Have we cruised too often; do we know too much?

[cruisemom42]

I've read a lot of threads on this forum and other mass market lines' forums regarding cutbacks through the years that at one point or another have impacted or annoyed many a loyal and long-time cruiser. That these cutbacks have happened is undeniable. But I wonder if they disproportionately affect those cruisers who have cruised for many years or who cruise many times (or for many days at a time) each year?

 

We all know it's impossible to get that same "rush" from something one does over and over as compared with the first time (or first few times). And there's that old saying: "Familiarity breeds contempt." I sometimes wonder if we have not just become too expert, too knowledgeable for our own enjoyment....

 

I hear a lot of complaints from frequent cruisers about things that to me seem relatively nit-picky or at least are not deal-breakers. (I'm not talking about nonfunctional plumbing but about things like the lack of trays in the buffet area.) Sites like Cruise Critic sometimes provide more granularity than I think is really needed. Does one really need to know if a specific type of mustard is offered onboard in advance? And is there really only one cabin on the whole ship that I must have (and book 18 months in advance) in order to get the most out of my vacation?

 

I think the internet has led to a certain hypercriticality. We read of others' less-than-perfect experiences, so we go into our cruise already aware of what COULD go wrong and perhaps even anticipating that some untoward event will happen. If I had a dime for every review I've read on CC where the poster claims their cruise was ruined because a server stood on the wrong side of them whilst removing a plate or because a steward did not leave them a towel animal each night.... Or, heaven forbid, the weather was bad. :confused:

 

I made a decision a few years back to only cruise about once each year, out three vacations. So -- two land trips, one cruise. That seems about right to me. The two land trips let me appreciate the things I can't do when cruising, such as more opportunities to try local food and experience evenings in a location once the day-trippers and cruisers clear out. (It's amazing how much more pleasant Venice and Florence are then, for example...) But when I cruise, I conversely appreciate the ease of visiting several disparate places at one go, without having to spend a lot of time with packing/unpacking hassles and the logistics of getting from place to place. And it scratches my itch to be on the ocean -- which, let's face it, is a very pleasant way to travel.

 

And just maybe, because I only cruise once a year or so, I can choose to travel on a ship or line that really ticks the boxes on my list of musts: smaller ship, good itinerary, enrichment speakers, good value (particularly with regard to solo pricing and what's included). There ARE some ships and lines out there that still offer a traditional cruising experience -- it's just not going to come very often on a mass market ship.

 

Agree? Disagree?

[grest]

Though cruising certainly has evolved, or maybe devolved, it still is immensely pleasurable to me, and I have never been disappointed...this is probably because the biggest draw for me is the ocean rather than the ship. Oh, I love being pampered, and some ships provided better service than others, but I'd do it more often if I could. Are some people very nit picky? Sure. I'd rather not.

[cartervan]

I like your perspective. On each cruise I try to keep telling myself just to relax, enjoy the moment, be happy for what goes right and not be looking for perfection or upset about how things are not the way they used to be. On the other hand, Cruise Critic does give us a place to "protest" and/or vent about the little things that could be remedied.

[lynndon]

Totally agree with you. My daughter stated "Mom, some people just like to complain"!

[Krazy Kruizers]

What bugs me is the people who have to know who will be their captain, hotel manager, cruise director, menus, etc.

[kenphy]

Totally agree with you. My daughter stated "Mom, some people just like to complain"!

 

Perhaps it is because I am getting older, and sometimes I don't particularly like the things that were special about HAL going away, but every single time we cruise, I often stand somewhere looking at the ocean (or dinner, or the pool, or the lido or the shops or the ports) and say to myself that there are no doubt millions and millions of people who would give anything to change places with me at that moment, or for the week.

 

In less than 9 weeks, we are fortunate enough to be taking our two sons, two daughters in law and four grandchildren (the whole family) on a week's cruise to celebrate our 50th anniversary. I plan to smile the whole time. How lucky we are to make it to 50 years, and how lucky we are to be able to spend the kid's inheritance on such a wonderful memory.

 

Every time we step on board a cruise ship, I say a little prayer for all those who have not had our good fortune.

 

Phyllis

[dd likes to cruise]

What bugs me is the people who have to know who will be their captain, hotel manager, cruise director, menus, etc.

 

How about "what deck do we board on"? Why on earth do they need to know such trivial things.

[esimon]

love your attitude and thought processes - I agree. If you are going to take a cruise and look for things to complain about - maybe you should stay home

[FL.OH.TN.]

Perhaps it is because I am getting older, and sometimes I don't particularly like the things that were special about HAL going away, but every single time we cruise, I often stand somewhere looking at the ocean (or dinner, or the pool, or the lido or the shops or the ports) and say to myself that there are no doubt millions and millions of people who would give anything to change places with me at that moment, or for the week.

 

 

 

In less than 9 weeks, we are fortunate enough to be taking our two sons, two daughters in law and four grandchildren (the whole family) on a week's cruise to celebrate our 50th anniversary. I plan to smile the whole time. How lucky we are to make it to 50 years, and how lucky we are to be able to spend the kid's inheritance on such a wonderful memory.

 

 

 

Every time we step on board a cruise ship, I say a little prayer for all those who have not had our good fortune.

 

 

 

Phyllis

 

 

 

What a lovely point of view!

 

 

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[CruiserBruce]

After 21 cruises, we still really enjoy every cruise we got on. But we also do lots of other vacation styles to break things up. We are very fortunate we can.

 

But I get your point. For many, the excitement has worn off, and many like to complain. I love the ones who have many dozens of cruises, many tens of thousands of posts, who still go on cruises, but constantly complain its not the way it used to be (what is?) and say things like a given activity "that is not for us", or there aren't any new ports (can you just add water and create one?) or routes. I really want to say "its time for you to move on to other vacation styles".

[Sea girl 23]

*cough*Koningsdam*cough*

[cruisemom42]

Yes, it's not just about the complainers (though there are quite a few) but also just a seeming unwillingness to accept that things have changed -- and not all changes are terrible. Or failing that, to look for other alternatives.

[Daisyloo]

OP I like how you are thinking. I sometimes read on here the complaints some people have and I think "wow, these people must live really charmed lives if all they have to complain about is___________(insert any number of stupid complaints)".

 

Why does it matter what type of tea is available, or if they have a certain brand of whatever. I always think one of the nice things about travel is trying new things.

We haven't cruised as much as some on CC, but we have done a few, and we can honestly say that we have never had a bad cruise.

[sammiedawg]

Excellent post, well said. I don’t write reviews and reading them less and less. I’m tired of reading that someone walks onto the ship and starts timing how long it takes to get an elevator or a hamburger. I’m tired of reading comments like “disembarkation was a disaster”.

Some people are way overthinking and over planning every last detail. I want no part of anyone’s list of who is planning to do what.

 

I’m going to guess posting activity is down, roll call activity is down.

[Daisyloo]

Perhaps it is because I am getting older, and sometimes I don't particularly like the things that were special about HAL going away, but every single time we cruise, I often stand somewhere looking at the ocean (or dinner, or the pool, or the lido or the shops or the ports) and say to myself that there are no doubt millions and millions of people who would give anything to change places with me at that moment, or for the week.

 

In less than 9 weeks, we are fortunate enough to be taking our two sons, two daughters in law and four grandchildren (the whole family) on a week's cruise to celebrate our 50th anniversary. I plan to smile the whole time. How lucky we are to make it to 50 years, and how lucky we are to be able to spend the kid's inheritance on such a wonderful memory.

 

Every time we step on board a cruise ship, I say a little prayer for all those who have not had our good fortune.

 

Phyllis

 

Like button pushed!!

[OlsSalt]

Great question. HAL ships have now become almost like a second vacation home for us so we cruise now as much for the built in comforts of life on board as we do for new destinations. We see each "cut-back" has often been compensated by another new improvement. We like the low key nature of HAL ships and use them primarily for point to point transportation and not for onboard amenities. They still feel like a comforting cocoon for us so that is why we keep choosing both HAL and cruising.

 

New destinations still matter as I am a "country collector" and there are still a few more to add to my inventory - almost up to 150 countries visited now - mainly from cruising of late. Will I ever forget my 100 country milestone, taking a picture of my feet landing off a cruise in Mauritius? So even superficial exploration of new locations still motivates me, shallow as that is. We do look for the more unique HAL offerings, not their shorter mainline cruise itineraries. I will defend even those superficial exposures can be remarkably revealing, primarily from off hand comments from the guides about the state of affairs in their countries. So many of them have rung true over the passing of time and current events that later affect those countries.

 

We too add land-based traveling in between cruises. Off to Switzerland in a few days ourselves. Some times we concentrate on a city or an activity when we do land tours. Or just going "home" since I lived in Europe for four years. I had done a lot of land-based global travel in the past so for sheer newness, there is no longer the draw. The Five Stans and Tristan de Cunha still beckon but I have a feeling I may never get there. Where did we love the most on a land trip - Pakistan - no cruise traffic there.

 

The major limiting factor for us regardless of land or cruise vacation choices is the struggle to get there as we age - airports, airplanes and jet lag. Even if we decided it was worth it to move up to business class for interior plane comfort, the hassle of getting to and through airports is getting more and more onerous. Like childbirth we have a short-term memory of the pain and vows to never do it again, and then we sign up for our next perfectly awful flight experiences to get to those next new (or old) horizons. We do now seek out planes that offer 2-4-2 seating and grab the two seat rows - no thank you to be at mercy of a seat row mate who wants to get up and crawl over us every hour.

 

The travel time itself is only part of the story - it is the preparation and learning about new places and then the enjoyment of picturing those very places once we get home and find them suddenly in the news for any number of reasons. Now that we have trotted all over the globe multiple times we try to remember what it was like to not know the world geography on such intimate terms. How have we permanently and organically changed our perspective when news stories demand our attention, national policy statements get made and we expend national resources one way or another in global trade or global threat.

 

What is my favorite oft-heard concern here? "Will I get bored?" It always triggers in me to think of my own favorite travel watch words - if you are bored, then you are boring, and there are no uninteresting streets in India. Travel on. Until we reach that final horizon.

[dee2673]

I do not seek perfection in my daily life. To me, if you’re always looking for things to be perfect, you are frequently disappointed. When it does happen, “perfect” is magical. But most of the time, excellence or even good enough is OK with me. Maybe that’s why the changes don’t bother me. I have never had a bad vacation. Nothing ruins it. Not cancelled flights or less than stellar service or anything trivial nor things that cannot be helped/avoided. Travel is about discovery, about stepping out of my comfort zone and learning something about the world . We do 2 land and one cruise, too , now that we’re retired. All I really expect is to be surprised

 

 

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[wales4ever]

We too have been on many cruises over the years. We also have got so used to cruising, that the "wow" factor has long since gone. We are now very selective on where and who with we cruise. We are also taking more hotel based holiday these days. Italy, Greece etc. We choose hotels and areas carefully also.

Then, when we book a cruise, we seem to get a little more excited and we don't seem to pick holes in everything and core our cruise with previous cruises. Maybe too many cruises make people too blasé and expect every cruise to be as good as your memories...

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

I very much agree with the OP. I always think back to my first cruise and how "magical" it was for me, and the same for the first one my DH and I took together. I try to have that attitude of eager anticipation on every cruise, and not "look for something wrong" or be overly critical. There have been glitches on a few cruises we've taken but we have always managed to have a good time so far. Any cruise we have taken has been a wonderful memory, despite some things not being "perfect".....and cruising seems to be a good value as well for your vacation dollar. Land tours are nice too (and not perfect either) and so is travelling on our own. So the OP is right IMO....mix it up a little and try to see the "good" in the cruise vs. the "bad"......and also get out there and do some different kinds of trips to get a different perspective once in awhile. It works for me!

[Copper10-8]

After 21 cruises, we still really enjoy every cruise we got on. But we also do lots of other vacation styles to break things up. We are very fortunate we can.

 

But I get your point. For many, the excitement has worn off, and many like to complain. I love the ones who have many dozens of cruises, many tens of thousands of posts, who still go on cruises, but constantly complain its not the way it used to be (what is?) and say things like a given activity "that is not for us", or there aren't any new ports (can you just add water and create one?) or routes. I really want to say "its time for you to move on to other vacation styles".

 

"We were not impressed" ;)

[cruisemom42]

Thanks for the interesting responses so far.

 

I'm not trying to downplay the idea that you can have a bad cruise. I've had one. It's hard for even a super-upbeat person to overcome cabin temps in excess of 90 degrees on a cruise (with no solution offered) which also happens to have a huge affinity group onboard whose idea of fun is to block the entire pool deck and sing company songs. :eek::eek::eek:

 

But I'd venture to guess that 90% of the things obsessed about here on CC are not really going to ruin a vacation.

 

OlsSalt, we don't always see eye to eye on issues but you always bring some interesting thoughts to the table. I have a question for you: what are the things that make flying so onerous now? Are they mainly discomforts due to issues of increasing age or are they related to airline services?

 

I ask because I figure I still have about 25-30 years of traveling in front of me. Flying to me is just a minor hassle. What makes it miserable for you?

[Lizzie68]

Totally agree - I've even read where every item of food delivered by room service was heat tested and reported on here. Talk about nit picking.

I do feel that HAL needs to brush up on their communication skills especially with info from HO but life on board the ship is removed from that and regardless of perceived cutbacks suits me just fine.

 

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[hrhdhd]

You should hang out with the Disney cruisers once in a while. They cruise commando-style: how many minutes will Goofy be in the atrium for pictures, and will he be wearing his blue tie or his red tie? How many steps is it from the AquaDuck to the sandwich counter? Do they have Diet Coke Zero Sugar Caffeine Free?

[RMLincoln]

Thanks Cruisemom42... for your insights, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your suggestions and information that helped us in Malta last fall, we made it to some remarkable old, old sites! Thrilling.

But that trip was overall a difficult one for us and we will probably take a break from cruising, maybe for some of the underlying reasons you offer above. Time for a land trip! m--

[cruisemom42]

Thanks Cruisemom42... for your insights, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your suggestions and information that helped us in Malta last fall, we made it to some remarkable old, old sites! Thrilling.

But that trip was overall a difficult one for us and we will probably take a break from cruising, maybe for some of the underlying reasons you offer above. Time for a land trip! m--

 

Thanks and I have enjoyed reading many of your posts and generous advice as well, particularly regarding your Hurtigruten trip on Midnatsol.