We have friends who are on A 2 week Caribbean cruise... no thanks.
We took a river cruise and there were 110 passengers, just right.
They are also as good a vacation as I’ve ever had. 13 cruises under my belt and will keep going! NCL Breakaway was a great experience and just as big.
They should change the name to “Petri Dish of the Seas.”
I am waiting for the cruise ship story in which all the typical disasters have happened at the same time, to-wit:
1. Outbreak of norovirus
2. Looking for someone who fell overboard
3. Sailing through rough seas, with rooms and corridors
flooding.
4. Ship catches fire
5. Ship loses power
6. Ship attacked by pirates
You are not wrong. (worked on a RCCL cruise ship for 10 months as a musician) The entire issue, and it is both gross and yet minimal though the outcomes if negative are by no means trivial;
You become intimate with the bathroom/hygiene habits of those 8K (5K in my case) people and they all have to, or should, run their hands over the handrails going up and down the uber elegant grand staircases in the central atria and the various staircases elsewhere. They have to. (climb/descend the super elegant staircases AND use the handrails)
IF you go on such a cruise, simply wash your hands like a bad case of OCD every half hour and try not to rub your eyes, ever, without washing your hands.
Would rather go directly to a quiet, scenic, relaxing destination than trying to do the same on a boat with 3,000 other people.
it’s a really nice ship. Spent HOURS by the bar on the upper deck.
They are rabid about washing your hands, all the time, even as you enter the dining room.
I had norovirus a couple of years back. Wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
Thousands of people floating around sharing germs=a cruise from hell...
Hubby and I went on s cruise to the Bahamas, decided it sucked-trapped in a crowd of mostly complaining overweight people with bad manners-so we grabbed our luggage and ditched the cruise at the 1st stop. We wandered around on our own, found a charter flight back to Key West, rented a car and spent the rest of our vaca there-had a great time...
Cruise ships are Klingon prison ships in my opinion...
Oh-forgot to mention that was in 1988-it was like being in the herd on a cattle drive then- I can’t even imagine what it is like now...
Your typical land-based American restaurant is far worse. Norovirus exists in almost every one. Except, when people go home from a restaurant and then experience vomiting and diarrhea the next day, it is not reported on the news because the cases are now widely dispersed and virtually impossible to link.
On a cruise ship, Norovirus cases are concentrated so it is extremely easy to tabulate them. Not to mention that it is also a marketing disaster for the cruise lines.
All new cruise ships funnel diners through a hand washing/sterilization station before being allowed into the dining area. I would eat cruise ship buffet before eating out in a typical American restaurant any day of the week.
**** (3.93) 22,366 ratings
The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston (Goodreads Author) and Lincoln Child
At a remote monastery in Tibet, a rare and dangerous artifact mysteriously disappears. Aloysius Pendergast agrees to take up the search that leads him and Constance to the maiden voyage of the Britannia and to an Atlantic crossing fraught with terror.
It’s less about the # of people than about the size of the ship.
Smaller ships can spread it alot faster. This was only about 3%.
Meanwhile, we rode this in ‘12; nice ride. But I generally would rather avoid the germ factory, and frankly couldn’t care less about beaches in hellholes (I actually prefer the ship).
I think it’s funny they claim they’re “coming home early”.
Big deal - Friday, when it started looking bad on Sunday. 1 day of a 7-day cruise doesn’t count.
On the West Coast the Cruise Lines have Ships going down to Mexico on three and four day excursions.
We went on a couple of Cruises years ago.
What got me was the fact that that the Cruise Lines turn around the Ships on the same day. You leave the Ship and the new Passengers board two hours later.
How the heck do they have the time to thoroughly clean all the facilities and Cabins in two hours?
I would think they would dock the Ship overnight and have a specialized Crew do a thorough cleaning from Stem to Stern before sending it back out on another Cruise.
Pffwwwaaap.
Not nice...