Family members cruise ship departure

I did two cruises at once…my first and last!

Imagine spending a week on a boat with all of the people in 75-100 random Golden Corrals…

I could be completely wrong but my initial thought on spending a week on a cruise sounds like a horrible idea.

The well to do family my sister married into likes to go on family vacations. You have the mother who is in her 80's, 3 sons of hers and spouses and 2 daughters with spouse. One of her sons is an odd duck. When my niece got married she had a big fancy Catholic wedding that was black tie. He and his teenage son showed up in polo shirts and blue jeans.

Anyways, the whole family went on a cruise to Alaska last year. So at one of the ports off call where everybody got off the ship for an excursion he did his own thing. Well he didn't show back up to the ship in time when it was supposed to leave and the ship would not leave without him. They kept announcing his name over the loud speakers explaining they couldn't leave because of him. When he finally did show up, passengers were lining the deck to boo and heckle him. Meanwhile my sister and her in laws were mortified with embarrassment and didn't want to be seen with him the rest of the trip.

The ex wife and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon in 96. Princess cruise lines. It was ok. The shore excursions were fun and during the day by the pool was ok. The evening show was ok but after that it was kind of boring before going to bed as I didn't feel like getting hammered every night and I do not gamble. 

6,000 passengers ?  😶  Yikes. That sounds like chaos, the opposite of relaxing lol.   We booked a Mississippi river cruise in April on a paddle wheeler to try something different. There's tours of civil war battlefields and plantations etc, going to soak up a little American history. Looking forward to some blues and bbq joints along the way as well.  This will be the first trip like this for us, we usually go someplace tropical to snorkel and enjoy the ocean, or something revolving around dirt activities, off roading or riding in the Desert or mountains, MX races, Baja 1000.  I have no idea what expect. The boat (ship?) we're on only holds 150 passengers so it should be fairly low key, we shall see ! 

Lumpy I hope your families cruise got better, that sounds like an ..... "interesting" ? 😐first day of vacation 😄  

They have shore excursions everyday, but we're not really "Group activity" orientated. Our "Plan" and what we've had luck with before is to find an uber or cab driver and offer him a couple hundred bucks, lunch and beer to spend the day showing us the places that are more off of the regular tourist spots. Like an off the wall bar or restaurant. Sure we'll hit the regular spots, but we're not interested in staying somewhere all day and listening to a tour guide for hours. We don't like to be "held captive" I guess ?   With only 150 passengers maybe it won't be too hectic ?  We'll be 61 and 67 so might be the youngest people on board haha 

I love cruises, but never been on one that we had to wait for goats to be on board 🤣🤣🤣🤣

"Finally goat onboard and they ran low on food!"

lol...I didn't want to say but, yes you might be the youngest couple on board. 😁 But that doesn't matter as you are going to do your own thing. That boat looks like it is part of the same fleet of boats that also do trips up and down the Columbia/Snake rivers. I've been to Sacagawea park at the mouth of the Snake when it docks and lets people off, where a large tour bus is parked and they all load up and go somewhere. A lot of couples in their 80's with what looks like a daughter who would be in their late 50's/early 60's accompanying them. https://usarivercruises.com/blog/partner-highlight-american-cruise-lines/

I forgot to add in my original post that when the ex and I went on our cruise in the Caribbean we were "chasing" a small hurricane and the seas the first night were a bit rough. I heard later that there were several older women who couldn't handle it and were barfing everywhere.

Sandberm the picture of that bus has me 100% certain we will go off on our own 😄 If you scroll down to the boats we're on the American Heritage, it holds the least amount of passengers of their whole fleet. Plus we figured if we're doing it we should be on a paddle wheeler. I'm guessing I'll get enough Dixieland music and guys dressed like Colonel Sanders in white straw hats to last me awhile.  Blues and some rundown looking BBQ place is more our style, hope we find the right cab driver...   🤪

You will never know cruise ship fun until you book a Disney cruise with your immediate family, your wife's sister's family minus the husband and the mother in law, and you sail to the Bahama's only to turn around right before your destination due to a hurricane. And the only real source of entertainment is the swimming pool until some rando decides to take a soupy poopie and they have to kick everyone out and drain it. And the only other pool is at the front of the ship but apparently its for adults only and you almost get into it with them when you decide to let your daughters wade into such an exclusive enclave. I will never set foot on another one again.

I remind my wife about once a month that I will never go on a cruise just to be sure she never gets any ideas...

Man, that's spendy.

You can do 8 days on the Rhine for about half as much.

Be on the swivel in Memphis...

Jus saying

At least you guys got booze and decent food. I did four cruises on this tub and not one conga line...

We did a Tiger cruise from Oahu to San Diego when our daughter was on the Reagan. She kept saying This is awesome ! we NEVER have food like this. 😄 

Thanks by the way 👍😎

How about Jackson MS? 🤣

Sully, shell-back? 

Reading Lump’s OP…I get the feeling I’m reading classic old folks/trendy tourists bitching and I’m laughing my ass off while reading it. 

I’ve often had some great laughs while traveling…especially when Ella was a little girl and we’d travel int’l on long flts. My kid had her shit together including her “onboard travel kit” , passport, iPad/computer, neck-pillow…yada-yada-yada…and, get this, ALWAYS polite to the crew and ALWAYS got treated like a little princess because of that…and always a happy traveler. Tho, to be fair…she’s had the luxury of traveling in some great seats/pods and she’s smart enough to prefer a Dreamliner 🤣

The whinny lil’ bitch-fest that includes goats & “…they ran low on food!” tells me all I need to know: tourist.

Don’t be a tourist…


Be a traveler…

"Sully, shell-back?"

You now it...April 27, 1997 onboard USS Independence.

There's only two times on a carrier when the food on the mess decks is exceptional; Tiger Cruise & when leadership is about to break some really bad news (usually the cruise is getting extended).

Lumpy. I'd love to do a trip like that. 150 pax ain't much and you probably get to meet some fine folk.

Also, you can't go wrong with some good old southern Blues and BBQ joints. That alone will make your trip worth it.

The history tours will be interesting and educational. Here's hoping that you guys have a fantastic experience on that Mississippi River cruise.

Big ass cruise ships and 6k passengers...that ain't a fricken holiday man. That sounds stressful.

For me a holiday or getaway is about getting away from people. I cherish peace an quiet.

Disney cruise, concierge level, about as good as it gets for relaxation and ease if you're bringing the kids along. Don't have to travel anywhere for food or entertainment once you're on board. Controlled access so once kids are old enough to find their way back to the room you can pretty much turn them loose. As long as you have it drilled into them not to leave common areas they're safe. Kids think they're living the dream when they're 6 and you tell them be back in time for dinner. Concierge books port activities so you get to do anything you want. Lounge and private areas for concierge..... it's pricey and once you do it you can't go back..... but I've done 3 and can't wait for the next one. 

Did a lap around the med on the 71 after a month off the coast of Kosovo offloading A LOT of ordinance.  I’ve been on a few cruises since like Disney and Royal Caribbean but none were as fun as rolling into Palma with 5000 of my closest degenerate friends and pissing off an entire island. (I got clam shelled in Rhodes Greece too! lol)

Floating petri dishes...

We did an Alaska cruise this past summer.  The ports were fun, but the days at sea were boring.  I don't like to drink or gamble.

Wife mentioned cruise 1 time…..I said have a good time….. I wouldn’t last 2 days….although an Alaska cruise sounds like it would be cool….

Well, young-sailor, that’s a beer and a burger on me as you tell the story…any and all shell-back tales…are a story that needs to be told. 

It’s not,”Thank you for your service.”…Arigato doesn’t make the point, here…

It’s,”Sailor, I’m so damn glad that YOU served!” 💪🏼

Been on three so far.  From my experience it all has to do with the people you go with.  We'd usually go with 4-5 couples, always made sure we had state rooms next to each other.  Removed or open the patricians on the balcony for one long patio deck where we'd do most our planning for the day or night.  Studied up a little on the places we're going.  Sometimes did the excursions, and like Sumdood, sometimes just winged.  The guy that was assigned for maintaining our rooms made out like a bandit on tips, by making sure we had drinks and snack waiting for us in the room when we returned.  Plenty more... but my experience, it's who you go with and how prepared you are that'll make or break your cruise.                      

My parents and grandparents love cruises so I have been on a bunch. One we had 98 family members for my sisters wedding. My mom has 9 brothers and sisters and all their families plus my dads huge family. It was controlled chaos and so fun. And like Vegas I take all their money in the casino. Yes my friends love to hate me. Sorry not sorry. 😆

I went on two cruises at once, myself. Wife and I did the Mexican Riviera (haha, great marketing,) for our honeymoon. I got seasick, bored, and spent a couple season's worth of fuel, tires and entry fees all in a week. What a complete waste. 

My mom, sister, wife and kids all went on a cruise this past summer. I said, "no thanks." They all wanted me to go and kept trying to convince me that it would be fun. Nope.