I have actually agreed to go on a cruise

[irv]

So, and I love the ocean having been a keen fisher for many years, I have up to now said you couldn't drag me on to a cruise. My idea of a holiday is to get out and explore, so much to see and visit in this world and my darling wife has allowed me to have reign. However when she read my plans for our next tour, I was advised that she wants to sit on a chair in the sun and relax before embarking on another major holiday. So we are going on a cruise from Sydney to Hawaii via the Pacific Islands. I have no idea how I will transition to this type of holiday, given my penchant for exploring against multiple days on a ship in the middle of the ocean, however lets see how we go, will be interesting

 

[straitman]

So, and I love the ocean having been a keen fisher for many years, I have up to now said you couldn't drag me on to a cruise. My idea of a holiday is to get out and explore, so much to see and visit in this world and my darling wife has allowed me to have reign. However when she read my plans for our next tour, I was advised that she wants to sit on a chair in the sun and relax before embarking on another major holiday. So we are going on a cruise from Sydney to Hawaii via the Pacific Islands. I have no idea how I will transition to this type of holiday, given my penchant for exploring against multiple days on a ship in the middle of the ocean, however lets see how we go, will be interesting

Hi irv,

I'm sure you will find plenty to do on board.

I would probably settle for a 4-10 day cruise as a beginner though. Just in case you don't like it.

Do you have some details to settle our inquisitive minds?

 

[pootle]

So, and I love the ocean having been a keen fisher for many years, I have up to now said you couldn't drag me on to a cruise. My idea of a holiday is to get out and explore, so much to see and visit in this world and my darling wife has allowed me to have reign. However when she read my plans for our next tour, I was advised that she wants to sit on a chair in the sun and relax before embarking on another major holiday. So we are going on a cruise from Sydney to Hawaii via the Pacific Islands. I have no idea how I will transition to this type of holiday, given my penchant for exploring against multiple days on a ship in the middle of the ocean, however lets see how we go, will be interesting

Ooh which cruise line? Celebrity? Carnival? Royal carribean?

 

[Deleted member]

Having free rein for so many years means you are "dead to rights" on this one. Frankly if Mrs GPH were to suggest a similar event, I would arrange to (flay and ) meet her in Hawaii. But that's me. Nothing will induce me to get on a boat ever again. Except maybe the manly ferry. (On a still day).

 

[Pushka]

For a newbie I would do a 7 day mediterranean cruise. A port each day to get off the ship and explore and then the return to the ship for dinner and entertainment. Great weather. Flat seas. It worked for MrP after a dreadful Pacific cruise in 1982. Another try thirty years later and he was hooked.

The Pacific seas can get a bit turbulent.

 

[Skyring]

My first cruise was a 30 day leg of a round the world voyage on P&O Aurora. Hong Kong to Southampton. We stopped at Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang. Kerala, Mumbai, Sharm el Sheik, Port Suez, Athens, Barcelona, and (finally) Southampton. Only a day in each port, and plenty of sea days, but there was exploring enough.

Frankly, I prefer this over flying, if I have the time, and I can find a ship going in the right direction. I don't have to pack and unpack every day, it's relatively cheap, includes all meals, provides an ever-changing view of the world with the chance of whales, and I can spend hours at a time just happily doing nothing.

There are activities for those idle hours. Dance and music classes, art and language, specialised topics, gym, craft, films, talks, shows.

Plus I got to see some reasonably exotic ports. A Suez Canal transit, for all love - not something one gets to do frequently!

Admittedly, not much time to look at a city in depth, but I've returned to Athens and Barcelona since then and spent several days in each. Think of it as a taster.

Drawbacks. It takes time. For a working person, this can be a challenge. There are short cruises of three or four days, but these barely scratch the surface, and are often popular with the drinking classes, by which I mean those who aim for quantity over quality, with the inevitable results.

You are often stuck with the same table companions each night. This can be good or bad, depending on personalities, but whereas a curmudgeonly seatmate is out of your hair in a few hours, putting up with them for days or weeks might strain the resources.

Other passengers might be a different demographic. On the Aurora, it was mostly retired British gentlefolk. Lovely people, but hard to get a conversation going. And frankly, their idea of after dinner shows in the theatre fell short of my ideal. Just who are "The Bachelors"?

Internet can be scarce and expensive. I found myself getting up before dawn to do my stuff, when most of these pensioners were fast abed.

But I loved it. Nothing quite like sitting up of a morning, fresh coffee to hand, watching some foreign shore sliding past.

I have some friends who do a half-dozen cruises a year. Gets into the soul, I guess.

 

[irv]

Hi irv,

I'm sure you will find plenty to do on board.

I would probably settle for a 4-10 day cruise as a beginner though. Just in case you don't like it.

Do you have some details to settle our inquisitive minds?

It is 19 days in total on the Carnival Legend, we have a day in each of the following ports, Mare, Suva, Papeete, Moorea, Bora Bora, Maui before sailing into Honolulu where we will probably spend 7-10 days island hopping. If I don't like it I suppose I will just need to suck it up and earn the brownie points for the next active trip . At least I get to fly home.

 

[vetrade]

..............I was advised that she wants to sit on a chair in the sun and relax before embarking on another major holiday. ..................

I'm obviously married to your wife's twin sister, irv. It's beyond me how I can take her half way round the world and she'll be happy to just sit and read.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Frankly if Mrs GPH were to suggest a similar event, I would arrange to (flay and ) meet her in Hawaii. But that's me.

Geeze that is a bit brutal. Cat of nine-tails and all ? :shock:

 

[drron]

Well I never wanted to cruise either but mrsdrron did.However she was clever knowing my love of nature.& days in an 8 passenger boat in the Inside Passage then 10 days in a 16 pax catamaran around the Galapagos Islands and I was hooked.
A bit scary though on this last cruise I began thinking why do I get so concerned about an itinerary.Why not just cruise for the heck of it.Think I have been converted.

 

[straitman]

My first cruise was a 30 day leg of a round the world voyage on P&O Aurora. Hong Kong to Southampton. We stopped at Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang. Kerala, Mumbai, Sharm el Sheik, Port Suez, Athens, Barcelona, and (finally) Southampton. Only a day in each port, and plenty of sea days, but there was exploring enough.

Frankly, I prefer this over flying, if I have the time, and I can find a ship going in the right direction. I don't have to pack and unpack every day, it's relatively cheap, includes all meals, provides an ever-changing view of the world with the chance of whales, and I can spend hours at a time just happily doing nothing.

There are activities for those idle hours. Dance and music classes, art and language, specialised topics, gym, craft, films, talks, shows.

Plus I got to see some reasonably exotic ports. A Suez Canal transit, for all love - not something one gets to do frequently!

Admittedly, not much time to look at a city in depth, but I've returned to Athens and Barcelona since then and spent several days in each. Think of it as a taster.

Drawbacks. It takes time. For a working person, this can be a challenge. There are short cruises of three or four days, but these barely scratch the surface, and are often popular with the drinking classes, by which I mean those who aim for quantity over quality, with the inevitable results.

You are often stuck with the same table companions each night. This can be good or bad, depending on personalities, but whereas a curmudgeonly seatmate is out of your hair in a few hours, putting up with them for days or weeks might strain the resources.

Other passengers might be a different demographic. On the Aurora, it was mostly retired British gentlefolk. Lovely people, but hard to get a conversation going. And frankly, their idea of after dinner shows in the theatre fell short of my ideal. Just who are "The Bachelors"?

Internet can be scarce and expensive. I found myself getting up before dawn to do my stuff, when most of these pensioners were fast abed.

But I loved it. Nothing quite like sitting up of a morning, fresh coffee to hand, watching some foreign shore sliding past.

I have some friends who do a half-dozen cruises a year. Gets into the soul, I guess.

We did Aurora in Jan this year from San francisco to Auckland. We met a scotch couple in their 80s who were on their first cruise. 104 nights from Southhampton to Southhampton. They had experienced the worst possible weather across the Atlantic and were loving it.

 

[Pushka]

As long as I have an open space I love a good storm. MrP - think green!

 

[irv]

As long as I have an open space I love a good storm. MrP - think green!

Well it has to be bad for me to be sea sick, I remember coming back from a fishing trip to Swains Reef, swell got up to over 4 meters on the way, lot of green blokes but I was fine. Don't know about how the missus would fare :shock:

 

[GarrettM]

Been watching Getaway the past couple weeks where they've been highlighting a 15 day Scenic operated river cruise from Amsterdam to Switzerland along the Reine and Moselle. I have to say it looks incredible, but bloody nora it's pricey. I want to visit all those amazing little towns now though. Nijmegen, Koblenz, Heidelberg, and more. Don't know if I would do it by the boat. But easy enough to fly into Frankfurt and hire a car to most of them. Or train.

 

[Pushka]

Been watching Getaway the past couple weeks where they've been highlighting a 15 day Scenic operated river cruise from Amsterdam to Switzerland along the Reine and Moselle. I have to say it looks incredible, but bloody nora it's pricey. I want to visit all those amazing little towns now though. Nijmegen, Koblenz, Heidelberg, and more. Don't know if I would do it by the boat. But easy enough to fly into Frankfurt and hire a car to most of them. Or train.

Yes, eye wateringly expensive. I would love to do one through the French River system, featured on Getaway last year. It includes all excursions and drinks etc, luxury accommodation, but $30,000?

There is an SA riverboat that leaves from a country town on the Murray and ventures out for about 5 days. Their current ads "River cruising is closer than you think" alluding to all the fabulous European cruises. But their product is ridiculously over priced - mum was booked on one for six days, and cost something like $2200 just to go on the River Murray - as if!

 

[GarrettM]

Yes, eye wateringly expensive. I would love to do one through the French River system, featured on Getaway last year. It includes all excursions and drinks etc, luxury accommodation, but $30,000?

There is an SA riverboat that leaves from a country town on the Murray and ventures out for about 5 days. Their current ads "River cruising is closer than you think" alluding to all the fabulous European cruises. But their product is ridiculously over priced - mum was booked on one for six days, and cost something like $2200 just to go on the River Murray - as if!

I'm sure the Murray is a fascinating experience, but yes it would not be the same would it. You can hire a house boat and do it though I think. Which would be fine too. I would let the wife drive and just troll a few fishing rods out the back as we go.

 

[Pushka]

I'm sure the Murray is a fascinating experience, but yes it would not be the same would it. You can hire a house boat and do it though I think. Which would be fine too. I would let the wife drive and just troll a few fishing rods out the back as we go.

Castles? Nope. Dead carp? Yep.

 

[get me outta here]

Talking of storms, when I was a teenager we were coming south and tootling along the Med to the Suez Canal but just as we got there an Israel war broke out and the Canal closed.

We turned back and came around the Canary Islands and south around the Cape of Good Hope in a terrible winter storm and we rolled every which and lose. Everything was falling off everywhere and people went down one after the other until there was virtually no one at any meals staff or pax, they were all so sick.

In those days you could smoke in the cabins - I know amazingly bad to think of it now, and I did not smoke. I was one of the last few still standing. My bunk was the lower one but, on one big wave roll I got the full disgusting heavy ashtray in my face, and then I finally succumbed to sea sickness. Oh the pain of it.

 

[love_the_life]

Been watching Getaway the past couple weeks where they've been highlighting a 15 day Scenic operated river cruise from Amsterdam to Switzerland along the Reine and Moselle. I have to say it looks incredible, but bloody nora it's pricey. I want to visit all those amazing little towns now though. Nijmegen, Koblenz, Heidelberg, and more. Don't know if I would do it by the boat. But easy enough to fly into Frankfurt and hire a car to most of them. Or train.

Scenic and Evergreen Tours have been in the courts lately over their decision not to cancel cruises when flooding occurred and instead bus their passengers around.
We did an Amsterdam to Basel cruise a while back. It was OK but many of the fellow passengers were a tad slow when on the included walking tours so we often went off ourselves. The towns were interesting but not ones I think we would rush back to. The good thing was we got to see them I suppose, normally would not go there. On the other hand, cruising the Med brings up all sorts of wonderful places to go back to.
The passenger mix on the Yangtze River cruise was much more diverse than that on the Rhine who were mainly US and wanted something safe. A downside to Scenic and APT for us would be the high percentage of Australians on the tour. I like to escape them as much as possible.

 

[Pushka]

A downside to Scenic and APT for us would be the hight percentage of Australians on the tour. I like to escape them as much as possible.

Ooh. No escaping me next cruise Dame.