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Cruising?
I’ve never been on a cruise, just don’t fancy being with all those people when I could be on a land tour. Maybe this is another reason
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I’ve never been on a cruise, just don’t fancy being with all those people when I could be on a land tour. Maybe this is another reason
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I’ve never met anyone apart from one friend who did not like cruising. Most people absolutely love cruises. I was very interested to see how she enjoyed it because we are very alike. She confirmed she doubted I would enjoy it. I enjoyed our River Cruise, but I still think we see more on land. If I want a more relaxing vacation, I’ll go on another river cruise, or go to an island for a week which we often did when we took one Tauck tour a year.Tauck tours are tours, they are not really vacations. I was just posting this interesting article because I always read health related items.
Agree with you on the planes issue. I try to ward off illness being the nerd that brings wetwipes to wipe down our tray tables, touch screen, etc. Doesn't always work. Came back from our Rhine/Moselle cruise on a plane that sounded like someone had emptied a respiratory care facility. The day after arriving home I came down with tonsillitis. Can't do anything about the air on the plane.
Haven't done an ocean cruise yet but younger son is now working for Disney booking cruises for people so he's working on us. Insider who knows when they have great deals on unsold rooms. So who knows I might just pack the Dramamine and take a chance.
We just returned from a family (6 adults + 4 kids) Disney trip- 2 days at WDW followed by a 4 day Disney cruise on the Dream. Yes, it was the hottest time to go but the only time we could get everyone together. Evaporative cooling cloths helped some and thank goodness more of the queue lines these days are in AC cooled rooms. Grandma and Grandpa hung in there for most of WDW (Flight of Pandora was amazing!) but chilled out a bit during the cruise.
Disney does things right- the Dream was a beautiful ship and well maintained, plenty of activities for the kids, and good food, but we still cruised with about 5000 of our closest friends, about 2/3 of which were 12 or younger. Disney is well aware of the dangers of communicable illnesses. At the gangway and entrances to all restaurants, theaters, kid's clubs, etc. Disney stationed crew cast members who handed out disinfectant wipes. Unfortunately it didn't help Grandma and Grandpa- we both caught very bad colds the last day. Now the cause could also be attributed to getting over-tired, but I gotta believe it was from other passengers. Our colds (my Dr confirmed it was not Flu) were so bad we actually spent time in bed on and off for a couple days after we got home. Even now, two weeks after getting home, we still have some lingering effects- coughs, minor sore throats, fatigue, etc.
I think this was our first and last cruise on a large ship!
Oh, since all bills were payed using Magic Bands at WDW and a key card on the ship and eventually charged to my AMEX, we never used cash or credit card (very convenient!).and I knew how much everything was costing. But it seemed like there was always an extra charge for something- all inclusive it was not!!! Our daughter and daughter-in-law did park and ship activity planning. I think the biggest shocker was an early breakfast in the park before it opened. They scheduled it so after eating we could get in line early for some nearby ride and not have to use up one of a limited number of Fast Pass+ (sort of head of the line pass made available to those who stay at a Disney resort). At the (weakly) themed Beauty and the Beast "Be Our Guest" all very basic adult breakfast choices were $28, $15 for kids. There was no a la carte or simple bagel and juice choices. Breakfast for the 10 of us was nearly $300. (We overstayed breakfast so had to wait in line at the ride anyway) Breakfast at the Polynesian on the morning we headed to the ship cost even more- because there were "characters" (Lilo and Stitch?) in attendance(?)
It sounds like our tastes are similar to cathy and steve. We have generally narrowed our travel down to either Tauck land trips or Regent ocean cruises. We find both excellent with great service and generally really nice people that are well traveled. I guess I am VERY lucky in that after three million passenger air miles, I must have built up some resistance as I rarely get sick. That doesn't mean there aren't very inconsiderate travelers that should not be on a plane, ship, tour that are sick and spreading germs. Our one river cruise was not enjoyable for us and we will likely not do that again in the foreseeable future as long as our health holds up. Alan, I bet every dollar you spent created a ton of smiles watching your grandkids have a wonderful time!!!!
I believe the 787 also humidifies the air so your airways don't dry out as much as on other aircraft.
We have traveled with Tauck since 1985 and loved every trip. We have also done many cruises, from transoceanic ones to just short Caribbean holidays. My preference is cruising. I like the idea of having free laundry, the medical staff just a few decks down, and if I hit a wall and just don’t want to get out of bed, I don’t have to pack up and go. We avoid the buffets for the first 48 hours . We have never been sick , we wipe our stateroom down when we first go aboard as we do the tray tables on the planes. Pluses and minuses for both.