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The idea of being captive on a ship amongst loads of people just doesn't appeal though I have enjoyed the river cruises I've taken.
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Same here Judith. We have been to a few places where a cruise ship docked and the changes were not good. One time in Antigua we had a beautiful tranquil beach beside our place and one day we arrived to see a completely packed beach. Row upon of row of beds and motor sports being offered. It just wasn't the same. Wednesday was cruise ship day!
However, I think i will end up on a cruise as OH wants to do one. I think I would go for something completely different like a Baltic cruise.
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I did a St.Petersburg to Moscow Volga river cruise which I thoroughly enjoyed. Something different to see everyday with daily visits to places of interest. I loved St.Petersburg though some cruise boats were in port so there were long queues everywhere. One advantage of a Baltic sea cruise with a stop over in St.Petersburg is that you don't have to have a Russian visa. I had to get one for the river cruise and it was expensive and a real pain to obtain.
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Yes I've heard that about the visas. St Ptersburg looks a fantastic place to visit
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I'm with Judith. Not only been couped up on the ship with no means of escape at certain times, for me it's also the sea. I love nothing better than watching big waves crashing on the shore, but put me on a boat that rocks & I panic.

I've been numerous times on 12hr channel crossings & the second I feel the sea rock that ship I'm uncomfortable. I remember Kath ex HT Admin telling me of one of her many cruises, where there was 30 foot waves & they had to put everything away in their cabin for safety reasons. 😱

I love the idea of a cruise, visiting various places & seeing new countries & cities daily, but I can't get passed my fear of the ship capsizing.
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As a youngster I was taken on a cruise up the Norwegian Fjords on a ship called the MS England operated by DFDS, it was as small ship by modern standards, we left from Newcastle and I remember crossing the North Sea with the ship engulfed in fog, the huge fog horn going every minute or so, the sea was very rough and the ship was rolling all over the place, there were very few passengers actually up and about as most were in their cabins, I still recall all the sick boxes that had been placed outside all the cabins.

The breakfast Smorgasbord was one of the most amazing things to my young eye and the fact that most passengers were still indisposed made it all the better.

Once we arrived in Norway and started cruising up the Fjords that was a magnificent sight, passing small village's where a small boat would come out and what looked to be mail was thrown down to them. Visiting places such as Stavanger and Bergen will stick in my mind forever, I keep saying we should do that again.

Having done a couple of river cruises which were brilliant I gave in to my wife's request and we went on a Caribbean cruise, it started off really well and I though I would love it, then unfortunately somebody untied the bits of rope holding us at the dockside and we moved off out to sea.

The sea was a bit rough however lets face it to a fully fledged North Sea veteran it was going to be no problem to me, huh sea sickness is for wimps.

Off to bed early so I am up first thing ready for a brand new day. Lying in bed was fun as we rolled up, down, side to side and I slept well.
Yes up first thing in for a shower and it is around this point it went Pete Tong and I became a total wimp.
Instant sea sickness which lasted the whole cruise despite getting medication which only lasted a short time, not helped when we were only supposed to be sailing 60 miles to our next port however it was to rough to dock so we sailed going nowhere for 36 hours.

To be fair I maintain the ship was broken and the stabilisers were not working, every dock we got in to there were divers welding underneath the ship, we were only on for a week and friend who were on for two weeks said it was a different ship the second week.

Even in the green face of adversity there are lighter moments, 2 lovely older ladies whenever they saw me always rushed up to see how I was and one old dear told me I should go in to the toilet and pick up one of the sick bags in there, I was a bit confused as to what she was talking about until she produced one, I didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't a sick bag, bless her.

Anyway skip forward 2 years to January this year and having once again being talked in to going on another holiday from hell I found myself walking up the gangway for another Caribbean cruise. I wasn't going to be caught out so sickness bands are on, check, tablets packed, check, location of doctors found, check.

Captain how about we just stay tied up in Barbados? Apparently he didn't fancy that so much and we set sail.

Day one nice and calm (ish) so I had a wander around the ship as after all lets face it I won't be seeing much of it will I?

Day two, up, dressed not going in to a shower they dangerous, up for breakfast, not Smorgasbord but very nice and much more than I saw on the last ship.

These bands are working well, still OK. maybe go for a swim.

Well despite the sea being just as rough as the first time I apparently never noticed, I would say the sea bands work very well however it was pointed out later that I hadn't worn them since the first day proper cruising when I went for a swim, ooft.

Despite me knowing I would be ill and would hate every minute we had a brilliant time and saw some lovely destinations, so much so we are booked on another cruise next year.
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I know I shouldn't laugh! But it does worry me that i am sea sick. I was hopeless on the ferries between the Greek islands!
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Your story did make me smile Kiltman 😀 but you also have my sympathy.

Fiona it was Island hopping around the Greek Islands that first put me off boats. We were sitting on this wooden seat with water lapping round our feet, I was convinced we were going to sink!

Recently in Fuerteventura, we were only going over to Lobos from Corralejo, about 10mins tops? On the return, the wind was up so the crew told everyone to sit away from the sides as we would get wet. Panic! Off we set with me clinging onto Peter like a limpet, everyone else was just sitting normally. Boof! A big wave crashed over the boat soaking the two girls in front of us & me! Peter was bone dry! Everyone was laughing, the skipper was laughing, I was cursing like a fish wife under my breath. ⛵ 🚢
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I could never imagine myself booking a cruise on the sort of ship pictured at the top of Matt's post because I'd never book a holiday on dry land in that type of big resort hotel. But I have booked and enjoyed cruises on much smaller ships that are more the equivalent of doing a coach tour holiday without having to pack up the bags each morning :-) .

And I can endorse Judith's comments about St Petersburg being much less hassle if you do it as a cruise passenger. Friends went there for a long weekend on a DIY basis and found it both costly and a lot of hassle getting the requisite visa. The friend I went on that cruise with was anxious about the idea of us exploring the city on our own, especially since we would have needed to apply for a visa if we did that, so we reached a compromise - she went along with us not booking rxcursions in the other Baltic cities we visited as long as we did so in St Petersburg. As it turned out, booking the full 2 day all inclusive excursion package cost less than the visa we would have had to pay for would have cost for us to go out and about on our own!

However, I'm very lucky, I've never suffered from genuine seasickness but I do have Meniere's disease, an acute attack of which has symptoms almost identical to seasickness so I have every sympathy with those who do. Interestingly, on one cruise we shared a table with a couple, the woman of whom appeared to have dreadful seasickness that did not respond to any treatment from the ship's doctor who in the end, after chatting to her about her health in general suggested to her that the root of her problem might be previously undiagnosed Meniere's and that she should get that checked out when she got home.
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