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Potentially as divisive an issue as politics and religion, how do you feel and what's been your experience? Full disclosure from the author: I've never been on one, and although i could go my whole life that way, there is a part of me that wants to experience it. having had to deal with them, and the 1,000's of people they bring at a time, my favorite story was the couple that had six hours and wanted to do as much as possible, so they ordered the quickest thing on the menu, gave me their credit card when the food game, and were in an out of the restaurant in 15 minutes. yes they were going to DO a lot on the island, but what were they going to EXPERIENCE while they were there?

hate them and what they do to places they dock.

We had considered one for a while. Not now. Probably won't ever...at least a traditional cruise. Wouldn't be a feasible family vacation for us since my daughter has very unique dietary needs.

I have been on two cruises and enjoyed one very much and the other was 'okay'......I wouldn't go out of my way to go on another one, but it's not out of the question either.

Funny story, Popcorn Jack about the couple who ate their meal in 15 mins so they could rush through the rest of their experience :

I posted this in another thread yesterday:

They're fine for senior citizens who don't mind that they're sharing their travel experience with several hundred other tourists who have 6 hours to see as many sites as possible. When you're in Anchorage you can tell whether there's a cruise ship in town. If a place like Humpy's which is usually fun and laid back is instead filled with crabby old folk, it's cuz they're just off a cruise ship and stick out from teh rest of the folks who don't expect to have their fun packaged by a cruise director.

Cruise ships are no different than factory farms. They make the lessened experience cheaper but sure do leave a lot of crap in their wake.

The only BAD thing about the south coast of Belize is trying to go for a walk on the beach and trying not to trip over the endless line of liquor bottles that line the beach. Those bottles, tossed off Caribbean cruise ships had to float somewhere till they made landfall.

Cruise ships are an atrocity in my opinion.

I'd like to do the Disney Cruise with my husband & son, where we do the Disney Park then take the cruise and go to their private Disney Island.

I really haven't had any desire to do any other type of cruise.

To date, we've never taken a cruise, but we go to Mexico every year.

Honestly, the same argument can (and has been) made about opening National Parks to the masses and making them more accessible.....

Human beings are flawed individuals and where ever they gather in large numbers on a consistent basis there will be consequences.

It's a balancing act about making things more open/accessible and therefore exposing more people to the beauty or keeping them closed off and secret.

pbans wrote:Honestly, the same argument can (and has been) made about opening National Parks to the masses and making them more accessible.....

Human beings are flawed individuals and where ever they gather in large numbers on a consistent basis there will be consequences.

It's a balancing act about making things more open/accessible and therefore exposing more people to the beauty or keeping them closed off and secret.

I choose to think you don't need a cruise ship for people to be exposed to beauty. Learn how to sail . . .!

I liked my two cruises, to the Islands (St Tom, Martin, Barbados, Antigua(SP) and PR. The other was in Hawaii. I loved RCL the best (first one). I will go again if the opportunity arises. Otherwise, there are too many land places I want to see.

pbans wrote:Honestly, the same argument can (and has been) made about opening National Parks to the masses and making them more accessible.....

Human beings are flawed individuals and where ever they gather in large numbers on a consistent basis there will be consequences.

It's a balancing act about making things more open/accessible and therefore exposing more people to the beauty or keeping them closed off and secret.

But, Pbans, you can make your own fun in a national park. It's just a matter of how far off the pavement you're willing to go.

When I fish National Forest or National Park streams I can either stay at the roadside accesses and catch few, if any fish. Or, unlike 95% of the people, I can hike in even a mile or two and catch far more fish. When I fish in Alaska that's exactly what I do. An hour of hiking and I can have miles of river to myself after I pass teh dozens of people fishing at the roadside.

With a cruise ship - EVERYONE on the boat is dumped off at the same place at the same time. I've been in Sloppy Joe's on a sleepy afternoon having a nice time hanging out and then BAM, the formerly fun bar is filled with a couple hundred frenzied people in a hurry to take it all in. It sucks, especially when they start complaining. I've had that happen in Key West, Anchorage, Seward, downtown Belize City (which is a dump - shocking that the passengers on the cruise ship wanna hang out there, I am guessing they were too cheap to pay for interior shore excursions into the cayo) and even in downtown Talkeetna (well, I should say, in the center of Talkeetna - can't really call what they have a "downtown" which makes it so wonderful) when the shore excursion bus dropped off 100 people in front of the bar where I was having lunch.

A nice day or evening chatting with friendly locals gets turned into being crammed in with a few hundred crabby people who are not interesting and have nothing interesting to offer. I buy a local a beer and I can get amazing tips on fishing spots and other off the beaten path places. It all gets ruined when the "if it's Tuesday it must be Seward" crowd launches their invasion. They cruise ships are turning places like Ketchikan, Key West and Cozumel (formerly wonderful spots) into endless t shirt shops with chain restaurant type restaurants.

Ugh.

I've never been on a cruise ship and I can say with great confidence that will never change.

I've never been on a cruise, and while there are certain cruise ship destinations I'd like to go to, I really don't like the thought of being "trapped" with that many people and so limited in my ability to explore places. I've been looking into the smaller, naturalist led cruises for awhile now. They have shallower drafts so they can go places the large ships can't, and they don't have set schedules...they can follow the wildife and stay there longer, plus you can usually hike, kayak, dive etc. Plus you're with people with similar interests. Unfortunately they are typically a lot more expensive than the large cruise ships, and the single traveler penalty is steep. They will pair you up with other single travelers to avoid the penalty...I haven't quite decided if I want to go that route or not. Anyone spending that kind of money *probably* isn't going to be too whacko, but you never know.

We've talked about a cruise as an 'extended family' vacation, so that all the relatives could be together but everyone would be responsible for their own costs. My parents got hosed by my brother when we rented the house in Hilton Head for 10 of us. As wonderful as that vacation was, my parents aren't willing to foot the bill again, especially when my brother can more than afford it..and it was his idea! Unfortunately I think a cruise ship would be too limiting for most of us though...we like to do stuff.

Catch&Release wrote:

pbans wrote:Honestly, the same argument can (and has been) made about opening National Parks to the masses and making them more accessible.....

Human beings are flawed individuals and where ever they gather in large numbers on a consistent basis there will be consequences.

It's a balancing act about making things more open/accessible and therefore exposing more people to the beauty or keeping them closed off and secret.

But, Pbans, you can make your own fun in a national park. It's just a matter of how far off the pavement you're willing to go.

When I fish National Forest or National Park streams I can either stay at the roadside accesses and catch few, if any fish. Or, unlike 95% of the people, I can hike in even a mile or two and catch far more fish. When I fish in Alaska that's exactly what I do. An hour of hiking and I can have miles of river to myself after I pass teh dozens of people fishing at the roadside.

With a cruise ship - EVERYONE on the boat is dumped off at the same place at the same time. I've been in Sloppy Joe's on a sleepy afternoon having a nice time hanging out and then BAM, the formerly fun bar is filled with a couple hundred frenzied people in a hurry to take it all in. It sucks, especially when they start complaining. I've had that happen in Key West, Anchorage, Seward, downtown Belize City (which is a dump - shocking that the passengers on the cruise ship wanna hang out there, I am guessing they were too cheap to pay for interior shore excursions into the cayo) and even in downtown Talkeetna when the shore excursion bus dropped off 100 people in front of the bar where I was having lunch.

A nice day or evening of chatting with friendly locals gets turned into being crammed in with a few hundred crabby, old people who are not interesting and have nothing interesting to offer. I buy a local a beer and I can get amazing tips on fishing spots and other off the beaten path places. It all gets ruined when the "if it's Tuesday it must be Seward" crowd launches their invasion. They cruise ships are turning places like Ketchikan, Key West and Cozumel (formerly wonderful spots) into endless t shirt shops with chain restaurant type restaurants.

Ugh.

I agree that you make your own fun.....but many national parks in my home state have been turned in to a sort of "Off Road Disneyland" because tourists are too effin' lazy to hike to their destinations.....

National Parks are also being turned in to t-shirt shops and tacky tourist souvenir traps..........

I'm just saying that I feel the same way about the 'touristifying' (new word) of the Nat'l Parks in my area as you do the cruise ship ports.

Dezdmona wrote:I'd like to do the Disney Cruise with my husband & son, where we do the Disney Park then take the cruise and go to their private Disney Island.

I really haven't had any desire to do any other type of cruise.

To date, we've never taken a cruise, but we go to Mexico every year.

We did a Disney Cruise and loved it.......it was a great time.
Disney's private island is very "Disney", but lovely and fun!

pbans wrote:Honestly, the same argument can (and has been) made about opening National Parks to the masses and making them more accessible.....

Human beings are flawed individuals and where ever they gather in large numbers on a consistent basis there will be consequences.

It's a balancing act about making things more open/accessible and therefore exposing more people to the beauty or keeping them closed off and secret.

I'll sum it up for those who don't see where you're coming from. People are pigs.

Not all....but way too many.

Disney cruises would be my one exception as well. Disney is fabulous about accomodating special dietary needs.

funny you should ask this question...
I have been on 3 cruises...liked them all...loved my first one as it was part of my 3 week honeymoon.

That being said, I really didn't think I would go on another one. Until my son started playing high school baseball and we are no longer allowed to go away for April break. So, that leaves only February to go tropical. In the past few yeaers in the Northeast...February air travel has been a nightmare...delayed and canceled flights...ruined vacations...

So, I did some research and found a 9 day cruise that leaves out of New Jersey. All we have to do is drive to the port..get on the ship and start our vacation. No airports...no travel to and from airport to ship prot...very few hassles!

It now turns out that 11 families (that we are friends with) are all going together. Our 2 boys, along with most of the baseball team. the good thing is...it's a big ship! We can hang together or get lost if we want.

As far as ports of call...that is my time to enjoy the ship pool with very few people around. I rarely get off the ship and go to the islands...been there, done that. it is so peaceful on board when everyone gets off..why leave? I have the bar to myself!

Been on several...loved each one...always Royal Caribbean. We never feel crowded and it's fun waking up in a new port everyday. Loved our staterooms with the private balcony. If we really like the place, we put it on the list to go back. We do land vacations also. Right now St. John is at the top of the "go back to" list.

Mal...they will jump through hoops to give your daughter exactly the kind of meal she can eat. You tell them when you book the cruise and you have the same waiter each night. It doesn't matter what's on the menu...tell them what you want/need and they'll make it for you.

All the cruises we have been on usually had a bunch of families...not too many old folks. We have gone through islands on FWD jeeps, bikes, catamaran cruises or just explored on our own. Carnival is like having New Year's Eve party every night...lots of young (20-30) people.

We already booked one for spring break but I would like to go on a small (barefoot cruise-type) at some point. They can go where the large ships can't.

We have done several cruises and enjoyed most of them. Gave us an opportunity to see many ports of call and then decide which ones we wanted to go back to and spend more time.

I saw the Poseidon Adventure.

Since then I've vowed never to risk having to climb and crawl through an upside down sinking ship with a bunch of lousy actors. No cruise ships for me!