Cruising: Is It For You?
- Replies 12
Note from the Editor:
This article was kindly written for the SDC by member Alan G.
We have only been on 2 ½ cruises but have a very good idea of the pitfalls and highlights of cruising in general. I should explain the ‘1/2’ cruise – it was on the ‘Athena’ and was only for two nights in and out of Fremantle.
The main advantage of ‘cruising’ is that you only have to unpack once! Like the old ‘Butlins’ holidays we used to have in the UK, it was ‘all-found’ – theoretically, once you have paid for the holiday, all meals and accommodation are supplied.
The prices per day range anywhere from $150 upwards – comparable to an inexpensive hotel room. (This is probably the reason why some seniors actually live on a cruise ship!) In addition to this, one can relax, take advantage of many activities provided free by the cruise line, watch first-class shows and have meals at any time of the day, almost.
Medical facilities are included on all cruise ships, and personal service is supplied by a dedicated cabin steward.
Parking: When organising a cruise, do not expect there to be easy availability of parking. On both the cruises we took, we had to park some distance from the terminal. Also, expect to be queued up for some hours to board the ship, depending upon the cruise line.
Cabins: Cruise lines offer a range of price options depending upon the cabin, mainly – called a ‘stateroom’ on cruise ships. Many people will opt for a ‘balcony’ cabin and are willing to pay the higher prices, but if you make up your mind that you’ll only really be using the cabin for sleeping, then an inside cabin is a lot cheaper. If you wish to see the sea and count the waves, then you can sit in one of the many sheltered areas on the various upper decks. It’s apparently a good tip to select one of the ‘last minute’ offers for choice of stateroom – they’d definitely be for an inside cabin but could save even more money. We always prefer to book our holidays well in advance to avoid any problems.
There are several options regarding the choice of a balcony stateroom, including a mini-suite and a premier suite. I believe that on the ‘Athena’ we had a Family suite, which included two TV sets – one in the bedroom and one in the ‘lounge’.
On our New Zealand cruise, we opted for a ‘mini-suite’ because we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. When choosing a Stateroom, be mindful of the distance needed to get to the dining room, the lift or the entertainment theatre. Also, be aware that cabins at the rear of the ship may be cheaper, but the vibration from the engines is greater, and the centre of the ship incurs less motion.
Tours: No more to pay! This, of course, assumes one doesn’t want to take advantage of any of the ‘side trips’ offered at every port. The ‘tours’ or ‘side trips’ were quite expensive for cruise ship passengers. An example was the trip to the Pearl Farm at Broome. We’d arranged a private tour a year or so before the cruise, and the price was nearly doubled for cruise passengers on the day the ship arrived in Broome. When I made enquiries, I was told that the cruise company had used all the facilities on that day for private tours. We thought this was rather dishonest.
If possible, it’s a very good idea in general to try to arrange one’s own tour at the various ports, if saving money is important.
Gratuities: When the fare is paid for the cruise, many cruise lines indicate that this includes ‘gratuities’. We do not really believe in ‘tipping’ unless we have particularly good service, and we found that even though we’d theoretically paid for these gratuities, unfortunately, there was a note and an envelope waiting for us in our cabin at the end of the cruise for tips with an indication of how much we were ‘expected’ to pay.
Insurance: Travel Insurance is a necessary adjunct to your travel expenses, and of course, with the advent of COVID-19, it should be glaringly obvious that this should be one of your major considerations. There is plenty of choice, and every time we travel, we research the options since they seem to change on a regular basis. Companies that were great value one year are surpassed by others the next year.
As I write this, I have just been made aware of a large cruise ship that has docked in Adelaide with a number of passengers having been infected with COVID-19 and/or Norovirus. When we travelled, my wife commented that the hygiene in the buffet lounge fell well below the standards she expected. There was only a cursory clean around existing tableware. It was, therefore, no surprise to us when several ships were worse off than others during COVID.
Incidental expenditure: Once on the cruise ship, there seemed to be many ways in which money could be extracted from passengers without their even going ashore. Speciality Restaurants, souvenir shops, clothes shops and numerous ‘gold’ displays and exhibitions were opened throughout the voyage. Outside Australian waters, a Casino is available on many cruise lines. (‘You pay some, you lose more’!) and of course, you are encouraged to buy a drinks coupon or card, even though there are many places for free drinks, including your cabin or the Buffet Lounge, which is generally open for most of the day and evening. There are usually spas and manicures available for the moderately narcissistic – at a price!
Formal Nights: Most cruise lines include ‘formal nights’ in which people are encouraged to donne dinner suits or other formal wear. For some of us, it’s a welcome adjunct to the cruise; to others, like my wife and I, it’s an imposition. We think it’s a cynical money-making exercise – people are encouraged to have a professional and expensive photograph taken on entry to the dining room. Luckily, cruise lines are getting more relaxed about the mandatory nature of formal nights, and we’re ‘allowed’ to have the meal we’ve paid for dressed in smart casual clothing instead. If you are concerned about this aspect, make sure you check with the cruise company concerning their ‘rules’ for this.
Ports of Call: If you read the fine print, you will notice that even though every effort is made to call at the scheduled port at the scheduled time, weather and other factor can really put a spanner in the works. It’s simply not guaranteed. On our first cruise – around Australia – an elderly gentleman decided, for one reason or another, to take a swim in the sea off Darwin. It was not reported, apparently, for some hours, and even though the ship returned twice to the area, he was never recovered. This put us ‘behind’ schedule, and the ship completely missed out on stopping at Port Douglas/Cairns. Amidst all the grumbling, the captain reminded us over the sound system of the small print. There was no compensation, of course.
The same thing happened on our next cruise around New Zealand. Cyclone Debbie followed us across the Tasman and literally rained on our parade. We missed out on two ports. I believe in cases like this, the least the cruise company can do is to supply a free DVD of the places we missed or perhaps some credit for a later cruise.
Norovirus: We’d never heard of this before we took a cruise. We picked it up after we’d had a meal at the Sheraton in Lombok on one of the tours. As if it wasn’t bad enough, we were treated like criminals by the cruise ship staff. We were given lukewarm food on paper plates and were confined to our cabin for at least 24 hours. It wasn’t even our fault – it was solely due to the unsanitary conditions we encountered ashore. Travel insurance was useless in this regard.
In conclusion, I would have to say that while a cruise seems a wonderful idea, and many hundreds of people travel without incident multiple times this way, our experience has certainly curbed our enthusiasm, and we would need a lot of assurances before we ‘took the plunge’ again. And we certainly would never travel on the same cruise line again!
Note from the Editor:
Have you ever been on a cruise before? I have and, luckily, walked away unscathed (besides some sea sickness)! I’d love to hear about your experiences.
Love Alan’s writing and want to read more? You might also like to read:
This article was kindly written for the SDC by member Alan G.
We have only been on 2 ½ cruises but have a very good idea of the pitfalls and highlights of cruising in general. I should explain the ‘1/2’ cruise – it was on the ‘Athena’ and was only for two nights in and out of Fremantle.
The main advantage of ‘cruising’ is that you only have to unpack once! Like the old ‘Butlins’ holidays we used to have in the UK, it was ‘all-found’ – theoretically, once you have paid for the holiday, all meals and accommodation are supplied.
The prices per day range anywhere from $150 upwards – comparable to an inexpensive hotel room. (This is probably the reason why some seniors actually live on a cruise ship!) In addition to this, one can relax, take advantage of many activities provided free by the cruise line, watch first-class shows and have meals at any time of the day, almost.
Medical facilities are included on all cruise ships, and personal service is supplied by a dedicated cabin steward.
Have you taken a cruise before? Image Credit: Shutterstock
Parking: When organising a cruise, do not expect there to be easy availability of parking. On both the cruises we took, we had to park some distance from the terminal. Also, expect to be queued up for some hours to board the ship, depending upon the cruise line.
Cabins: Cruise lines offer a range of price options depending upon the cabin, mainly – called a ‘stateroom’ on cruise ships. Many people will opt for a ‘balcony’ cabin and are willing to pay the higher prices, but if you make up your mind that you’ll only really be using the cabin for sleeping, then an inside cabin is a lot cheaper. If you wish to see the sea and count the waves, then you can sit in one of the many sheltered areas on the various upper decks. It’s apparently a good tip to select one of the ‘last minute’ offers for choice of stateroom – they’d definitely be for an inside cabin but could save even more money. We always prefer to book our holidays well in advance to avoid any problems.
There are several options regarding the choice of a balcony stateroom, including a mini-suite and a premier suite. I believe that on the ‘Athena’ we had a Family suite, which included two TV sets – one in the bedroom and one in the ‘lounge’.
On our New Zealand cruise, we opted for a ‘mini-suite’ because we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. When choosing a Stateroom, be mindful of the distance needed to get to the dining room, the lift or the entertainment theatre. Also, be aware that cabins at the rear of the ship may be cheaper, but the vibration from the engines is greater, and the centre of the ship incurs less motion.
Tours: No more to pay! This, of course, assumes one doesn’t want to take advantage of any of the ‘side trips’ offered at every port. The ‘tours’ or ‘side trips’ were quite expensive for cruise ship passengers. An example was the trip to the Pearl Farm at Broome. We’d arranged a private tour a year or so before the cruise, and the price was nearly doubled for cruise passengers on the day the ship arrived in Broome. When I made enquiries, I was told that the cruise company had used all the facilities on that day for private tours. We thought this was rather dishonest.
If possible, it’s a very good idea in general to try to arrange one’s own tour at the various ports, if saving money is important.
Gratuities: When the fare is paid for the cruise, many cruise lines indicate that this includes ‘gratuities’. We do not really believe in ‘tipping’ unless we have particularly good service, and we found that even though we’d theoretically paid for these gratuities, unfortunately, there was a note and an envelope waiting for us in our cabin at the end of the cruise for tips with an indication of how much we were ‘expected’ to pay.
Insurance: Travel Insurance is a necessary adjunct to your travel expenses, and of course, with the advent of COVID-19, it should be glaringly obvious that this should be one of your major considerations. There is plenty of choice, and every time we travel, we research the options since they seem to change on a regular basis. Companies that were great value one year are surpassed by others the next year.
As I write this, I have just been made aware of a large cruise ship that has docked in Adelaide with a number of passengers having been infected with COVID-19 and/or Norovirus. When we travelled, my wife commented that the hygiene in the buffet lounge fell well below the standards she expected. There was only a cursory clean around existing tableware. It was, therefore, no surprise to us when several ships were worse off than others during COVID.
There are pros and cons to any holiday. Image Credit: Shutterstock
Incidental expenditure: Once on the cruise ship, there seemed to be many ways in which money could be extracted from passengers without their even going ashore. Speciality Restaurants, souvenir shops, clothes shops and numerous ‘gold’ displays and exhibitions were opened throughout the voyage. Outside Australian waters, a Casino is available on many cruise lines. (‘You pay some, you lose more’!) and of course, you are encouraged to buy a drinks coupon or card, even though there are many places for free drinks, including your cabin or the Buffet Lounge, which is generally open for most of the day and evening. There are usually spas and manicures available for the moderately narcissistic – at a price!
Formal Nights: Most cruise lines include ‘formal nights’ in which people are encouraged to donne dinner suits or other formal wear. For some of us, it’s a welcome adjunct to the cruise; to others, like my wife and I, it’s an imposition. We think it’s a cynical money-making exercise – people are encouraged to have a professional and expensive photograph taken on entry to the dining room. Luckily, cruise lines are getting more relaxed about the mandatory nature of formal nights, and we’re ‘allowed’ to have the meal we’ve paid for dressed in smart casual clothing instead. If you are concerned about this aspect, make sure you check with the cruise company concerning their ‘rules’ for this.
Ports of Call: If you read the fine print, you will notice that even though every effort is made to call at the scheduled port at the scheduled time, weather and other factor can really put a spanner in the works. It’s simply not guaranteed. On our first cruise – around Australia – an elderly gentleman decided, for one reason or another, to take a swim in the sea off Darwin. It was not reported, apparently, for some hours, and even though the ship returned twice to the area, he was never recovered. This put us ‘behind’ schedule, and the ship completely missed out on stopping at Port Douglas/Cairns. Amidst all the grumbling, the captain reminded us over the sound system of the small print. There was no compensation, of course.
The same thing happened on our next cruise around New Zealand. Cyclone Debbie followed us across the Tasman and literally rained on our parade. We missed out on two ports. I believe in cases like this, the least the cruise company can do is to supply a free DVD of the places we missed or perhaps some credit for a later cruise.
Norovirus: We’d never heard of this before we took a cruise. We picked it up after we’d had a meal at the Sheraton in Lombok on one of the tours. As if it wasn’t bad enough, we were treated like criminals by the cruise ship staff. We were given lukewarm food on paper plates and were confined to our cabin for at least 24 hours. It wasn’t even our fault – it was solely due to the unsanitary conditions we encountered ashore. Travel insurance was useless in this regard.
In conclusion, I would have to say that while a cruise seems a wonderful idea, and many hundreds of people travel without incident multiple times this way, our experience has certainly curbed our enthusiasm, and we would need a lot of assurances before we ‘took the plunge’ again. And we certainly would never travel on the same cruise line again!
Note from the Editor:
Have you ever been on a cruise before? I have and, luckily, walked away unscathed (besides some sea sickness)! I’d love to hear about your experiences.
Love Alan’s writing and want to read more? You might also like to read:
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