Posted on 02/26/2016 4:47:17 AM PST by COBOL2Java
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - It's still dark out at this industrial port. Most passengers aboard the Oasis of the Seas are sound asleep in their staterooms.
But below deck the crew of one of the world's largest cruise ship is preparing to turn the vessel around. They have just ended a week-long voyage taking 6,222 people throughout the Caribbean. In just hours, another 6,114 will start their vacations.
Suitcases need to be unloaded and loaded. Piles of trash and recycling are removed and an entire week's worth of food for the passengers - and 2,193 crew members - needs to be loaded onboard.
The clock is ticking. There are just 10 hours to essentially empty and restock a small town. If that weren't enough, housekeeping needs to turn over 2,700 staterooms for the new guests.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...
Cruising is awesome. I was hugely skeptical, but I bowed to pressure from the family to go last year. Now....totally hooked.
It’s really incredible. A great triumph of capitalism. The service is amazing. And when you think of what you are getting, it’s incredibly affordable.
I wonder if statistics would support that general impression.”
So I follow the industry now...both as a fan, and a (small) shareholder of Carnival.
More and more people cruise every year...it’s a growth industry. And like air travel, the vast, vast majority of them experience no difficulties at all. We generally hear about the problems, and that is fair game. But I do not think that there is a trend towards more problems.
We’ve been on four cruises with three more booked. In fact, we’ll be on one next month. Cruising is like any other activity. It appeals to some and doesn’t appeal to others.
I agree with some of the criticism posted here. We can only cruise in the Caribbean and most of the ports are very similar. We hardly ever exit the ship so why do we cruise? We enjoy being on the ship. We find a glass of wine on our balcony watching some island recede into the sunset is very, very enjoyable.
Some of the other comments are simply incorrect. There are instances of illnesses, usually norovirus. It’s not that cruise ships are great places for noro, it’s just that, rather uniquely, cruise ships are one of the few places that must report noro cases. Noro is just as common on land. (That stomach flu your child brought home from school, noro.)
I was skeptical of cruising too until I went on our first cruise.”
Hey that sounds like my posts!!!! Right?!
The different cruise ship brands each cater to a different group of vacationers. Carnival brand, for example, is generally a younger group. If you want to ‘party hardy’ start looking here. Holland America (also owned by the Carnival company) is an older group. The same with the ports of call. Read up on where you will be going. If you don’t like the stops, pick a different cruise ship. A few years ago my wife and I went on an Italian cruise line. The literature stressed that it was an Italian ship, with Italian chefs, Italian staff, Italian food. We met a couple that were unhappy with the meals because they didn’t like Italian food. Some people you just can’t help.
I have yet to go an excursion....I’m like, I love the ship. Why would I leave?
That said...might be in Europe this year, and I will definitely leave the ship for that. Hamburg for a day.
Eventually want to do Scandinavia....
Excellent post by the way. We should start a “cruising is awesome” FR group!
Sorry for you loss but happy you have memories to cherish.
“Do you have kids? “
That’s what I was thinking but I didn’t see 40 tons of mac and cheese on the list. :)
Having been on one of these Royal Caribbean class ships, I absolutely loved it. Saw some Caribbean Islands I would never have gone to otherwise. The time on the ship was amazing. Good food, tons to do. Hope to go again soon. It’s a rare vacation where you can truly get away from reality.
Barefoot/Windjammer went out of business years ago, but there are shared charters that do the same thing. I did one of these and you really don’t work (crew was awesome). I think it was the only time I’ve probably had a true vacation. Entertainment choices most days were read, sleep, watch (if we were at sea) or go into the ocean (if we were anchored). No wireless access, TV’s, etc.
Did my share of cruises, compliments of the US Navy.
If I want to go to the Caribbean I’ll fly down and sit my ass in the sand for 7 days.
Here’s the latest vessel inspection report for Oasis...
Thanks. I'm blessed to have over 30 years of memories of her to cherish.
I told Mrs. JimRed I would take her on a cruise...if they let me drive!
Excursions. We did one in Belize to see the ruins. Mostly looking at a pile of rocks sandwiched between two long bus rides. Weren’t impressed. Our next cruise will take us to San Juan where we will visit the fortress. Looking forward to the night time sail away with the fortress all lite up.
Right now, we have two dogs. They’re entering their elder years and as long as we’re lucky to have them with us, we will not kennel them for longer than the time to take a Caribbean cruise.
There are some other cruises we’d like to take. The wife does not wish to fly but perhaps I can overcome that reluctance and we can do a European river cruise. Would love to do a Panama Canal passage.
We are retired now and cruising is an opportunity to enjoy life. Getting drunk on a beach at an All Inclusive isn’t as attractive as it used to seem.
By the way, CruiseCritic offers a free forum very similar to Freerepublic for discussion of cruise related topics. The smoking and formal night threads can get a bit heated but you can learn a lot there. I post there as Rocketman275.
Awesome, thank you for that heads up!
I hope to do a European river cruise when my kids get old enough to appreciate it....it will be pricey, but it’s still a hope. Love what I see from Viking....
Thanks again.
You know those floating cities always look a little top heavy to me. I would be very nervous in heavy seas. Visions of the Poseidon Adventure would be playing in my head.
A friend took a river cruise a few years ago. Strongly recommended the Danube cruises as being more scenic.
As long as we’re daydreaming, I’d love to do the upper Rhine linking to the Danube debarking in Istanbul where I would board a med cruise and a transatlantic. Of course, I would want first class air to Europe. Maybe I’ll win the lottery.
We did our homework, the cruise line did a fine job overall.
I was not impressed with the destinations. Aruba (tourist), Curacao (industrial), St. Thomas (retail commercial), Tortola/Virgin Gorda. I thought “The Baths” was a cool formation and we did a some sightseeing on the other rocks “rocks” too. But uniformly they were desert islands, not the tropical paradise the brochures lead you to believe.
I would never do a cruise again, as opposed to going to a destination resort. The destination resort was much more relaxed. I felt like on the cruise we were rushing to get it all in, in the time we had.
I wasn’t a bad experience, but educational. It gave me the opportunity to see most of these rocks and know which ones I would want to go to again.
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