Made The Decision Years Ago: No More Cruise Ships

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PoliTalker

Diversity Makes Greatness
I Made The Decision Years Ago: No More Cruise Ships for me.

I loved taking cruises. It was fabulous fun. Great food, partying, drinks, visiting interesting destinations...

Really was a special experience.

But despite how much fun it was I decided no more.

Two big concerns:

1. Fire

2. Disease / pandemic

You are in a confined space with thousands of other people and no way out. All it took was a few news reports with distressing video showing fires on ships, and hearing stories of disease outbreak on cruise ships and that did it for me.

No more!

I've had some great cruises, really. All the cruises I took were loads of fun, very memorable.

And those memories are enough to last a lifetime.

A lifetime which will not be cut short by having a bad experience on a cruise ship because I am never setting foot on one again.

And now we have Coronavirus!

If *EVER* there was something to confirm a decision, this did it.

Never again.

I'm good with the memories...
 
Once I was on a cruise and was up on deck with a friend just checking out the ocean. We noticed up ahead there was a rain storm. Not real big. Very dark. You could see a clear path on either side of it. There was a huge party going on around the main pool with a band and dancing. No roof over most of that area, and it was as crowded those cruise ships usually are.

We sort of expected the ship to make a turn to bypass the storm. Why let the party get rained out?

But no. We realized there was no turn coming. We were headed right for the storm. And then we realized that the deck with the party was surrounded by walls so that nobody there could see what was coming.

We made our way to a covered upstairs balcony overlooking the party.

Next, we wondered if there would be some sort of announcement to warn people what was about to happen.

Nope!

Ship plows right into the storm. All of a sudden, no warning at all, right in the middle of a song, the whole dance floor is getting heavy downpour.

What a great show! Women shrieking, people scrambling, everybody trying to crowd under the limited roof areas, getting totally soaked. It was like the fire sprinklers got turned on at a wedding reception.

Talk about a sudden end to a rip-snorting party...

I'll never forget the sight.

Great memories.

Glad I had the fun and got away with a good time.

Woulda been horrible to be stuck on that ship DT refused to allow to land because he didn't want 'his numbers' to look bad.
 
I have never been that interested in cruise ships. If I had to do it, river cruises would be the way to go for me. My top choices would be Volga-Baltic waterway, eastern Europe Danube, Amazon, and I would have to research it but I think there are river trips on the Yangtze.
 
PoliTalker said:
I Made The Decision Years Ago: No More Cruise Ships for me.

I loved taking cruises. It was fabulous fun. Great food, partying, drinks, visiting interesting destinations...

Really was a special experience.

But despite how much fun it was I decided no more.

Two big concerns:

1. Fire

2. Disease / pandemic

You are in a confined space with thousands of other people and no way out. All it took was a few news reports with distressing video showing fires on ships, and hearing stories of disease outbreak on cruise ships and that did it for me.

No more!

I've had some great cruises, really. All the cruises I took were loads of fun, very memorable.

And those memories are enough to last a lifetime.

A lifetime which will not be cut short by having a bad experience on a cruise ship because I am never setting foot on one again.

And now we have Coronavirus!

If *EVER* there was something to confirm a decision, this did it.

Never again.

I'm good with the memories...
Click to expand...

Yet, you probably hop in your Prius every day, which is 10 times more dangerous.
 
Cypress said:
I have never been that interested in cruise ships. If I had to do it, river cruises would be the way to go for me. My top choices would be Volga-Baltic waterway, eastern Europe Danube, Amazon, and I would have to research it but I think there are river trips on the Yangtze
Click to expand...
I went on one cruise, never, again, unless, like you, it’s a river cruise.
 
Hello Cypress,

Cypress said:
I have never been that interested in cruise ships. If I had to do it, river cruises would be the way to go for me. My top choices would be Volga-Baltic waterway, eastern Europe Danube, Amazon, and I would have to research it but I think there are river trips on the Yangtze.
Click to expand...

That does represent a lot less risk. Smaller vessel, closer to shore. I never really considered doing one of those. I'd be inclined not to at this point. Might be fun to get one of those drive-it-yourself canal barge thingies. That looks fun. Plod along through the countryside in wine country, bike paths alongside the canal, calm water all the way. Tied fast at night. Yeah. That sounds good. Probably costs more than I would want to spend for a week of fun, though. Might have to get one with a few bedrooms and gang up with some friends to afford it.
 
PoliTalker said:
Hello Phantasmal,



Had a bad time?
Click to expand...

I did fine on the slow trek down, stopping at ports, but full speed ahead, I got extremely sea sick. I also didn’t like the very crowded deck and the pool, etc. being taken over by the drunks. The food was amazing as was the service, but just too many crazy people.
 
Hello Phantasmal,

Phantasmal said:
I did fine on the slow trek down, stopping at ports, but full speed ahead, I got extremely sea sick. I also didn’t like the very crowded deck and the pool, etc. being taken over by the drunks. The food was amazing as was the service, but just too many crazy people.
Click to expand...

Yes, they do move. I was lucky to have smooth seas for my memories. Had great times, but figured OK, no way it's ever getting any better than that so leave it at that before it ever has a chance to go downhill. I also heard some horror stories from friends. Part of the problem is you have to book in advance before you know what the weather is going to be. It would have to be a whole different experience in bad weather.
 
Cypress said:
I have never been that interested in cruise ships. If I had to do it, river cruises would be the way to go for me. My top choices would be Volga-Baltic waterway, eastern Europe Danube, Amazon, and I would have to research it but I think there are river trips on the Yangtze.
Click to expand...

I had a wise grandmother in Ireland who gave me a sound piece of advice years ago, never go out in a boat any further than you can swim back, so a cruise was never on my radar
 
archives said:
I had a wise grandmother in Ireland who gave me a sound piece of advice years ago, never go out in a boat any further than you can swim back, so a cruise was never on my radar
Click to expand...

There are many things in this life that can kill you, so it is not shipwrecks which concern me. Although I confess to an irrational fear of a potential zombie apocalypse!

Being stuck on the ocean on a crowded boat just doesn't sound that appealing to me.
 
Cypress said:
I have never been that interested in cruise ships. If I had to do it, river cruises would be the way to go for me. My top choices would be Volga-Baltic waterway, eastern Europe Danube, Amazon, and I would have to research it but I think there are river trips on the Yangtze.
Click to expand...

Agree with that. We once drove down (up?) the Moselle. The towns looked like drawings from a book of fairy tales and the Rieslings we tasted along the way were better than anything I get here.
 
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Cypress said:
There are many things in this life that can kill you, so it is not shipwrecks which concern me. Although I confess to an irrational fear of a potential zombie apocalypse!

Being stuck on the ocean on a crowded boat just doesn't sound that appealing to me.
Click to expand...

Hey, she lived to be 89, so she must have known something
 
Cypress said:
I have never been that interested in cruise ships. If I had to do it, river cruises would be the way to go for me. My top choices would be Volga-Baltic waterway, eastern Europe Danube, Amazon, and I would have to research it but I think there are river trips on the Yangtze.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

We've only been on one "cruise" which wasn't really a cruise at all, but a trip from Washington up through the Inner Passage to Alaska on the Alaska Marine Highway System on MV Columbia in 2013. The trip took three days. It was absolutely wonderful. You could bring your own food, or buy it on board. You could choose from a berth/cabin, or camp out on deck. You could even bring your pets but they had to stay below decks in the ferry's vehicle hold. It was just regular every day people, some going up for jobs, some returning home after visiting Outside, some just tourists like us who wanted the experience. Everyone had a story. If you wandered around and said hi, you met some really cool ppl.

Couple of pics:

Camping on deck:

CrJ2Ey7.jpg


LLnlh6N.jpg


The Columbia is undergoing overhaul now, and the whole AMHS is in financial trouble and cutting routes.
 
PoliTalker said:
That does represent a lot less risk. Smaller vessel, closer to shore. I never really considered doing one of those. I'd be inclined not to at this point. Might be fun to get one of those drive-it-yourself canal barge thingies. That looks fun. Plod along through the countryside in wine country, bike paths alongside the canal, calm water all the way. Tied fast at night. Yeah. That sounds good. Probably costs more than I would want to spend for a week of fun, though. Might have to get one with a few bedrooms and gang up with some friends to afford it.
Click to expand...

Mr. Owl has been watching videos of that. Are you talking about the narrow boats in the canals in England?
 
Floating coffins...........

(That is what they called the floating landing craft Americans used during the [Spanish] flu WW1)
 
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