Could you live on a cruise ship?
A Bristol couple live on cruise ships.
They ' work from home'.
Katrina Middleton and husband Kevin sold up and now live in luxury cabins on back-to-back cruises, working remotely from the ships 🛳️
I couldn't do it. I'd miss the garden and the countryside and the dogs far too much - but could you??
They ' work from home'.
Katrina Middleton and husband Kevin sold up and now live in luxury cabins on back-to-back cruises, working remotely from the ships 🛳️
I couldn't do it. I'd miss the garden and the countryside and the dogs far too much - but could you??
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AFF
Oh yes. I remember, in the early days of Covid, ships were quarantined. One British cruise ship was quarantined in a Japanese harbour for a month. That must have been hard - not knowing how long they'd be there.
Ecological disaster areas.
But friends say the entertainment every evening makes it worth it...
I find the only downside to be those few who whinge and moan, but they are always with us and I’m sure the head waiter could find another table if need be.
It’s a whole lot less stressful than travel by air, and I hate airports, for the mixture of tedium and rushing.
Bridge seems to be the thing, but if you took a chess set along I’m sure you would find players for sea days. These are a bone of contention: some enjoy them, others tolerate them and a few just climb into the bottle and need a bit of help from the crew.
The ships that we have been on have had well stocked libraries. Besides, when a ship comes ashore, you can skip the planned excursions and go shopping for local bookstores if you want. Just be sure to get back to the ship on time; otherwise, they have been known to sail away without people.
We have never had problems with seasickness. One time we did go through quite a storm off Alaska. It was something to try to take a shower then, but still no problem. What we found, is the upper levels of the ships can create more seasickness than the lower levels.
But recently I heard these villages described as a static cruise liner which has really put me off!
Cruise ships? It's like a floating tower block full of people, and a very limited range of possibilities for entertainment. I can't think of much worse.
I think cruises suffer from the same drawbacks as bus tours. You can't go on your schedule - you have to go on the cruise's schedule. If the schedule gives you six hours in a particular place, that's what you have. You don't have a reasonable opportunity to spend two days there because there's something that interests you.
And what Firenze said.
Part of me feels like that would be something that might make it more interesting although six hours is kind of short. The whole idea of not being in control. Don’t get me wrong, I’d likely get sick of it after a while, but it might be sort of a refreshing thing to have a bunch of those decisions made externally for one who has trouble making certain decisions.
(That's a funny thing. 30-odd years ago people used to take pillows and sleeping bags and crash out all over the floor. I woke up in Dublin once and everyone else had got off. The crew tell you off now for vagrancy, which is probably cabin-upselling dressed as safety procedures.)
They spoil the places they visit. I saw one heaving into Venice and dwarfing 'La Serenissima' with its sheer bulk and ugliness.
Venetians have taken to boats to protest.
And rightly so.
The bloody things moor off the Orkneys for instance, disgorge hundreds of tourists who spend just an hour clogging the streets of Kirkwall taking selfies before clambering back on board to sail somewhere else to blight.
Sink the wretched things.
What are fruit machines? I’m intrigued now…
(Visions of Kamen Rider Gaim are in my head now, only with robots rather than people in suits, using fruit-themed weapons and armor. It was a cool show…)
https://youtu.be/NlOh1QUKDF8?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/mVKlb29_lI4?feature=shared
My wife is a retired Librarian. She has at least three books going at any one time. When she says the libraries on the ships we have been on were well stocked, she means they were well stocked. One thing she particularly liked where the books that covered the regions where we were sailing.
When ships reach their home ports, either the ship's librarian or the company's library staff will rotate the selections.
A suggestion: just take a three-day cruise. Try it before you knock it.
There is quite a bit of entertainment on board. From outdoor entertainment to nighttime shows to talks on various topics--really depends on the type of ship you are on. Not every ship has slot machines, every ship we have been on offered great dining opportunities where you could meet new people or dine alone.
But, as I said, while we have enjoyed short term cruises, we will likely not go on long term trips.
Next trip on the docket is Hawaii. Will fly out there, then take a week's cruise around the islands. Beats checking into and out of motels every other day.
Some friends went on a National Trust tour circumnavigating the British Isles some years ago, and liked it. It was well planned and it was a small ship, so it sounded like a good way to do it.
I am sure Piglet will have an opinion about what those floating sideways skyscrapers do to Orkney when they spew their masses onto the streets of Kirkwall for the day and then take them back to the ship to feed them with no benefit to the locals.
My idea of a luxury pleasure cruise is heading down the Clyde on the Waverley.
Almost said a three hour cruise, but I wondered if anyone not of that age would have caught the humor.
Marsupial wrote
That sounds like a great cruise. And I agree, smaller ships are great.
Possibly better known in the US as one-armed bandits?
But the thought of a cruise ship just leaves me utterly cold. I want to be near the sea, not cut off from it. And, often, the further away from other people the happier I am. And time to explore, to ponder, to soak in the salt scent of the sea.
Hey, your imagination is much more entertaining than the reality
Are we in Heaven, and generating tangents with abandon? My elder girl likes art and craft, and sometimes she plays me youtube videos by a bloke called 'Studson's Studio' who is very into those Japanese shows (she knows them a bit, I'm afraid I don't) and who makes models of some of the characters and sets using plastic junk. He's really very skilled, and a funny presenter - you might like them. The ones on 'Howl's Moving Castle' (get me) are very good.
An elderly friend of mine still does some volunteering on a Clyde puffer. And closer to home - there's always this.
The punchline shot is a composite, but quite a lot of it existed, and still exists, at one spot - with fewer chimneys. Just be a bit cautious telling the neighbours you have been cruising by the canal.
I’m 58 and the song is in my head now…
Very cool!
Now that I know what they are, I know of those fruit machines/one armed bandits, though I’m not sure I’ve seen them in real life.
On Calmac ferries (almost all of ours leave Obab at *yawn* o'clock) it is custom and practice that the observation lounge is for those hoping for an extra 4 hours sleep before docking, and pillow and blanket are standard equipment. I think if the crew tried to stop people there would be sleepy riots. Of course there haven't been cabins available on Calmac sailings for a long time.
Around four thousand passengers.
A thirteen level lift. Food bland so not as to upset anyone's taste, it seems.
An outrageously priced internet connection
We did find a quiet ex-smoking lounge that blocked out the sounds of the "entertainment", and where we could solve our store of cryptic crosswords.
At least we found a stand-up bar in Bari which delivered the best espresso I had in 2025.
And Corfu surprised me by having a Cricket Club.
No. I would never want to live permanently on cruise ships.
OK, it takes you places, but you have to keep to the schedule, and must necessarily skim the local culture - a fast-food version, gobbeted and deep-fried for the touristic taste-buds.
Savage! But all too true.
I was only eleven but I remember very much enjoying the journey. But there weren't many passengers on board. I can't quite remember how many but I seem to think it was about a hundred. The voyage was three weeks long. My strongest memory is the breakfast in the dining room and being able to have scrambled eggs everyday!
I also remember having to anchor off Southampton for three days because the fog was so thick and we couldn't dock. The sound of the foghorns echoing through the channel remains with me to this day. I don't think fog is a problem to shipping any longer.
Early in my career I was assigned to a (scheduled) three-hour hearing that went on for days…. months actually because nobody realized we were going to need the extra time until it was too late to schedule it efficiently. I didn’t quote the song in court but I was tempted.