Will I Like Cruising?
Not everyone like cruising, some love it, check if you fit
Cruisers love the following:
Unpack and Pack up once
A Cruise is not like a Contiki bus tour through Europe. Drive all day sleeping in a bus traveling between cities, lugging baggage up 3 or 4 stories of steps in a 2nd rate hotel every night, and spend every evening getting drunk.
No a cruise is a civilised change of life-style. Unpack your luggage, hang your finery in the cupboards, set your toiletries out on the bathroom, and set up your laptop on a real desk. Very easy and relaxed, no stress about what you bed or lodgings are going to be like for the night. A less than satisfactory day ashore can be soothed away by a good hot shower, dressing in good clean cloths and having a relaxed meal in a good restaurant.
Virtually Unlimited Baggage
Trying to squeeze 3 weeks of clothing and all the necessities of life into a 20kg suitcase for a airline trip is hard yakka and stressful. Just remember everything you purchase overseas will be added to this on you return. What do you throw out? There is virtually no limit or the baggage you can take on a cruise.
On a cruise done some years ago, we not only purchased a top quality Hi-Fi System, but also a matching lounge suite in Singapore. Try that on a budget airline!
Formal Dining
If you dine out at a good quality restaurant every night, a cruise probably wont do much for you, although I don't or can imagine know anyone that does.
Dressing Up
Dressing up is part of the fun
Attentive Staff
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Space and the Ability to move about
Its great to take a pleasant stroll around the promenade deck, any time of the day of night. Just remember these are big ships, and 3 times around the promenade on the Sun Princes is 1.6km, 1 mile for us older people.
The Entertainment
There is always plenty to see and do. Check out the pages on this site.
What sort of person are you and your cruise partner?
Your Personality is Critical
If you are a hyperactive, compulsive, arrogant, demanding, complaining intolerant, rigid personality cruising may NOT for you. Fortunately only a small percentage of people have more than one of these characteristics.
A Sense Patience
Ship only go slow, and when you are hundred of miles from anywhere it take time to get anywhere, so you are just forced into being patient. If you cannot accept that inevitability then you will not relax. Something's just take time.
A baby take 9 months to happen, 9 mothers cant make a baby happen in 1 month. Some fight this feeling, others love it. If you cant be patient, catch an airplane.
Every Cruise is Different
There are many sites around and you will see many different comments on the web about each cruise on each line.
As an example, onthe first cruise we did it was described as the "Mystery Cruise" or the "Cruise to Nowhere." Lots of negative comment.
The cruise was re-routed to Kota-Kanimbalu, as a result of issues in Bali, which we were very happy about as my youngest daughter had just spent 6 weeks there as a voluntary Physiotherapist helping Stoke patients. However that was not to be due to navigation issues up the East coast of Borneo in uncharted waters (thank God - how to wreck a cruise by running aground) and we ended up in Vung Tau, Vietnam. What a bonus!
At such short notice the Cruise line and the agents in Vietnam did an excellent job in providing at least an alternative to another day on the ship.
We loved the cruise and enjoyed every minute of it.
The last cruise we did we did not make Phuket because of the riots in Thailand at the time, but had an overnight and extra day in Singapore which we loved as it gave us the opportunity to visit China Town at night when it starts up.
Shipping, like aviation is full of unknowns and external influences. The crews and the Lines spend an in-ordinate amount of effort to ensure everything goes to plan, but I bet you to wager a $100 on guaranteeing me that you will be doing something at a specified time in 2 years time and if you don't you will be criticised it will cost you many $100,000's of dollars if you don't live up to your promise. The real world just doesn't happen like that.
Short Cruises in school holiday periods from major cities will have lots of school kids!. How obvious could that be!
Long Cruises in off peak periods will have lots of more senior citizens. Don't complain if the entertainment is "Middle of the Road" and not heavy rock!
Cruises in Winter periods in each hemisphere are likely to suffer the potential for disruption because of rough weather. Do you want to spend several miserable days just because the schedule says this has to be the route.
If you are not tolerant and positive about life, then spend years researching the internet finding out what cruises you shouldn't go on, and with luck you wont go on any at all, and all of us with a more tolerant attitude, and a recognition of reality will be happy not to have you on board.
