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Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

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Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#101

Post by ryandrake »

VoodooJuJu wrote: post #70
icegreentea2 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cruises hit a spot of: * All the fun and "not thinking" of an all-inclusive resort (though obviously only if you pay for the drink packages) on land * Generally cheaper than all inclusive resorts on mainland USA (I'm not as familiar with Europe) * Competitive on pricing with all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean/Mexico * Get to skip out on flight to the Caribbean/Mexico * Get to skip out out of the overt semi-coloni…

[flagged]

It's also currently fashionable to describe any mixing of Western people/money/enterprise with the developing world as "colonial." I don't think many people actually think they're King George III as they enjoy a vacation in the Bahamas.

Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#102

Post by verhaust »

davidashe wrote: post #69
verhaust wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get this kind of vitriol toward cruise goers. I like to plan trips as an adventure like you and 6 years ago had zero desire to ever go on a cruise. I ended up going on one because my in-laws wanted to do a European cruise with extended family for their retirement celebration. They don't drink, they enjoy their life and got to celebrate with family so no loneliness. They are just older and don't have the physi…

Look into what life is like for the staff. A previous commenter mentioned that cruises (paraphrase) “lack the colonial feel of mexican resorts” which is a testament to the power of consumerist illusion.

Yea, I know the staff can be treated terribly. I can see how the OP I replied to can get the impression that all cruise goers are bitter/terrible people if their anecdotes are mostly staff complaints. I never talked or dealt with staff other than ordering food/drinks. I saw plenty of people talking rudely to staff with petty complaints. I saw one of the entertainers yelling because one woman grabbed his crotch as they passed by. The staff have to deal with the worst/rudest/entitled cruise goers and get paid way too little for it.

Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#103

Post by School-Cotton »

GJim wrote: post #81
msrenee wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably because of pressure from superiors. If they know you're in cell range and ignoring them, they'll be pissy. If you're simply unable to receive communications, that's just the way it is. It shouldn't be like that, but it is.

> If they know you're in cell range and ignoring them, they'll be pissy. Frankly, I'd be "pissy" if my superiors tried calling me when I'm on holiday and I would have no qualms informing them of that fact. But then I'm not American.

> But then I'm not American.

Europeans being smug about how much better their society is than Americans’ is such an annoying cliche at this point. We get it, Europe is a paradise.

Btw, I’m American and I would simply not answer if my work tried to contact me while on vacation. Conversely, I know multiple Europeans with terribly unhealthy work/life balance who work constantly while on vacation.

Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#104

Post by ryandrake »

verhaust wrote: post #44
jajko wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many ways to enjoy seas, cruise ships are by far the worst. As per people who worked on those, they are mostly for people who simply don't know how to enjoy life well but have money, are quiet alcoholics, and/or suffer massive loneliness. You can do amazing traveling experiences for less, you are in control of your own life and what happens next and you will feel like spending much more time when discoverin…

I don't get this kind of vitriol toward cruise goers. I like to plan trips as an adventure like you and 6 years ago had zero desire to ever go on a cruise. I ended up going on one because my in-laws wanted to do a European cruise with extended family for their retirement celebration. They don't drink, they enjoy their life and got to celebrate with family so no loneliness. They are just older and don't have the physi…

Same here. My elderly parents love cruises, but I didn't see the allure. Went on one and it was "OK." I spent most of the time in one of the hot tubs where "Tommy From Boston" was a permanent fixture. He had an infinite number of stories in the queue that he had to tell anyone who climbed into the tub, and probably drank over 100 beers a day. It wasn't bad, and I wouldn't go out of my way to plan a cruise, but it wasn't the pure torture and torment that some people are posting here.

Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#105

Post by paulryanrogers »

__float wrote: post #76
JKCalhoun wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Train rides across the country? Actually though, road trips scratch that itch for me as well. I don't plan them out except to say — let's wander off to the Great Lakes or lets follow the Mississippi River south — see all the river towns along the way. I've used AI to throw out ideas of things to see while on the road, or the wife and I fall back to looking for antique stores as an excuse to wander through the small d…

Driving is very unpleasant for some. Trains in the US are not exactly luxurious by any stretch: compare the food on a nice cruise to the food available on a train.

This was the biggest shock when seeing Europe, their trains are so much better. Considering how sprawling the continental US is, it's a shame we don't have more and better quality trains.

Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#106

Post by tempest_ »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #78

After owning small cruising sailboats for about twenty years my wife and I did the calculation that we could sell our last boat and go on two of three cruises a year. The big cost of cruising, by the way, is not so much the ship but expensive shore excursions that sometimes take you away from the ship overnight. I get all the complaints people have against cruising but for us we have seen so much of the world in rela…

Honestly the reason I am "against" cruising is because they are usually floating environmental travesties

Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#107

Post by d_burfoot »

The cruise industry is very fascinating to me. I think in the medium term we could see significant populations of people living long-term on cruise ships; it seems like the economic model is long-run more efficient (assuming the shipbuilding industry is very good at building these structures). You avoid the property tax, zoning, and regulatory burdens that go with living on land. It's likely safer because you're not driving cars and you don't let criminals onboard. And Starlink solves the internet access problem.

Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#108

Post by WillAdams »

d_burfoot wrote: post #107

The cruise industry is very fascinating to me. I think in the medium term we could see significant populations of people living long-term on cruise ships; it seems like the economic model is long-run more efficient (assuming the shipbuilding industry is very good at building these structures). You avoid the property tax, zoning, and regulatory burdens that go with living on land. It's likely safer because you're not…

It's already begun with some news articles noting that retirees find back-to-back cruise voyages less expensive than nursing home care:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/is-living-on-a-cruise-...

Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#109

Post by t0mas88 »

scarab92 wrote: post #31
jajko wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many ways to enjoy seas, cruise ships are by far the worst. As per people who worked on those, they are mostly for people who simply don't know how to enjoy life well but have money, are quiet alcoholics, and/or suffer massive loneliness. You can do amazing traveling experiences for less, you are in control of your own life and what happens next and you will feel like spending much more time when discoverin…

There’s times I want to explore, and there’s times I just want to do nothing. Cruises are good for when I want to do nothing for a while.

> Cruises are good for when I want to do nothing for a while.

I've never been on a cruise, but for me renting a beach house does the same. Sleep, eat, watch the ocean from the beach and do totally nothing.

Camping with friends also does it. Let all the kids play together, just sit and watch, doing nothing.

When I was a bit younger I would have considered "doing nothing" hell on earth, but with a busy life it's good to just do nothing once in a while.

Re: Cruise ships chopped in half are a license to print money

#110

Post by michaelt »

protocolture wrote: post #4

I worked on a cruise ship below decks, once, for 3 hours, and I swore I would never take a cruise. Take the dirtiest hotel you have ever been in, and then ensure you cant leave it for days at a time. It interests me that demand is increasing but I suspect thats just good advertising.

> It interests me that demand is increasing but I suspect thats just good advertising.

And presumably numbers bouncing back after the pandemic - and as memories of the pandemic fade.

There was a long period where they couldn't run cruises at all due to social distancing. And a load of ships where the infection spread like wildfire and there was barely any medical care available. And a load of people getting trapped on board ships that weren't allowed into ports, so they couldn't get repatriation flights, and so on.

Measure against those catastrophic years, and I've no doubt demand is increasing!

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