Nine-month world cruise, would you go?

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

My best friends retired in 2020, sold their house and all belongings that couldn't fit into two large travel trunks, and planned to live in cruise ships for the rest of their lives. They are in their early 60s. Unfortunately the Wuhan pandemic hit about two weeks after they retired, so they've been living in timeshares for the last two years.  They finally just on their first cruise in retirement, in Europe.  Because they are price sensitive, they seem to be alternating between timeshares and cruises, wherever there is a last minute deal

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

19 hours ago, BSR said:

Royal Caribbean is offering its first ever world cruise, and they're going BIG. 

I've never sailed on Royal Caribbean.  But I have sailed on Holland America, Celebrity, Princess, and Carnival.

I'm not a fan of the big ships.  I would much prefer a smaller Holland America or Celebrity ship.  I know Holland America operates a few Grand Voyages lasting several months.  I am eyeing one of those trips when I retire in 2028.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

23 minutes ago, Merboy said:

Well that does seem a tad too long.  Maybe a three month cruise around the world, but only really Europe, some gay-friendly parts of Asia, Oceania, the Pacific Ocean, gay-friendly Latin America, and then North America... I wouldn't want to honestly go to anyplace where I'd get off the boat and then get shoved into a jail cell for being queer... or a place where right after I paid for dinner, the waiters would round me up and put me in front of a court of Islamic fundamentalist judges for wearing too much lipstick or something... those places avoid at all costs (even the infamous trendy "Dubai" or that city the Sex and the City girls went to in that god-awful sequel) and stick to the basics - Italy, France, Germany, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand, I'd say Brazil but it's gotta be until that nutcase leaves office....maybe Mexico's coasts, like Puerto Vallerta... but the cruise would be nice right about now, as long as COVID was gone.

There's so much of the world to see and explore, and not every civilization has the same values.  The whole point of traveling is to see something new and different.  Yes, safety first.  But every hotel or restaurant I visit doesn't need to have the rainbow flag on display.  And as long as you don't bend over and take a dick up your ass in the restaurant, I'm sure you won't be arrested after dining.

One advantage of long cruises is you get a sample of ports in different countries, especially to countries you might not otherwise have visited.  And they're not going to dock anywhere that's not safe.  If you like a particular country, you can arrange to have a longer vacation there in the future.  And if you don't like the port, just go back on the ship and life will feel like sanitized cooperate America again.

[Epigonos]

I'm with Vegas_nw1982 in not being a fan of very large and mega ships.  I have cruised on Princess and Oceania.  Three or four years ago Princess began nickel and diming it passengers.  Items that had once been included where no longer so.  Menu choices were greatly reduced and food quality deteriorated.  I proceeded to switch to Oceania and have been very pleased.  There is no extra fee for the specialty dinning-rooms and things like bottled water are handed out free to people going ashore.  Although Oceania cruises are more expensive than Princess ones in the end they cost about same when you consider what you pay for on Princess and what is free on Oceania. 

[+ nycman]

My cruising days are over. 

Never really enjoyed the ships in the first place. Even the most luxurious and expansive ones got old fast. The giant buffets of "ok" food were disgusting. Not to mention the cattle eating at the troughs. And the smaller lower class ships were even worse. COVID just exposed the fact that they are all giant floating toilets. So yeah, I'll pass. 

Confession: I used to dream of suicide swan diving off the back off the QM2 as she pulled into NYC Harbor after completing an around-the-world trip in my final days. So maybe I didn't hate it as much as I say I do, but I'm still not going. 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by nycman

[+ Axiom2001]

I'm not particularly a fan of cruises.  Thus, this cruise does not interest me.

I have traveled on a rather large river boat down the Nile for, I think, a mere five days.  All in all, I truly, truly liked this adventure and had hoped that it would have been for seven to ten days vs the five.  

I've traveled to six of our seven continents and have lived in two: Australia and North America, so that component has already been met. 

If my health holds up, I would like to plan my own adventure around the world over a six month period though, returning to some of my favorite countries and exploring a few new ones.  But,  if this happens, it'll probably be three or four years from now when COVID has tremendously subsided.

Edited October 31, 2021 by Axiom2001

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Epigonos said:

...Cruise food is NOT gourmet food – it cannot be when they are feeding the number of guests they are...

 

It depends on what line you go on. Some really do have gourmet food, and are manned by Michelin-starred chefs. On a somewhat larger ship (i.e. Celebrity) you also have a variety of restaurants to choose from, each of which has a number of options to choose from in each menu. Much better than one would get at home. One does not need to pick the buffet. If anything, I suspect most passengers have to battle more with weight gain on these cruises.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, BSR said:

...They even had a separate fridge on board to store the bodies!  So how many passengers on this 274-night cruise are going to expire before it's over?  The ship better have a really big fridge.

[marylander1940]

When it comes to an overwhelming majority of cruises reality doesn't match expectations!

 

I can't imagine some American being able to squeeze in a room like this one... picture a couple of them! 

[+ nycman]

1 hour ago, Unicorn said:

Much better than one would get at home.

You should move……grin 

[BSR]

2 hours ago, Unicorn said:

It depends on what line you go on. Some really do have gourmet food, and are manned by Michelin-starred chefs. On a somewhat larger ship (i.e. Celebrity) you also have a variety of restaurants to choose from, each of which has a number of options to choose from in each menu. Much better than one would get at home. One does not need to pick the buffet. If anything, I suspect most passengers have to battle more with weight gain on these cruises.

A friend of mine went on a 3-week cruise and gained 20(!) pounds.  He was a little overweight (10 lbs at most) before the cruise but came back noticeably larger.  It got to the point where he just busted up laughing when people's eyes got as big as saucers upon seeing his remarkable weight gain.  I asked him, "Dude, what did you eat?"  He said, "Everything."

[+ bigjoey]

4 hours ago, Epigonos said:

I'm with Vegas_nw1982 in not being a fan of very large and mega ships.  I have cruised on Princess and Oceania.  Three or four years ago Princess began nickel and diming it passengers.  Items that had once been included where no longer so.  Menu choices were greatly reduced and food quality deteriorated.  I proceeded to switch to Oceania and have been very pleased.  There is no extra fee for the specialty dinning-rooms and things like bottled water are handed out free to people going ashore.  Although Oceania cruises are more expensive than Princess ones in the end they cost about same when you consider what you pay for on Princess and what is free on Oceania. 

 

I’ve been on a half dozen Oceania cruises and had great experiences.  Being all inclusive, no surprises.  Great staff.  The ships are smaller than the huge ones like Carnival do really no lines for meals or shows.  Nice gyms.  Food was good and usually reflected the ports where we stopped so it was changing all the time.  The speciality restaurants were excellent.

Canyon Ranch runs the spas so good service there (no happy endings🥲😀)

Highly recommend.👍

Edited October 30, 2021 by bigjoey

[BSR]

10 hours ago, Epigonos said:

I'm with Vegas_nw1982 in not being a fan of very large and mega ships.  I have cruised on Princess and Oceania.  Three or four years ago Princess began nickel and diming it passengers.  Items that had once been included where no longer so.  Menu choices were greatly reduced and food quality deteriorated.  I proceeded to switch to Oceania and have been very pleased.  There is no extra fee for the specialty dinning-rooms and things like bottled water are handed out free to people going ashore.  Although Oceania cruises are more expensive than Princess ones in the end they cost about same when you consider what you pay for on Princess and what is free on Oceania. 

 

Out of curiosity, I wiki'd Serenade of the Seas, the vessel for this 274-night world cruise.  With capacity for 2,490 passengers, it's a lot smaller than Royal Caribbean's megaships, which carry 5,600 passengers at double occupancy, 6,700 if maxed out (sofabeds in many cabins).  On the other hand, Serenade of the Seas has twice the passenger capacity than the largest ships in the Oceania line, 2.5 times the largest Crystal ship. 

I guess that makes Serenade of the Seas a mid-sized ship, although almost 2,500 passengers still seems really large.  That's a heckuva lot of berths to fill.  Passengers don't have to commIt to the entire 9-month voyage since the world cruise is broken up into 4 segments.  But even just 1 segment is still a really long cruise.  I wonder how sales are going.  Has anyone here booked yet? 😄

[+ MysticMenace]

1 hour ago, BSR said:

Out of curiosity, I wiki'd Serenade of the Seas, the vessel for this 274-night world cruise.  With capacity for 2,490 passengers, it's a lot smaller than Royal Caribbean's megaships, which carry 5,600 passengers at double occupancy, 6,700 if maxed out (sofabeds in many cabins).

wow, just realized if an average person poops a pound a day, that is about 340 tons of poop dumped in the ocean for that one 274-night cruise (hopefully there's a good way to dispose of it). talk about toxic waste!

long cruises like that scare me... mostly because of this.

 

I would probably just opt for going to the places in the world I like to visit (thru planes first), then maybe charter a nice yacht (with hunky deck crews) for a couple days to enjoy scenes that might actually be nice to see - like Tahiti...definitely a combo of land and water - too much of one thing, I think is just not my vibe.

Edited October 30, 2021 by JoeMendoza

[+ bigjoey]

8 minutes ago, JoeMendoza said:

wow, just realized if an average person poops a pound a day, that is about 340 tons of poop dumped in the ocean for that one 274-night cruise (hopefully there's a good way to dispose of it). talk about toxic waste!

long cruises like that scare me... mostly because of this.

 

I would probably just opt for going to the places in the world I like to visit (thru planes first), then maybe charter a nice yacht (with hunky deck crews) for a couple days to enjoy scenes that might actually be nice to see - like Tahiti...definitely a combo of land and water - too much of one thing, I think is just not my vibe.

Google is our friend:

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-ideas/cruises/what-really-happens-to-your-poo-when-staying-on-a-cruise-ship/news-story/c4f45391a07a51863efc3d5633d51c8e?amp

There was a time when trains and planes just dumped waste along the way🥵.  Now they put it in storage tanks to be pumped out and properly disposed.👍😀

 

[HotWhiteThirties]

2 minutes ago, JoeMendoza said:

wow, just realized if an average person poops a pound a day, that is about 340 tons of poop dumped in the ocean for that one 274-night cruise (hopefully there's a good way to dispose of it). talk about toxic waste!

And what do you think the whales do in the ocean? Hold it? 🤔 talk abput tons of poop! Circle of life man...🤣🤣🤣

On topic...I love a cruise. There are pros and cons. There is efficiency and convenience in it. Not sure I could do it for 9 mos. Most I've ever done was 10 days, and I wasn't tired of it at that point, but I was on a premium line. My guess is 2 or 3 weeks would be my limit. I expect that there is a strong correlation coefficient between the length of cruise and the extensiveness of infirmities and age of the pax.  The 10 day cruise I went on was Hoveround central! Much more significantly so than the shorter cruises I've sailed. Obviously, that's also impacted by the target demo of the line, but the folks with significant  disposable incomes and free time skew older, so that's not a surprise. At a certain point, I think that such an environment would get old after a few weeks and begin to feel like a convalescent center. Although when or if I reach an age of infirmity, given a choice between the two options...maybe being infirm on a cruise ship would be preferable. 🤔

[Guest]

5 hours ago, HotWhiteThirties said:

And what do you think the whales do in the ocean? Hold it? 🤔 talk abput tons of poop! Circle of life man...🤣🤣🤣

...

The oceans are pretty big! 😏 The post which worried about the human poop reminded me of vegans, who believe that life for wild animals is just one big Disney cartoon. There are strict laws for all ships regarding how to dispose of various types of waste. 

[marylander1940]

17 hours ago, BSR said:

A friend of mine went on a 3-week cruise and gained 20(!) pounds.  He was a little overweight (10 lbs at most) before the cruise but came back noticeably larger.  It got to the point where he just busted up laughing when people's eyes got as big as saucers upon seeing his remarkable weight gain.  I asked him, "Dude, what did you eat?"  He said, "Everything."

I didn't know you were a friend of Oprah! 😂

[BSR]

On 10/29/2021 at 3:14 PM, Vegas_nw1982 said:

One advantage of long cruises is you get a sample of ports in different countries, especially to countries you might not otherwise have visited. 

I agree.  While I was initially turned off by the prospect of following an itinerary that someone else put together, I realize that might be the best thing about this 274-night cruise:  going to places I would never visit on my own.  I had never even heard of Ishigaki or Nha Trang until I saw them on the itinerary, but I'm sure Royal Caribbean scheduled a stop in those places for a good reason.

[+ nycman]

4 hours ago, BSR said:

but I'm sure Royal Caribbean scheduled a stop in those places for a good reason.

Yeah, they need somewhere to get gas and dump their trash.

grin

Edited October 31, 2021 by nycman

[RadioRob]

I have sailed on Royal Caribbean for years and have always had a fantastic time. I would absolutely do this if time/money was no object. Not having to pack/unpack every few days, getting to actually know the crew that is taking care of me, being somewhere different every few days… it’s something I could absolutely see myself doing. 

I’m one of those that would entertain retiring on a cruise ship.  Love the open seas and having a chance to meet people and see the world is something that has an allure to me. 

[BuffaloKyle]

No way could I do that long. I'd miss my family and friends, I would miss too many sporting events that I enjoy watching as well. I would for sure have to have someone there to satisfy my sexual urges as well, lol. Plus I'd be too afraid with that length of time that there is a greater possibility of getting really sick or having a medical emergency while you are out to sea. Basically it's a for sure thing that is going to happen to someone on board.

[Luv2play]

On 10/29/2021 at 7:48 PM, marylander1940 said:

When it comes to an overwhelming majority of cruises reality doesn't match expectations!

 

I can't imagine some American being able to squeeze in a room like this one... picture a couple of them! 

Actually, the second to last picture of the double bed with a mirror above would suit me if I had a hot companion to share it with me.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Viking is offering some decent deals on their ATW sailings.  

With discounts, you can get on as low as $60k, which includes drinks and tours.  

As much as I enjoy, specifically, Viking, I'd never cruise for that long.  

It would remind me of being in Key West for too long:  I'd get island fever.  Gotta get off the rock.

[+ WilliamM]

I have greatly enjoyed sailing on the luxurious Staten Island ferry.