they’re coming out looking like mini versions of the latest ships, not a fresh version of its original design.
Unfortunately it feels like they’re slowly becoming pushed out in favour of family oriented ships, so they’ve been trying other companies to see if any are better.

It’s not so bad that they wouldn’t use them now, but there’s a few standards which have dropped, while prices have increased, and the food (main dining) has been an issue for a while now.
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That's why I love Celebrity, classy without being stuffy, but also not a full on theme park, even their newest class.
 
Last full day today.
Doing a coach your of the best bits of Grand Canaria....ooohh...

Ive played bingo, done 20 various quizzes an excursion everyday including 4x4 driving, nighttime Xmas markets expeditions into volcanic parks and vineyards, been to 5 "Broadway" shows...
Drank more G&Ts and tried every cocktail 10 x over. Ive not drank like this since University.
Eaten breakfast lunch dinner Midnight snacks, daytime snacks, snacks between snacks..... BBQ night, Christmas dinner.... English pubgrub , buffets and so called "fine dining"....not for me.

The staff are insane and welcoming to a state of my own discomfort :p 100% great.

But , let's get negative...
It is still Butlins lol which is honestly "ok" I get it now. It's just retired British working class people (mostly Northerns lol) thoroughly enjoying their pensions.
I'm just here 10/15 years too early :p
This is a child free ship too ......that definitely changes the atmosphere.

I'm not gonna rush to go on a cruise again and this definitely fits a niche in the UK package holiday market. I know it's not a real cruise but that looks like Dubai on sea to me and that's my idea of hell :p

Time to get in the shower, grab a bacon sandwich and find the coach for that tour at 9.15....

Toodles
 
Efour said:
Last full day today.
Doing a coach your of the best bits of Grand Canaria....ooohh...

Ive played bingo, done 20 various quizzes an excursion everyday including 4x4 driving, nighttime Xmas markets expeditions into volcanic parks and vineyards, been to 5 "Broadway" shows...
Drank more G&Ts and tried every cocktail 10 x over. Ive not drank like this since University.
Eaten breakfast lunch dinner Midnight snacks, daytime snacks, snacks between snacks..... BBQ night, Christmas dinner.... English pubgrub , buffets and so called "fine dining"....not for me.

The staff are insane and welcoming to a state of my own discomfort :p 100% great.

But , let's get negative...
It is still Butlins lol which is honestly "ok" I get it now. It's just retired British working class people (mostly Northerns lol) thoroughly enjoying their pensions.
I'm just here 10/15 years too early :p
This is a child free ship too ......that definitely changes the atmosphere.

I'm not gonna rush to go on a cruise again and this definitely fits a niche in the UK package holiday market. I know it's not a real cruise but that looks like Dubai on sea to me and that's my idea of hell :p

Time to get in the shower, grab a bacon sandwich and find the coach for that tour at 9.15....

Toodles
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I cant honestly say anything of my cruise reminded me of Butlins. To be honest, it seemed to be more like a D*** waving contest about who's on the longest, how many cruises you've done in total and in a 12 month period and whether you have a balcony or a suite etc. .

I totally understand why it isn't to some peoples taste though.
 
I've been out of UK for ten years so the British culture shock always hits me hardest
 
Maundie said:
Yeah agreed, should’ve been burgers hotdogs and milkshakes but none to be seen, we only went in the evening though so may have been different on a lunchtime
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Arent these available at Taste 360/Lido Grill? They did Burgers, Pizza, fried Chicken, fries etc by the pool on the Britannia and Iona.
 
ZXSpectrum said:
Arent these available at Taste 360/Lido Grill? They did Burgers, Pizza, fried Chicken, fries etc by the pool on the Britannia and Iona.
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Yes but were terrible, burgers were tasteless and the hotdog buns were really dry, Taste360 was only open until 6pm as well and they only did chicken burgers on the odd day whereas beef burgers and hotdogs were on everyday
 
Last hours on board I did a final top deck tour :p
Airport transfer at 10am.
I'm gonna miss HMS Butlins but it hasn't been half as bad as I said.
It's dawning on me how easy an all inclusive is. Now having to go to mum's and fix Xmas on the 23rd/24th...
I genuinely CBA lol.
2 Weeks of hustle and bustle in London now.. urgh.
Merry Christmas everyone.
 
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