Have you ever cruised ?

[xoggoth]

I gave you plenty of action. You just didn't come round from the chloroform

So that was it! I thought the soreness was down to the old lady who lived in the cottage poking me with a broomstick after I fell asleep.

[Pondlife]

Each to their own I suppose.

I couldn't think of a worse way to spend valuable holiday time than being trapped on a floating hotel with nowhere to go to escape the masses.

I would imagine the bar costs are punitive and if the food is not to your standards you're fcuked.

[Old Greg]

So that was it! I thought the soreness was down to the old lady who lived in the cottage poking me with a broomstick after I fell asleep.

That was no old lady!

[NickFitz]

[DaveB]

Our big adventure to Russia was canned this year, because the missus couldnt get a month off.
So we hummed and ha'd and decided to go on a cruise
Two weeks in the western med with P&O in October,

Has anyone ever cruised, whats it like ?

We did Western Med with Thompson last year. Loved every minute of it. Planning to do Eastern Med this year, funds permiting.

Went with Thompson rather than P&O so would be interested to hear if it's worth paying the extra for the Brand.

Food was excellent, MrsB has Ceoliac Desease and we basically got private dining every evening as the chef would cook gluten free varients of the main menu or whatever else she wanted to order. We were met by the Maitre D' on the first day who went through what MrsB could and couldnt eat and made sure the kitchens new about it. We had our own waiter who was trained to know what peoples different diet requirements might be.

On board Entertainment was aimed at the older end of the market and could be a Butlins in style depending on which venue you went to. We ended up heading for the smaller bars or lounge with live music most evenings, as the main theater and ball room were usually heaving for karoke, quiz nights etc.

The theater shows were good, not West End professional but definately up to regional standards.

The crew were amazing. All were uniformly friendly and smiling thoughout and happy to stop and chat with you. No coyness about what it was like to work on board or hints that they were under instrauctions not to talk about working conditions. Bar staff remembered our names after the first night, and even our favorite drinks.

Pre-booked excursions were generally worth the cost, especially for the big ticket stops like Pompeii, Vesuvius, Barcalona etc. You can go it alone and there was transport available from the dockside to the town or city center when it was beyond walking distance and next time we'll do more of that when the organised tours are going to places of less interest.

Tips. Make sure you have a change of cloths and wash kit in your hand luggage. It can take a couple of hours for your bags to reach your cabin and if you want to chnage and freshen up upfter travelling you'll end up having to wait.

Make a point of being up early enough to be on deck when coming into port in the mornings. Some of the best sights we had were coming into dock in various places. The highlight was coming into Naples with Vesuvius appearing out of the morning mist and into the sunshine.

f you are going to drink more than a couple of drinks each per night then it's worth going for the all inclusive drinks package. Bar prices on our ship were on a par with pub prices in the south east but throw in a couple of cocktails a night and a bottle of wine with dinner and the bill starts to rise sharply. It's not that they are poor value, but you will lose track of what you are spending as it's all based on a card system that gets billed back to your cabin.

Avoid the buffet's if you can. Dining in the waiter service resteraunts was much better. Food on the buffet was very good, but it was still a buffet and lines at meal times were always long.

Remember to allow for tips in your budget. I dont know what P&O's policy is but Thompson included tips in the price. If you wanted to tip specific staff members you could, but it wasnt expected. Most cruise lines DO NOT include tips and you are expected to add a gratuity when settling your Cabin bill at the end of the trip. Some will add it automatically and it can be as much as £20 a day per cabin.

[ChrisPackit]

...and I thought this thread was about the real Cruising, which in my dictionary is driving around picking prostitutes up....pah!!!


EO, my Ma and Pa have racked up over 60 P&O etc cruises, just come back from a month away. They love it, but I went a couple of years ago and was bored to tears. Like others say, all you can do is play bingo and eat and I must be one of the only people who goes on holiday and comes back LIGHTER than when I went, hence don't get my moneys worth...

[MarillionFan]

Actually I did a cruise a few years back before the kids were born. Straits of Malacca, Thailand to Singapore on one of the Princess ships. I thought it was going to be a dodgy Butlins type of thing.

Actually it was good fun. Service was excellent, food was exceptional. High tea is great fun, plenty to do onboard, gym, swimming, sun bathing and then on days you are near to sure you can join in an excursion or grab a taxi and head off somewhere new each day. I personally don't mind Americans or other nationalities and so it's quite good fun to people spot.

The cruise we went on was pricey and was in Asia so there was a lack of pikey types as you'd had to travel to get there. The captains dinner is always fun.

I could imagine if you did a cheapy cruise around the Med then there is a high chance of you getting pikeys or mouthy northeners. Probably nothing worse than hearing some gobby scouser screaching at the top of his voice or some fat Manc stuffing her face with chips but if you like that sort of thing then you'll probably be OK.

[Old Greg]

I could imagine if you did a cheapy cruise around the Med then there is a high chance of you getting pikeys or mouthy northeners. Probably nothing worse than hearing some gobby scouser screaching at the top of his voice or some fat Manc stuffing her face with chips but if you like that sort of thing then you'll probably be OK.

At least there wouldn't be any twuntish tat merchants wetting the bar cushions.

[ChrisPackit]

Probably nothing worse than hearing some gobby scouser screaching at the top of his voice

You've just described EO there

I don't think he'll be going on one now...

[Troll]

Many many moons ago, during the summer hols I worked onboard Greek cruise ships sailing out of Piraeus as a ships photographer working for a company out of Colchester

Mostly one week cruises down to Alexandria, Ashdod, Limmasol, Rodos, and Kushadasi & Patmos
with a mix of Yankee and European passengers

I also did 3 & 4 day cruises to the Greek islands and the occasional week cruises up to Istanbul (which had an overnight stay)

IIRC it was mainly a continuous alcohol fuelled experience, punctuated by being in competition with the Greek staff for who could bonk the most wimmin

It turned me off forever even considering cruising as a holiday option but if I was to do it ,then the Western Med would be the one I would go for -most archaeological /Biblical interest

HTH