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The boat was nice


Parr8hed

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They can be fun, with thousands of your soon to be friends. 

The food is waste is kinda insane. Cruising is affordable and takes you to great places. We saw this private RC island. It was a nice place. Major float and bloat though. 

They had a sunken plane. That was cool to swim around. They actually rake the sand to make it nice on your ?. Wow 

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2 hours ago, Parr8hed said:

but it was very peoply. 

Back to the grind today.

And that is a big reason why you will not find me on one.

I can only handle peoply in small quantities.

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1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

They can be fun, with thousands of your soon to be friends. 

The food is waste is kinda insane. Cruising is affordable and takes you to great places. We saw this private RC island. It was a nice place. Major float and bloat though. 

They had a sunken plane. That was cool to swim around. They actually rake the sand to make it nice on your ?. Wow 

That's the rub.  The boat was nice, food was good, but it was kinda depressing.  Seeing all of the waste and gluttony. 

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10 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

That's the rub.  The boat was nice, food was good, but it was kinda depressing.  Seeing all of the waste and gluttony. 

They can be fun.  We did meet some fun people.  

The only reason we didn't gain weight was that we took stairs only, while on the ship.  We walked everywhere, instead of taxi stuff.  We saw the actual streets in the Bahamas.  You could pay for them to take you to the excursion at the zoo.  It was about 3 or miles I believe.  We walked.  We stopped at this bar that was literally a plywood shack.  They made us pina coladas with coconuts chopped with a filthy machete.  We didn't die.

We saw sad sights on that walk too. Filth.  Squalor.  The stuff you don't really see in the tourist zones.  It was eye opening.  

Kinda funny, some locals were harassing us at the plywood bar.  They kept telling us we HAD to have children.  They asked how long we were married and if we had kids.  When we replied no, they said my husband wasn't doing it right.  

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16 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

They can be fun.  We did meet some fun people.  

The only reason we didn't gain weight was that we took stairs only, while on the ship.  We walked everywhere, instead of taxi stuff.  We saw the actual streets in the Bahamas.  You could pay for them to take you to the excursion at the zoo.  It was about 3 or miles I believe.  We walked.  We stopped at this bar that was literally a plywood shack.  They made us pina coladas with coconuts chopped with a filthy machete.  We didn't die.

We saw sad sights on that walk too. Filth.  Squalor.  The stuff you don't really see in the tourist zones.  It was eye opening.  

Kinda funny, some locals were harassing us at the plywood bar.  They kept telling us we HAD to have children.  They asked how long we were married and if we had kids.  When we replied no, they said my husband wasn't doing it right.  

yea, I took stairs everywhere on the boat and walked quite a bit.  We did that in Jamaica.  It was heartbreaking seeing the amount of filth and conditions that they lived in.  I made the kids pay close attention.  All of the sudden having name brand airpods wasn't quite as important. 

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4 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

yea, I took stairs everywhere on the boat and walked quite a bit.  We did that in Jamaica.  It was heartbreaking seeing the amount of filth and conditions that they lived in.  I made the kids pay close attention.  All of the sudden having name brand airpods wasn't quite as important. 

We are fortunate people. 

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We did cruises our last two vacations.  They do have some great features, but always run into a few A-holes, too.

 

This April we plan to do a driving tour to Tennessee - because BuffCarla's father came from the Memphis area.

2 nights in Louisville or Bourbon Country

2 nights in Memphis

3 nights in Nashville.

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12 minutes ago, BuffJim said:

We did cruises our last two vacations.  They do have some great features, but always run into a few A-holes, too.

 

This April we plan to do a driving tour to Tennessee - because BuffCarla's father came from the Memphis area.

2 nights in Louisville or Bourbon Country

2 nights in Memphis

3 nights in Nashville.

Depending on when you're through here we might me able to meet up.  I have some trips planned in april. 

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1 minute ago, Kzoo said:

Assuming you could afford the boat.

 

I think that they even pay you to get on the boat.  From what I understand (from people who've done it) you work 3 days on the units cleaning blood, and the other 3 days are yours to do whatever. 

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I haven't been on  a cruise in ages, but my parents took one with my not wild sister and her family.  It was a good trip for a multi-generation family.  My parents could sit on the deck of their room and just read and stare at the water when they wanted some quiet time.  My sister who cooks every night was happy to have a break and not do all the cooking and meal planning.  She commented that it was a lot of food which sort of turned her off but she enjoyed being able to try some different things.  She and her husband enjoyed the day excursions to different locations.  The teenagers could go try all the different activities and then everyone could meet up for dinner and hear about what everyone did for the day.

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On 10/14/2019 at 3:54 PM, Parr8hed said:

I think that they even pay you to get on the boat.  From what I understand (from people who've done it) you work 3 days on the units cleaning blood, and the other 3 days are yours to do whatever. 

It makes sense as it makes the cruise ships money. Uncle Pete can now go on the trip since he can get his dialysis.

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On 10/14/2019 at 12:05 PM, Parr8hed said:

That's the rub.  The boat was nice, food was good, but it was kinda depressing.  Seeing all of the waste and gluttony. 

That is why you walk on across the gangplank, but you are rolled out through the cargo hold.

I really really hate cruises. It is OK if cruise at night, docking in AM for day on shore. But then the bean counting accountants ruined it with Carnival actually labeling it "Fun Day at Sea". Translation - You are stuck on the ship so go to the casino, order from the bar, etc and pad our profits because you aint going anywhere. And then there are the shore excursions that are destroying the local economy and experience of others as 12 cruise ships pull into port and dump tens of thousands of people. 5 minutes to see St Marks Cathedral, hike back to ship after buying a couple cheap suveniers but don't eat as room and board I provided on the ship.  Venice and Barcelona are are particularly adversely affected and trying to limit.

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46 minutes ago, Tizeye said:

That is why you walk on across the gangplank, but you are rolled out through the cargo hold.

I really really hate cruises. It is OK if cruise at night, docking in AM for day on shore. But then the bean counting accountants ruined it with Carnival actually labeling it "Fun Day at Sea". Translation - You are stuck on the ship so go to the casino, order from the bar, etc and pad our profits because you aint going anywhere. And then there are the shore excursions that are destroying the local economy and experience of others as 12 cruise ships pull into port and dump tens of thousands of people. 5 minutes to see St Marks Cathedral, hike back to ship after buying a couple cheap suveniers but don't eat as room and board I provided on the ship.  Venice and Barcelona are are particularly adversely affected and trying to limit.

There is some truth and some inaccurate stuff in this post.

Absolutely there are issues with a cruise ship (2,000 to 6,000 passengers) pulling into a port - from environmental to sheer volume of humanity - but I can't think of a time or a port where 12 cruise ships are in a port.  That's a stupendous amount of ships, and I can only guess, if you want to stand by that number, that you are including many non-traditional "cruise" ships in the count - ie a dinner cruise or harbor tour ship of the 200 passenger size????  Barcelona, the largest cruise port in Europe, may be able to handle a dozen cruise ships across the carious terminals, but it still seems a stretch to think 12 would be in port simultaneously.

As for sea days, I think casinos are a dying breed on most cruise lines (replaced by more shopping and "upscale" restaurants), and, for the most part, bar orders are part of a drink package that would now be included or purchased in many cruise fares.  

Cruise line sold shore excursions are definitely a big $$$ item for the cruise lines, and can definitely create a set of "winners" and "losers" in a local economy, and in many cases, a cruise line will have the upperhand in negotiations with small operators which will make them likely to take advantage of those folks in the long run.  However, in 2019, with the internet and travel advice at the ready, it is really in the travelers hands whether or not they want to go "safe but expensive" (cruise line excursion) or "less guaranteed, less expensive, more local".  Plenty of locals make their living through tourism - good, bad, or indifferent.  

And, "5 minutes to see St Marks Cathedral, hike back to ship after buying a couple cheap souvenirs" sounds a LOT like standard tourist behavior everywhere minus the walk to the ship (could easily be car, hotel, or bus). Too many times to count, I have seen folks breeze through a beautiful locale, snap a selfie, and move on. Not remotely tied to a cruise ship - just humans. 

BINGO on the "don't eat as room and board is provided on the ship" being an issue though with actually engaging a local economy. Food is an important way to embrace and understand a place, but a subset of all tourists will ignore local options due to fear/safety concerns, time constraints, and/or money/cost savings issues.  I'd always recommend - again, easy to do using the internet - sorting out great places to eat while in a location.  So, this again comes down to the traveler and how they want to engage with a destination.  Are they someone who wants to see a culture and try to experience it in a more enriching way, or are they someone who is looking for a relaxing & no stress vacation?  Cruises, organized tours, all-inclusive resorts, packaged tours, etc., really are what the individuals make of them. 

Keep in mind that Venice and Barcelona have airports, train stations, and parking lots where many, many, many thousands of tourists arrive/depart out of daily.  Venice in particular is in a bad place where "demand" far exceeds "supply" with regards to hotels, and it results in a daily wave of tourism - day trippers - flooding the city from all directions, and the cruise ships are a big part but not the only part of the challenges posed by this tourist mentality.  I definitely hope Venice and other overwhelmed cities figure out a balance to preserve what they can because something is broken.

Here is Venice at its worst (and it is UGLY), but that's not a dozen cruise ships:

image.png.dba732c07e138857f06feb85a89e3034.png

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On ‎10‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 1:00 PM, Razors Edge said:

There is some truth and some inaccurate stuff in this post.

Absolutely there are issues with a cruise ship (2,000 to 6,000 passengers) pulling into a port - from environmental to sheer volume of humanity - but I can't think of a time or a port where 12 cruise ships are in a port.  That's a stupendous amount of ships, and I can only guess, if you want to stand by that number, that you are including many non-traditional "cruise" ships in the count - ie a dinner cruise or harbor tour ship of the 200 passenger size????  Barcelona, the largest cruise port in Europe, may be able to handle a dozen cruise ships across the carious terminals, but it still seems a stretch to think 12 would be in port simultaneously.

As for sea days, I think casinos are a dying breed on most cruise lines (replaced by more shopping and "upscale" restaurants), and, for the most part, bar orders are part of a drink package that would now be included or purchased in many cruise fares.  

Cruise line sold shore excursions are definitely a big $$$ item for the cruise lines, and can definitely create a set of "winners" and "losers" in a local economy, and in many cases, a cruise line will have the upperhand in negotiations with small operators which will make them likely to take advantage of those folks in the long run.  However, in 2019, with the internet and travel advice at the ready, it is really in the travelers hands whether or not they want to go "safe but expensive" (cruise line excursion) or "less guaranteed, less expensive, more local".  Plenty of locals make their living through tourism - good, bad, or indifferent.  

And, "5 minutes to see St Marks Cathedral, hike back to ship after buying a couple cheap souvenirs" sounds a LOT like standard tourist behavior everywhere minus the walk to the ship (could easily be car, hotel, or bus). Too many times to count, I have seen folks breeze through a beautiful locale, snap a selfie, and move on. Not remotely tied to a cruise ship - just humans. 

BINGO on the "don't eat as room and board is provided on the ship" being an issue though with actually engaging a local economy. Food is an important way to embrace and understand a place, but a subset of all tourists will ignore local options due to fear/safety concerns, time constraints, and/or money/cost savings issues.  I'd always recommend - again, easy to do using the internet - sorting out great places to eat while in a location.  So, this again comes down to the traveler and how they want to engage with a destination.  Are they someone who wants to see a culture and try to experience it in a more enriching way, or are they someone who is looking for a relaxing & no stress vacation?  Cruises, organized tours, all-inclusive resorts, packaged tours, etc., really are what the individuals make of them. 

Keep in mind that Venice and Barcelona have airports, train stations, and parking lots where many, many, many thousands of tourists arrive/depart out of daily.  Venice in particular is in a bad place where "demand" far exceeds "supply" with regards to hotels, and it results in a daily wave of tourism - day trippers - flooding the city from all directions, and the cruise ships are a big part but not the only part of the challenges posed by this tourist mentality.  I definitely hope Venice and other overwhelmed cities figure out a balance to preserve what they can because something is broken.

Here is Venice at its worst (and it is UGLY), but that's not a dozen cruise ships:

image.png.dba732c07e138857f06feb85a89e3034.png

That pic is crazy!  Could you imagine piloting one of the big ships on the inside there?  When we got to Cozumel there were like 5 big ships there. 

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On 10/14/2019 at 12:21 PM, Dirtyhip said:

We saw sad sights on that walk too. Filth.  Squalor.  The stuff you don't really see in the tourist zones.  It was eye opening.  

 

That would be where I would be right now if I wasn’t needed more at home. CRI has teams working there since the hurricane.

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