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Post by sprite on May 5, 2019 10:56:43 GMT -5
I can't believe this, but we are seriously considering some sort of cruise for our holiday in September. (or the caucasus region. whatever.) we were thinking that we'd like to see the fjords of Scandanavia, and surely a boat is best?
are we nuts? will we be the only under 80s on board? (nothing wrong with over 80s, but i like a variety of people in my surroundings.) am i right that not being hardened cruise types, we might prefer a smaller boat?
the real trick here is, we are going for dinner with partner's birth mom this week--she offered to buy our tickets on just such a cruise a couple of years ago!
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Post by Liiisa on May 5, 2019 13:06:02 GMT -5
I am shocked to be able to say that I have now been on four cruises (four?!) and therefore consider myself a source of information on this question.
Honestly I kind of enjoy them! I've discovered that I like being trapped on a ship for a week with nothing much to do but drink and read books! Ha!
I've only ever been on ones that appeal to people in their 80s and up because I go on them with my mom, who's 86. But I kind of like that. What I'd hate would be to be on one with a lot of boring party people. Old people go to sleep early. This is good.
What I liked the best are these ones here that are very small ships that have free cocktail parties every night. The people are interesting to talk to (I just generally don't mention politics because I assume we won't agree, which means that the few stealth lefty-conversations you end up in are extra fun). Oh, I also liked the transatlantic passage on the Queen Mary; then you're REALLY trapped, which I really liked. But those things are on my mom's budget, not mine! Once she's gone I doubt I'll ever go on one again, since I'm now kind of spoiled and probably won't like any that I can actually afford to go on.
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Post by sophie on May 5, 2019 17:45:20 GMT -5
Does Peregrine do their cruises up the Norwegian coast? I think their stuff is much more active.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on May 5, 2019 19:16:07 GMT -5
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Post by Phar Lap on May 5, 2019 21:08:24 GMT -5
Next year, I'll be going on my first cruise. The boat is one of their biggest and can take a maximum of 60 passengers. I'm looking forward to it and I'm not 80+!
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Post by ozziegiraffe on May 6, 2019 6:57:47 GMT -5
Most of the people on my cruise last year were not over 80, but most were mature. One of the few young people in her early twenties was my friend’s granddaughter, so we had the advantage of getting to know some of the crew, who befriended the younger passengers.
The cruise line is Ponant, a French small ship company that specialises in expeditions.
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Post by sprite on May 6, 2019 9:00:37 GMT -5
I should have added that I would be equally uncomfortable on a boat full of 'freeeeee boooooooze!!' types. I mean, hey, i like a couple of drinks while on holiday, but...
i saw an amazing transatlantic arctic sailing, but it was about £40 000 each, and looked like a yatch being moved from Europe to N Am, and they were just renting out the owner's cabin to cover costs.
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Post by Phar Lap on May 6, 2019 19:05:18 GMT -5
Alas, booze isn't included in the price on the cruise I'm doing, but you can add it as an optional extra. The only problem I see with this is I probably won't drink enough to make the added cost worthwhile!
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Post by Liiisa on May 6, 2019 19:12:00 GMT -5
My idea of hell is to be on a ship with a bunch of young people and an open bar. Thankfully it's not so problematic when everyone is 80 and they'd all fall asleep and miss dinner if they had another Manhattan (as would I!).
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Post by sprite on May 7, 2019 12:14:31 GMT -5
if recent experience is anything to go by, i'll be in bed before the over 65s.
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Post by riverhorse on May 8, 2019 6:28:41 GMT -5
It's been about 10 years now since I went on my first cruise. I've done 5 cruises in total and really enjoyed them. I went with Princess cruises - yes, there are quite a few old people on board, but I found that by booking (or just doing) fairly active shore activities, you tended to meet up and spend time with either younger people or active older ones. I had also been concerned about this before the first cruise, but basically, you have the freedom to interact as much or as little as you like with other passengers so I don't think it's really an issue.
If you want to see the fjords, cruising is the way to do it. If you go onto my Facebook profile and look for the photo album called "Cruise to Norway July 2009" there are some photos on there to whet your appetite.
One thing I would suggest - there are more and more cruise lines now that offer "anytime dining" - basically, you can just rock up to any of the onboard restaurants and eat whenever you want, no set times or place settings with other passesngers you don't know (such restrictions timewise would be a horror for me, and the socialising with strangers was definitely a turn-off for grumpy old EGB).
Most of the ships I went on were quite big, which in one respect has an advantage because you have a greater choice of restaurants, bars, shops, etc than the smaller ships (which of course have the advantage of not so many passengers).
I would say GO FOR IT!
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Post by sprite on May 8, 2019 9:15:06 GMT -5
lots of good ideas here.  made it through dinner without mentioning our cruise plans, although did hear quite a bit about their past trips. "that was in Suez." "no, no, it was the India cruise." "not the Panama one?" "no, definitely the India. Remember how bad the first class was on that flight?" my favourit bit was "I was so disappointed with the Amazon..." (she hadn't realised how big it was, and they didn't see as many birds as expected. we didn't tell them that our Amazon visit included playing with a tapir.) |
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Post by Phar Lap on May 8, 2019 23:23:37 GMT -5
My idea of hell is to be on a ship with a bunch of young people and an open bar. Thankfully it's not so problematic when everyone is 80 and they'd all fall asleep and miss dinner if they had another Manhattan (as would I!). Not my cup of tea either, Liiisa. (Speaks wistfully) It would have been nice had they included a glass of something with your meal though. And I don't mean lolly water! |
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