Tuesday 1 July 2014

Why a cruise is like a Kindle

A quick one before I go, but I had to defend my choice of holiday after the comments on my last post!

Cruises are not unlike Kindles*, in that they arouse furious disgust at first, and then you try them, and then...well, then you may well change your mind. REAL books. REAL holidays. That's what we want, isn't it? But sometimes the alternative is quite acceptable.

My idea of a cruise used to be a crowded ship, all-day food (and much too much of it), dreadful evening entertainements, with rows of girls, arms linked, doing that up and down thing with their legs, women in white "slacks" with expensive tans and lashings of gold jewellery and too much make-up. Oh - and dinner with the captain, wearing full dinner jackets and posh frocks.

Ours aren't like that at all. Quite small ships (about 400 this time), wear what you like, food excellent but in civilised portions, and while you are invited to dinner with the captain (or the ship's doctor, or whoever), we usually say no thank you. I'd be the first to say that I'd love a Cornish cottage and long coastline walks, or long hikes in the Lake District, but with a husband who finds walking difficult, cruising is the next best thing.

I won't  have converted anyone, but I've said my piece. My own jury is still out on my feelings about cruises, but I'l let you know when I get back!

* The Kindle is coming too, of course.

21 comments:

  1. Enjoy. Haven't tried it but it seems the best way to do long distance touring - with all the food included. I'll be interested to hear a full review.

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  2. Aye we have to adapt to infirmity. I didn't mean to be cruel. Have a great time and don't eat all the pies.

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  3. Have a wonderful time. I've never been on a cruise but will never say never.

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  4. It took me a while to come round to the kindle, but I've loved cruising from the start.

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  5. We went to the Norwegian Fjords for our honeymoon - we were probably the youngest on the ship but we had a lovely time.

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    1. Wendy, I think being the youngest can be quite encouraging. Well, certainly at my age!

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  6. I can see the advantages of cruising; you get to see different places without having to change hotel rooms every night, for instance. My grandparents LOVED such trips and did several of them when my grandfather retired and they were both still well enough to travel. The photo albums my grandmother put together for each trip were among her most treasured memories. Once they took a cruise on the river Wolga on a ship called "Uzbekistan", and she became "Miss Uzbekistan"! She kept the sash with the golden letters for the rest of her life.

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    1. I'm afraid I can't compete with your grandmother, Meike ;(

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  7. I'd love to try one and I especially like the idea of Wendy's Norwegian Fjords. Yours sounds lovely and intimate, Frances. I am envious - have a great time.

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  8. We love cruising, Frances - but you have to choose carefully! Have a great time!

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  9. I've never met anyone yet who didn't enjoy a cruise, Frances. And speaking of enjoyment - I loved your story about the overweight horse in WW x

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    1. You're very kind, Teresa. This was a result of Recycled Plot Syndrome (ts ts).

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  10. Sorry, didn't mean to be rude. I was once quite ill on a calm ferry crossing from Dover to Calais, so didn't dare risk a cruise. Great that you can adapt your holidays as circumstances dictate. Have a brill time and looking forward to hearing about it.

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  11. I rather fancy a river cruise on the Rhine or perhaps the Murray River (I'll give the Nile a miss at the moment!).

    I do not suffer from sea-sickness and over 40 years have sailed across the Minch and on seas around the Hebrides in in conditions when the ships will no longer sail (what is now a 2h 40m crossing could sometimes take 16 hours 35 years ago) but I have a confession to make. I absolutely hate lying down on a boat. That means that I'd have to stay upright for the duration. So many of our decisions, Frances, are made for irrational reasons.

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    1. How interesting. Would sitting help? No. I guess you're not a cruise person, GB.

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