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10th July 2020, 04:53 PM
#11
Re: Floating Carbuncles
Yes I do enjoy cruising, nothing less than a two to three month voyage.
Always choose your Company, Ship and itinerary well.
Never been on a bad one yet,
We always sail with Holland America Line. no Giant ships. max 850 passengers. every year [ apart from this year, due to the virus,]we always see the same passengers, and many good friends amongst them. I know ,several Masters, always invited to private cocktail parties, free drinks etc.
Loads of space, no one dashing around to grab a chair.
In the Dining Room you have your own table and seat. so you know your waiters, and dining companions.
When you join you have a choice, a table for two, a table for four , a table for six, or 8. we always go for a table for six, to get to know them and a good conversation over dinner.
If you do not like your companions then tell the `Matre D`, and he will find a table for two.
No rushing for seats in the theatre, always two shows per evening after dinner.
One night a week is Formal night, so it feels good to dress in Dinner Suit and bow tie, ladies in their finest evening dress,
It feels good to be Elegant now and again.
The Dinner Suit is the greatest social leveler ever. Everyone is the same,
Below, ....Dressed for Dinner.
I have seen more of this world while cruising than I ever did with over 40 years at sea, many experiences, all Good, and have seen and visited many friends around the world including many on this site.
It will be a sad day when I have to give up cruising.
To stay in a hotel in one resort for two weeks would drive me potty.
Cheerrs
Brian
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10th July 2020, 06:22 PM
#12
Re: Floating Carbuncles
Brian you and Senior Management scrub up well, very dapper. When I read your accounts of your voyages you have been to more places than I did during my time at sea.
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11th July 2020, 05:32 AM
#13
Re: Floating Carbuncles
Originally Posted by
Red Lead Ted
Apparently the future for modern day cruise ships is looking very bleak, A large percentage of people who where regular cruisers will never take to the seas again i don't think the Corona virus has done them any favours Terry.
Interesting that mate, as here in Oz the bookings for 2021 are amongst some of the highest ever.
Friend of ours runs a travel agent and she tells us the number of calls being transferred to her home number, shop is closed during lock down, is so high she cannot cope.
Happy daze John in Oz.
Life is too short to blend in.
John Strange R737787
World Traveller
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13th July 2020, 01:25 AM
#14
Re: Floating Carbuncles
Hi John.
The way things are going it will be some time before you sail. They now have a young idiot who was at the Casula pub and got the virus, being he couldn't go back there went to another pub three times, another cluster.
Des
R510868
Lest We Forget
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15th July 2020, 07:22 AM
#15
Re: Floating Carbuncles
Could not agree more, a blot on the ocean.
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15th July 2020, 07:55 AM
#16
Re: Floating Carbuncles
To me modern cruise ships look like flat top barges with portakabins stacked on top. As they age they'll become floating slums.
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15th July 2020, 10:48 AM
#17
Re: Floating Carbuncles
Having only worked on cruise ships in the 1970's and 80's, think We had the best times, smaller more comfortable ships. Nothing would get me back onboard now, feel they are like floating holiday camps , but that's an old lady's thoughts
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15th July 2020, 11:19 AM
#18
Re: Floating Carbuncles
True that modern cruise ships are not a very elegant site to see. To me they look like fully loaded container ships with all the containers welded together. But saying that they are designed for the modern day holiday traffic. You have to go back a few years to find liners that looked elegant but then they were not built for todays cruise customers. Ships of that era were built to transport passengers across the Atlantic. These passengers were inevitably well off financially and as for the ordinary man in the street cruising on one was just a dream. Having worked on the Empress of Britain and also having been a fare paying passenger when she was owned by Thomson's and named the Topaz and also have cruised on all the Queens i would say that the working conditions nowadays are far superior to what I had to put up with in my cabin boy days. Things have improved tremendously but in saying that I would not have changed my mind if i was asked to have the experience on the old liners again.
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16th July 2020, 01:38 AM
#19
Re: Floating Carbuncles
Well, to bring up the Ruby Princes, I was right, and the N.S.W. Health didn't follow protocols, a Royal inquiry has found that the ship should never have been allowed to dock until all the tests they had done on board were back, as a result people died and many people were infected. I our day the yellow flag would have flown and a port Dr boarded and declared the ship safe or not.
Des
R510868
Lest We Forget
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16th July 2020, 06:37 AM
#20
Re: Floating Carbuncles
Yes Des, another stuff up like the one we have here in Melbourne with the hotels used for quarantine.
But as to cruise ships, for those who have never been on one maybe they are not in a position to pass judgement on them apart from the looks.
Inside they are as well committed as any luxury hotel.
For those who want to enjoy the time, one unpack and that is it, then it beats going hotel to hotel.
Also good for families, the kids will be cared for while the parents enjoy their time.
Something for all tastes and ages on board.
Happy daze John in Oz.
Life is too short to blend in.
John Strange R737787
World Traveller
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