Why I'm unlikely to ever "Cruise" (At least on a large ship)

[MARTINE]

Sure but the big ships don't usually rock like that. Husband has been ill on a ferry in Thailand. Nothing on a rocky cruise ship. Stabilisers help immensely. The Manly Ferries act like corks in a whirlpool.

Apart from when I was an infant - have never done a cruise for many reasons outlined by Lynda and husband gets extremely seasick.
We would need do so graded exposure therapy before I can even entertain this.!! Family member has just bought a boat so I will devise a little program and manage it myself before considering forking over the filthy lucre on an actual cruise.
As we head to the next decade (our 70’s) it may be something we have to consider to keep travelling.
I prefer smaller as don't want the travel to sights when ships have to dock far away/no kids/gambling/ and better drink pricing so my non-consumption of alcohol doesn’t subsidize the rest while I have access to fizzy water and soft drink (the usual).
Ah well - I have lots of time to research.
Now where are my notes from that civil aviation medical course I did in the 90’s where the Ansett psychologist (yes it was a thing) ran paid courses for pax with fear of flying?

 

[Pushka]

Apart from when I was an infant - have never done a cruise for many reasons outlined by Lynda and husband gets extremely seasick.
We would need do so graded exposure therapy before I can even entertain this.!! Family member has just bought a boat so I will devise a little program and manage it myself before considering forking over the filthy lucre on an actual cruise.
As we head to the next decade (our 70’s) it may be something we have to consider to keep travelling.
I prefer smaller as don't want the travel to sights when ships have to dock far away/no kids/gambling/ and better drink pricing so my non-consumption of alcohol doesn’t subsidize the rest while I have access to fizzy water and soft drink (the usual).
Ah well - I have lots of time to research.
Now where are my notes from that civil aviation medical course I did in the 90’s where the Ansett psychologist (yes it was a thing) ran paid courses for pax with fear of flying?

Ok. A small boat is also different from a cruise ship in terms of rockiness. I find being out in ours improves my balance! There are many cruise lines that totally cater for the 60's and 70's. Silverseas. Viking. Azmara There are many others. On Viking (the only one of these I've been on), 800 passengers. No casino, no kids, Swedish design of everything. But others here have experience of the rest. To be honest, at our age with stuff going on, the thought of arduous land trip organisation, packing, moving, etc etc is not what I enjoy anymore. We still do a little of that but a cruise is in there somewhere.

 

[Quickstatus]

I find being out in ours improves my balance!

Sure thing

 

[Pushka]

Sure thing

it's a tiny four seater. If you are going to get sea sick, it's in one of them.

 

[Quickstatus]

it's in one of them.

Hmmm no.
I got queasy on the London Eye and the Spirit of Tassie. One of the reasons I cannot sit in the back of an aeroplane - I'm doomed to fly in the forward cabin. I have a medical reason to fly J

 

[Pushka]

Hmmm no.
I got queasy on the London Eye and the Spirit of Tassie. One of the reasons I cannot sit in the back of an aeroplane - I'm doomed to fly in the forward cabin. I have a medical reason to fly J

I know it's hard to compare without experience but cruise ships just aren't like the Spirit of Tassie. Need to start off with a really short cruise in the Med, in June or July with lots of ports. Something like one from Barcelona and goes East further into the med. Thats how I got MrP back onto a cruise ship after the horrendous Pacific one in his twenties. He's now hooked. Pick a cruise line without kids or casinos if you want to avoid.

 

[JohnK]

And how about the hundreds if not thousands of cruises on sail every day and you don't hear a thing? Taking notice of everything the media says these days is not helpful to assessing reality.

Definitely ignore some of the agendas the media pushes (but not all media) but reality is perceived differently by everyone. I think viruses are dangerous but most people don't seem to care and quite happily share them round.

I've said before that we will more than likely not go on a cruise but since then little one has taken an interest and wife who gets motion sickness has expressed interest in going as well.

So I'll be looking at options ex-BKK or mainly SE Asia probably for 10-14 days but the ones I have seen recently are very expensive so this will be deferred until later.

 

[Quickstatus]

Freighter cruises anyone?

 

[OZDUCK]

I am not really interested in cruising at the moment but will never say never. Once we find it hard to make our own way around then it may be of interest. The only cruises that have interested me have been those useful to get to more awkward places like the Baltic cruise with a couple of nights in St Petersburg - obviously not an option for a few years.

We have only been on once cruise from Singapore to Fremantle on a small old ship. We hit a cyclone on the way down and I was one of only a half dozen or so who made it to breakfast one day. My wife is also one of those who can get seasick watching storms on TV but she also gets seasick at the drop of a hat on the water. I have only been sick once and that was on a Pilot Boat off Fremantle in a storm. We had to sit alongside a ship while the Quarantine Dr. inspected the crew. It was a very small Pilot Boat with an enclosed cabin and after half an hour of bobbing around it got the better of me.

 

[OZDUCK]

Has anyone done a ride along (paid) on a freighter?

I haven't done one but processed plenty of ships that carried a dozen or so passengers. They always seemed to have had a good time onboard. Obviously they were not the types seeking an all singing all dancing trip.

The best ones I ran across were on the Norwegian Bakke line ships which ran the same route for decades. The voyage started in San Diego or thereabouts but the passengers were not allowed to board until Vancouver because of the U.S love of protectionist behaviour. The ship then visited Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the first port in Australia was often Albany before they were dropped off at Fremantle. The passenger accommodation was old style with everything panelled in rich highly polished wood. Unfortunately they are now long gone. Because they were freighters with holds and not containerised the ship spent 2 or 3 days in every port.

 

[woodyren]

reeks of vomit (or worse)

Lol. Are you angling for a reporters job?

 

[Lynda2475]

Lol. Are you angling for a reporters job?

No.

My post was moved out of its original context to this thread by mods (who as usual did not move the related posts) , so it is not clear in this thread I was commenting directly on an article that made this claim as the poor passengers were stuck a board a cruise ship where norovirus was running rampant as was the related stench.

 

[auriga]

I have only done one cruise, a 2 night thing from SIN to KL and back.
I had to take medication to alleviate the sea sickness, so I was not entirely comfortable during the trip. Luckily, no actual vomiting. I am super prone to motion sickness, even watching regular TV can make me feel sick.

 

[VPS]

Freighter cruises anyone?

I did one in 1982 on a ship from Perth to Singapore and I'd love to do it again, Mind you I'd have my own cabin and bathroom this time. Then I shared with three other woman one of whom every morning would cough for about 5 minutes and then roll over and light a cigarette whilst still in bed. My tolerance for that went many years ago

 

[TheRealTMA]

I did one in 1982 on a ship from Perth to Singapore and I'd love to do it again, Mind you I'd have my own cabin and bathroom this time. Then I shared with three other woman one of whom every morning would cough for about 5 minutes and then roll over and light a cigarette whilst still in bed. My tolerance for that went many years ago

Sounds like the 70's and 80's!

 

[Tiki]

I liked cruising pre-Covid. But last year we did a Princess cruise to PNG and while it was fun there was that spectre hanging over our heads - if the wrong person coughs on us and we get Covid and locked in our cabin. I won't book another cruise until that scenario is off the table.

 

[Pushka]

I did one in 1982 on a ship from Perth to Singapore and I'd love to do it again, Mind you I'd have my own cabin and bathroom this time. Then I shared with three other woman one of whom every morning would cough for about 5 minutes and then roll over and light a cigarette whilst still in bed. My tolerance for that went many years ago

You mean, at one point in your life you could tolerate that?

 

[Quickstatus]

I wonder if

graded exposure therapy

to

norovirus

Improves immunity?

Sorta like desensitisation therapy for allergies?

 

[Pushka]

I liked cruising pre-Covid. But last year we did a Princess cruise to PNG and while it was fun there was that spectre hanging over our heads - if the wrong person coughs on us and we get Covid and locked in our cabin. I won't book another cruise until that scenario is off the table.

Cruise lines that we've been on post Covid only test if you front up to the clinic and then pre test they tell you if you are positive then you have to isolate in the cabin. Many simply walk away at that point. But they won't give you any cough syrup if you do.

Post automatically merged: Nov 14, 2023

I wonder if


to


Improves immunity?

Sorta like desensitisation therapy for allergies?

I like what you did there.

 

[VPS]

You mean, at one point in your life you could tolerate that?

When I was young and didn't have have enough money to do what I wanted - now I'm old and don't have enough money to do what I want