Travel

[patbz]

I'm not a Carnival fan   ( did one to Mexico 20 yrs ago) and greatly prefer RCCL or Celebrity and go shoulder season ( better prices, destinations less expensive and almost no kids (yeah). I've also sailed Cunard and Holland America and Celebrity is our preference.

[Pink123]

I know well about the travel industry.

It started out lovely, with smaller ships.  Maybe a bit over 1,000 passengers including passengers and crew.

Now, they are so huge they look like they will tip over.  

Countries overseas are slowly banning these megaships, I think Amsterdam is one of the first.

Why?  Because the resident's of the country cannot take it anymore with the influx of weekly people.  Can you imagine your town?

They will be buried soon to be made coral reefs as more countries follow suit.  And it is coming.

Personally, I do not care for it.  Did anyone notice that "Viking River Cruises" has come here to America to compete with "american cruise lines?"

250 passengers, 250 crew on a brand new ship, first class on American.  It was an 8 day cruise from Memphis to New Orleans.  Yes the mighty mississippi. We went because Covid would not allow anyone to travel but US did.

I loved it.  Expensive yes, but Viking is onto something. They have a variety.  Cruises through snake river, etc.  Cape Cod areas, all through USA. They are following American Cruise line.

[Pink123]

To top off my above reply "Viking' for those that do not know have "viking ocean cruises". 

They are ships that have a maximum capacity passengers 1,000.

The way it was in 1970's.  

Now that's forward thinking and I love it.

[riley1]

@haddon9 - my friend went on one of those cruises last year and loved it. Hope you enjoy.

[haddon9]

@riley1 Thanks so much!!😁

[haddon9]

@Pink123 That sounds like fun! I would consider an American river cruise too!

[RescueLover]

@homedecor1 Wow nothing to do with friendship huh. 😳

[kaydee50]

For those who knock cruising it depends on why a person cruises.  We took them for the ports of call, not for the activities on board.  We loved to travel and cruising was a great way to see many different countries stress free.  We have been to more than 50 countries, many of them while cruising.  

We took 1 Caribbean cruise and that was enough.  The islands, are basically all the same, nothing much to see.  

As far as American river cruising, very very expensive and many of the places visiting can be done by Amtrak or car.  No real incentive for us.

[Kachina624]

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@songbird wrote:

I don't get them.  Why would you go on vacation with 10,000 others?  Never been on one.  When I go on a vacation, I want  a flight over to a nice hotel, ocean front and the ability to stay how long you want to. 

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@songbird.  One reason is that in many cases it's one of the few   practical ways to get to some place you want to go, like Alaska.  You also have one heck of a good time.

There's no ship that carries 10,000 people.

[haddon9]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@songbird wrote:

I don't get them.  Why would you go on vacation with 10,000 others?  Never been on one.  When I go on a vacation, I want  a flight over to a nice hotel, ocean front and the ability to stay how long you want to. 

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@songbird.  One reason is that in many cases it's one of the few   practical ways to get to some place you want to go, like Alaska.  You also have one heck of a good time.

There's no ship that carries 10,000 people.

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@Kachina624 Not yet but one cruise that's being offered in the community where my brother lives has a capacity of around 6,000 people. 

When he mentioned this one I loved the fact that it was very reasonably priced and we would take a bus to a port in Brooklyn, NY (no airport, TSA & planes) then cruise down into the Caribbean.....sounds good until..

I did  not realize just how large a ship and how many people were on this one was until I did some research and checked out some reviews on YouTube.  Yikes!  That's way too many people for my taste and almost everyone complained about very long lines to do almost anything!  No wonder it was such a bargain!

I prefer to spend a bit more if that means going on less trips which is okay with me.  We're thinking of a smaller ship going to Alaska next year.  I have never been there before.