Cruising

[Spot's Meow]

Anyone around here enjoy going on cruises?

My husband and I will be leaving for a 10 day Alaskan cruise soon, and I'm really excited about it! It's a delayed honeymoon; we got married last October but Alaska cruise season doesn't really start until May, so we decided to wait and do what we really wanted instead of taking a trip that we weren't as excited about back then.

I have been on two cruises before, both to the Mexican Riviera when I was a teenager and then in my early 20s. Cruising is a type of vacation I thought I would hate, since I tend to want to go-go-go on my trips. I am an obsessive planner and like to fit in as much as possible. Being trapped on a ship did not sound appealing. However, I really loved it. I went with family both times and I have to say that it is a great family vacation, especially when you have a big family like I do, because there is something for everyone. My sisters could go off and swim or sunbathe all day, and I could grab a book and find a nice big window to cozy up to. I don't even know or care what my parents were doing. All while we ate as much free ice cream as we wanted (the ship ran out on the 5th day of a 7 day cruise...my family may have had something to do with that). This was a welcome change from the vacations where we all had to be drug along to whatever activities it was that my dad wanted to do.

On the Mexican cruises, I cared much less about the ports and really enjoyed the time on the ship. For the Alaskan cruise, from everything I have read it sounds like it's all about the ports! We have some interesting excursions planned. Another difference this time is that we will be in a balcony room. I have been in an inside and oceanview before, and I have to say I would not want to do inside again. Way too dark and depressing. However going for a balcony was an extra splurge that I am really looking forward to.

I am a member of another board that focuses on cruising, and from my observations there it's apparent to me that there is an entire sub-culture that is really devoted to cruising. Some people do it multiple times a year. I can't see myself doing it more than once every few years, but who knows. This will be my husband's first time cruising, so maybe he will fall in love with it.

Anyone else have some experiences to share?

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Are you going to do the excursion to Denali? If not, I highly recommend it.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Are you going to do the excursion to Denali? If not, I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately we won't be going that far inland. We will be sticking to the Inside Passage and coast. We did seriously consider one of the land/sea packages, where you get to cruise for a few days and then go further inland for a few days, but the timing didn't really work out. They would have required more vacation time from work and also would have been much more expensive due to needing to fly either to or from the Anchorage area. We got a great deal on the cruise we chose, and neither of us has been to Alaska at all, so I feel happy with our choice. I am thinking we will probably want to go back someday though, specifically for Denali!

 

[Kirby]

Anyone around here enjoy going on cruises?

My husband and I will be leaving for a 10 day Alaskan cruise soon, and I'm really excited about it!

My parents went on an Alaskan cruise, and then my brother and his wife did a similar cruise on their honeymoon and they all absolutely loved it. That said, boats freak the living shit out of me. I'm just fine on a kayak, or a small rowboat, but anything bigger, combined with me not being in control of the thing, no thanks.
Aside from seasickness, I have no real basis for my phobia, and I have been on boats several times, but I always have a horrible sensation of doom.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[auntiehill]

We went on a cruise for our honeymoon; neither of us had taken a cruise before. We went to Key West, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I LOVED it, although we missed out on some excursions on Grand Cayman--there was a bad storm, very high winds that were too dangerous for going out to the reefs and stingray sandbars. We got our money back for that, but I was bummed out that we didn't get to do the excursion. We spent the afternoon on the beach, instead.

Hubby, however, did not enjoy the cruise much at all. For the first two days of our five day trip, he was HORRIBLY sea sick. The high winds had the boat rocking like a hammock. They passed out super-strength Dramamine to everyone; I thought I would get sick, but I was fine. I walked all around the ship, watched some classic movies, wandered through all the shops, etc. Hubby was either in the bathroom or in a motion-sickness-medicine-coma.

I would love to take another cruise sometime, but I have no one to go with. Hubby has sworn to never set foot on a cruise ship again. I really don't have any friends, aside from my best pal--who is frail health and has a large family to travel with, anyway--or two people who are actually friends of my husband, so I'm more like a third wheel they get stuck with.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Never been on an actual cruise ship, no. Wasn't too keen on it even BEFORE the Carnival Triumph disaster, and am even less keen on it now.

I am quite fond of river cruises though. I prefer big city vacations, but in cities like New York, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, etc., there are some great river and/or harbor tours to be had.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Boats. Vomit. No.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Belated congratulations! Particularly to your hubby - I hope he appreciates what a valuable catch he made.

Alas, I've never been on a cruise yet, but I'm planning to go on a trip up the northern European coastline to see polar lights. Propably not next winter but definitely one winter soon. If I had a bucket list this would be pretty far up on it.

 

[thestrangequark]

SO not what I thought this thread was going to be about.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^

When I was in high school the term 'cruising' meant that kids would pick two different points downtown and then just keep driving back and forth between them on weekends. Clueless as I am, I always wondered why they did that.

 

[auntiehill]

^That's what I first thought, too. I saw the title and thought, "Do kids still do that?" You would just drive up and down the main drag, flirt with kids in other cars, blast your radio...basically just make an ass of yourself, trying to look cool.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

I've been on one cruise. For me, it's all about the ports (Patmos! Santorini!) and the views. Activities on the ship itself don't interest me.

 

[trekkiedane]

Not my kind of holiday.
I'd feel trapped in a floating mall... and if there's anything I really hate, it's being in a mall (or any such place with many, many people) that I can't get away from -and (oh, the horror!) where there's nowhere to go if I could.
That being said, I am a bit envious (in the good way) of that Alaskan cruise... the only grand voyage on a ship that I actually think I'd enjoy is the Norwegian 'Hurtigruten'

SO not what I thought this thread was going to be about.

I too had something different in mind after reading the title.

When I was in high school the term 'cruising' meant that kids would pick two different points downtown and then just keep driving back and forth between them on weekends. Clueless as I am, I always wondered why they did that.

Not what I thought either. I grew up in an age where the word 'cruising' meant about the same as the, perhaps more English, word: 'cottaging'...

 

[Doom Shepherd]

I have a significant phobia about deep water, so I would expect not.

OTOH, I have a phobia about heights, and I just flew for the first time this past summer, so.. maybe? I've never been on a ship big enough that I know how I'd feel about being on a cruise. I went rafting once (I was 19 and trying to impress a girl. I failed) and hated every second of it, and I've been on a couple of lake/river craft that I didn't care for either.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

SO not what I thought this thread was going to be about.

Same here. I really should get my head out the gutter sometimes

 

[B.J.]

Not what I thought either. I grew up in an age where the word 'cruising' meant about the same as the, perhaps more English, word: 'cottaging'...

Help me out here, no idea what "cottaging" refers to. And I'm not going to Google that at work, just in case!

 

[trekkiedane]

^It's 'cruising' for the gay man.

Public lavatories were known as 'cottages' in sixties gay slang in Britain.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I have a significant phobia about deep water, so I would expect not.

OTOH, I have a phobia about heights, and I just flew for the first time this past summer, so.. maybe? I've never been on a ship big enough that I know how I'd feel about being on a cruise. I went rafting once (I was 19 and trying to impress a girl. I failed) and hated every second of it, and I've been on a couple of lake/river craft that I didn't care for either.

I actually have a phobia of deep water as well, and don't like going near the ocean. I don't like smaller boats. Cruise ships, especially the newer ones, are so large that it doesn't bother me. When I first board I'm a little unsure feeling, but I quickly get used to it and sometimes even forget I'm on a ship at all.

 

[Spot's Meow]

^That's what I first thought, too. I saw the title and thought, "Do kids still do that?" You would just drive up and down the main drag, flirt with kids in other cars, blast your radio...basically just make an ass of yourself, trying to look cool.

That definition of the word did cross my mind right after I created the thread, but I can't think of a better word to call this! I guess I could have named the thread "Going on Cruises."

 

[Kor]

^

When I was in high school the term 'cruising' meant that kids would pick two different points downtown and then just keep driving back and forth between them on weekends. Clueless as I am, I always wondered why they did that.

The 'cruising' phenomenon is seen in the movie American Graffiti. That was back when people went outside more instead of being stuck to TV and video games, so the kids cruising on the main thoroughfares in their cars were likely to see people they knew walking down the street, and be able to give a shout-out, or pick up others to join the ride.

There's a waterfront near me that gets a lot of traffic in the summertime, and there are prominent signs saying "no cruising." And that's a shame, because I'd love to do some good, old-fashioned cruising. What a silly ordinance.

Kor