Why cruise more than once?

[USN59-79]

If this is the only memory you have after a cruise then I have to agree that cruising is just not for you.

I have learned, in my 78 years on Earth that there are some people who love to whine.

[_linda_]

This getting on and off crowdy-rush behaviour is seen everywhere. We have cruises and aeroplanes covered in this thread, but could add lifts/elevators, trains and loads more. Fair dos that some people are just wanting to get on with life, but how often have us patient ones waited just a few minutes longer and done so in comfort and without the injury of a jostled elbow in the ribs.

 

To answer the question though: cos the world is a big place and I need to keep cruising to get a taste of as much of it as I can. Then if a place really takes our fancy we will invest in a longer land holiday there. Want to go back to Mallorca, not feeling the need to explore Madeira further.

 

 

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[cardiffman]

interesting title

Why cruise more than once?

 

Then comment about disembark being crowded ?

 

I don't follow the connection it seam like you only have been on one cruise

But your signature states you have been on two and have book another three

 

All I can say is “Curiouser and curiouser!”

 

Just as you quote from great literature to stimulate while edifying, I chose a title for a reason.

 

It wasn't just crowded. It was disorderly and therefore unsafe. They stress in connection with muster that the hallways need to remain clear for safety. The stairways also had passengers with bags waiting to leave.

 

On my first cruise, as I pointed out, the circumstances were different and it ended up more orderly. Deceptively so. Our Ruby cruise did go by groups, but it was confusing for us as first-timers because we didn't know that the process had started (due to the aforementioned lack of announcements) and it was difficult to find a reminder of what we were supposed to do. We ended up heading for a lounge, and when we got there they told us it was time for our group to leave, so we left.

 

On the second cruise, Star Princess ran late and the line handled it poorly. The captain was of course right to keep the ship's funnels above the keel the way he did. But the memo on disembarkation was simply a table of when the groups would be let out and where they would assemble. Unless all 2600 pax had status such that they could actually expedite themselves off in the first group, hundreds of people believed that they could ignore the groups and leave as they pleased. We certainly read here of elite-heavy cruises but a 3-day mileage run repo doesn't seem like that kind of cruise. I saw a big mucky-muck, who may have been CD (he maintained his good cheer like one and spoke on topics as you'd expect the CD to speak on), ordering one of the people who was supposed to keep order, to be at their post and actually keep order, and then he acted to bring a touch of order by getting the pax to form two lines as they exited to the forward gangway. The memo also included that folio statements would be delivered on October 18th, which was clearly wrong because the cruise ended on December 2nd, and that we should vacate our staterooms at 8 AM, which was wrong since the ship was not even properly docked until roughly a quarter to 10.

 

My signature will still show the same 5 cruises for now but I think there's a problem here.

[OzKiwiJJ]

So far in nine cruises across four different cruise lines we've rarely had a problem. We choose, and usually get, a late disembarkation group, leave our cabin by 8am, have a leisurely breakfast in the MDR then go to the designated area to wait until our group is called.

 

On one Celebrity cruise we ended up in a slightly earlier group than usual and had a long wait for a taxi home. This wasn't a Celebrity issue, there were some roadworks near the Sydney OPT which were causing problems for taxis trying to get there to pick up passengers.

[GUT2407]

I have learned, in my 78 years on Earth that there are some people who love to whine.

Didn’t take me 78 years to realise that.

[Cruiser411]

The OP was on a short sailing where everyone is basically a walk-off. We experienced that a few weeks ago on a 4-day cruise. It is definitely a different dynamic than a longer cruise.

[abbydancer2003]

The OP was on a short sailing where everyone is basically a walk-off. We experienced that a few weeks ago on a 4-day cruise. It is definitely a different dynamic than a longer cruise.

 

Also exacerbated by the fact that the ship was late, but not so late as to make everyone miss their flights. I'm sure that that's the core of the problem, lots of people who thought that they had plenty of time, but once the ship was late, thought they had little. If the ship had been 5 or 6 hours late, this probably wouldn't have happened. It was on the bubble for many, and they went for it.

 

Our first short cruise was about 6 hours late. I don't recall this kind of chaos on disembarkation, probably because there was no "on the bubble".

 

 

And to the OP - when we can, we book a late flight, head to the waiting area (elite lounge) and have coffee and wait for our disembark time. Yeah, we wait in line, but in about 30 cruises, many of them short, I've never seen what the OP describes. (Although on our second cruise, before they instituted the gathering spaces the atrium was pretty crowded).

 

 

And on the comment about where to go - there should be a document given to you that shows your meeting time and place. Sometimes they run early and you can get there after your group is called. I've had that happen, walk in and walk right back out if they're running early.

 

 

And I guess you have to weigh the disembarkation against the rest of the trip. I like short getaways, DH puts up with them, mostly because he really doesn't like the embarkation/disembarkation. But he likes the rest of the cruise enough to do it. And when you can, you mitigate it by waiting until as late as you can.

 

 

We usually pack up, tell our rooms steward we're heading to the buffet, and leave the bags, ready to go on the floor of the closet. We then have breakfast, grab the bags, and head to the lounge. Sometimes we wait, sometimes not.

 

And a couple times they've had to kick us off the ship.

[cardiffman]

If this is the only memory you have after a cruise then I have to agree that cruising is just not for you.

 

One forms lots of memories during a cruise. Some of them link into the story of the trip and some are part of the escape that the trip grants. The latter tend to disconnect from the trip story. I read a book for a few hours, and that is not going to be linked to Star Princess in any way in my memories. It's going to be linked to the handful of true-crime books I've read. When I think back to the cruise some day, I might not even remember which book it was.

 

Some aspects of the cruise needed to be escaped from in order for my time to be pleasant. The fact that Star Princess was late meant that when I thought about the ship I had to think about overcoming that instead of having a nice time. And then disembarkation day came.

[CrossBluePerchance]

Didn’t take me 78 years to realise that.

As a guy I knew used to say..."Life is hard, then you die".

[ar1950]

.......................

My signature will still show the same 5 cruises for now but I think there's a problem here.

 

I believe that you isolated the problem. A three day re-positioning cruise prior to dry dock is unlikely to be ideal, especially at disembarkation since everyone is basically a walk off. As far as being late to dock, it happens. Rarely, but, it still does. You basically hit an out-layer by taking that cruise and if you chose to cement your memory of cruising to it then you will miss out in the future.

 

YMMV

[indygirl99]

One forms lots of memories during a cruise. Some of them link into the story of the trip and some are part of the escape that the trip grants. The latter tend to disconnect from the trip story. I read a book for a few hours, and that is not going to be linked to Star Princess in any way in my memories. It's going to be linked to the handful of true-crime books I've read. When I think back to the cruise some day, I might not even remember which book it was.

 

Some aspects of the cruise needed to be escaped from in order for my time to be pleasant. The fact that Star Princess was late meant that when I thought about the ship I had to think about overcoming that instead of having a nice time. And then disembarkation day came.

 

Now I see your problem. It is a control issue and you are letting chaos control your life and memories instead of you writing the story in a pleasant way so memories are great.

 

So the ship was 2 hours late and many people were in a hurry to leave the ship and get to their flights. So instead of writing the story to imagine where they were going and how they would make their flights just on time and laugh about their mad dash through the airport you choose to write the story as chaos, mayhem and disappointment. No wonder your story doesn't sell.

 

Take a page out of John Gresham's books and rewrite your story into a best seller.

[cardiffman]

Now I see your problem. It is a control issue and you are letting chaos control your life and memories instead of you writing the story in a pleasant way so memories are great.

 

So the ship was 2 hours late and many people were in a hurry to leave the ship and get to their flights. So instead of writing the story to imagine where they were going and how they would make their flights just on time and laugh about their mad dash through the airport you choose to write the story as chaos, mayhem and disappointment. No wonder your story doesn't sell.

 

Take a page out of John Gresham's books and rewrite your story into a best seller.

 

I'm not selling, just describing. If I end up "continued in Z-15" next to the bond prices, so be it.

[Woobstr112G]

The OP's description of leaving the ship at the end of the cruise sounds gruesome. I have been on other cruiselines where the disembarkation was pure and simple a free for all. Princess does try to make it as orderly as possible with the different groups waiting in different areas of the ship to disembark. They time the calls to leave the ship by group according to what is going on in the terminal. They only announce color tags to leave in the area they are supposed to be gathered and not ship wide announcements. Princess tries to minimize the wait time in the terminal, confusion in finding ones luggage in the terminal and crowding. However there are 3000+ pax to get off the ship in a few hours.

 

I think that Princess also does a good job with disembarkation from their ships. The only real hiccups, IMHO, are caused by immigration delays and passengers who refuse to follow the disembarkation guidelines (i,e, color coded groups/scheduled times).....:):):)

 

Bob

[CrossBluePerchance]

(i,e, color coded groups/scheduled times)....

 

"All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height."

 

 

Casey Stengel